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Hitting the road again, or the skies I should say (although we did one bus ride during our trip – more about that later…), we touched down in Da Nang, specifically to visit The Museum of Cham Sculpture, a museum that is not to be missed if you’re in Vietnam.

I forgot all my deities since I stopped doing yoga (such as Ganesha and Shiva, and how one guy got that elephant head, and why Shiva is wearing that snake around their neck – and smiling about it), so it’s good to do a little reading about them before you go to help you understand more about the artifacts in this museum. We took an 8am flight out of Ho Chi Minh airport, landing about an hour later, and taking a taxi right from the airport to the museum, which is only 3km away (I’ve given some tips at the end of the post about using taxis in Vietnam, that are worth noting), so it was easy to get there and spend the morning looking at the remarkable sculptures and friezes, many dating back to the 4th century.

I have the lowest museum attention span in the world, and two hours in this museum was just the right about of time to take it all in. Then I grabbed a Grab to take us to Hoi An, where we spent the next two nights. The old town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its traditional architecture is well-preserved, although not overly so. It still has a bit of funk, in spite of quite a few tourists (including us) roaming the streets.

Someone told me Hoi An is the most touristed town in Vietnam and it’d be hard to disagree. At night, the historic old town is jumping with people strolling by, and shops selling stuff, as well as locals offering everything from boat rides and fruit, to silk scarves (the town is known for its silk) and leather sandals. People also come to Hoi An to have suits and clothing made for them, and you’ll find several streets lined with custom tailor shops. Someone told me that if you bring a picture of what you like; a suit, a dress, or a shirt, they’ll make it for you, and have it ready in a day or two. I grew up wearing ties and jackets to school every day, so it takes a pretty compelling reason (or event) to get me into a suit, so I passed, but could have used a few more linen shirts since the ones I brought were splattered with Pho and dragon fruit stains.

Outside of the old town, we found more interesting things than in the old town, like the jumble of housewares being sold on a sidewalk, below, and spa treatments at White Rose Spa. We learned back in Ho Chi Minh City that massages and facials are very inexpensive in Vietnam, and mostly very good, so we’d indulged with our friends there, and now, here. (Note that it’s customary to tip if you had a good treatment.)

In Hoi An, we had a very good meal at Vy’s Market (the lime leaf chicken skewers were particularly good, as was the tofu skin salad), which someone online wrote was “sanitized” street food. It may have been, but we liked it all the same. Very fresh ingredients, nice servers, and tasty. Cao Lau Bale Well (45/3 Train Hung Dao) was recommended by several people (not locals) and while we found the place interesting, the Cao Lau noodles weren’t all that compelling. It was, however, charming, located off a side street in what was probably part of their home. They were also really nice, which made it…fine.

Another meal was at Nu. A sweet little place where the steamed pork buns were good, as was the chili ice cream we had for dessert. You won’t be the only English-speaking people dining there, but we liked it. There’s also a night market with an indoor eating area for street food, which I’d check out if I went back. If you want a taste of Egg Coffee, I had one at Passion Fruit coffee that even my skeptical partner liked. (I tried to compare it to sabayon, but he wasn’t having any of that.)

We stayed at the Vinh Hung Riverside hotel located on the river, not far from the old town, but far enough away so you were a decent distance from the fray. The staff was unfailingly polite and helpful and we had a nice room on the river, although I’d recommend perhaps staying in a room that’s not on the ground floor. I didn’t want to sleep with the door open so we shut everything and turned on the AC. The button on the machine was so bright that it was like a spotlight over us, in the room, which made it a bit difficult to sleep. It wasn’t really hot enough to warrant the AC, but we used it instead of keeping the door open. (Unfortunately, the unit was high on the wall and there wasn’t anything to block the light with, but I just discovered these, and am thinking of traveling with them because so many hotels have appliances and switches with really bright lights. Can people really sleep with all those lights flickering and glowing in the dark?) But we liked the hotel, which had a nice pool, and the breakfast offered a variety of Vietnamese foods and fruits. I gorged on rambutans, mangoes, and passion fruits.

We then took the 2-hour bus to Hue, which ended up taking a little more than 4 1/2 hours. The bus had funny, sort-of lie back seats, which looked appealing when I first saw them, but anyone taller than 5 feet (or who has never done yoga) might feel a bit squished after a while. (Another spoiler: You couldn’t sit upright in the seat, even if you wanted to.) While the bus had pillows, which Romain and some others grabbed for propping themselves up, the driver bellowed at anyone who took one, so they sheepishly put them back. I was okay lying halfway down for an afternoon, although some people were going all the way to Hanoi, and I’m sure they will need a few massage treatments to uncoil them once they arrive.

I hate to post the obligatory “I’m in paradise” shot, especially when so many of you (or us, which now includes me) are back in the cold. But this was a pretty beautiful spot in Hue.

It was our hotel, the Pilgrimage Village. It was located a little out-of-town, but the hotel had a shuttle and cabs were inexpensive (about $3 -4) to take you anywhere you wanted to go. So it wasn’t a problem going back and forth.

I was especially interested in going to the Dong Ba market in Hue. There was a lot to see there, and when our taxi driver dropped us off, he took Romain’s shoulder bag off his shoulder, and wrapped the handles around his neck, letting him know the keep his eyes on his things.

The market is pretty much an all-out assault of foods, spices, people, stuff, cookware, raw meat, kids, hats, seafood, fabric, jewelry, eyeglasses, bins of rice, tropical fruits, and more. Once you’re inside, you’ve pretty much go to go all-in. Even though the electricity seemed to be off in the market, we surged forward with everyone. If you stand still, within seconds, someone will slide past, through the narrow aisles with tables heaped with stuff on either side of you, and while it wasn’t at all dangerous, it’d be pretty easy to lose a billfold if you weren’t mindful of it.

Some people have said that the sellers were very aggressive here, although we didn’t find that to be too much of the case. Like other markets in Vietnam (except for the ones we went to in Ho Chi Minh City, if you stopped to look at anything, or even glance at it, the vendor will do their best to engage you and negotiate a price, even if you don’t really want it. It’s not my preferred way to shop, but that’s the way it’s done. Which was probably better for me anyway, as I didn’t have as so much to lug home. Although those colorful jars of pickled vegetables were certainly tempting!

We did track down the well-known Bun bo Hue (beef soup) stand, which is in the “street food” section of the market. (There’s a story about how to find it here.) We were a little underwhelmed, as the people next to us seemed to be. Maybe it was an off day, but if you look at the Bun bo Hue we had later that evening, two pics down, I’ll let you decide which soup looks better to you.

If you do go to the market in Hue, I would hire a guide, or take a tour of the market with someone who knows it well. It’s pretty overwhelming and there’s a lot of see, and taste, which isn’t so easy to do on your own. It’s definitely one of the great markets I’ve been to in the world, and worth exploring. But there was so much I wanted to know more about, it would have been nice to have someone navigate for us, and explain what things were, like these orange fruits (or vegetables?)

We ate well that night at Tai Phu where the Bun bo Hue (below) was more to my liking.

We also had some good Banh cuon (rice paper rolls) at Tai Phu, and Romain liked his Bun thit (vermicelli noodles with chicken) but the dish of the house seemed to be the pork skewers (nem lui), which came in a plentiful portion with green mango slices, noodles, and herbs, to roll in rice paper.

[A reader who lives in Hue was kind enough to chime in with some local spots for Bun bo Hue – thanks smallhue! – suggesting Bún Cam at 45 Le Loi and Bún Mụ Roi at 14 Nguyen Che Dieu, that she advised getting to before 8am for the best selection of “options,” as she called them. Our hotel had breakfast on a dock under a thatched roof, with unlimited Vietnamese coffees, so I wasn’t leaving there.]

If you eat at Tai Phu, be sure to arrive in the area early and walk around the streets, where an open-air market takes place. It’s pretty laid back, and like all the markets in Vietnam, you want to cry at how beautiful all the fruits and vegetables are, stacked, lined, and piled up. I think it’s called the Ben Ngu market.

The most beautiful meal we had in Vietnam was at a place whose name I forgot (I know…right?) It had a little open-air area within the restaurant, and from the outside, you’d never know such a charming place existed. When I remember the name, I’ll update the post.

However beautiful the meal was, it was a challenge to eat. Absolutely no offense to the restaurant, but the flavors were very, very strong, and hard to describe. I think, like Vegemite, natto, and blue cheese, some things don’t translate outside their culture. I can’t describe it but I felt bad leaving most of it behind. I also wasn’t feeling so great that day, so it was hard to power through a meal of distinctive flavors. But I will say, the others in the restaurant were eating everything and enjoying it, so it was definitely our tastes, and didn’t reflect on the quality (and the beauty) of the food.

We liked eating at HANH, in Hue, the night we arrived, which was recommended by a woman at our hotel. We started with tiny bowls holding steamed rice cakes with fresh shrimp and bits of crunchy pork rinds, which you pry from the bowls with a spoon and eat with fish sauce. I ordered a bottle of what was called “local rice wine” in English on the menu, and out came a 500ml (2 cup) bottle of “Men vodka.”

When I posted a picture on Instagram, one reader noted it was “just awful stuff” and another said, “terrible…unpleasant.” I asked the server if I could exchange it for shochu, which was so strong, I think I lost a few layers of enamel on my teeth trying to, and a couple of layers of my stomach lining, as I didn’t want to be impolite and leave a lot behind. I drank what I could, then chalked it up to a “lesson learned”! Perhaps the kitchen staff enjoyed the rest after their shift.

After returning to Ho Chi Minh City, we didn’t get to go back to Spice, which we really like the first night of our arrival, because it was Tet (New Year’s), which most of the city shuts down, including restaurants.

But we did eat at Quan Bui Garden (in District 2), where you can also buy beautiful contemporary Vietnamese pottery (I brought six plates back), and Restaurant 13, where we liked the beef and onions cooked in vinegar, which you wrap in rice paper rolls at the table, as well as the little crisp rice cakes, with shrimp and scallions, known as Banh Khot (above), which you wrap in leaves and eat.

At Com Nieu Sai Gon there were several families there celebrating Tet, and having a good time. We had jellied pork, crispy fish on rice (above), Caramelized clay Pot pork, and grilled prawns. (The menu had “fake dog meat” on it, which we didn’t order.) We kept hearing plates shatter, while people cheered, and weren’t sure what was happening. But the restaurant bakes rice until a crisp coating forms on the bottoms in small earthenware bowls. The rice is “presented” by smashing the bowl. It’s called Com Dap, and here’s a video of it:

I also met up with pals Marge Perry and David Bonom, who just happened to also be traveling through Vietnam at the same time, for Banh Mi sandwiches from Banh Mie Huynh Hoa, eating them at a local beer garden, whose men’s room was definitely rated R (or maybe X, depending on your sensibilities). I did take photos but worried that they would violate Instagram’s guidelines (and trust me, even after a few decades of living in San Francisco, I thought nothing would shock me), so didn’t publish them anywhere. But David and I are still recovering from it, and even Marge, who I insisted go into the men’s room for a look.

But I don’t want to leave you on that note, as Vietnam was wonderful. Some readers asked me how it was to travel through the country and I thought it was pretty great. On the whole, it was fairly easy to travel there and people were friendly and helpful. The food was very good, it’s not expensive, and the country is small enough so that you can visit several places if you’re there for ten days or so. It’s a country that’s in transition (they’ve gone through a lot), and has some challenges, but it was one of the most exciting places I’ve ever visited and next year, we’re planning to go back.

Here are some tips and suggestions for traveling in Vietnam:

1. Change money when you can. It’s not as easy to change money in Vietnam as it is elsewhere. While there are banks, locals don’t use them, instead preferring to change money elsewhere, if they can. Citibank and HSBC have ATMs which work with western credit cards; some local bank machines don’t work with U.S.-based cards. Citibank and HSBC ATMs are not everywhere, though, so use them when you find them. 

Many places take credit cards in Vietnam, but some places don’t. Taxis have credit card machines but over half the time, the driver told me they weren’t functioning. (One held up a broken wire, to show me.) So have cash available. Also be sure to call your bank before you go, to let them know you’ll be traveling in Vietnam.

2. Carry tissues or napkins. Some restaurants supply them, others have very small squares of wispy-thin paper to use, and others give you a pre-moistened towelette. The food can be saucy (and restrooms don’t always have towels or tissues) so I was glad I have little tissue packets on hand. You should also carry toilet tissue as restrooms don’t always have it.

3. Drink a lot of (bottled) water. The tap water should not be consumed and it’s easy to get dehydrated due to the heat. I was felled for a day with a mild fever, which maybe was attributed to not getting enough water. (Or perhaps something I ate.) While there are drugstores in Vietnam, they are more like counters with a pharmacist and pills are sold individually. Although we didn’t need them, some travelers find they need Immodium or a similar product, which traveling, so I recommend bringing a box along rather than trying to find a box when you’re desperate.

Similarly, you can get sunscreen in Vietnam, but it’s not as widely available as it may be at home. I recommend bringing a bottle or two, especially if you’re planning any beach time.

4. When eating out, especially at the markets or street food stalls, go to places that are crowded with locals. They won’t return to places that don’t have good hygiene. Use common sense when eating at stalls; look at how clean the surrounding area is, how the food is kept, how the food is prepared, and even the condition of the tables, chairs, and dining area. As someone who’s worked in a number of restaurant kitchens, a messy, disorganized place is not the sign of a diligent cook or owner.

At Pho places on the street, I buried the herbs in the hot soup if I thought they may have been washed with non-filtered water. If you’re unsure about the chopsticks, leave them in the boiling-hot soup a short while before using them. The Vietnamese enjoy cold drinks with ice and I drank plenty of drinks with ice, and didn’t have any issues. Most ice is purchased and made with filtered water. But if you have any doubts, skip the ice.

5. If taking a cab, always take a cab with a meter. Our friends who live there said that Vinasun and Mailinh (the green cabs) are two that have meters in them, and I always looked for one of those cabs. In our experience, it’s better to let them use the meter than agree on a fixed fare in advance. (The one time I did that, the ride was 30% more than the metered fare.) Taxis are very inexpensive and the fare from Ho Chi Minh City to or from the airport was around 150,000 VND ($7).

At places like airports, you’ll find nicely dressed guys with badges who will “guide” you from the cab line to a taxi, then tell you what the fare is. Those guys work for specific cab companies and I found it better to ignore them (in spite of their repeated, and sometimes relentless, pleadings…) and just get in a cab that has a meter. 

6. Grab is an Uber-like service that works the same way, via an app, which you can download before you go, but you’ll have to enter your credit card information while you’re in Vietnam. The service works like Uber. Note that you can order a car, or ride on the back of a scooter. (They provide a helmet for you if you choose the scooter option.) I used them a couple of times, including when we were swarmed by very aggressive cab drivers going into a museum (one even followed me around the museum), so I had a Grab driver meet me on the way out, and took his phone number down for future rides.

7. The currency conversion is a little complicated, at least to my non-mathematical brain. At the time of this writing, $1 = 23,000 Vietnamese Dong. There are no coins in Vietnam (yay!), but it’s easy to get confused. (And note that prices on menus and in shops will often be listed as just “230” when the price is 230,000.) I used AppBox Pro for currency conversions.

8. While it’s nice to learn the local language, Vietnamese is a challenge. I’m going to take some basic lessons next time I go, but Google translate was very helpful when I wanted specific information and couldn’t communicate. Some people do speak English, but most cab drivers (etc) don’t, so take a screenshot of an address or write it down (or have someone write it down for you), which helps, especially directions to the hotel. (Note that hotels that have names in English often have a different name in Vietnamese. Ask your hotel in advance to send you that information and print it out to bring with you, for the driver.) I often shared a screenshot with a cab driver of my destination on Google Maps, which they easily understood, too. Restaurants often have menus with pictures, which helps when ordering. 

9. People in Vietnam were quite friendly. I only got scolded once for taking a pic and most people were fine with it. When in doubt, ask first, but most people were surprised that I even asked, a few even posing.

10. SIM cards are super cheap – and my internet was at least four times faster than it is in Paris. (I wanted to bring it back with me!) If you have an unlocked phone, you can pick up a SIM card for a pittance and have internet access while you’re traveling. I got a SIM card at Mobifone and I think I paid the equivalent of $10 for an enormous amount of data. I went to one of their offices and the clerk was super-helpful and she took care of everything, making sure it worked on my phone before I left. Be sure to have a copy of your passport when purchasing a SIM card. (If you go to a currency conversion place, they’ll want to see it, too.)

11. If you travel within the country you’ll likely take VietJet. (The other option are long-distance buses.) Airfares are reasonable but note that they have a very, very restrictive carry-on allowance of only 7kg and if you go over, the supplement is $100. You can buy tickets that have more generous luggage allowance, but our friends who bought our tickets bought the least-expensive, which are how most Vietnamese people seem to fly (carry on only). Every flight we took that left in the afternoon or early evening was delayed for a couple of hours, so don’t schedule things too tight. We also weren’t able to check in online for any of our flights, but the process at the airport isn’t too difficult and the staff at the airports were pretty efficient. 

12. As for what to wear, I recommend dark-colored clothes as the food is a bit messy to eat, especially the soups. I ended up wearing the one dark, short sleeve linen shirt I’d brought most of the time, which was perfect, and I was miffed at myself for bringing light-colored items. It’s normal to wear sandals in Vietnam so bring a pair or two that are already broken in. Many people wear simple, non-fancy rubber sandals, which you can purchase inexpensively in Vietnam. I wasn’t anywhere where I needed to wear shoes, and once I took mine off, I didn’t put them back on until we headed to the airport for the plane home.

Depending on where you’re going, and when, you might want to pack a light sweater and a rain jacket. We only needed summer-weight clothes, but other places get chillier, depending on the latitude and season. Check the local forecast and pack accordingly. Unless you’re going to a formal event, you shouldn’t need any dressy clothes. If you plan to visit religious sites, such as temples and pagodas, men are expected to wear long pants and no tank tops; women should have something to cover bare shoulders, and you may not be admitted to certain places if wearing a short skirt or wear something with a low neckline.

13. If you want to ride a scooter, technically you are supposed to have a Vietnamese driver’s license. Some say that you can use an international driver’s license, but my friends who live there (who have Vietnamese ones) said that wasn’t the case. I rode on the back of my friend’s scooter for two weeks and it was a great way to get around. Some hotel rent bikes and scooters and I would use them, as they’re more familiar with the rules.

14. If you’re interested in cooking Vietnamese food, Andrea Nguyen’s cookbooks are great sources of recipes for Vietnamese dishes. This write-up of 25 Must-Eat Dishes in Saigon is helpful for identifying certain dishes, and where to find them in Ho Chi Minh City and these articles on best Hoi An restaurants and street food have some enticing addresses, too.

15. Lastly, to go to Vietnam, if you are traveling with an American passport, you’ll need a visa. If you search online, you’ll find a lot of websites which are fake visa processing centers. We used Vietnam Visa Center, which was recommended by Lonely Planet, and it worked well. (A friend who goes to Vietnam regularly uses this company.) We paid the extra small fee to have “fast track” service, and have someone meet us upon our arrival at the airport, and take us through. (Update: Several readers noted that Vietnam does have its own website for processing visas electronically. You can also obtain one from a Vietnamese embassy, too.)

For more on my trip to Vietnam, check out my Instagram Stories from Vietnam archived Here and Here, with videos and geo-tagged addresses.

 

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67 comments

    • Margery Bridstrup

    The prettiest travelogue I’ve seen in a long time. Wow!

    • Sandra Alexander

    Terrific post, thank you David!

    • Kerrie

    Thank you. Serious planning can now begin

    • Janet

    Now I’m wishing I could spend more than the few days I’ll be there in November. Thank you for all the tips.

    • Michele

    Really really interesting. Thank you, a lovely post David.

    • Claire

    David, make sure you return. Vietnam is the only place I have visited that upon my return home have thought when can I return? Unfortunately, I have not but, I do have the most wonderful, funny memories of a beautiful, amazing country.

    • Margot

    Seriously drooling. It’s lunch hour in Paris (on Monday no less!) and I am heading out in search of those rice paper spring rolls stuffed with that painted palette of gorgeous veggies & herbs.. only to know I’ll be searching in vain

    • Diane

    Thank you for sharing your trip so generously with your readers.The photos are beautiful and it all makes me want to go there.

    • Carolyn

    Two questions: did you eat the spring rolls with the raw veggies and lettuce?
    and do you know what was in the bags at the top of this post that said Artichaut? were they dried artichokes????

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Yes, we ate the spring rolls. We didn’t have any issues – it’s hard to avoid raw vegetables (and herbs) in Vietnam, but as mentioned, I only went to places that didn’t look dodgy. (That’s not always an assurance but it’s a good indication.) Those are bags of tea, which people drink, I believe, for health reasons. The shop also had dried bitter melon, too.

      • BelleD

      Artichoke tea is supposedly very good for your liver. There’s something about it flushing the toxins out of your body. That’s why a lot of people drink it. My sisters use to bring back some tea and the teas has a pleasant almost sweet flavor. Though bitter melon, well the name says it all. For the most part, the Vietnamese still believe and rely on herbal tisanes for most common ailments. The more bitter it is, the ‘better’ it is for you ;)

    • S

    *Vinasun

    • Carolyn

    It’s a great post, thanks. When I lived in Paris and was having too much fun, an MD I saw prescribed a spoonful of elixir of artichoke root every day. I filled the prescription at the pharmacy but got pretty hooked on the stuff – it’s delicious – and it’s a very good liver cleanser.

    • Harriet Bell

    Our trip to Vietnam was the best one ever! Thanks for taking me back, David. One traveler’s tip: we found that many merchants preferred US dollars. Take at least $50 worth of crisp singles with you.

    • Dale

    Wow Thank you so much, for the beautiful photos and wonderful, helpful travel tips

    • Jessica

    David, I SO enjoyed your instagram posts when you were visiting Vietnam, especially my city of HCM. When you update, you may want to change the info about the car service. It’s Grab, not Snap.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks. It is Grab https://www.grab.com/vn/en/ (Unless there is a service called Grab?) What’s funny is that I think I called it “Snap” when I was in Vietnam, too : )

    • Sharon

    Lovely story.
    Qs: Are those slices of scallop, or daikon, up there? And what are the little sesame bowls.
    And, I want to go!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Those are cassava and sweet potato cakes, make with flour from cassava and sweet potatoes. Those are actually rice cakes called Banh Knot – they were delicious!

    • Maria P

    Your photographs are stunning. You are the consummate tour guide. Your descriptions are informative and colorful. I very much enjoy reading your travel adventures because you always have such an adventurous and positive attitude.

    • Terry

    some friends did a motor bike (with drivers) food tour in HaNoi-women drivers in shorts and hello kitty helmets! they said it was great. for your next trip.
    also cooking schools in HaNoi and Hoi An.
    thanks for the posts

    • AE

    It’s very thoughtful of you to mention where to get cash. I’m not sure if this is an option in Vietnam but we had great success getting cash with an ATM card from the bank, Simple, on our last trip overseas. This was our experience after going to several local banks and being told they wouldn’t assist. Note: I don’t work for Simple.

    • Sarah

    The food is so beautiful!

    • Sharon Nimtz

    It is beautiful, but I would like more taglines and detail. T’anks.

    • Paul Eggermann

    Wonderful followup to Part 1. I will pay a lot more attention to Vietnamese restaurants where ever I go.

    Your subtle advice on protecting your wallet is well taken. I had my wallet lifted in Paris last September and it ruined the second half of a three week trip. (It was my 18th trip to Paris and I guess I got a little careless.) Visa was useless with their policy of mailing a new card to my home in 8-10 days! American Express excelled when they FedEx’d a new card to my next destination in Rome overnight. The problem then became finding places that accept Amex. Luckily, I had spent three hours in Paris making a police report. The car rental in Rome refused to accept a paper copy of my drivers license but said I could drive if I had a police report! A very helpful hotel owner in Rome lent me 100 Euro’s until I could get some cash through Amex. I will be putting my wallet in my underwear from now on!

    • Barbara

    I was saturated with the color and felt full not wanting breakfast! Your photos are always great. I remember how spicy the food was there too. TWas in Vietnam about ten years ago. Aside from Bali it was one of the most interesting and wonderful trips I’ve taken. Thanks.

    • Ellen

    What a wonderful travelog with spectacular photos. At 81 with lung problems it was the closest I will ever get to Vietnam. When I lived in DC there were many Asian restaurants, not so I coastal SC. Many thanks for all your posts and recipes.

    • Christina Van Lenten

    I never thought of going to Vietnam but you have certainly piqued my interest! And I thought I was the only one who had a short attention span when it came to museums… Thank you for guided tour, the photos are fabulous, it’s now on my list of places to go!

    • Suzan Gross

    Fabulous post, brought back great memories I look forward to returning also!

    • Taste of France

    Fantastic photos and so much info.
    I just ate but now you’ve made me hungry….for Vietnamese food.

    • Mary

    Gorgeous photos and wonderful story, David. We visited Vietnam and Cambodia a year ago but after reading your post, we need to go back! :) Also just watched your “Beat Bobby Flay” episode. Ridiculous! Your cake looked fabulous. Cheers!

      • gfy

      Hi, which season/episode was that? Thanks!

      • gfy

      Found it – so fun to watch – you were great! Hope you do more things like this!

    • Jeff R

    Great posts and pics David, some of your very best in my opinion.
    My wife is Vietnamese and we spent our honeymoon there. My experience was the same as yours, great food and amazing people. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. Even though the language can be tough, the old saying that a smile translates to any language is always good to remember.
    Regarding changing money, we found the best exchange rate was at the gold merchants! It was key to have crisp, new 100$ bills to exchange. They got you the best exchange rate.
    Finally, we live in Southern California. We have the largest Vietnamese expat community in the world. Our Little Saigon community has incredible food options. If anyone visits and needs restaurant suggestions, please let me know and I will be happy to respond.
    David – if you and Romain ever get out here, my wife and I would love to show you around!

      • Jeanne

      Please let us know! I live in OC and want to take more advantage of the abundance of Vietnamese food in the area. But it’s hard to guess what places are good and what to order. I’m going to try to convince my hubby to go with me to Brodards tonight. Thank you so much Jeff!!

        • Jeff R

        Jeanne. Brodards is excellent. A mainstay in the Vietnamese community. They are most famous for their Nem nuong rolls, specifically the dipping sauce that comes with them. Their duck salad is also great (goi vit). Please email me directly if you want more specific recommendations. If David and Romain ever come out we can do a group dinner.
        Jeff

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Yes, our friend took us to one of those places to change money. It was pretty incredible to see them with stacks of cash in all currencies, changing money. Our friends who live there told us people don’t like to use the banks. I got money from my credit card (so theoretically, one should bring their passport, but they accepted my US driver’s license) but cash is always preferred : )

    • Richard

    Have been to VN twice, mainly between Da Nang and Hanoi.
    I loved my meal at Nu in Hoi An, one of my most memorable and it’s definitely a city that prides itself on food. While Bourdain raved about Bahn Mi Phuong, I preferred Madam Khanh.

    As a Canadian, my ATM card worked at all banks and the exchange rates were comparable.

    Regarding VN hotel names and spelling, agoda.com has a multilingual option, inc VN, so you can cut and paste everything in advance and carry it with you.

    btw, Grab bought Uber VN last year and while you enter your credit card on the app, there’s also a drop down “cash payment” you can choose when booking each ride so carry cash and just round up the payment. There is no Lyft in VN.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      A number of people go to places he recommended and I don’t know when those episodes were taped, but places change and what’s good for a while, may or may not continue to be good years (or decades) after. That happens in Paris, when places get anointed with “the best,” then change owners or the quality goes down for whatever reason. (When places get overrun, quality can slip as well.) Thanks for letting us know Grab takes cash. I had a driver ask if he could charge me a little more because he had to take some windings roads to get to our destination, which was fine, but it was interesting since normally the fare is fixed. But he did go out of his way.

      That’s a good idea to download the Vietnamese name of the hotel. Some hotels have that info on their website and one of our hotels had a business card (with a little map on it) you could hand to drivers, to get to back “home.”

    • Maryn McKenna

    David, I’m also very sensitive to light in a hotel room, and for that reason keep a roll of black masking tape in my travel kit with all my cables. But I appreciate knowing about the MySpyBlocker —maybe I could tuck a sheet of those in too, in case I forget the tape!

    • bob waks

    Hi David I returned from a 3 week Vietnam/Cambodia food tour on Jan 30 wish this had been around before we went! well done!! Luckily, one in our party, Trac Le (the wine buyer for Bi Rite in SF) was born in Vietnam decades ago & made the Vietnam portion of our trip so much easier & toothsome! I have a bunch of the travel pics you might like on Instagram under bwaks47 or bob.waks One other thing I don’t know about you but I found the air quality really bad!! hazy polluted especially in HCMC & Ha Noi and the plastic debris on the beaches in Da Nang & generally everywhere disgusting…you? so glad to breath sweet clean Berkeley air!

    • blethricet

    I absolutely loved living in Viet Nam (as an American expat, recognizing that the expat experience is definitely charmed and not indicative of a real local experience). But mostly because of the food! After two years living there while also traveling around Asia, I have to say that Viet Nam has the best food in the region.

    The small yellow fruit/things that you couldn’t identify – these are decorative fruits that I believe are primarily sold around Tet. I don’t know the name, but made the same mistake of purchasing them, hoping to try a new food. They are hard/kinda hollow and have no fruit inside.

    One more thing you might want to edit for your readers: you should not need to use any third party visa service. The Vietnamese government has released a government-run e-visa service. They don’t publicize it well because the third party visa companies obviously stand a lot to lose. It also doesn’t help that the link URL is in Vietnamese, so it’s not easy to identify what it is. I’ve used it several times and can vouch that it works. I’d recommend that over any third party service (although most third party services do seem to be legit, they cost more and are unnecessary). Info here

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks for the link. There are so many suspect sites out there, you have to do a little digging to make sure you’re working with a “real” one. I think you can also go to an embassy, but one thing I liked about the service that we used was that you could have someone meet you at the airport and walk you through getting the visa in your passport. (I think it was about $20, so it does cost a bit more.)

    • Gabrielle

    Found it! Wikipedia

    • Mary Porter

    Wonderful, inviting travelogue. The details and variety are exciting and the photography, WOW! David, this is about the best I’ve seen. Wish I could follow in your footsteps. Thank you for the pleasure!

    • Cece Noll

    Your trip looked wonderful. What a beautiful country! Did you try speaking French with any success? The photos were breathtaking. I’m so glad you and Roland had a wonderful time.

    • Suzan

    One of fruits you couldn’t identify is Buddha’s Hand, which is used for the zest or candied like citron.

    I think you did recognize the chili peppers and eggplants in the next photo, right?

    Great pictures and story telling – merci!

    • gfy

    Eighth photo from the bottom: those little rice cake sandwiches filled with greens – what are those called please?

    In fact questions about all of the unnamed photo’s like the banana leaf bowls of soup! It’s torture not to know! Please fill us all in – thanks!!

    Also super curious to know how they use buddha’s hand – the only way I’ve used it is candied like citron and I’d love to know what they do with it.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Those are called Banh Khot. I glaze citron or candy it, and use it in panforte. I don’t know what they do with them, but think they may use them for ornamental purposes?

      (There was a ruckus on social media when I called them citrons; Buddha Hands are a variety of citron.)

    • linda

    Beautiful, interesting post, thank you! I’ll hold on to this for a future trip I’d love to take. Q: I’m intrigued by the packages (bags) of artichokes. Are they dried? What form of artichokes are in those? :)

      • BelleD

      @linda, it’s artichoke tea. it’s lovely (as least the ones I’ve drank) and very good for your liver :)

    • BelleD

    Of all the things that you can do/see/buy in Vietnam, my family (especially my cousin H) loves to get that facial. Locals call it a ‘haircut’, but it takes a few hours if not a half day. For those hours, you are pampered like a prince. They’ll give you a nice close shave, wash/shampoo your hair, steam open your pores, re-shave because by the time your hair is washed, cut, and styled, you’ll have a stubble which will need to be shaved again. The men in my family love this treatment, though they might not admit it publicly.

    My husband loves to have his dress shirts custom sewn in VN. He’s a rather tall and big guy (think Norwegian Viking) and at first it was hard to find a tailor who would make his shirts because the cloth most carry are pre-cut to a specific length. My mother had a bit of a search for anyone who could make his shirts without laughing at sample shirt that she had brought to show them. But eventually she found someone who did. It would have been sooner but Mom’s also pretty picky about the quality of the fabric too. In the end, she found someone to make him beautiful no-wrinkle dress shirts for ~$25/shirt which is a screaming deal when you compare to US retail which averages around $70/shirt (since he’s a big Viking).

    • Smallhue

    I’m glad to know that you enjoy your trip and the food!
    It’s a pity that you didn’t have chance to try the 2 Bun Bo Hue I recommended. Also sorry for insufficient information: Bún Cẩm also serves their 2nd shift from 3pm I never noticed this before. Bún Mụ Rơi only serves in the morning start from 6AM – 10AM if I remember it right. (Save this for your next trip to Hue if any :-))

    • Gavrielle

    Thank you, great post! I’m encouraged to find that not all of Vietnam is hot as that’s what’s put me off visiting. Thanks also for the MySpyBlocker link. I’m going to give it a try as I have an otherwise wonderful travelling plug (with one plug socket and 4 USBs) that has a blue light which powered right through the duct tape I put over it. I’m sure you can see it from space.

    • Elaine

    Wow! Your photos brought an unexpected smile to my face. I see a future book in there somewhere…

    • A VNese

    OMG, you make me homesick. T_T
    Love your post!
    So good that you had great experiences in VN. <3

    • Kathy (howardhuge)

    Haven’t heard billfold in forever.
    Probably from my grandfather

    • Wendy R

    Your photos and stories gave me SUCH a craving for Vietnamese iced coffee! I had one yesterday, and it was delicious. On the one hand, I don’t really want to make a habit of it (caffeine, sugar, $$…), but on the other hand I’ve got three kids under 5. If I can’t ever sleep, might as well enjoy all those awake hours. :)

    • Anna

    Thank you for sharing! I love Vietnamese coffee and now have a seriously craving for pho. I may have to find a bowl later.

    • Mike Q

    Wonderful post.

    I was in Hanoi in 1997; at a meeting they served bottled water with includes healthful bacteria stamped on bottle, your fake dog meat comment reminded me. Little children would come up to feel the hair on my arms. How things have changed, I want to be on next flight now.

    • Connie Archea

    Thanks very much for your commentary, David. I’m going to Vietnam next January and will definitely be referring to your blog when planning the trip.

    • Marge Perry

    That bathroom still makes us laugh! Well, and shudder a little, too.
    This post– and your gorgeous photos, bring me right back to Vietnam. Was it only two weeks ago?! Have you also been cooking dishes from there since you’ve gotten home? We’ve made a banh xeo (easy!) and a lovely tapioca-coconut dessert from Cameron Stauch’s book. And I have no intention of stopping there…I loved the food even more this visit than last time!

    • Anna

    This is bringing me right back to the month I spent eating my way around Vietnam. Great post!

    P.S. Thanks for the link! :)

    • dotti cahill

    Wow, what a great experience for you! We did a cooking class with our daughters in Hoi An at the Nam Hai it was a great week with Patricia and Walter Wells .. great local fresh ingredients..and we had the Red Boat fish sauce…

    • Phyllis

    We leave for Hanoi in a few days, I would love a few suggestions about a cooking class, restaurants and any markets that we shiould see. We are not there on a weekend. We are vegetarians (only Fish) a little concerned about all of the Pho with Pork.

A

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