I’ve been back from Vietnam for about 2 weeks now.  I have to admit it’s been tough being back – to the cold, the snow, back to working 9-5, not traveling …

Today I want to share a little about my overall experience in Vietnam.  What I loved, things I wished I had done, and things that perhaps I wasn’t overly fond of.

If you’ve been following along with my blog and my journey through Vietnam, you’ll quickly remember how much I love this country.  Everyone should get to Vietnam given the chance, it truly is spectacular (well, I think so anyway) … I’m envious of my daughter for making this country her home.

As with any other country, Vietnam has a glowing list of fantabulous things to see and do, its natural beauty, its history, culture, and kind and giving people whom I met and made my experience in Vietnam one for the record books.  But it also has things that need to be improved upon and aren’t so glamorous. I’ll highlight some of those things in this blog.

I encourage you to go back and read my last few blog posts if you haven’t, just to catch up on the amazingness of Vietnam prior to reading this post.

---

🎶 Let’s Talk About Food Baby 🎶

The food 😋 was one of the absolute best parts of Vietnam, so many yummy choices, which vary from region to region.  For example, some of the foods I loved in the north (Ha Noi) weren’t necessarily available in the south (HCMC).  But it’s great to be able to experience each region’s specialty dishes.

Eating street food in Vietnam is a rite of passage for every visitor, and I’m all about throwing myself into the local culture, so I was prepared to give most foods a go. In every doorway, on every street corner, and down every alley, food is being prepared literally on the street.  Many a time, I pulled up a tiny plastic stool to a tiny plastic table and ate.

Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for its fresh ingredients, complementary textures, and reliance on LOTS fresh herbs and vegetables. Vietnamese cuisine is considered one of the healthiest cuisines in the world and always combines fragrance, taste, and colour.

Below are just SOME of the foods I ate over my month-long visit.

---

👍🏻  Fan Faves:

(1) Bún chả  –  served with grilled fatty pork (chả) over a plate of white rice noodles (bún) and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauce.  I ate this twice while in Vietnam.  Definitely worth trying, guys! It was super good!

(2) Bún Rieu – LOVED this, I first tried this in Hà Nội –  it was incredible.  See below for the types of Bún Rieu I wasn’t so fond of.  Freshwater crab flavours this soup, which is made with rice vermicelli and topped with pounded crabmeat and deep-fried tofu.  Chillies, lime and fresh herbs add the finishing touches.

(3) Bánh khọt – if you love crispy savoury pancakes, you’re going to love Vietnamese bánh khọt – it’s usually provided with lettuce, tons of herbs and dipping sauce – really good. Equally as yummy in the pancake department is bánh xèo.

(4) Bun Bo Nam Bo – could be the best street food in Ha Noi – the broth at the bottom of the deep bowl is made of fish sauce, sugar, lemon and chilli and has deliciously light, sweet and sour undertones. The sauce is topped with marinated beef, vegetables, noodles, onion crisps and crushed nuts.

5) Cơm tấm – broken rice and pork chop – very basic meal – but reliable, inexpensive and yummy.  Usually served with pickled veggies and a side soup for about 20K – about $1.15 CDN.

I could GO ON … I had sooooooo …. many amazing meals whilst in Vietnam, but, I’ll limit it to my top 5 —- Honourable Mention torau muong xao you- morning glory with garlic.

---

👎🏻 Not So Fussy On:

(1) Chicken Feet – I just didn’t enjoy them at all – no meat on them.  They were crispy, like chicken wings, but with NO meat. Imagine just eating chicken skin on the bone – that’s what I can best compare it to.  I didn’t hate them, but I could definitely do without them.  Don’t quite get the appeal.  Is it your thing?

(2) Bún riêu with congealed pig’s blood – bún riêu is a truly sensational Vietnamese street food — if you forgo the blood cubes.  I realized that in different areas of Vietnam, there are differing varieties of bún riêu.  For example, I DID NOT like the bún riêu in HCMC at all, I liked the one in Da Nang and loved the one in Ha Noi – all a little bit unique with their own regional touches.  But the main thing I realized is that I did not like it at all with the congealed pig’s blood. So, now I know to always order my bún riêu “không huyết” — with no congealed pig’s blood.

(3) Rice Paper Salad (Bánh Tráng Trộn) – this wasn’t a salad per se – I’ve heard of Rice Paper Salad – this was more like a seasoned rice paper snack in a bag – which was essentially rice paper strips as well as chilli powder and other seasoning.  I had seen it on many vlogs and YouTube videos on Vietnamese street food, and I was disappointed.  It was hard, the texture was weird, and it only got soft after you chewed it for a bit – I guess I would liken it to chewing rice paper 😂.

(4) Rượu rắn – Cobra Snake Wine – an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. The snakes, preferably venomous ones, are not usually preserved for their meat but to have their “essence” and snake venom dissolved in the liquor. The snake venom poses no threat to the drinker. It is denatured by the ethanol – its proteins are unfolded and therefore inactive, and would be denatured by stomach acid anyway.  It was good just to say I’ve tried it, but I just couldn’t imagine sipping on this  – it tasted more like tequila than wine to me (and I loathe tequila).

(5) Sweet Snails with Lemongrass – oc huong hap xa – not a dish I was particularly fond of.  They say half the fun is extracting the hot cooked snails from their shells (who actually says that?) – I did not find it fun or tasty.  I’ve had snails here in Canada, but we cook them with lots of garlic and butter and out of the shell.  Even here, I don’t LOVE them, but I liked them less in Vietnam.  They were chewy in texture, especially the head and had little to no taste.  It was decent enough to try, but I won’t order them – thankfully, I was offered one by a girl I met who ordered an entire plate – she loves them 🤢

---

Things I Really Enjoyed

Places to Visit:

I can’t pick just 2 places I loved to visit — I really enjoyed every place I chose to visit for different reasons.  Some were for beauty, some for historical importance or significance, and others for simple relaxation.  There wasn’t a moment that I didn’t enjoy being in Vietnam.  The sights, the sounds, the culture, the people and the food ♥️.

For things to do, I would suggest the following as they were my top places, but truly, I loved every place I went, so you can’t go wrong:

• Hoi An – all of the silk lanterns at night were gorgeous, and the ancient town is a fabulous place to visit.   See my blog on Hoi An here for more details on things to do and see.
• Cu Chi Tunnels – outside of HCMC – you’ll learn about its important role in the Vietnam War, the daily struggles of its inhabitants, as well as the ingenious strategies and weapons that were used. Click my blog here for more about the tunnels.
• The War Remnants Museum – HCMC – sad and heartbreaking at times, but I would 10000% going to this while you’re in Saigon – it really gives you pause for thought
• Ha Long Bay and Ha Long City – WOW!  Spectacular views, scenic, breathtaking – I only did a day trip – but next time I go I’d like to do an overnight trip and sleep on the ship.  Click here to see more about my trip to Ha Long Bay and Ha Long City.
• Mekong Delta – this is what I think of when I think of Vietnam – this trip was priced right, 550K for 2 days, 1 night – hotel breakfast and lunch included as well as English speaking guide and A/C Bus, for more click my blog here.

---

Affordability:

For visitors from Canada, the cost of living in Vietnam felt incredibly reasonable. When I was there, the exchange rate was roughly 1 CAD to 17,000 VND, which made everyday expenses surprisingly affordable.

Most basic things are quite inexpensive for Western travelers. For example, beer typically ranged from 11,000 to 20,000 VND, depending on the brand and where you bought it. Larue was usually the cheapest—and luckily, also one of my favorites. Other common beers included 333, Saigon, and Tiger, but my absolute favorite was Tiger Crystal in a bottle. (I could go for one of those right now!)

Most street foods ranged between 10K and 70K – bánh mì was always on the low end at about 10-20K, as was cơm tấm at about 15-20K

Everyday Costs

Basic essentials in Vietnam are surprisingly affordable for a traveler used to Canadian prices.

• Water: A 1.5L bottle cost around 10,000–20,000 VND, depending on where you bought it.
• Transportation: Grab taxis are very budget-friendly. For comparison, my local sitting rate in Canada is around $3.80 just to enter a taxi—by Grab in Vietnam, that could cover an entire trip! Traditional taxis are slightly more expensive and can be less predictable on pricing.
• Fresh fruit: Street carts make fresh fruit easy and inexpensive. Pineapple went for about 10,000 VND, while jackfruit and a quarter of a watermelon were around 50,000 VND each. You’ll often see multiple fruit carts on the same street corner.
• Iced coffee: Usually 10,000–25,000 VND, depending on whether you stopped at a street stall or a chain café.
• Hotels: Even the nicest hotels were extremely reasonable—the priciest one I stayed in cost just 17 CAD per night.
• Some days, my total expenses—including hotel—were less than 20 CAD!

Below is a list of everyday items and their approximate prices in VND. Remember, 1 CAD ≈ 17,000 VND, so even simple purchases feel incredibly accessible.

---

Things I Wish Were Different

HONKING

What I could have done without? The HONKING. Seriously. They honk at and for everything.

Back home in North America, honking usually means something important—“Hey, you’re drifting into my lane,” “Come on, the light’s green!” or even “I’m at your house, let’s go.” But in Vietnam, honking is a language of its own. It signals everything: I’m here, watch out, I’m behind you, move over, get out of my way, I said get out of my way 😜, I’m not stopping, go already, I’m turning…

It’s so loud and constant that people just seem to accept it. I imagine asking someone not to honk would be futile—somewhere along the line, it’s become habitual and a major source of noise pollution. It can really get under your skin when drivers keep pressing the horn for no apparent reason.

Most days, I managed to tune it out. But there was one moment I was on the verge of screaming, “Please, for the love of God, stop effin’ honking!” I ended up meditating when I got back to the hotel instead, and the feeling passed 😂.

---

LACK OF RULES OF THE ROAD

In certain parts of Vietnam, there weren’t any traffic lights or signs – it just seemed like a free-for-all – some type of organized chaos that I wasn’t privy to – but somehow works, I don’t know how, but it does!

I’ve literally seen people drive on sidewalks rather than waiting in congestion.

The Vietnamese don’t often obey the traffic lights or signs when there are any – they seem more like suggestions than an actual legal traffic requirement.

Traffic moves in all possible directions, no matter if it’s a sidewalk, a pedestrian street, an alley obviously too narrow for a motorbike – I’ve also seen on many occasions traffic flowing in the WRONG direction – YEP – coming at you when it’s clearly a one-way street!

Pedestrians:  Forget all the standard rules of crossing the street; the Vietnamese don’t seem to have a culture of respecting pedestrians. Pedestrian crosswalks are rare, and if they do exist, they are ignored. Crossing the street for a pedestrian is like a game of chicken each time! You learn to have faith. You start to walk and hope that the motorcycles and cars that run in both directions will avoid you. I became a pro at it very quickly – I look, I go, and I watch – they will usually manoeuvre around me.

Also, they park on the sidewalks (which is customary there).  So walking can be a pain from time to time as you’re constantly switching from road to sidewalk, back to road, etc.

---

LITTERING

When I first arrived in Vietnam, I was struck by its beauty.  However, as I started exploring, I came across a lot of litter on the ground in Ha Noi.  I thought it was initially just Ha Noi, but as I explored, I noticed that even in remote regions, I always came across large areas that were inexplicably strewn with trash. The litter consisted mostly of plastic bags, plastic bottles, beer cans, leftover food containers/items and plain old garbage. I didn’t get it!  The trash wasn’t piled up, awaiting collection at the side of the road; it was spread around, over large areas and in natural beauty areas such as river beds, beaches, etc. Thousands of locations all over the country are now utterly ruined by trash. It’s sad, disappointing and infuriating.

These are just SOME of the pics I took – I only started taking photos of this in my last few days in the country. I could have taken dozens more.

Very few people bothered to clean up after themselves – I would see people open items and then just toss the wrappers on the sidewalk. I was told by my tour guide to just put my litter in the gutter while I was in HCMC (which I absolutely did not) and a local once brought it to my attention that I had “garbage” in my back pocket – I put the wrappers there because I could not bring myself to just toss them on the ground – it just goes against everything we’re taught here in Canada and most certainly for me as an environmentalist.

I can’t even recall seeing trash bins; if there were any, they certainly weren’t prominent enough to stand out, given I was carrying my personal trash with me.  If they were more available, would people even use them?  Click here to read an article by Forbes Magazine on Vietnam’s littering epidemic.

---

Things I’d Still Like to Do

• Head to Sapa to discover the spectacular scenery of the Tonkinese Alps, where Montagnard hill tribes have lived for centuries.
• Ninh Binh is a good base for exploring quintessentially Vietnamese limestone
• Ha Giang is a beautiful destination located in the Northwest Highlands. scenery.
• Ban Gioc Waterfall – the most famous place in Cao Bang province, the landscape is dominated by limestone hills.
• I hear you can opt to skip out on Halong Bay (which is touristy) and head over to Bai Tu Long instead. Located north-east of Halong Bay, this area can stretch up to 100 km to the Chinese border.
• Co To is an island located in the middle of the sea in Quang Ninh Province, a beautiful island with fine white sand and blue water
• Nam Du is one of the islands in the Nam Du archipelago. It’s about 60 km from the mainland. Nam Du is beautiful, pristine and peaceful with beaches.
• Kon Tum province of the Central Highlands has a border crossing with Laos and Cambodia, also known as the Indochina Fork.

These are just some of the MANY MANY places I’d still like to visit in Vietnam – I chose most of these places specifically because they were less touristy and would allow me to truly explore the country and all that it has to offer.

---

Conclusion

Overall, while Vietnam has its quirks that it’s still trying to iron out, I still very much like the country.  I’ve had nothing but positive experiences there.  I’ve heard others have mixed reviews, and others have nothing but negatives.  I suppose part of it can be attributed to the way you prepare for your trip and how you’ve set your expectations … and the way you choose to look at the experience.  True,  you may get scammed – then try not to put yourself in a situation where you may be – book only with reputable companies, ones that come recommended to you by others.  You may get pick-pocketed – well, that can happen anywhere in the world, not just Vietnam.  Yes, they will try to overcharge you on items – they’re trying to make a living – do you know how much they make and live on? What’s an extra 50 cents or a dollar to me in the grand scheme of things?

It’s not a country without its share of faults, but it is an emerging country trying to change its past global footprint. They are now posting anti-littering signs, and I hear that police are trying to enforce non-littering (that I have yet to see).

Some ex-pats and locals who are passionate about the cause gather groups and clean beaches, neighbourhoods and streets.

Certain restaurants are now committed to recycling – when I saw this at one café in Saigon, I wanted to hug the owner.

At an ex-pat green market I attended (in D2 Saigon) they were focusing on the sale of reusable items – such as water bottles (it’s not common there to use reusable water bottles as we do in most other places in the world).  They also focused on eliminating the need for single-use masks by creating cloth ones.  There were also reusable cloth coffee holders for your motorcycle.  I know this is probably hard to understand for us, but because everyone travels by motorbike, they actually sell you your coffee and put it in a plastic bag or plastic cup carrier (single-use) so people can hook it onto their bikes when they drive – more plastic waste.  EVERYTHING comes in a plastic bag.  They looked shocked when I would tell them “no bag” cause I had my Herschel knapsack with me.

Think of what changes could be made IF every person used a reusable bag, had a cloth mask, used a reusable cloth coffee carrier and water bottle!