In 2018, myself and a group of 8 friends – with most of us having met one another through various kickball leagues – traveled to Thailand and Vietnam over most of December and New Years. The group changed in size a few times over the course of the trip – due mostly to its sheer length– and the goals of the trip varied for each individual with one couple that went even using the trip as their honeymoon. Also fun: each of us were fairly new to Denver, and all of us were from totally different states, including Iowa, New Mexico, and Washington, which ensured that the group had a nice mixture of different backgrounds.

For my portion of the trip, I was lucky enough to make it almost a month, most of which was spent in Vietnam. I did get to stay for a little bit in Thailand, but unfortunately, I don’t have many notes for it, and would like to go back. Also – my girlfriend spent 3 months traveling Asia said that the diving was some of the best she’d ever experienced. So take that for what you will.

Initially, we flew into Ho Chi Minh City, which I found to be the most “modern” of the cities we would visit in Vietnam. Just a warning: if Ho Chi Minh City represents your first time traveling abroad, the motorbikes – specifically, the sheer NUMBER and SPEED of them – will likely overwhelm you…they certainly did for me. No joke – there don’t appear to be any rules for how many or how fast they can go. It’s quite something. But hey – it seems to work for everyone. In my time in Ho Chi Minh City, I only saw one accident, although I’m sure there must be MANY more on a regular basis. We ended up spending New Years Eve there, where we were lucky enough to share in much of the night life (which is quite something). It was a total blast.

Over the course of the trip, we visited a variety of other towns and cities, including Hoi An, a midsized beach town, which shares a chill vibe and a much slower pace than Ho Chi Minh City. Also cool: the town features a river canal, which is full of lantern boats that you can rent for a cruise at your leisure – SO much fun. Or, if water isn’t your thing, a rickshaw will gladly carry your lazy ass around. That’s actually pretty fun too.

Another city we visited, Da Nang, was the largest one we visited, and acted as a good “halfway point,” particularly if you are motorbiking cross country. One thing to keep an eye out for: the “Dragon Bridge” in Da Nang does a show each night, which alternates between spitting water and fire at one end – it’s amazing, and totally worth checking out (fair warning, though: it gets busy on the bridge, so if you do go, be sure to get there early). We figured the view of the show wouldn’t be ideal, so we walked a bit down the river bank, then popped up our drone to watch it from the air. We were able to see the entirety of the show this way – it was 100% the right call.

Ha Long Bay is one of the most touristy places in the entire country, and definitely for a good reason – it’s absolutely beautiful and located directly on the water. We ended up booking a one-night boat stay, which was a total blast…except for the huge numbers of speedsters out on the water with us (honestly, I would have stayed two nights on the boat, just to get away from the initial rush out of the harbor. Dozens and dozens of boats seemingly take a shotgun start out of the harbor at full speed. It’s cool, but also pretty intense…and loud).

Also cool: the tour bus in and out of Ha Long Bay, which stops at a variety of interesting locales, including various local trinket stores. It was at one of these stores that I ended up buying a fabric picture of a large tree (hand weaving these photo recreations can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a year, with pictures range in size from that of a large postcard to a few dozen feet long. The detail is stunning). We ended up negotiating a group price and were able to get it for a decent amount – it was totally worth it and its in my office to this day.

One of the stops on the boat is to the trailhead of a path that culminates in an AMAZING 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside views, as well as a huge island cave. Even with weather that was less than ideal – when we went, the clouds were particularly low-hanging, and there was quite a bit of fog in the air – the scenery was never less than stunning.

This trip was also responsible for what providing me what is EASILY one of my favorite memories to date (and not to mention, easily one of my top three hangovers of all time, too). It happened the night we stayed on the boat: after eating dinner as a group, most everyone went to bed, except for myself and one of my friends – let’s call him “Matt” (since his name IS actually Matt). The two of us stayed up chatting for a while in the dining room, and eventually decided to call it a night. On the way down to our rooms, we heard some music and chattering from behind a closed door at the end of the hall, by the engine room. Being the curious animals that we are, Matt and I decided to investigate, and upon looking through the door’s porthole, we saw 4-5 members of the crew sitting together, eating dinner with two French men (who we happened to be sharing the boat with). Thankfully, most of the crew spoke enough French – and in turn, the Frenchies spoke just enough English – to allow for all of us to understand one another.

The crew had a “hot pot” of sorts, which they kept adding to as they ate; they also had – interestingly – “homemade” rice wine in 5-liter jars. They also had a device on hand that Matt and I were convinced was filled with opium…despite their persistent claims to the contrary.  I will say this: when it came time for breakfast the next morning, both Matt and I were…let’s just say, NOT in tiptop shape. No joke – I think it legit took a full 72 hours for my body to properly process the concoctions and poor decisions of that evening. Still – it was totally worth it, and an amazing memory.

Anyway…

We also visited Hanoi, the present-day capital, which possessed a much older feeling, with traditional food and building districts. We found the street vendors there to be a bit of a gamble, but, on the flipside, Hanoi featured EASILY some of the best food we ate on the trip. (Also, just FYI: be sure to take a walk in the city center, as well around the lake. It’s totally worth it).

The Verdict: Vietnam was so good I had to go back. Will cover that in another post however. The food is probably my favorite of any ethnic background and the people are some of the kindest you will ever meet. Renting a motorbike is a must for portions of your travels and exploring every corner of the country a must.