Thursday 14 August 2014

Vietnam #1

South East Asia was on my bucket list, as I think it is for a lot of people but I never imagined I would have the chance to visit quite so soon. My best friend is off travelling around the world for 15 months beginning in Asia so I couldn't ignore the idea of visiting her along the way. Vietnam was thrown into a conversation one evening and it was set, I would be flying out to see her for 2 weeks to explore the country from Hanoi all the way down to Ho Chi Minh City in the South.



On previous trips we have organised everything down to a T from transport to hotels to day trips. This time we decided to be more relaxed and we planned as we went, booking sleeper buses and hostels from recommendations we heard along the way. This meant that if we wanted to stay somewhere for longer because we loved the city or wanted to put off a long journey for lazy purposes then we could.

It was the most fun (and most humid) two weeks so I wanted to jot down a few pointers for people thinking of traveling to this side of the world. Things that I found helpful and things that I wish I had taken!

1. Injections
Arrgghh. Not what you want to be thinking of when you're planning an exciting holiday. Going to Vietnam I needed a Hepatitis A and Typhoid inoculation. These were done on the NHS free of charge and I was lucky enough not to need to splash out on Malaria tablets as we were sticking to the East coast. Make sure you read up on what you do and don't need, different nurses may give you different options.

2. Rucksack with a front opening
Ok, so this is more of a luxury than a necessity. Rummaging around in a 6 person dorm at 2 in the morning trying desperately trying to find your toothbrush and toothpaste is not the one. I invested in a rucksack which I could open from the front so I could see everything in the bag. I like to think I'm a patient person but not being able to locate something in my bag easily and quickly is something I like to avoid. I bought this lovely Lowe Alpine number. God bless you little huge bag.

3. A good camera
My biggest regret is not taking my Canon 500D D SLR. I decided to pack light and was worried that my camera would get damaged or stolen as we were staying in hostels and had numerous sleeper bus journeys. If I could go back I would definitely pack this camera - The quality absolutely outweighs the pain it would have been to carry around everywhere. If like me you love taking photographs and documenting your journeys then don't even hesitate to take the best camera you own!

4. Write down & listen to recommendations
Going without a plan is exciting and spontaneous. That is until you have to decide the next stop and have no idea where to go or stay. We chatted to a lot of people we met in our hostels who had already done the journey we were planning to do and this was a great opportunity to get recommendations of great places to stay and where to avoid! This is not only a sociable way of meeting people but it also saves time and attempting to find WiFi for researching purposes.

5. Money App
Getting money out for the first time in Vietnam there was slight confusion to say the least. The currency is so huge with 35,000 dong equating to £1 so paying 100,000 dong to get a bus to our hotel I felt like I was being robbed. To save time and embarrassment in restaurants and shops I used the XE currency app which meant I could work out how much I was spending with the click of a button.

A few handy hints and tips here to make your trip that little bit smoother!

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