Have been traveling in Vietnam for one and a half month.

From Hué to Da Nang to Hoi An to Qyu Nhon to Nha Trang to Saigon.

Hoi An sucks af but the rest of my trip was pretty amazing.

That country is fantastic. Really beautiful.

I heard the stories about vietnamese people being rude and trying to scam you any chance they get.

This is such BS.

I had the best deals ever in this country.

Like 10 dollars hotels the level of 20-30 dollars hotels in Thailand or Malaysia.

Such good value for money.

Food is super cheap too and taste lovely.

Anyways. Just sharing my experience if anyone is thinking about visiting.

43 minutes ago, MrPancake said:

heard the stories about vietnamese people being rude and trying to scam you any chance they get.

This is such BS.

Not BS, I experienced it, but over the years it got less and less. 1998 I heard same stories, I went there 2009 same scams in lonely planet were being pulled, hopefully by now they've become more honest

Agree about Hoi An, nice old townm but every building is now a coffe shop, resturant, art shop and being hassled to buy as you walk down the street. Would not recommend. Though I did not want to go to Ba Na Hills (wife wanted to) so we went, the cable car ride by itself was worth putting up with the imatation french village etc. 

Da Nang is great and highly recommend the city Hue, a couple of hours by road. Would not recommend the train, van is better.

57 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Not BS, I experienced it, but over the years it got less and less. 1998 I heard same stories, I went there 2009 same scams in lonely planet were being pulled, hopefully by now they've become more honest

 

Now it is BS I can guarantee.

I stayed there for 45 days. Zero scam attempt.

High season might be when things go south though...

i liked vietnam. lived in hanoi back when they gave out business visas. the coffee is good. it's a sea of gorgeous women everywhere you go.

Just now, JimTripper said:

no long term retirement visa

 

I've heard about that on AN so I asked around.

An old british guy told me they were working on it.

Coming up soon.

I want to go

I don't love it, but it's not Vietnam's fault:

 

-Less Buddhist and less Sanuk attitude

-Food's a little boring; hard to dodge soup and spring rolls. My least fave SEA food.

-The traffic kills it (including the boat traffic in Han Long Bay)

-dodgy visa that wasn't delivered on time (use an agent)

 

What I liked: 

-Sapa, the train system, Hue (very under-rated), communist monuments, Hoi An (worth 2 days, still), cocktail culture.

 

Still want to do, but will prob be a bit underwhelmed:

 

The beach, boat trip from the delta to Phenom Penh, Dalat.

 

If I go again, it would prob be back to the North only.

 

Getting back to Chiang Mai overland is a rough, strange week on the road.