The trip was great. I highly recommend Hanoi, Hue, and HCMC. Hoi An is a bit overrated in my opinion and can easily be done in one day.

If you go to HCMC, try to avoid staying in District 1. It is essentially an overpriced tourist area. We stayed in Chinatown (District 5) and had a great time. Local markets, nice people, and some great food.

We only did one full day in Hue and wish we had spent a few more days there. Much more to see than Hoi An and less expensive too.

Hanoi was quite an experience. If you think they drive crazy in Bangkok you haven't been to Hanoi yet. Some wonderful food including egg coffee, nice people, and interesting sights to see. More time there would be great as well.

Overall we were very impressed with Vietnam and are looking forward to going back again.

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Hanoi is much better for your interests. Great photo taking opportunities all around, the best I have seen in an Asian city so far. It's gritty, real and the people don't have to like you. Lived there for 6 months or so. You will need some closed top shoes and a jacket if you go during the cold season.

Did not like Saigon much, but personal.

Hanoi is more like Chiang Mai,, Saigon like Bangkok.

Pay attention:

Avoiding contact with other tourists is a totally absurd, and counter-productive traveler attitude. You’ll get far more pertinent and useful “info” from other tourists (especially in the pack-packer hostels), than you’ll ever get from the locals, everywhere on this planet.

Let a word to the wise be sufficient .

Edited January 1, 201610 yr by TuskegeeBen

Which is fine, as long as you're happy to stay on the rather narrow backpacker trail and have the exact same experience as everyone else.

"We are mostly interested in food, culture, and photography rather than a bar scene or hanging out with mostly tourists."

Then I reccomend Hanoi

As most people. Hanoi is neither. It's the southeast version of Los Angeles in Nam, a toilet bowl filled traffic & overlooked violence. As a tourist best is the middle, starting with Hoi An. Check-in in Saigon, northern Vietnam, the predominate communist, hate-Americans' region is more busy (& having to be too alert) than fun.

You, sir, are talking rubbish. Even if it were true, that the Vietnamese hate Americans (wonder why that would possibly be ), no one (anywhere in Vietnam) will ever mistreat an American citizen. Unlike Thailand, the Vietnamese are a far more mature & less temperamental culture of people.

Edited January 1, 201610 yr by TuskegeeBen

I never got the impression that the Vietnamese hated Americans.

Now the French, on the other hand...

Which is fine, as long as you're happy to stay on the rather narrow backpacker trail and have the exact same experience as everyone else.

Again, taken “out of context”, as usual, I was previously referring to foreign travelers having a readily available forum (e.g., back-packer hostels), through which they could share their individual travel experiences with other travelers, while (of course) enjoying contact with the local indigenous people. Is my point abundantly clear to you, now? Is the more to be nit-picked? Huh? Whew!

No soibiker is right. Your original post is pure gibberish. Particularly laughable is your characterizing it as a word to the wise. Word to the foolish more likely.

The backpacker tourist is going to give you a cartoon version of the country. Of infinite more value would be a native who has a good command of the English language. If you can find and befriend one of those you're golden.

Genericnic: how about we let this stay open and I'll keep an eye on it????

Please, no more argumentative and off topic posts.

I'm in Sapa now having come from 3 days in Hanoi. People ask where I am from and I say USA and the reaction is the same as Thailand. No ill will is displayed though it might be understandable. And BTW, Sapa is well worth visiting and Hanoi is much easier to navigate than Bangkok. More traffic lights and wider, straighter streets. More like an old European city. But pedestrians beware.

Saigon

Da Nang

Hue

I just did the HCMC airport transfer by bus, before I had done Hanoi.

Prices: HCMC 20 K Hainoi 9 K - i understand they are upgrading their bus and charge a few cents more.

The Hanoi trip took 45-50 minutes to cover the long distance. HCMC was just 20 min at night tough.

In general, I tend to vote for Hanoi but that is just by a small margin. Both cities are much nicer than BKK imho. People addicted to BKK's mall-culture will have a hard time.