My husband, Darrell, and I have been wanting to go to Vietnam with his family for years, and the opportunity finally came when his parents graciously gifted us two roundtrip plane tickets to Vietnam for our wedding gift! Darrell’s family is from Vietnam and he’s been back a few times, but this would be my first time going there and meeting his family that lives there. Darrell’s parents also planned on coming with us.
As we were planning this trip, my parents expressed interest in coming with us. The more the merrier, so we ended up bringing them along as well as Darrell’s sister and brother in law, Jen & Jon! Here’s an outline of our trip:
- Days 1-2: Nha Trang
- Day 3: Hanoi
- Day 4-5: Ha Long Bay
- Day 5-8: Da Nang
- Day 8-12: Nha Trang
Nha Trang
We started our trip in Nha Trang, and spent the most time there, because that’s where Darrell’s family is. Nha Trang is a fun coastal beach town in southern Vietnam with beautiful beaches. It’s also a huge resort town, with hotels lining the street that face the long stretch of beach.
On our first full day there, Darrell’s parents threw a dinner banquet with 60 of their family and friends. It was so special to see them interacting with their loved ones in their home country. I told Darrell that i’ve never seen his parents this happy before. It was a long night of talking, drinking, and eating SO much food! It was great to meet everyone and to spend time with family.
We stayed at the Mường Thanh Luxury Nha Trang Hotel and it was super nice! Our rooms had a beach and ocean view and it was so beautiful. They also provided a complimentary breakfast buffet every morning (it seems all hotels provide this in Vietnam!) with different types of pho, a made-to-order eggs station, and other Asian and American breakfast foods. I loved the tropical fruits they had; I ate dragon fruit and passionfruit every day.
My mom and I got gel manicures and gel pedicures on our second day there, and it was so cheap! For both, it was around $25 total. Too bad US prices can’t compare… Our nails also lasted us for around 5 weeks–the longest i’ve gone without anything breaking, ha! After our manis, we had the best bowl of pho EVER at Phở Hạnh Phúc. I could not believe the depth and flavor of the broth, and those silky fresh noodles! Packaged pho noodles are not a thing in Vietnam–fresh noodles are the way to go!
Hanoi
Our time in Hanoi was short and sweet, but we were still able to get a taste of the busy city! Filled with cars and scooters, Hanoi is really smoggy, but super lively. There seemed to be a lot more overseas tourists in Hanoi compared to Nha Trang, and a lot more restaurants tailored to tourists as well. We ate dinner at Vua Cha Ca, a restaurant that specialized in turmeric dill fried fish, which is absolutely delicious. The fish was seasoned with turmeric and fried with dill and an abundance of green onions. We ate it with vermicelli and shrimp paste and it was heavenly! We also had lau, which is Vietnamese hot pot. We had this a lot on the trip, and I remember the broth being hot and sour.
The next morning, we had our first bowl of Hanoi pho ga (chicken noodle soup). We walked along streets lined with poultry, beef, and other meats, to a restaurant that was on the third floor. We ate our pho ga with Vietnamese donuts, which soften up in the broth. I thought the broth and noodles were excellent, but the chicken was too chewy for my liking. After our breakfast, we walked quickly back to our airbnb so a private van could take us to our next destination: Ha Long Bay!
Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay was what I was most excited for on this trip. A UNESCO heritage site, Ha Long Bay is known for its towering limestone rocks and peaceful waters. We took a luxury 2 day, 1 night cruise with Doris Cruise. Originally I had done a lot of research and I wanted to go on the Genesis Regal Cruise, but it was already full by the time I booked! Lesson learned: book early if you want a specific cruise.
However, our experience on the Doris Cruise was top tier and I don’t regret it at all. We described it as “a vacation from our vacation” because it was so relaxing and serene on the ship! The staff was extremely friendly and I loved the plethora of activities that were planned. When we first made it on the ship, the views were awe inspiring! Before we checked in, we got to eat a delicious 5 course lunch in the dining room. We had papaya salad, grilled chicken skewers, spring rolls, and more. We had a large table next to the window as well. Now, time to check into our rooms!
Each cabin has a balcony and soaking tub to look out into the water. They even decorated some of our cabins with roses and towels in the shape of a swan! The bathroom was also super spacious. I haven’t been on a cruise in probably ten years, but this already seemed super luxurious to me. My parents are avid cruisers, and they were extremely impressed with this cruise. They wanted to stay on for another day or two!
I got to soak in the tub and read for a little, and then we heard an announcement that we were able to go kayaking. Darrell and I jumped at the chance to be up close to the limestone rocks, but oh my, kayaking was harder than we thought. We saw my parents in the distance and tried to catch up to them, but they were too fast, lol! Overall it was a super fun experience, and I loved that it was provided on the cruise for free. The workout also got us hungry for our buffet dinner. But first, happy hour with my parents and sister in law Jen! Drinks were buy one, get one free, so you could get two drinks for ~$8 USD–so cheap compared to US prices.
One thing I learned in Vietnam was that Vietnam does buffets RIGHT. All the buffets we had this trip had so many different food choices, drink choices, and desserts. The buffet on this night was full of BBQ skewers, from chicken and pork, to fish and squid. The squid was my favorite, it was flavorful and spicy. Of course, we finished off with some dragonfruit for dessert (and more cocktails, hehe).
The next morning was slow but eventful. We had our breakfast buffet in the early AMs, and then we actually took a boat to visit the Dark and Light Cave in Lan Ha Bay. A local tender rowed our sampan boat and it was so peaceful (especially since we didn’t have to kayak ourselves, like yesterday haha). The views were insane and we even made some new friends from Seattle on our row boat. Once we got back to our cruise ship, we had yet another buffet for lunch. We made our way back to the harbor and then we were off to the airport to go to the next city: Da Nang!
Link to where I booked Doris Cruise: https://www.halongbaytours.com/cruise/doris-cruise.html
And that’s a wrap on Part One! Part Two will cover Da Nang and our return to Nha Trang.
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