Name: NEW! 10 Days in VIETNAM: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh, Hue | Full Travel Vlog & Guide
Uploaded: 2021-06-19T01:31:48.000Z
Duration: 27 min 31 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Vietnam. It's a country, not a war. And what a country it is.

Earlier last year, we spent 10 unforgettable days in this beautiful part of the world. 10 days of mouth watering

cuisine, epic countryside, a town full of lanterns, historic tombs of past Emperor's,

beaches, custom fitted dresses and beaches. In this video, we'll be taking you through

our time here, along with places we would recommend, trips that are worth checking out,

and how to make sure you return in one piece.

If you're new here, then welcome. We make travel movies from around the world, hoping

you might just find your next holiday inspiration. This is Suitcase Monkey spending 10 full days

We arrived early morning into Hanoi. Its location provides the perfect

starting point to travel the country north to south.

Hanoi is Vietnams capital and second largest city, where we would be spending our first

2 days. Still suffering jet lag, we stuffed our mouths with Pho, then started to explore

Right in the middle of the city, is this Notre Dam inspired church. St Joseph's Cathedral

was one of the first structures built by the French and is a reminder of the hostile takeover

in the 1850s. This would be the first of many time capsules we'd see on our trip. We actually

returned to this spot for our second evening, which allowed us to sample some of Hanoi's

Hanoi certainly lends itself to a walking city, that is, if you can avoid being run

over by a million motorbikes or in one instance, a train. This Instagram wonder sees homes,

bars and cafes packed along either side of a single train track. Even though this street

has become a little cliche to visit, it's a really unique experience and the friendly

service from our mother and daughter hosts was both attentive and fun. The trains only

run a handful of times each day so consult a timetable if you want to see a train pass

As night settled into the city, we mostly stayed around the Old Quarter and enjoyed

our first of many Vietnamese massages on this trip. But it was this street that we returned

to on both nights, not just for its vibrancy, but the sheer quantity of great smelling street

food restaurants. On our first night we rediscovered the magic of sitting in a chair made for 6

six year olds and our second night, 5 doors down, we loved this mini BBQ right on our

By this point, we'd relaxed well Vietnams city life - beer, coffee, massages and feasts.

So we thought it was now about time to also relax into its nature.

100 miles east of Hanoi, is Ha Long Bay. Spread over 600 square miles, this massive area forms

a fabulous seascape of limestone pillars pushing out of the waters. Mostly uninhabited, these

1,600 islands and islets, as they're known, can be traced back 500 million years and are

themselves the main attraction. So of course what follows is the very human thing to do

and name these rocks after their obvious appearance. So be on the look out for the Fighting Cocks,

The most popular way to enjoy Ha Long Bay is to spend a night here on one of its many

boats. For the most part, they all offer a similar experience but the crew we had were

really welcoming. For the next 24 hours we were looked after incredibly well, with all

food included. The boat itself was rather grand in scale whilst still feeling intimate

but it was the view from our room that was the most peaceful.

(Loud Intercom playing - "Would you please gather at the reception..."

Well, peaceful until it was time to disembark.

After sanitising our hands with acid water, we boarded ship for a spring roll cooking

class, which actually went surprisingly well. Then the real chefs followed up by offered

this excellent serving. The next morning, the early wake up meant only one thing: A

group Thai Chi class to limber us all up, as our boat moved towards its final destination.

Although Ha Long Bay is most uninhabited, 4 fishing villages make up the majority of

its total population. For generations, around 1600 people called this part of Vietnam, home

with signs of humans doing so dating back 18,000 years.

the inhabitants built schools, shops, homes, and apparently even its own police force,

creating a beautiful self contained society. In recent years, due to a government directive,

most inhabitants of these villages have moved to the mainland, citing better education for

the young and environmental protection for this UNESCO World Heritage site.

Still, the fishing villages here are very real, with tourism now being their main source

of income. But travelling through this floating community is a breathtaking experience.

Once on land, we drove back to Hanoi Airport where we took a brief 1 hour domestic flight

to Hoi An. Now, in a move that's very unlike me, I'd done next to no research for this

part of the trip so upon checking in, had no idea what was waiting for us just around

the corner. After a spot of unpacking, we wondered into central Hoi An and were blown

away with what we saw. Over the next 3 nights, this would become my favourite place in all

our time here and somewhere you should definitely be adding to your list.

(Music builds with drums and positive intensity)

Once an important trading route for Chinese and Japanese merchants, Hoi An is fed by the

Thu Bon River. Despite its Old Town bursting with restaurants, markets and street food,

it still feels surprisingly laid back, thanks in part to its partial ban on motorbikes.

But despite its growing popularity, it still maintains some of its authenticity and traditions.

Influenced by those 16th Century Japanese traders, coloured lanterns would be placed

outside homes, in exchange for good luck. This has now become the calling card for Hoi

An, where glowing lanterns and flickering candles are placed on the river, with a wish

Situated along such a busy trading route, it's no surprise that Hoi An built an industry

around silks, suits and Ssss Dresses. A staggering 400 tailors fit into this tiny town, each

offering a personalised outfit, unique to your design choices and style. And that's

why we found ourselves on Chong Hung Dao, THE street for a one of a kind outfit. The

process was pretty simple: First, choose styles you like from literally thousands of photos.

Maybe you like the waist of this, the length of that, the neckline of the other. Stick

all of that together and you have your complete design. Now as I'm sure you can imagine,

this was all incredibly exciting for your narrator. Second, chose your cloth. This is

where we were levelled up and whisked away to the fabrics room where there is obviously

lots of talk about. And it was at this point that I questioned all decisions that had led

me to this moment. Fabrics, fabrics, fabrics, fabrics. Although brief, I did for a second

question that maybe, just maybe I myself wasn't bringing my full sexy A game. Ha, but that