I decided to go from Saigon to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) through the Mekong Delta. It was interesting to see the houses and businesses on the rivers. After two days we reached Cambodian border.

Three weeks in Vietnam were very hectic for me. The cities were crowded and filled with motorbikes. The people were harassing the tourists most of the time. It would probably have been a better experience if I had visited more of the Vietnamese country side.

My second flight with Vietnam airlines was from Danang (in the centre of Vietnam) to Saigon (in the south). I spend two rainy days in Saigon, nowadays called Ho Chi Minh City. I went to the War Remnants museum and the Reunification Palace, to soak up some history.

Hué, in the centre of Vietnam, served as a political capital under the 13 emperors of the Nguyen dynasty. Nowadays the tombs of the emperors can be visited. I wandered around at the Citadel (including its forbidden city) and the royal tombs. 

I flew from Hanoi to Danang and continued the next day to Hoi An. This pleasant city has a beautiful old town with a few interesting sites a.o. the Japanese Covered Bridge. I stayed in Hoi An for a couple of days.

After being in the mountains for a long time (Thailand, Laos, northern Vietnam), I was in need of some beachtime. I rented a bike and biked to the nearby beaches. In the evenings I had diner at my favourite restaurant: Café des Amis.

The most touristy place in Vietnam is probably Sapa, in the northern mountains. Many traditional hill tribes are living in small villages between the rice fields, which made it a perfect place for taking beautiful pictures. Quite annoying were the hill tribe women who accompanied us during our walking tour. We were claimed by them and they desperately were trying to sell us their goods.

I did a tour to Halong Bay. This Unesco World Heritage site consists of over 3000 little islands in the sea. It is a beautiful scenery. We were sailing along all the karst peaks in the water for three days. We stayed one night on the boat and one night on Cat Ba island.

Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam. I shared a taxi from the airport to the old quarter and arranged a hotel room. I enjoyed walking around the Hoan Kiem lake in the old quarter, where many people where doing their morning exercises. Walking the city was tough because of the crazy amount of motor bikes on the streets. I still managed to visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and the Hoa Lo Prison museum. The memories of the Vietnam war were still alive in this museum. I used Hanoi as a base to explore Sapa (in the northern mountains) and Halong Bay (at sea).