Why Traveling to Vietnam Is WORTH IT - 7 Day Northern Vietnam Travel Guide & Tips 2023

Vietnam is a land of intricate Beauty and Rich culture the country's complex history has left its mark on the people food and their way of life no moment is ever taken for granted which is made clear about the warm and hard-working Hospitality of the Vietnamese people from the UNESCO world heritage side of Ha Long Bay to the picturesque and peaceful Rice Terraces of Sapa Northern Vietnam is sure to Captivate and Inspire come with us as we experience this beautiful country for the first time and show you how to plan the perfect trip to Northern Vietnam [Music] with a lot of stress going on at home from moving to a new apartment and changing jobs Jason and I were feeling frazzled and disconnected living in a city we sometimes get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we have little time to truly appreciate the beauty and power of Mother Nature we picked Northern Vietnam as a travel destination where we could truly connect with nature and forget for a moment the stresses of our everyday life we started our trip to Vietnam by flying from Seattle to Seoul and then from Seoul over to Vietnam we arrived at 8 50 pm and headed straight to our hotel in the old quarter of Hanoi where we hit the hay early exhausted from our 19-hour travel day the next day we woke up early and enjoyed a delicious Vietnamese breakfast the complimentary breakfast at hotel chains across Vietnam is fantastic every hotel that we stayed at offered to prepare fresh Pho or other traditional Vietnamese dishes at no additional cost jumping into the bold and fresh flavors of Vietnamese cuisine with breakfast was a great way to start our day after breakfast we hopped on a bus to the small city of ninbin located just an hour and a half south of Hanoi nimbin is known as the Ha Long Bay of land as everywhere you go you're surrounded by steep Limestone Cliffs with luscious Greenery and rivers throughout [Music] upon arriving we went on a beautiful bike ride to the ancient capital of Vietnam where we stopped at a beautiful temple in honor of Vietnam's first emperor [Music] after learning more about Vietnam's ancient history we continued our bike ride through the beautiful rice fields to another Buddhist temple a fantastic way to jump straight into our travel and learn more about the history and culture of this amazing country after finishing our ride we stopped for lunch and then headed to what may have been one of the most anticipated parts of the trip Trang on [Music] Trung on is a tranquil and magical Wonderland of towering Limestone Cliffs winding rivers and lush green forests that seem to stretch on forever this UNESCO world heritage site offers a glimpse into a world Untouched by time through the river surrounded by rice fields and Limestone Cliffs was the perfect way for us to forget about our worries and connect with nature our final stop in nimman was a hangwa cave the hike to the top of this Limestone cave is steep but rewarding and took us just over 15 minutes with a few stops to take in the views if we were not already breathless by the time we got to the top The View certainly would have taken our breath away at the top we had a panoramic view of ninbin and the stunning Limestone Cliffs rivers and emerald green rice paddies that stretch as far as I can see there's even an awesome dragon on top which is a great place to snap a photo after our hike we ended the night at the train on Inca Lodge which is nestled against the Limestone Cliffs and was a Serene place to relax and enjoy the rest of our evening in the Tranquil city of Minden [Music] thank you [Music] the next morning we hopped on a bus to the iconic Ha Long Bay ever since I was young I have wanted to visit Ha Long Bay pictures of the Limestone Cliffs Shooting up from the emerald green water look like they're from another planet excited to experience this for myself the four-hour bus ride felt like an eternity once we arrived we checked into a spear cruises and soon boarded our home for the next three days [Music] thank you selecting a cruise is not an easy experience as there are over 300 different cruises going at one time we absolutely loved our cruise with the Spira but everyone else we talked to also love their cruises Our advice When selecting a cruise is to prioritize for activities you want to do and not worry too much about the other factors as it's really hard to go wrong our Jaws dropped as we begin our journey through halong Bay and were served a delicious buffet lunch after lunch we enjoyed the beautiful views while sailing through what may be one of the world's most unique landscapes we spent the evening kayaking swimming in the water and just relaxing enjoying the Serene atmosphere [Music] thank you [Music] we woke up looking out to some of the most incredible views outside our window we started the morning with Vietnamese tai chi on top of the boat which was an incredibly peaceful way to start our day and reconnect with our bodies [Music] after another delicious buffet breakfast we headed on to the day boat this smaller boat allowed us to travel to some of the more hard to get parts of Ha Long Bay and make an anticipated stop on Capa Island as we sailed through the narrow inlets of Ha Long Bay the sun was out and we enjoyed spectacular views while learning about the local fishing economy and the floating houses that the fishermen live in [Music] upon arriving on Kappa Island we hopped on bikes and rode five kilometers to the nearby Village the bike ride was absolutely beautiful as we were surrounded by water luscious foliage and countless butterflies [Music] after arriving at the Village we learned some of the history of the island got a fish foot massage and took a tour of a traditional clay house [Music] Kappa island has historically served as an important trade hub for Vietnam and has been a place of Refuge for people in the fishing villages fleeing various conflicts through time it was a beautiful place to visit and provided a glimpse into what a more rural Vietnamese lifestyle may have looked like after kappa Island we had a delicious lunch and headed to a local fishing Village to get a glimpse of what living on the water was like the fishing Village was incredibly cool to see and some of the fish that were growing were huge after checking out the village we topped off the afternoon with some more kayaking [Music] after exploring we headed back to the main cruise ship to enjoy an evening relaxing and taking in the views that evening before dinner we attended a cooking class on board where we learned how to make Vietnamese spring rolls which was surprisingly easy after another gourmet dinner we headed to bed exhausted from our action-packed adventure on Ha Long Bay [Music] we woke up early to more incredible views just right outside our window we were feeling sad it was our last day on how long bay being surrounded by such natural beauty felt like a dream we had to keep pausing and reminding ourselves that this was real life if you are planning a trip to Ha Long Bay we would highly recommend taking a two-night three-day cruise instead of a two-night one day cruise we would also recommend planning to visit in the fall when the visibility is best while the views are still spectacular they were a little bit muted by the springtime Haze after kayaking a bit more and enjoying our last meal on the ship we headed back to the harbor and boarded a three and a half hour bus ride back to Hanoi when we arrived in Hanoi we walked around a bit and took in the sights after our peaceful three days in halong Bay this was quite the culture shock but we thoroughly enjoyed it change truly is the seasoning of Life walking down the streets of Hanoi we felt like we were transported back in time yet simultaneously propelled into the future [Music] after exploring a bit we started our three-hour food tour which was absolutely delicious in our tour we tried bancoon fun noodles without broth bonami dried beef salad jackfruit some of the famous snail soup recommended by Anthony Bourdain an egg whipped hot chocolate which was incredible [Music] it was truly a pleasure getting to watch the skillful preparation of the dish and then getting to try it foreign as a bonus everything was so cheap all the food we tried came out to be less than 10 US dollars while this wasn't the purpose of our trip to Vietnam our food tour in Hanoi turned out to be one of the highlights so we just finished our food tour in Hanoi and it was amazing honestly like the food was so unique so delicious so good and things I never would have tried if I didn't go in the food tour so seriously definitely something you have to do if you come to Hanoi with our stomachs full and our Spirits High we made our way to the train station in Hanoi in order to take an overnight train to the next part of our adventure good [Music] we took the Choppa Express which departs daily from Hanoi at 10 pm and arrives in lokai at 5 55 a.m for us this was a super fun and convenient way to travel up north to Sapa despite a lot of movement in the cab we slept surprisingly well and arrived well rested for our first day in Sapa [Music] after arriving in Lao Kai we took a taxi to our hotel in Sapa the drive to Sapa was absolutely beautiful Rachel and I were blown away with the breathtaking natural beauty all around us the Misty Mountains were draped in a veil of clouds which felt mystical as we drove above the clouds and looked down on the Rolling Hills of Rice Terraces we both agreed that this had to be one of the most beautiful drives that we had ever been on [Music] thank you [Applause] we stayed at the topaz eco Lodge in Sapa which was enchanting located on the Cliffside this Resort offered incredible panoramic views of the emerald green Rice Terraces and teeny wooden houses which seemed like they were one with the Earth [Music] throughout our entire stay we never got tired of taking a deep breath and looking out to enjoy The View [Music] after relaxing and enjoying the views from our hotel we headed into the town of Sapa to experience what traditional Rural Life in Vietnam was like in cat cat Village nestled in the valley CatCat Village felt like a place that was frozen in time the traditional wooden architecture built against the mountains and the running River was stunning we couldn't help but feel like we were transported back to the 19th century as we explored the village [Music] thank you [Music] after cat cat Village we took a motorbike back up to Sapa where we got dinner before heading back early to our hotel to get a much needed full night of sleep [Music] the next morning we woke up and enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the hotel after breakfast we were picked up by a local guide who took us on a hike through the stunning Rice Terraces into a local Village at the bottom of the valley the hike was absolutely beautiful with rivers birds chirping and flowers blooming everywhere we thoroughly enjoyed walking and talking to our guide about what life in Sapa and the neighboring Villages was like along with some of the challenges they faced we also learned that to our unbelief the views would be even more beautiful in August when the rice was in full Harvest this was yet another reason for us to come back and visit Vietnam again [Music] foreign [Music] we were given a delicious lunch at the topaz River Lodge and then shown a local house before heading back to the hotel it was a humbling experience to see and learn from overall our hike through the backcountry of Sapa was truly one of the highlights of the trip it was a personal dream of mine to hike through Rice Terraces and I couldn't help but Smile as we did it this was truly a beautiful way to connect with nature and Jason and I both finished the hike feeling more refreshed than when we started after our tour we hopped on a bus and headed back to Hanoi for our flight the next day as we drove back we reflected on our trip in the enchanting country of Vietnam as we say travel is a privilege our trip to Vietnam broadened our perspectives and helped us learn more about how we can become the best version of ourselves we truly love feeling connected with nature refreshed and ready to tackle the big life changes that awaited us at home Vietnam surprised Us in more ways than one a country that has gone through so much hardship in the past was to our surprise so warm and welcoming this was a true highlight of the trip the food was also absolutely incredible and we have a new respect for the art form that is Vietnamese Street Food these factors combined with a stunning natural beauty everywhere throughout the country made for a trip that we will never forget as always we can't recommend enough taking a trip to Vietnam and experiencing all that it has to offer for yourself [Music] hey everyone thanks so much for watching we hope you enjoyed the video if you did it would really help us out if you gave it a like and subscribed we have tons more travel content we're excited to show you as always we hope you have an amazing day foreign

Channel: Jaychel

Views: 534,405

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Id: bRCTrt_X4hY

Length: 18min 33sec (1113 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 26 2023