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Itineraries

Vietnam

Oct 2023 · 35 days

North to south on sleeper buses, with the best ₹80 meals of our lives and one very rainy Ha Long Bay.

Same trip as Indonesia.

14days
5cities
₹ 3,400per day, for two
5hostels

Sample chapter: the shape is real, the numbers and stories are placeholders until ours go in.

The route we took

  1. Hanoi

    4 nights · Old Quarter, egg coffee, a street food crawl

  2. Ha Long Bay

    1 night · the budget day boat, rain included

  3. Hue

    2 nights · imperial city on rented bicycles

  4. Hoi An

    4 nights · lantern town, one tailor, the beach

  5. Ho Chi Minh City

    3 nights · war museum, rooftop bia hoi
Overnight sleeper busReunification Express over the Hai Van passRented bicyclesOn foot, mostly
Vietnam, day1 of 14
Spent so far
Tank
Left of ₹ 47,600
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Day 5

Hue, on two rented bicycles

KKrina's version

The imperial city is huge and empty by 4pm. We cycled the moat twice because the second lap was free. Dinner was a bún bò Huế from a lady who laughed at how much chilli Niraj took. This was the day I stopped checking the budget every hour.

NNiraj's version

I took a normal amount of chilli. The bicycles had one working brake between them, which is a design choice. The imperial city is worth the ticket, the moat loop is worth more and costs nothing.

Day 5 receipt
Dorm beds for two₹ 1,050
Bicycle hire₹ 180
Imperial city tickets₹ 1,300
Food all day₹ 820
Day total₹ 3,350
Day 6

Hue to Hoi An over the Hai Van pass

KKrina's version

The one time we paid extra and would again. Sea on the left the whole way. I cried a bit, which Niraj says was the wind.

NNiraj's version

It was the wind. The train is slow and the seats are hard and it is the best ₹1,600 on this website. Sit on the left going south, I will keep saying this.

Day 6 receipt
Train over the pass for two₹ 1,600
Dorm beds for two₹ 1,100
Food₹ 760
Day total₹ 3,460
Day 7

Hoi An lanterns, and a tailor

KKrina's version

The lantern market is a photo trap and I fell into it happily. We found a tailor with a wobbly sign and ordered one shirt each, which is the most grown-up thing we have ever done on a trip.

NNiraj's version

The shirt fits. The lanterns are lovely for exactly twenty minutes, then you notice everyone is holding a phone. The bánh mì cart near [landmark] is the real attraction, the queue is the review.

Day 7 receipt
Dorm beds for two₹ 1,200
Bánh mì x4₹ 240
Tailor deposit₹ 1,250
Bicycles₹ 0
Dinner by the river₹ 520
Day total₹ 3,210
At the end of the chapter

Every rupee, day by day.

The tank shows what was left of the budget and what it would have bought. Scroll back up and it refills.

Try it with my budgetSee the full breakdown
Whose version do you believe?
He will bring this up.

The honest budget, twice

What two people spent per day, from our notes. Flip the switch and the whole thing rewrites itself for double the money: the same trip, with the upgrades we'd actually pick.

Sleep
8-bed dorm, Old QuarterFree breakfast, one shared bathroom, great people.₹ 1,100 a day
Food
Street stalls, all dayPlastic stools, ₹80 pho, the best meals of the trip.₹ 900 a day
Getting around
Sleeper buses and city busesReclining seats, petrol-station pho stops.₹ 650 a day
Things we paid to do
Day boat, tickets, bicyclesShared boat with 30 people. Rain not included.₹ 750 a day
Total for 14 days, for two₹ 47,600

Double the money buys you a better boat and a train view. It doesn't buy better food.

Sample figures until real receipts go in.

Where we slept

Only the places we'd book again. If you book through these links we earn a small commission and your price stays the same.

[Hostel name], Hanoi

Dorm from ₹ 550 per bed · free breakfast, rooftop, 8-bed dorms

"Best free breakfast of the trip."

Check prices on Hostelworld

[Hostel name], Hoi An

Dorm from ₹ 600 per bed · pool, free bicycles, family-run

"Cycle to the beach in 15 minutes."

Check prices on Hostelworld

Eat this, skip that

Straight from the notes app we kept on the bus. No sponsored restaurants, ever.

Eat this
  • Bún chả, [stall], Hanoi · ₹ 150
  • Bánh mì from the cart near [landmark], Hoi An · ₹ 60
  • Egg coffee, any café with a wobbly stool · ₹ 90
Skip this
  • The [attraction] bus tour: two hours on a bus for one photo
  • Restaurants with laminated menus in five languages: same food, three times the price

Swipe your own Vietnam

Every place, hostel and meal from this chapter, one card at a time. Keep what you like, skip what you don't. We turn the keepers into your itinerary.

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Choose your own misadventure

Real forks from this trip. You pick, then we show what we actually did, what it cost, and what everyone else picked.

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Vietnam
14 days