20. Vietnam

Guess how many people live in Vietnam!? 90 million!! And when you are in Ho Chi Minh City (what a terrible new name for Saigon) you get the impression that every single Vietnamese has a scooter. You feel like being in the middle of a motorcycle race when the lights turn green! And crossing a road without traffic light is also quite an adventure - just walk slowly and let the scooters try to avoid hitting you. It works, but it was only later when I saw the statistics: 12,000 people die every year on the streets of Vietnam...

Daily scooter race in Saigon


Besides that, Saigon is the economic capital of Vietnam with a good variety of places to hang out, eat (mandatory: "Pho" - Vietnamese noodle soup!) and drink for very little money. The Mekong delta is also not too far and worth a day trip as well!

In the beach capital Nha Trang, people come to party and to hang out at the beach. After a couple of days with average or even bad weather we kind of underestimated the sun when going on a snorkeling cruise. Pain and red skin were the punishment...

Snorkeling frog

Vietnamese fisherman

Hanoi, the capital up in the north, is different from Saigon. All seems to be a little smaller, and even as a pedestrian you get around easily in the center. We took advantage of that and had a great time eating, drinking and shopping on the streets - everything is happening on the streets, and this creates a really nice atmosphere!

Beer corner in Hanoi

Street life in Hanoi

The highlight of the Vietnam trip was definitely the trip to the Halong Bay. You get to see thousands of little islands and stay one night on a typical old junk boat.

Halong Bay