Xin Chào (Hello), Vietnam

It was cold and dark in Copenhagen when my boyfriend and I, his mother and sister boarded our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Arriving around noon, we were greeted by the most friendly people saying "xin chào, welcome" . As our flight was quite long, we all planned to sleep on the plane, to be rested and ready to explore the metropolis upon arrival.

Visiting Vietnam, and Southeast Asia in general, was a new thing to our little group of four, only my boyfriend and I had been to Thailand a few years before. On this trip, we had 12 days to explore Southern Vietnam, and it all started with a couple of days in Ho Chi Minh.

We arrived just a few days before the Vietnamese New Year, Tết, which at first wasn't intentional but despite reading about closed down shops and sometimes entire villages, we quickly embraced the festivities and enjoyed every bit of it.

Vietnamese New Year, Ho Chi Minh City

After experiencing Tết, which I'd love to do again someday, we explored the Cu Chi Tunnels, and then headed south to Phú Quốc Island. On the island, we explored waterfalls and small villages, rented scooters and discovered the island from north to south, we drove to some of the famous beaches the island has to offer; Bai Sao and Dai Bai, and went to the Duong Dong Night Market. On the island, we found it a bit difficult to find the secluded areas and beaches, but we still made the best of it.

Phu Quoc Island

After the festivities of Tết, opening of floating markets and the life in the Mekong Delta, we left Phú Quốc to sail some of the way back to Ho Chi Minh through Mekong. We had booked a boat to sail us from Can Tho to Cai Be and back, before going back to Ho Chi Minh to catch our flight back home to Denmark.

Sailing on the Mekong River took us through several small, rural villages, floating markets and we got the opportunity to experience the life on the river. Discovering the Mekong area was definitely an all-time high on this trip. Next time, I would be sure to spend more time here, as the area is huge, and we only saw a little fraction of it.

Sailing a Sampan boat on the Mekong River

Sunset over Mekong