Today wasn’t about temples, markets, or tasty street food. Today was about airports, queues, and the strange sense of limbo you get on travel days, where you spend more time waiting for planes than actually flying on them. We kicked things off with a flight from Da Nang—booked with VietJet but, in a fun twist, …
After a peaceful run of days in Ninh Binh’s green valleys and Hoi An’s lantern-lit lanes, stepping into Da Nang felt like being dropped into the middle of a video game set to “city mode.” The contrast is real. Hoi An’s mellow pace and Ninh Binh’s nature seem a world away from the glass-and-concrete energy …
If there’s a perfect way to spend a birthday on the road, it’s this: a slow, sun-drenched morning at the beach, lazy lunch with the sea as your soundtrack, and a shopping spree for something beautiful and uniquely local. Today was all about easy vibes—oh, and it’s my birthday! (Well, Andi’s, but you know what …
Finally, a proper night’s sleep! After a string of restless, sticky nights, we both woke up genuinely refreshed in Hoi An—blessed be blackout curtains and that rare, blissful combination of quiet and a comfy mattress. We clocked at least 8 hours for the first time on this trip. Andi, still limping from the Hang Mua …
Woke up with muscle pains from my feet right up to my thighs—a not-so-sweet keepsake from our climb at Hang Mua. That mountain really left its mark on us! Andi’s knee is slowly on the mend, but today’s motto is definitely “short steps only.” It reminds me of when I tried to stroll around Zürich …
Another short night in Vietnam, and especially for Andi, who’s clocking in a grand total of 2.5 hours of sleep. His knee was still giving him grief after our Ninh Binh adventure (Hang Mua Cave, you’ll haunt him for a while), so after breakfast, we decided it was time for a pit stop—not at a …
Day 5 in Vietnam started with the kind of ambition you only have when you’re still jet-lagged: we set our alarms for 5 am, determined to catch sunrise from the top of Hang Mua (Mua Cave) viewpoint. The plan? Easy. Just a quick 500-step climb to one of Ninh Binh’s most breathtaking vistas. The reality? …
Sometimes, a little FOMO can be a blessing in disguise. Yesterday, we squeezed every drop out of our time here, worried we’d miss something essential. Our instincts were right: Day 4 woke us up with thunder, sheets of rain, and the kind of gray sky that makes you grateful for your hotel bed. While some …
If Hanoi wakes you up with its horns and energy, Ninh Binh is like a gentle nudge to slow down and breathe. Our day started criminally early—pick-up at 6:30 AM, though we were down in the lobby at 5:45, caffeine levels dangerously low and anticipation high. The van, punctual to the minute, scooped us up …
After a deep, much-needed sleep, our second day in Hanoi started even earlier than the first—we woke up at 5 am, and Andi’s first words were, “I’m hungry!” Typical. Luckily, Hanoi never really sleeps, and neither do its food stalls. We wandered into the early morning stillness and found a tiny spot serving up a …