Dear Reader,
You may be thinking "wow, the titles are becoming a little unoriginal" and it would be a fair assumption for the generic name for this entry 🌊
But like every word included in this blog, it has been carefully selected for many a reason... Some of which I will delve into in the next few paragraphs of thoughts 🪷
I sit in Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City/ HCMC for the cool kids... In one of the three branches of "Little Hanoi Egg Coffee" which you can find here.
My first experience with this franchise was in Hoi An, as I desperately craved an authentic Egg Coffee. Yes. Egg in a coffee and it's f***ing incredible, as I may have already mentioned ☺️
Basically the north of Vietnam had no access to milk during the American war, so they used egg yolk instead, and now it is a super delicious customary thing for tourists to try... And for locals to enjoy as well ☕ 🥚
This particular café has an adorable and clever niche- they offer free postcards and little purses for you to remember your wonderful stay in Vietnam 🥰 how cute?! And genius, as everyone ends up tipping more than they would pay for those items separately. It also helps that the staff are even more hospitable than the average Vietnamese (which is already an exceptionally high bar)
Yes... I was told that people start in the south of Vietnam and work their way upwards... The further north you get the better 💡
My experience is entirely opposite. HCMC is already infinitely better for me than Ha Noi. Perhaps only because there is blazing sun shining above and not the ominous smokey skies of the latter.
More notable are the beaches of the middle/south... Da Nang was awesome for me, despite people telling me to only stay a day or so... I loved the smooth, choppy water and the crisp white sand.
Tuy Hoa was also nice, but completely empty of people! I had the entire beach to myself and was afraid to swim in case I died and no one ever found me...
And Nha Trang... Well, the beaches are stunning! ☀️
I never realised that I loved beaches so much... Or perhaps this is something which I learned to love from my Little Slice of Heaven 🪷... Either way, I absolutely adored my last few days, basking in the beauty of the Vietnamese shorelines.
I realise now that the universe has once again given me exactly what I needed in this somewhat eccentric country. I have been healing this whole time... Through time itself... But also through water.
The softness of the water, gently washing away all the negative energy I had been allowing myself to "wallow" in (thank you Annie 😘)... The sand spilling between my toes as I walked along the shore, the friendly local laying out a towel for me to relax on his sunbed, instead of exposing myself to the 38 degree sun rays.
The fact that everyone gives you water here, when you have your clothes made in Ha Noi and you are dripping with sweat all over their fabrics...
When you are flagged down by the fiercest saleswoman on the street, insisting you come for a foot massage in her spa (I had no idea what she would do if I said no) and then you fell asleep in her salon, awakening to a carefully placed bottle of...
Water... Like the Kundalini serpent, working is way up your spine.
Yes, Dear Reader. I have also found the time to work on my own little Kundalini practice... It is something I am determined to take with me as I travel... Despite the strange breath work, the weird chanting... If anyone hears and judges, I treat it like water off the back (c'mon, that is a sexy pun right there)
Vietnam is a place where you just have to go with the flow...
Laugh when you see a man dragging a plow on the back of his motorbike, smile when you see the stereotypical view of the women in the rice paddies with their cone hats, roll your eyes as you are deposited in the middle of a highway at 2.30am, an hour's walk from your hotel...
It's all part of the wonderful and weird experience 😉
So, without further ado, here are my recommendations for Vietnam! 🇻🇳
⭐ Visit Ninh Binh and stay at Mom's homestay... Eat at Aroma's Indian and take a motorbike tour with Tommy... Speak to Anh from the Garden spa, as she is the nicest person (pictured below), but maybe avoid the massage from her colleague as it was not so good 🤣
⭐ Drink egg coffee at every chance you get (a little Ha Noi Egg Coffee is the best outside of Ha Noi, alongside Cafe Dinh in Ha Noi itself (original place and only 25 dong!) also special mention to Art Coffee in Da Nang, pictured below- the owner is just so sweet.
⭐ Visit Ganh Da Dia - the Giant's Causeway of Vietnam and my favourite place here 🪨
⭐Get clothes made in Ha Noi - I did mine at Beri Tailors, but it's literally because I saw nice fabric outside... Otherwise it's so hard to choose!
⭐ Indulge in the incredible food! Be that the meaty madness from the street stalls for all you carnivores, or the delicious French style pastries, which I perhaps over-indulged in ☺️🙃🥐
⭐ Take a night train🚂... It's fun and convenient 😁 but stay in first class...
There we have it. Vietnam should indeed be visited... But prepare yourself for a whirlwind 🌪️
And let me know if you need some more recommendations, dear reader ❤️
✨ As water to the body, is love to the soul ✨
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