Trip in early 2023 (January 10th – January 17th, 2023). This year we traveled to Vietnam, a short two-hour flight. There were 8 of us on this trip. We used a tour company for transportation to various locations, but we still planned the rest of the trip independently.
Review of Vietnam Airlines, a full-service airline: The seats were okay, a comfortable 3-3 configuration. The food was average but tasty. Takeoffs and landings were on time. You can ask the flight attendants for beer.
Tamdao – Hola Homestay
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3WKVHuUvYuZsa4jG9?g_st=ic
Booking through Booking.com, I'd give it almost perfect marks in every aspect. The accommodation was very clean, the bathroom was clean. The staff didn't speak English but we could communicate using Google Translate. You can order food from the accommodation. We stayed here for 2 nights. We came during the winter, and the temperature was 10-15 degrees Celsius. There was a lot of dew and fog at night.
Pho restaurant at Hola Homestay
In front of the homestay, there's a restaurant that sells only pho: beef and chicken pho. It's delicious, the broth is great. 50,000 dong per bowl. It's perfect for a hot bowl on a chilly morning. The chili peppers look like they're not spicy, but they're actually very spicy.
Rent a motorbike and drive around following the stars.
We rented a motorbike through our accommodation. If you're following this route, I recommend specifying that you want a new, good-condition motorbike. The one we got was in terrible condition; the brakes wouldn't work even when pressed all the way down, and you had to stomp on the pedals to shift gears. Most of the motorbikes here are Honda Waves. You don't need a driver's license; just drive according to the rules. Everything is the opposite of Thailand, especially regarding the roads; cars here drive on the left.
The difficulty of riding was as expected; it was incredibly chaotic. Overtaking on the left, parking on the right, pedestrians crossing, cars parked—everything happened at once. The technique is to just go with the flow and ignore everyone; they'll take care of themselves.
That concludes our two-night trip to Tam Dao. This morning, a car will pick us up to continue our journey to Sapa, a further 4-5 hour journey.
