Vietnam Recap

Vietnam has been one of my favorite places during our travels so far. I often think about how the order and timing of things affect our perspective. Would we have loved Vietnam the same if we came directly here from Japan (another favorite), rather than having just weathered the perfect storm in the Philippines? Regardless, we loved it. Some of our favorites included the food, coffee, traditional nón lá (leaf hats) worn by the locals, the motorbike culture, and the rich history we learned.

Here’s a slideshow of our favorite moments in Vietnam, and some fun stats about our time here.

Vietnam Life in Numbers

Number of Vietnamese coffees drank by Dave and Jill: ~ 15 each

Number of times a local complimented our chopstick skills: 1

Number of building security guards we saw sleeping on the job: 3

Number of plates we had in our condo: 0 (we ate everything in bowls)

Number of motorbike adventures: 1

Number of times someone declared “I quit gap year”: 2

Number of feet we explored of the underground Cu Chi Tunnels: ~ 300 feet

Number of times we got food from the Artisan bakery below our condo: 19 (I looked back at our transaction history)

Number of times the floor started to cave in and we had to leave for a few days so they could fix it: 1

Number of days we did NOT have ants in our kitchen: 0 (we could not get rid of them!)

Number of nights we spent at the beach in Vung Tau: 3

Number of men we witnessed urinating in public: 10 + (I’m not exaggerating – I eventually stopped counting)

Number of ferry boat rides: 2

Number of days we enjoyed our amazingly spacious condo: 24

Number of days we kept our daily journals (to date): 209

Number of times Alexis got pinched by a crab at the beach: 3

Number of people we saw riding together on one motorbike: 5

From Vietnam to Thailand: Our Adventure Continues

Although none of us are itching to leave Vietnam, we’re excited to continue our adventures. We’ve been learning a few Thai phrases and the language seems much easier than Vietnamese. We are excited to explore another new country and Dave is looking forward to some spicy Thai food! Goodbye Vietnam, I really hope we get to come back here some day!