Ho Chi Minh City

I landed in Ho Chi Minh City around 10:20 am. It was a cloudy day with a slight drizzle. After dropping my bags at the hotel, the first thing I did was walk to the nearest coffee shop & try the Vietnamese iced salt coffee. I think it’s one of the most balanced drinks in terms of flavour: the saltiness cuts through a subtle caramelised sweetness, all layered over the strong kick of robusta beans. A perfect way to start the trip.

Spent the next few hours exploring The Museum of Fine Arts, clicked some photos of The Cafe Apartment, & before I realised, it was already afternoon. I was hungry, and the red stools spread across the footpaths nudged me to try yet another coffee rather than lunch: the coconut iced coffee at Cộng Cà Phê. Equally delicious.

I messaged Vishnu and Lovish, my friends from office, who also happened to be in the city during that time. We caught up at their hostel, and sipped on some complimentary beers. This was probably the third time I was tasting beer, & can confidently say I’m yet to develop a taste for it. A few sips later we went for a walk, couldn’t decide what to eat, ended up at the ever-reliable KFC and called it a night.

For day 2, I had booked an Airbnb experience to learn street photography. I had just bought my first camera, a Fujifilm, and this seemed like the perfect way to start. I struggled through the photo walk, mostly because my settings were off and I couldn't get the focus right. I didn't quite like the photos, but got a taste of street photography. I knew I had to figure my way around the camera to enjoy the process. Came back to the hotel & spent some time watching YouTube videos on operating a Fujifilm.

For lunch, went to Workshop Coffee, where I had some comforting spaghetti, paired with a very interesting coffee concoction of yuzu lime, clarified pandan, and of course, cold brew. It started raining heavily, so I stayed on & spent some time reading Kafka on the Shore.

Once the rain subsided, I walked to the Independence Palace followed by the Art Arcade. It was a narrow alley lined up with artworks from local artists.

The weather called for yet another coffee & I had to try the famous egg coffee. I was a bit apprehensive, but it tasted more like tiramisu than coffee. The condensed milk with the vanilla essence did most of the heavy lifting, while the bitterness from the coffee balanced out the sweetness. It was the only coffee I didn't have again during the trip, not because I didn't like it, but because it didn’t taste like coffee.

As the day ended, I went to the Saigon Central Post Office. The vibe was what I’d describe as Wes Anderson meets Hogwarts. People were actually writing postcards, which were being stamped & sorted by address. At the entrance, massive wooden phone booths stood on either side, almost like elevators that could transport you to some magical world within.

Outside, an old couple was struggling to take a photo and, seeing my camera, asked if I could help. They had a specific composition in mind, with the two of them on opposite sides of an auto, looking at each other. It was nice orchestrating that.

Can Tho & the Mekong Delta

Took a cab in the evening to Can Tho. The plan was to explore the floating markets & cacao farms on the Mekong Delta. When I arrived, it was pouring, and since the hotel was close to the river, the road around it was almost flooded. The hotel staff helped me in, and I dozed off shortly after, thanks to a hot shower and fresh, crisp sheets.

Woke up at 4am for the Mekong Delta tour. There were 6 of us in a boat and our guide. It was my first guided tour, which made it even more memorable. For breakfast on the boat, we were served the very famous Pho. I was yet to get comfortable with pork, so asked for the meat to be replaced with tofu. But the broth, made with pork fat, was absolutely delicious. I had a bit of a cold and the warmth and spice opened my nasal passage right up.

Da Nang

Next stop was Da Nang, the beautiful beach town. I almost felt I could live there. I went to the famous XLIII Specialty Coffee & had the geisha. The place had an industrial vibe, with a double height ceiling and a long slender tree at the center. This is probably how I’d want my own house to be.. someday.

In the evening I went to a place called L’Italiano. The owner came over with a smile, asked my name and complimented the fact that it had been a long time since he’d seen someone spend time alone with pasta and a book at his restaurant. I had my comfort meal of spaghetti aglio olio with shrimp, with a glass of red wine. Maybe it was the wine, but I felt a little lonely & went back to the hotel. It’s the kind of loneliness you feel when you want someone to talk to & share a meal with.

The next morning, I took a tour of Lady Buddha, the Marble Mountains and the Am Phu Cave, which served as a secret base and hospital during the Vietnam War.

Hoi An

From Da Nang, I took a 4 am Airbnb tour out to Hoi An. My co-travellers were a group of three from LA. The two women had roots in Vietnam and the guy was from the States. He told me he does painting and maintenance jobs for large corporates. He doesn't have much to do, his only investment is a few big machines, and he isn't interested in working for the sake of it; he wants to travel, and the work pays well. Tbh, that was a whole new kind of conversation for me, because in India (or at least in Bangalore), the discussion almost always revolves around which company you work for and what your role is.

Riding pillion on motorcycles, we saw how handmade Cao Lau noodles are made, then visited a fishing village and a fish sauce factory, where we sipped fermented sauce straight out of the wooden crates. Then came a traditional rice wine distillery in the countryside, and what followed wasn't something I was prepared for: shelves stacked with jars of rice wine steeped with all kinds of creatures, from cobras to scorpions to birds, and some easier on the eye, like bananas and berries. We played a mini game of Russian roulette: eight shots, and we weren't told which jar each came from until after we'd drunk it.

This 4 am to 11 am experience hits all your senses. Absolutely recommended. Our guide, Ha Nguyen, told me he was born in Vietnam but moved to the States as a child when his parents separated. He's now back, working on the "Whole Vietnam Project" with Nikon and Leica ambassadors, hoping to leave a legacy for his kids. He has seen the country change drastically and misses parts of the life he had as a child.

Dong Hoi & Phong Nha

I took a train from Da Nang to the sleepy town of Dong Hoi. Vietnamese trains are spotlessly clean, with beautiful wallpaper in every compartment. I couldn't help but think of the train situation back in India. I reached Dong Hoi past midnight and was super thankful that my guesthouse owner was waiting at the station to pick me up. The town was freezing at night and somehow reminded me of Stranger Things.

The next morning was a guided tour of the Phong Nha and Paradise cave systems. Over one of the community meals, I got chatting with a British lady, probably in her 70s, who said she only wanted to see the happy places. When I asked why, she said she'd always wanted to travel with her husband but they never found the time, and then he passed away. So now she's doing it alone. She asked me specifically for places in India with less economic disparity, because she doesn't want to be sad anymore. I also met a woman from France who had taken a sabbatical and was travelling because she'd saved enough money and wasn't sure why she'd been saving so much in the first place.

Hanoi

The last leg of the trip, and probably the most memorable, was Hanoi. I landed at just the right time: celebrations for the People's Army 80th anniversary were in full swing. The area around Hoan Kiem Lake was barricaded off for the ongoing celebrations - from art, music to dance & games. It was full of energy, a way of life built around community spaces. I was shivering from the cold, so my first stop was the nearest Uniqlo for a jacket. It was a lifesaver for the next six days.

After trying my luck & failing multiple times to get reservations at Pizza 4P's in Bangalore, I knew I had to experience the OG place here. It was very reassuring to just walk in without a queue or a booking.

Hanoi also happens to be the place where I experienced Banh Mi, the greatest sandwich ever made. I am not a sandwich person but this combination was addictive. I’d start my day with a coffee and a banh mi and end with an orange juice and a banh mi. You bite into the crispy hard crust and out ooze these juicy, tangy fillings of meat, veggies & fresh herbs. So good!

Took a day trip to the absolutely breathtaking Ninh Binh & that place felt like being in a movie set - you get water, mountains, caves & sunlight.

I had booked a photowalk experience through Airbnb and this is where I actually deep-dived into the art of street photography: what it means to work a scene, how much distance to maintain from people, and how to find scenes within daily life. The photo walk was supposed to start at 6am with a group, but no one else turned up. So it was just me and Mr. Thanh Le, the photographer/guide. That was probably the best thing that could have happened, because I got one-on-one mentorship. Christmas was fast approaching, so there were a lot of groups of women dressed in red practising their moves around the lake area. It was fun shooting around them. We also went into the butcher alleys and I had blood splattered on my hand when I was trying to shoot a scene with chicken. I almost panicked, but Thanh Le mentioned that it's a normal way of life and simply wiped it off with a tissue and we moved on. We actually ended up doing a second photowalk on the last day of my trip. If I ever go back to Hanoi, I'll probably do another one with him.

Ha Long Bay

Went on a two-day cruise on the Ha Long Bay. Everyone on board was a couple or a family, and I was the only solo traveller. On the boat ride out to the cruise ship, I felt completely left out and wished I hadn't booked it. That lonely feeling from the evening in Da Nang came rushing back. But soon after, during lunch, an Australian couple decided to adopt me, asking me to join them for meals and the little activities planned through the day. At dinner, an Indian family of three sisters, their husbands and their parents pulled me in to celebrate the parents' 50th anniversary (or 30th maybe). After dinner, I met a young, newly married couple from Brazil who invited me over for shots and grilled shrimp. We sat on the open-air deck, chatting through broken English, gestures and Google Translate, and ended the night over six or seven shots of tequila. Ended the trip on a high, literally.

I had boarded the flight unsure of what to expect. Two weeks later, I returned from one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever taken, completely in love with solo travel, with a new hobby in street photography, and a promise to Vietnam I’ll visit again.