1. The great diversity of landscapes, with lots of green (parks, rice fields, tree-lined roads)
2. I used to think that Vietnam’s gastronomy was inferior to Thailand’s. Not anymore. The street food is excellent, sometimes
better than in restaurants
3. The incredible throngs of motorbikes on the main roads of Saigon
4. The human dimension of Hoi An, with its small workshops and pleasant shopping ambience
5. A boat trip among hundreds of unusually shaped limestone rocks
6. The thirst for knowledge among young people in the bigger cities; it’s so lovely that some of them approach foreign tourists in parks
just to exercise their English
7. The specialized streets in Hanoi (one for silver, another for shoes, plastic baskets, etc.)
8. The well-organized War Remnants Museum in Saigon, even if it is a one-sided presentation of Vietnam
9. Visiting mountain tribes in the highlands of Central Vietnam, near Thout and Kontum
10. In the category of beaches: Mui Ne Beach (Phant Thiet) and Bai Khem Beach (Phu Quoc island)
1. Local people seldom smiled at us, even when we smiled at them – many locals are quite impolite and speak very loudly
2. Mass tourism around Ha Long Bay is a disappointment
3. Arrogant salesmen who lean too close to my face (I hate that)
4. Ben Tanh and the big Chinese market became tiresome after just 30 minutes: tight spaces and an aggressive crowd
5. Disappointing to see that in some restaurants the English menu had higher prices than the Vietnamese
6. The Beach at Nha Trang was dirty, which was a big disappointment, and there was lots of litter in the sea at Phu Quoc
7. The Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi gets boring after 10 minutes
8. The most important traffic rule in big cities: only the strong survive
9. In Hanoi there are too many crooks who specialize in cheating tourists
10. We do not recommend Jetstar Pacific – they changed our schedule five times
11. Dogs in Vietnam are always off-leash, and that is somewhat scary, even if they won’t bite you