Vietnam - Recent Experiences, Beach Suggestions?

Heading back this fall, so I've been reading through the various threads on Vietnam. While they've been extremely informative, most are at least a couple years old at this point.

Does anyone have any recent recommendations for HCMC/Saigon or Hoi An?

What about the various "beachy" destinations in Vietnam? We're currently trying to decide between Phu Quoc, Mui Ne/Phan Thiet & Nha Trang.

Every day in Hoi An I ate at the market. And the one meal I didn't take at the market ended up expensive & mediocre.

That said, the best banh mi in Vietnam, in the week we were there, was indeed to be found in Hoi An:
http://www.priceoftravel.com/201/the-be ... the-world/

While this stand was outted on No Reservations, it was just the most extraordinary meat-in-bun experience in perhaps the 3 weeks I spent in SE Asia last December. My own pictures to come... or not.

Also, I highly, HIGHLY suggest renting a scooter. In fact, I demand that you rent a scooter. You'll beats the pups thinking biking to the beach is enjoyable. It ain't cuz you'll be sweating balls, or get pounded by the rain, or both. Furthermore, the rental was only $6/day, making it the cheapest in nearly all of SE Asia. Just try to use the petrol station enroute to the beach instead of filling up at the road side shacks. Finally, don't try to be a hero by trying to ride through the market like the locals. You will fail, and the vendors will glare.

I believe Sula had a fantastic seafood feast at Phú Quốc island. I regret not visiting.

TonyC wrote:Also, I highly, HIGHLY suggest renting a scooter. In fact, I demand that you rent a scooter. You'll beats the pups thinking biking to the beach is enjoyable. It ain't cuz you'll be sweating balls, or get pounded by the rain, or both. Furthermore, the rental was only $6/day, making it the cheapest in nearly all of SE Asia. Just try to use the petrol station enroute to the beach instead of filling up at the road side shacks. Finally, don't try to be a hero by trying to ride through the market like the locals. You will fail, and the vendors will glare.

Thanks, we avoided scooter rental on our last SE Asia trip, but that was almost entirely spent in larger cities. I think this time it will be a must. Did you take any trips out of Hoi An? I'm particularly intrigued by the mountain pass to Hue, which I haven't stopped dreaming about since I saw the Top Gear where they rode the length of Vietnam.

TonyC wrote:I believe Sula had a fantastic seafood feast at Phú Quốc island.

Yeah, Sula said, "[a]n array of fresh seafood in the night market in Duong Dong, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam" was his best meal of 2010. That comment was the first time I'd heard of the island, but the more I've read about it, the more intrigued I am. We've decided it will definitely be one of the stops on this trip.

as far as food, really not much changes that fast.. right? ;p

we actually did the scooter journey from Hoi An to Hue, but via the ho chi minh trail (which is inland more so than the route top gear took, mountainous still but probably more rural, following the border of Laos at times... our original plan was arriving in Da Nang to get a scooter and go to Hoi An, we ended up getting a scooter and a guide from the train station w/ his... and he came w/ us for 3 nights. he arranged the route and hotels. we paid for food. we'd stop somewhere and he'd just order a bunch of food ... our guide was "Mr. Minh" who apparently is well known at the Da Nang train station (though i'm sure someone else would make the same claim... i can get his info if interested). out of hoi an there are the Hoi An easy riders. ... they actually took the same route we took and pretty much the same trip for that matter, we kept running into them with the couple they were escorting around... they were probably the younger/funner group while the guide we had was the older/wiser ... :p you can go at it alone, but going with a person to escort you IMO is worth it... i don't remember what it cost but I think it was $60/day but that may have been x2 because it was per person, but that included lodging and gas. someone told me we overpaid... but the incite you'll gain from someone who really knows the culture and not only that can order the best dishes in whatever area you're in is worth every penny.. Hoi An for instance has its cao lau that you can't get anywhere else in VN, you might skip over that not knowing that bit of knowledge otherwise. plus staying in a town so off the radar that you can google and not find any record of its existence on google maps, or anywhere else for that matter, is worth something too, right?.

kl1191 wrote:

TonyC wrote:

TonyC wrote:I believe Sula had a fantastic seafood feast at Phú Quốc island.

Yeah, Sula said, "[a]n array of fresh seafood in the night market in Duong Dong, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam" was his best meal of 2010. That comment was the first time I'd heard of the island, but the more I've read about it, the more intrigued I am. We've decided it will definitely be one of the stops on this trip.

We didn't go to Nha Trang, and we chose Phu Quoc over it primarily because we'd heard it was relatively undeveloped tourist-wise. And that is correct. It is beautiful, unspoiled, and uncrowded. Plus they make fine fish sauce, and grow intensely fragrant peppercorns.

kl1191 wrote:Thanks, we avoided scooter rental on our last SE Asia trip, but that was almost entirely spent in larger cities. I think this time it will be a must. Did you take any trips out of Hoi An? I'm particularly intrigued by the mountain pass to Hue, which I haven't stopped dreaming about since I saw the Top Gear where they rode the length of Vietnam.

I rode in Chiang Mai, Ubon, Hue & Hoi An. A month after I returned, I picked up this 250cc "monster":

Oddly MrSula has ridden in the back.

A month after that, I watched that Top Gear Vietnam scootin' (+ the making of/reshoot ep) and realized it was mostly a gag. Didn't take extended trips out of Hoi An, but at $60/day per dddane, it would've been out of way out of my budget. I know Americans are typically in love with Hoi An, but after 2+ days, I was done with the city. Hue, OTOH, had an incredible city life, and I hope to buy a (stilted) shack somewhere there in the next 10 years. Also, Hue food is KING. Hoi An may have cao lau, but whatevers, Hue had every thing else.

m'th'su wrote:

kl1191 wrote:Yeah, Sula said, "[a]n array of fresh seafood in the night market in Duong Dong, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam" was his best meal of 2010. That comment was the first time I'd heard of the island, but the more I've read about it, the more intrigued I am. We've decided it will definitely be one of the stops on this trip.

We didn't go to Nha Trang, and we chose Phu Quoc over it primarily because we'd heard it was relatively undeveloped tourist-wise. And that is correct. It is beautiful, unspoiled, and uncrowded. Plus they make fine fish sauce, and grow intensely fragrant peppercorns.

Thanks, any more food recommendations beyond, "seafood [at] the night market"?

We spent a couple of days in Mui Ne and, minus the drive to and from Saigon, really enjoyed it. The food wasn't a big draw there although there were a couple of restaurants where you point at your choice of seafood and they cook it for you. But the beaches are gorgeous with great sand and perfect waves. There are some very nice resorts but the flip side is it's definitely a little more touristy.

In Hanoi and Saigon we ate a lot of bahn mi (including doner bahn mi) and noodle soups (pho, bun rieu, bun bo hue) on the street. I usually hate just picking places at random but it's easier when you can see and smell the entire operation. We also went to Quan An Ngon which has been covered everywhere and is better than it needs to be. Cha Ca Thanh Long in Hanoi for catfish with dill was a great experience. Quan 94 Cu in Saigon has spawned a street of imitators - I still don't know if we went to the right one but the fried crab egg rolls were awesome. I never found transcendent bun cha in Hanoi but I enjoyed the search.

TonyC--

That's a nice looking moto. What is it?

Geo

G,
it's an Aprilia Sport City 250. 68mpg with quite a bit of freeway riding.

Sweet! Tnx TC.

Geo

I'm at something of a loss for words to describe the magical place that is the island of Phu Quoc...I could spout platitudes about its tranquility or warnings about how it won't soon be possible to visit the place I saw (because the new international airport and "highway" that are now being built will surely change the island more quickly and significantly than anything since the war), but I'll just settle for showing you what we managed to capture digitally and hope that some of you will get to experience it yourselves. This will be heavy on photos and light on details, as most of the places we visited lacked signs and frequently even names. The only "must" that I would pass on to any fellow travelers is to visit the night market, described below, for a couple dinners.

Our journey started in the shadow of the misty Marble Mountains near Da Nang.


After a quick layover in Ho Chi Minh City, we switched to a plane with propellers. I grew up on very small planes, but my wife was none too pleased.


It's just about an hour flight, mostly over the Mekong delta, before you reach the airstrip. Also seen in this photo is most of Duong Dong, pretty much the only area of any size on the island that is at all densely populated.


The approach takes you right over one of the fishing fleets. Along with tourism, fishing is the life blood of the local economy, with pepper and oyster farms contributing to a lesser extent. The island is touted as producing the world's best fish sauce, and based on what I saw, tasted and smelled, I believe it.


A stark contrast to the rough seas near Hoi An, the Gulf of Thailand as viewed from our room was pretty much the picture of a tropical beach.


Sunsets were predictably excellent.


On the west side of the island, to the south of Duong Dong, there's pretty much one long expanse of manicured beach, dotted with resorts, guest houses, and restaurants. This is where you will encounter most fellow tourists.


The view from a restaurant a short walk down the beach from our resort, La Veranda. The day's fish, cooked in a clay pot with caramel sauce was excellent. Service was remarkably slow, even for island life, but where else would you rather be?


On the east side of the island, the beaches aren't as "maintained." They are broken up by rocky outcroppings and shaded coves, with fewer visitors & services available.


Fishing villages dot the coastline.


While the interior is given over to pepper farms...


...and fish sauce factories.


The pepper is intensely floral, with a beautiful sharp spiciness. We brought home a kilo of black pepper and somewhat less white, as well as a prepared condiment that's dried garlic ground with pepper.

The fish sauce is apparently remarkable for achieving protein content unattainable in other areas. Unbearably pungent in manufacture, but beguilingly piquant in application, one unexpected appearance was on the cocktail list at our resort. I was smitten with the Italian Fisherman, a mixture of Campari, Vermouth, Lime & Orange juices, and more fish sauce than I would have thought prudent had I simply read the recipe and not tasted the drink. That's it there on the left, with the fancy citrus-snail climbing up the glass:


Sadly, unless you're leaving the island by boat you won't be able to take any fish sauce with you. Like durian, it's prohibited in baggage. Thankfully, there is a brand of Phu Quoc produced fish sauce that you can get relatively easily, though at a premium price. Red Boat, whose creator I just missed meeting up with on the island, is sold on Amazon.

I'm burying the lead and/or saving the best for last. If you never left the night market in Duong Dong, you'd probably still leave Phu Quoc deliriously happy, assuming you are a seafood lover. The market is only a couple blocks long, but packed with vendors selling the day's catch and cooks ready to prepare it to your heart's delight.





We enjoyed a whole steamed fish with lemongrass that was identified as "silver snapper", as well as black pepper prawns so fresh that my wife was put off by the salinity of the meat. However, the coup de grâce was a bowl of cockles in a peppery caramelized garlic sauce. That dish destroyed me with its absolute salty, sweet, unctuous peppery perfection. Sadly, there are no pictures as our fingers were far too sticky. I guess I lied in the Hoi An thread, THIS is my happy face.