Touring Vietnam via junk, kayak, and bike

Last month, Steve and I toured Vietnam for 14 days with Islandhopping.com, a German company that features bike and small boat tours of a number of regions. We loved the tour of the Ionian Islands we took last spring with the same company and were eager to do another. Here are our overall impressions of Vietnam via junk, kayak, and bike.

Scope of the Tour

The Vietnam tour had a bit different structure than the one in Greece given the geography of the country and scope of the area we covered. It started north in Hanoi and ended in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south. Unlike the Greece tour, there was a significant amount of time on a bus as well as two short flights in order to cover the distance. This made for a tighter schedule. We also had kayaking as an activity in addition to cycling. There were 12 of us in the group hailing from Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Canada (us).

Our Guides

On this tour, Islandhopping partners with a local guide from Indochina Trekking Company. So, we had an Islandhopping guide, Peter Lesser, and a local guide, Hoang Nguyen.

Peter was one of our guides on the Ionian Islands tour and it was great to travel with him again. Fluent in German and English, he effortlessly made sure everyone in the group knew what was going on and translated Hoang’s tour commentary.

Islandhopping guide Peter Lesser provided expert guidance
in both German and English.

Tourism guides in Vietnam must have a university degree and be licensed by the government. Hoang turned out to be an exceptional guide. He is extremely knowledgeable about Vietnam, its regions, cultural differences and history, and he is passionate about his country. Throw in a calm, lighthearted personality and you have the perfect guide.

Hoang Nguyen always made sure we had an authentic experience.

Both of our guides went out of their way to make sure everyone had what they needed to make this a great travel experience. Hoang even arranged to get SIM cards for Steve and me so that we could connect our smartphones upon arrival. Getting a SIM in a foreign country can be a hassle so we really appreciated this extra service.

Tourism in Vietnam

Vietnam has a young, but growing tourism industry. Following the Vietnam War, the country was virtually closed to foreign visitors for 15 years. This changed in 1990, but it wasn’t until the mid ’90s that the country started seeing tourists in greater numbers. Hoang explained that it really wasn’t until 2005 that Vietnam began to take the economic benefits of tourism more seriously and started to invest in it.

For many tour operators and visitors, the country’s investment in tourism is not enough. They would like to see better coordinated marketing efforts and greater investment in higher-end hotels and resorts. World-class standard customer service is also apparently in short supply, although we certainly experienced great service in all of the hotels and junk boats we used on this trip.

Hoi An’s Vinh Hung Resort is the quintessential tropical
tourist experience, swim up bar and all.

We have not travelled to Cambodia or Thailand as yet, but it’s clear that these two neighbouring destinations have a far greater presence on the tourism landscape. So, indeed, it seems Vietnam has some catching up to do.

Benefits of Slow Growth

Vietnam’s slow growth on the tourism front has some benefits. Even the very popular cities and towns don’t feel overrun by tourists (with the exception of Hoi An perhaps). Locals are very welcoming and friendly to tourists and we certainly got the sense that we were seeing Vietnam as it is, not a toursist-geared version of it. We appreciated that. Take note, though, we were on a tour, with a guide looking out for our best interests every step of the way.

Fresh fruit and vegetable sales are always around the corner.

Overall Impressions

This tour was a cultural and visual feast. We got to visit regions that see very few tourists and enjoy fresh, sumptuous food from the various areas we visited. Many of the landscapes we traversed were stunning and for all the hype of Ha Long Bay, it did not disappoint. The opportunity to explore it from the seat of a kayak prompted many “wow” moments.

View of Ha Long Bay from Ti Top Island.

Although this was an active tour, we did at times feel that there was not enough cycling for us. On our Greece tour we felt challenged every day by a rigorous ride up and down hills that really tested our endurance. Call us crazy, but we like that. This tour had a slower pace, fewer kilometres, and much less elevation. Cycling  on this trip was used far more for start-and-stop tours of villages or meandering along rice fields.

Locals always took a second look and waved hello as we cycled through a village.

While having a slower activity pace, this tour was packed with destinations and cultural experiences. This allowed us to see a great deal, but at times, we longed for a half-day here and there to just laze by the pool at one of the resort stops, hang out on the boat, or wander off on our own.

Tours come with compromises. Overall, this trip was exceptional and in large part that was due to how this tour was managed and the access to unique cultural experiences it provided.

Stay tuned for posts that will feature the highlights of our tour and what makes Vietnam a must-see destination.

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*Note: This tour was not sponsored. We paid for it in full.