Been bouncing around Hanoi, Ha Long, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Hoi An, and honestly I keep wondering if I’m in the same Vietnam everyone else raves about. I came partly to see if I could live here as a digital nomad cheap, beautiful, good culture, all that.
But Hanoi felt like smog, noise, scams, and chaos. Crossing the street is a trust fall with a thousand scooters. Trash everywhere, people peeing in alleys, sidewalks crumbling. Hoi An is gorgeous but also feels like a giant tourist trap where someone tries to sell you a suit every 20 steps. Food has been… fine? Not the “life-changing pho” people hype up. And prices are way closer to Canada/Korea levels than I expected once you’re not eating bare-bones meals.
Hotels weren’t the great-value surprise I thought they’d be. Language barrier made tours hard to follow. I want to like it here, but I’m struggling.
Only thing I genuinely love is Grab cheap, easy, works everywhere.
If you’re a Vietnam fan, what am I missing? Is there a calmer, less scammy, actually-delicious corner of the country people forget to mention? Or is it just okay that Vietnam isn’t for everyone?
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