After a rather stressful start entering Vietnam, we just had the most amazing past 15 days here. We decided to explore only Northern Vietnam since Daniel is visa-free for 15 days, so it just seemed logical to set our sights out on a small area. Vietnam is huge and I think we would have needed at least 4 weeks if we wanted to explore the south as well!
We chose Northern Vietnam since there was a typhoon in the south and Daniel really wanted to ride along the famous motorbike loop. But more on that later! So, why was the start of this journey a bit stressful? The country we were in before Vietnam was Taiwan (a great place to travel, by the way). We had a midday flight and we were going to be quite late after our last day in Taipei. It was then that we realized that although Danne is visa-free, I most definitely need a visa to enter Vietnam. I seriously cannot wait until I can apply for my Swedish passport since I am going to be invincible and be able to get into so many countries!
Related Blog Post: Read why you should visit Taiwan here!
Anyways, after a lot of stress and changing our flight to 7 pm, since even express visas need some time, we found a company that was relatively cheap and could produce an express 1-month visa before our evening flight. We used Govietnamvisa.com and paid about 48 USD for the 4-hour visa service. Honestly, it was worth it. They communicated with me at 1 am via Whatsapp and the application process was rather easy. Since we had extended our trip in Taipei by a few hours, we were able to print out the form and get passport photos to expedite our waiting time once entering Hanoi.
All I know from various years of travelling is that everything solves itself in the end. It seriously does! There is no use in stressing out since this is Asia and with a little patience and some money, you will get to your destination.
So, we started with a hiccup, but we happily arrived in Hanoi on November 19th and left on December 3rd. In 2 weeks, we felt like we really got to explore the north and even got a tiny, tiny bit off the of the beaten path, which is nearly impossible in touristy Vietnam.
So, what does the ultimate itinerary for 2 weeks in Northern Vietnam look like? Feel free to click on the anchor links below to hop to your favourite part!
- Days 1-2 Hanoi
- Days 3-6 Cat Ba Island
- Days 6-7 Hanoi Again
- Days 8-9 Sapa
- Days 10-13 Motorbiking the Northern Loop
- Day 14 Hanoi for the Last Time
Continue reading “The Ultimate Itinerary for 2 Weeks in Northern Vietnam”