The Top 5 unforgettable sights from my personal trip around Vietnam

Xin chào! We're Yuki, a Japanese husband who moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and his Vietnamese wife, Ngoc. This time, we'd like to share, in ranking format, the unforgettable sceneries and views we've encountered while traveling all across Vietnam ♪ TOP 1: The Mekong River at dusk

Now, the moment of the No. 1 announcement. This was truly an unforgettable time. This is the scenery from when I joined a firefly-watching tour departing from Ho Chi Minh City. We arrived by boat at a small island on the Mekong in the evening, and while we waited a little over an hour eating a meal until night fell and the fireflies began to glow, there's a moment as the sun starts to set when the Mekong River and sky shift from orange to purple.It's just a short 5 or 10 minutes, but that fleeting moment when everything around turns purple is something I still can't forget. That was already more than 10 years ago now (´∀｀) Since Japanese travel agencies also run firefly-watching tours, I really hope visitors to Ho Chi Minh City will give it a try. No. 2: The White Sand Dunes of Mui Ne

Coming in 2nd place is "White Sand Dune," a tourist spot in Mui Ne, located in south-central Vietnam. Mui Ne has many other fun spots too, like sand sledding on the Yellow Sand Dune and exploring ancient ruins, but I still can't forget the 360-degree panoramic dune scenery I saw at the White Sand Dune.

There's a common saying that "the sky looks like it's about to fall on you," but this is the only place I've ever experienced that feeling, before or since. There's absolutely nothing around to block the view, and the same dune landscape stretches out in a full 360-degree panorama. The horizon is etched so sharply into the scene that when you look up at the sky, you're struck by the illusion that it has somehow drawn closer. Mui Ne is about a three-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City. Day tours departing from Ho Chi Minh City are also available, so if you're traveling there, be sure to check it out. TOP 3: Sunset at Phu Quoc Island

Third place goes to the sunset on Phu Quoc Island. The sunset on Phu Quoc is said to be "the most beautiful in Vietnam." You can enjoy the sunset from many spots, but the place we chose is a restaurant inside a hotel called "Mango Bay." Even a little before sunset, the place was already packed with guests. It seems to be quite popular.

The food is a bit pricey, so we only ordered a beer and a plate of pasta between us. The location is in Ong Lang Beach, a quiet beach area, and since the clientele is almost 100% foreign tourists, you can really soak up that overseas travel vibe. We visited before Covid, but there are reports that prices in Phu Quoc have gone up across the board since then. Sure enough, even when we went, the seafood at the night market was already shockingly expensive, and I remember we gave up on it. TOP 4: Lakeside Barbecue in Da Lat

Rather than calling it an unforgettable spectacular view, it feels more fitting to call it unforgettable time. In a previous post, I mentioned that we travel a few times a year to "Da Lat," a mountainous highland area in Vietnam, and every single time, we make sure to visit this barbecue place on the lake. It's a tiny spot by the lake with only about three tables, where you place a charcoal grill right on the table and grill the local specialty, wild boar meat, over the coals.   You can also enjoy a full array of Da Lat specialties, such as mountain-style com lam (glutinous rice packed into bamboo tubes and roasted over charcoal), a salad made with Da Lat vegetables, and homemade yogurt with blueberries (Da Lat is also a blueberry-producing region)!

Here's the last one. This is the view you can see along the way to 'Hai Van Pass,' located about a 20-minute drive north of Da Nang in central Vietnam. This area is known as a lagoon. Also, below you can see the scenery of a single-track railway line winding along in a spiral. This spot apparently was also featured on the TV program 'Sekai no Shasomari Kara' (From a Train Window Around the World).

If you go down the Hai Van Pass and continue north for another 20 minutes, you can reach that lagoon. The water is shallow enough to just cover your feet, but because this depth is uniform across the whole area, it reflects the surrounding mountain range like a mirror. When we went, it was a perfectly clear day, so it looked even more beautiful, but if the weather is bad, it seems you won't get to see that scenery. Please be sure to check the weather forecast for the day before you visit.      Many more Vietnamese landscapes are waiting for you! This time we carefully selected 5 landscapes to introduce, but of course these aren't the only ones. In particular, the untouched natural landscapes found in mountainous areas like Da Lat, which we introduced this time, are sure to become truly unforgettable, precious moments! See you next time! (^^)/