Why Vietnam Is My Favorite Country

The people make you feel welcome

In Vietnam, you love the people and the people love you. In my experience, they do not care where you come from, who you are or what color your skin is. They simply want to welcome you with great hospitality, and not only at your hotel.

It happened to me more than once just walking down the street in Hue and in Ho Chi Minh City, which we also call Saigon. People called out to ask where I was from and how long I was staying, then invited me to have a beer or sit down for lunch.

In Hue, a big family with kids and grandparents saw I was a foreigner and asked me to sit and have dinner with them. They were tourists themselves, and they even invited me to visit their hometown.

No grudges, whatever the history

Vietnam and the US fought a war for almost 20 years, yet I found no grudge or negative feeling toward Americans. I find that fascinating. In many parts of the world, people will tell you what another country did to them.

In Vietnam, it feels like they just love you, no matter the history, the politics or the cultural differences.

It is easy to get around

Moving between Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is easy. You can fly, but you can also go by road on luxury buses where you sleep as if in your own king’s bed.

You feel at home everywhere

Getting online is easy too. In a coffee shop or any store, people are happy to share the Wi-Fi password. In Europe and many other places, you often have to buy something first, or you are told they do not share it.

In Vietnam, you feel at home across the whole country.

Great food, and you feel like a millionaire

There is a vast variety of food, and the same dishes you would buy in Europe, the US or elsewhere in the Western world cost far less here.

One US dollar is about 20,000 to 25,000 in local currency. The moment you change money at the airport, you feel like a millionaire, with a wallet full of notes showing Ho Chi Minh, the father of the nation.