First of all... This trip was our first backpacking trip. It started when we saw a post from a friend on Facebook who shared a review of backpacking in southern Vietnam during our university final exams. As soon as we saw it, we immediately inboxed our friend and said...
"When are you going? How many people are going? How many days are you going? I want to go with you. Let's make a deal. I'll call my parents in a bit.
If they approve, I can book a flight."

The next day, we booked our flights without even thinking about it...
We haven't made a passport yet, but we have to travel in 7 days!!
But with all the effort we had, we got our passport 2 days before our trip //yay

Let's get to the point. This review focuses on information beyond the Landmark review that we and our friends followed. Please follow this link.
http://www.palapilii-thailand.com/archives/5
This trip, we went to southern Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City - Dalat - Mui Ne) for 5 days and 4 nights with a budget of 8,000 baht.
We will summarize the expenses for each day again.

- R e c o m m e n d a t i o n -

1. Money: We did some research and found that it's best to bring US dollars to Vietnam and then exchange them for Vietnamese dong (VND) later. We did just that. We exchanged 7,000 baht for US dollars (equivalent to $200). However, when we calculated our expenses, we realized that we only spent 6,000 baht. Where did the other 1,000 baht go? Currently, the exchange rate in Vietnam is 1 USD = 22,600 VND. In conclusion, it's not necessary to exchange your money for USD because exchanging currencies twice results in a difference, causing you to lose money. Therefore, it's best to bring a VISA ATM card and withdraw money in Vietnam. The ATM will automatically convert your baht in your account to Vietnamese dong. There is a 30 baht fee per transaction, but the exchange rate is not much different, and you won't lose money from the double currency conversion.

2. Food: Personally, I really don't like Vietnamese food (Vietnamese crepes, pho). If anyone tries it and doesn't like it, I recommend buying instant noodles at the supermarket. The most delicious one is Dalat milk (I really want to buy it back home). I think the food here is expensive, and the most expensive thing I spent was on food.

P.S. I didn't get cheated on this trip at all. I only met nice people. Even when my friend was holding an iPhone and standing on the sidewalk, an uncle walked up to him and said,

"Be careful with your phone" and pointed for my friend to move away from the sidewalk (I was secretly impressed).

DAY 1 : HO CHI MINH CITY

• We boarded the plane at 7:45 and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 9:30. At the airport, we went straight to buy a SIM card from Viettel for 290,000 VND (=440.-) with unlimited 3G and no calling plan. We also exchanged money. Now, we're going to Pham Ngu Lao to book a sleeping bus to Da Lat. We can take bus number 152 from the airport.

- We booked a FUTA bus sleeper at 11pm, which is 12 hours away. So we should find a half-day accommodation to take a shower, rest, and leave our luggage. We recommend Vinh Chung Hotel, the owner is lovely and friendly, and they even gave us a map of places to visit in Ho Chi Minh City. . . . After we were refreshed, we started exploring Ho Chi Minh City in the evening by w a l k i n g !

- Museum of Ho Chi Min City, Independence Palace, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Central Post Office, and Opera House are all located close to each other.

Day 1 Expenses Summary
- 3G Sim = 440.-
- Sleeping bus to Dalat = 640.-
- Bus from airport to Pham Ngu Lao = 60.-
- Food and snacks = 810.-
- Taxi (2 trips) = 90.-
- Museum entrance fee = 45.-
- Room at Vinh Chung = 450.-
Total Day 1 = 2,538.- / 2 = 1,269.- per person

DAY 2 : DALAT / Vietnamese Switzerland

- We arrived in Dalat at around 5 am (after an 8-hour journey). As we had just woken up, we were confused and asked ourselves, "Where are we?". All we could see was fog. When we got off the bus, it got even worse, our breath was visible in the air. We went inside the building and asked the information desk how to get to the city center. They said they would call a taxi for us... and it cost 45 baht.

- Upon arriving in the city center, we recommend looking for accommodation. We stayed at Long Vuong Hotel and rented a motorbike from the hotel (it took us an hour to understand each other because we thought we needed a national license, but in reality, we didn't need one).

- Dalat is a city with very good weather. You can ride a motorbike around the city without feeling hot. The highlight of this trip is "Dalat". . .

- Today's program includes Cable car at Green Zone / Wat Tak Lam / Crazy house / Church (Dalat Church) The journey is also open Google map to go according to that.

It's a pity I didn't take many pictures because my legs were shaking. . . I thought I wouldn't be scared, but when I got up there, I couldn't even hold the camera!

Day 2 Expenses Summary
- Accommodation per night = 600.-
- Food = 588.-
- Motorbike rental per day = 152.-
- Cable car round trip (must purchase both ways) = 213.-
- Bus ticket to Mui Ne (11.5.16) = 305
Total Day 2: 1,868.- / Divided by 2 = 934.- per person

DAY 3 : DALAT-2 / Swiss Vietnam

- We spent two days in Dalat, and today we'll be visiting the places we didn't get to yesterday. But honestly, you could see everything in one day. The weather was so nice, we just wanted to spend more time here.

- Today, my friends went to play Roller G at Green Zone, which is near the cable car. They should have stopped by yesterday (it would have been more convenient). My friends said it was a lot of fun, but it was a bit scary because it looked a little old. The waterfall wasn't that pretty either, but it depends on your taste. If you have time, it might be worth stopping by to take some pictures (according to Palapili's review). After that, we just chilled and drove around the city exploring.

We noticed that the houses in Dalat are uniquely beautiful. Trees and flowers seem to be an integral part of people's lives here. While driving, we could smell the flowers planted along the roadside. The air was cool and comfortable. . . My friend and I said in unison, "I don't want to go back to Thailand."

- Dinner at Dalat Market (by the walkway) The squid is very delicious with a grill / The snails are eaten raw, the taste is okay, but my friend said it was delicious 5555

Summary of expenses DAY 3

- Accommodation = 600.-
- Motorcycle rental = 152.-
- Food = 913.-
- Roller G = 105.-
- Full tank of petrol 90.-
- Seafood dinner 310,000 = 473

Total Day 3: 2,333.- / Divided by 2, it's 1,166.- per person

DAY 4 : MUI NE

- I woke up early to wait for the bus to Mui Ne at 7:30, which would pick me up in front of the hotel. I sat and waited since 7:00 am. . . The road to Mui Ne was very rough, the road was very bumpy, the air conditioner in the car was not cold, and the driver drove fast on the curves. I was not okay, but I had to close my eyes and sleep (it took 5 hours to travel). If you get carsick, you should take medicine. Otherwise, prepare a bag to wait! I thought to myself that I would probably only come this way once, because I couldn't travel by any other means. #tired

- We arrived in Mui Ne at 12:00 and found accommodation at the Xin Chao Hotel, which is owned by a Westerner and is reasonably priced. We then rushed to buy a half-day trip at a nearby location, paying $6 per person (which was expensive, but we were too lazy to look around). The trip included visits to four locations: Fairy Stream, Fisherman's Village, Red Sand Dunes, and White Sand Dunes. Transportation was by Jeep, which picked us up from the hotel at 13:30.

Fairy stream: We didn't walk to the photo spot because it was too hot, so we only got one photo like this. T T

Day 4 Expenses Summary
- Accommodation = 710.-
- Half-day trip + Bus ticket back to Ho Chi Minh City = 763.-
- Food = 346.-
- ATV rental (20 minutes) = 600.-
Total Day 4: 2,420 / 2 = 1,210.- per person

DAY 5 : Back to HO CHI MINH CITY

- We took a sleeper bus from Mui Ne at 7:30 am and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 12:15 pm. We found a restaurant and then took a taxi to the airport. #expenses DAY 5 per person 186.-

Total expenses for this trip = 4,765 + 3200 (round-trip airfare) = 7,965.-

We imagined Vietnam from reading reviews to be one way, but when we actually went there, it was completely different.

We believe that everyone who goes there will have their own 'Vietnam'.

You have to try it at least once, and you will love Vietnam, just like us.