Vietnam Travel Blog

Of all the ideas Vietnamese coffee culture has produced, salt coffee (cà phê muối) is one of the most surprising on paper and one of the easiest to like in the cup. It was born in Huế, the former imperial capital, and pairs a dark, strong robusta coffee with a layer of smooth, lightly salted cream. The name suggests something savoury, but the salt is there to round the drink off, not to dominate it. What you notice is the sweetness of condensed milk, a creamy texture and a soft salty finish that guides often compare to salted caramel. It is a good first step for visitors who find a plain cà phê đen too bitter.

Coffee in Saigon is strong, sweet and usually iced. Most cups are made from Vietnamese robusta, dripped through a small metal phin filter and poured over ice with condensed milk. You can drink it on a plastic stool on the sidewalk for under a dollar, or in a specialty cafe for around four.

Phu Quoc and Koh Rong sit less than 100 km apart in the Gulf of Thailand, and it still takes a full day to get from one to the other. No boat or plane links them directly, so the trip is a relay: a fast boat to the Vietnamese mainland, a walk through a land border, a ride along Cambodia's south coast and a second boat out to the island. This guide walks through the three practical ways to make the trip, how long each one takes, what the tickets cost in October 2026, and the visa detail that catches out people who flew into Phu Quoc without a visa. If you are still choosing between the two islands, start with Phu Quoc or Koh Rong, where we compare them side by side.

On a map, Phu Quoc and Koh Rong sit across the same stretch of the Gulf of Thailand, and in photos both come out as pale sand and calm water. The trips themselves hardly overlap. Phu Quoc is Vietnam's largest island, with an international airport, long resort strips and a growing list of theme parks. Koh Rong is a boat ride from Sihanoukville, with rough tracks rather than roads between most beaches and a very different idea of what an evening looks like. This guide is built around the question most people are really answering: how much effort will you accept to reach the beach, and how much comfort do you want once you are there? It also covers how to string the two islands together.

Landed late or out past midnight in Hanoi? A local's guide to where to eat after dark, what to order at each hour, what to skip, and how to pay, get home and stay safe.

Hanoi suits manual wheelchair users best, especially those who can transfer into a car seat and travel with a companion or guide. Power chair users face a harder trip. I plan every day the same way: think of Hanoi as a set of accessible pockets connected by car, not a city you can roll around freely.