Food and Drink 5/10
The food was certainly better than Laos, but not on a par with Thailand. It was a bit bland, but still fine. Make-your-own spring rolls are fantastic though.
Both Huda and Hanoi beer were very good, and very cheap. Anything other than alcohol was very expensive - the price of fruit juice in comparison to beer was staggering.
Roads 7/10
All well sealed and smoothly surfaced. Wide shoulders to cycle on.
Traffic 6/10
Hanoi is chaos, and Hue is not much better. When you get used to it, cycling in the cities is not really that bad, as long as you don't need to turn left. Highway 1 was not as busy as we thought, it was no worse than the main roads in Thailand. The traffic mostly consists of bikes and hurtling tourist buses, and whilst the standard of driving is appalling, on a bike it's not really that dangerous.
Sights & Scenery 9/10
Parts of Vietnam are simply breathtaking. Some of the most lasting memories of this trip will be cycling through some of it. Though some bits of Highway 1 are dull, it is not all bad.
People 6/10
The children, as seems to be typical in south east Asia, gave us quite a welcome and were great. Amongst the adults, the opportunity to try and rip off a foreigner seems too great a temptation for most to resist, and this can get you down.
Among others, our least favourite interaction with Vietnamese was trying to buy drinks along the road. Countless times when we asked the price of a bottle of drink, a shopkeeper would tell us 3 or more times more than we knew we should be paying, and absolutely refused to bargain at all. When we left the stall we could hear the shouts between the sellers. If we refused to pay an extotionate price at one, one of the others wouldn't sell us anything. This always happened in the centre of towns, where the stalls were run by men with their mates all sitting round. If we rode out a bit to find smaller cafes and shops which were run either by families or older women, we always got a fair price.
Miscellaneous
Accommodation
Hotels in Vietnam are very cheap, and you get a lot for your money. We were impressed with the size of rooms in general and how clean they were. Even in towns such as Hue rates were still very good. Bargains can still be had in Hanoi, but you need to shop around. Hotel rates should always be bargained for.
Visa
We got a 30 day visa for Vietnam in Laos, the clock starts ticking on it when you enter - not the day it is issued. Due to the Vietnamese Embassy closing for the Chinese New Year we had to obtain an express visa which took no more than 10 minutes - although the price was $60 each. The other option was to wait a week until it re-opened again. This wasn't feasible due to the extra cost of staying in Vientiane.
