If you haven’t read any of the prior expense reports from our trip, check them out below:
We spent 11 days and 11 nights between Hanoi and Ha Long, Vietnam, arriving on the evening of October 4th from Chiang Rai, Thailand and leaving on the afternoon of October 15th headed to Da Nang, Vietnam. We weren’t huge fans of Hanoi overall because of how big and hectic is was there. It is not at all pedestrian friendly, which made walking around pretty difficult. Luckily we were only there a few days before taking a bus to Ha Long, which was an amazing place!
Stay tuned for Whitney’s next post about all of our adventures on this part of the trip, but for now I’ll focus on the expenses incurred while in Hanoi and Ha Long, Vietnam. Keep in mind that all of the expenses that I’ll talk about below are my expenses only, since Whitney and I have quite different spending habits. We split all shared expenses evenly, so my half of the shared expenses and then my individual expenses are how I calculate the numbers below.
Accommodations: In both Hanoi and Ha Long we took advantage of cheap AirBnBs. The one in Hanoi definitely wasn’t ideal (which I’m sure Whitney will write a lot about since she was much less satisfied with the experience than I was), but the place in Ha Long was great and very cheap. It also included breakfast and a free beer each day which made us like it even more!
- Total for my expenses: $67
Food and drink: We ate a ton of Pho (the national dish of Vietnam) while both in Hanoi and Ha Long which was cheap and delicious. We did spend some time at coffee shops writing and getting out of the heat on some days where the food cost a little more but was still reasonable.
- Total for my expenses: $74
Transportation: The flight was, again, the biggest expense for this portion of the trip. We also had to pay for a Visa to get into Vietnam, but luckily it was good for 30 days so we didn’t have to worry about paying anything else while there. Besides that we took some Grab cars (SE Asia’s version of Uber) around town and rented a motor bike for a day to explore a nearby island.
- Total for my expenses: $148
Activities: My biggest activity expense on this part of the trip was due to a day long boat trip we took around Ha Long Bay. This was more than worth the price at only $34 for the whole day including lunch. Besides that we visited some temples, a national park (on Cat Ba Island), visited the “hospital cave“, and even spent some time on the beach. We went to the gym four times during this portion of the trip which cost about $2 each visit. One of the gyms we went to in Ha Long was extremely nice; possibly one of the nicest gyms I’ve ever gone to complete with UFC style octagon in the middle!
- Total for my expenses: $56
My total expenses for 11 days and 11 nights in Hanoi and Ha Long, Vietnam, including accommodations, transportation, entertainment, and food were approximately $345!
Running total for entire trip to this point (my expenses only): $3,964.
We headed to Da Nang, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam next, so stay tuned for that update. With only about two months left in the trip and over $2,000 to spend to stay on budget for my goal of less than $6,000 spent in 5 months of traveling around the world, I think I’m in pretty good shape! Keep an eye on the Facebook page where we are posting much more frequently about the trip as well as our favorite pictures!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 