We started off in Hanoi, wended our way down and flew home from HCMC a few weeks later. Was genuinely just the best time of my life and being back in the UK has been extra awful ever since.
I appreciated HCMC because it was slightly easier to walk around / breathe in than Hanoi, and the War Remnants museum was absolutely one of the best museums I’ve ever visited. But Christ, I loved every place we went in Vietnam - even the questionable toilets.
I found HCMC very walkable and there were so many trees and parks that even the heat was bearable.
Completely agreed about the War Remnants Museum, it moved me to tears within minutes. I'm from Malaysia, one of the places where Agent Orange was first trialed before it was put to use as a weapon, so that particular exhibition hall was so personal since a family friend was born disabled because of it.
On a lighter note, there was a bánh mì chảo place within a 15 minutes walk from the War Remnants Museum that was so good I am still dreaming about it to this day.