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Coastlines to Crossings

17 Days across Vietnam, the Philippines & Tokyo


Seventeen days, three countries, and not nearly enough sleep. This one started on a beach in Phu Quoc and ended under the neon of Shinjuku, with a stretch of Bohol dive boats and Manila rooftops stitched in between. Saltwater, mud baths, temple roofs, and a Balicasag drift dive — exactly the kind of chaos that makes a trip worth writing down.



Phu Quoc Island & Nha Trang are electric

A small island in the south of Vietnam is preparing itself to reveal to the world an ultra luxury resort island. It's amazing to see the amount of developmetn and coordination on the island. The south side of the island is essentially developing a new skyline with cobblestones, brand new restaurants, night markets and evening performances. It has a Mediterranean-style feel to it set in a Vietnamese coastal city.


Nha Trang used to be a straightforward beach town further north. It is not anymore. Alongside the old boardwalk, an entire entertainment district has gone up - filled with restaurants, night markets and club. A large Russian contingency can also be found here, with many settlers coming into from the war. The island hoping off of Nha Trang is where I found the true beauty. From the marine reserve, Hon Tam Mud Bath (incredible, as must) and restuarant row connected on the water with fresh fish.


It's exciting to witness Vietnam continue to prosper and grow in a generation, more exciting things to come as I continue to visit the area.



Bohol & Manila: Turtles, Rooftops, and a Barracuda battery

The Philippines leg started with a chain of flights — Nha Trang to Saigon, Saigon to Manila — and landed us in Bonifacio Global City for a first night of Intramuros wandering and rooftops. BGC is polished and modern in a way that feels almost like a different country from Old Manila a few miles away, and it is worth giving both sides their due.


From Manila we flew straight to Panglao, checked into the Henann Resort Alona Beach, and got the important thing booked first: a dive trip out to Balicasag Island. The next morning was the highlight of the whole Philippines stretch — a banka ride out to the island, then dives at Turtle Point, Black Forest, and Cathedral Wall, with sea turtles gliding past close enough to make you forget you are supposed to be watching your air gauge. The highlight for me was an outward swim from the reef into a batter of Barracuda surrounding us. Absolutely magistic, it's amazing this world under the ocean produces. I felt truly connected to this earth, humbled by its beauty and energy.


We finished the day on the sandbar at Virgin Island before heading back to Alona Beach for a night of bar-hopping along the strip.



Tokyo: Neon, Noodles, and a Five-Story Pagoda

Landing in Tokyo after two weeks of beach towns and boat trips felt like switching movies entirely. We picked up a Suica card at the airport, checked into Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, and walked straight into Kabukicho before we had even unpacked.


The Kabukicho crossing is one of those places photos genuinely undersell — the Godzilla head glowing over the Don Quijote building, walls of signage stacked ten stories high, and a crowd that never seems to thin out, whether it is dusk or well past midnight.


The east side of Tokyo runs on a different clock. We got to Senso-ji in Asakusa before the crowds, walked Nakamise's shopping street, and stood under the five-story pagoda longer than we probably needed to. A walk through one of Tokyo's forested park grounds was a reminder that the city can go from neon to near-silent within a few train stops.


We also gave a full day to Hakone — the Romancecar out from Shinjuku, the Open-Air Museum, the pirate ship across Lake Ashi, and the torii gate rising out of the water at Hakone Shrine. On a clear day you get Mt. Fuji in the background almost the entire time.

And on a day trip to Kamakura, the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in was worth the train ride on its own — a 13th-century bronze statue that sits in the open air, considerably larger in person than any photo makes it look.


Three countries, One Long Loop

Beach clubs and mud baths in Vietnam, turtles and rooftop bars in the Philippines, neon crossings and a 700-year-old bronze Buddha in Japan — on paper it does not sound like it should work as one trip. It did. Different climates, different paces, and somehow all seventeen days ran together into one long, good stretch of not being home.

Three countries, one carry-on, and not a single regret about the extra dive.

✈️ Links & Resources

Vietnam — Nha Trang

Philippines — Manila & Bohol

Tokyo & Kamakura

Trip Logistics

 
 
 

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