Travel Vacation

10 ways to visit vietnam

You don’t need a reason to visit Vietnam, hugging the easternmost shore of Indochina. But if you’re looking for one – or 10 – you’ll find plenty of inspiration here. 


Vietnam may be wishbone-thin, but it’s a country of remarkable variety. Steaming highlands drop into the endless plain of the Mekong Delta, while the limestone spires of Halong Bay form one of the world’s most instantly recognisable landscapes. The cities pulsate with traffic and activity, yet the people are gentle and the food is delicate. With such diversity comes a wealth of travel opportunities; here are our 10 favourite Vietnam experiences.

1. Dawn at Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
At dawn, even Hanoi’s cacophonous Old Quarter is at rest, with activity having gravitated to Hoan Kiem Lake, the tranquil nucleus around which this 1,000-year-old city swirls. Here, in the dim light, you can witness timeless scenes of old Asia, as the city’s residents limber up for the day ahead. Groups move robotically through their daily tai chi rituals, while speakers blast out pop music for the occasional aerobics group. Elsewhere around the lake there will be badminton games and couples stepping out ballroom-dancing routines. It’s all rather incongruous for such an early hour. 
When you’re done looking at the people, check out the lake itself, for it’s said that spotting one of its rare tortoises brings good fortune – surely the perfect start to a day.

2. Cycle through Vietnam
Bikes are an enduring image of Vietnam, making the country one of the finest cycling destinations in the world. The Mekong Delta, in the south, offers spirit-level-flat riding, but the most interesting cycling is through the centre of the country, between Hue and Nha Trang. Here, you can cling to the coast, passing through the likes of China Beach, Hoi An, My Lai and Quy Nhon, or you can venture up into the verdant highlands. Tracks weave through thick forest and a cornucopia of crops – visit after the harvest and you’ll be cycling around a sea of coffee beans spread across the roads to dry. Expect plenty of attention as you ride, with kids pouring onto the streets to wave and slap high fives.



3.
Ho Chi Minh City war memories
Across the country, most people are at pains to assure you that the Vietnam War is forgiven and all but forgotten. In and around Ho Chi Minh City, however, there are plenty of physical reminders. The city’s most popular museum is the War Remnants Museum, known locally as the War Crimes Museum. There’s a courtyard filled with a collection of fighter jets, tanks and a Chinook helicopter, while displays inside document torture, massacres and the use of Agent Orange. Nearby, the Reunification Palace sits like its own museum piece, preserved just as it was on the day VC tanks overran it – and Saigon – in 1975. 

Out of town are the inordinately popular Cu Chi tunnels, a subterranean wartime network spanning 250 kilometres in length, accessed through openings that seem little bigger than post-box slots – for most visitors it’s the tightest of squeezes to even enter the tunnels.

4. Climb Fansipan
In the northwest corner of the country, near the Chinese border, is 3,143-metre-high Fansipan, Vietnam’s highest mountain. Treks to the summit begin from the hill town of Sapa, where you can also organise lower treks to surrounding hill-tribe villages. It’s about a 20-kilometre hike from Sapa to the mountain peak, ascending around 1,500 metres, a return trip that all but the most hurried stretch over three days. 

Expect muddy feet – much of the track is in deep, sun-starved forest – and there are no huts, so camping out is necessary. Treks can be easily organised in Sapa.

5. Cruise Halong Bay
Halong Bay is the Vietnam that you see on postcards, its limestone stacks and islands – about 2,000 of them – rising from the Gulf of Tonkin like a forest of rock. For most travellers to Vietnam, a visit to the bay is unmissable. 

The most evocative way to see Halong Bay is aboard a Chinese-style junk, its sails flaring almost in imitation of the rock towers that rise around you. Day trips are possible but the quintessential Halong experience is to overnight in the bay, sleeping aboard the boat – most tours offer one or two nights afloat. If you’re feeling more adventurous (and have stronger arms), you can also kayak through the bay, paddling into the tunnels and caves that pierce the karst landscape.

6. Full moon in Hoi An
Even at the most mundane of times, Hoi An is the most charming and relaxing city in Vietnam. The streets of the World Heritage-listed old quarter are almost literally sewn in silk, with tailors abounding – along one block I counted 27 of them – and cooking classes in full steam across the city. At night, the faintly lit streets of the old quarter close to cars, and the centuries-old yellow buildings seem to emit their own buttery light. But to see Hoi An at its romantic best, come when the moon is full. During nights of full moon, even motorbikes are banned and the streets are lit only by silk lanterns. It’s like the Oriental dream turned into reality one night a month.

7. Elephant ride at Lak Lake
Across Asia there are many places where you can ride an elephant, but perhaps only at Lak Lake, in the Vietnamese highlands, can you ride them straight through a lake. Far from the beaten tourist paths, Lak Lake is said to be the largest of its kind in the central highlands, though shallow enough in parts to allow pachyderms to trundle through it. From the M’nong village of Jun, gentle giants round the shores of the lake before returning through the water, the feet of their passengers almost skimming the surface, the elephants’ trunks raised like periscopes.



8. Hue Citadel
If you’ve ever visited Beijing’s Forbidden City you’ll have some idea about what to expect in Hue’s magnificent Citadel. Gift-wrapped inside 10 kilometres of protective walls, the Citadel was the royal palace during Hue’s 140-year tenure as the capital of the Nguyen dynasty, and was also the first site in Vietnam to be granted World Heritage status. 

Stretching along the banks of the Perfume River – a dark, mud-coloured perfume – the Citadel crouches beneath Vietnam’s tallest flag tower. Inside, it’s a crumbling facsimile of its royal days, with three-quarters of the Citadel destroyed by U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War. Still, there’s more than enough here – from the koi pond to the elaborate wooden Queen Mothers’ residence – to grasp the enormity and regality of this Forbidden City.

9. Cruise Nha Trang’s islands
Nha Trang may be Vietnam’s brashest beach resort, but spending a day among the islands that puncture the horizon makes any visit here worthwhile. With more than half-a-dozen islands offshore, the town is the launch point for a variety of excursions, from snorkelling to visiting the outer island of Hon Yen, where swiftlet nests are sourced for bird’s-nest soup. 

Closer to shore is the likeable Hon Mieu. On this island’s eastern side you can bask on the pebbles and sand at Bai Soai beach, though the greatest attraction is the island township of Tri Nguyen. Rowed ashore in a basket boat – a tiny vessel that looks like a floating hat – you can select your fish or octopus from the floating dock and have it cooked at one of the waterfront restaurants for a meal as fresh as the sea breeze. Walk it off by strolling from shore to shore through the town, checking out the large and colourful fishing fleet.

10. Pho for the President
What Vietnam journey would be complete without at least one meal of pho? The rice-noodle soup is ubiquitous across the country, but nowhere is it more famous than at Pho 2000 in Ho Chi Minh City. It was here, in 2000, that U.S. President Bill Clinton stopped by for a bowl of pho, a visit still spruiked large and loud by restaurant management. Signs outside the restaurant declare “Pho for the President,” while inside, portraits of Clinton and his staff cover the walls.

Despite this illustrious history, Pho 2000 is basic and simple – think American roadside diner meets Russian cafeteria – which was the owner’s intention when he opened the establishment in the late 1990s as Vietnam’s first privately owned food company. After you eat, you only have to cross the street for another truly Ho Chi Minh City experience: wading into the Ben Thanh Market for a bout of verbal wrestling with the touts and stallholders. •

Photography by Andrew Bain. 


TRAVEL FACTS

getting there
Vietnam Airlines flies daily to Vietnam from Sydney and Melbourne. 61-2/9283-1355;vietnamairlines.com.vn

getting around
World Expeditions offers more than a dozen trips through Vietnam, including several cycling trips. 1300-720-000; worldexpeditions.com
Helen Wong’s Tours and Travel Indochina also offer small-group trips around Vietnam.helenwongstours.com and travelindochina.com

when to go
Such a long country – it’s 1,600 kilometres from north to south – makes for variable conditions. The dry season in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is around November to March.

where to stay
A four-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City, the new Anantara Miu Ne Resort & Spa offers 89 rooms on one of Vietnam’s prettiest stretches of sand. 84-62/374-1888; anantara.com
The Furama Resort Da Nang’s elegant rooms come with Vietnamese design flourishes. 84-511/384-7888; furamavietnam.com
Hotel Nikko Saigon. 84-8/3925-7777; 
hotelnikkosaigon.com.vn  
Victoria Hotels & Resorts have five properties across Vietnam. victoriahotels-asia.com
The Vin Pearl group’s resorts include properties in Nha Trang, Hoi An and Da Nang.vinpearlland.com
The Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa enjoys a beachfront location. 84-511/398-1234; 
danang.regency.hyatt.com

further information
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism website lists hotels and tour companies.vietnamtourism.com