The year on year growth of tourism numbers taking a holiday in Viet Nam is proof that people are looking further afield when they begin to think about their holidays. And, why shouldn’t they? Viet Nam is certainly one of the beneficiaries of this phenomenon. The availability of direct international flights to and from Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, and even Da Nang, has made it easy to reach Viet Nam from most parts of the world. For most travellers in recent times, Viet Nam begins as a new adventure with experienced tour operators such as Vivu Travel more than happy to suggest a Viet Nam tour itinerary that fits into the time that a client has available for the holiday.
Many who have visited cannot wait to return, and many do so. There are several reasons why Viet Nam has captured the imagination of tourists from all over the world, and the main ones are certainly worth looking at in more depth.
Terraced rice fields
History
The Far East used to be fairly inaccessible. There was a mystique about the place with the only ‘’contact’’ ordinary people had with the region in film and literature. That has changed and travellers can now get to some of the places they used only to read about. There are many centuries of history to enjoy, ranging from the once Imperial Capital of the Nguyen Dynasty who ruled from the beginning of the 19th century to the mid-point of the 20th century to Hoi An, an important trading port during the Champa Kingdom as early as the 7th.
The French left Viet Nam in the middle of the last century and historians will be able to see plenty of evidence of their time in Indochina. Independence was not the end of the struggle with the Viet Nam War one of the most significant events of the last century.
The Terrain
There is such diversity in Viet Nam; the coastline exceeds 3,000 kilometres with stunning beaches, UNESCO World Heritage highlights like Ha Long Bay and several islands that can provide the ‘’desert-island’’ environment for those who simply want to do nothing. The Highlands in the North, above Ha Noi, and in Central Viet Nam near the Laos border are great areas to explore, both for the natural environment, flora and fauna, and the ethnic hill tribes whose lives have changed little over the centuries.
The Mekong Delta is the end of this mighty river’s journey from the Tibetan Highlands. This is the most fertile region of Viet Nam and one of the real attractions of Viet Nam travel packages is to get up early in the morning to go to the floating markets where fruit and vegetables are sold, often to large food processing companies or wholesalers who will take their purchases for sale to restaurants, and markets in the towns and cities of the Delta; right, there are plenty of settlements in the Mekong.
Ha Long Bay
The Cuisine
Whether you take a plastic stool and eat in the street or visit one of the top restaurants, the food is great. There are some great traditional dishes and with such an extensive coastline, it is not surprising that the seafood is exceptional. There is little better than enjoying seafood during an overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay, or while watching a sunset over the numerous stunning beaches Viet Nam has to offer.
Rice is obviously a major part of the diet, whether as sticky rice, often multicoloured using vegetable dyes, and just as frequently in the form of noodles. There is a wide range of vegetables as well as fruit with pork and chicken among the popular meats.
Viet Nam is now the world’s leading producer of coffee, another legacy of the French, but tea, as well as a range of beers, wines and spirits are widely available.
The People
The Vietnamese are naturally hospitable people even though their daily lives are often hard. Still largely a rural country, villagers live by farming and agriculture with many of the ethnic tribes having additional skills and crafts. Depending upon where you are in Vietnam, you may see fishing villages, with houses or stilts in such places as Ha Long Bay, or villages in remote mountainous regions where farmers have little option than to grow their produce on terraces, built to help retain the water and counteract the chance of soil erosion.
Vivu Travel will be able to arrange homestays for its clients in several parts of Viet Nam, as close to the people as it is possible to get. As a Viet Nam travel agent with a decade of experience organising Viet Nam holidays, you can expect Vivu Travel to use its expertise and contacts to arrange a holiday of a lifetime for you in Viet Nam.
In the cities, there are markets and food stalls and it is an experience just walking around and mingling with the people as they earn their living. The locals often have breakfast in a street-side stall on the way to work and stop again on the way home, perhaps for a snack or a beer? It is nice to just sit back and watch the activity in busy streets, better still to be on a balcony away from the traffic to watch this activity.
Ha Noi
The capital of Viet Nam deserves some attention. The impact of the French remains, architecture and boulevards, with some traditional wooden housing and 21st century skyscrapers. The old town is a special place while there are also religious sites to enjoy. All in all, Ha Noi is one of the top cities in Asia and an excellent starting point for broadening your horizons. It is worth talking to a travel agent based in Ha Noi, someone like Vivu Travel, in order to get the best of both the capital and the country on your itinerary.
Summary
Viet Nam is ‘’open for business’’. All the signs are that the positive message that people are taking away from Viet Nam after their holidays is leading to more and more visitors each year. Why not join them? All the help and advice about the best places to visit in Viet Nam is available from Vivu Travel.