Vietnam Favorite Tips by SirRichard Top 5 Page for this destination

Ho Chi Minh

Favorite thing: You will see his image everywhere, in portraits, bank notes, books...
Nguyen Tat Thanh (Ho Chi Minh is only one of his aliases, meaning "Bringer of Light") is considered a National Hero in Vietnam, founded the Vietnamese Communist Party and was President during 1946-1969.
He studied in Europe and when he returned fighted against the colonialist invaders of his land (France, USA). As Moses, he died before seeing the liberation of his people.
He is affectionately referred to as "Uncle Ho" (Bac Ho).
He "officially" never married, but in the 90s there were some "unofficial" gossips about wives, lovers, sons and so...

Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage Areas

Favorite thing: Vietnam has got a few places included as part of the World Heritage Program:

- 1993 Complex of Hue Monuments
- 1994, 2000 Ha Long Bay
- 1999 Hoi An Ancient Town
- 1999 My Son Sanctuary
- 2003 Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

In all of these a great job of conservation is being held by this international organization.
In the pic you can see the logotype of this programme, that you will find in tickets, signs, leaflets... of those areas.

Fondest memory: http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/world.heritage.html

A certain chinese flavour

Favorite thing: Due to its location, so close to China, you can feel in Vietnam a certain chinese influence. This is much stronger in the little village of Hoi An, where this pic was taken. Here you feel transported to any of those chinese movies that took place in rural China in the 18-19th centuries...
I found it ver "chines" too the Hue palaces and tombs...
Though maybe mine is a wrong perception, and China and Vietnam share the same culture and customs, and is not a question of influence but of common heritage. Anyway, as we know better chinese stuff and get more info about that, I couldn't avoid to feel that as "chinese"...

The Mekong River

Favorite thing: This huge river starts in Chine, crosses Laos and Cambodia and dies here in Vietnam, forming an extense delta.
It is also a main transport way from the border to the southern coast of Vietnam.
You can enter Vietnam by boat from Cambodia, though you will have to change transports several times (bus - boat - bus) and is a bit longer than arriving by bus.

The Mekong Delta

Favorite thing: This green and populated delta is the southernmost region of Vietnam. You can explore it from Saigon. The ideal visit is 3 days, in which you can visit farms, markets, villages, sleep there, ride on boats...
I was short of time, so just took a 1 day trip to Mytho and from there took a little boat through the channels, saw a couple of farms, had lunch by the canals and saw coconut products, honey and liquor production.
There are many tour agencies offering you Delta packs, they are much cheaper and easier than if you go by yourself, as public transport is not very good there and there are many rivers to cross...

Charming people

Favorite thing: People in Vietnam are so charming, smiling and welcoming... Most of the people speak english, though just a few words, basic, enough for understanding U and (try to) let you know what they mean.
I met this little girl in a traditional music show I got into during a tour in the Mekong Delta, near Saigon. She and her sister sang and played some traditional instruments.

Beaches

Favorite thing: Vietnam has got a few wonderful beaches. Besides, they are not very crowded... yet!
Some of the best are in the south, in:
- Nha Trang, very popular beaches and beach resorts
- Miu Ne, wilder, not so visited.
- Bac Lieu, worse but closer to Saigon, U can go there in a daytrip.

TaiChi in the early morning

Favorite thing: All over Vietnam you can see people doing TaiChi exercises in the early morning, before going to work. In Hanoi, the best place to see that is at the lake's shore, where many people practice that in small groups. There uses to be a leader and the others following his movements. You can even join them if you feel like, it's not so difficult, as they do it reeeeeal sloooooow...

Water Puppets

Favorite thing: This puppets you can see in the north part of the country are a really original version of the "normal" puppets.
They started in the rice fields, when floodings let everything under water. Peasants did then puppet shows to spend their time, managing the puppets with long sticks under the water, so they seemed to be floating.
You can see them in a special theatre in Hanoi, near the lake. They have 2 shows each evening, about 1 hour each. It's in vietnamese, but the show is so "visual" that u don't have to understand much of it...