Preparing to cross the 8-lane road outside our hotel on our first morning in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) I thought back to the advice we had been given to “just be confident and maintain a steady pace – the traffic will work around you.” With this in mind we stepped out and were relieved to find that the advice was correct as hundreds of motorbikes flowed around us like water around a stone.
We quickly became used to the traffic and discovered that HCMC is quite a pedestrian-friendly city with most of the main areas of interest located in the downtown area, allowing us to easily visit places such as the War Remnants museum and the Presidential Palace.
HCMC is also one of the greenest cities I have visited, and the extensive shade provided much needed respite from the heat and humidity.
We visited only weeks before the 50th anniversary of the reunification at the end of the war and the entire city was awash with Vietnamese flags and bunting, together with thousands of locals taking photos in front of iconic buildings whilst dressed in either traditional clothing or Vietnamese flag t-shirts, something we were to see later on in Hanoi also.
After highlights including sampling bahn mis from the street vendors, an evening river cruise to view the eye-catching neon displays, a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels outside of the city, and a traditional water-puppets show, we headed up the coast to Cam Ranh.
Cam Ranh is a strip of beachside resorts lining a beautiful bay just south of famed party town Nha Trang and staying at a hotel with twelve pools and a waterpark was our bribe to the kids to offset all of the “boring” cultural and historical activities we had subjected them to in HCMC.
After three days of rest and relaxation we took another short flight to Da Nang. Located on yet another long and beautiful beach, Da Nang is within easy reach of many outstanding day trips, including the 200-year-old Imperial City of Hue, the spectacular Marble Mountains, the ancient Cham kingdom of My Son, the magnificent Lady Buddha temple complex overlooking Da Nang from its position on Monkey Mountain, and Hoi An with its magical Old Town lit up by lanterns.
Six days here was not nearly long enough but we had to catch our final flight to the capital city of Hanoi, situated in the far north of the country. Hanoi is a fascinating melting pot of French colonial architecture, Buddhist pagodas and temples, and Vietnamese and Chinese influences. Our hotel was located in the Old Quarter, most of which is (theoretically) pedestrian only on weekends to create a vibrant setting of restaurants, markets, and nightlife, particularly on the aptly named “Beer Street.”
We took a day trip to world-famous Ha Long Bay for a cruise around the iconic limestone karsts and islands, which was of the highlights of our two weeks in Vietnam.
On our final day in Hanoi we spent a day wandering around the many impressive historical and current buildings located in the centre of the city, including Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, and One Pillar Pagoda, before one last excellent Vietnamese dinner in the Old Quarter!
