Amazing Vietnam
// April 28th, 2011 // No Comments » // Tourism places
Welcome to a world wherever the colours are more vivid, where the landscapes are bolder, the coastline more spectacular, wherever the story is more compelling, where the savors are more divine, wherever life is lived in the fast lane. This world is Vietnam, the latest Asian dragon to awake from its slumber. Nature has blessed Vietnam with a bountiful harvest of soaring mountains, a killer coastline and radiant rice fields, Vietnam is a cracker. Inland, peasant women in conical hats still tend to their fields, children ride buffalos along country paths and minority mass scratch out a living from impossible slopes.Vietnam is a nation of ascertained optimists who have weathered war after war, survived colonialism and communism, and are now coming to grips with the wheeler-dealer world of capitalism. Fiercely caring of their independence and sovereignty, the Vietnamese are graciously hospitable of foreigners who come as guests not conquerors.
Don’t believe the hype. Or the propagandist party billboards that are as common as statues of ‘Uncle Ho’. Believe your senses, as you discover among the most enriching, enlivening and exotic countries on earth.To escape the buzz of millions of motorbikes, head west to the watery landscape of green fields and sleepy villages in the Mekong Delta . There’s adventure galore to be had on Phu Quoc Island and stunning white-sand beaches to relax on. Back on the east coast at Mui Ne Beach , you will be faced with a similar dilemma: action or inertia? Hoi An could consider you down – but in a good way – you are bound to add kilos of made-to-order clothing to your luggage. With an approximated 300 to 500 tailors working in this beautiful city, this is fashionista heaven.
To experience the intellectual, cultural and spiritual heartbeat of Vietnam, make a stop in the old imperial capital, Hué . Home to palaces and pagodas, tombs and temples, and host of the biennial arts festival, the Festival of Hué , it is the base to go for historical, cultural and culinary stimulation. In Hanoi , the country’s captivating capital, rise early to ascertain the city exercise by Hoan Kiem Lake, then pay your respects in person to Uncle Ho at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (a truly surreal experience). Assure if you are able to locate ‘pickled fish street’ in the Old Quarter (it’s somewhere near ‘wooden bowls street’), and cool off with draught beer at ‘bia hoi junction’ (a truly rewarding experience). Finally you’ll be enticed out of the city by the stunning offerings of the country’s northern provinces. Nothing can develop you for the beauty of Halong Bay and its 2000 limestone karsts, nor the experience of trekking around mountainous Sapa . Vietnam has it all. Go expecting the unexpected, be ready for an adventure as much as a holiday, and Vietnam will deliver.
