Night Markets in Saigon #travel

While they may not be as bright and shiny as malls or supermarkets, night markets have their own character and are popular destinations for local people and travellers alike. For many travellers the day is just too hot to spend shopping, and the cooler night air offers an ideal opportunity to grab some souvenirs, while for locals the evening is an ideal time to meet and gather outside and share a meal or a drink under the stars.




There is an enormous variety of goods on offer including clothes, footwear, hats. hair clips, jewellery, watches..etc The prices are normally cheaper than day markets or supermarkets as the sellers pay less for the rent, so there are some great bargains to be had. As well as the choice in souvenirs there's also a great range of food, with many street vendors setting up shop to take advantage of the passing trade.



Some night markets specialise in cheap goods for students and workers, and are located out of town near universities and textile factories, such as the huge Ky Hoa night market on Cao Thang in District 10, where many student live. In these markets the prices are often cheaper than in town and less bargaining is necessary; many people also come to these markets and buy wholesale to stock their shops in town.



The food in Ky Hoa is delicious and surprisingly cheap, just $1 for a bowl of noodles or a plate of broken-rice with grilled pork and fried egg, plus a glass of sugar cane juice on the side. You will find a similar atmosphere at Binh Tay / Cho Lon, Hoa Hung and Ba Chieu night markets.

Hue's Imperial Citadel

Buon Ma ThuotCan ThoCon DaoDalatDanangHalong BayHanoiHoi AnHueMui NeNha TrangNinh BinhPhu QuocQuy NhonSaigonSapaVung TauTravel Information

Getting Around VietnamHealth + SafetyLearn VietnameseMoney - Vietnam DongThe Vietnam WarTour operators in VietnamVietnam Blogs + WebsitesVietnam Tourism StatisticsVietnam ToursVietnam Visa Save 60% On Vietnam Hotels

City:

HanoiHo Chi Minh CityHoi AnDanangHuePhan ThietNha TrangDalat-------------------Can ThoChau DocDong HoiHaiphongHalongPhu Quoc IslandPleikuQuy NhonSapaTuy HoaVung Tau

Check In: *



Format: 20-08-2010 Check Out: *



Format: 20-08-2010 Rooms:

123 Adults:

1234 Children:

0123



While living in Vietnam I found there frequently wasn't much information or decent photos of places to visit off the beaten track available on the internet - it may be easy to find information on towns on the Sinh Cafe routes but beyond that places were often something of a mystery.

It also seemed that many of the guides I came across didn't express the sheer beauty of the country, with dry descriptions and little information beyond where to sleep. I want to try and correct that with this blog and travel guide - although it is still early days - and plan to cover plenty of the hidden locations that make Vietnam so special.

Still, I'm not a fountain of all knowlege by any means, and I would welcome anyone who is so inclined to send in their own stories, tips and advice to the website to help it grow into an authoritative guide on travel in Vietnam. Similarly if you have questions about your upcoming visit please make contact and I'll do my best to offer any tips I can think of.



In the meantime, start reading about the wonderful destinations we do cover!

My Son Cham Ruins, Hoi An

My Son Ruins

Mankind builds marvelous and imagination-defying cities and structures, then erases them again as the centuries, along with the fickle loyalty of scholars, priests, kings, and common people render them either obsolete or irrelevant. The ruins of My Son in Vietnam, not far from Da Nang and Hoi An, fall into this category.



My Son was once an impressive place, a holy valley of impressive Hindu temples and burial grounds of the royalty of the Champa people. My Son was the Vietnamese equivalent of places like Cambodia's Angkor Wat and Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In its heyday, My Son included over seventy temples, along with a number of monuments with inscriptions in both Sanskrit, the holy language of ancient India, and Cham. In 1999, UNESCO named My Son a World Heritage Site.


Phong Nga Ke Bang National Park and Caves

Tags

National Long before Phong Nha-Ke Bang (also spelled Phong Nga-Ke Bang) National Park came into existence, the Champa people were using its caves for various purposes. The Champa were people of ancient Cambodia and Vietnam who ruled most of southern and central Vietnam from the seventh century through the mid-nineteenth century. Carving out inscriptions on steles and altars inside the caves, the Champa left their mark in the magnificent caves many years before modern Vietnamese and British scientists would begin to explore the caves. Later explorations discovered Neolithic axe heads in the area, showing that use of the caves date back even before the time of the Champa people.



There is no overstating the magnificence of the caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The park was created to protect the world's two largest karst, or limestone, regions. Inside the limestone topography are over 126 km of cave systems, with over 300 caves and grottos (grottos are caves that have been inhabited or used by humans). For anyone visiting Vietnam with the slightest interest in caves, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a must-see destination.



Phong Nha Cave

» Read more





Hue's Imperial Citadel

Photos



Citadel

Flag in front of Citadel

Citadel The Tay Son Rebellion in Vietnam brought Nguyen Phuc Anh to power in 1802. Declaring himself Emperor Gia Long, he began construction on a grand fortress-palace in Hue in 1804. Today the emperor's construction is known in Hue merely as “the Citadel”, and its inner sanctum, once the home of the emperor and his family, is called “the Purple Forbidden City”. Although the Citadel and its Imperial City were badly damaged during the Vietnam War in 1968, they remain one of Vietnam's top tourist destinations.



Early History of the Citadel

Like many of Asia's leaders of the past, the emperor relied upon traditional methods of divination, called geomancy, to choose the location for the Citadel. With a wish to create a sort of mini-Forbidden City like the one in Beijing, tens of thousands of labourers were conscripted to construct his fortress and palace. They dug a ten kilometer moat, along with thick earthen walls, to create the Citadel's perimeter. Copying the French military architect Vauban, these earthen walls were later replaced by two-meter-thick stone walls. Inside the outer perimeter, a smaller moat and smaller brick walls bounded the emperor's Purple Forbidden City. The Purple Forbidden City, besides elaborate residences, also included a network of gates, courtyards, and administrative buildings. The emperor didn't live to see the completion of his architectural masterpiece; dying in 1820, the Citadel was finally completed in 1832 by Gia Long's son, the Emperor Minh Mang.

Phong Nga Ke Bang National Park and Caves #travel

Long before Phong Nha-Ke Bang (also spelled Phong Nga-Ke Bang) National Park came into existence, the Champa people were using its caves for various purposes. The Champa were people of ancient Cambodia and Vietnam who ruled most of southern and central Vietnam from the seventh century through the mid-nineteenth century. Carving out inscriptions on steles and altars inside the caves, the Champa left their mark in the magnificent caves many years before modern Vietnamese and British scientists would begin to explore the caves. Later explorations discovered Neolithic axe heads in the area, showing that use of the caves date back even before the time of the Champa people.




There is no overstating the magnificence of the caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The park was created to protect the world's two largest karst, or limestone, regions. Inside the limestone topography are over 126 km of cave systems, with over 300 caves and grottos (grottos are caves that have been inhabited or used by humans). For anyone visiting Vietnam with the slightest interest in caves, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a must-see destination.

My Son Cham Ruins, Hoi An #travel

My Son Cham Ruins, Hoi An


My Son Ruins

Mankind builds marvelous and imagination-defying cities and structures, then erases them again as the centuries, along with the fickle loyalty of scholars, priests, kings, and common people render them either obsolete or irrelevant. The ruins of My Son in Vietnam, not far from Da Nang and Hoi An, fall into this category.



My Son was once an impressive place, a holy valley of impressive Hindu temples and burial grounds of the royalty of the Champa people. My Son was the Vietnamese equivalent of places like Cambodia's Angkor Wat and Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In its heyday, My Son included over seventy temples, along with a number of monuments with inscriptions in both Sanskrit, the holy language of ancient India, and Cham. In 1999, UNESCO named My Son a World Heritage Site.

Phu Quoc #TRavel

Red, dusty roads and dense forest

More cows on the beach than tourists


Boats on the river in Phu Quoc's main town

Nobody here but us cows..

The end of another perfect day

Fluffy clouds on a Phu Quoc morning Phu Quoc is an island off the coast of Cambodia in the gulf of Thailand that became part of Vietnam while the French administrated the region and has remained so ever since. It is very close to Cambodia - you can see the mainland from the North West of the island - but can be reached by fast boat in around 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours from the towns of Ha Tien and Rach Gia in the Mekong Delta, or by plane from Saigon (1hr).

Phu Quoc photos



Due to the political sensitivity of the island it was largely dominated by the military for much of recent history and has only in the past decade or so begun to develop. As a result the majority of roads are unpaved and most of the island is covered in lush forest. As we write the island remains a tranquil paradise, with just a smattering of hotels and resorts and many beautiful, quiet beaches that look out onto the calm glassy waters of the gulf of Thailand.

Sunset through the trees from our beach bungalow

So far development on the island has been slow due to the cost of shipping materials to the island and the small airstrip limiting the size of plane that can land - and so the number of visitors that can fly to the island (for this reason you should always book your trip to Phu Quoc well in advance!).

Yet this is due to change. Comparisons have been made between the size of Phu Quoc, its appeal to tourists and areas such as Phuket, Koh Samui and even Singapore, and big plans are underfoot. An international airport and short-term visa exemption is planned for the island to allow larger planes filled with package tourists to land, and it is thought the character of the island will change significantly as the investment floods in and Phu Quoc becomes one of Vietnam's key beach destinations.



With luck these changes will be reasonably sympathetic - the centre of the island is a national park and as far as we know it will remain so, meaning the interior will still be covered in thick forest - but we do recommend visiting now if you have the chance while Phu Quoc remains such a peaceful escape.



There are a limited number of hotels on the island so once again do book in advance to avoid disappointment. The majority of hotels are based on Long Beach, a many miles long stretch of beach from the centre to the southern point on the western coast, which benefits from great sunsets in the evenings. A few of the more upmarket, boutique resorts are based on and around Bai Ong (Ong Beach), on the North-West coast, and if you really want to escape from it all then Bai Sao on the South East has basic accommodation and perhaps is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island.


If you're not content just watching the day slide by while eating delicious seafood and drinking beers and fresh coconuts there are a number of excursions you can do such as diving and snorkelling trips to coral reefs around a small group of islands off the southern tip. In the centre of the island are waterfalls and rock pools, as well as a crocodile farm that can be visited. The island is also famous for producing some of the best pepper and fish sauce in the world and plantations and factory tours can also be arranged.



Many visitors rent a jeep or motorbike to get around the island but do beware - the roads are very dusty and covered in gravel and it is far from unusual that inexperienced motorcyclists lose a lot of skin or even break legs and ribs driving around the island - please, only rent a bike if you are a very competent rider. If that's not you then consider arranging for a minibus or taxi to take you exploring instead.

Empty beaches

Watersports in Nha Trang #Travel

While Nha Trang is a great place to spend a lazy holiday, you may find that after all that delicious food you feel like getting slightly more active.



Fortunately the watersports scene in Nha Trang is growing rapidly, with more and more options availible for those who fancy a bit of excitement on their beach breaks.



As well as scuba diving, for which Nha Trang has an excellent reputation as the most popular dive site in Vietnam, there are many other sports availible.



In the winter months (particularly October - February), sports like surfing and body boarding are best - the rougher seas mean poor visibility for diving but do mean some surf in this otherwise sheltered bay.



When the weather's fine there's a much bigger range of sports on offer, including:



•Wakeboarding

•Windsurfing

•Catamaran Sailing

•Kite Surfing

•Laser Dinghy Sailing and

•Kayaking

To find out more, pay a visit to the Sailing Club or the Louisiane Brew house, where Manna organise equipment rentals.



If that all seems a bit too much like hard work, you could opt for a sail on a yacht around the islands. The sailing is taken care of for you by a competent skipper, and boats can be charted for up to a week. Contact the Sailing Club or Sunsail for more information.

Po Nagar (Thap Ba) Cham Towers #Travel

The Po Nagar Cham Towers is one of the many relics of the Champa Kingdom, which was the most significant power in South Vietnam from 200 - 1720 AD. Despite being a major trading civilization, it never weilded a great deal of power, and so never really competed with the Khmers in the south or Viets in the North.




The Cham civilization had spread from Ancient India, and it is interesting to see some similarities between the design of Cham monuments and some others within India.



In Nha Trang the Cham Ponagar temple complex (locally refered to as Thap Ba) is situated on a hill just outside the city, and is reached by crossing the Cai River from the main tourist stretch.



At the complex there are four towers remaining from an original eight, each of which shows differences in style, indicated they were built over an extended period between the seventh and 12th centuries AD. The largest, which stands at 23m high, was built in 817 AD and contains a lingham and a statue dedicated to Ponagar, or Lady Thien Y-ana, the beautiful wife of Prince Bac Hai.



It is said that Lady Thien Y-ana taught new agricultural and weaving techniques to people of the area, and in gratitude they built the tower to honour her.



Other towers in the complex are dedicated to gods - the central tower is in honour of Cri Cambhu, and is thought to bless devotees with fertility, so is visited by childless couples. In the North West lies a tower dedicated to Sandhaka, a wood cutter and foster father to Ponagar, and the tower in the south was dedicated to Ganeca, the daughter of Ponagar.



Entrance to the towers costs 12,000 VND and opening hours are from 6 AM - 6 PM. Late afternoon is a good time to visit.

Nha Trang Nightlife - Bars + Clubs #Travel

Photo credit: Nguyen TrungWhile Nha Trang certainly has a different scene to that of Sihanoukille in Cambodia or any of the Thai beaches, it has certainly earned a reputation as one of the top towns to party outside of the big cities.



From relaxing lounge bars to dancing all night in a club or on the beach, there's plenty to keep your hedonistic streak entertained.



In the daytime, the best places to be are surely the beach, as the views out to sea just can't be beaten. There are plenty of shady spots spread out along the beach, whether in the seafood restaurants or on a sunlounger under the mushroom shaped palm umbrellas that you can rent from the Sailing Club or Lousiana Brew House.



The Lousiana is a great place to drink freshly brewed beers - though not the Vietnamese Bia Hoi, which you can find dotted around the town on street corners, the brews at Louisiana are a taste of home, reminding you of good ales when you've been away some time.



As night falls, you can get great offers on drinks and some rather tasty cocktails at Guava Bar, a very laid back bar (except when the football's on!) with rich bassy lounge music, nice lighting and very comfortable seating - as well as some rather unique bar-armchairs. They've got a great seating area out the back too.



Later in the evening there is a popular movement to the Sailing Club, a Nha Trang institution in many ways. With a huge dancefloor in front of a very long bar, the Sailing Club is usually buzzing with backpackers, scuba divers, bright young things from Saigon and lots of jars of unidentified alcohol. Out the front on the terraces is generally more relaxed, with a lovely view out to sea, where you can just about hear the waves crashing over the sound of the music. Once a month they run a full moon party called Insomnia, and there are often other events on too.



Finally if you're still going and you've had enough of the Sailing Club, the Why Not? bar picks up after midnight for those who don't want to go home.



There are several other nightclubs which cater to a more Vietnamese than western crowd - 007 being one whose name I remember - if you know of any others you'd recommend please drop us a line.



One final note - when you've had a few do try to be careful and aware of your surroundings. Vietnam is a very safe place and violence is very rare, however pickpocketing is fairly common in Nha Trang in the wee hours, particularly from men dressed as ladies who approach drunken tourists on their stagger home, so do try and be alert.

Nha Trang #Travel

Nha Trang photos

Nha Trang Beach Promenade

View out to sea, Nha Trang Beach

Happiness! Nha Trang, a university town at the mouth of a beautiful bay with a huge sweeping beach, is possibly one of my favourite places in Vietnam - one day I plan to live there!

As a beach destination it takes some beating, with delicious restaurants, great bars, beautiful diving and crystal clear water. There are boat trips out to the islands for divers and non-divers alike, snorkelling and fishing trips and if its a little chilly you can go and bathe in the hot springs.



More recently there has been an explosion in watersports, with catamarans, jet skis and paragliding available for hire on the beach, as well as kayaks, windsurfers and bodyboards.



Yet unlike other beach destinations in Viet Nam it offers a lot more - with a popular university as well as training for Vietnam's Navy the town has a distinct character of its own.

The beach at sunrise



It's a great place to hire a bike and cruise up and down the boulevard that lines the seafront on a bright breezy day - its very popular with the students in the evenings too!



Things to do in Nha Trang

•Have an evening cocktail on the roof of the Sunrise Hotel

•Go for a dive or snorkel and see the array of beautiful fish in the waters

•Spend a lazy day at the Louisiane Brewhouse eating cake, swimming in their pool and drinking fresh beer

•Visit the Thap Ba hot springs, get covered in mud and bathe in a pool sized 38C bath before having a very good value massage

•Hire a motorbike or motorbike taxi (xe om) and ride up the coast past the town to one of the spectacular seafood restaurants at the waters edge for great food and a fantastic view back on Nha Trang

•Head back down the other way and up the hill to Bao Dai's palace for some culture and more great views (Bao Dai was a collaborator king of Vietnam during the French occupation)

•Visit the Cham temples - remnants of an anchient Indian civilization that colonized much of South Vietnam and Cambodia ~500AD
View to the North of Nha Trang Beach

•Take the cable car across to the island for a day at an off the wall theme park

•Swim!

•Eat drink and be merry - as well as hundreds of good restaurants and bars catering to the tourists, there are many local specialities to try. Some of my favourites are fresh fish at a barbeque restaurant and Nem Nuong... mmm nem nuong...
Sunrise over Nha Trang

•Have a civilized meal at the Sailing Club in the evening, before returning later on for some decidedly uncivilized dancing

Museums in Saigon #Travel

Museums in Saigon



Vietnam has a fascinating 2,000 year history and there is plenty to learn about the country's past and how it affects life today. Sadly, however, while there are some excellent museums in Vietnam not all live up to the same standard - many are lengthy photo galleries with few English translations of the contexts or history behind the photos, leaving the visitor bewildered even if they have some prior knowledge of the subject.



That being said, if you choose the right museums on your trip you can learn a great deal and begin to appreciate more the rich history of this country.




The Museum of Vietnam's History

(Inside the gates of the HCMC Zoo/Botanical Gardens, Le Duan, District 1)

Possibly one of the best museums we've seen in Vietnam, the natural history museum of Ho Chi Minh City manages to chart the country's history from prehistoric times and 10,000 year old artifacts to the wars with China and the numerous dynasties that have shaped the development of the Vietnamese nation over time. There are some fantastic examples of sculpture and art from the Cham and Oc Eo civilizations, statues of Buddhas from across the region, collections of porcelain and art from various historical periods and a even a mummy found preserved in Saigon. The narratives on the walls throughout the museum also go some way to helping the visitor understand the many periods of Vietnamese history, with only a few gaps. Highly recommended.



The War Remnants Museum

(28 Vo Van Tan, District 3)

Practically required viewing for any visitor to Ho Chi Minh City, the War museum is an comprehensive collection of photographs, video and other evidence detailing the horrors of war and the aftermath of unexploded ordinance, agent orange and other legacies of the combat. Remarkably the museum manages to avoid being overly political, instead pointing the finger at the senseless nature of war itself rather than focusing too closely on assigning blame. It is a sombre and moving experience, but it is highly recommended both to help understand what Vietnam went through and as a reminder of the importance of campaigning for peaceful solutions to differences between nations.



Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum

(Duc Chinh Street, District 1 - Behind the bus station opposite Ben Thanh Market)

Housed in a beautiful old building from the colonial era, the Fine Arts Museum has an interesting collection of works from both contemporary and traditional artists, as well as a fascinating collection of statues and artifacts dating back as far as the first century AD on the 3rd floor. Well worth a visit.



The Ho Chi Minh Museum

(1 Nguyen Tat Thanh, District 4)

Just over a bridge from the downtown areas of Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi (the traffic is vicious so we'd advise jumping in a taxi rather than walking over the bridge!) on the banks of the river is a museum devoted to Ho Chi Minh. It is set in an attractive building and garden with good views of the river, and contains a potentially fascinating collection of photographs detailing the life of Ho Chi Minh. Sadly this potential is lost as so many of the photos captions, even when translated, fail to explain the significance of events or meetings depicted in photographs, making the experience somewhat bewildering for those that have not already studied the life of Ho Chi Minh (which, of course, most Vietnamese people have)

While the photos themselves are interesting, the museum is not really recommended unless you have a lot of time on your hands or a strong interest (and prior knowlege) in the man that lead Vietnam's campaign for independence.

Cu Chi Tunnels, Saigon #Travel

During the 1960s, the communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam, or Viet Cong, befuddled American troops by seeming to completely vanish into the jungle, leaving not a trace behind. It took the Americans some time to figure out that the Viet Cong were slipping away into complex tunnel systems located beneath the jungle floor. At any given time, thousands of Viet Cong troops would live inside these tunnel systems, only emerging at night to tend crops, find supplies, or attack the Americans. At some points during the war, the Viet Cong would remain underground for months at a time, not even seeing the sun.



One of the largest tunnel systems was the Cu Chi tunnels, running from the outskirts of Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh City) all the way to the Cambodian border. The whole tunnel system is 75 miles in length and has three distinct stories underneath the ground. During the war, the tunnels were continually expanded as fighting dragged on. Today, the tunnels have been reinforced and expanded for western tourists, and are a very popular destination for visitors to Ho Chi Minh City.



History of the Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi tunnels were started long before the American Vietnam War. The Vietnamese first began building the tunnels during the 1940s, when Ho Chi Minh and his communist forces were fighting the Japanese invaders. The tunnels were all dug by hand, one basket of dirt at a time. When the Americans came, the guerrillas once again used the tunnels as underground military bases, moving troops, supplies, and intelligence from place to place without detection.



Tunnel Rats and Ferrets

At first, the Americans declined to explore the tunnels, which were designed for the smaller-framed Vietnamese soldiers. Additionally, the Viet Cong had installed deadly booby traps to ward off the few who would try to invade them. In 1966, the Americans tried to destroy the tunnels by dropping heavy bombs throughout the Cu Chi region, but this was largely unsuccessful.



With large bombs not working, and gas and grenades thrown into tunnel entrances proving to be equally ineffective, the western troops eventually realized they had to train individual soldiers to infiltrate the tunnels. The American, Australian, and New Zealand troops who volunteered for this unsavory job earned the nickname “tunnel rats”, or “ferrets” in the Australian Army.



Besides the booby traps and the enemies lying in wait, the tunnel rats had other things to worry about: inside the tunnels often crawled snakes, poisonous centipedes, scorpions, ants, and bats. Equipped only with a pistol, knife, a flashlight, and a piece of string to find his way out, the tunnel rats crawled through the stale air in the pitch black darkness looking for documents, weapons, and other items from inside the tunnels.

Can Gio Mangrove Forest #Trevel

Bicycle on a bridge, Can Gio

Can Gio Hairdressers

Ferry to Can Gio Known as the 'green lungs of Saigon', the Can Gio biosphere reserve to the south of the city covers around 80,000 ha of the river delta and is cloaked in rich mangrove forest that is full of wildlife, with over 200 species of fauna and 52 flora. This huge mass of green so close to the centre of Ho Chi Minh City helps clean the air of the city, and protect against coastal erosion and storms coming in from the sea.



The mangrove forest in Can Gio was originally over 2000 years old, and so dense that the interior was cold, foggy and dark, and full of dangerous animals such as tigers and crocodiles. During the war the mangroves were a dense hiding place from which to launch attacks on the city, which both the Vietnamese and Americans found extremely difficult to penetrate or patrol. Sadly this lead to the Americans dropping a huge amount of chemical defoliant or dixoins on the area, significantly damaging the mangrove forest, in an attempt to maintain control.

Now the mangrove is beginning to recover and is protected by the government and international law, and there are efforts to reintroduce much of the wildlife that fled the area. It is a great place to visit from Saigon, whether as a day trip or for a longer stay - there is a resort to the south with a pool and small (though slightly muddy) beach.



I loved Can Gio, and have been back several times since - it is particularly special as when you live in Saigon it seems you must drive for hours to escape to the countryside, yet just an hour south is this beautiful, thoroughly rural nature reserve. You can make the trip by motorbike - through District 7, then south through Nha Be until you cross the Nha Be river by ferry. From there head south through Can Gio to head deeper into the mangroves. We took a boat trip to explore by water, stopping off at some nature reserves and spotting all kinds of wildlife, and I can highly recommend it.


national parknature reserve Can Gio Mangrove Forest photos


Another option is to take a ferry to Can Gio from Bach Dang wharf in Saigon, which will take you down the rivers and canals to Can Gio - I've not done this trip but I expect its a great option for those without bikes - or to book a tour of Can Gio, either locally or online through Isango.



Its worth noting that Can Gio is the poorest district of Ho Chi Minh City, with most people making their money from fishing and catching crabs, so while you are there do try to spend some money in local shops and food stalls, tip your guide or boat crew and if you like the area, consider staying in one of the hotels or guesthouses in the region.



I forgot my camera when we took a boat trip, so my photos are mainly of our bike ride round the north of Can Gio province - you can see some good photos of the mangroves on flickr - and of the sea shore on the other side of Can Gio at Phuong Nam Pearl Resort.

Saigon #Travel

Saigon photos

Ho Chi Minh City Town Hall

Saigon Traffic

Boats on a canal in District 7 While it may not be the capital of Vietnam politically, you only need to spend a short time in Saigon to see how it the pace of change in the south is shaping the country. The largest city in the country, with over 6 million inhabitants (and over 8 if you count temporary residents), Saigon is a crowded, fast, noisy, and overwhelming place at first. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll find there is an energy and vibrancy to the city that can be very infectious.

Notre Dame Cathedral
Brimming with life, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC or Saigon as the majority of its residents still call it) offers a great deal for travellers and expatriates alike. There's a great deal to see and do, and no shortage of delicious treats to eat, whether at top restaurants or equally delicious street stalls for a couple of dollars.

Saigon Opera House at night

The pace of change in the city is staggering - on a daily basis buildings are pulled down so newer, shinier ones can be erected in their place. In around ten years the city went from a city of 3,000,000 bicycles to 5,000,000 motorbikes, leading the Saigon's very unique brand of traffic. Now car use is on the rise gridlock threatens to set in, but it is yet another reminder of how fast lives are changing in HCMC, and how more and more people are working their way out of poverty.



Yet with a closer look you can find beautiful old buildings as well as striking new ones, cool, calm cafes with gardens that are set back from the road to give you a moments rest from the madness outside, relaxing spas and cool pools to swim in.



There's also a number of great day trips that can be done from the site, whether to Tay Ninh mountain and the Cao Dai temples in the North West, the famous Cu Chi Tunnels where the resistance launched sneak attacks on the US forces based in Saigon, boat trips to Vung Tau, the Mekong Delta or to Can Gio, the huge area of mangrove swamps to the south, known as 'the lungs of the city'.

Related Links

Asia Life - Magazine with places to eat drink and more

The Word HCMC - Competing magazine with a good

Sapa #TRavel

Sapa photos

One of the most famous tourist destinations in Vietnam is the mountain town of Sapa, near the base of mount Fanxipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam / South East Asia. Famed for the beautiful terraced rice fields that cling to the sides of the hills, Sapa is a spectacular place to explore and a great option for those who would like to experience a taste of life in the highlands.

SApa very beatiful


The town itself is perched on the side of the mountain, and many hotels have stunning views out across the valley below. The weather can be unpredictable as clouds roll up the hill, at times shrouding the whole town in fog, but even when cloudy the views can be stunning as you catch glimpses of the landscape as the cloud lifts before it once again vanishes into the fog.

Sapa can get very cold so come prepared - many hotels offer log fires in your room should you wish to warm up after a long days exploring. There are a number of walks you can do from the town unsupervised, allowing you to explore much of the countryside - but should you wish to venture further we recommend recruiting a good guide who can take you through forest paths to locations you would never otherwise find and help you understand a good deal more about the local flora and fauna, as well as preventing you from getting lost!

Treks to the top of Mount Fansipan can be arranged in Sapa itself - this is a fairly tough climb that will normally take 4 days and can be subject to the weather. Many shorter excursions can also be arranged and guides are happy to customise a trek to your wishes and ability.

Sapa is also famous for the unique culture of the H'mong people who live in the hills near the town. Their colourful clothing and handicrafts are a wonderful sight and you may well see produce from Sapa on sale as far away as the Mekong delta. Many of the H'mong will visit Sapa to trade in the market, which is a great place to see their crafts without intruding too much into their village lives.