Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
Check out the colonial architecture of Notre Dame Cathedral and then buy a model airplane or cyclo from the young boys that recycle them from cans and sell them outside…promenade along Dong Khoi, previously the heart of French colonial life, a once-derelict area undergoing a renaissance…visit Cholon, the city's Chinatown, and the expansive Binh Tay market, where dried mushrooms, pottery, incense, chili paste, and millions of other goods are for sale…visit the Reunification Palace, preserved as it was when a North Vietnamese tank stormed the gates in 1975, and the War Remnants Museum …travel outside the city and drop down into the Cu Chi tunnels, which powerfully show the hardship and tenacity of the Vietnamese guerilla fighters…watch a service at the Cao Dai Temple, a wild display of the all-inclusive Cao Dai pantheon, featuring murals of Victor Hugo and Sun Yat Sen…sail along the Mekong Delta, known as the rice bowl of Vietnam.
Central Vietnam
Visit the French hill station of Dalat,
once popular with French colons seeking refuge from the sweltering heat of Saigon…enjoy
the beaches and seaside ambience at Nha Trang…visit
the Po Nagar Cham towers, which maintain
many of their original carvings and sculptures…walk the quiet streets and
poke into the old merchant houses of Hoi An,
a major trading port from the 16th to 18th century…see the Cham ruins at
My Son, a burial site in the 4th century…continue
to Danang and see the Cham Museum, lie on
China Beach, and climb the Marble Mountains…drive over Hai
Van Pass and stop for lunch at Lang Co, a picturesque lagoon where
mother of pearl is sourced…sail along the Perfume
River in Hue and visit the Imperial Tombs…visit
important sites from the Vietnam War like Quang Tri
and Khe Sanh.
Hanoi
Try a steaming bowl of pho, the soup
that serves as the national dish...catch the Tai Chi practitioners in early
morning at Hoan Kiem Lake…stroll the
Old Quarter, where each street is home to
a different type of craftwork…visit the Bach Ma
Temple, the oldest in the city, and dedicated to the Guardian Spirit
of Thang Long…enjoy the wide boulevards of the French
Quarter and see the Opera House
and the History Museum…gaze at the venerated "Uncle Ho" at Ho
Chi Minh's Mausoleum and then stop by the Presidential Palace…check
out the folk art and Vietnamese painting at the Fine
Arts Museum…attend a performance of water
puppets.
Northern Vietnam
Sail through the eerie karst formations of Halong Bay
and visit Cat Ba National Park… buy
souvenirs at craft villages like Dong Ky
(woodworking) and Bat Trang (pottery)…explore
the extreme north with its fertile valleys and dramatic landscape…shop
the popular market in Sapa, which attracts
Hmong, Red Dao, and other peoples.
