Destinations

Found right in the middle of the country, Hue (pronounced Hway) is very often overlooked by visitors to Vietnam. But this ancient imperial capital is totally worth the detour, even for a short stay. Situated on the banks of the Perfume River, Hue was the seat of Nguyễn Dynasty emperors from 1802 to 1945. It’s a city rich in history and even though...

When our alarm went off at 4.30 am, we were both fast asleep. Waking up that early is always hard. But we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and met our tour guide outside the front of our hotel. We were off to catch the sunrise at the My Son Sanctuary, a set of ruins from the ancient Cham Kingdom, found a little over an hour outside of Hoi An. The reason we chose...

Halong Bay is Vietnam’s most popular tourist attraction and one that simply has to be on any visitor’s Vietnam itinerary. This breathtaking natural wonder is renowned for its emerald waters, its thousands of sheer limestone karsts and for its tiny islets topped by rainforests. The region known as Halong Bay spans over 1,500 square kilometres and is actually...

Some places are so easy to like. But I’m not going to lie, Hanoi is not one of them. After a very early wake-up call to catch our flight from Danang, we arrived in Hanoi to catch the first morning light. We were tired, cranky (well I was!) and quite sad after leaving Hoi An behind us. I had been told great things about Hanoi; but my first glimpse of it, as we were...

A few years ago, the small coastal town of Portishead in England conducted an experiment to try and fix the traffic congestion at one of their busiest intersections. They went ahead and removed the traffic lights at this intersection, leaving drivers to navigate it by themselves. What town officials discovered was that even with a constantly increasing amount of...

The ancient town of Hoi An used to be a major trading port. Now, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most visited places in Vietnam. This fact alone might be a turn-off. After all, who likes a place full of tourists? We certainly don’t, but we’d heard so many nice things about Hoi An that we had to include it in our Vietnam itinerary. I’m so glad that we...

Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is Vietnam’s largest city, and its financial and commercial hub. This sprawling city has a population of over 8.5 million people, half of which are under the age of 35. It’s a young city and one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. Cranes dot Ho Chi Minh City’s skyline. Many more apartments, shopping centres, offices and even...