Vietnam - Explore the Legend

The Central Highlands

Vietnam's mountainous central strip close to the Lao and Cambodian borders represent a challenging and rewarding destination for more intrepid travelers to the country. The remote plateau, surrounded and often covered with ancient forest and jungle is home to many scenic diversions including pristine rivers, waterfalls and hidden lakes, this region is home to some of the country's most isolated and culturally distinct ethnic minority peoples.

Buon Me Thuot, the capital of Dak Lak province, is famous for its coffee plantations. In the surrounding hills, visitors can hike, ride elephants and tour various remote ethnic minority villages.

The highland towns of Plei Ku and Kon Tum are also gateways to minority villages and long houses. A visit to the Central Highlands allows visitors a rare glimpse into the traditional customs of many ancient tribal peoples and represents a unique way of rounding up a group tour to Vietnam.

Con Dao Island

Originally used as a notorious and much feared prison island during French colonial times, Con Son and the surrounding Con Dao islands were temporarily home to many of Vietnam's most famous freedom fighters. Located 185 km south-east of the port city of Vung Tau, the islands are now home to fishermen, pearl divers and farmers. Visitors to Con Dao will find starkly beautiful cliffs, pristine beaches with barely a soul walking along the golden sands, and patches of thick, old growth forest. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the islands' remote beaches, while dolphins live offshore. With little in the way of development, Con Dao offers the perfect escape from modern life.

Dien Bien Phu

The name Dien Bien Phu will always be linked with battle, for it was here that Viet Minh soldiers overran a French garrison on May 7th 1954 and ended French colonialism in Indochina.

To achieve this legendary victory, Vietnamese forces under the command of General Vo Nguyen Giap dismantled heavy anti-aircraft guns, lugged them up the steep slopes overlooking the town of Dien Bien Phu and reassembled them. Encircled and pounded by artillery, the French could not receive supplies or reinforcements and were eventually overrun. Today, most visitors who reach this outpost come for the history. But along with the old army headquarters, a museum and monuments, Dien Bien Phu offers beautiful scenery and fascinating minority cultures.

Those who go overland will travel through some of Vietnam's most rugged and spectacular mountain country.

Hue

Imagine an emperor robed in gold silk, seated on a dais beneath a gilded canopy, looking out over a vast courtyard. Sun glints off the golden-roofed pavilions and dances across the ponds thick with lotus blossoms. This was Hue in the 19th century - home of the Nguyen kings who built their opulent palaces, gardens and mausoleums on the banks of the Perfume River. This peaceful central city has long been synonymous with royalty, culture and spiritual reflection.

Although time and warfare have taken their toll, Hue's atmosphere of regal serenity remains intact. Visitors can rent bicycles and explore the elegant "European City", as the French built area on the south bank of the river was known. Or, they can peddle through quiet gardens, past ancient pagodas, palaces, stone monuments, and lotus ponds to reach the long-ago monarch's imposing mausoleums. Take a boat a boat trip on the Perfume River and you'll find yourself drifting past small boats bound for market, set against a backdrop of low, pine-covered hills. Occasionally, as if in a dream, an imposing royal mausoleum looms out of the trees. In this stately setting you will discover the contemplative, solemn and tranquil side of Vietnamese culture.

Mekong Delta

The Mekong River, which begins high in the mountains of Tibet, ends its journey in Vietnam's southern delta. Before flowing into the sea, the river branches into nine tributaries, known as Cuu Long or the Nine Dragons. These rivers are the south's life-blood, nourishing the Delta's paddy fields and fruit orchards.

Eighty percent of Vietnam's population live in rural areas and no region provides a better glimpse into traditional country life than the Mekong Delta. Take a cruise through the Delta's tiny canals in an open boat and you'll pass stunning tableaus of people hard at work in their paddy fields, water buffaloes, tangled fruit orchards, simple, thatched-roof huts, fishermen, and excited, waving children. In the Delta's towns, the river remains the central focus of life, ferrying travelers and goods to market and linking the Delta with the world beyond. Take a few days to explore the floating market in Can Tho, the islands around My Tho, and the hillside pagodas of Chau Doc. Just a few hours from the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City, life in the Mekong Delta unfolds at its own, slow, steady pace. This is Vietnam's heartland, a place where time is still dictated by the river and the rice harvests.

Sapa

Tucked high in the remote northern mountains, the former French military outpost of Sapa offers some of Vietnam's most colourful experiences. The views are breathtaking. Vietnam's highest mountain peak, the 3,143-meter Mount Fansipan looms overhead, while the surrounding valleys feature terraced rice paddies and blazing green fields cut by fast-flowing streams. Layer upon layer of green ridges fade into the distance, edged by sharp, rocky peaks.

Visitors to this isolated village can browse in the traditional market, then hike into the valleys and explore the surrounding ethnic minority villages. Here, people live as they have for centuries, raising water buffalo and pot-bellied pigs, cultivating paddy, corn and cassava, and weaving their colourful clothing. Come to these northern mountains and you'll feel the thrill of discovery. This is one of the rare corners of the world where people's traditions continue to flourish and nature reigns supreme.