Why Vietnam should be your next great escape
It was dawn in Hue, the former Imperial capital of Vietnam, and the Perfume River was already full of swimmers. On the bank, a couple of families renting paddleboards for life-rafts drew back at the spectacle of a foreigner, in his trunks, marching determinedly to the water’s edge. Normally, not being all that brave about cold water, I would have encouraged them to go in first, but it was much too early for fannying about.
The Perfume River wrapped itself around my skin. Despite the hour, the water was warm and soft, and although without any noticeable fragrance (the “perfume” is apparently seasonal thanks to upriver flowering of lotus and cinnamon), it still felt a bit like joining a group spa.
I muddled out to the middle, greeting all my fellow swimmers perhaps a touch too heartily as the first fingers of sunlight probed through the trees. Knowing some of the backstory of this place, it was exhilarating to see the river reborn as a place of leisure. Some 50 years ago, this would have been just behind the front line in an unrelentingly savage war, and there would have been far stiller bodies in the water.
That war killed four million Vietnamese and crushed a fragile, precious country between idealists of left and right, between communism and capitalism. It spawned new protest movements for peace, and inspired scores of epoch-defining films such as Apocalypse Now. But all that is in the past.
Fifty years on from the American withdrawal from Vietnam (January 1973) I had come to see how the nation had recovered from such a dark period. I knew its economy was flying, and its food – particularly pho – was conquering the world. And now that it had emerged from Covid, I wanted to take its temperature, metaphorically, with a south-to-north train journey linking its cities, its beach resorts, its imperial citadels, and the forested backroads of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
My first impressions on landing in Saigon, aka Ho Chi Minh City, were of skyscrapers and tidal waves of motor scooters. Despite Vietnam’s communist leadership, the city seemed rampantly commercial, thick with new shopping malls, street corner traders and with a metro about to open.
And then there’s the heat. It was mid-30s on the thermometer, but the humidity made it feel far more, and I found myself regularly diving into the sanctuary of airconned coffee shops, of which there are hundreds. The Vietnamese are dedicated coffee addicts, but their default setting is iced – with plenty of sweet condensed milk – and understandably so.
But first of all, I went looking for history. At the gruelling War Remnants Museum, I found it hard to deal with the merciless imagery of spatchcocked human beings. There were noticeably only foreigners, no locals, wandering through its halls, and afterwards, when I mentioned this in conversation with British resident Tom Divers, who runs the specialist travel website Vietnam Coracle, he told me that “the Vietnamese don’t want to be weighed down by history”. They’re optimists, he explained. They want to look to the future, not the past.
That night I took my first overnight sleeper out to the beach resort of Nha Trang, which turned out to be pretty deserted, despite magnificent sands and a sea so calm it could barely summon the energy for a wave. The bulk of its tourists usually come from Russia and China, but Covid and politics have changed all that. And yet, at dawn, the sea was full – with locals, who come padding through silent streets in search of their daily exercise.
Hoi An, my next stop, was a different story. The Unesco-registered 15-19th-century river port was thronged with visitors from both Europe and Asia, its pastel yellow shophouses full of arty, designer-y things. Its ancient Japanese-built bridge was crowded with Influencers perfecting their Insta-poses, and in the evening, the river was picture-perfect with lantern-lit sampans.
Then came Hue and the Perfume River, where I bedded down at the Azerai Le Residence, home to the French governor in colonial days. It was the Azerai’s manager who suggested the early morning swim and helped organise a bicycle ride upriver, visiting the tombs of Vietnam’s Imperial dynasties.
In downtown Hue that evening, once I’d finally cooled down from my cycling, I was approached by a group of university students keen to practise their English. Once they’d asked me all the usual things, I quizzed them on whether they and their friends ever talked about the war. Initially, they looked worried; what war? Oh, the American War! Then they were all smiles: “the Americans are our friends”.
Emboldened by Hue, I broke away from the coast to head inland to Phong Nha, to visit its giant limestone caves and ride a rented motorbike along part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a jungle route used as a resupply line by the Vietcong. The cathedral-like caves and towering rainforest had witnessed intense conflict, but little sign of it remained. Now reborn as a national park, Phong Nha’s scrunched-up karstic landscape had regenerated in swathes of green velvet, sizzling with cicadas.
And then, finally, I was back on the train for my last overnight journey to Hanoi, the capital. By now I was confident enough to ride on the back of scooter-taxis to visit the colonial government buildings and the Cathedral square, which could almost be a slice of Paris if you half close your eyes.
The defining features of Hanoi are the city lakes, and once again here I found myself on the waterside at dawn. This is when the Vietnamese turn out en masse to do their sun salutations, to play a sort of shuttlecock keepy-uppy, and to take part in giant Zumba classes, before heading off for the first noodle soup of the day.
Clearly, this is a nation that believes in getting up early to get ahead – forward-looking, and bursting with energy, 50 years on.
10 other ways to see Vietnam
By Chris Leadbeater
While Saigon and Hanoi are the grand city bookends to any tour of Vietnam, and Hue and Hoi An are unmissable, there is a great deal more to see – and many ways to do so – in a long, narrow country that stretches from the Chinese border to the Gulf of Thailand.
The far corner
Though sometimes decried (not unfairly) as over-touristed, Halong Bay is one of Vietnam’s postcard moments, its waters awash with limestone karsts that spear up from soupy green depths. Equally, the bay isn’t the only essential sight in the north-east of the country, where Vietnam finally runs aground on China’s rump. The highland forests of Ba Be National Park are also a key element of a region which plenty of tourists overlook.
How to do it: Bamboo Travel (020 7720 9285; bambootravel.co.uk) offers “The Natural Beauty of Northeast Vietnam” – a 14-day private holiday which focuses entirely on the region, and includes a two-night cruise in Halong Bay. From £2,425 per person, including flights.
Echoes of conflict
While the war which eviscerated Vietnam in the Sixties and Seventies is very much past-tense in a country that looks firmly to the future, it remains a subject of fascination for many tourists. And though the guns have stopped, many of the scars are still visible…
How to do it: Regent Holidays (0117 453 1008; regent-holidays.co.uk) offers a “Vietnam War Legacy Tour” which takes 17 days over its journey between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Stops include the Cu Chi Tunnels where Viet Cong soldiers hid from American sight, the former Camp Holloway, Phu Cat and Chu Lai air bases – and the infamous death strip of the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone). From £3,795 per person (including flights).
Beach retreats
During the war, Da Nang’s airport was another US base, thundering to the take-offs of heavy bombers. Its beaches were also the point where the first American combat troops came ashore, in March 1965. Times change. Half a century on, the airport is a major international tourism hub, delivering holidaymakers to a long stretch of golden coastline now flanked by luxury hotels rather than military landing craft. The city is Vietnam’s fifth biggest, and a destination in its own right – its Linh Ung Pagoda dealing in Buddhist serenity. But for the majority of its visitors, it is the seafront that calls most persuasively.
How to do it: Luxtripper (020 4538 2013; luxtripper.co.uk) offers seven-night getaways to the five-star Intercontinental Da Nang Sun Peninsula resort, from £2,649 a head, with flights.
Mind over matter
The Far East has long been a natural destination for the sort of holiday that concentrates on de-stressing and detoxification. Vietnam, with its unhurried ambience, is no exception.
How to do it: Health & Fitness Travel (020 3397 8891; healthandfitnesstravel.com) also heads for the sand at Da Nang, offering revitalising getaways to the TIA Wellness Resort. Opt for the seven-day “Wellness Inclusive” package, and you can expect two spa treatments per day, a daily breathing class, and access to yoga and tai-chi sessions (as well as breakfast and time on the beach). From £2,120 per person, including international flights.
Pedal power
Although the moped has probably stolen a little of its ubiquity, especially in the cities, the bicycle is a fundamental part of daily existence in Vietnam. Accordingly, it is a country where visiting cyclists can take to the roads with confidence, knowing that their presence will cause no shocks for traffic that tends to trundle rather than rush. Better still, there are peaks and slopes, as well as rural back-lanes, for those who take their pedalling seriously.
How to do it: Saddle Skedaddle (0191 265 1110; skedaddle.com) offers a 15-day “Mountains and Coast” group tour which cycles some of the best parts of the 1,100 miles between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, tackling gradients in the Central Highlands, but also sticking to the seafront – including the glorious Hai Van Pass between Hoi An and Hue. Next departure February 18. From £1,695 per person (bike hire and international flights extra).
Striding out
If long hours in the saddle, pushing on through the warmth of a tropical afternoon, sound less like a relaxing break than a hot ordeal, there is another way to see Vietnam while still breaking something of a sweat. On foot. As with cycling tours, the country’s gentle nature – plus its proliferation of hillside trails – lends itself to an extended hiking holiday.
How to do it: Ramblers Walking Holidays (01707 537 228; ramblersholidays.co.uk) serves up a “Vietnam Adventure”, which spends 19 days in northbound motion towards Hanoi. Highlights include the ancient My Son temples, deep in the forest near Hoi An (badly damaged in the war, though still remarkable), and the dense treescape of the northerly Mai Chau Valley. From £3,340 per person, including flights. Next departure January 28.
In good taste
One of the ways in which modern Vietnam has raced away from its war-torn image is in the ever-burgeoning popularity of its cuisine. Here is a style of food which spurns sugar for spice, leaning on lemongrass, ginger and chilli, while revelling in soupy broths and the noodle-heavy comforts of pho. Not that this is the limit of a national menu which also takes in, for example, bo kho (a rich beef stew) and ca ri ga (an aromatic chicken curry).
How to do it: Inside Asia (0117 244 3380; insideasiatours.com) offers a 14-day “Food-Lover’s Vietnam” holiday which wanders the country with flavour in mind – exploring Hanoi with a local food blogger, seeking out the best street-food stalls in Hue, and dipping into the coconut groves of the Mekong Delta. From £3,147 per person (not including flights).
Wing tips
Vietnam boasts some 2,030 miles of coastline, but with the Annamite Range running parallel to the sea for much of the journey, there is plenty of biodiversity to go with the beaches. The country is rarely praised for its birdlife, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
How to do it: Naturetrek (01962 733 051; naturetrek.co.uk) sells a “Vietnam’s Highlights” group tour which spends 16 days peering into the canopy for glimpses of the bar-bellied pitta and the necklaced barbet. The trip divides its time between Cat Tien National Park in the forested lowlands of the south, and Cuc Phuong National Park in the Annamite foothills of the north.
Rare primates – the buff-cheeked gibbon, the black-shanked douc – may also make an appearance. The next edition of the tour is not due to depart until November 17 (2023), but this does mean that spaces are available. From £4,995 a head, with flights.
Child’s play
There can be a school of thought that, if you are going to fly your children to the Far East – and put up with the inherent complaints about jet-lag – then a beach resort in Thailand will be your best bet. But Vietnam can provide plenty of fun for families keen to wander.
How to do it: Explore (01252 240 642; explore.co.uk) rolls out a “Family Discover Vietnam” group tour which sets off regularly during the school holidays. The 11-day version largely plays the greatest hits, but does so with sufficient invention – a cooking class in Hanoi, kayaking in Halong Bay, kite-making and -flying in Hue, a martial-arts lesson near Hoi An, a secret weapons bunker in District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City – to keep even the most feet-dragging youngsters entertained.
The holiday has an average child age of 14, but is open to those seven and up. Two editions are planned for April, four for July, three for August – from £2,289 per adult, from £2,103 per child. Both these prices include flights.
Meet the neighbours
One of the wider joys of visiting Vietnam is the scope it offers for crossing the border. The proximity of Cambodia and Laos makes multi-nation itineraries wholly feasible. Cambodia is also a country whose history runs from devastation to delight – the agonies of the Killing Fields around the capital Phnom Penh; the world-wonder temples of Angkor. Laos has more of an air of mystery, the Unesco-listed city of Luang Prabang sitting pretty at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers. Should you be able to stretch your time away to three weeks, you might easily see all of this in one great trip.
How to do it: Abercrombie & Kent (01242 386 472; abercrombiekent.co.uk) covers all three countries with its 22-night “Indochina Adventures”. From £6,335 per person, with flights. Alternatively, the Mekong’s broad waters make for one of the planet’s loveliest river cruises.
Viking (0800 319 6660; viking.com) offers Magnificent Mekong – a 15-day itinerary that spends seven days on land, followed by seven days taking a slow (but luxurious) trip on the Viking Saigon between Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap. Various depar-tures are scheduled for 2023, priced from £5,445 per person (with flights).
