I visited Vietnam for the first time this year and booked a two week tour with Halong Travel. I am not normally one for organized tours but was keen, not to miss out on the good stuff. I had been informed by a friend about the huge diversity and number of highlights in the country. It proved to be a great choice. The company looked after us from the minute we arrived in Hanoi, to the moment that they said goodbye, at the airport in Saigon.
We saw so much it is hard to pick out a highlight or two, but for me the highlights would have to be Halong Bay and Hoi An. I had no idea that Vietnam was so beautiful. I enjoyed the big cities of Hanoi and Saigon, and the cultural heritage is really something special. However for sheer majestic beauty Halong Bay has to be seen to be believed. It was incredible. The scenery is awesome and the cruise boat, we were on, was excellent. Great staff, great food and a cabin to die for.
Hoi An is an amazing little town on the eastern coast about half way up the country. It is extremely pretty with lots of little cafés and shops. The local people were wonderful and treated us so well. There is plenty to see here, the town has had an interesting history and much of it is preserved and fascinating. The old town is a UNESCO Heritage site (as is Halong Bay) and it is not hard to see why. Vietnam has an unbelievable seven Heritages sites and a further seven on the tentative list, this must be some kind of a record.
Hué was another fascinating place. This country is full of them. The collection of ancient monuments here is yet another UNESCO site. There is so much history and scenic beauty here it is mind blowing. I enjoyed Hué tremendously.
When we were down in Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, as it is now called, we went on a trip to the Mekong Delta. This too was brilliant. The floating market is a sight to behold. It’s hard to imagine that people still live in this way. They live on the water, the children help with daily work from as soon as they can walk. They might not get a traditional education, but they certainly get educated in the ways of the world. Again here, the people were just lovely.
To say that I loved Vietnam is an understatement. It’s the best place I have ever been to, and I cannot wait to return. Everywhere we went, we met great people who simply couldn’t do enough to make our Vietnam holiday so special. The food was fabulous everywhere we went. The hotels were of a very high standard, the organized trips were excellent and we had enough free time to relax and enjoy ourselves.