Good Morning Vietnam!

by Marc Chandler

Gooood Morning Vietnam !!!

To those who love Asia this is a country like no other !, The French ruled there for 100 years or more and they have definitely left a distinctive mark on the country, you would never think you were in Asia eating a freshly baked croissant and sipping fresh coffee in the morning.

My Tour started in Hanoi which is a fantastic city, plenty of history and culture to see from those early French days, this is where you can eat a French Pastry for breakfast and a hot Vietnamese dish for lunch, the old quarter of the City is just bustling with people all day long, a great atmosphere I assure you !

We traveled from Hanoi to Halong Bay which takes about 3 hours of amazing countryside, lots of rice paddies, buffalos and fantastic scenery.Halong Bay is described as a natural wonder literally thousands of islands bunched together, no matter if the weather is sun shine or misty the Bay is quite breathtaking ! and there is no better place for a cruise, a seafood platter and a swim.

The middle part of my Trip we traveled down to Denang where we visited the famous China Beach and explored the temples and caves at Marble Mountain. We then drove to Hoi An, this is where you take those fashion magazines and the tailors there can knock out a suit in around 4 hours and you can walk out of the shop feeling very dapper !, Hoi An is a great little place it has its own local delicacies that you can taste for yourselves, but let me recommend the white rose and a baa baa baa or 333 the local brew !

The last days of my trip was spent in HoChi Minh City or Saigon, please be careful crossing the roads in this City they say don't run or stop, just walk ! and the bikes will avoid you, I don't know how it works but it sure does. Here we visited the Cu Chi tunnels which was the communist gorilla tunnel systems used during the war, we also visited the Rex Hotel, Municipal Theatre and Notre Dame Cathedral, and the impressive Re-Unification Palace and War Remnants Museum. There is so much to see and do in Saigon and the people are so friendly you won't ever get bored.

I toured with Travel Indochina while in Vietnam and would recommend them to anyone who is heading over there as they were excellent!.

So if your looking for a change go to Vietnam you will be pleasantly suprised !