HIGHLIGHTS

Halong Bay Cruise

Everyone does it — but for reason. It’s hard to beat a two-day cruise, arranged from Hanoi, through the unreal limestone islands in the blue-green seas of Halong Bay, and its lesser-seen neighbor to the south, Lan Ha Bay. If you just want to see the bay, maybe kayak through a cave or cannon-ball of the deck of your junk-style boat, arrange a trip from Hanoi. If you want extra time to explore, go to Cat Ba Island, home to a national park, good motorbiking roads and a nice secluded beach you can camp on.

Vietnamese Food Stalls

No bowl of pho (beef noodle soup) or fancy Frenchified ‘Indochine’ meal you’ve had compares with the real deal here. In addition to many traveler-oriented restaurants — some quite posh — I’ve kept an eye out for particularly worthy family-run, concrete-floor, buzzing-fluorescent spots where locals slurp varied styles of noodles on 10-inch stools. Notables include mi quang in Danang, canh chua in Chau Doc, banh khoai and banh beo in Hue, and mien cuon and pho bo in Hanoi. You’ll have to find dog meat on your own.

Beaches

Vietnam’s 2000-plus mile coastline is dotted with fine spots to sit in the sand. Quickly developing Nha Trang has long been the top beach draw — and much of the sand is off limits to development. Those short on time, can get a beach fix near Hoi An or Danang’s China Beach. South of the Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc Island has many untouched stretches of white sand, while Mui Ne (five hours north of Saigon) is known for great $35 resort deals and wind-surfing. (Watch out for diving at Con Dao Island in the south — not included here, yet.)

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi

It looks like Red Square — and its architects did prefer vodka to rice wine — but the resting place of Vietnam’s president still brings out thousands to take a peek at a man who didn’t want his eternal rest to be made this way. It’s best on Sundays, when North Vietnamese vets come out, wearing their medals. The line is huge, but it goes fast. Afterwards you can see Ho’s nearby house on stilts, Ba Dinh Square and the bizarre, ultra-Soviet Ho Chi Minh Museum.

Walking Central Saigon

‘Saigon’ is ever ‘Saigon’ in the heart of District One, where many of the Graham Greene-era, French-colonial landmarks are — rue Catinat is Dong Khoi, now lined with art shops and souvenirs. A few blocks west is the Ben Thanh Market, Vietnam’s most famous, and a few blocks north is the Notre Dame, the giant Ho portrait in the French-built post office and, remarkably unchanged, the ‘Reunification Palace,’ where South Vietnamese presidents lived until it all came crumbling down in 1975.

Bach Ma National Park

Nearly every visitors goes from Hoi An to Hue — most on buses that make the trip in four or five hours. Those arranging a $75 taxi ride can stop off at Hai Van Pass, north of Danang, for huge coastline views and here at Bach Ma, where you can wind up a mountain road to reach jungle trails. The best is a loop to the ‘five lakes’ and to a falls that drops so far you can’t see it. The French set up villas here to cool off in summer — some are now open as (fairly scrappy) hotels. A hike or two en route to Hue or Hoi An takes three or four hours.

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi

Vietnamese history is linked with this tiny lake in the middle of Hanoi center. It buzzes in the wee hours. Go at 5am and walk it like locals do, some stopping to stretch or even ‘Jazzercise’ at points. Supposedly a magic turtle with a sword swims its waters, carrying the sword that King Ly Than Ton used to fight off the Chinese — and a big turtle does live here (amazingly I witnessed a rare sighting). This guide’s walking tour of the French Quarter begins at the lacquered red bridge here that reaches an ancient pagoda.

Ethnic Minority Cultures

The Vietnamese (or Kinh) are just one in 54 peoples and there are many chances nationwide to witness ‘other’ aspects of the national identity. Hanoi is home to the country’s best museum, the Ethnology Museum, with longhouses to sip tea in. Up north, homestays in minority villages outside Sapa are common, or a day at the Bac Ha market (photographed). South of Hanoi, you can stay with a Mnong family in Cuc Phuong National Park. In the Mekong Delta boat to a Cham village from Chau Doc or chat with Khmer monks in Tra Vinh.

Activities

Sapa and Mai Chau have overnight treks to minority villages. Halong Bay tours often include kayaking, and from Cat Ba Island you can go rock climbing. The central hill town Dalat has many hikes too, plus canyoning lessons and bike rides to Nha Trang. Snorkeling and diving can’t compete with the world’s best, but there are fine spots like Cham Island (near Hoi An), off Nha Trang and Phu Quoc Island. Bikers can try mountains in the north, but many Saigon-based agents (such as Sinhbalo) now run super Mekong Delta bike trips.

Vietnam War Sites

Vietnam’s gone past the back-to-back French and American wars, but there are many sobering remnants that make fascinating stops. North of Saigon are the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, and in the Mekong Delta is the lesser-known Tup Duc Hill that cost the US $2 million to take. Outside Hue is the DMZ , where old bullets and bomb parts are found on a daily basis. The touching museum at the My Lai massacre site is south of Hoi An. On Halong Bay’s Cat Ba Island, you can visit a hospital cave.

Imperial Capital of Hue

No town loves its river like Central Vietnam’s Hue does its Perfume River, with boat rides to 19th-century king’s tombs in the hills just west. In town, visitors can fly kites below the flagtower and tour the restored Imperial City (pictured), which got bomb-blasted during the Tet Offensive of the American War. Best about Hue is the local food — tapas-style, bite-sized glutinous-rice snacks with dried shrimp and powdered pork. Made for picky kings, it’s delicious and you won’t find much of it outside Hue.

Mekong Delta Boat Tours

Taking up Vietnam’s southern tip, the Mekong Delta is the nation’s rice bowl, with dragon-named rivers and chocolate-colored canals spreading off the tail end of the Mekong River. Many visitors go one- to three-day group tours from Saigon, but it’s even better going on your own, you can arrange homestays near Vinh Long, walk onto floating market vessels packed with fruit at Chau Doc, and take backroad highways to lesser-seen places like Sa Dec and Ha Tien. It’s Vietnam at it’s most friendly.

Hoi An

Many first-time visitors end up sticking in the ancient Chinese port town of Hoi An — its tight lanes of ‘tube houses’ in the center (now home to shops, restaurants and bars) is Vietnam’s most user-friendly place. Walks, like the walking tour I offer, go into Chinese merchants’ homes and across the Japanese bridge. The nearby beach is nearly as good as Nha Trang’s, the former army-controlled Cham Island now hosts snorkel trips. Danang’s Marble Mountains are near, as is Vietnam’s biggest archaeological site at My Son.

The People

True of any destination, Vietnam’s greatest experiences come from the people you meet. Those visitors who stick with beaten-trail traveler’s cafes, guesthouses and tour buses will have a fine time in Vietnam — but many of the locals are accustomed to foreigners, some get jaded. You’re far better off exploring lesser-seen neighborhoods and towns — and just see what happens. If you stop into a toy shop in Cholon in Saigon (pictured) you might end up having tea and a baby put in your arms.