vietnam18Ho Chi Minh City is the largest Vietnamese city and vibrant "southern capital" of the nation, throbbing with life and commercial activity. It has many exciting things of Vietnamese life to show the curious visitors. Just outside the city are the Cu Chi Tunnels - an underground maze dug by the Vietcong in their struggle against the American occupation. Not far south of this 300-year-old city is the wide expanse of the Mekong Delta with its lush vegetation and fruit orchards. Exploring the delta region gives another fascinating aspect of Vietnam and southern Vietnamese life centring on agriculture and religious worship.

 

vietnam1Ho Chi Minh City is the largest Vietnamese city and vibrant "southern capital" of the nation, throbbing with life and commercial activity. West of the city is Cholon, HCMC's Chinatown. It has many exciting things of Vietnamese life to show the curious visitors. Not far south of this 300-year-old city is the wide expanse of the Mekong Delta with its lush vegetation and fruit orchards, an intricate maze of canals teeming with life and activity. Outside of HCMC in the village of Cu Chi is a bewildering maze of underground tunnels used by the Vietcong freedom-fighters in the American War.

 

 

vietnam4In central Vietnam the imperial house of the Nguyen dynasty in Hue flourished and declined from 1802 to 1945 and the country's arts, architecture and culture attained great heights. The tombs of the emperors are magnificent structures standing as evidence of immortality. Before its imperial heyday its great trading port at Hoi An was the site of an ancient race of Chams and a center of transoceanic trade. These two towns are still beautiful places today with a peace and tranquil charm to match their historical past.

 

vietnam21Hanoi is the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam - a city of shaded boulevards and parks, fading French colonial buildings, smell of fresh baguettes and pleasant views. It has an old-world charm of a provincial French town of the 1930s. But economic development has ushered in high-rise buildings, traffic, shops and restaurants. Foreign investors are putting up big hotels, shopping complexes and telecommunication infrastructure. A short drive eastwards to Halong Bay brings us to a loveliness that is sheer breathtaking. Cruise in the Bay with lunch on board.

vietnam9With a population of 6 million this 300-year-old metropolis nostalgically called Saigon but officially now Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Despite the high-rise buildings, swanky hotels, chic cafes and boutiques in wide tree-shaded boulevards this city is still a developing city choked with Honda Dream motorbikes but displaying its ancient culture with monks chanting in temples, incense wafting aloft, acupuncturists in the alleys relieving arthritic pains and the struggle to make life better bustles everywhere. HCMC holds a great fascination for many visitors amazed with its truer-than-life hopes and goals. Its ancient facade and modern face exist in harmony in today's HCMC.