05_194072 ch01.qxp 12/14/07 10:57 PM Page 4 1 The Best of Vietnam Vietnam offers adventures and curiosities around every corner. Be ready for a wild ride in a colorful and chaotic land—along the way, you’ll discover tranquil places and opportunities to connect with local people. Below is the best Vietnam has to offer, from fine dining to off-the-beaten-track oddities. 1 The Best Vietnam Experiences • Eat on the Street: “Real” Vietnamese minorities. Ethnic hilltribe people food is best at street side or in small still practice their own brands of ani- market areas, and, though it might be mistic religion and wear colorful tra- a little grungy or off-putting to some, ditional clothing. Travelers among dining alfresco in old Indochina them, in places like Sapa and Bac Ha offers the most authentic and deli- in the far north or near Buon Ma cious meals. Prepare yourself for Thuot or Kontum in the Central some adventurous dining. If you’re in Highlands, can even experience a Ho Chi Minh City, try Ngon Restau- “homestay” in some villages through rant (p. 339) for a safe overview of certain ecotours and trekking compa- Vietnamese fare. See “Where to nies. See chapters 5 and 9. Dine” sections in following chapters. • See the Water Puppets of Hanoi: • Get Lost in the Markets: In Viet- Okay, this is one for the tour buses, nam the market—spelled Cho and but the Thang Long Water Puppet pronounced like the beginning of the Theater (p. 138) in Hanoi is magical. word “could”—is the epicenter of Intricate puppets emerge from the culture and commerce. The best mar- surface of a small watery stage as if by ket for tourists is Ben Thanh Market magic, telling tales of old Vietnam. (p. 343) in Saigon, which caters to Don’t miss it. foreign visitors with low-cost T-shirts, • Take a Wild Ride: Whether through souvenirs, and local treats. Every Hanoi’s narrow alleyways and maze- town has a market: Dalat’s market, like neighborhoods or on the broad with its delicious strawberry pre- boulevards of busy Ho Chi Minh, the serves; HoiCOPYRIGHTED An’s busy riverside fish traffic MATERIAL in Vietnam is a trip. Darwin- market and wholesale silk market; ian road rules mean that any ride by Hanoi’s sprawling Dong Xuan Mar- motorcycle, car, or bus is a test of ket (p. 137); and the hilltribe markets faith, as drivers swerve and angle of Sapa and Bac Ha in the far north. through some of the world’s craziest • Visit Hilltribe Groups: Vietnam’s traffic. In Vietnam, “getting there” is remote mountain regions, the Cen- an adventure in itself. See “Getting tral Highlands and the far north, There” sections in the following are home to a patchwork of ethnic chapters for more information. 05_194072 ch01.qxp 12/14/07 10:57 PM Page 5 THE BEST TEMPLES & ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES 5 • Celebrate the Tet Holiday: This year, the greatest gift you could get is Lunar New Year celebration (p. 17) an invite to a family’s Tet celebration. in early February is the most impor- Bring a little something to eat as a tant event on the calendar. Should contribution, and enjoy some of the you be in Vietnam at this time of most unique hospitality in the world. 2 The Best Sites (According to UNESCO) • Halong Bay: Just a short few hours designer wares. Many shops are still from Hanoi, the bay at Halong, with operational wood, stone, and ceramic its craggy limestone towers dotting workshops, but now among them are the wide open bay all the way to the fine-dining outlets, funky little hotels horizon, has long inspired Viet- (as well as new resorts on the outlying namese poets and philosophers. A beach area of Cua Dai), and lots of ride on the bay these days is a rather bespoke tailors. Shoppers swoon. See busy, crowded affair, but some luxury chapter 8. tours and a few ecotour operators can • My Son Sanctuary: The Cham peo- take you to the back of beyond, ple, an Indonesian group who arrived exploring little-known caves by by ship from the Malay Peninsula, kayak. See chapter 4. held sway over most of central Viet- • Phong Nha/Ke Bang National Park: nam and built arching hilltop towers. These massive caves (more or less an My Son is the finest example. See off-the-track site popular with back- chapter 8. packers) are about halfway between • Hue Monuments: The Nguyen Hue and Vinh. You have to arrange Kings—the last and perhaps the your own transport or go with a tour. most glorious (or grandiose) of Viet- See chapter 7. nam’s dynastic rulers—built grand • Hoi An: Tourism has exploded on the monuments to themselves in and ancient streets of Hoi An. A hub of around the massive Hue Citadel. Hue’s international craft and commerce sights, particularly the elaborate kings’ since the 14th century, this is where tombs, make for a very interesting visit. Vietnamese, Chinese, and even Japan- See chapter 8. ese tradesmen made and sold their 3 The Best Temples & Archaeological Sites • The Cao Dai Holy See: The spirit- • The Tunnels of Vinh Moc and Cu ual home base of the Cao Dai reli- Chi: Faced with devastating air raids, gion, a unique contemporary faith, both of these sites supported large the Holy See (p. 227) is a fantasyland groups of soldiers and civilians who of colored mosaics and elaborate used the tunnels as supply lines, painting. Followers are dressed in escape routes, and as bases for waging white turbans during the picturesque a devastating guerilla campaign daily procession. against U.S. forces. Day trips to • Tomb of Khai Dinh: The egotistical, either site are memorable. See p. 219 eccentric emperor Khai Dinh left and p. 350. behind a tomb that is a gaudy mix of • Hoa Lo Prison (aka Hanoi Hilton): Gothic, baroque, and classical Chi- Home to U.S. pilots—including nese architecture. Quite unique. See John McCain—who were shot down p. 214. 05_194072 ch01.qxp 12/14/07 10:57 PM Page 6 6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF VIETNAM during the Vietnamese war with the • Reunification Palace: In 1975 tanks U.S., Hoa Lo Prison (p. 124) is now rolled over the gates of the prime a small museum (most of it was minister’s palace, signaling an end to demolished for a high-rise). A good the Vietnam War. You can see the glimpse into Vietnam’s grisly past. actual tanks on-site. See p. 344. 4 The Best Museums • War Remnants Museum: Formerly Hindu-inspired carvings are captivat- called the Museum of American War ing. See p. 228. Crimes, this ever-evolving collection • Vietnam National Museum of Fine is the face of Vietnam’s war past. Arts: This large colonial structure Exhibits are insightful and certainly houses a fine collection of new works, rife with rhetoric, but a unique historical lacquer and silk paintings, glimpse at propaganda from “the woodblocks, and folk and expressive other side,” and a yin to the heavy works in oil. See p. 123. yang of Western reporting and docu- • Ho Chi Minh Museum (in Hanoi): mentation of the war years. A unique Like the War Remnants Museum, the perspective and a must-see in Ho Chi Ho Chi Minh Museum is a battle- Minh City. See p. 347. ground of ideology. Located adjacent • The Cham Museum: This open-air to his very tomb, the museum tells colonial structure houses the largest the tale of the revolutionary from cra- collection of Cham sculpture in dle to grave. See p. 122. the world. Many of the 300-plus 5 The Best Beaches • Nha Trang: Vietnam’s Ocean City is by Nick Faldo, the seafood is good, very crowded in the summertime and there are some great day trips to with domestic tourists, but it’s a great remote sand dunes and smaller fish- escape. The city has a few worthy ing villages. See p. 304. sights—otherwise a cluttered market • Phu Quoc Island: Phu Quoc boasts town—but there are some great new vast tracts of interior forestland and resorts and the best seafood going. far-flung beaches great for exploring See p. 286. by motorbike. For now there’s just a • Mui Ne Beach, Phan Thiet: Just a small clutch of mid- to low-end few hours from Saigon, Phan Thiet is resorts, but the times they are a- the latest getaway for Saigon resi- changin’ and development is on the dents. There’s a golf course designed way. Get here fast. See p. 382. 6 The Best of the Outdoors • Kayaking in Halong Bay: Often in of feet overhead and crawl with conjunction with luxury cruises, monkeys, snakes, and rare animals. kayaking in Halong Bay means going Kayaks are the only way to get up through low caves at low tide to get close. See chapter 4. to the collapsed center of huge lime- • Multisports in the Central High- stone and volcanic rings, where walls lands: Opportunities abound for of jungle vegetation tower hundreds trekking, climbing, and mountain 05_194072 ch01.qxp 12/14/07 10:57 PM Page 7 THE BEST LUXURY ACCOMMODATIONS 7 biking. Just contact one of the many experience itself is amazing. There are small outfitters in Dalat (all are a lots of outfitters in the popular copy of Phat Tire, a Vietnam pio- tourist town of Sapa, and you can neer). See chapter 9. arrange any number of treks to ethnic • Cycling the Mekong Delta: The hilltribe villages, even overnights and best part about cycling in Vietnam is homestays.