NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO GO Temperatures vary little in the south, but the north is cold during winter, especially the far north where temperatures get down to freezing. Avoid visiting during Tet (Vietnamese New Year) when everything closes. The Mekong Delta is often flooded in September. GETTING THERE Many airlines fly from London to HCMC, including Qantas, Air New Zealand, Qatar and Cathay Pacific. GETTING AROUND Hop-on/hop-off buses are good value. Trains from north to south provide a slower and more scenic journey, while flights to all the major cities and resorts are also an affordable option. VISAS Aussies, Kiwis and South African all need visas. These are available from any Vietnamese embassy. The UK embassy charges £38 for a singleentry, 30-day tourist visa. CURRENCY Vietnamese Dong. 1 GBP = 28,910 VND. LANGUAGE Vietnamese. GOING OUT Bia Hoi (fresh beer) can be bought by the pitcher on street corners for as little as 10,000 dong (35p). Bottled beer, like Saigon Green or Hanoi, is generally about 16,000 dong (60p). ACCOMMODATION Dorm beds are rare and cost about £4.50. Single rooms (sleeps two) start at about £7. SEE vietnamonline.com and vietnamtourism.com.
TNT online For a full travel guide on Vietnam go to tntmagazine.com Hustle and bustle: Ho Chi Minh City
Ngu Lao backpacking district for answers. There were numerous adverts for trips to the Mekong Delta, in the country’s fertile south. This area, nicknamed the rice bowl of Vietnam, is famous for its network of streams and canals, bright green paddy fields and what sounded like an idyll of traditional rural life. Excited, I jumped on a bus the very next day for a two-day boat and bus trip down to the delta. Organised tours aren’t usually my thing but I was short on time and keen to escape the motorbikes. The first port of call is a honey farm in My Tho. As the boat sneaks into mangrove forests on the far side of the river, I start to feel that it’s somewhere a bit special. We decamp from the big boat and into kayaks paddled by young girls with sheets of dark hair and conical hats. This is more like it, I think.
A crazy, beautiful country
Old ladies sell “ cabbages from their coracles ”
FISH SUPPER It’s lunchtime next, and I’m glad to see pork isn’t on the menu. Instead we’ve got the traditional Mekong dish of elephant ear fish, named, you’ve guessed it, because it looks like the ear of an elephant. The flesh is meaty and delicious. It falls off the skeleton into paper-thin pancakes, ready to be doused with sweet, spicy sauce and eaten with the local rice, said to be the tastiest in all Vietnam. The afternoon consists of more sunny boat rides, an on-boat sing song (cringe!) and trips to a local coconut collective, where the ladies stock up on coconut oil and souvenir ao dai and the blokes stuff their faces with coconut candy.
Pulling up at the farm, we’re offered super-sweet tea flavoured with local honey and get the chance to pose with hundreds of bees. It’s not really my kind of buzz so I shuffle to the back of the group, eager not to be volunteered for beeholding duties. A snuffling sound at my ankles distracts me and I look down to see a tiny pot-bellied pig. Delighted to meet one of Vietnam’s world-famous porkers, I get my picture taken with him instead.
REAL DEAL Although the tour is very much the organised sort, with ‘opportunities’ to buy souvenirs at every attraction, I’m relishing being in the countryside. As we head away from My Tho and on towards our Mekong homestays for the night, the afternoon sunlight plays on the riverbanks around us giving everything a green glow. I see a lone cyclist in a lon la (conical hat) and sigh with pleasure, releasing all the
Getty Images, Alvaro Leiva
tntmagazine.com
A different world: find the ‘real Vietnam’