Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Back in 1893, French professor and doctor, Alexandre Yersin looked out over an area that has since become renown in Vietnam as a premier place of beauty and elegance. Although 113 years (and times of war and economic hardship) have elapsed since Mr. Yersin first fell in love with Da Lat, its natural beauty, historic sites, quality tourist services, and excellent food together make Da Lat the first option of many Vietnamese and foreign visitors.
Natural beauty

It would take hours to talk about the natural beauty that is in and around Da Lat. Within the city are colorful flower gardens, the Lam Vien plateau, Than Tho and Tuyen Tam Lakes, the Dankia Suoi Vang tourist resort, Prenn and Cam Ly waterfalls, the Langbiang mountains, and much more. It seems that there is either a colorful flower or smooth grass carpet alongside every Da Lat road and if one gets out among the continuous hills, going home will seem like a very unpleasant idea.

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In the winter of 1903, a team of Frenchmen from the Indochina Geographical Department became the first Westerners to see the serene Lo Suoi Tung plateau and the village of Sa Pa in the upper reaches of Ngoi Dum when they were on a mapping expedition. That was long ago and Sa Pa has since become known to an ever increasing number of tourists, drawing people from every continent with its mysterious charm.
Once in Sa Pa, one has a choice of excursions in many directions. One can go off and see an ancient inscribed rock field, the Silver waterfall, Fan Si Pan Peak (Vietnam’s highest), or villages in Ta Van and Cat Cat inhabited by the H’mong and Red Dao minority groups. Another option is Ham Rong Mountain.

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Introduction
The first thing you need to decide is whether you’ll go the the Mekong on your own, or on an organized tour. I advise you to go on an organized tour for these reasons:

• It’s much easier: I spoke to an Israeli who spent 6 weeks in Vietnam doing everything at his own pace, trying to do everything independently. He told me it was almost impossible to travel alone in Mekong. F.i. he asked for a bus to a certain place, a Vietnamese accompanied him to the busstation but didn’t find the bus himself…
• It’s much cheaper: hiring a boat on your own will prove more expensive
• It’s much faster
• The tours will show you the highlights, and you will also go into houses of people they know. Since few tourists are visiting Mekong in general, and certainly not the big tourgroup, it still remains an unspoiled region.

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Introduction
Saigon is a bustling city full of motorbikes.

For the budget tourist, there are 2 centers:
-The real center with some big hotels like the Rex
- The budget center along Pham Ngu Lao where all the budget accommodation, restaurants, travelagencies and internetcafés are situated. You can go by foot from the one center to the other in 15 minutes, a taxi will cost you 5000 VND.

For more info, buy the Lonely Planet Ho Chi Minh City guidebook (11/2000) price 11.99 US$
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Introduction
Nha Trang is the usual stop for most travellers on their way from the South to the center or vice versa.

We liked the place, just to relax for 2 days on the beach, and go diving or take a boattrip.
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Introduction
Most people will agree that Hoi An is one of the most beautiful and relaxed places to visit, so don’t miss it.
Getting there

• By plane

Hoi An doesn’t have its own airport, but most people fly to Danang (regular flights from Saigon, Nha Trang, Hanoi). From Danang airport, most people take a taxi at a fixed rate of 10 US$. It is usually possible to find other tourists to share a taxi. The ride to Hoi An takes 45 minutes.
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Hon Khoai is one of the well-known landscapes of the southernmost province of Ca Mau, about 15kilometres from the mainland. Hon Khoai is a group of islets and the biggest island is called Hon Khoai.

Hon Khoai is a rock island with hills and forests including various kinds of precious wood such as Star wood. The wild natural landscapes attract tourists a great deal.

Formerly, Hon Khoa was called Giang Huong, Independence Island and Poulo Obi in the French domination. However, the locals get used to calling it Hon Khoai because it looks like the shape of a giant potato.

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“Right as I was getting on the plane to leave for Ha Noi my mom handed me a small, wrapped present, which I opened as soon as I sat down in my seat. It was the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz and on the card accompanying the book she wrote, “A little inspiration for your trip. Love, Mom”…. Schultz chose the Old Quarter as of one her picks, and intriguingly devoted another coveted spot to Cha Ca La Vong, a restaurant that is famous for just one dish, grilled fish or cha ca. As a seasoned chowhound who spent the last two years obsessively trying new restaurants in New York City, I knew Cha Ca La Vong would have to be one of my first destinations upon arriving in Ha Noi… What the book said was true: Cha Ca La Vong is a veritable Ha Noi institution, “writes Sara Schapiro in The Vietnam News. NB: For my money, you’re better off ignoring everything you’ve ever read about this place and have the same thing down south. Here are my reasons.

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