[Go to Vietnam Location Portfolio]
To most people the very mention of Vietnam conjures up images of war and conflict. It’s true that the country’s history has been one of struggle against foreign armies even before the ‘Nam generation. But Vietnam is so much more.
From the mountains of Sapa, to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Halong Bay, the traditional Hanoi to the cosmopolitan Ho Chi Minh City, the battle-scarred fortress city of Hué to the floating markets of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam is as diverse a place as one could wish for.
Women in traditional conical hats tending to emerald green rice paddies juxtaposed with the clamor of several million motorbikes, government officials without a word of English to remote mountain tribes people still following a tradition of totemic spirit worship but speaking in perfectly accented Australian English, the people are just as varied as the landscape.
The Vietnamese tourist industry along with its economy is booming, but hopefully it is able to balance the modern with its rich and fascinating traditional culture.