Why VIETNAM TOUR? 10 Reasons Everyone Should Know

Most travellers place Vietnam in a comparison chart as they decide where to go next: will Thailand, Laos, Hongkong or Vietnam be worth my precious vacation? Will my kids have fun in that place? Will I encounter any problems as a single woman traveler? Indochinavalue will tell you the top 10 reasons why Vietnam should be on the agenda for your upcoming trip.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 1: Breathtaking landscape:

There are no matches to Niagara Falls, Sydney Opera House or the Grand Canyons. However, Vietnam is a truly hidden gem that only those visiting the country themselves will be able to tell. To put it correctly, Vietnam is not short of World Heritage Site: Halong Bay, Phong Nha Ke Bang caves, Hoi An Ancient Street and Cham Islands are all recognized for their intense beauty. However, it is the bits and bites of the non-heritage site that will surprise you further. Da Lat, for example, is too picturesque to miss. French style villas sitting next to a pine forest, bordered by strawberry garden- you feel like Europe but the market scenes speak otherwise. Keo pagoda in Thai Binh province also exemplifies well the no-name beauty of Vietnam: feel the serenity of a religious place, situated amidst greeneries of paddy farms. Whether a must-see site or an off-the-beaten-path attraction, you will not be disappointed.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 2: Friendly and hospitable Vietnamese:

Like many other neighbor countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has a precious treasure: its people. Everywhere you go, you will be welcomed by smiles and kind helps from the locals- whether they know Vietnamese or not. People from Hue, for example, are famous all over the country for their royal-like attitude: elegant and sweet. Those from Hoi An, on the other hand, are known for being honest. If you have time to spend in the Mekong delta of Vietnam, you will even be more surprised and inspired by the way you are received by local farmers. Get impressed!

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 3: Affordability

Vietnam is a well-known destination among budget travellers. Though the price is climbing monthly at a daunting rate, it is still much cheaper than travelling in other continents. There is almost every price for every wallet: a 5 star resort in Danang will cost you an equivalent amount to a 3 star hotel near JFK airport. For lower end market, there are a plenty of hostels and guest-houses in most cities. Food costs even lower and street foods are among the best in the world. That says, even in biggest metropolitan areas like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, you can get by a day with $15.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 4: Coffee coffee coffee in Vietnam

Who do not like coffee (excuse me, tea fans)? There is no Starbuck with the humongous frap and latte but there is the French drip coffee that can be found in EVERY single street of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Why rush in a country like Vietnam? Enjoy a cup of black coffee (ca phe den) or iced coffee with condensed milk (cap he sua da) and watch life goes by on a corner of the street- you will never forget Vietnam. For those who would like to take some coffee home, visit Café Mai (79 Le Van Huu, Hanoi) or Highland Coffee (26 Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh City).

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 5: A nowhere-to-be-found travel experience

Vietnam has all the off-the-beaten-path experience that you are all looking for. From staying with an ethnic family in the Northern mountain area of Sa Pa to taking photos over the sunrise in Hoi An to sand-surfing with local kids in Mui Ne- you name them all. A unique travel experience is all about yourself- and the best part about Vietnam is that there are so much to discover after all. Read our “Best of Vietnam” page for more suggestions.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 6: Exquisite Vietnamese cuisines

Have you always been a fan of Vietnamese food? Pho Hung on Spadina- Toronto, Nam Son near Bowery- New York, Le Lotus Blanc on Bourgogne of Paris- They can never be as authentic as the food served in Vietnam (though they all do an awesome job). Vietnamese food goes beyond pho and spring rolls and varies by regions: fresh vegetables continue to dominate the tables, while meat and poultry are rising in popularity. Near the beach such as Nha Trang and Da Nang, you can find plenty of fresh seafood caught in the morning and served in your dinner at very affordable price. A big size king crab costs about $8 and can be shared between 2 people.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 7: Fast and easy immigration process

Applying for a visa to Vietnam seems stressful at first- why would you need a visa to Vietnam while you are granted free 30 day entry to Thailand and Ecuador? Vietnam requires you anyway, and to alleviate the pain, the process has been made quite easy. Besides visa at the embassy, Vietnam visas can also be granted upon arrival. All you need to do is to apply online for your approval letter via a number of online travel companies, which are plentiful on the net. The visa letter will be emailed to you after 2 days. If you leave close to the embassy, it will take only about a week.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 8: It’s a natural thing

Think Vietnam and many still think about a war-torn country- not necessarily but that is usually the case. Vietnam is more than just its war memory: its natural resources are something worth talking about. National parks abound, and you can enjoy a variety of activities you could never enjoyed back in your country: camping and bird-watching in the tropical forest of Cuc Phuong or Cat Ba; renting a jeep and touring Cat Tien national park; wind-surfing crash course in Nha Trang. The bad news is that tourism has brought a lot of commercial activities into the nature. The good news is that there are still a lot more to see, and enjoy.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 9: Vietnam Traditional festivals

Thanks to its long history, rich tradition and Buddhist influence, Vietnam has festivals organized all year round- many of which are unheard of in the West and really fun to learn about. Tet holiday, for example, is an ideal time to see how families celebrate their love for their ancestors and for each other. Tet should not be mistaken or called Chinese New Year, which may even be an insult to some nationalists. It resembles the Lunar New Year in many ways, but modified with a Vietnamese feel in it. For example, in the countryside, people stay over night and make chung cake- over a bit of fire and some end-of-year gossips. In Hai Phong, the buffalo fighting festival is a well-known occasion: the winning buffalo will get killed and presented to the village god. Even public holidays in Vietnam are worth joining: come to Vietnam on the 2nd of September and you will see nation-wide parades. The whole streets will be lighted by the red flags- and fireworks take over the sky at night. Check our events page to see what events you can join in your next trip.

WHY VIETNAM TOUR # 10: World famous beaches

What is more relaxing than spending time in the blue water under the shining sun. Let the waves of Da Nang, Nha Trang or Mui Ne relieve all the stress of the busy day-to-day life. Vietnam has several of the world’s top beach listing. Most of them are safe to swim and there are opportunities for water-sport activities as well. In Nha Trang, for example, you can do kite-running and wind surfing. In Da Nang, enjoy one of the world-class beach resorts- a romantic get away for couples and families alike. In Mui Ne, enjoy the quite with some added wildness while planning for your seafood dinner venture. For beach fans, Vietnam should really be on your list.

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The recent recognition of Vietnam ’s Ho Dynasty Citadel by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage brought the number of world natural, cultural and documentary heritages possessed by Vietnam to 15.

Of the three world natural heritages, Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh was honoured as a wonderful masterpiece of nature with 1,969 islands.

With an outstanding landscape, the 1,553 sq. km bay was officially placed on the list of the World Natural Heritage by UNESCO in 1994. Six years later, it was recognised as a World Natural Heritage by the organisation for the second time for its geological and geomorphological values.

Boasting a unique beauty of limestone mountains, the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in the central province of Quang Binh was included in the list of World Natural Heritage in 2003 for its geological and geomorphological values. It was also being proposed for inscription into the list for a second time, in terms of biological diversity.

Covering an area of 2,350 sq. km, Dong Van Stone Plateau in the northern province of Ha Giang is home to 45 geomorphological heritages, 33 tectonic heritages and numerous fossils in the sedimentary stone strata. The plateau was honoured by UNESCO in 2010.

To date Vietnam had ten world cultural heritages, including five tangible cultural ones – the imperial city of Hue, the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty which was recognised in 1993; Hoi An Old Quarters, a busy trading port between the 16 th century and the 19 th century and My Son holy land, the central prayer and worship ceremony place of Cham Pa reigns in the central province of Quang Nam recognised in 1999; Thang Long Royal Citadel, constructed by Vietnam’s dynasties which won the recognition in 2010; and the only stone citadel in Vietnam – the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty, which was recognised in 2011.

Five world intangible cultural heritages were Hue Royal court music recognised in 2003, the cultural space of gongs in the Central Highlands region in 2005, the Bac Ninh love duet folk music and the ceremonial singing in 2009, and the Giong festival in 2010.

Hue Royal court music was often played in royal festivals under the Nguyen Dynasty between the 17 th century and the 19 th century.

The cultural space of gongs in the Central Highlands was a special activity closely tied to community cultural rituals and ceremonies of ethnic groups in Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong provinces.

Meanwhile, with the diversified tunes and singing contents, love duet singing, often performed on the occasion of lunar New Year in villages, reflected the colourful life and outstanding cultural features of Kinh Bac people.

The ceremonial singing was an traditional genre of music featuring female vocalists who sang while playing music on bamboo tablets. It was especially popular in the 15 th century.

The Giong festival was held annually in several parts of northern Vietnam , most typically in the Phu Dong and Soc Temples in Hanoi , to commemorate Saint Giong, one of the immortal quartet in Vietnamese legends.

Vietnam also had two UNESCO world documentary heritages, including 82 stone stelae engraved with names of doctorate holders during the Le and Mac dynasties (1442-1779) in the Temple of Literature .

The stelae were placed on the lists of the World Documentary Heritage in Asia-Pacific in 2010 and the World Memory in 2011.

Another heritage was the wood blocks used for rudimentary printing during the Nguyen dynasty era (1802-1945).

Apart from their historical values, the blocks were also artistically and technically precious, since they marked the beginning and development of wood-block carving and printing in Vietnam . They entered the list of the World Memory in 2009.

Lang Co – the beautiful bay of Thua Thien Hue Province has been officially a member of the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club. Together with Ha Long and Nha Trang bays, Lang Co is the third bay of Vietnam which is honourably admitted to this Club.

Lang Co – the fairyland

Lang Co bay is 42.5km in length and 60km away from Hue and 20km from Da Nang. It is nearly a neglected beach located in the base of Hai Van Mountain Pass with smooth seaside resorts, clear water, a diversified and rich ecosystem, an extensive tropical forest on rolling mountains. Moreover, between the mountains and the beach is Lap An lagoon, which stretches attractively on an extensive area. Lang Co is really one of the famous tourist spots of Thua Thien Hue Province, which was compared with a fairyland by Khai Dinh King.

Besides nature-awarded values, Lang Co bay is also a part of the Central heritage road from Phong Nha Cave and Hue

Ancient City to Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary. It is located in the East-West Economic Corridor and one of the three greatest tourist areas of Vietnam in the master plan for developing Vietnamese tourism in the period of 2001-2010. Moreover, Lang Co is oriented to be developed  in a long-term association with Chan May – Lang Co Economic Zone and Chan May – Lang Co deep sea port, which was approved by the Governmental Prime Minister in order to ensure the sustainable and comprehensive development.

With available potentialities and advantages, in recent years, Thua Thien Hue Province has had plenty of action programs and plans in order to diffuse as well as appeal domestic and foreign investment to Lang Co area. Particularly, in 2008, the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue Province issued the Program No. 45/CTr-UBND dated May 27th, 2008 on developing beach and lagoon tourism until 2012. Accordingly, together with the provincial beautiful lagoons and beaches which are paid special attention to the investment, upgrading, and development, Lang Co bay is considered as a breakthrough place of beach tourism with particular targets such as constructing regional and international convalescence resorts and beach entertainment areas, associating with Hue City to connect this region with regional and worldwide big tourism centers; establishing the tour of Hue – Canh Duong – Cu Du – Lang Co – Son Cha and the seaway tour of Lang Co – Son Cha – Da Nang – Hoi An, etc.

Nowadays, besides high-class resorts which have operated effectively such as Nirvana Spa and Resort, Ancient Resort, Huong Giang Resort, Thanh Tam Resort, Lang Co  has been still receiving many new investment projects, for example projects for Hue Laguna Resort, Bai Chuoi Resort, Lap An eco tourism area, Thu Duc – Lang Co complex of offices and hotels, Dream Palace convalescence resort, etc.

Deserved to be one of the world’s most beautiful beaches

Basing on the maximum exploitation of potentialities and advantages of Lang Co economic and politic geography, the leadership of Thua Thien Hue Province always specifies to associate the growth with sustainable development, ensuring the harmony between mission of socio-economic development and ecological environment protection. This is shown clearly according to the view of sustainable development that “we need projects, but not necessarily any kinds of projects. We need to spread out the red carpet to invite investors but not necessarily any kinds of investors” or “Thua Thien Hue Province definitively does not issue license for projects which affect environment of this area”, etc. Therefore, lots of billion-dollar-projects such as Project for thremo-electricity plant, Project for shipbuilding, etc. have been refused to be deployed in this area.

Until now, although there have been a lot of high-class convalescence resorts in Lang Co as well as other tourism projects, Lang Co is still a beautiful bay with stretching white sand, green mountain, and blue sea water. It is said that Lang Co enjoys a wonderful nature-awarded beauty. Thanks to the strict preservation and protection of ecosystem and environmental landscape, within the scope of the 5th international conference of the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club on May 16th, 2009 in Setubal (Portugal) with the participation of 140 representatives of worldwide countries and representatives of 21 members of the Club, Mr. Je’rôme Bignon – the Club Chairman, officially chairs the Certificate Hand-over Ceremony to announce Lang Co Bay (Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam) to be the 28th official member of the Club.

On June 6th, 2008, in Lang Co Town (Phu Loc District), Thua Thien Hue Province organized a solemn ceremony to

announce Lang Co as a beautiful bay of the world. At the ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee called all local departments, branches, businesses and people to preserve and protect the title of Lang Co – the world beautiful bay by particular activities aiming at conserving and developing natural values of the bay, promoting traditional and community cultural values, developing sustainably in the combination with the investment in order to ensure comprehensive interests for the whole regional people. Moreover, he committed starting to design a long-term plan with lots of communication education programs and projects in order to promote values of natural scenery; develop and train human resources; and call investment projects in the fields of tourism and environment-friendly hi-tech by both domestic and foreign capitals.

The event that Lang Co bay is admitted to the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club is not only a great honour to Thua Thien Hue Province in particular and Vietnam in general but also an important event in the Year of Cultural Diplomacy 2009 of Vietnam. This international brand name of Lang Co bay will help Thua Thien Hue Province to attract more and more tourists to visit Hue for sightseeing and convalescence as well as to develop tourism as a key economic industry of the province and the Central region.

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