Visit the fishing village of Mui Ne
While the town of Mui Ne itself did not impress so much and neither did its beach (razor-thin and even fortified with concrete in places due to erosion), the sights in and around Mui Ne are not to be missed. The old fishing village is extremely picturesque and is famed for its colourful fishing boats. There is also a great little river canyon walk nearby, as well as white sand dunes where you can watch the sunrise or try sliding down the dunes on a board. Tours Indochina Vietnam
Relax in the quiet town of Hoi An
Hoi An is mainly famous for being the one place where you can get custom-tailored clothes at rock bottom prices. Many a traveller leaves Hoi An with a tailor-made suit or dress in their backpack!
Beyond that, it’s also a generally charming, quiet and pedestrianized town—which stands in strong contrast to the major cities I described above. While Hoi An is very touristy, it isn’t too in-your-face about it, which I really like. There are a couple of interesting sights in the area and there is a decent beach nearby, so it makes for a good base for a couple of nights.
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is Vietnam at its most dizzying: a high-octane city of commerce and culture that has driven the country forward with its pulsating energy. A chaotic whirl, the city breathes life and vitality into all who settle here, and visitors cannot help but be hauled along for the ride. South Vietnam travel packages
From the finest of hotels to the cheapest of guesthouses, the classiest of restaurants to the tastiest of street stalls, the choicest of boutiques to the scrum of the markets, HCMC is a city of energy and discovery.
Wander through timeless alleys to incense-infused temples before negotiating chic designer malls beneath sleek 21st-century skyscrapers. The ghosts of the past live on in buildings that one generation ago witnessed a city in turmoil, but now the real beauty of the former Saigon’s urban collage is the seamless blending of these two worlds into one exciting mass.
Cai Rang Floating Market
Just 6km from Can Tho in the direction of Soc Trang is Cai Rang, the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta. There is a bridge here that serves as a great vantage point for photography. The market is best around 6am to 7am, and it's well worth getting here early to beat boatloads of tourists. This is a wholesale market, so look at what's tied to the long pole above the boat to figure out what they're selling to smaller traders.
Cai Rang can be seen from the road, but getting here is far more interesting by boat (US$10 to US$15). From the market area in Can Tho it takes about 45 minutes by river, or you can drive to the Cau Dau Sau boat landing (by the Dau Sau Bridge), from where it takes only about 10 minutes to reach the market.
U-Minh Forest
Bordered by Ca Mau, the largest mangrove forest beyond the Amazon basin covers 1000 sq km. Home to endangered mammals – including the hairy-nosed otter and the fishing cat – and 187 bird species, the forest was a hideout for the VC during the American War. Thirty-minute boat trips around the forest cost 140,000d.
Ca Mau Tourist can arrange boat tours (US$180), but you can try to get a speed boat to Thu Bay (two hours), followed by a motorbike for 90,000d.
During the American War, the Americans tried to flush out the VC with chemical defoliation, which caused enormous damage to the forests. The heavy rainfall slowly washed the dioxin out to sea and the forest is returning. Many eucalyptus trees have also been planted here because they have proved to be relatively dioxin-resistant.
Unfortunately today the mangrove forests are being further damaged by clearing for shrimp-farming ponds, charcoal production and woodchipping, although the government has tried to limit these activities. In 2002 an area of 80 sq km was preserved as U Minh Thuong (Upper U-Minh) National Park.
