THERE was a time when Vietnam evoked images of planes spraying Agent Orange over land and crops, villagers watching their homes burn down, intense bombing raids over Hanoi and, as the war drew to its sorry end, overcrowded helicopters ferrying Americans out of Saigon to waiting warships.
Going there today will leave a whole new library of images in your mind: arriving on the country’s flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, in a 787-10 Dreamliner; becoming a millionaire by exchanging a mere £30 for two 500,000-dong banknotes; two-wheeled vehicles everywhere – Hanoi has two motorbikes or scooters for every three people and Ho Chi Minh City (the Saigon of yesteryear) has even more.
Hanoi, the capital of a united Vietnam and with 3,000 years of history, has a strong claim to being the cultural heart of the country.
A fun way to experience the city is on a jeep tour offered by companies like Hanoi Back Street Tours. Daytime tours in open jeeps, now built in Vietnam but imitating Soviet-era vehicles from a time when the USSR helped rebuild the country after the war, take you through the narrow, chaotic streets of the Old Quarter.
Entire streets here are dedicated to one small industry, easily identified by the wares tumbling onto pavements: plastic kitchen utensils, jewellery, festival materials, fruits, clothes or the products of tinsmiths. Business carries on long into the night and a slower walk through the streets, dodging the anarchic traffic and the stools and tables set out on the pavements offers special photo and shopping opportunities.
A good jeep tour should take you past chief landmarks in the city, like the mausoleum for Ho Chi Minh, better known to the Vietnamese as Uncle Ho, the man who spent his life working for the liberation of Vietnam but died before the war ended.
The French Quarter, where elegant colonial-era architecture survives, is the prettiest part of Hanoi. Lovely mustard-coloured buildings are here, now largely occupied by government ministries or foreign embassies, but you will also come across French-style buildings, with window shutters and tiny balconies, in the narrow streets elsewhere in the city.
There is a small park in the French Quarter with a sight increasingly rare anywhere in the world: a statue of Lenin (Ho Chi Minh met him in 1922), the green space graced in the mornings by citizens practising tai chi.
Long Biên Bridge, built during the French occupation and bombed repeatedly by the US, is still in use though in the process of restoration.
Read more: Travel: Peru, the land of dancing horses, walking trees, llamas and Machu Picchu
Once the longest bridge in Asia at 2.4 km, it connected French colonial power in the south with northern Vietnam. Trains connecting the north and south of the country continue to cross it but a close-up of the system is best enjoyed at Train Street, a destination which would have European health and safety officers in paroxysms of alarm.
A series of souvenir and coffee shops line the train track, little old ladies sell their wares from usherette trays and tourists take selfies standing on the tracks.
At specified times bells ring out, wardens usher people off the track and a gargantuan locomotive barrels towards you and hurtles past, inches from bodies and outstretched mobiles.
My tour ended with lunch at the curious Hidden Gem Cafe, its entire furnishings made out of recycled materials: old bottles, broken bits of tractors, motorbike parts and more.
Food is organic, with lots of vegetarian options, and here you can try cà phê trứng – egg coffee. It sounds awful but is pleasantly silky, not unlike cappuccino and not too sweet.
Ho Chi Minh City, once the stronghold of US troops and world-weary foreign correspondents, is now the financial centre of the country. It has a more familiar feel than Hanoi: wide streets with traffic lights, department stores, high-rise buildings, river boat cruises.
Taking the easy option, again, I went for a tour – this time with Saigon Street Eats on one of their walking tours.
Time spent at a street market where local people shop on a daily, meal-by-meal, basis is especially worthwhile with a guide who can identify unfamiliar items like green banana flower, lotus root, star fruit and aubergines so tiny that you won’t recognise them.
Read more: The Catonsville Nine, the Vietnam War and the power of protest as prayer
Every food tour will include time spent tucking into a bowl of pho - thick rice noodles in broth and virtually the national dish. Vietnam, now the second largest producer of coffee in the world, enjoys a sophisticated café culture. 96b is a coffee shop and roaster, focusing on regional and speciality tastes and with a workshop explaining how the country’s drink distinguishes itself. It sent me off on a hunt for one of the Legend coffee shops dotted around the city where beans, ground if preferred, of different types and quality can be bought and packed for you to bring home.
Meals in Vietnam are a delight because of the importance given to using fresh ingredients, especially vegetables and fruit, and never too spicy.
Time spent at a street market where local people shop on a daily, meal-by-meal, basis is especially worthwhile with a guide who can identify unfamiliar items like green banana flower, lotus root, star fruit and aubergines so tiny that you won’t recognise them
Anan is justly acclaimed for its innovative cuisine, gaining recognition for this by becoming the only restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City with a Michelin Star. The great news is that it is not especially expensive. You will find Anan in the city’s oldest street market and in a building that looks as if it would not meet modern construction standards.
Read more: An extraordinary destination - what to expect on a Vietnam holiday
Inside, there is a wealth of surprises. Head first for the bar and consider asking for a drink with the ‘electric daisy’ pegged to the rim of your glass (also known as ‘Szechuan button’, proper name: acmella oleracea); the sensation it produces is unforgettable but it wears off quickly and won’t affect the flavour of the food. Meals can be enjoyed on any floor, including the rooftop for atmospheric views of the city at night.
Getting to Vietnam is all part of the trip and the only airline operating a direct service from Heathrow to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam Airlines.
Its roomy planes make the 11-hour journey one of the more tolerable long-haul flights in the business.
For a tale of two cities, the airline also connects Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Information
- Vietnam Airlines flies from Heathrow direct to Hanoi four times a week and to Ho Chi Minh City three times a week. There are 20 daily flights between the cities. vietnamairlines.com
- For Hanoi Back Street Tours, see hanoibackstreettours.com
- For Saigon Street Eats, see saigonstreeteats.com
- For Anan, see anansaigon.com
- For Hidden Gem Café, see facebook.com/HiddenGemCoffeeHanoi
- For 96b, see 96b.co
