Mui Ne

One of southern Vietnam’s popular beach destinations, Mui Ne is a 12-kilometre long sweeping bay that boasts beachfront resorts. Twenty years of development have transformed the once sleepy fishing town into a water sports mecca, most notably for kitesurfing. With Ho Chi Minh City a mere four hours away, it’s an attractive option for travellers looking to jump into a beach holiday from the city. 

What tourists know as “Mui Ne” is actually the village of Ham Tien. Sandwiched between Mui Ne (a fishing town to the east) and Phan Thiet, the capital of Binh Thuan province, Ham Tien is where the action happens. To add to the confusion, the beach district is part of Phan Thiet city. Sometimes online hotels are categorised under “Phan Thiet”, but you probably don’t want to book accommodation in downtown Phan Thiet.

See you next week.

Most of the accommodation and restaurants are spread out over a 10-kilometre stretch of coastal road called Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, which turns into Huynh Thuc Khang Street as it gets close to Mui Ne town. Accommodation is either ocean side or across the road from it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Mui Ne has characteristics that tend to draw a strong reaction — you will either love it or hate it. Kitesurfers love it.

Mui Ne is a kitesurfer’s paradise, competing with Boracay in the Philippines as the kitesurfing capital of Southeast Asia. It draws wind sport worshippers from around the world due to its consistent cross onshore winds. On average it has over 200 days a year with winds of more than 12 knots. The best time is October to the end of March. Peak time is December and January, when you’ll see a flurry of activity along the entire shoreline. A stack of schools offer lessons to beginners. 

You packed a kiteboard right?

Kitesurfing is an extreme sport and the key is to get professional instruction at a reputable school. Of 20 or so shops in Mui Ne, we were told only five have officially certified teachers. Do choose your school carefully.

The water adventures aren’t limited to just kitesurfing. Rentals and lessons are on offer for surfing, windsurfing, SUP, sailing, kayaking and jet ski.

Not into strenuous activity? If your ideal holiday involves beachfront accommodation (and if you can afford it), then Mui Ne might be for you. Unlike Nha Trang which has almost no beachfront properties, Mui Ne is covered with them, from places with a few rooms to mega-resorts. The down side is the fact that the sand and water are not easily accessible to the public and budget travellers have to manoeuvre to find a spot. Most resorts (regardless of if they have a legal permit or not) consider their plot of sand their own. Park your bum and you could be quickly shooed away by security.

Relaxing on the public beach.

Your options are to go to the crowded public beach at the western end, find an empty non-resort which will likely be strewn with rubbish, pay a resort for a day pass or find a beach bar. To make matters worse, Mui Ne has a dirty little secret: It is suffering from coastal erosion. High tide erases a lot of the sand and in recent years some hotels have lost their beach completely. It just makes it that more difficult for budget travellers to find a decent spot. 

Mui Ne has developed a reputation and detractors. With development unbridled, the tourist strip is gaudy and soulless. It is an extremely popular destination for Russian tourists, package tour groups arriving by the plane full. Dubbed “Russia Town” by local expats, shops and restaurants cater to the market. 

Suoi Nuoc is a bit of ok.

Other beach destinations in Vietnam are also doing a far better job of making the beaches clean and accessible to all, so many travellers are eschewing Mui Ne in favour of Phu Quoc, Da Nang and Nha Trang. But the Russian financial crisis and ruble crash in 2015 and 2016 has hit the destination hard, leaving the town scrambling and offering good deals on accommodation. Low season yields fantastic value.

The not-so-fab reputation isn’t all deserved. Talk to small business owners who have grown up with the town and they are passionate about Mui Ne. They are joining forces to run their own initiatives such as beach clean ups and destination promotions. There are also wonderful low-key chill out bars, quiet spots beneath palms to dig your feet into the white sand watching the water glow orange in the setting sun — a bar atmosphere you won’t find in Nha Trang or Da Nang.

Mine is the round one.

If you can peel yourself off the sand (or away from the bar), a few places are worth checking out in the surrounds. The key attraction is the red and white sand dunes, which can be visited by motorbike or with a cheap Jeep tour. Get fantastic photos at Mui Ne fishing village harbour, especially at sunset.

Get away from the crowds at Nuoc Suoi Beach, 16 kilometres up the coast from town, just past Hon Rom. Choose anywhere along this virtually empty stretch of white sand, or hangout at Jibe’s Beach Club or Longson Mui Ne Campground.
In the other direction, get out of the tourist bubble by exploring Phan Thiet city which is full of cheap, tastier local eats and seafood. Along the way stop at Po Shanu Cham towers.

Chill out.

The masses like to head to the Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien), which we’ve chosen not to cover in depth because when we visited in March 2016, it was full of trash, cow dung and not well managed. It’s a 20- to 30-minute walk up a stream with a wall of red rock to one side. People will demand payment everywhere. Give it a miss.
Orientation
The tourist strip is in the village of Ham Tien, which is sandwiched between Mui Ne (a fishing village to the east) and Phan Thiet city. Most of the accommodation and restaurants are spread out over a 10-kilometre stretch of road along the coast called Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, which turns into Huynh Thuc Khang Street as the road gets close to Mui Ne town. You will likely find yourself needing a bicycle, motorbike or taxito get around. 

Accommodation is either ocean side or across the road from it. As for addresses, even numbers are on the ocean side; odd numbers, the other. The western end of the beach, dubbed Russia Town by local expats, is where you will find higher-end accommodation, some in the form of monster tour-series resorts. Staying further from the main drag gives visitors more affordable options.

High season in Mui Ne has traditionally been from November to April, low season from May to October. But with tourist numbers in decline, some accommodation are applying low season rates as early as February/March.

Renting motorbikes is a popular way for tourists to get around. The roads look deceptively easy. Mui Ne’s single road is frequented by big buses, trucks and tourists often trying motorbike driving for the first time. Beware of sand patches. The road runs straight east-west which means one side usually has blazing sun directly in the eyes. We were in Mui Ne for only an hour before we witnessed a motorbike accident between a local and a tourist.

By the letter of the law, tourists must have an international drivers license in order to drive a motorbike. Of course, not having one will not prevent you from renting a motorbike, but police happily capitalise by holding regular stings targeting foreigners. It will cost you a fine, more if they confiscate the bike.

Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street is packed with everything a beach bum needs at a huge mark up. If you are staying for a long time or are self-catering, it’s worth it to do your shopping in Phan Thiet city, which has a local markets, large Lotte Mart and Coop Mart.

The tourist strip also has a surprising number of pharmacies and medical clinics. The closest hospital is in Phan Thiet but anything serious, head to Ho Chi Minh City.

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Phong Nha Caves

Nestled at the foot of limestone cliffs that began formation 400 million years ago, Phong Nha is the gateway to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, home to a series of world record-breaking caves. Situated 40 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital of Dong Hoi and built along the Son River, the small village of Son Trach (also referred to as Phong Nha) is growing to meet the growing number of tourists flocking to explore these underground worlds. 

This single road town now sports excellent hostels, homestays, treks and tours. While it’s possible to see a couple of caves as a daytrip from Dong Hoi, there’s no reason not to stay in town and enjoy the gorgeous scenery – we don’t use that word lightly. When you understand the scale of the park and the size of what lies underneath, nothing but grand superlatives do it justice.

Hang En cave. Just wow.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003. Located in the Central Annamite Mountains (and adjoining the Hin Namno National Biodiversity Conservation Area across the border in Laos), UNESCO notes that the park’s 126,236 hectares “is one of the largest and most distinctive tracts of karst topography in the world.” It forms one of the largest remaining intact forest-limestone karst habitat in Indochina, with forest cover an estimated 94%, 84% of which is believed to be primary forest.

Tectonic uplift and changes in sea-level over time have created a complex and extensive underground network including the world’s largest cave. Opened to the public in 2013, Hang Son Doong is five kilometres long, with sections large enough to house an entire New York City block with 40-storey skyscrapers. Before you talk yourself into splurging on the required US$3,000 trek, know that only 500 spots are available each year and it’s sold out more than a year in advance. 

Paradise Cave.

For the everyday traveller, plenty of non-thousand-dollar caves beckon. You will be stunned at Paradise Cave, a massive underground cathedral adorned with glittering formations. A boardwalk leads through the first kilometre of the whopping 31-kilometre cave – let that size sink in for a moment. The park’s star attraction Phong Nha Cave is popular and rightfully so. Sitting in a wooden dragon boat, you’ll float on an underground river through many mysterious passageways and grottoes. Thrill-seekers will love Dark Cave – imagine venturing into an unlit cave and taking a swim in a giant mud bath. 

Explorations of the park can be done by yourself or on a tour. A scenic drive through the park is a visual feast of dense wet tropical evergreen forest clinging to craggy karst. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife, especially the langurs that like to hang out beside the road – we saw some on two separate drives. The loop through the park includes parts of the historic Ho Chi Minh Trails West and East, as well as Highway 20, known as “Victory Road”, which connected the two. Like all central provinces, Quang Binh experienced heavy fighting and bombardments during the Vietnam War. It is now the second most UXO-contaminated province in the region after Quang Tri. Do not go straying off the literal beaten path.

Exploring the Bong Lai valley.

A path you should follow is the one to Hang En, the third largest cave in the world (and just three kilometres from biggie Hang Son Doong). A two-day, one-night trek will have you camping in the cave beside an underground river. Eye-popping, mesmerising, humbling, once in a lifetime – more superlatives are needed to describe this experience. If you’re fit for 12 kilometres of jungle hiking one-way, we urge you to splurge and do it.

If it’s just not in your budget or you prefer to stay above ground, simply hop on a bicycle or motorbike to enjoy the countryside. The pastoral scenery of flat rice fields punctuated by massive karst sprouting from the earth is almost otherworldly. Take a spin down the Bong Lai Valley, stopping for a swim or some chicken and cold beer along the way. For some strange reason, few travellers venture to the other side of the river: Get over there! In addition to more pretty vistas, you’ll get friendly waves and smiles.

Orientation
Son Trach (Phong Nha town) is situated along the Son River, which translates as “lipstick river” because of its red colour from mud during rainy season. Otherwise it is a bluish-green and is great for swimming in the hot months.

Magical.

There are only two ATMs, both Sacombank and located in the centre of Phong Nha across from the Phong Nha-Ke Bang Tourism Centre (boat landing). There are power outages and it’s not uncommon for the machines to be out of service. Aside from a few hotels/hostels, credit cards are not accepted so it’s best to stock up on dong before arriving in Phong Nha.

Ditto for medicines – bring what you need. There’s only a local pharmacy that will be helpful for the basics, as well as a small medical clinic in town. For anything more than a cut you’ll want to go to the hospital in Dong Hoi, one hour away, but your best bet is the Hue International Hospital, a four-hour journey by road.

You won’t have any problem finding good eats to fuel your spelunking. Since tourist infrastructure is still growing, most hotels and hostels have restaurants, and homestays usually offer guests the option of a home-cooked meal with the family. Easy Tiger Hostel’s Jungle Bar is THE backpacker hub, with a large outdoor terrace with rows of picnic tables. The menu is a what’s what of pub grub, including woodfire oven pizza. Mains hover at a very reasonable 80,000 dong. Just next door is Capture Cafe, which offers fancier cafe food such as lasagne, gourmet sandwiches, sinful baked goodies or a proper latte. They also have a smallminimart with emergency items, like sunscreen and Vegemite. As we mentioned in our Bong Lai Valley coverage, we verified that “Pub with Cold Beer” does indeed serve a nice cold beer, as well as fresh whole chicken – and by fresh, we mean FRESH. It’s killed to order and if you want to appreciate what “farm-to-table” really means, you can do the killing and plucking yourself.

A less hectic Vietnam.

From September to November, the Phong Nha area can see heavy flooding of the valleys and some treks and caves are off limits, while in dry season from February to August, streams can dry up. December to February can be very damp and cold, with night time temperatures dropping to single digits Celsius. The best time for trekking is February to May, with February to April being the sweet spot of pleasant temperatures and drier conditions. June to August is hot and humid, maxing at 41 Celsius.

Internet is freely available at most hotels/hostels, although it can be spotty and slow. The same applies to 3G service.

This tip from Oxalis’ website: “It is not advisable to drink tap water in Phong Nha. Along with the common risks of drinking tap water in a third world country, tap water in Phong Nha contains high amounts of limestone, calcium, and other minerals.” Drink purified water.

If you’re in need of gear for a trek or cave adventure, Oxalis sells decent and affordable hiking pants, dri-fit type long sleeve pullovers and cotton T-shirts, with profits supporting their charity. Wild Travel Outdoor shop is your best bet for anything else. It’s mostly knockoff items but they do have men’s and women’s hiking pants, shirts, shoes and socks that would get you through a trek. The shop is in the centre a few down from Bamboo Cafe. Otherwise you can always cross your fingers and see what’s available at the main market, located beside the boat landing.

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The view of Sapa

Sapa ranks along Ha Long Bay and Hoi An in terms of attracting tourists solely on the merit of its natural beauty and surrounding attractions. It's particularly rich in opportunities for treks, homestays and (on clear days) the kinds of panoramic views that leave travel writers searching for fresh adjectives and a larger camera memory card. 

Mountaintop Sapa began life as a hilltop retreat for French colonialists desperate to escape the searing heat of the Vietnamese plains. They chose the lofty cool of Fansipan's surrounds, and it's easy to see why — the humidity of Hanoi peels away as you ascend the mountain peaks skirted with finely-sculptured, emerald-green rice terraces. 

If you're only in Sapa for a few days, be forewarned that the views do not come with a money-back guarantee. The best time to visit Sapa is in the summer months of August to December, when skies are more likely to be clear. These months are rainier but they are also warmer, and sometimes you can't beat a nice summer rain for atmosphere — showers are typically brief, but it pours in buckets. Winter can be cold, foggy and rainy, but every three or four days, the weather clears and the views are more gorgeous than they are any other time of year. 

No matter what time of year you arrive, Sapa has its drawbacks and advantages. Your top priority when selecting a room from December to February should be heat. Some places have electric blankets or heaters built into the bed frame, but that means the rest of the room is going to be freezing. Electric space heaters are better, and best yet, many places come with wood-burning fire-places. Make sure the fireplace works before you hand over your passport -- some we saw were only ornamental -- and check on the price of firewood as it rarely comes free and burns quickly.

Around Sapa you may come across a multitude of ethnic minorities. Chief among them are the Hmong (pronounced MONG), often referred to as the Black Hmong partly because their dress is a very dark, almost black, indigo ornamented with colourful brocade and silver jewellery, but mostly because of their black, fez-like headgear. The second largest group are the Dao, who also dress in dark clothes. The women of those referred to as Red Dao wrap up their hair in a bright red scarf bedecked with silver-beaded tassels while those of the Black Dao wear distinctive headwear — a pile of coiled, braided hair, with an elaborate, rectangular ornament of silver metal sticking out of the top. They will happily remove their headdress for tourists to show that it's just a hat and not their real hair.

Since the advent of tourism these tribes have reinvented themselves as hawkers of handmade trinketsand textile goods. They are the genuine 'native' inhabitants of the area, and they clearly regard all of the political nonsense that has been going on for the past 1,000 years as background noise. People invading and leaving. Governments coming and going. Many tribes straddle the border with China, which they ignore, circulating freely on both sides. As far as they are concerned, the lowland ethnic Vietnamese who have shown up in recent years to make a buck are simply arrivistes. 

Sapa is sharply stratified — almost all the businesses in town are owned and staffed by Viet Kinh, and the only trade the tribes do is on the streets in the form of handicrafts, fruits and vegetables. 

The fact that the tribes continue to live a very basic existence is partly economic and partly cultural. To them, a rice field, a garden, some cattle and a stilt house are all the prosperity they ever hoped for, going back countless generations. Homestays in these same stilt houses are very popular, of course, though some villages are more 'authentic' than others. The most-easily accessed destinations feel more like 'theme resorts' for tourists, where they get to rough it local-style, though technically they are real villages. If you venture to the more remote hamlets, they offer fascinating glimpses of lifestyles seemingly stolen from history. 

Life is probably better for the tribes than it once was, but it may still take all day for vendors to make a few dollars profit. Despite the steady flow of tourists, supply far outweighs demand. You may notice that if you wander beyond the last tourist-oriented business on any street, there are precious few businesses thriving on local dollars alone. In a sense, it's not really a town at all — the tribes live elsewhere and come into town to do business, often trudging along on foot for hours or nowadays just as likely to jump on the back of a motorbike. The ethnic Vietnamese, for their part, are from other cities in Vietnam. Many live in cheap, shabby rooms but it still takes a lot of postcards and sweet potatoes to make the monthly rent. And there are few other options than family farming, since there are no major industries in the area aside from tourism. 

To describe Sapa as 'over-touristed' is a bit beside the point, since that is the sine qua non of its existence, which may be something to think about when you are having brocade thrust into your hands or being dragged against your will into a shop. Visitors are often surprised by both the ruthless selling prowess and candour of the minorities. If you feel you've just been cursed in Hmong after refusing to buy, rest assured, you probably have. But their cunning and sales routines come just as naturally as their giggles and smiles. The Hmong in particular are as tough as they are sweet and naive as they are savvy. Patience, curiosity and a sense of humour are requisite attributes for all visitors.

Orientation
Sapa town is set on a roughly north-south orientation, and you'll be heading north as you head up the hill away from Mt Fansipan into town and on towards the road to Lao Cai. The chief landmark is the old church sitting just above the pentagon-shaped town 'square'. It's actually a stadium built into the hillside, though we've never seen it used as such. The road along the south side of the church, crowded with market stalls, is Phan Xuan Huan — following the road to the end leads to some cheaper accommodation with lesser views. There are two sets of steps that lead down to Cau May, which may provide a good short-cut between the church and your hotel.

Cau May (Cloud Bridge) is the main thoroughfare for foreign tourists, and is crowded with restaurants serving western food. This street starts at the south side of the town square and terminates in a steep set of stairs lined with cheap rooms, let out by the Vietnamese who have come here to work. At the top of the stairs, you'll find one of the town's two ATMs that takes foreign cards.

To the right and up a bit is Dong Loi, the alley where you'll find Chau Long Hotel. To the left, the road takes an extreme turn and technically becomes Muong Hoa, but places along both streets may refer to either name. Here you'll find places like the Lotus Hotel and the Pinocchio.. There's little to see past the Bamboo Sapa Hotel, but 25km further on is Ban Ho village.

The other road of interest is Thac Bac (silver waterfall) which ascends north from the town square up into the hills. Here you'll find Baguette and Chocolate, and further up, the Summit Hotel — and much further still, Lai Chau.

The road that crosses Cau May leads to places like the Cat Cat View and Boutique Hotel and then on to Cat Cat Village. Cat Cat is literally 'cascade', the French word for waterfall, subjected to the Vietnamese rules of pronunciation. The road is called Fansipan, after the mountain, via a variety of curious phonetic spellings involving the letter 'X'. 

There's very little to lure you further north than the post office on Thach Son, along the fish-shaped park above the town square. Not even the bus station, since all the buses to Lao Cai and Lai Chau depart from in front of the church. Across from the bus station is the BIDV bank along with the town's other ATM. North of the bus station is the artificial Sapa Lake, which takes about an hour to walk around.

Tours and treks can be booked in advance in Hanoi, or on the spot in Sapa. You'll pay a bit more for the former, but to make sure you get the tour you want when you want, booking ahead in Hanoi provides more ease and security. Tours are offered absolutely everywhere in Sapa, and trying to pin down the best agency with the best tours for the best price is like trying to catch a wave on the sand. The bottom line is, don't pay more than you can afford, and Sapa is so beautiful, and the surrounds so intriguing, you'll walk away feeling you've got your money's worth, even if you paid a bit more than someone else for the same thing.

If you really want to re-distribute your western dollars directly to those who need it most, forget about the tour agencies and look out for the H'mong girls who, as well as touting their wares, will likely offer to take you to their village or on a tour of local villages. They can even offer homestays and their English is often very good. Motorbike drivers are also on hand if you prefer a tour on the back of a bike. It's best to work out a plan on your own first, and just tell your guide where you want to go. 

Choice views of the Muong Hoa valley and Mount Fansipan are the prime commodity on sale in Lao Cai's signature destination, Sapa, a hill station high in the mountains and a vestige of the French colonial era. 

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The view of Phu Quoc Island

Lying in hammock, looking out over a glassy Gulf of Thailand glowing amber from the setting sun, consider yourself lucky to be in the know about one of Vietnam’s best kept secrets. Covering a total area of 574 square kilometres, Phu Quoc Island gets almost none of the press as those islands over in Thailand — and yet with its rugged jungle, seductive sands and sparkling waters, it more than matches them. Sadly, developers have taken notice of the island’s potential and change is afoot. With a new international airport, cruise ship port and an enticing visa-exemption scheme, Phu Quoc is being primed for mass tourism. 

Long Beach is the star and it is bearing the brunt of the boom. In the dry season, the 20-plus kilometre stretch of yellow sand that runs from Duong Dong town down the central west coast of the island is the liveliest beach of the island, the entire length offering beachfront accommodation and places to play, laze and dig into seafood while digging your feet in the sand. Being one of the few beach destinations in Vietnam with a western coast, at the end of the day everyone gathers here to worship the memorable sunset.

If beach bustle isn’t your scene, it’s possible to find that wild, unspoilt feeling that first drew travellers here. Phu Quoc’s freshly paved arterial roads coupled with dramatic scenery make it a fantastic place to explore by motorbike. Ong Lang, Bai Vung and Bai Sao are just a few of the beaches you should consider staying at or at least visit. Anyone with a window seat on the plane will be struck by how staggeringly green the island is. More than half of it is national park and in 2006 the island was included in the UNESCO designation of Kien Giang as a World Biosphere Reserve. The north and east coast remains relatively untouched by tourism. If you want to experience what the island was like just 10 years ago, head out on the dirt roads that will take you past lush jungle and the island’s many famed pepper plantations.

Enjoy Phu Quoc’s unspoiled beaches … (that is a joke)

But surf and sand is what you’re probably here for and whether you’re after PADI certification, to find Nemo through a snorkel mask or just want to splash around, a day on the water is a must. Better yet, charter a boat to discover paradise in the An Thoi islands, an archipelago of 15 islands and islets off the southern coast where you’ll find secluded coves, soft white sand, azure waters, coral reefs and no people.

If for some reason you get bored of the beach there are some minor sights to hold your interest such as pearl farms, a night market packed to the gills with seafood, an old prison, Suoi Tranh stream and a museum – they’re easy to find. You can also follow your nose to the fish sauce factories in town. 

Not a Vin Pearl in sight.

Jerry’s Jungle Tours are popular and the private-only tour is customised to your interests, be it the main sights or off-the-beaten track jungle, beaches and villages. We weren’t able to experience the tour ourselves – he was booked solid for three weeks, a testament to his popularity. Needless to say, if you’re interested book in advance. Motorbike tours are about US$44 per person a day, a driver included should you need one. T: (093) 822 6021; jerrysjungletours@gmail.com; http://jerrystours.wix.com/jerrystours. 

Phu Quoc is at a crossroads and while the days of snagging a $20 beachside bungalow are almost over,reasonable accommodation can still be found. Reasonable accommodation does not include Vinpearl Resort, the behemoth 750-keys hotel that defies all sane reason. Opened in 2014 and devouring what once was considered the prettiest beach of the island, the complex includes Vinpearl Land amusement and water park, an aquarium, golf course and the new Vinpearl Safari, which claims to host more than 200 rare animals. One can only shake their head and wonder where and how they procured a Bengal tiger, rhino and lions. Next on the “oh please no” list on the same stretch of coast is Grand World, a casino, resort, condo and shopping mall development. 

Some views remain unspoiled.

The island’s still-unspoiled natural spots are really worth seeking out and many make Phu Quoc their final stop in Vietnam, only to find that a couple of nights just aren’t enough. Do yourself a favour and plan for extra days, or stay a week if you can. 

Visit Phu Quoc before it becomes the next Phuket.
Orientation
The upside down tear-shaped island is 48 kilometres from top to southern tip. It is a 1 hour 15 minute fast-ferry ride from the border town of Ha Tien, 15 kilometres from Cambodia, or 2 hours 30 minutes from coastal city Rach Gia. The northeast of the island is heavily forested and includes the Phu Quoc National Park. 

No nachos — yet.

An increasingly popular way to get to Phu Quoc is by flight. The airport is nine kilometres south of Duong Dong town. Several flights daily run from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and more flights are expected to be added.

Dry season lasts from November to April. Peak tourist season is December to February and Tetholiday, when rates skyrocket and hotels are packed. There’s a small spike during Vietnamese summer holiday from June to August, but low season rates still apply. Rainy season lasts from May to October, when you can expect rough seas and regular downpours, with April and May being unpleasantly hot. 

ATMs are found at the airport, on Long Beach and Duong Dong town. If you’re staying elsewhere, especially on a more remote part of the island, stock up on cash in town.

Take it easy.

Motorbike is a popular way to get around the island and all hotels and guesthouses have rentals. The speed limit in town is a strict 40 kilometres per hour, on the highway 50 kilometres per hour. However, by law, in order to drive a motorbike, foreigners must have an International Driving Permit. This is enforced through regular traffic stops and if you’re caught, expect to pay a fine. See our Transportsection for more details. Do take care when driving on the dirt roads, which require some experience and finesse. It’s not uncommon to see people hobbling into their hotel with a tale about hitting a slippery patch of sand.

Phu Quoc was designated a special economic zone and international visitors can get a 30-day visa exemption. It applies to foreigners who enter, exit and transit by air (you must show proof of a round-trip ticket to/from Phu Quoc) or those who arrive by cruise ship. If you want to go elsewhere in Vietnam after Phu Quoc, you need a Vietnam visa.

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The view of Ho Chi Minh City

As cyclo drivers rest easy below vast neon billboards, the emerging Vietnamese middle class -- mobile phones in hand -- cruise past draped in haute couture on their imported motorcycles. Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City -- Vietnam's largest and most exciting city. 
How things have changed from the sleepy days pre-16th century, when the Khmer fishing village of Prey Nokor was established on a vast swampland. Saigon's origins date back to the early 17th century when the area became home for refugees fleeing war in the north. Towards the end of the century, once the population was more Vietnamese and Cambodia’s kingdom waning in influence, Vietnam annexed the territory. Over the following decades Prey Nokor developed into the Saigon the French found when they conquered the region in the mid 19th century.

Within a very short time the French began to leave their mark on the city. Some of the best hotels in Saigon are within grandiose colonial buildings overlooking gorgeous boulevards dating back to Saigon's heyday as the so-called Paris of the Orient. For the French, Saigon became the capital of Cochinchina, an expansive region encompassing parts of modern-day Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Through the next 100 years, they extracted as much as they could from the region -- much of it passing through Saigon's ports. Often cruel and thoughtless, French rule remained over the city and Cochinchina until their exit from Vietnam following their defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

When the French opted out of Vietnam to avoid recognising the Communist victors, they left the south under the care of Emperor Bao Dai who had made his capital there in 1950. Subsequently, when Vietnam was officially partitioned, the southern government, led by Ngo Dinh Diem, kept the capital at Saigon. And there the southern capital remained, throughout the topsy-turvy period of the American war. Then, as America's role in Vietnam's pains drew to an end, Saigon swelled to the eyeballs with refugees fleeing troubles to the north -- just as Prey Nokor once did. 

When the South finally fell to Northern communist forces in 1975, what remained was a paltry shadow of its more grandiose self. The following year the city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honour of the late leader of North Vietnam himself. Despite this, many still know the sprawling town as Saigon, and the name still refers to central District 1.

The Communist victory was followed by widespread repression and re-education. The economy buckled under a heavy hand from the north as entrepreneurial spirit was almost all but stamped out with the Chinese trading class particularly hard hit. Simultaneously, Saigon's elite and pretty much anyone else with the means did their best to get out of the country, and through the late 1970s and early 1980s, Vietnam's "boat people" were featured in media worldwide.

Through a policy of industrial privatisation known as doi moi in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the country’s economic leash was loosened and Saigon has never looked back. With a very young, increasingly well-educated population, the city has gone from strength to strength. Today, children of party bigshots slide through the heaving traffic in gleaming, chauffeur-driven Bentleys, and the general population looks more to neon shrines for direction than to Uncle Ho and the old guard.

Towering developments now pierce what was once a very low-key skyline. Five-star hotels and international shopping chains have replaced dowdy government guesthouses and empty shelves. Along with the fancier pickings, Ho Chi Minh City has an excellent budget guesthouse scene and some of the best cuisine in Vietnam, from cheap street eating to salubrious haute cuisine. A renewed interest in the arts has stimulated the art scene and many galleries and museums are slowly being spruced up. For a tourist there is a lot to do in Saigon.

And once you're done with the city, use it as a base to explore the surrounds: head out to the tunnels at Chu Chi, the Cao Dai temple at Tay Ninh or jet off to the sublime Con Dao. Then there's the entire Mekong Deltato explore. How much time have you got?!

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