The South Vietnam Tour was on paper the flagship tour of my autumn visit to S.E Asia. However it’s likely to be the shortest after I extended the Suphanburi and Chainat tour. Before I make any reservations I have to say that the tour went without a hitch. The three centre tour revised after I left out Da Nang and Hoi An went as planned. Compared with my first stay in Vietnam which saw me in hospital in one of the most awkward situation in my life I could complain of nothing more than the heat. Before I go into more detail there is one more benefit from this tour, easily overlooked. From 1 July 2015 Vietnam granted visa free entry to the country for citizens of the UK and a number of other countries in order to boost tourism. There is a restriction of 15 days entry and visitors have to have a valid return ticket. As far as travel to S. E. Asia is concerned, this increases the options for visa free travel but as yet there is no indication the offer will be extended beyond 30th June 2016. At present it means I can return to Thailand and get another 30 days free entry. Note: different rules apply to land border crossings.
This tour covered three cities, Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat and Nha Trang. Ho Chi Minh was used to begin and end the tour.

Ho Chi Minh City……….Ho Chi Minh City, frequently abbreviated to HCMC or still referred to as Saigon is by far the easiest to reach via international flights to Tan Son Nhat International Airport. As well as taxis there is a bus service right into the city at Ben Thanh near to the backpacker area. The streets around Pham Ngu Lao offer a more than adequate range of accommodation, plenty of choices to eat in comfortable surroundings and transport links both locally and nationally and for tours. The choices are immense. I used Ho Chi Minh City visits to Cu Chi Tunnels, to Can Gio Mangrove forest and for the City Tour. These all went quite well.

Dalat……..Dalat is a former resort area used particularly by the French during occupation. The climate is temperate, often cloudy and raining. It is a suitable base to explore the southern end of the Central Highlands in Vietnam. The town is compact and easy to traverse on foot. However, today it offers too little infrastructure for tourists to allow a sense of ease and is far from what it used to be. The Valley of Love for example, is an attempt to artificially recreate what nature had already provided in an area spoilt by human activity. Local food is easy to find while the only Western food I could find was a Lotteria outlet (something similar to KFC), between the lake and the market. It is still billed as a place to relax but I can think of many better places to do that. There are a few natural and religious attractions but language will be a problem. Booking tours through a hotel or renting a motorbike are the best options. By road Dalat is 8 hours from Ho Chi Minh City.

Nha Trang……..Nha Trang lies on the coast in Khanh Hoa Province. It’s a 10 hours journey by road to Ho Chi Minh City or 4 hours to Dalat. This city has a beach described as one of the best in the region. It is now quite developed with some good class hotels along the strip. At the southern end of the strip are most of the budget accommodation, dining and travel options. Evidence of international tourism is far less obvious in Nha Trang. The city now has a sizable Russian population and you get the feeling there were numerous concessions given to the Russians after their assistance in the Vietnam War. If you’re interested in the culture and history of Vietnam this is not really a place for you but if you just want to laze around then stay in the tourist area along the strip. Don’t use the hotels now springing up across the river to the north unless you plan to use a motorbike. My stay in Nha Trang was a disappointment but I’m wiser for it.

Having reviewed the three locations above I conclude that Vietnam in general is still not a comfortable place to travel in. The advice for Westerners is to stick to tourist areas to avoid disappointment as Vietnam still has an awful lot of catching up to do to meet international standards. Having said that there are some amazing places to visit and the more adventurous may well think it’s worth it to run off the beaten track. Be prepared to rent a motorcycle or stick to group touring and don’t wander into the forest. Booking tours will obviously add a lot to the budget and may well restrict you from taking full advantage of your location. Dining is certainly different. On the coast seafood is excellent value. Failing that you can always fall back on a filled roll (Banh) or snacks. Most Westerners will struggle in local restaurants.
If I was asked to give this tour marks out of ten then I would be struggling to give it a five but I am prepared to be generous because of recent history. There is still much evidence of a conflict that is one of the worst tragedies in modern history for all concerned and if you ask me about ‘isms’ then I would say these were the root cause of troubles then, as they still are today. How many ‘isms’ do you know? If you can’t think of any, then stick to sports as this doesn’t have an ‘ism’ as far as I know.