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Buon Ma Thuot


A prospering modern town, Buon Ma Thuot (pronounced ‘boon me tote’; also spelled as Ban Me Thuot) has outgrown its rustic origins-the Ede name translates as “Thuot’s father’s village – but alas, without acquiring any new charms. Inundated by traffic from three highways and powdered by orange-brown dust, its only saving grace is coffee. The region grows some of the best coffee in Vietnam, plenty of which is sold and drunk in town.

Most travelers stop in Buon Ma Thuot enrooted to the attractions around it: Yok Don National Park, a couple of striking waterfalls and heaps of minority villages. The province is home to 44 ethnic groups, including some who have migrated here from the north. Among indigenous Montagnards, the dominant groups are the Ede, Jarai, M’nong and Lao. However the government’s policy all of the Montagnards now speak Vietnamese fluently.

Before WWII, this was a centre for big-game hunting, attracting Emperor Bao Dai, but the animals have all but disappeared. Towards the end of the American War, Buon Me Thuot was a strategic but poorly defended South Vietnamese base. It fell to North in a one-day surpise attack in March 1975, pushing the South into a retreat from which it never recovered.

The rainy season around Buon Ma Thout lasts from May to October, though downpours are usually short. Because of its lower elevation, Buon Ma Thuot is warmer and more humid the Dalat; it is also very windy.

 

Vung Tau


From Bien Hoa, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, Highway 51 heads southward via modest

Long Thanh ( famed locally for its impressive fruit market) to Ba Ria. From there, a dog – legged road ventures out across the swampland and shrimp farm of the Vung Tau Peninsula to Vung Tau itself, home of the most southerly beaches on the Vietnamese coast.

Vung Tau, “ The Bay of Boats”, it located some 125km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City on a hammer headed spit of land jutting into the mouth of the Saigon River. Once a thriving riviera – style beach resort, the city’s offshore oil industry and steadily growing port have transformed it into a more business – oriented conurbation, though residents of Ho Chi Minh City still flock here on weekends, when hotel rates rise. However, despite a recent effort to clean them up, the town’s beaches – Bai Dau, Bai Truoc, Bai Dua

Portuguese ships are thought to have exploited the city’s deep anchorage as early as the fifteenth century. By the run of the twentieth, French expats, who knew the place as “ Cap Saint – Jacques”, had adopted it as a retreat from the daily rigmarole of Saigon, and set to work carving colonial villas into the side of Nui Lon and Nui Nho, two low hills near the coast. Shifts in Vietnam’s political sands duly replaced French visitors with American GIs. With them gone, and the Communist government in power, the city became a favored launch pad for the vessels that spirited away the boat people in the late 1970s. These days, it’s become a weekend bolt – hole for the stressed – out inhabitants of Ho Chi Minh City.

 

Vinh Long


Ringed by water and besieged by boats and tumbledown stilt houses, the island that forms the heart of Vinh Long has the feel of a medieval fortress. However, if you find yourself yearning for a peaceful backwater, first impressions will be a let – down; central Vinh Long is hectic and noisy, its streets a blur of buses and motorbikes. Make for the waterfront, though, and it’s a different story, with hotels, restaurants and cafes conjuring up something of a Riviera atmosphere. From here you can watch the Co Chien River roll by, dotted with sampans, houseboats and the odd raft of river – weed. Though there’s little to see or do in town, Vinh Long offers some of the most interesting boat trips in the  delta – to the Cai Be floating market, coconut candy workshop, fruit orchards or even overnight in home – stays.

 

Quang Tri


Quang Tri was once an important citadel city, but little of its old glory remains. In the Easter Offensive of 1972, four divisions of North Vietnamese regulars, backed by tanks, artillery and rockets, poured across the DMZ into this province. They laid siege to QuangTri town, shelling it heavily before capturing it along with the rest of the province.

The south struck back: over the next four months the city was almost completely leveled bay South Vietnamese artillery and carpet bombing by US fighter- bombers and B-52s. The ARVN suffered 5000 casualties in rubble to rubble fighting to retake the city.

Today all that might interest a visitor are the remnants of the moat, ramparts and gates of the citadel, which the North and South fought bitterly over in 1972. It’s off Tran Hung Dao Street, 1.6 km north of Hwy 1A

Outside Quang Tri, along Hwy 1A towards Hue, is the skeleton of Long Hung church. It bears countless bullet holes and mortar damage from the 1972 bombardment, and is a common stop on DMZ tours

 

Cai Be Floating Market


Cai Be’ floating market is one of the most popular in the delta, and also the most distinctive because of its backdrop of a slender cathedral spire. Throughout the day boats of all sizes throng in the water of the Tien Giang, with fruit vendors displaying a sample of their produce suspended from a stick. The market reaches its busiest at around midday when busloads of visitors on organized tours roll on to Cai Be village from Ho Chi Minh City, 110km away. They are shepherded on to boats for a few hours to explore the market and fruit orchards on nearby islands before zipping back to the city. While this may be convenient for those who are short of time, it’s all a bit rushed, and the midday heat can be oppressive. If you have a more relaxed schedule, meandering through the picturesque channels of An Binh Island between Vinh Long and Cai Be market, or overnight in a home-stay before visiting the market in the morning, offers a more rewarding experience. Cai Be is about 40km west of My Tho and lies just south of Highway 1

 
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