Vietnam

Vietnam (31 August, 2006)


Vietnam offers you useful information to help you plan and prepare for a trip to Vietnam, a country that forms a long strip on the eastern coast of Indo-China. Vietnam is 331,690 square kilometers in size. It shares a common border with China to the north, Laos to the northwest, and Cambodia to the southwest.

The land this is present-day Vietnam has been inhabited for thousands of years, with evidence of human habitation going back to Paleolithic times. It has suffered successive invasion and occupation by foreign powers, chief among them China in the ancient times and France in more recent history.

The capital of Vietnam today is the city of Hanoi, also spelled Ha Noi. It is the second largest city in the country, and as with all major cities of Vietnam, is rapidly growing and developing.

Penang Members' Travel Shots of Vietnam

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Major Cities of Vietnam

Major Tourist Attractions of Vietnam

What to eat in Vietnam

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Categories of Sights in Vietnam

Visitors to Vietnam focus on the major attractions around Hanoi, such as Halong Bay, Sapa, Perfume Pagoda and Tam Coc. Some venture further south, to explore ancient cities such as Hue, Hoi An, Dalat, as well as Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest city in Vietnam formerly known as Saigon.

In Vietnam Travel Guide, I want to provide you an overview of this remarkable country, and take you through to all the major cities as well as the lesser-known ones. I hope that this website will provide you with the necessary information to explore and enjoy Vietnam.

Old Quarter of Hoi An
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HoiAnOldQuarter.jpg
Jean-Marie Hullot

Planning your trip to Vietnam

There are three international airports in Vietnam - in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang. Tan Son Nhat International Airport is the busiest of the three. The visa to Vietnam is not cheap. A single-entry visa to Vietnam costs US$34 and is valid for a stay of 30 days. It takes 4-7 days to process. You can also get express visas, processed in 2-3 days, at twice the price. You can get it at the Vietnamese consulate in Battambang, Cambodia. You can also get your visa at the Vietnam Embassy in Bangkok for ฿1,800, done in 3 days. Elsewhere, you can get it at the Vietnam Embassy in London for £44 or at the Vietnamese Mission in New York City for US$80.

Tran Dynasty Temple, Vietnam
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C4%90%E1%BB%81n_th%E1%BB%9D_Tr%E1%BA%A7n_Nh%C3%A2n_T%C3%B4ng_1.jpg
Luu Ly


Landmark Tower, Hanoi
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LANDMARK72.jpg
Soyoungah

Vietnam by Region

Vietnam Travel Information

Time Zone: 7 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
Currency: dong
Language: Vietnamese. English gaining popularity as a language for tourism and commerce.
International Dialing Code: 84
Population: 84 million
Religion: Mahayana Buddhism, Catholic, Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam.
Electricity: 220V 50 Hz
Electrical Outlet: two round pins, some times three round pins. If you bring a laptop, get a surge suppressor to guard against current fluctuations. (See details here: http://www.kropla.com/electric.htm)
Driving: On the right side of the road.

Sungsot Cave, Halong Bay (31 August, 2006)

Vietnam Public Holidays

The following are public holidays observed in Vietnam:

• New Year Day: 1 January
• Tet (Lunar New Year): January/February, similar to Chinese New Year celebrated elsewhere.
• Founding Day of the Coomunist Party of Vietnam: 3 February
• Women's Day: 8 March
• Youth Day: 28 March
• Liberation of Saigon Day: 30 April
• International Labour Day: 1 May
• Victory Day: 7 May, commemorating the victory over France
• Ho Chi Minh's Birthday: 19 May
• Children's Day: 1 June
• Memorial Day: 27 July
• August 1945 Revolution Day: 19 August
• National Day: 2 September
• Teacher's Day: 20 November
• Army Day: 22 December

Religion in Vietnam

After the years of suppression against religion in the early part of the 20th century, Vietnam today formally allows religious freedom. It recognises six religions namely Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao. Other religions such as the Baha'i Coimmunity had to be awarded a "certificate of operation".

In Vietnam, you will see many temples that have distinct Chinese characteristics. The temples in Vietnam are often called "pagoda", even though they do not refer to the multi-tiered towers common in East Asia.

Hoa Lu Ancient Capital Festival
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lehoidendinh.jpg
Kien1980v

Cities of Vietnam

Listed here are the cities in Vietnam arranged by population.

Towns and Places of Interest in Vietnam

Provinces in Vietnam

World Heritage Sites in Vietnam

National Parks of Vietnam

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.