Vietnam
Vietnam is a long, narrow, S-shaped country on the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with more than 3,000 kilometres of coast. Rice fields cover its two great river deltas, the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south. Its flag is red with a yellow star.
“I'd fly through that cave, under its own clouds.”
- In December 1910 the Belgian pilot Charles Van den Born made the first aeroplane flights in Vietnam, from Saigon's racecourse.
- Sơn Đoòng, a cave in central Vietnam, is so big that it has its own jungle and its own clouds inside.
The land
Mountains cover the north-west of Vietnam. There, near the town of Sa Pa, Fansipan rises to about 3,147 metres in the Hoàng Liên Sơn range. It is the highest mountain on the Indochinese peninsula, which is why people call it the Roof of Indochina. Further south, the hills of the Central Highlands grow most of the country's coffee.
Getting around
Motorbikes are the main way to travel. In 2024, 89.4 percent of households used a motorbike, but only about 9 percent owned a car. A single-track railway, 1,726 km long, joins Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City. It was built under French rule and finished in 1936. After years of war damage, it reopened on 31 December 1976 as a symbol of a united country. Ho Chi Minh City opened its first metro line on 22 December 2024. Line 1 runs 19.7 km from Bến Thành to Suối Tiên.
Food
Vietnam is the world's second largest coffee producer, after Brazil. Almost all of its coffee is robusta, grown mostly in Central Highlands provinces such as Đắk Lắk, Lâm Đồng and Gia Lai.
Music
Đờn ca tài tử is the chamber music and song of southern Vietnam. It grew from the court music of Huế and the folk music of the south. It is played at festivals, death anniversaries and family celebrations. UNESCO added it to its list of the world's living heritage on 5 December 2013.
Fly over Vietnam.
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City 16 of 21Ho Chi Minh City
Bến Thành Market
“The streets roared with scooters. Down by the river, the clock tower said it was nearly dinner time.”
I'd land on the clock tower and follow the smell of soup. Its keepers are The Courier and the Cyclo Racer.
The plane reaches Ho Chi Minh City from Bangkok.
