All I know of you is all the sights of war.
A film by Coppola, the helicopter's roar.
(Hello Vietnam- Pham Quynh Anh)
When it comes to Vietnam, some people will think about its difficult time in the past such as Vietnam War as the lyrics above because that's what they have learned about it. Some other people even don't really know where it is on the world map. This article will show you some interesting and amazing facts about this beautiful small country which is located at Southeast Asia.
1. Motorbikes
What is the most challenging you have experienced in Vietnam? Most of visitors will probably tell you that is getting across the streets. You may feel headache if you want to count how many motorbikes are there on the streets. While car is the main means of transport in U.S., Vietnamese prefers to ride a motorbike because having a motorbike is much cheaper than having a car. Owning a car is a luxury for a person because the tariffs will cost a person to buy a car with the dramatic price of over 100% of its original value. If you pay approximately $20,000 for a car in U.S., Vietnamese must pay around $40,000 for the same brand of the car. Therefore, for someone who comes to Vietnam at the first time, they will be surprised and confused about the its traffic, especially in crowded areas such as Ho Chi Minh City or Ha Noi.
2. Coffee
You can say that Vietnam is the heaven of coffee. Vietnam is the second largest producer in the world (second only to Brazil). If you have chance to try Vietnamese coffee, you will realize that its taste is strongly bitter than American coffee. That’s why Vietnamese usually mixes coffee with condense milk or lots of sugar to make people enjoy drinking it more easily. If you have chance to go to Vietnam, in the early morning, you will probably see people sitting at some food vendors on the streets waiting for their coffee dropping from the filter on the top of the cup. Furthermore, Vietnamese coffee is one of the cheapest ones in the world. The most expensive one in Vietnam is weasel coffee, which is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets; you must pay around $500 for per kilogram (around 2 lbs.). What is more, if you go to Ha Noi, which is the capital of Vietnam, it will be great if you ask the local to take you to go somewhere to enjoy a cup of egg yolk coffee.
3. Street Food
Where can you find good street food in Asia? People usually think about Thailand. However, Vietnam, its neighbor, is also a heaven of street food. Street food vendors are everywhere with acceptable prices. You may only pay $2 for a hot delicious bowl of Pho or $1.5 for a crunchy Vietnamese sandwich (Banh mi). Many people will be surprised that they may pay average $6/day/each person for food in Vietnam, which can help them save their “pockets”.
4. Mekong
Delta- Floating markets
Have you ever try to buy or trade something when you are sitting or standing on a small boat at the middle of one of longest rivers in the world? In Vietnam, if you visit Mekong Delta, the southwest area, you will see many beautiful floating markets which are one of the most attractive destinations for tourists. Some locals spend their entire life on floating markets, and their boats have become their houses. What should you want to do when you come there? You should keep your balance first (It’s on the river!), then you can spend time on looking and buying various good stuffs such as fruits, sea food, meats, etc. Especially you can even buy and have a hot bowl of rice noodles soup on a small boat. Chef. Gordon Ramsay used to have that interesting experience when he visited Vietnam for his show named Gordon’s Great Escape. After visiting floating markets, you also can have chance to traditionally sail a boat if you want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODg309JkPRo (Gordon Ramsay in Vietnam)
5. Caves
Even though Vietnam is a small country, it still has lots of wonders of nature, and one kind of many gorgeous destinations for tourists is grandiose caves. You may think the largest cave of the world should be in a big country like Canada or China, but you will be surprised and impressed that the largest one is at Vietnam, which name is Son Doong. Son Doong Cave is in the heart of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, which is located in the Quang Binh Province of Central Vietnam. It was discovered firstly by a local person named Ho Khanh in the early of 1990s when he accidentally came there to keep away from the rain. In 2009, Ho Khanh helped the British adventurer, Howard Limbert, to find the way back to the cave which could not be seen on the Google Earth. In the video on the National Geographic Channel published in 2014, it said that a cave is so massive that a Boeing 747 could fly through its largest cavern. There are even a forest and a river inside the cave. As many adventurers said, there was like a new world when you have chance to go inside it. In addition, there are still around other hundreds of small and large beautiful caves in Vietnam such as Dau Go Cave, Sung Sot Cave or Trang An Cave system, etc.
