Geographically, Vietnam is shaped like a long S, and it stretches the length of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. Vietnam has a surface area of 128,000 square miles – making it about the size of Italy. China lies to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the east.

The country has three distinct areas: north, central, and south. The north is known for its alpine peaks, the Red River Delta, the plains of Cao Bang and Vinh Yen, enchanting Halong Bay, and historic Hanoi. Central Vietnam is characterized by high temperate plateaus rich in volcanic soil and by spectacular beaches, dunes, and lagoons. It is also the location of the ancient imperial city of Hue. In the South, visitors encounter modern life in Ho Chi Minh City and the fertile delta of the Mekong River. In addition, Vietnam has a large continental shelf and an archipelago of islands.

Hanoi, Thai Binh, Cuc Phuong, Mai Chau, Hoa Binhanoi are some of the important tourist places in vietnam.There are many travel agents which provides a tour package to Vietnam. Akshaya India is one of the travel agent which provides the tour package to Vietnam which is cheap and best.It’s a 4 night and 5 days tour. They have provided so many facilities in this tour package. Entry visas are obtainable at Vietnamese diplomatic missions and required for all visitors with valid passports irrespective of nationality. Please allow ten days for processing. Travel permits are only required for trips to off-limit areas such as border provinces, military bases and remote islands.

We offer an outstanding suite of services – call it your travel sketchpad – that allow you to design your dream trip through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, or to any one of these countries in exciting detail. If your trip involves passing through Thailand or China, we have extensive services in those countries too. A tour of the beach towns in central Vietnam then a hop over to Siem Riep to see Angkor Wat? A customised tour of all there is to see in North Vietnam? Whatever suits you suits us. In addition to custom tours, we offer several basic travel services, including domestic and international airline tickets, hotel and resort booking, Vietnamese tourist visas, car rental, and bus and train tickets, throughout Indochina and beyond.

Salute Vietnam confidently offers you control over the entire trip planning process. This of course means you need to know what is on offer and where – so we support you with custom searches and a rich library of information on what to see, who to see it with and how to see it from the right angle. Your door to this library is this website, a few electronic windows you can use to peek through at the beautiful scenery, rich culture and amazing food that is Vietnam, Indochina and the region.

Salute Vietnam is proud of our reputation as an extremely reliable online tour operator and travel service. No matter what part of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, China or Thailand strikes your fancy, we will help you put together the trip that best suits your taste and price range. Call or email us today to find out how we can turn your travel dreams into a real itinerary.

Along with the cultural development of Saigon and the addition of foreign influence, you may now find several world class restaurants to be very common within the place. You may even find other foreign tastes within the food districts of Saigon. From French to Mexican and even Indian cuisines can be readily served by the restaurants available across the city. Saigon is considered by Vietnam travel guide as one of the major sources of highly delectable foods in the country.

According to the Vietnam travel guide, Mekong Delta is one of the good sources of fresh fruits in the country. This fruit haven is just near the city of Saigon. The freshness and the quality of fruit products developed from the location have greatly contributed to the impressive taste of meals presented in Ho Chi Minh City. Some of the fresh fruits that are being produced in Mekong Delta include pineapples, durians, mangoes and star fruits. Such fruits are often used in Vietnamese cuisines thus adding a unique flavor that would surely satisfy anyone’s taste.

There are several restaurants in Saigon that offer several native dishes such as the Banh Xeo ( griddle cake). Vietnam travel guide indicates that Banh Xeo is probably the most renowned dish in the southern part of Vietnam. This Vietnamese delicacy is comparable to Banh Khoai( potato cakes), a locally produced pancake in other parts of the country. If you want to have some exotic yet appetizing meals within the southern part of Vietnam, Vietnam travel guide would surely suggest you to have the famous spring rolls of Saigon. There are several types of freshly cooked spring rolls all around the food districts of Ho Chi Minh City. One the most popular types of spring rolls is Goi Cuon (spring roll). This special type of spring rolls is a mixture of sliced cold shrimp, cold vermicelli noodles and mint leaves wrapped altogether with rice paper. Other exotic dishes from Saigon include Hot Vit Lon or fertilized duck egg. This is a popular within the streets of Ho Chi Minh City and is usually sold on markets and stalls.

These facts show how much the Vietnamese economy has progressed. It is currently one of the largest oil producers of Asia at 400,000 barrels a day. It also has a large hi-tech and information technology sector that is a major contributor to the economy.

These factors make Vietnam one of the most lucrative countries for setting up an export import business in. With this much growth per year, you can rest assured that your business will benefit immensely if it is set up in or expanded to Vietnam. This growth potential is already attracting a lot of investors and businessmen to the country. Hence you have to be fast in order to get your foot in the door before the others get in. Importing items in to Vietnam is currently a profitable business. Since the country does not have a very high GDP, it translates in to a poor per capita income in comparison to other Asian countries. However, the demand for cheap imported goods is still there for you to profit from. You cannot keep a very high profit margin in this market so you must make it up in sales volume.

Since the information technology industry is a thriving one in the country, you can import cheap items that the industry needs. Computer related imports are in great demand in the country. Vietnam is a very open market and hence setting up an import business there is not at all hard for veteran or beginner businessmen. The main challenge lies in finding a profitable niche within the market where you can easily beat out the competition. Exporting goods from Vietnam will give you the benefit of cheap price coupled with good quality.You can easily sell the items at a good margin and still undercut your competition if you make all the right moves. The key here as usual is to find your niche.

The greatest of all attractions in the region is perhaps its more than 500 pagodas and temples. Among which most popular is One Pillar Pagoda, erected in 1049 during the reign of King Ly Thai Tong. Dedicated to Lord Buddha, this beautiful wooden pagoda is supported by just a single pillar, which takes after a lotus seat on which a statue of Buddha has been seated. Prominent among the temples in the region are the Temple of Literature, which is one of the most sanctified places for the disciples of Confucius; Hai Ba Trung Temple, dedicated to two heroines, Trung Nhi and Trung Trac; and Ngoc Son Temple, located in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Other religious landmarks in the area are Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest of its kind in the region, and Ambassadors Pagoda, which is regarded as the seat of Buddhism in the country.

A must-see destination in Hanoi is Old Quarter, boasting of more than 35 winding streets, each of them selling a variety of items such as handicrafts, porcelain, jade carvings, wickerwork and Russian Vodka. Located outside the Royal Citadel, the Old Quarter is regarded as the best destination to enjoy the spirit of the one thousand-year-old Hanoi. Another sight-seeing option in Hanoi is the Presidential Palace, which is a fine example of the French colonial architecture. Constructed between 1900 and 1906, this splendid structure is within the Ho Chi Minh’s Relic Area.

Situated within the French Quarters of the city is Hanoi Opera House, a structure noted for its marvelous construction, reflecting French colonial architecture. Several performances are conducted here every week. Also, a landmark in Hanoi is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum – the spot where the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, acknowledged as the ”father of the modern state,” is displayed. Not to miss attractions in Hanoi also cover a plethora of traditional handicrafts villages such as Yen Thai glossy silk village, Bat Trang pottery village, and Ngu Xa bronze casting village, where you can see artisans engaged in bronze molding, embroidery works, and silver carving and lacquer.

Hanoi’s attractions also include more than 15 charming lakes, and some of them are Hoan Kiem Lake – the main leisure area in the city, West Lake – the largest in the city, and Truc Bach Lake. A specialty of these lakes is that each of them is surrounded by wonderful gardens and trees. Hanoi is home to a number of remarkable museums, which among many others, are: Vietnam History Museum, exhibiting artifacts that date back to various periods of Vietnam’s history. Vietnam Army Museum, with collections related to the armed forces of Vietnam. Fine Arts Museum, displaying a superb collection of paintings and sculpture. Ho Chi Minh Museum with art objects such as documents, press articles, and pictures of the times of Ho Chi Minh, apart from memorabilia of the 19th century.

Hanoi boasts of an excellent gastronomy, influenced by the French Colonial Era. Just few among the sumptuous cuisines available here are pho, gio lau or pork sausage, nem ran, and cha ca. The place’s vegetable and seafood specialties are also much famed. Hanoi hosts an array of lively, colorful festivals, Dong Nhan Temple Festival, Lady Tam’s Temple festival, Thay Pagoda Festival, Chuong Village Festival, Tran Vo Festival, and Dong Festival.

With these incredible attractions, it is no wonder why people flock to Hanoi year-round. No matter you are corporate, budget-conscious or a luxury-loving traveler, a myriad of accommodation choices options are available here to choose from according to your taste and pocket.

The first flourishing of Vietnamese art occurred with the emergence of the Dongson culture on the coast of Annam and Tonkin. The inspiration for the magnificent bronzes produced by the artists of Dongson originated from China: the decorative motifs have clear affinities with earlier Chinese bronzes. At the same time, the exceptional skill of production and decoration argues that these pieces represent among the first and finest of Southeast Asian works of art. The period during which the central Vietnamese kingdom, centered on the Annamite coast was under the Champa rulers saw the ‘golden’ period of the Vietnamese art and architecture. Valuable works of Vietnamese Art comprise of the historic and treasured form of art executed on extravagant, fine and delicate silk.

Vietnam has longstanding folk traditions. Techniques and styles are often handed down within families from generation to generation. Vietnamese Art shows a strong Chinese influence. Traditional Buddhist art forms are very much evident on the sculptures and paintings of Vietnamese artists. These art forms are made to complement and enhance traditional practices found in temples, monasteries, centers, hermitages, the home and places of retreat. Contemporary artists may use traditional or contemporary forms separately or in combination e.g. film, sculpture or in painting used together in an installation piece. While there may be a deeply felt spiritual context to the work, it would not necessarily be intended to go in a monastery, center or temple and would not have to be made according to econometric recommendations.

Despite the shortages and censorship of the war years, quite a bit of world literature was carefully translated into Vietnamese and widely distributed gradually. This translated world literature greatly influenced the spiritual life of Vietnam. The small chunk of world literature that was allowed to circulate in Vietnam during the ”years of the march towards socialism,” ” the years of heroic warfare” and the ”gloomy immediate post-war years,” had been carefully filtered and wrenched from their original contexts. Efforts of contemporary Vietnam artists have been successful in reviving the exquisite and inimitable elements, not only of erstwhile Vietnam but have also raised some of the present-day humanitarian issues. Vietnamese art has thus taken a stride ahead towards presenting South-East Asia as a cultural patron in the field of global fine arts.

The divine and peaceful topography and climate of Vietnam make it one of the most exciting travel destinations in the world. A Vietnam excursion will take you through untouched rain forests filled with exotic plants and animal wildlife unfound anywhere else. With eleven new species found in last year alone, Vietnam is a natural resource you can explore and investigate. A Vietnam tour will take you past rivers filled with brightly colored rice paddies, exposing you to the Vietnamese culture and the rare beauty of this country. Vietnam travel is appropriate for all times of the year, making it a vacation truly available to anyone and everyone. The climate changes throughout the region, depending on whether you are in North, Central or South Vietnam. Best of all, is that you can experience different climates in the country by traveling from one section to another, finding it lush and wet in one area, and hot and dry in another.

A Vietnam travel trip is a chance to experience a wondrous amount of different and fun activities. Halong Bay offers sea cliffs and rock formations that are both unique and splendid in their appearance. Stay in a Vietnam hotel in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City and experience shopping at its fullest. From the well known silk produced in the country to the exquisite handcrafted woodwork, Vietnam presents an array of purchasing opportunities. Your Vietnam travel could find you sitting in the Old Quarter of the city, admiring the French inspired architecture or sipping latte at a roadside cafe. Or perhaps you will find yourself on a Vietnam cruise, exploring the lagoons of Central Vietnam and exploring the gorgeous and shaded beaches.

A Vietnam vacation creates memories and impressions not to be forgotten. The diverse and different wildlife abounds in conservation areas and national parks, and the cuisine is a taste sensation. Vietnam travel can bring you from great cities where all six different tones of the Vietnamese language are spoken and the traditional music is played softly on the streets, to a tranquil and peaceful village where Buddhist temples offer tranquility and peacefulness. A Vietnam travel vacation by bicycle offers something for everyone, allowing one to be a part of the beautiful scenery and to enjoy all the country offers.

Clothing varies greatly from tourist T-shirts to beaded handbags and traditional ao dai made to fit your size. Items made from silk are a popular buy, with prices varying depending on the material and tailor. Pre-made traditional dresses are sold in many places. However, it is more recommended to have the dress made to fit your body, which takes more time and slightly more money. Shoes, slippers and handbags made from traditional materials can also become unique gifts and accessories. The Vietnamese traditional conical hat, can be found everywhere throughout the country, but hats made in Hue are most famous as they have a poem printed on the inside.

Vietnam is rich in gemstones. The jewelry business is also increasing during current years, and sophisticated works are produced by both big businesses and traditional craftsmen. The quality of the gemstones sold is sometimes doubtable, so it is recommended that you buy gems at prestigious locations and be ware with cheap prices. Most war souvenirs sold today in Vietnam are fake reproductions. Be careful while transporting these items as many airlines do not allow weapons, even fakes to be carried on their planes.

Other popular handicrafts in Vietnam include lacquer ware, wood-block prints, and oil and watercolor paintings, blinds made from bamboo, reed mats, carpets, and leatherwork. Shopping in Vietnam is fun and interesting. There are many places around Vietnam where you can find these above items, here are some places that you should google more: Thao Nguyen in Ho Chi Minh, Precious Qui in Ho Chi Minh, Art Tunnel in Hanoi, Nga in Ho Chi Minh, Kids And Stone in Hanoi.