A day's journey - wandering around Vietnam

What are the most common exotic destinations you can think of? Hawaii? Seychelles? Cambodia? I vote: Vietnam. This Southeast Asian country is, I believe, one of those places that just have it all: mountains, lovely beaches, delicious cuisine - healthy at the same time, fascinating and complex history (dynasties, wars) and very kind people. 

There has been thousands or more articles written, cuisine programs made about Vietnam (e.g. ones with chef Gordon Ramsey or chef Anthony Bourdain) and most of them repeat how exciting the country is. I have watched many of them and they were all w_r_o_n_g. None of the articles, film frames, chefs nor social media influencers pictured licking their fingers with taste while eating on some dark street corner gave justice to this country. One needs to travel - personally - to Vietnam itself. To Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, Halong Bay, Sapa or to other destination - feel free to choose from 331,212 km2 (127,882 sq mi) of land slightly larger than the U.S. state of New Mexico. These are the places, which I have visited in November 2018 and which I would like to show you. Vietnamese have a saying "A day's journey - a basket of wisdom". Let's consider this first entry of my Vietnamese photo journey (which requires your attention for even less than one day) an invite sent to you directly, to start planning your wandering though Vietnam and hopefully you will find your baskets amply filled. 

The time I travelled to Vietnam - November - is known as cold season. I must admit that having Dubai as home for few years, has made me nostalgic for winter - any winter. However, do not let the name "cold season" fool you. The north can become chilly indeed but the south is warm and very humid. In both cases though, brolly is a must.

Rain is the inseparable part of Vietnam. It is an important factor in the life of a rice-growing people and you can find plenty proverbs or songs referring to it used by Vietnamese on the daily basis e.g. "whenever the rain falls, it always refreshes the face" - for a poor person it means "all donations are welcome", "if it rains, let water fall everywhere" which means "favors should be dispensed to everybody". If you worry that "drizzle" will spoil your vacation - just

don't! Accept it like the locals do. No one complains, no one changes their plans, there is no reaction do the discomfort, no one calls in sick. It is not in the Vietnamese culture to complain about things they can do nothing about and, I believe, it should not be in ours neither. 

Enjoy!