Vietnam

Whilst the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Việt Nam) may induce images harkening back to the decades-long era of the proxy war fought between the Soviet Union and the United States (in the manifestation of a civil war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam), the country’s history is rich with incursions by outside forces – who in the end are always expelled.

While Afghanistan is usually credited as “the graveyard of empires”, Vietnam may be more well deserving of this title, from the great General Trần Hưng Đạo’s victories over the Mongols and Chinese, to the defeat of the French (and the effective end of French Indochina), to the fall of Sài Gòn, Vietnam has historically been intent on remaining its own independent (and unified) nation.

With an interesting geography resulting in marked differences between the climates of Hà Nội and Sài Gòn, there is much to see in this land of the người Việt. From the amazing landscapes of Hạ Long Bay, to the sand dunes near Vũng Tàu, to the Mekong Delta at the far south of the country, one could spend years exploring the wonders of this land and its people – who have a Việt kiều diaspora of over five million people outside of the country and around one hundred million within the nation itself. Be sure to secure a guide/translator however when you visit as English is not widely spoken and the tonal sound of Vietnamese itself is notoriously alien to a westerner’s ear.