Vietnam

Vietnam stretches one thousand six hundred kilometres from north to south, and that length splits the climate in two. In the south — Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta — there is a hot tropical pattern all year, with rain falling in short, heavy bursts in the afternoons between May and October. In the north there are four seasons: Hanoi and Halong Bay are cool and dry between November and April, while June to August is both hot and humid.

For a route that travels the country end to end you have to find where those two calendars intersect; October is that intersection. In the south the rainy season is closing, in the north the finest period is opening. That is also why our programme enters at Ho Chi Minh City and leaves from Hanoi — the route follows the season.

Vietnam's weight lies less in the scenery than in its layers. French colonial architecture, temples under Chinese influence, war tunnels, the limestone islands of Halong Bay and the floating markets of the Mekong all fit inside the same week. Our programme in this region is a nine-day culture tour; it does not include diving, and it does include a night on board in Halong.