It's definitely worth going back Terpe, although it is more touristy than when you were last there, it hasn't been spoiled yet. It's not like Thailand or Ibiza. It is certainly more touristy than the Phil's, but that's not a bad thing. The infrastructure is very good in the main tourist areas with lots of tourist hotels, travel agencies arranging day tours, flights, buses, trains..etc. There is also a good supply of decent cafe's and restaurants that us westerners would be happy to eat at, and by the way, the food is wonderful, definitely my favorite Asian cuisine. Every dish is garnished with heaps of fresh veg and fragrant herbs. There is a huge variety of seafood - shrimp, prawns, crad, lobsters, various fish, abelone, oysters, shell fish....etc. As well as the mainstay meats of pork, beef, chicken and duck, a lot of restaurants serve crocodile, ostrich, snake, frogs and snails, no doubt about the French influence. Contrary to popular belief, they don't eat dog in South Vietnam, but they do in the poorer villages in the north the closer you get to China. I asked a tour rep about dog and he said that south Vietnamese prided themselves of being dog lovers and there is no way they could ever eat mans best friend, no matter how hungry they were, they'd rather eat a rice rat than a dog.Originally Posted by Terpe
On the whole, the roads are much better than the Phils with good quality highways connecting major urban areas, it's much cleaner and less polluted in the cities with lots of public parks with beautifully maintained gardens. As you get out into the provinces, it is very much like the Phil's or anywhere else in rural SE Asia.
