Category
G
Sunrise over the karsts, somewhere off Cat Ba.
North to south in two weeks, with the bay, the karsts and the ancient town built in, and only two internal flights.
The opening scene
It is just before six in the morning on the top deck somewhere in Lan Ha Bay, and the only sound is the anchor chain. The karsts come out of the water like something half-finished, the light goes from grey to peach in about four minutes, and a woman rows past with a basket of fruit for the boat moored beside us. Nobody else is awake. I have planned a lot of mornings for people and this is still the one I am most pleased to hand over.
Vietnam rewards a long country-length trip more than almost anywhere I work. It is sixteen hundred kilometres from Hanoi to the Mekong, the food changes completely three times on the way down, and two weeks is just enough to do it without a single rushed morning – provided somebody has done the arranging in advance.
The ask
This is the brief I get most: first time in Vietnam, two weeks, a couple in their forties or fifties who want to see the famous things but not from a coach. Good hotels, not resort-only. Real food, including the plastic-stool kind, with somebody there to order it properly. One beach stretch at the end. And please, no four-o’clock starts.
So the route below is paced to that: three bases, two internal flights, a boat, and private drivers between everything else. It is the version I would book for myself.
You’ve reached the quiet door.
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