Vietnam travel guide

I hunkered in the doorway of an office building as gray clouds moved in, threatening to break open above me. Piles of luggage were stacked in the doorway, but I held tightly to my backpack. As a solo traveler making my way through Vietnam, I had yet to let someone else touch my bag, the essence of my livelihood halfway around the world.

In December 2010, my 12-year old son Oliver and I went to Vietnam - the first outside Europe to a destination in a developing country.

If Hanoi is the grand old dame of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City is the brash young floozy, then Halong Bay, Hue and Hoi An are the alluring mistresses you encounter along the way. Here landscape, architecture, culture and cuisine work their seduction via subtle charms rather than sensory overload.

It is a striking contrast from the cool, misty town of Dalat high in southern Vietnam’s central highlands — built by the French as an escape from the sweltering heat and humidity of Saigon to the glittering seaside resort of Nha Trang, which is barely a three hour drive away.

Nestled among the Hoang Son Lien Mountains, Sapa is an excellent gateway to the H’mong and Dao villages that dot the landscape of Vietnam

The 125-cubic-centimetre engine of the scooter was screaming for forgiveness, throwing off so much heat it burned through my jeans, singeing my leg hair.