25 Reasons To Visit The ‘New’ Vietnam

After their two-year travel ban, Vietnam recently opened their borders once more. The rich history, vibrant interactions, stunning natural beauty, and warm, friendly welcome from the locals are unchanged. However, it’s clear that Vietnam, like the whole world, has undergone some distinct shifts in recent years. 

What better witnesses to these changes than our B&R planners and guides, who’ve been uncovering the very best of the country for the past quarter century? Our Vietnam Biking Expedition is the perfect chance to honour and cherish Vietnam’s traditions while embracing all that’s fresh and forward-looking!

Below are 25 reasons to visit the new Vietnam with B&R in 2023.

Cycling is deeply woven into the fabric of everyday Vietnamese life, from grandmothers riding their vintage wheels to the market, to the flocks of school kids pedalling in their immaculate uniforms. We feel welcomed and celebrated when we show up to ride these scenic roads, led by our B&R Expert Guides!

Faith is a major part of Vietnamese life. You’ll see little altars in most small businesses, intended to summon good fortune by honouring gods or ancestors with offerings of food. Throughout the country, you’ll come across spectacular pagodas and temples of many faiths in Vietnam, including Mayahana and Theravada Buddhism, the more modern Cao Dai religion, Cham Hinduism, Roman Catholicism (about 10% of Vietnamese identify as Catholic), and the traditions of Vietnam’s minority ethnic groups.

Since the victory of the communists led by Ho Chi Minh in 1975, Vietnam has undergone transformations, first to a hardline communist system that lasted until the early 1990s, then to a gradual opening that has seen the flourishing of private enterprise.

The impulse to trade and build businesses is deeply ingrained in Vietnamese life, and the dichotomy between collectivism and free enterprise is fascinating to witness. “Ho Chi Minh Thought,” the revered leader’s precepts, themselves are a melding of philosophies and traditions.

The Vietnamese love of music can be seen around every turn, from small bands playing in local bars to karaoke resounding through the fruit groves as you bike past.

Vietnamese celebrate their history, legends and love of country through song, and you will hear these rendered beautifully on the numerous traditional instruments of each region.

Throughout our Vietnam trip, from north to south, we make use of boats to truly witness the amazing aquatic ways of life that are part of the Vietnamese identity. This can mean a ferry ride across a river during a bike ride; a sumptuous lunch on the Perfume River; or the arrival at the Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, located on a sun-drenched peninsula accessible only by boat, surrounded by white sand beaches.

At the resorts on trip, you can also snorkel to explore the underwater coral palaces as shimmering schools of fish swim by.

Vietnamese have a keen sense of history, and we mean deep history: artifacts found in caves date back to 20,000 years ago, and the average person is keenly aware of the dynastic periods, wars with Chinese occupiers, and resistance to colonization over the centuries.

On our trip, we also encounter the towers of the Cham people, a Hindu culture that 1,000 years ago had an empire along the southern coast of Vietnam. The empire has long since been conquered by the Kinh (Vietnam’s majority ethnic group), Cham people still visit these towers to pay homage to the gods.