the globe says
Vietnam
A short flight from Ho Chi Minh City, or the fast ferry from Vung Tau, to an archipelago most Vietnamese know only from history books.
A guesthouse in the sleepy French-colonial town — rent a motorbike; the ring road is empty.
A former prison island turned marine sanctuary: haunting colonial-era prison museums, sea turtles nesting on protected beaches, empty roads over jungle headlands, and pilgrims at Võ Thị Sáu's shrine at midnight.
Ride the coast road at dawn, then arrange a ranger-led night on Bảy Cạnh island for the turtle nesting season.
March to September
Cảm ơn — thank you, in Vietnamese.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen — the war and its aftermath from the inside.
The Mekong Delta on the way back — homestays among the fruit orchards of Bến Tre.
The prison museums are genuinely harrowing — the tiger cages are not softened for visitors. Go informed.