With Perth-Vietnam direct flights, exciting new vistas are opening up

Despite Vietnam being one of the strongest emerging economies in South East Asia, I was gobsmacked to discover that it’s also one of its cheapest holiday hotspots.

No-one embraces a budget getaway like Australians, so maybe that’s why we are heading to the Land of the Blue Dragon in record numbers.

Ho Chi Minh city is a heady blend of the old and new.Credit: Getty

According to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, more than 400,000 Aussies travelled to Vietnam in the year to August 2024 – 285 per cent higher than pre-pandemic figures. In the past 12 months, the number of West Aussies flocking there has almost doubled from 20,000 to 35,000. And Vietjet Airlines recently announced it was flying direct from Perth to Ho Chi Minh City eight times a week.

The 6½-hour flight on the budget carrier feels equivalent to driving in the outback of WA in a Datsun 120Y with milk crates as seats.

But on arrival, there is something delightfully delirious about walking in Ho Chi Minh City as the endless flow of motorists zip by like Bathurst 1000 drivers whipping down Conrod Straight on scooters even as you’re appreciating elaborate French colonial architecture.

It’s one of the most walkable cities in the world, but the endlessly flowing traffic makes you feel like you’re trapped in the old-school video game Frogger (presenting the most ways to die while dodging vehicles).

We were told the safest way to avoid ending up on the lap of a scooter rider was to lock eyes with motorists, as you cautiously inched across the street. My impression was this only gave them a better target.

There are around 70 million motorcycles in Vietnam, just under two-thirds of the human population, but unlike in Bali you won’t spot a family of five precariously balancing on a bike with a live pig and a year’s supply of toilet paper — not in the city anyway.

While the traffic can be overwhelming, you’re more pleasantly overwhelmed by culinary delights that go beyond pho and banh mi. On every street corner someone is conjuring up unforgettable fare reflecting the country’s complex culinary heritage and in every restaurant, noodle dishes boasting a symphony of flavours cost less than a middy back home.

There’s also the murky ethical terrain of tourism experiences related to one of the longest, most bloody conflicts of the 20th century.

The Cu Chi Tunnels on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City were used by Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam War as supply routes, communication webs, hospitals, weapons, food and living quarters. There was even a movie theatre.

Culinary delights; Phu Quoc; entering the Cu Chi Tunnels.

The 200-kilometre labyrinth illustrates the resilience and strategic brilliance of the North Vietnamese army.

I foolishly attempted to crawl through 30 metres of tunnel that had been widened for the more rotund western tourist, only to give up halfway as just about every muscle in the lower half of my body began to cramp. I was positive the tour guide whispered to the wafer-thin tourists ahead of me that I wasn’t going to make it.

At least 45,000 Vietnamese men and women died defending those tunnels, and you can see the harrowing impacts the conflict had on the country at the War Remnants Museum, including those of the barbaric chemical warfare conducted by the Americans in the form of Agent Orange.

After the sensory bombardment of Ho Chi Minh City, we headed to the sleepy island Pho Quoc, a 45-minute flight to dense rainforest.

The island nestled along the Gulf of Thailand in south Vietnam has been dubbed Pearl Island because of its abundant pearl farms and the gleaming sand beaches that cover the 150-kilometre coastline.

Just a short drive from our resort was the Suoi Tranh Waterfall, hidden under a lush forest canopy, surrounded by caves, mossy stones and rock pools.

It’s a 20-minute walk to the top of the waterfall along a slippery, rocky trail so you must tiptoe most of the way. You end up with calves like eight-time Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman, but the luscious greenery makes the treacherous trek well worth it.

Phu Quoc is home to the largest sea cable car ride in the world. The eight-kilometre trip takes you almost 200 metres into the air to marvel at the stunning turquoise ocean that surrounds the tiny islands of the An Thoi Archipelago.

The cable car deposits you at a water park on Pineapple Island, about the same size as Adventure World, without the grass areas teeming with eskies full of Jim Beam and Coke.

Post-COVID, Australians are seeking more meaningful and enriching adventures, rather than predictable getaways. With its sumptuous landscapes and dynamic cities, Vietnam has everything they could possibly hope for.

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