Modern cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are packed with skyscrapers and streetside stalls selling everything from pho to croissants. Wide, tree-line boulevards in the French style provide a break from the busiest areas and show off the lingering influence of the French colonists. Many rural areas are highly populated as well with farms crisscrossing the Mekong Delta and hilltribes still living in the mountains. Vietnam is the perfect tourist destination for the adventurous traveler ready to chow down on bowls of spicy noodles, study history, get their feet wet in rivers and rice paddies, and hike in the gorgeous jungles.

Vietnamese cooking is spicy in the south, mild in the north, and tasty wherever you go. The national dish, called pho, is a clear broth soup with rice noodles and studded with meat and vegetables. Pho is served with herbs, chiles, and other condiments on the side that you can add to the soup to your tastes. Pho is not only the national dish, but also a fast food staple. Street side restaurants keep broth simmering and noodles at the ready to serve bowls of delicious pho to Vietnamese and travelers in need of a quick meal.

French influence remains today in Vietnamese cuisine today with items like the baguette, excellent pastries, and a taste for coffee. All of these dishes were introduced to Vietnam by the French but have since been incorporated into Vietnamese cuisine. The Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich of grilled meats, vegetables, and pate on a spilt open baguette.

Sprawling rice paddies, white sand beaches, tall mountain peaks soaring towards the sky, and rivers winding through dense jungle…welcome to rural Vietnam. Take a step into the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta where the pace of life is slow, but everyone works hard. Silt from the Mekong River fertilizes the watery landscape and makes it perfect for growing rice, the staple food of Vietnam. The Mekong Delta is the farm belt of Vietnam. In addition to rice paddies, you’ll find sugarcane, coconut, and fish farms. Take your time traveling through this area, sample the cuisine, take a boat on the river or even volunteer your time to work on a farm to get close to this part of the Earth.

The mountains of Vietnam are a wonderful location for jungle treks, camping, and meeting the locals. Hilltribe people still inhabit the mountains of Vietnam and live according to traditional practices. Consider booking a homestay with a hilltribe to learn customs of their animalistic religions and cook traditional foods while living far from technology – the perfect break for over-stimulated Western brains.

All images are used via Creative Commons Attribution rights. View the original images on Flickr at: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4