Water puppet theater (mua roi nuoc) is a centuries-old Vietnamese art form where wooden puppets perform on a waist-deep pool of water, controlled by hidden rods and strings operated by puppeteers standing behind a bamboo screen. Hanoi’s Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is the most famous place to see it, with roughly 45-minute shows built…
Vietnamese coffee culture is built around a small metal drip filter called a phin, strong dark-roast robusta beans, and a habit of pairing bitter coffee with sweetened condensed milk rather than fresh milk or sugar. It shows up as ca phe sua da (iced milk coffee) on nearly every street corner, as the richer, dessert-like…
Bun rieu is a tomato-red Vietnamese noodle soup built around a light, tangy broth made with freshwater crab paste, and it’s one of the country’s most comforting everyday noodle dishes without being as internationally famous as pho. Thin rice vermicelli sits under a broth studded with tomato, a crab-and-egg cake called rieu, tofu, and sometimes…
Mi quang is a turmeric-tinted noodle dish from Quang Nam province, the region around Da Nang and Hoi An, and it’s one of the most distinctive bowls of noodles in Vietnam precisely because it isn’t really a soup. Wide rice noodles are tossed in a small pool of intensely flavored broth rather than swimming in…
Vietnam requires no mandatory vaccinations for most travelers arriving directly from the US, Canada, or Australia, but health authorities recommend several routine and travel-specific vaccines before you go. The tap water isn’t safe to drink, mosquito-borne illness (dengue everywhere, and malaria in some rural areas) is a real consideration outside the main tourist circuit, and…
Banh xeo is a crispy, turmeric-yellow rice-flour pancake, folded in half like an omelet and filled with pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts, then wrapped in lettuce and herbs and dipped in a sweet-savory fish sauce dip. Its name literally translates to “sizzling cake,” a reference to the loud sizzle the batter makes hitting a hot…
Vietnam’s temples and pagodas are active places of worship, not just photo backdrops, and a handful of etiquette mistakes are common enough among visitors that they’re worth knowing before you go. Covering shoulders and knees, removing your shoes where required, and being mindful about photographing people who are praying cover most of it. Here’s what…
Tet, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year, is the country’s biggest holiday of the year, a multi-day national celebration when much of Vietnam shuts down so people can travel home and celebrate with family. In 2027, the first day of Tet falls on February 6. Some family-run restaurants, small shops, and local services close for several…
Vietnamese food changes dramatically as you move down the map. Northern cooking is subtle and restrained, central cooking is the spiciest and most intricate, and southern cooking is the sweetest and most tropical, shaped by climate, history, and what actually grows in each region. Here’s what defines each region’s food and how to taste the…
Mai Chau and Pu Luong are built for slow, active days rather than a checklist of sights: cycling through rice paddies, trekking between villages, floating down a river on a bamboo raft, and — if you time it right — watching mist pour through the valley at sunrise. Nothing here requires technical skill, which is…
