The country that was once at war has the potential to become one of the most popular Asian destinations.
It not only offers superb beaches and bargain shopping, the Vietnamese cuisine is a delight and the chance of picking up food bugs is minimal.
Visitors either enter in the south at Ho Chi Minh City (it was Saigon) and slowly make their way north to the capital Hanoi, or vice versa.
They can use Ho Chi Minh City as a base to explore the Mekong Delta, which is the rice bowl of the country and worth an overnight trip.
The meander north can include Nha Trang, a one-hour flight north from HCMC and a very relaxing beach stopover. It is similar to Bali, with hawkers on the beach to make life more bearable, selling fresh fruit, beer, T-shirts, postcards, jewellery ... you name it and they sell it.
Unlike Bali, however, the hawkers are usually happy to take "no" for an answer.
A 60-minute flight will take you from Nha Trang to the coastal town of Da Nang where China Beach became a famous R&R spot for troops during the Vietnam War (which the Vietnamese call the American War).
A 30-minute hair-raising drive from Da Nang was Hoi An, the town of tailors – almost 800 of them to be precise. They can knock up any sort of clothing in two days – suits, jackets, slacks, skirts, and shirts – and that includes at least one fitting.
Prices range from about R60 for shirts up to R720 for suits and it is very competitive. A complete wardrobe revamp could take a few days but the money saved could pay for the trip, so don't miss Hoi An.
For visitors more interested in the beach, a beautiful strip of white sand is just 5km from town where there are several high-class resorts.
A two-hour bus trip from Hoi An leads north to Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. A must-see for visitors is the old city and citadel which is being rebuilt after extensive damage during the war.
Fighting around Hue was intense and the town was retaken by the Vietcong during the Tet Offensive – a nationwide uprising in 1968, which claimed 1000 American and 2000 South Vietnamese army deaths while the North Vietnamese lost 32,000 troops. It was the beginning of the end of the war but it was not until 1975 that the Americans pulled out.
Another 90-minute flight will take you from Hue to Hanoi and back to the big-city bustle where the motorcycle is king.
Hanoi has three million people and two million motorcycles and very little in the way of road rules. It is organised chaos, as horns constantly toot and bikes dive into holes in the traffic. Little wonder that about 30 people die every day on Vietnam roads.
There's no break in the traffic, so crossing the street is an art that has to be learned quickly. It's a case of slowly moving across the street, no sudden movements, while making eye contact with oncoming drivers. The traffic flows around the pedestrians.
The trick is to do this while praying and avoiding the almost overwhelming temptation to panic and run.
A welcome break from Hanoi was a trip to Halong Bay – three hours by bus but a world away cruising the bay that is littered with unusual limestone rock formations.
Old junks have been rebuilt to cater for six couples in cabins with their own en suites. Very civilised, and all for around R300 a head for the two days with meals thrown in.
Another Hanoi sanity stopover is Sapa, an overnight train trip away in the highlands near the Chinese border. The hill tribes with their colourful costumes include the H'Mong.
While Hanoi and, to a lesser extent Ho Chi Minh City, are interesting, they are also heavily polluted, so it is best to spend most of a Vietnam visit in the provinces.
It's a communist country, but the only restriction is to leave passports at the hotel desk while staying.
There are still relatively poor people in Vietnam; visitors, while haggling over what they are going to pay, should not worry about the odd Rand as prices are very cheap anyway.
Vietnam has just become the 150th country to join the World Trade Organisation, and that should be a great catalyst for the booming economy.
It's another sign that, after hundreds of years of war with the Chinese, the French, and then the Americans, the good times have finally come to these resilient and resourceful people.
Vietnam is no longer at war. It's a country going places with plenty to offer visitors.
FAST FACTS:
Getting there: Passengers must fly via either Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok currently to fly to Vietnam. Packages including flights, accommodation and sightseeing are available from us.
Getting around: Travel around the country can be cheap by bus and train, although sometimes a little uncomfortable, but air travel is cheap, quick and comfortable.
Taxi trips in the big cities are safe and seldom cost more than R30; for the adventurous, motorcycle "taxis" cost R6 or R12 but you may not be covered by your travel insurance.
Food: Meals are cheap and the cuisine is delicious. A three-course meal in a local restaurant will be less than R60. Beer is about R6 a can; wine is expensive unless you are prepared to try the local Dalat red and white.
Destinations 
PLUCKING petals, cooking from a basket and jiggling puppets: Vietnamese ingenuity makes simple things beautiful, as Ewen Bell witnesses in Hanoi. On a street corner in Hanoi there's a lady plucking petals off lotus flowers. She sits there for hours and carefully pulls them apart, gathering the bright orange stamens from deep inside. The doorway to her little shop is piled high with lotus remains, and in a small glass jar she collects the bits worth keeping.
Golfers from around the world are now realising that there is much more to Vietnam than just the miles of paddy fields shown in the many war films. The truth is that as a travelling golfer you will struggle to find a country and people offering such a warm welcome with excellent hospitality.
Vietnam passes the test of the three Cs: it's cheap, cheerful and close – and, in these difficult times, it is safe.It will become an increasingly important destination for South African tourists, with the incredibly inexpensive packages that can be offered.
