Travel guide Vietnam

"A vegetal Hercules" (Paul Claudel). It can be found at the entrance of every village, market, in the courtyards of pagodas or even in the cities, at the bend in the street where it has not let itself be beaten down and where it has imposed its presence on the layout of new constructions. In the interlacing of its roots nests a small altar dedicated to the genius of the tree.

Traditional headgear of the peasants, it is made with latanier leaves. Its frame is composed of bamboo hoops on which are sewn, with nylon threads, the three layers of latanier that ensure greater resistance. The motorcycle helmet is now much more widespread than the iconic conical hat...

If Waterloo is remembered as a bleak plain, Diên Biên Phu is referred to as "the basin". 300 km west of Hanoi, Diên Biên Phu is the name of a valley at the crossroads of the roads to Laos. On May 7, 1954, after 55 days of fighting, the French expeditionary corps suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of General Giap's troops.

What could be more beautiful than the lotus flower? A symbol of purity, its white or pink flowers rise above the muddy water. The flowers exude a delicious fragrance. The successive metamorphoses of the leaf and flower at different stages of growth make the lotus an inexhaustible source of philosophical and artistic inspiration.

The "East Sea" (Biển Đông), is the hot spot of the moment and... don't say China Sea! Vietnam is seeking to develop its maritime space: transport and communications, fishing and aquaculture, oil and gas exploitation... But it is up against the ambitions of its powerful northern neighbour and its growing fleet.

Indispensable condiment for any Vietnamese table. It is a brine obtained from fish that marinate for six months to a year, covered with salt, in large wooden vats. The best, obtained from anchovies (ca com), comes from the island of Phu Quôc. The Romans were already producing a similar mixture called "garum".

It consists of a 30 to 40 cm bamboo tube containing a base of water. A third of the way up, a small furnace holds a pinch of tobacco(thuôc lao). The smoker, with a long, single inhalation accompanied by a characteristic gurgling sound, inhales the smoke cooled by its passage over the layer of water. It's a familiar scene on the street.

Catfish(ca basa) play an important role in Vietnamese exports. They are mainly farmed in An Giang province, in the Mekong delta. This activity provides a livelihood for a large number of families. They live on large floating barges under which the breeding traps are stored.

According to the United Nations, Vietnam is one of the countries in the world that will be most affected by the consequences of global warming and rising sea levels. For the Mekong Delta, the country's rice granary, the forecasts are particularly alarming. Crops are threatened by flooding and rising salt water.

In Vietnamese, to eat is called an com, meaning "to eat rice". There are over 2,000 varieties and sub-varieties of rice, including three sub-species: hard rice, glutinous rice and floating rice. Behind India and Thailand, Vietnam is the world's^3rd largest rice exporter (and^{5th largest} rice producer).

This is the new economic mantra of the Vietnamese authorities. The objective is the creation of a pro-innovation system in Vietnam, faced with the exhaustion of a growth model based on exports of low value-added products. The emergence of start-ups is far from assured and they will face many obstacles.

Thanks to the investments made by Samsung, Vietnam has become a heavyweight in the sector. In 2014, the South Korean giant invested US$2 billion to create its largest manufacturing plant, located in Thai Nguyen province, 70 kilometers north of Hanoi. Another plant is located in Bac Ninh, also in the north.