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• 10 Documentaries To Watch Before...

10 Documentaries to Watch Before Visiting Vietnam

Before heading to Vietnam it’s best to become familiar with the country’s dynamic history and culture. To help, we’ve compiled a list of great documentaries to check out before visiting this beautiful, fascinating country.

Luke nguyen’s vietnam.

Luke Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Australian chef who explores Vietnamese cuisine in this Food Network series . Each episode takes place in a different area in Vietnam, each with its own distinct local specialties. Check out one of the many episodes of this series to become well-versed with local foods and to catch a preview of some of Vietnam’s beautiful cities.

PBS: The Vietnam War

This extensive PBS documentary is long but extraordinarily informative, exploring testimonies from veterans and witnesses on both sides. The 10-part series chronicles the entirety of the war from the end of French colonization to the fall of Saigon and took over a decade to create. It requires a time commitment but you’ll come out of it with in-depth knowledge of Vietnam’s turbulent past.

Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations – Vietnam

Travel guru Anthony Bourdain filmed three episodes of his popular No Reservations series in Vietnam, exploring the country’s delicious cuisine while capturing compelling footage of modern day life from the never-ending urban traffic jams in Saigon, to the serene countryside in Da Lat . It is an excellent introduction to mouthwatering Vietnamese dishes and the country’s rich history from a traveler’s perspective.

Regret to Inform

This beautiful, poignant film examines the painful legacy of the Vietnam War on families who lost loved ones in battle. The film follows American widow Barbara Sonneborn who travels to Vietnam to see where her solider husband spent his days before being killed in combat. There, she encounters several Vietnamese women who candidly speak about the emotional loss of their husbands who either fought for the North or South.

This 1992 cross-cultural romance focuses on a French plantation owner in the 30s, her adopted Vietnamese daughter, and a French soldier during Vietnam’s struggle for independence from the French. It isn’t a documentary, but many viewers admit to wanting to travel Vietnam after watching the film because of the stunning scenery. Today you can visit the cafe in Hanoi where the film’s star Catherine Deneuve bought her coffee and croissants every morning while filming.

Daughter from Danang

Daughter from Danang tells the incredible story of Heidi Bub, a Vietnamese-American girl who was taken to America during “Operation Babylift” in 1975. The film chronicles her experience growing up with her adoptive single mother in Tennessee and her mission to find her biological mother in Vietnam decades later. It is a moving, difficult reflection on the cultural differences between the East and West.

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Hearts and Minds

This 1974 Vietnam War documentary is based on former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s infamous remark that if America was to win the war, they’d have to win the “hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people. This polarizing documentary is accused by some of being anti-war propaganda while others hail it as a political masterpiece. The director places interviews with American military figures against shocking scenes of war footage, prompting the accusations of bias. It’s an epic documentary that should be seen before visiting Vietnam to understand how internationally polarizing the war really was.

Three Seasons

This 1999 Vietnamese language film is about the rapid Westernization of Saigon and how urban Vietnamese culture is changing to adapt to capitalism. The main characters marvel at and struggle to accept the rapid rise of 5-star hotels, flashing lights, and international advertisements. This drama deserves a spot on this list because the film does a beautiful job showcasing modern Vietnam and allows the audience to catch a glimpse of how much Vietnamese cities have changed since the U.S. lifted the embargo in 1995.

This documentary follows a family living in the wake of a split-second decision that changes their lives. The Hoang family was one of the last to be airlifted to America out of Vietnam in 1975, accidentally leaving a daughter behind. One of the younger daughters persuades her family to reunite with loved ones in Vietnam for the first time in decades, revealing wounds of war that have never healed. It is a touching reflection on “how a war lives on inside people long after the fighting stops”.

Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown”: Hanoi

This famous episode featured former U.S. President Barack Obama when he met Bourdain for some bun cha , a local Vietnamese dish and a cheap beer in Vietnam’s capital city . The small restaurant they dined at immortalized their presence by encasing it in a glass case with their used dishes and beer bottles. This classic episode spends more time in Hanoi exploring the city, local traditions, and, of course, the delicious food.

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Vietnam Coracle

Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam: Retrospective & Review

Last updated June 2024 |  Words and photos by Vietnam Coracle

Tom Divers is the founder and creator of Vietnam Coracle. He’s lived, travelled and worked in Vietnam since 2005. Born in London, he travelled from an early age, visiting over 40 countries (he first visited Vietnam in 1999). Now, whenever he has the opportunity to make a trip, he rarely looks beyond Vietnam’s borders and his trusty motorbike, Stavros . Read more about Tom on the About Page , Vietnam Times and ASE Podcast .

This week marks 6 years since Anthony Bourdain took his own life at Le Chambard Hotel Restaurant Alsace in Kaysersberg-Vignoble, France, on June 8, 2018. Following Bourdain’s death, there were many retrospectives of his life and work, but none that were dedicated solely to his coverage of Vietnam, a country for which he felt a special attachment. Indeed, I always hoped Bourdain would some day devote an entire series to Vietnam, during which he could really dive deep into the food, culture, history and landscape of the country he loved. Alas, that will never happen. Therefore, it seems to me that the best we can do is to pull together all of Anthony Bourdain’s Vietnam episodes from his entire TV career into a compilation spanning over a decade, from 2002 to 2016, and produced across three different shows: A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, and Parts Unknown. I’ve also written a personal Reflection & Dedication to Bourdain .

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ANTHONY BOURDAIN IN VIETNAM

Below, I’ve reviewed all eight Vietnam episodes from Anthony Bourdain’s TV career in chronological order, from oldest to most recent. If, like me, you love Vietnam and admire Bourdain, I can’t recommend highly enough watching all eight episodes in the order in which they were produced: it’s a vicarious odyssey – fascinating, fun, enriching, charming, and also at times very moving. For each of Bourdain’s eight Vietnam episodes, I’ve included some production details and written a synopsis and review. My reviews are entirely subjective: I didn’t know Bourdain personally and I can’t claim to have any special knowledge of him or his TV productions. I was (I am) just a fan of Bourdain and his work. I’ve also included a personal Reflection & Dedication to Anthony Bourdain .

LIST OF EPISODES :

• A Cook’s Tour : Season 1, Episode 3 | ‘Foods That Make You Manly’ ( 2002 )
• A Cook’s Tour : Season 1, Episode 4 | ‘Eating on the Mekong’ ( 2002 )
• A Cook’s Tour : Season 2, Episode 12 | ‘My Friend Linh’ ( 2003 )
• No Reservations : Season 1, Episode 4 | ‘The Island of Mr Sang’ ( 2005 )
• No Reservations : Season 5, Episode 10 | ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ ( 2009 )
• No Reservations : Season 6, Episode 10 | ‘Central Highlands’ ( 2010 )
• Parts Unknown : Season 4, Episode 5 | ‘Vietnam’ ( 2014 )
• Parts Unknown : Season 8, Episode 1 | ‘Hanoi’ ( 2016 )

[ Back to Contents ]

Personal Reflection & Dedication to  Anthony Bourdain :

It’s clear Bourdain and his work meant a lot to many people around the world. But for those with a connection to Vietnam – be it through travel, work, family or food – Bourdain’s love of the country endeared him to us to such an extent that one almost felt a personal bond with him. Bourdain ‘got’ Vietnam in a way that no other high-profile TV personality, commentator, or documentary maker outside the country ever did. He instinctively understood the charm and aesthetic of streetside al fresco dining, the complex and explosive flavour profile of Vietnam’s numerous noodles soups, the tension between the generations and between past and present – a past often lingered over more by Westerners than by Vietnamese – among many other aspects of the country and culture. Bourdain appeared to feel at home in Vietnam – referring to it variously as “one of my favourite places on Earth”, “my place of dreams, my spirit house”, “my first love” – while also in awe of its daily exoticisms. Like many others before and after him, Bourdain fell for Vietnam.

Anthony Bourdain was a great ambassador for Vietnam – its food, people and culture. His Vietnam episodes inspired a generation of travellers, giving them the confidence to visit the country, try the street food, interact with the people – in the markets, the streets, the rice paddies. Through his work, Bourdain projected an overwhelmingly positive, but also complex and nuanced, image of Vietnam to the rest of the world, and fired the interest and enthusiasm of people of all ages to visit. I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the impact Bourdain and his shows had on people’s impressions of the country, particularly in the West, and on the surge in interest of travel to Vietnam. Of course, I can only speak as a non-Vietnamese. Still, among my Vietnamese friends, Bourdain is relatively well-known – some are huge fans of his work. But people in Vietnam already knew their cuisine was superb and their history and culture fascinating. What my Vietnamese friends like most about Bourdain is that a ‘foreigner’ – an American from New York – was so enamored of their country and culture that he took the time to explore and understand it and present it in a positive light to a global audience.

Like a lot of people, I was surprised by how much Bourdain’s death affected me. For a long time I found I couldn’t re-watch or enjoy any of his shows: it was just too sad. I remember where I was when I heard he had died: in the dining car of a train rattling through the night from Quy Nhon to Saigon, having spent the week researching a guide to the beaches of the central coast . Shocked and saddened, I returned to my sleeping compartment and wrote a brief tribute to Bourdain on the Vietnam Coracle Facebook page. As a testament to how much he means to people with an interest in Vietnam, that Facebook post reached some 50,000 people, more than any other I’d posted previously or since.

Indeed, I still find it difficult to re-watch the episodes reviewed on this page: in part because of the knowledge that no more episodes will ever be made, but also because, in some cases, the Vietnam depicted in the shows has either disappeared or is fading fast, such is the pace of change during the country’s ongoing economic boom. In addition, Bourdain’s first Vietnam episodes were aired at roughly the same time I first visited Vietnam, so there’s a personal pathos in re-watching these shows: sometimes I feel like I’m watching my own past. And within these episodes is Bourdain’s own personal narrative: how his relationship with the country grows and deepens, how he changes as a host and as a human, how his views and values shift, how he ages and matures, and how, as the episodes progress through the years, he moves from starry-eyed first-time traveller to veteran visitor. Hence, there’s a certain reverence, nostalgia and sadness in the tone of the reviews on this page. Nevertheless, this is intended to be a celebration: of Bourdain, of Vietnam, and of exceptionally well-made travel and food TV.

Although some of the content and commentary in the much rawer earlier episodes of A Cook’s Tour might now seem inappropriate or gratuitous, I still love these episodes, and in most cases Bourdain and his crew saw and admitted their mistakes in hindsight and learned from them as they continued to produce future shows about Vietnam. The only real issue I have with any of Bourdain’s Vietnam episodes is that he could never really let go of ‘the war’, which is ultimately touched upon in almost every Vietnam episode. It would have been nice if he could have let the conflict be and focus instead, as almost all Vietnamese do, on the present and future. I suppose it just goes to show that the war – that war, at least – looms larger in the American consciousness than it does in the Vietnamese, and there are many deep historical and cultural reasons for this. Re-watching these episodes in chronological order was at once enjoyable and sad. There are still so many places for Bourdain to visit in Vietnam, so many more dishes for him to try, so many more episodes for him to make.

A Cook ’ s Tour : Season 1 , Episode 3

• Episode Title: ‘Food That Makes You Manly’

• Original Air Date: January 2002

• Subjects & Themes: street food, ‘weird’ food, Saigon

• Locations: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Ben Thanh Market, Cơm Niêu Sài Gòn, La Bibliotheque, Nhà Hàng Hương Rừng  

• Food: hột vịt lộn (fetal duck egg), cháo mực (squid porridge), cơm niêu (‘flying rice’ & family-style southern dishes), bò lá lốt (beef rolled in betel leaves), cobra  

• Where to Watch it: download torrent of whole season 1 from Pirate Bay; bad quality YouTube & other online video sharing versions available, sometimes available of streaming platforms like Netflix & Amazon

• Synopsis & Review: In this, one of the first episodes ever aired and the first in Vietnam, Bourdain opens with a eulogy to Vietnam which sets the tone for the next 15 years of his visits to the country: “…intoxicating…beautiful…exotic…dreamlike…sensuous”. Tony then heads across the streets (remarking, as everyone does, on the traffic and the appearance of controlled chaos) to Ben Thanh Market in search of hột vịt lộn – fetal duck egg . Obviously a gross-out snack for most of his Western audience, in reality this is a common, tasty, fortifying, comforting and nutritious snack. Strange, then, that Bourdain doesn’t really go for it. Ben Thanh Market might be a tourist trap but the cooked food and fresh produce sections are excellent, as Bourdain discovers.

As Tony ambles through the city – noticeably shy of looking down the camera lens – it’s impossible not to observe how rough around the edges Saigon (and downtown District 1 of all places) looks compared to the present-day. A cyclo, another formerly iconic feature of Saigon that’s now hardly ever seen, scoots Bourdain to a local cháo mực (squid porridge) hole in the wall. This looks like the real deal: it’s got everything in it, from coagulated pig’s blood to torn morsels of bánh quẩy (twisted fried bread). “Fabulous”, says Bourdain. It’s almost painful to watch: you can see (and hear) Bourdain falling for the city and the country in real time as the episode progresses. If, like me, you also have a deep attachment to Vietnam, you can’t watch this episode and fail to notice Anthony Bourdain falling under its spell. It’s quite moving.

At dinner, at the now extremely famous Cơm Niêu Sài Gòn, we get our first glimpse of Linh, Bourdain’s government-approved Vietnam fixer, who becomes great friends with the host and features in every subsequent episode in the country. Owned by Madame Gao (Lê Thị Hồng Ngọc), the restaurant’s signature dish is ‘flying rice’, an ingenious gimmick but also delicious. The Cơm Niêu scene is warm-hearted, exceptionally well narrated off-the-cuff (Tony’s clearly high on the experience), and a great advertisement for Vietnamese family-style dining. Rau muống xào tỏi (stir-fried morning glory with garlic), thịt kho trứng (braised pork and egg stew), canh chua (sour soup) and lots of seafood – these are all classic, homey, southern dishes.

Another dinner finds Bourdain formally dressed for a meal at La Bibliotheque, a long-running, colonial-style, memorabilia-filled Vietnamese restaurant owned by Madame Dai. Finally, Tony heads to a well-known ‘jungle flavours’ (i.e. exotic animals) restaurant in Saigon to try the infamous multi-course cobra meal, including its palpitating heart. This was something many backpackers would do in the early 2000s, but it’s hard to imagine a TV show getting away with a scene like this nowadays – think of the uproar on social media and the pressure to ‘cancel’ the show (Bourdain might have enjoyed that, but would the network?). Indeed, the scene does now feel a bit unnecessary and even juvenile: just something to tell your friends at a cocktail party, as Bourdain remarks. However, it’s during this long scene that Bourdain appears to relax and grow into his role as host. After several shots of snake blood-infused rice liquor (not to mention the shot of adrenaline he must have got from swallowing the cobra heart), Tony’s on fire: sharp, acerbic, raw, articulate, engaging, entertaining.

Screenshot : Bourdain smokes after finishing his multi-course cobra meal in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

A Cook ’ s Tour : Season 1 , Episode 4

• Episode Title: ‘Eating on the Mekong’

• Subjects & Themes: river & coastal life, food & the family

• Locations: Mekong Delta, Cai Rang floating market (Can Tho), Nha Trang, Bao Dai’s Villa  

• Food: floating vendors, clay-baked duck (vịt nướng đất sét), seafood feast (hải sản), bird’s nest (yến sào)

• Where to Watch it: download torrent of whole season 1 from Pirate Bay; bad quality YouTube & other online video sharing versions available, sometimes available on streaming platforms like Netflix & Amazon

• Synopsis & Review: Tony meets his former boss, Philippe Lajaunie, in Ho Chi Minh City and the two of them head to the Mekong Delta. Breakfast noodles and coffee in the early morning from the floating vendors of Cai Rang river market, near Can Tho, finds them both in awe of the food and the choreography of riverine life. This floating market subsequently became a touchstone for every traveller (and TV personality) to the region, to the extent that, in pre-Covid times, the market sometimes felt like a show put on for tourists.

Traveling upstream, Bourdain disembarks at Uncle Hai’s family home for a feast of vịt nướng đất sét (clay-baked duck) and plenty of shots of rice liquor. Bourdain remarks on the social aspect of the preparation, cooking and dining: how many people are involved in each step, requiring communication, trust – it’s a shared event. This is a fundamental aspect of so many parts of Vietnamese life and society. Bourdain carves the bird and everyone eats on a tarpaulin laid out on the ground in the garden as the light fades and night falls over the Mekong River. The entire extended family (and half the local community) joins the fun and the two guests become increasingly charmed and overwhelmed by the experience as the night progresses from grilling to eating to drinking to singing. Anyone who’s travelled or lived in Vietnam will be able to relate to being warmly and enthusiastically taken under the wing of a local family or group of friends for a night of food and drink. But not everyone can give themselves over to the experience and enjoy and respect it as much as Tony and Philippe do in this scene.

Philippe departs and Bourdain continues on his way to Nha Trang, which he describes as a ‘sleepy fishing community” – well, not so much anymore: try ‘sophisticated, hedonistic beach town’. A coracle ride out to a floating fish farm introduces Bourdain to Vietnam’s informal, deceptively simple approach to cooking and eating fresh seafood – lobster ( tôm hùm ), crab ( cua ), grouper ( cá mú ) and the ultimate Vietnamese seafood dip: lime squeezed into salt and pepper. Tony enjoys the post-dining mess of shells and sauce – “Stalingrad after the war”. Retiring to his lodgings in the former emperor Bao Dai’s villa in the hills behind Nha Trang, Bourdain settles down to a meal of bird’s nest soup. The swiftlet’s nests are prized for their medicinal benefits and fetch very high prices. Not overly impressed, Tony returns to his room to nurse some nest-related tummy trouble in a scene heavily referencing Apocalypse Now.

Screenshot : Bourdain speaks to camera on a wooden boat up the Mekong River to Cai Rang floating market, Can Tho.

A Cook ’ s Tour : Season 2 , Episode 12

• Episode Title: ‘My Friend Linh’

• Original Air Date: June 2003

• Subjects & Themes: Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) food & traditions, Bourdain’s friendship with his Vietnam fixer, Linh

• Locations: Hanoi

• Food: bún ốc (snail noodle soup), bánh tôm (shrimp cakes), bánh chưng (savoury sticky rice cake), gà nướng lá chanh (grilled chicken with kaffir lime leaf), cá lóc (snakehead fish), lươn nướng ống tre (eel cooked in bamboo)

• Where to Watch it: Download torrent of whole season 2 from Pirate Bay; bad quality YouTube & other online video sharing versions available, sometimes available on streaming platforms like Netflix & Amazon

• Synopsis & Review: Bourdain arrives in a damp, grey and drab-looking Hanoi just in time for Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) with Linh, his translator and fixer from previous episodes in the country. Fortunately, Hanoi’s food scene brightens up the miserable winter weather as Tony and Linh eat their way through a food market – Tony giddy with excitement. Dressed in a suit, Bourdain enters Linh’s family home to start the Tet celebrations. The rice liquor comes out (mixed with bear bile – not something any TV show would get away with now, I’d imagine) and the men drink while the women cook up a feast. When the spread is laid before them, Bourdain remarks on the balance and contrasts of flavours and colours that’s so essential to Vietnamese cuisine.

Later in the episode, Tony enjoys a meal cooked by a locally famous chef in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. After dining on grilled chicken with kaffir lime leaf and rolled snakehead fish, Bourdain’s offered a post-meal cup of cà phê (coffee) and reveals that he thinks Vietnam makes the best coffee in the world. The show ends at one of Linh’s secret foodie hideaways: an eel house in the back-streets of Hanoi – and very nice it looks, too. The two men dine on lươn nướng ống tre (eel cooked in a length of bamboo). Bourdain signs off with another earnest eulogy to Vietnam.

Screenshot : Bourdain in Hanoi eating bún ốc (snail noodles) on Hoan Kiem Lake.

No Reservations : Season 1 , Episode 4

• Episode Title: ‘The Island of Mr Sang’

• Original Air Date: August 2005

• Subjects & Themes: ethnic minority food, culture & homestays in the northern mountains, new tourism projects in Ha Long Bay

• Locations: Hanoi, Hotel Metropole, Mai Chau, Tuan Chau Island (Halong Bay)

• Food: bún chả (pork noodles), ‘squeezel’ (porcupine), rice liquor (rượu), cơm lam (rice in bamboo)

• Where to Watch it: Download torrent of whole season 1 from Pirate Bay; sometimes available to buy, rent or stream via YouTube, Travel Channel, Amazon, Netflix 

• Synopsis & Review: After an incongruous Bond-themed opening sequence, Tony choppers out of New York City bound for Vietnam. Described as a ‘pay-back mission’, Bourdain is on his way to meet Linh (yes, that Linh: Tony’s fixer and friend). This trip is Bourdain’s way of returning the favour to his friend: Linh has something he wants to show Bourdain and, through him, the rest of the world. Linh picks Bourdain up outside the grand French colonial-era Hanoi Hotel Metropole. The two ride off (conspicuously un-helmeted as this was just before helmets became mandatory in Vietnamese cities) through the chaotic-looking capital. Settling down to a bowl of bún chả (the ubiquitous and much-loved Hanoi dish of grilled pork and noodles), the two friends slurp their way to fulfillment. Before turning in for the night, Tony reasserts that he has no clue as to what Linh has in store for him on this trip.

Early next morning, Tony bundles into a minivan with Linh and his family and they take the road to the White Thai minority village of Mai Chau, a beautiful region of limestone karsts and lush valleys southwest of Hanoi. At that time, Mai Chau was a fledgling homestay initiative and this is what Linh wants Bourdain to see (and promote to the world). Indeed, it must have worked, because these days Mai Chau is an enormously popular day-night trip from Hanoi and the homestays number in the hundreds. Along the way, a lunch stop leads to a famous scene during which Bourdain dines on what Linh describes as ‘squeezel’ which, it transpires, is porcupine ( nhím ). Over lunch, the establishments’ full array of home-made animal-infused rice liquor ( rượu ) is offered and shot back by all around the table.

Enchanted by the valley (Bourdain says he’s “never laid naked eyes on anything like it”), the group climb the wooden steps to inspect the rustic kitchen of the stilt house they’ll be dining and sleeping in. Before dinner, Tony’s introduced to the dour local People’s Committee chairman who states his desire that Mai Chau be promoted through this TV show. Things threaten to become stale and business-like, but the chairman and Tony find common ground in shooting rice liquor and trying their hand at traditional dancing. The feast is spread on the floor – a delicious-looking combination including bò lá lốt (beef wrapped in aromatic betel leaf) and cơm lam (rice steamed in a length of bamboo) – and the men eat together and get comprehensively drunk, ultimately leading to the chairman loosening up and a great time is had by all.

Chugging between the limestone karsts of Ha Long Bay in a boat, Bourdain, Linh and his crew – all formally dressed – make their way to the ‘Island of Mr Sang’, a newly opened tourism complex on the island of Tuan Chau, near Ha Long City. This is Linh’s (and Mr Sang’s) big sell to Tony’s international audience. On the island, Bourdain is entertained by exhibitions of martial arts on the beach before finally being introduced to Mr Sang himself at a banquet dinner. But before dining, Bourdain, as guest of honour, is treated to an awkward procession of musical and dance performances (there’s no audience except himself, Linh and Mr Sang). And then, things get even more awkward and bizarre as Mr Sang hijacks the cameras and turns the evening into his own cooking show, demonstrating his prowess in the kitchen. Although Bourdain is clearly taken aback by this stunt, when it comes to eating the food prepared by Mr Sang he softens to the situation, the man, and the surroundings. All eat and drink happily into the evening.

Screenshot : Bourdain waits for his ‘squeezel’ (porcupine) to arrive on the way to Mai Chau.          

No Reservations : Season 5 , Episode 10

• Episode Title: ‘There’s No Place Like Home’

• Original Air Date: March 2009

• Subjects & Themes: street food, moving to Vietnam, house-hunting in Hoi An

• Locations: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Bánh Xèo 46A, Nguyen Thuong Hien Street, the Lunch Lady, Hoi An 

• Food: bánh xèo (savoury pork & shrimp filled pancakes), ốc (snails), bún bò Huế (Hue-style beef noodle soup), cao lầu (pork noodles), bánh mì (filled baguette) 

• Where to Watch it: Download torrent of whole season 5 from Pirate Bay; sometimes available to buy, rent or stream via YouTube, Travel Channel, Amazon, Netflix

• Synopsis & Review: After a hiatus of nearly four years without shooting a show in Vietnam, this episode, perhaps because of his long absence, is Bourdain’s most successful, warm, and heartfelt love letter to the country. It’s also the most personal of all Bourdain’s Vietnam shows and my favourite. The film opens with a Vietnamese folktale around a fire about the nature of ‘home’ and ‘change’, both of which are central themes of the episode. Bourdain’s first stop in Saigon is the famous Bánh Xèo 46A – still hugely popular today and largely unchanged (apart from the prices and the multi-language menu). Tony shares his bánh xèo (‘sizzling’ savoury pork- and shrimp-filled pancakes) with Hà, who will become a familiar face in this and all subsequent Vietnam episodes of No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Bourdain remarks on how the al fresco setting is so essential to the dining experience: “I don’t want to eat this in a dining room with chairs and a carpet”.

In the evening, Tony and Hà dine on Nguyễn Thượng Hiền, known as ‘ ốc street ‘ – street of snails. Eating snails and other crustaceans is a national past-time in Vietnam and an essential dining (and drinking) experience for anyone who wants to get to know the food culture. On low plastic chairs on the roadside, the two tuck into crab claws, snails, shrimp and chickens feet while the traffic roars by, mobile karaoke blares out, and street performers blow flames.

Interestingly, in this episode Bourdain, having travelled to Vietnam many times over almost a decade, now has a personal history with the country and a nostalgia for certain aspects of it that may be disappearing as the nation continues on its path to industrialization. As if to underline this, Tony reconnects with Philippe Lajaunie, his former boss who made an appearance on Bourdain’s first TV show in Vietnam, A Cook’s Tour (see Contents ). The two friends ride in a Soviet-era Ural sidecar motorcycle to the Lunch Lady . Already famous before Bourdain filmed here, the Lunch Lady (Nguyễn Thị Thành) is still serving a different soup every day at the same spot under the umbrella tree near the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Channel. On the day of their visit, the soup is bún bò Huế (Hue-style beef noodles). The pair are greatly impressed and wax lyrical about the soup – “a broth that the gods were suckled on” – and the setting. Post-Bourdain’s visit there’s been a lot of attention and debate over whether the Lunch Lady is ‘worth the hype’. My opinion, which you can read on this page , is that in general the Lunch Lady is a great introduction to the flavours, smells, complexity and variety of Vietnamese soups and the aesthetics of streetside dining in Vietnam. However, she’s by no means the only lunch lady in Saigon; there are many others .

Bourdain and Philippe take a flight to Hoi An in Central Vietnam. The pastel-coloured shophouses of the old town and bright greens of the surrounding rural landscape are in stark contrast to the concrete and chaos of the city they left behind. Falling under the spell of Hoi An is almost a rite of passage for any traveller to Vietnam, and Bourdain is no different. Strolling through Hoi An market leads to a breakfast of the local speciality, cao lầu (pork noodles). In much the same way that almost all visitors fall for Hoi An, so too do most visitors fall for cao lầu , a delicious, colourful and highly textural dish. Still not full, Tony and Philippe pay a visit to a bánh mì (filled Vietnamese baguette) stall outside the market. Central Vietnamese baguettes have a distinctive shape and the ones at Bánh Mì Phượng (now with long queues stretching outside every day) are loaded with goodies – “a symphony in a sandwich”.

Bourdain reveals that he plans to move to Vietnam: to bring his family here and live for a while. So he begins house-hunting with a local realty agent. Riding from house to house on motorbikes, they visit a traditional palm-thatched home and a swanky poolside villa. (Sadly, Bourdain never did move to Vietnam). The next day, Tony heads up the Thu Bon River for a meal with a local family who fought on different sides during the war.

Finally, back in Ho Chi Minh City Bourdain revisits Cơm Niêu Sài Gòn (the famous ‘flying rice’ establishment featured in A Cook’s Tour ) and then to the pagoda to pay his respects to his late friend, Lê Thị Hồng Ngọc, owner of Cơm Niêu. It’s a sad sequence and Bourdain finds himself wondering if, with all the changes that Vietnam’s gone through since he first visited – “when everything was fresh and new” – he could ever live and be happy with his family here. But as he contemplates this, sitting on the curbside of a busy street watching the ebb and flow of Vietnamese life all around him, Bourdain realizes this is the Vietnam he loves, and it’s still here: “I hope that will never change.”

Screenshot : 1 . Bourdain outside the Hotel Continental, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) with a copy of Graham Greene’s ‘The Quiet American’; 2 . Bourdain enjoys the Lunch Lady’s bún bò Huế in Saigon.         

No Reservations : Season 6 , Episode 10

• Episode Title: ‘Central Highlands’

• Original Air Date: March 2010

• Subjects & Themes: ethnic minority culture & food, French colonial period, Hanoi street food 

• Locations: Dalat, Palace Hotel, Bao Dai Summer Palace, Linh Phong Pagoda, Hồ Suối Vàng Lake, Hanoi

• Food: cháo vịt (duck rice porridge), canh chua chay (vegetarian sour soup), heo rừng (wild boar), rượu cần (rice wine infused with herbs & spices), chim sẻ (sparrows), bún ốc (snail noodle soup), bánh cuốn (steamed rice rolls) 

• Where to Watch it: Download torrent of whole season 6 from Pirate Bay; sometimes available to buy, rent or stream via YouTube, Travel Channel, Amazon, Netflix

• Synopsis & Review: Opening in the opulent setting of the French colonial-era Palace Hotel, Bourdain is in the Central Highlands city of Dalat, a former French hill station 1,500 metres up in the misty mountains of what was once Indochine . Bourdain’s guide around the region is, once again, Linh. The pair meet for a hearty and warming evening meal of cháo vịt (duck rice porridge) on the chilly streets of Dalat.

A lot of Dalat’s appeal is about its past. For half a century it was the favoured retreat for French colons and Vietnamese emperors alike. Bourdain visits the former summer palace of Bảo Đại, last of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors of Vietnam. An appealing Art Deco structure among pines on a hillside near the city centre, Tony and Linh stroll through its grounds discussing the last emperor. Next, Tony climbs the steps to Linh Phong Pagoda where he’s treated to a ‘guilty’ vegetarian meal with the nuns (whilst trying to block out flashbacks of all the animals he’s eaten on previous shows).

The next day, Linh takes Tony to a barbecue shack on the shores of Suối Vàng Lake, a scenic setting for a protein-rich breakfast. The tabletop grill features heo rừng (wild boar) and ‘mouse deer’. The latter Tony is tricked into eating by Linh and finds it has a ludicrously rubbery texture. (Subsequently, this scene had to be edited after complaints that it was illegal to catch and sell wild mouse deer.)

Driving out of Dalat, Tony visits the villages and homes of the M’Nông and Ede ethnic groups, discussing the tensions that have existed between them and the majority Kinh Vietnamese, and what the future might hold for their cultures. Bourdain dines on the wooden floor of an Ede family’s home and partakes in the drinking of rượu cần (rice wine infused with herbs and spices), drunk through a long straw from a communal jug.

Next up for Bourdain is Hanoi, to which he gives a great voice-over introduction while gliding through the streets on the back of Linh’s motorbike (although times have changed since their earlier two-wheeled adventures and they are now both wearing helmets). Bourdain highlights the burgeoning youth of the city, the rich food culture on every street, and the organic nature of the throng of motorbikes coursing through the city’s arteries. Tony’s joy at being back in the capital is written all over his face. He and Linh meet up with Hà (from the previous Vietnam episode of No Reservations ) at a insect and bird restaurant. The standout dish is fried sparrows ( chim sẻ chiên ). “Amazing”, says Bourdain. I remember watching this episode when it first aired and going straight out in Saigon looking for a place with sparrows on the menu: they are, indeed, delicious – gamey, rich and small enough that you can eat them whole, bones, head and all. Visibly pumped up and giddy with excitement, Bourdain and his friends stroll through a foodie neighbourhood and sit down to a bowl of bún ốc (snail noodle soup) and bánh tôm (shrimp cake). Later, Tony dines on bánh cuốn (steamed rice rolls), but there’s an unexpected second course: water bugs. Finally, everyone eats (and drinks) together at a rooster restaurant where a cock fight determines which bird ends up on the stove.

Screenshots : 1 . Bourdain shakes hands with his friend, Linh, at a cháo vịt (duck porridge) eatery in Dalat, Central Highlands; 2 . Bourdain unknowingly tucks into some ‘mouse deer’ at Suoi Vang Lake.

Parts Unknown : Season 4 , Episode 5

• Episode Title: ‘Vietnam’

• Original Air Date: October 2014

• Subjects & Themes: Hue food & imperial culture, tradition vs modernity, past vs present, reflections on the war 

• Locations: Hue, the imperial palace, Vinh Moc Tunnels (Quang Tri Province), Tam Giang Lagoon

• Food: cơm hến (clam rice), bún bò Huế (Hue-style beef noodles), lươn nướng (grilled eel), yến sào (bird’s nest soup), bánh bèo (little savoury rice cakes) 

• Where to Watch it: Sometimes available to stream, buy or rent episode on Amazon or Netflix; download torrent of whole season 4 from Pirate Bay

• Synopsis & Review: After another break of four years since he last filmed in Vietnam, Bourdain returns to his “place of dreams” in good spirits, literally and figuratively. This is because he’s in Hue: a city of ghosts, haunted by its imperial past and the conflicts of the twentieth century. I’m not sure why, but Bourdain always seems to visit central and northern Vietnam is grey conditions: there’s very little colour in the landscapes or light on the city streets. Perhaps he and his production team don’t like the heat and sun, but it’s a shame because Vietnam rarely looks its vibrant best in Bourdain’s shows shot in these regions. Fortunately, cities like Hue exude charm no matter what the weather or light is like. And so the grey, flat, mist-shrouded streets that Tony negotiates on his scooter are mysterious, exotic and full of great food. Bourdain pulls onto the sidewalk at a street stall for a bowl of cơm hến (clam rice), a Hue classic that’s ubiquitous, simple and delicious. Seated on a red plastic stool at a red plastic table, Tony speaks to camera in an iconic ‘I love Vietnam’ scene: “Fellow travellers, this is the path to true happiness and wisdom”.

In the maze of stalls in Dong Ba Market, Tony meets Vietnamese-American author, Nguyễn Quí Đức, for a bowl of bún bò Huế , the definitive Hue dish: a spicy, aromatic beef noodle soup (also featured in the Lunch Lady scene in No Reservations ). Bourdain proclaims it “the greatest soup in the world”. In the evening Tony meets up with his old friend, Linh, at a seafood restaurant for some grilled eel and lobster. The two reminisce on old times, comparing photos of themselves from 15 years ago and how they have (or, in Linh’s case, haven’t) aged.

Over a montage of flowing images from the road, Bourdain speaks of the intimacy that comes from the motorbike-riding culture in Vietnam – the smells, the sounds, the sights you experience from the saddle: “One of the great joys of life is riding a scooter through Vietnam.” The tone changes suddenly and the subject is war: the battle for Hue after the 1968 Tet Offensive was long, bloody and brutal, including the massacre by north Vietnamese of some three thousand people who were buried in a mass grave outside the city. Nguyễn Qúi Đức, who lived through this as a boy, talks about his past but contrasts it with the present in Vietnam, which is youthful, vibrant, optimistic and peaceful.

Bourdain meets artist, Bội Trân, at her restored traditional home. They gather with other friends for a rather formal, imperial-style meal of Hue specialities, including bird’s nest soup ( yến sào ). The ambience of this dining scene is an interesting contrast to the more casual, streetside meals Bourdain enjoys, such as the one that opens this episode.

Riding in a coracle off the beaches of Quang Tri Province, Bourdain arrives at the war-era tunnels of Vinh Moc. The tunnels were dug to create shelter from U.S bombing for the entire village during the war. Vinh Moc is only just north of the Ben Hai River, the natural barrier than once marked the DMZ along the 17th parallel. This is the most war-heavy of all Bourdain’s Vietnam shows: as well as the places visited and the discussions about the past, the grey, leaden skies, muted colours and hushed sounds of the episode all conspire to create a bleak and introspective mood. However, this is always balanced with a view of the present and future, which, thankfully, is much brighter than the past. Bourdain rides through flooded fields for lunch with food blogger, Lan. They eat all the famous local bánh , including bánh bèo (little savoury rice cakes) and bánh bột lọc (shrimp-filled tapioca dumplings). The final scene is a meal of clay-baked chicken in a wood-and-brick gazebo above the rice paddies with Linh, Lan, Hà and Thanh.

Screenshot : Bourdain enjoys a bowl of cơm hến (clam rice) at a streetside stall in Hue.     

Parts Unknown : Season 8 , Episode 1

• Episode Title: ‘Hanoi’

• Original Air Date: September 2016

• Subjects & Themes: U.S-Vietnam relations, tradition & modernity, socio-economic change  

• Locations: Hanoi, the Old Quarter, Halong Bay

• Food: bún ốc (snail noodle soup), bánh cuốn (rice rolls), bún chân giò (pig trotters soup), bia hơi (fresh-brewed draft beer), bún chả (pork noodles) 

• Where to Watch it: Sometimes available to stream, buy or rent episode on Amazon or Netflix; download torrent of whole season 8 from Pirate Bay

• Synopsis & Review: After another opening song of praise for Vietnam – voiced over clips of Bourdain zigzagging through the busy streets of Hanoi on a motorbike – Tony sits down on a low plastic stool for his go-to noodle dish in the capital, bún ốc (snail soup). In this episode, sadly his last in Vietnam, we finally see Hanoi and the north in the summer sunshine (and tropical downpours). Between heavy showers, Bourdain has dinner with Thảo at a local bánh cuốn (steamed rice rolls filled with pork and mushrooms) shop. The two talk about U.S-Vietnam relations and how they have changed over the last 50-60 years. It’s interesting to note that Bourdain’s Vietnam shows become more war-focused with each new episode.

Tony meets up with Hà and her Zumba instructor after their class in the park. They sit down to a bowl of bún giò (pig trotter noodle soup) at an eatery known as bún chửi (cussing noodles) on account of the proprietress’s tendency to lose her temper, shout, scold and curse at her customers. Bourdain received some flak for this scene, as many Vietnamese suggested it wasn’t such a good idea to promote and encourage this kind of impolite behaviour. However, it would appear that the food is good enough that most of her customers are willing to put up with the verbal abuse. In the evening, Tony meets his long-time friend, Linh, for a bia hơi (fresh-brewed draft beer) session on the streetside.

Floating through the limestone karsts of Ha Long Bay on a restored French-era steamer, Bourdain dines on freshly caught squid onboard with Linh and the crew. Outside, the bay is much busier with tourist craft than it was in the same location a decade earlier in the ‘ Island of Mr Sang ’ episode. The next morning, Tony meets Hà on a family’s floating fish and pearl farm in the bay. Over a meal of grilled fish they discuss the issue of relocating ‘floating families’ such as this one to inland locations in order to protect the environment, make way for tourism development, and improve the education of their children.

Back in Hanoi, a black limo pulls into a damp, local neighbourhood. Out jumps Barack Obama beneath an umbrella. James Brown’s ‘The Boss’ plays over shots of the president working the crowd. Tony and Obama chat on the sidewalk about the nature of fresh produce markets and the smells of Southeast Asia, behind them a crowd of onlookers and the red flowers of the iconic Flame Tree hanging above corrugated iron shopfronts. The ‘Obama noodle’ scene is the most famous sequence of Bourdain’s entire TV career. Even so, context is everything: Obama is the outgoing president, nearing the end of his second term in office. The episode was aired in September 2016, just a couple of months before the U.S election that ushered in the Trump administration. More importantly, here’s a president who can actually do something like this: visit a local eatery in a completely different culture, sit on a low plastic stool, drink local beer from the bottle, use chopsticks, stand under a tarp storefront in a monsoon downpour, and not look or feel out of place. Obama was mobbed everywhere he went in Vietnam during that visit, and there was a tangible excitement and a feeling of national pride when this episode aired in Vietnam. Iconic images of the two men comfortably slurping noodles and swilling beer together like locals went viral on social media. Many Vietnamese and much of the foreign community here in Vietnam experienced a collective rush.

The location is Hương Liên and the dish is bún chả (pork noodles), a classic Hanoi favourite. As the president and Bourdain dine and drink together, their fellow diners – sat of stools just feet away – continue their meals and conversations without so much as a glance in their direction. Meanwhile Bourdain quizzes the president on important issues such as “Is ketchup on a hot dog ever acceptable?” Eventually, more serious topics are discussed, including the benefits of travel and seeing and experiencing different cultures. The meeting ends on an optimistic note as Bourdain asks “Is it all going to be OK?”, to which the president replies, “Yeh…I think things are going to work out”. I suppose the poignancy of this scene and these words will always depend upon the context in which you’re watching it, not to mention your political views and moral values. Now, however, viewing it in the spring of 2021 during a pandemic and after a turbulent five years (especially for America) since the episode aired – not to mention the host’s death by suicide – it’s difficult to feel anything but rather sad.

The final scene is a painful exchange between Tony and Hà as the latter breaks down while trying to talk about how Vietnam can continue to remember and honour its past military struggles while also moving forward into a peaceful future. In what would turn out to be his last epilogue from Vietnam, Bourdain blasts General Westmoreland’s infamous words that ‘the Oriental doesn’t put the same high price on life as does a Westerner’.

Screenshots : 1 . Bourdain chats to President Obama in the rain outside Huong Lien restaurant; 2 . Bourdain listens as Hà breaks down in tears discussing the struggles of the past.     

* Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my content is always free and independent. I’ve written this guide because I want to: I like Anthony Bourdain’s work and I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements and my About Page

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Questions, updates and trip reports are all welcome. However, please keep comments polite and on-topic. See commenting etiquette for details.

I sometimes wonder why people often acknowledge people’s death day (religious reasons aside)? Generally speaking that’s the worst day of a persons life and the saddest day for their loved ones and admirers.

With that in mind Anthony’s birthday is coming up on June 25 (1956), the day this intrepid traveller and lover of people was born!

Hi S Holmes,

Yes, it’s because in Vietnam ‘death days’ are commonly celebrated. Hence, I’ve chosen to remember Bourdain on his ‘death day’ in the context of his love of Vietnam.

Many Americans of a certain age only saw Vietnam in context with the American War. That view persisted in American culture and continued into the next generation. Bourdain was the first to see Vietnam as a unique country. I don’t think he ever mentioned the war in his programs.

Yes, I know what you mean, and in many ways (most ways, in fact), I agree that Bourdain painted Vietnam in a different context to what many Americans were most familiar with – that being war. However, he could never let the war go from his Vietnam episodes: Bourdain references the war – either directly or through cultural references, such as movies – in most of his Vietnam shows. This is totally understandable, but I personally looked forward to an episode that left the war out completely, thus focusing only on present-day Vietnam.

I’ll have to re-watch some of the episodes. I guess it was just my first impression that Bourdain dealt with Vietnam on its own merits as a young country with an ancient past and complex culture.

Thank you for your close and heartfelt reading of Bourdain’s odysseys to Vietnam.

I have watched the “Hanoi” episode 5 times with deepening appreciation and sentiment; it is my favorite of what I’ve seen of his work.

The episode is an apostrophe to gain — Vietnam’s as it heals from its history and ascends the world stage toward its future — and a eulogy to the Obama and Bourdain era, where sincerity and civility, for a short time, were given a stage.

“Is it going to be all right?”

While Obama and Bourdain were tour guides, we could believe it would.

Yes, I agree, it’s a very poignant episode – it was at the time, but even more so now, with the knowledge of what was about to happen: to Bourdain, to American politics, to the World.

This is amazing Tom, just found ur blog after following you quite sometime in twitter. Anthony is one of my idol esp for Vietnam. Keep up the good work as always and thanks.

Thank you for the kind words!

Great to hear you admire Bourdain too. I hope you enjoy watching/re-watching these episodes.

Thank you for a great article as always! It made me miss my hometown even more.

Thank you, Bao Tran 🙂

Thanks, Tom, for a moving and informative article that has me regretting that I didn’t enjoy Bourdain’s work when he was with us. He was a one-off for sure and we are all poorer for his absence.

Thanks, John.

This is wonderful, Tom. A great tribute to Bourdain and Vietnamese food. I never saw his programmes but have read some of his books which i greatly enjoyed. Thanks Vicki

Thanks, Vicki.

Yes, I enjoy his writing style too. I hope you get a chance to watch some of his TV shows sometime too.

If you have a Google account with a US credit card you can buy episodes of No Reservations and Parts Unknown a la carte for $2 or $3 (SD or HD respectively) on Google Play. Here’s a link:

No Reservations: https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Anthony_Bourdain_No_Reservations?id=cI-ABS8T6RA&hl=en_US&gl=US

Parts Unknown: https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Anthony_Bourdain_Parts_Unknown?id=qZqWbgwkJcc&hl=en_US&gl=US

Thanks, Ben.

Man, great review. I didn’t know Tony because I’m Spanish and I was not interested about him. I think I first know about him when I came to Vietnam. I have the feeling that Vietnam is changing very fast, but mostly I don’t see it as an inconvenient but something good. We will see how things evolve in the future. I agree with Obama, eventually everything will be fine. The virus will be over and we will continue eating food with family and friends, and be able to travel!

I miss Spain and Thailand!

Thanks, Javier.

Yes, I hope so too.

Wild Vietnam

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And that’s only the beginning of what this country has to offer .

The best time to visit Vietnam

Vietnam is nearly 1650km (1025 miles) from north to south – a length that ensures weather patterns vary widely, and that the best time to visit depends very much on your planned destinations and personal preferences. Most visitors will want to avoid the stormy season, especially in Northern Vietnam and Central Vietnam , as violent rainstorms often lead to flash floods, mudslides and road closures. In contrast, the southern storm season (June to November), while inconvenient, does not pose nearly as significant a risk to travelers.

The storm season starts from May and ends around October in the north; from September to December in the central coastal regions; and from May to August in the central highland regions.

Other than that, the country climate is separated into three general zones:

In North Vietnam (Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Giang, Halong Bay) in September and November or March and April, the weather is cool and dry and the local tourism sector is not overwhelmed by intra-Vietnamese travel. August and September are also Sapa’s harvest season and the best time to highland hills in vibrant bloom.

Central Vietnam (Hoi An, Nha Trang, Hue, Danang) is best visited from April to August, when you’ll avoid the worst of the storm and flood season and abundant sunshine will help you make the most of the white-sand beaches around Hoi An and Nha Trang.

We recommend visiting South Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc) from October to April, after plentiful rains from the prior months ensure the rivers and channels of the Mekong Delta are abundantly fed, allowing for smooth travel through this maze of crisscrossing waterways.

We’d recommend avoiding visits during major holidays like Tet (the Vietnamese New Year, usually in late January or early February) due to soaring prices and booked-out accommodations.

How much time should I spend in Vietnam?

To experience the full breadth of experiences here? Months. Acknowledging that’s unlikely for most visitors , two weeks will get you through most of Vietnam’s best-known destinations.

Starting from either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), you can travel the length of the country and enjoy a wealth of sights, tastes and experiences. Must-visit places include iconic favorites Sapa and Halong Bay; cultural and historical hot spots such as Hoi An and Hue ; river capitals like Can Tho and the sprawling Mekong Delta that surrounds it; and the tropical island paradise of Phu Quoc .

If you’re short on time or money, quick trips of three to four days focusing on a singular area or city like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Phu Quoc are feasible and offer a satisfying taste of Vietnam’s attractions.

Getting around Vietnam

Vietnam has three major international airports, in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang (the gateway to Hoi An and Hue). In addition, Phu Quoc Island has its own international airport with direct flights to Singapore, Shanghai, Cambodia and Laos – and the airport at Phan Thiet will launch international flights in 2025.

Traveling within Vietnam itself is relatively easy and affordable , with options including trains, buses and domestic flights. Flights are the most convenient and speedy way to travel within the country. Buses are affordable, reach almost everywhere in the country and offer sleeper options for those who want to get between north and south without stopping overnight. In recent years, renewed interest has led to a few train lines being refurbished and revitalized . These days, traveling by train is a great option for those who want to take their time enjoying the scenic routes across the country.

Within cities, cabs, rideshare apps like Grab or Be , and traditional motorbike taxis are easily accessible. For those with the stomach for chaotic traffic, most Vietnamese cities are walkable and a lot of fun to explore on foot – although the tropical heat and humidity coupled with urban city dust and exhaust can make walking long distances unpleasant.

Top things to do in Vietnam

All the thrilling things you can do in Vietnam could never fit all on one list. Yet first-time visitors won’t want to pass up a few key experiences.

Cruise Halong Bay . This stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site comprises nearly 2000 towering limestone islands in a massive blue-water bay. An overnight cruise is the best way to take it all in. If you happen to have some extra time, Lan Ha Bay is to the south of Halong: it’s no less beautiful but much less traveled.

Explore Hoi An . With its lantern-lit streets and turbo-speed tailor shops, this ancient town seems frozen in time. In the countryside surrounding the town, a plethora of traditional craft villages await to be explored.

Climb down the Cu Chi Tunnels . This warren of war-era tunnels is already a heart-stopping experience – and as of early 2024, night tours have been offered to travelers with nerves of steel and a taste for reliving wartime thrills.

Hike the highland trails of Sapa . The Northwest Highlands are famous for majestic trails and stunning natural beauty. Sapa serves as the landing pad and base camp for adventurous trekkers looking to explore the rugged region on foot.

Wander the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Get lost in this maze of narrow streets, each named after the goods once sold here. It’s a great place to experience Vietnamese street culture and food .

My favorite thing to do in Vietnam

My favorite thing about Vietnam? The food .

Beyond pho and banh mi, you can slurp up more than 200 distinct noodle dishes from every corner of Vietnam. There are foods unique to a single town. There are herbs unique to a certain patch of a single forest. There are cuisines designed to suit the palates of emperors past. There are simple and humble, cheap and hearty dishes meant to fill peasants’ stomachs.

There’s much to learn about the history of Vietnam and its people through the food they cook to nurture each other. My low-key dream is to travel to every town in Vietnam and try its specialty dish – and hear the backstory behind it. (There’s almost always some wacky story attached to a hometown favorite.) That would make quite a book.

How much money do I need for Vietnam?

While you’ll find luxury resorts, world-class dining and premium experiences in certain parts of Vietnam, the country retains its well-earned reputation for budget travel .

Hostel room: US$10–15

Basic room for two: US$10–40

Self-catering apartment (including Airbnb): US$20–50

Local bus ticket: US$0.20–1

Coffee: US$1–3

Banh mi: US$1–3 (note that the famous and drama-filled Madam Huynh Banh Mi in HCMC charges $3 per sandwich – and one can easily feed two regular adults or one starving weightlifter)

Dinner for two in a local sit-down restaurant: US$10–30

Beer: US$1–2 per can; $3 per liter of draft beer at a local beer hall

More tips for enjoying Vietnam

Bring lots of layers, no matter the season.

Especially if you are traveling the length of Vietnam. The country’s climate varies greatly within short distances, so packing for different temperatures and weather conditions is the prudent thing to do.

Respect local customs and etiquette

As in other Asian nations, the Vietnamese value politeness and respect. When visiting temples, remember to dress modestly, and always remove shoes when entering someone’s home.

Stay away from tap water, and choose your street foods carefully

Tap water in Vietnam is not safe to drink, so stick to bottled water everywhere. Enjoying street food is an essential Vietnamese experience – but since food hygiene can be an issue, observe the locals and choose the street vendors they favor.

Prepare for chaotic traffic

The joke in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is that traffic laws are more like suggestions, so be cautious when crossing streets and only consider renting motorbikes if you are an experienced driver.

A few words in Vietnamese go a long way

You can expect English to be fairly widely spoken in Vietnam, especially in big cities. Still, learning a few basic phrases in Vietnamese can only help – and will likely go a long way in demonstrating respect to and forming connections with locals.

This article was first published Aug 12, 2019 and updated Aug 21, 2024.

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14 of the best travel TV shows to watch on demand

Epic landscapes, interesting characters and cool cultures – we transport you to the best places in the world right from the comfort of your sofa, with these top travel shows on Netflix, iPlayer and others…

While you may be hitting pause on your adventures, you can still be transported somewhere wild – using your TV remote as your passport to exotic climes, instead.

Chances are you’ve seen everything travel legends David Attenborough and Simon Reeve have done, but if you’re looking for inspiration for your next trip, sweeping landscapes and interesting characters to meet, take a look at our round-up of th e best travel documentaries available to stream right now…

Best of all, you can start this journey on the couch.

Here are the best travel TV shows to watch on Netflix or on demand now…

1. the americas with simon reeve (2019).

What you’ll watch: It topped the list for best TV show at our 2020 Reader Travel Awards, but if you haven’t yet seen The Americas with Simon Reeve , put it straight on top of your must-watch list.

And when you’ve binged on his journeys hiking through the Rocky Mountains, hanging out with the US Border Patrol in Texas and discovering a tropical paradise in Costa Rica, you can turn to his other documentaries: the Caribbean, Australia, the Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean.

If there’s anywhere this man hasn’t been or seen, we challenge you to find it.

Where to watch it: The Americas with Simon Reeve is available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer . Plus see Simon accept his Wanderlust award !

2. Race Across The World (2020)

What you’ll watch: Limited cash, no smartphones and forget about internet access – basically all the ingredients for an epic off-the-grid adventure.

In the latest series of the BBC’s Race Across The World , you can follow five teams as they race the length of Latin America, starting in Mexico City and ending in Ushuaia in Argentina, the most southerly city in the world.

Married couples and familial bonds are put to the test, as they weave friendships in the most unexpected of places on their way to the finish line. And if you can’t wait until next week’s episode, you can binge on series one as well. What’s better than that?

Where to watch it: Catch up on series two of Race Across The World on BBC iPlayer . And read our filming locations guide .

3. Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti (2020)

Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti is on ITV Player now (ITV)

What you’ll watch: She’s one of our favourite tour guides, taking us everywhere from India to the mighty Silk Road – it is, of course, the absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumley.

Let her lead you into a lesser-seen side of the Caribbean in her new two-part documentary, Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti, which begins in a boxing gym in the lively Cuban capital.

Keep watching as she wanders the streets of Havana, discovers Hemingway’s favourite beach and explores Fidel Castro’s hometown, before making her way over the Windward Passage to end her adventure with trips to ancient mountain fortresses and a mystical voodoo ceremony in Haiti.

Where to watch it: Catch up on Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti on ITV Player now.

4. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (2018)

What to watch: If delicious food is at the very top of your reasons-to-travel list, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is the Netflix show to tune into.

Culinary capers abound as loveable chef Samin Nosrat takes us to Italy, Japan, Mexico and California to show us how the title elements are key to the cuisine of each country.

Where to watch it: See Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat on Netflix now.

5. Ugly Delicious (2020)

What to watch: H ungry for more? Try Netflix’s Ugly Delicious – there are two series to devour, as chef David Chang takes us to culinary hotspots across the world, showing us why good cooking is universal.

He meets everyone from pizza purists in Brooklyn and Naples to trying Viet-Cajun fusion cuisine in Houston.

Where to watch it: Catch the new series of Ugly Delicious on Netflix .

6. Night on Earth (2020)

What to watch: Even when you’re travelling, you don’t get to see some of the most incredible sights – because some of them happen under the very cover of darkness.

In Netflix’s Night on Earth , you can see this world open up before you, witnessing the secret lives of lions, bats and monkeys. Eerie and visually compelling stuff.

Where to watch it: Night on Earth is on Netflix now.

7. James May: Our Man In Japan (2020)

What you’ll watch: We know you loved Japan with Sue Perkins , but now that’s it not available on iPlayer… how about racing through the island country with James May, instead?

Starting on the chilly northern island of Hokkaido, James embarks on a journey south to the balmy beaches of Shikoku and Kyushu, while meeting samurai in Honshu, sampling street food in Osaka and, of course, tackling the Suzuka Circuit on his way.

Where to watch it: Watch James May: Our Man in Japan on Amazon Prime now.

8. Travel Man: 48 Hours in… (2019)

What you’ll watch: Richard Ayoade’s droll two-day jaunts through cities across the world has provided us all with laughs since 2015.

While 2019’s series was his last as lead presenter, we can still look forward to more Travel Man in the future as Hugo Boss – aka the the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett – takes over the role.

If you haven’t seen 48 Hours in… Amsterdam , it’s the perfect episode to get a feel for Hugo’s personality and learn more about the city’s culture, cuisine and canals.

Where to watch it: Find the past ten series of Travel Man: 48 Hours in… on All 4 .

9. Great Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo (2019)

What you’ll watch: Thousands of British commuters have plenty to say about UK train travel, but in the hands of Michael Portillo, the divisive subject matter seems to take on a golden glow of nostalgia.

You know best, after all – you voted for the BBC’s Great Railway Journeys as one of your top TV programmes in the last year.

Delving into the history of British rail, Michael reveals things we never knew about our local stations, including how an unlikely collaboration between London’s Crossrail railway project and a conservation charity is helping to protect birdlife in Series 11’s Limehouse to Rochford episode.

Where to watch it: Look out for your local station on Great British Railway Journeys on iPlayer.

10. Around the World in 80 Days (1989)

What to watch: It’s an oldie, but definitely a goodie – what could be better than staying in and getting a glimpse of how the world used to be with TV icon Michael Palin?

In Around the World in 80 Days , Michael follows in the footsteps of its main character Phileas Fogg, setting off on an epic adventure from London’s Reform Club across the world.

Close shaves, missed connections and inevitable delays await as he desperately attempts to meet the 80-day deadline in time. A delicious throwback to a simpler time.

Where to watch it: Watch Around the World in 80 Days on iPlayer .

11. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2013)

What to watch: The late Anthony Bourdain’s Emmy-winning travel series is a must-watch for any traveller whose adventures are driven by a passion for excellent food.

Parts Unknown sees the world-renowned chef and documentarian delve into cuisines, cultures and politics in countries across the globe. Essentially, he eats his way around the world.

With 12 seasons covering countless destinations (Vietnam and New York said to be two of his favourites), the later seasons take viewers on an off-the-beaten-track culinary journey through Armenia, Uruguay, Myanmar and beyond.

Where to watch it: You can stream the series on Amazon Prime now.

12. Dark Tourist (2018)

What to watch: If you’ve watched the majority of travel TV already, here’s one that may have slipped by you.

TV presenter David Farrier deep dives into so-called ‘dark tourism’: worldwide interest in visiting sites of nuclear disasters, destinations marred by danger or even death. If you’ve been to Chernobyl and Pripyat in Ukraine, you’ll understand the fascination.

You can expect to see a trip to Turkmenistan, a visit to Pablo Escobar’s former playground, Medellin in Colombia, as well as an excursion to Tomioka in Japan, the ghost town left behind after residents were evacuated following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Where to watch it: You can stream one season of Dark Tourist now on Netflix .

And… anything narrated by Sir David Attenborough

13. our planet (2019).

14. Seven Worlds, One Planet (2019)

What you’ll watch: Of course, no list of travel documentaries is complete without an appearance from the legend that is Sir David Attenborough.

Most of his back catalogue is listed on Netflix, including the original Our Planet and the BBC’s iconic Planet Earth and Frozen Planet.

You can also listen to Sir David’s dulcet tones on BBC iPlayer – as he takes us through Seven Worlds, One Planet , introducing us to some of the globe’s most hostile habitats and remote landscapes, while narrating the fascinating behaviour of the local creatures, such as golden snub-nosed monkeys and grey-headed albatross chicks .

Where to watch it: Find Our Planet along with most of Sir David’s past shows on Netflix or catch up on Seven Worlds, One Planet on iPlayer now.

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Writer of new Netflix rom-com set in Vietnam: ‘I wanted to change the conversation about Vietnam’

On my last week in Vietnam, I met a Canadian backpacker who was very much a free spirit and very adventurous. It made me realize that I didn’t actually want a safe predictable life. He was supposed to be my holiday fling, [but] we have been together ever since — 22 years.

There are almost no American movies set in Vietnam that aren’t about the trauma of war. It was really important to me to tell a story about life now. One that was full of joy and love and celebration. I wanted to change the conversation about Vietnam, to highlight it as a modern thriving country whose stories are worthy of being told.

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A Tourist's Guide to Love

An executive goes through an unexpected breakup, then accepting an assignment to go undercover and learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam. An executive goes through an unexpected breakup, then accepting an assignment to go undercover and learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam. An executive goes through an unexpected breakup, then accepting an assignment to go undercover and learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam.

• Steven K. Tsuchida
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• Rachael Leigh Cook
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• 69 User reviews
• 26 Critic reviews
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• Trivia This is the first Netflix original film shot in Vietnam.
• Goofs In the Saigon Silver Star brochure shared at 11:09, the Ho Chi Minh Airport code is shown as SNG when in reality, it is SGN.

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Caffeine chronicles: Discovering Vietnam’s coffee culture

• Whether it’s cold or hot coffee, Vietnamese people prefer a dash of condensed milk with it.
• Most coffee we have in India and the west is either Arabica or a blend of Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is the more popular one globally because it’s smoother and has lower caffeine content. In Vietnam, Robusta is the favoured type (unless the café is catering to tourists), which is stronger and less acidic. When the French colonists brought coffee to Vietnam, the Arabica variety did not adapt well to the local climate. Later, when the Robusta variety was introduced, it thrived.
• The local coffee culture in Vietnam is so strong that chains like Starbucks and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf have not managed to find a foothold in the country. Most of these chains serve Arabica coffee, which the locals don’t find strong enough. Another reason is that coffee is not a luxury in Vietnam, where street vendors are selling coffee at every corner. Starbucks accounted for just 2% of Vietnam's $1.2bn (£934m) coffee-drinking market in 2022, according to Euromonitor International. As per a BBC report, the Chinese-owned Mellower Coffee recently announced it was closing its doors after four years, while Australia's Gloria Jean's left Vietnam in 2017.
• Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of the brew and 97% of the coffee Vietnam consumes is of the Robusta variety.
• Unlike India, good coffee is quite cheap in Vietnam. Even chains like Highland and Phuc Long have affordable prices.

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Historic North Carolina village under water after devastating damage from Helene

ASHEVILLE, N.C. —A historic village in western North Carolina is under water after bearing the brunt of devastating flooding damage from Hurricane Helene.

Tree branches, logs and a dumpster floated across Asheville’s Biltmore Village, renowned for being built and owned by a single individual.

Resident Tammy Borgesen was among the dozens of people standing outside a downtown hotel, one of the few places with Wi-Fi access, hoping to connect with loved ones.

“We’ve been trying to get an email or a text out to just let everybody know we’re ok,” said Borgesen, who had water but no power at her home. 

She said she plans to wait out the storm and “hope for the best.”

“We’re in a weird limbo,” Borgesen said.

Water levels reached several feet, with some areas nearing the tops of street signs. Fast-moving water surged above front-door steps, inundating buildings and small businesses as Asheville appeared nearly flattened by Helene.

“We knew the flooding was coming but we didn’t know it was going to be this catastrophic,” one woman at the scene told NBC News. “All of the loss and destruction is just heartbreaking.”

Asheville, with a population of 95,000 residents, is about 140 miles west of Charlotte.

“This blows my mind, and I’m really worried about friends, neighbors and businesses down here by the river,” a man told NBC News, while partly blaming climate change for the destruction. “It’s just a reminder to me that climate change is going to affect all of us. No one is safe from the impacts of climate change and we really need to take action now.”

The devastation comes as Hurricane Helene landed in Georgia Thursday night, leaving widespread devastation throughout the southern U.S. 

At least 53 people have been confirmed dead as of Saturday and about 3 million customers are without power in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia, according to Poweroutage.us.

The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, has severely impacted the southeast.

More than 50 people were stranded Friday at an eastern Tennessee hospital on Friday due to fast-rising water and high winds, after several attempts to airlift them failed during a dangerous rescue operation.

President Joe Biden has already approved emergency declaration requests from the governors of several southern states affected by Helene.

Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina will receive a variety of federal assistance from the government after the storm made landfall as a highly destructive Category 4 hurricane.

Biden has also ordered more than 1,500 federal personnel to be deployed to the region, including search and rescue teams, medical teams and power restoration teams.

George Solis is a national correspondent with NBC News.

Deon J. Hampton is a national reporter for NBC News.

Work Wives: Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon Unpack ‘Morning Show’ Twists, Space Travel and Messy Romances

Photographs by Dan Doperalski

“We knew this season was different.”

That’s how “ The Morning Show ” star and executive producer Reese Witherspoon begins Variety ’s conversation about the third season of the Apple TV+ series. Co-star (and fellow executive producer) Jennifer Aniston adds, “It had a different shape to it.”

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At the beginning of each season, do you know everything that’s to come for your characters? Specifically, Reese, did you know the insurrection plot that would be the linchpin of your character Bradley’s arc?

Reese Witherspoon: I knew I had this secret that was going to get revealed by the end. When Charlotte Stoudt came in — this is her first season at “The Morning Show” — she pitched out the whole thing: the hack; Paul Marks coming in to take over; Alex [played by Aniston] wanting a position of power on the board; my character hiding this Jan. 6 secret. Jennifer Aniston: It’s such a collaboration, and we are able to say if we felt like it wasn’t going in a great direction. That’s the fun of what we do together, having that open line of communication.

How did you react when you heard that the premiere would include a trip to space?

Aniston: Wow. Going into space, huh ? Personally, I was like, “I would never do that! You’ve got to be out of your freaking mind!” Witherspoon: I would never do that either!

It appeared to fans that you were in far fewer scenes together this season. Reading your faces, is that not how it seemed to you?

You’ve worked together a long time. How would you describe your working and personal relationship?

Aniston : We’ve been in each other’s lives for 20-something years. It’s just in our DNA that we are collaborators. We’re partners. We’re friends. We’re girlfriends, we share all sorts of heartbreaks in life and love and everything. Witherspoon : There’s a comfort to that. It’s just mutual respect and years of experience. And I think we’re both incredulous that we’re both still kicking around! That we’re still working at this level is such a privilege. It’s an honor to get to contribute to something that’s really speaking about the world we live in nowadays. Aniston : That’s what we wanted to do: Make a show that said something and to show the conversations that happen behind closed doors.

Bradley’s life ended in shambles — Laura has broken up with her, she’s turned herself in to the FBI for concealing evidence that her brother was a Jan. 6 insurrectionist.

Witherspoon: She’s made a mess of her life! Everyone keeps asking me, “Does she go to jail?” We don’t know anything!

There were nearly two full years between Seasons 2 and 3. Will there be a big time jump in Season 4?

Witherspoon: I think so, just because it takes us so long. They write for so long, and have brand new storylines that are happening. I think we’re a little behind in time, too. Aniston: And our show tends to mirror what is actually happening in the world. Witherspoon: Yeah, so as things come up while they’re writing, they’ll put them into the story.

Is there a discussion of adding the Israel-Hamas war next season ?

Witherspoon: It has not come up.

OK. Given that Bradley is likely going to prison, could she be on air again?

Witherspoon: From prison? 

Well, I was thinking after!

Witherspoon: It’s far-fetched, but in this day and age, honestly, nothing surprises me anymore — except murder.

Let’s talk about Alex and Paul. They had a passionate and, dare I say, sweet romance until she found out that he was a snake.

Aniston: But was he? Or was that just his nature? I don’t think he felt that it was intentional. He just is who he is. But that was fun. I’ve known the Hammanator for a long, long time. Witherspoon: How did y’all meet? Aniston: Paul Rudd! 12 years ago? Witherspoon: Paul Rudd is his agent. I’m not kidding! I did a movie with Paul Rudd in 1996, and that’s when I met Jon Hamm.

Alex and Paul’s love scene was more explicit than we’re used to seeing on the show. How did you guys prepare for that with director Mimi Leder?

Do you feel like Alex has a bad picker when it comes to men? This is the second time she’s chosen someone who’s publicly viewed as dangerous.

Witherspoon: Who was the first? Aniston: Mitch. Witherspoon: Oh, you weren’t a couple. Aniston: No, we weren’t a couple, but I loved him. Maybe we’ll find out why she has such a bad picker. It’s hard to be a really successful woman and make that part of your life — it’s sort of the last thing on your to-do list. You’re busy doing so many other things in the world, which is why I think I failed so terribly at marriage — Witherspoon: In the show. Aniston: In the show, oh yeah! Witherspoon: Just wanted to be clear. I don’t like saying women have bad pickers. Because that sort of feels like a judgment. Maybe Alex is brave enough to break her own heart. Aniston: Or maybe these are lessons she’s in need of. Because, everything I’ve gone through in my life, there’s not one thing I would do over, at all. It’s all our journey.

Chip made quite a splash on air after being fired from “TMS.” Will Mark Duplass be back?  

Aniston: We have no idea what could happen in our world. Witherspoon: He could be in prison, too! Aniston: He could produce you from the cell.

With everything going on in the world, what topics would you guys like to dive into?

Witherspoon: I think it would be great to do something with AI and the veracity of news when things can be so easily manufactured. It’s really a strange time for journalism, and it just continues to evolve. Aniston: It’s unsettling to know that so much is manufactured and can be so easily manufactured and that so many people just believe it at face value. There was so much respect for journalism and now, it’s so divided — you listen to one news channel and it’s this story and another news channel and it’s this story. It’s heartbreaking, that division. I hope it’s just an ebb and flow, and that the goodness, the quality and the respect will hopefully come back. It’s a really scary time to be a journalist.

Some people view the show as “camp.” What do you both think? 

Witherspoon: Like “Dynasty” campy? I don’t have a good perspective about that. I think we’re the wrong people to ask! I love “Dynasty.” I love powerful women in great outfits having a verbal argument. Aniston: Give me some good “Below Deck: Down Under.” That’s all I can digest sometimes!

What do you want people to get out of “The Morning Show”?

The show began with UBA rebuilding post-Mitch scandal. With UBA and MBN merging in Season 4, could this be a set up for the show’s final season?

Witherspoon: Or does it create an entirely new world of characters? A new eco-system? We’ve always thought this world is so rich that you can find new characters, stories and new TV personalities, people who have emerged in the zeitgeist.

How did you stay creative during the strike?

Witherspoon: I found a chocolatier, and had them teach me and some of my friends how to make chocolates. Aniston: Actual chocolate bars? Witherspoon: No, bonbons. Aniston: Like Lucy and Ethel? Witherspoon: Yes, it’s so fun. We’ve got to do it! It’s so easy, too. Aniston: Can we please have a night where we do that? I made soap and tree ornaments. I went to Ojai, turned off the news, and with my three best friends since I was 15 and 20, just got creative. Witherspoon: This is one of my favorite things about Jen — she has friends from high school on. It’s a testament to what a good friend you are. Aniston: We kind of raised each other. We all came from little tumultuous, broken families. It was the ’70s, ’80s, it was sort of a different time. People weren’t going, “How are you feeling? How does it make you feel?” No one’s ever asked me, “How does something make you feel?” All my friends’ kids are in therapy! Everybody’s fabulous. Your two kids — look at them! Witherspoon: I have three. Aniston: Three! That’s what I meant. Witherspoon: It’s hard to keep track. By the way, I forget sometimes.  Aniston: You still look like a little tiny girl to me, like my little sister. Like I always said, baby with a baby. Witherspoon: I was a baby with a baby when I was on the set of “Friends.” I was like, “I’m nursing! Want to see my baby?” 

Speaking of “Friends,” Jennifer, you recently lost a member of the “Friends” family . How do you want the world to remember Matthew Perry?

Aniston: As he said he’d love to be remembered . He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know. I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling . He was happy. Witherspoon: It’s important people know that. Aniston: It is. I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard. He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard.

So many people — from those who knew him to journalists — penned tributes to him. It must have been so incredible to see the outpouring of love.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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