There’s a special magic to the tranquillity of Vietnam’s rural landscapes, dominated by the a carpet of rice-paddies, the unspoilt beauty of its coastal and mountain scenery, the enigmatic traditions of its rich culture and history. To travel from the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the south, with its lingering French colonial atmosphere, to the capital city of Hanoi in the north, a place of great charm, dominated by greenery and water dotted with pagodas, is to discover a land of enormous character and interest whose civilisation dates back thousands of years.