Best for Golf Addicts
Base camp: Dalat
The Communists may have won the “American War,” but Vietnam has fallen to the ultimate capitalist weapon — golf — with nearly 20 world-class courses now open. Rounds are very affordable (often less than $100), as are a crop of fine hotels and restaurants. The country’s oldest and best layout is Dalat Palace Golf Club, 50 miles north of Ho Chi Minh City, in the center of a mountaintop city built by the French in the 1920s, which plays up and down hills and along a series of lakes with lush, New England–like bent grass ($90; vietnamgolfresorts.com). Live like a French colonist at the grand Sofitel Dalat Palace Hotel ($200) and its authentic restaurant, Le Rabelais. (Try the wild boar.)
Excursion 1: Hoi An
The narrow cobblestoned streets of Hoi An’s Old Town are lined with centuries-old houses built when this was a trading center. Stay in the laid-back Life Heritage Resort ($120; life-resorts.com), and don’t miss the “eclectic fusion” cuisine of Mango Rooms, where Texas A&M alum Duc Tran is renowned for his Exotic Dance (prawns wrapped with beef). The new Montgomerie Links course, designed by Scottish scowler Colin Montgomerie, offers 18 meticulous holes over gently mounded terrain featuring lakes and stretches of sand ($88; montgomerielinks.com).
Excursion 2: Ba Vi Mountains
Like politicians everywhere, Vietnam’s bosses love golf. The best game in Hanoi is at Kings’ Island resort in Dong Mo Lake, accessible only by boat ($80; kingsislandgolf.com). Its Mountainview course is dramatic, with vistas of the Ba Vi Mountains, also a great area for hiking and biking (adventuretours.vn). To taste the French influence on local cuisine, try flower crab ($10), or any fresh fish, at chef Didier Corlou’s La Verticale (verticale-hanoi.com).
Can’t Get It At Home: Bargain Bespoke
Courtesy Yaly
The custom-made shirts and suits in Hoi An are high quality-and unbelievably cheap ($8 a shirt; try Yaly or Thu Thuy).
Read Before You Go: Shadows and Wind by Robert Templer
A fascinating, nuanced postwar history of a misunderstood nation.
This article is part of our See The World — at 50% Off package.
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November 4th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
[...] Vietnam: 35% Off | Men’s Journal http://www.mensjournal.com/half-vietnam?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter – view page – cached The Communists may have won the “American War,” but Vietnam has fallen to the ultimate capitalist weapon — golf — with nearly 20 world-class courses now open. Rounds are very affordable… Read moreThe Communists may have won the “American War,” but Vietnam has fallen to the ultimate capitalist weapon — golf — with nearly 20 world-class courses now open. Rounds are very affordable (often less than $100), as are a crop of fine hotels and restaurants. The country’s oldest and best layout is Dalat Palace Golf Club, 50 miles north of Ho Chi Minh City, in the center of a mountaintop city built by the French in the 1920s, which plays up and down hills and along a series of lakes with lush, New England–like bent grass ($90; vietnamgolfresorts.com). Live like a French colonist at the grand Sofitel Dalat Palace Hotel ($200) and its authentic restaurant, Le Rabelais. Read less [...]
November 4th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
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November 5th, 2009 at 9:27 am
[...] Vietnam: 35% Off | Men’s Journal http://www.mensjournal.com/half-vietnam – view page – cached The Communists may have won the “American War,” but Vietnam has fallen to the ultimate capitalist weapon — golf — with nearly 20 world-class courses now open. Rounds are very affordable… Read moreThe Communists may have won the “American War,” but Vietnam has fallen to the ultimate capitalist weapon — golf — with nearly 20 world-class courses now open. Rounds are very affordable (often less than $100), as are a crop of fine hotels and restaurants. The country’s oldest and best layout is Dalat Palace Golf Club, 50 miles north of Ho Chi Minh City, in the center of a mountaintop city built by the French in the 1920s, which plays up and down hills and along a series of lakes with lush, New England–like bent grass ($90; vietnamgolfresorts.com). Live like a French colonist at the grand Sofitel Dalat Palace Hotel ($200) and its authentic restaurant, Le Rabelais. Read less [...]
November 5th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
[...] Read more: Vietnam: 35% Off | Men's Journal [...]
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