Vietnam

Vietnam has become the trip people ask for after Thailand, and the appeal is straightforward: direct flights from Ahmedabad to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, an e-visa Indians can obtain online, and a country where a good hotel costs half what it does in Bali. The north gives you Hanoi's old quarter and a night on a Ha Long Bay cruise; the centre gives you Da Nang, the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills and the lanterns of Hoi An.

Ha Long Bay is the part to get right. Day trips exist but the bay is best from an overnight cruise boat; we use two operators whose boats we have seen. Ba Na Hills is a full day and it is worth it.

Food is the question every Gujarati family asks, and the honest answer is that vegetarian food takes planning outside the big cities. We list the restaurants and brief the guide.