Thu 20 Jun 2013 | 
Luke Nguyen's Vietnam
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Enlarge textNow I know the series is about food and cooking – however the very last week of being in Vietnam has really changed me and my perspective in life.
topHoi An would have to be the most charming place in Vietnam, if you plan to visit this riverside town, make sure you spend a week there as three days is just not enough.
I found Quy Nhon by accident. I was in Nha Trang a few years ago and wanted to make my way up to Hoi An, but it was a good eight hours travel overland so I decided to break up the trip and stay overnight in a town in between. This in between town just happened to be Quy Nhon, a place I had never even heard of before.
Nha Trang is one of those places you plan to stay for 3 days but end up staying for 2 weeks. The beaches are pristine and the many surrounding islands are incredibly beautiful.
The six hour drive from Phan Thiet to Dalat is just spectacular, the
landscape changing from blue ocean, to deep jungle, to dense forests
and rolling hills. When we reach Dalat, we all feel as if we have
arrived at the French Alps in spring, with its high mountains covered
in tall pine trees overlooking European-style buildings.
Phan Thiet is a small fishing town situated on the south central coast of Vietnam. There is over one hundred different species of sea life found here and it also happens to be where my half sisters and brother live.
I was told about Phu Quoc Island three years ago by a friend of mine who lives in HCMC; he told me that many locals from the city were beginning to take weekend trips over there to get away from all the noise and traffic of Saigon. The best part was that very few people knew about it.
The Mekong River is the 11th largest river in the world and the third largest in Asia; it starts from Tibet through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and South Vietnam before reaching the South China Sea. Over 60 million people depend on the river and its tributaries for food, water, transport.
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About this Blog
Luke Nguyen, acclaimed owner and chef of the Sydney restaurant 'The Red Lantern', returns to the country of his heritage to take a culinary journey through the southern regions of Vietnam.
Luke Nguyen was born in 1978 in Thailand, shortly after his parents fled Vietnam as
boat people. After spending some time in a Thai refugee camp, his
family eventually settled in Sydney, Australia. Luke is the chef and owner of the award-winning Vietnamese restaurant, red lantern, and is the author of the bestselling book, secrets of the red lantern and songs of sapa. In his spare time, Luke hosts 13-day culinary discovery trips to Vietnam.
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