Entering Vietnam Made Fast and Easy With Vietnam-Visa...

With Chinese new year and festive celebrations around the corner, I am thrilled to announce an opportune partnership with Vietnam-visa.com, in one of my dear to heart food and travel countries. If you are like me who loves to travel to eat, make Vietnam your next destination.

A bit of background. My husband is from Sóc Trăng, a province in the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam. We were lucky to go visit his family in 2004. While in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital we were delighted by a range of sumptuous, exotic foods, and equally seduced by the chaotic pulse and bustle of everyday life into the steamy nights with bright lights. Other than the amazing and elaborate meals we had at the family table, the best eating experiences were had by hitting the streets. Before sunrise, produce markets swell with people. Women were seen stoking kitchen fires and filling flat baskets with tin steamers and arranging soup or fresh spring roll ingredients; these baskets were then hung on both ends of bamboo poles and hoisted upon their shoulders as they hustle their goods to the flood of passersby. Others set up shop with a simple table, cooking ingredients and equipment surround, serving their offerings to hungry customers who would crowd around make-shift plastic tables to eat. The floating markets on small boats and the electric night markets add to the Vietnamese gastronomical charm. 

The symphony on the streets were alluring in itself from the crack of dawn to the day fading into evening-- the buzz of vehicles, the voices of children and busy commuters, families of five riding on one motorbike, steady-handed bicycle drivers toting live animal cargo, trucks, cars, all zipping, weaving and honking their way down overcrowded no-lane boulevards. The frenetic energy and chaos, and the impromptu seeking of food all day all night in the form of savoury, sweet, spicy, soft or crunchy is right there in the streets of Vietnam.

A valid visa is required for almost citizens of foreign countries to visit Vietnam for any purposes from visiting friends and families to going on a business trip or leisure vacation. Fortunately, it is much easier these days for foreign passport holders to apply for visa to Vietnam as there are three available ways to go about this matter.

i) Applying for visa at Vietnam Embassy (traditional way, visa picked up at Vietnam Embassies) or two ways on-line: ii) apply for Visa on arrival with Vietnam-Visa.com (visa picked up at Vietnam International Airports) or iii) obtain an e-visa. Click on site to read more.

With over 10 years experience, Vietnam-visa.com, officially launched by Vietnam Discovery Travel is the first and premier commercial website providing Vietnam visa on arrival for thousands of international tourists annually. Their website receives over 1000 daily visits and 7200+ Likes on Facebook.

Book your trip with Vietnam-Visa

As lunar new year approaches (this year it is January 28th), Tet is celebrated in Vietnam over three days but was traditionally celebrated for one month. Foods eaten at Tet always include steamed rice cakes known as banh chung (square to symbolize the sky) and banh day (round to symbolize the earth) and are used as offerings to ancestors as well as special gifts to relatives and friends.

Banh chung-- a traditional rice cake on Tet holiday (lunar new year)

If you are interested in discovering a food culture that revels in its own rich traditional ingredients and techniques, as well as blending contrasts of French colonialism and foreign influences, travel to Vietnam and taste the diverse sophisticated flavours yourself. 

Communal eating at the table during dinner is an important meal for the Vietnamese as a chance for family to bond after a long day at work that includes extended members such as grandparents. This is also the time for the old teaching the young ethic standards and social norms, traditional rules and etiquette from ancestors, etc. Food is a leisurely experience that involves grazing among a selection of shared dishes. Family meals are simple but refined, often consisting of a soup, a simmered main meat dish, and a stir-fried vegetable dish all placed at the table with abundant rice. Dipping sauces and condiments are also served to enhance the foods. If any dessert is offered, it is fresh fruit and this could be anything from fresh mangosteen, rambutan to durian (an exotic treat for travellers).

There is much unique moments to experience such as spending down-to-earth time with locals and eating in a homey setting, or on the streets. Entering Vietnam is hassle-free with the improvement of visa documents. Now foreigners can get Vietnam visa on arrival with no inconvenience if they travel by air because all procedures are online before applicants get passports stamped at arrival airport. Immerse yourself in Vietnam's paradise of local traditional meals and street foods with an unforgettable visit. For a deeper culinary experience, book Vietnam Discovery Travel's best-selling food tours at the moment such as Hanoi Cuisine Walk and Street Foods of Hanoi.

A typical traditional Vietnamese family meal

* Last two photo credits goes to Vietnam-Visa.