©
David Debrincat
Vietnam Travel Guide
©
David Debrincat
With its atypical form, Vietnam has a climate in total correlation with its geography, with a large variety and so very different from north to south. It's thus in this setting that you will find yourself during you travel to Vietnam a very diverse wildlife.
1600 kilometres long from north to south and with a surface area of 330 000 square kilometres, Vietnam has the strange form of a dragon or of a bamboo stem. The country shares borders with Cambodia, Laos and China. It is also bordered by the Tonkin gulf, the sea of China and the gulf of Thailand. Three quarters of the country are covered by mountains and hills. The highest point reaches 3143 metres of height, it's Fansipan. Vietnam also is fortunate to possess an immense coastline of 3260 kilometres. In the end and above all, the south of the country is largely irrigated by the mythic Mekong river, which flows into the sea of China.
The country is so long that to define it clearly, you have to divide Vietnam in three different parts.
For the south, the ideal is to organise your trip to Vietnam between December and April during the dry season. In this part of the country, it is often very hot, temperatures regularly pass 35° even during the rainy season of July and September.
Heading towards the centre the temperatures lower significantly. It often is above 30° there. Where possible, try to make the most of the period from February to May. Forget altogether the idea of coming between November and January. It rains extensively at this time.
If you are looking for some freshness, you will find it in the north between November and May. The rest of the year the rains are floodlike and the temperatures happily reach into the 40°s.
The biodiversity of Vietnam if one of the most rich in the world with almost 850 species of birds and 270 species of mammals. It could be that your path will cross with a tortoise's, a monkey's or an elephant's. It's much more likely you will see a tiger. It is in danger of extinction. Another animal, which is very rare and also very threatened, is the the Vietnamese bear. Its bile is used in traditional medicines even though its sale is currently banned, the damage is done and the species is currently in danger of extinction.
