Be truthful now; how much do you know about the Mekong Delta? If you’re like most expats in Vietnam, not very much, I bet. You’ve got no excuse — the Mekong Delta is the world’s largest delta, an ecological treasure trove, the nation’s rice basket, and a region of pivotal importance to the wealth and wellbeing of the country. You can hardly be blamed for being in the dark, though; the Delta has never received much press attention. Alternate floods and droughts seem to be the only events there that the media considers newsworthy.

Jesse Meadows heads to the countryside and encounters that part of Vietnamese culture we so often tend to forget; hospitality. At Tho Ha she experienced it in abundance

Two years after the war, Nick Ross visits one of the most important cities in Eastern Europe and leaves suitably impressed

The final stretch. Riding his dear bike, Nemo, Matt is nearing Kathmandu

Paradise-like beaches, crystal clear seas, tropical nirvana… Yet as Tran Cam Thu discovers, there’s far more to this group of islands than first meets the eye. Photos by Hang Le

 

Southwest of Hanoi is a place that is a land version of Halong Bay. Billy Gray heads out of town for some well-needed respite

It’s my son’s big overseas experience. He stops off at Vietnam on his way from New Zealand to London, where a job awaits him. He is buoyed up by the prospect of life overseas, and raring to go, has but one problem. He is weighted down by far too much baggage. I’ve told him time and time again that travelling light is the only way to go, but then whoever listens to the advice of their oldies?

Vu Ha Kim Vy goes in search of one of the city’s hidden islands — Thanh An

As beach after Southeast Asian beach goes commercial, Jesse Meadows returns to her own personal Mecca in Thailand to see if Tonsai, too, has gone under the hammer

 

Despite their proximity to Southeast Asia, in the past flights to the Pacific Islands have all been run via Australia and New Zealand.