Tailor made holidays: See Vietnam's 'ancient and peaceful charms'

People planning to take a tailor made holiday to Vietnam will find a country that is simultaneously historically fascinating and amazing in its embracing of modernity.

That is according to Phillip Sherwell who, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, opined that Vietnam manages to "retain ... its ancient and peaceful charms even as it embraces the 21st century".

Mr Sherwell described a trip on a luxury wooden junk through one of the south-east Asian countries many "narrow channels" as one of his best experiences in the country.

"The vessel anchored under a moonlit sky, we dined against a spectacular backdrop of pinnacles and towers that, by sunrise, seemed to have morphed into strange sea monsters emerging from the mist," he wrote.

"These islands are pitted with caves and chambers and the morning hike to the Grotto of the Heavenly Palace was rewarded with a stunning display of stalactites and stalagmites."

A tailor made holiday to Vietnam could take in such sites as the famous floating markets of the Mekong River.