Pics: Vietnam at a glance

Surface area: It's a long, thin, s-shaped country covering an area of 331,210 km2 It has a north-to-south distance of 1,650 kilometers, a coastline (excluding islands) of 3,260 kilometers and is only about 50 kilometers wide at the narrowest point (Shutterstock)

Capital: Hanoi. (Nadia Krige)

Oceans, seas and bays: Vietnam's eastern side is buffered by the South China Sea. The country also borders the Bay of Tonkin in the North and the Bay of Thailand in the far South. Above photo taken in UNESCO World Heritage site, Halong Bay. (Nadia Krige)

Economy: Vietnam's main trade focus has always been agricultural, based largely on wet rice cultivation. In recent years it has gained ground in trade of other agricultural products and is currently the largest producer of cashew nuts as well as black pepper. Coffee, tea, rubber and fishery products are their other prominent exports. (Nadia Krige)

Politics: As its official name, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, suggests, the country still subscribes to a one-party, communist regime. Power is divided equally between the president, the prime minister, the chairman of the national assembly and the chief justice. (Nadia Krige)

Population: 87.8 million inhabitants as of 2011(Nadia Krige)

Climate: Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. While we were there (mid-September), days and nights were consistently hot and humid throughout the country with temperatures reaching the mid-30s. However, in the mountainous regions temperatures could get as low as 5°celsius between December and February. (Nadia Krige)

Official languages: Vietnamese. Despite the relatively long occupation by France between the mid-1800s and 1940, the coloniser's language has all but disappeared, it is only really still spoken by the older generation. English is widely understood, if not spoken fluently. (Nadia Krige)

Currency: Vietnam Dong, but US Dollars are accepted pretty much everywhere. (Nadia Krige)

Exchange rate: This is a tough one and best worked out in a sort of three way dance between the dollar, dong and rand. My tried and tested currency converting method went something like this:
20 000 Dong = give or take US$1. If you know the Rand-Dollar exchange rate, it's pretty easy to work out what you will be paying for an item. (Nadia Krige)

Food & budget: As a rule, food and drinks are pretty cheap. If you stop off at a mid-market street café, you can expect to pay about 40 000 Dong for a beer and about 80 000 for a decent plate of food. Which means a meal with two drinks would on average cost you no more than R60. Shellfish, pork and various vegetables. Hoi An is known as the country's food capital. (Nadia Krige)

Time difference: Vietnam is 5 hours ahead of South Africa. (Nadia Krige)

Vaccinations: No vaccinations are required, but if you are a bit paranoid get a tetanus booster before going, as well as a typhoid and hepatitis A shot. Both are water and food-borne diseases.(Nadia Krige)