Crossing a Ho Chi Minh City street by foot — and weaving between an endless parade of honking motorbikes — is all the adventure some visitors ever want from Vietnam. For others, there are more traditional ways to test your limits.

• Sapa treks

  Vietnam's trekking centre is Sapa in the far north, where you can arrange overnight stays in Giay, Dao and Tai villages in the Muong Hoa Valley, or hire a guide to go up South-East Asia's tallest peak, the 3143m Fansipan.




• Rock-climbing at Halong Bay

  Rock-climbing in Vietnam is still in its baby steps, but already 100 climbs around Halong Bay can get you far from the usual water-worn path of the hordes of junk-boat tours. From the bay's largest island, Cat Ba, you can arrange climbing trips (including some free-falls into the Gulf of Tonkin) with Slo Pony (phone +84 31 368 8450, www.slopony.com).




• Mountain-biking

  Dalat to Nha Trang. The bus ride between the cool hill town of Dalat and the beach resort Nha Trang takes five hours. So does the bike ride. Phat Tire Ventures in Dalat (73 Truong Cong Dinh, phone +84 63 382 9422, www.phattireventures.com) will forward your luggage and get you on a sturdy bike to glide downhill on mountain paths all the way to the beach by pedal power.

• Diving and snorkelling

  Nha Trang's snorkelling trips tend to be more about booze than coral-spotting, but Phu Quoc Island — off the southern coast — has good dives during the dry season (October through March). Some local divers swear that Con Dao Island — a pretty former prison island east of Ho Chi Minh City — will become Vietnam's dive centre in the next few years. But if all you're looking for is a little splash and a bit of a snorkel, Cham Island, off Hoi An, has a lovely camping beach and some coral spots.

• Dirt bike tours of the north

  If you don't mind getting your boots dirty, several Hanoi agencies lead Minsk motorbike tours on rarely-seen roads of the mountainous north — staying in hill-tribe villages, and winding up roads to Cao Bang near the China border. Try Voyage Vietnam (phone +84 4 3926 2373, www.voyagevietnam.net). Trips cost US$80 to US$100 per night including bike, petrol, food, accommodation and guide.

• Windsurfing

  A relative newcomer beach getaway north of Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne has a nice arc of gold sand — but a lot of wind. Cleverly, locals turned it to their advantage, kick-starting Mui Ne as a wind-surfing destination. Mid-range resorts here — which offer some of the country's best value rooms in the US$30 to US$50 range — rent boards and give lessons. If you can't stay upright, you can always slide down nearby sand dunes on flattened boxes kids rent out.

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