This isn’t quite the relaxing journey to the airport I’d hoped for. I’m wading thigh deep through the flooded streets of rush-hour Ho Chi Minh City, my suitcase slung over my shoulders, praying I’m going to make my flight home. It is the rainy season, and it has rained. A lot.

After being caught in a traffic gridlock and moving just a yard in 45 minutes, there had been only one thing for it. We had abandoned our taxi and walked — or waded — the remaining mile to the ­airport.

Luckily, I’d had the foresight to change out of my ballet pumps into some flip-flops before I hopped out of the car. Within minutes, the flip-flops were floating down the street as I staggered behind my tour guide, Hien. Horns blasted, whistles trilled, sirens moaned. “I’ve never seen Ho Chi Minh like this in my life,” Hien assured me — some small comfort.

Two days earlier, I was on the beach, lying under a cloudless sky, grappling with the big issue of the day: should I go for a swim now or after lunch? I’d come to Vietnam for some R&R, after all. But that’s not what you usually go to Vietnam for, is it? Thailand and Bali, yes — but Vietnam?

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Yet this country has some of the most beautiful coastline in Southeast Asia: powdery beaches, swaying palms and the warm, blue South China Sea — in essence, everything her more popular sisters offered 20 years ago, before tourism turned Ko Samui into Blackpool and Kuta into Skegness.

Nha Trang, a beach resort on the southeast coast of Vietnam, is gradually going the same way, but further south sits Mui Ne, which remains a haven for the more discerning sun-seeker. And the reason it’s managed to remain a well-kept secret? It’s a bit of a drag to get to. The nearest international airport is in Ho Chi Minh City, a five-hour drive away. And sometimes it rains.

Driving along Highway 1, the 1,200-mile stretch of road linking Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) to Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, is an experience in itself. “Don’t worry about the beeping,” Hien grins at me as we set off. “The Vietnamese love to beep their horns. It could be a warning, but often it’s just people saying hi to their friends.”

The little villages strung along the highway give a fascinating insight into normal life in Vietnam; gaudily painted concrete shacks with water buffalo in the garden sit next to shops with plastic-wrapped coffins piled high in the ­window. Dragon-fruit plantations are inter­spersed with stalls selling sweet iced coffee and baguettes. And all the while that incessant beeping.

It was worth it for Mui Ne, which glittered in the sunlight as we ­arrived. Strung along a six-mile stretch of road, the town was jungle just 14 years ago. Not only is it known as the sunniest place in Vietnam, Mui Ne also has perfect conditions for watersports due to its consistent cross-onshore winds and having the lowest rainfall in the country. As a result, it has become a mecca for kite-surfers and has attracted a cool, young crowd — and with them, a laid-back, surfy vibe.

Shoulder dislocation (an unfortunate side-effect of kite-surfing, so I’m told) didn’t really appeal, so I was happy to duck out and sit in Jibe’s, a cool little beach bar, sipping a mango daiquiri and watching the primary colours of the sails streak across the waves. As night fell, the kites were replaced by a string of fishing boats, their lights sparkling along the horizon as they trawled for squid and shrimp. By morning, those too were gone, to be replaced by the occasional coracle being punted along by a wizened old fisherman.

Mui Ne offers a dozen or so luxurious bungalow-style resorts, as well as some cheaper guesthouses, excellent restaurants and some supercool bars — the most stylish I found being Sangkara, a newly opened beach club that seems to have borrowed heavily from the chillout rooms of Ibiza. Jibe’s is also a hot ticket for sundowners in the evenings, and often organises beach parties on Saturday nights. The Sailing Club, a four-star resort with a surfside restaurant, does a mean coconut and rum, as well as an ­interesting western-style menu; who would have thought that passion fruit and beef would go together?

Of course, you can’t stick to western menus when you’ve gone all the way to Vietnam. Local favourite is a fantastic seafood restaurant a little way out of town — racily named Cay Bang. With seating for hundreds, it heaves at the weekend, particularly on Sundays Freshly caught fish, lobster, crab, whatever, is kept (alive) in pools. You choose your supper from what can only be ­described as an aquarium, and it goes from pool to pan to plate in about 10 ­minutes flat. Three of us feasted on barbecued squid, stir-fried morning glory, noodles, crayfish and crab for less than £15, beer included.

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