Sa Pa is an incredibly picturesque town in the Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range near the Chinese border in northwestern Viet Nam, 350km from Hanoi.

It can be explored almost year-round from March to early December. Vietnamese most like to visit during June and July to escape the summer heat in other parts of the country. Sa Pa is 1,500m above sea level so the weather is quite mild, and cold at night.

The best time to go to Sapa is on a weekday, as weekenders tend to flock here. However, the famed “love market” only takes place on Saturday nights, so visitors often extend their tour to Saturday to experience it.

Tourists can see many hill tribe people, their villages and rice terraces. The ethnic minority groups generally retain their lifestyles and traditional costumes.

Gracious guides: Many local women work as souvenir sellers and tour guides to lead tourists to discover their hometown’s lifestyle and hidden charm.
The area’s high mountains, deep ravines and lush vegetation rise to the peak of Mt Fansipan – the highest point in Indochina. The combination of fresh mountain air, relaxed ambience, sweeping panoramas and fascinating hill tribes make Sa Pa a must-see destination.

A trek took us deep into a hill tribe region where tourists are still something of a novelty. Staying in village homes allowed us to experience firsthand a lifestyle that has been little touched by the modern world and a curiosity from our hosts just as great as our own. The trekking is fairly strenuous at times but the spectacular scenery and sense of adventure make it worth the effort.

I can’t explain why all of the local tour guides are women. All are under 30 and haven’t yet married. Thao Thi Ru, a Dao ethnic woman, has guided tourists since she was 12, after starting her career as a souvenir vendor. Sometimes, to get tourists buy her hand-made souvenirs, she has offered herself as a guide for free. Gradually, she has learned English from them, learned to cook dishes to their tastes, and acquired the experience to become a professional tour guide.

“Being local, we have an advantage over tour companies,” Ru said. “Foreign tourists prefer us to guide them because we know the ways and easily lead them to villages and local houses. They love to understand the local customs as told by locals like us.”

Under Ru’s direction, we visit Ta Van, Ta Phin and Ban Ho communes and get a greater understanding of the Mong and Dao people’s stone-carving, weaving, jewelry-making, metalwork and embroidery crafts.

Ta Phin Cave, at the far end of Ta Phin village, is an attractive destination which tourists often bypass without a local guide’s suggestion.

The cave requires a guide with a flashlight, and the guide will shine the torch on a variety of stalactites.

Some of the locals invite visitors to go to their homes to show how they live and what they have, and tell them about their families. On following them to their houses, tourists find out how simply they live. The tour guides suggest you to buy the merchandise you like from them as repayment for what they have shown for you.

Local tour guides also lead the trips to the forests and mountains because they know thoroughly the terrain.

Before starting a tour, the guides remind tourists to bring food, shoes, sleeping bags and other necessities, said Giang Thi Co, a Mong woman.

“I have learned from the elders folk medicines to treat stomach aches, muscle pains and snake bite,” Co said. “Once, a Western woman couldn’t walk anymore because her legs were sore, so I picked some leaves to apply to her swollen calves. She felt better and said ‘good, good!’ to me.”

City lovers may find Sa Pa is not the place for them as its rich ethnic lifestyle is far removed from modern life. If you expect to go shopping in malls, Sa Pa has nothing to offer. The only way to go shopping is to go to the local market where you can find unique handicrafts, jewelry and fabrics with colourful embroidery. While tourists don’t know how to bargain or choose the best items, the local guides are ready to help.

Sa Pa is famous for its “love market” where local young people go to show off and find partners. It is held every Saturday night and provides a unique and unforgettable experience.

The love market is a tradition in the culture of the Mong, Tay and Dao. All the people around Sa Pa live in isolated villages and can only get together once a week during the Sunday morning market. The night before, young men and women from all around come to the love market to meet and express their emotions through playing the khen (pan pipe) and singing according to traditional customs of their people.

The experience of Sa Pa trip is not something that everyone can buy, but adventurous people and those who seek to know the hidden charm of Vietnamese hill tribes living in their old traditional mountain villages cannot miss this place.

(Source: VNS)

When I was a child, I really loved the Mid-Autumn festival and taking part in the lantern parades with other kids along the village trails. At that time, we made lanterns by ourselves with bamboo sticks and colored paper or plastic.

On one visit to Hoi An ancient town, I took part in a long Mid-Autumn Festival with many colorful lanterns hanging on the streets and lanterns shops. The old houses built in Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese or French architecture, made me feel like I was a child again.

The complex of My Son Cham Towers in Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province, gave me an insight into Cham people’s culture. The complex was the site of religious ceremonies for kings of Champa, between the 4th and 12th centuries. It was a worshipping place for the Hindu religion in the Cham kingdom and is the foremost heritage site of its kind in Vietnam. A large complex of My Son Cham Towers comprises more than 70 architectural works, including temples and towers that connect to each other.

Hue made the strongest impression on me with old buildings, royal palace, the roads where I sheltered from the light rain under tamarind trees and ladies in white ao dai and conical hats.

Despite being largely destroyed during the war, Hue’s Citadel is a great place to visit. Some of the buildings have been refurbished or have managed to escape damage and the architecture and the remaining statues and walls create an interesting look into the past. The museum exhibits inside the complex are informative, giving visitors more than a cursory summary of historical events.

A visit to Hue is to think about Vietnam’s history.

In Hue, I did not forget to visit Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the oldest pagodas in the country to find some peace during my trip and burn incense to pray for good luck and good health.

Danang is other prospect in the Central, a modern and dynamic city with many high-tech parks and towers. The city, which is endowed with stunning landscapes such as Han River, Son Tra Peninsula or Ngu Hanh Son Mountain, has plenty for tourists to do.

(Source: SGT)

“Offering cookery classes to foreign visitors is an excellent idea,” Middleman told Viet Nam News via email.

“We really appreciated the dishes they introduced us to. It was a joy watching the way the food was prepared, and then later tasting it.”

Lee and his wife were taught how to make Hue-style spring rolls. Part of the delight was visiting the local food market to buy vegetables, fruits and fish prior to the cooking class, he said.

The hotel’s chef Nguyen Dong Hai said tourists were encouraged to visit the local market, which he said added to the fun.

“We encourage tourists to go to Dong Ba Market to buy ingredients with us,” Hai said. “There they get the chance to rub shoulders with the locals, even haggle.”

If however they haven’t time, they can just take part in the cooking class at Le Parfum Restaurant, which looks over the romantic Huong River.

Hai said students were typically taught how to make nem trang (local spring rolls), com sen (steamed rice with lotus seeds), ca kho to (southern-style fish stew) and che (sweetened porridge).

Hai said the hotel’s cookery classes were most popular with Australian tourists, who were fascinated by the way the dishes were decorated and by the strong flavours of Hue-style food.

Cookery classes are popular up and down the country. Shiokawa Makoto, 25, is among thousands of young Japanese tourists who have visited Viet Nam aboard the Peace Ship. As soon as he landed in Da Nang’s Tien Sa Port, he and some friends registered to join a cookery class.

“I like cooking delicacies at home,” he said. “Vietnamese food is both strange and delicious. I will be very popular at home when I cook Vietnamese food there.” Makoto and his friends were taken to a house in Hoang Dieu Street, where they were taught to make dishes such as cha gio (local spring rolls) and banh xeo (fried pancake with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts).

His notebook rapidly filled up with recipes.

Like Makoto, Akiko Natsuko was determined to learn how to make spring rolls.

“I often eat Vietnamese spring rolls at restaurants in Japan but don’t know how to make them,” she said. “After learning how to, I see that the food is very simple. But making banh xeo is fairly challenging. I don’t know how to make the pancake both thin and filled evenly with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts.”

Their teacher Ngo Thi Xuan Dieu, who regularly caters to large wedding parties in the city, enthuses about the eagerness of Japanese visitors to learn how to make local Vietnamese food.

“Japanese students are so polite. They bow their heads to welcome me when we are introduced,” she said, adding that she was impressed by how hygienic they were. “They queue up in a row to wash their hands before preparing dishes. They even manage to make neater spring rolls than me.”

Stirring work: Donnie Middleman (right) cooks a Vietnamese dish with the guide of a local cook at Hue’s La Residence Hotel&Spa.
Dieu said she had taught more Japanese students than she could remember. Often she said they gave her small tokens of appreciation. “The gifts may be a handkerchief, a hair clip or a pair of cooking chopsticks,” she said. “These simple gifts remind me of how eager to learn Japanese students are.”

She said some of her former students were even hoping to open a Vietnamese restaurant in Japan.

Do Thu Trang, from Ha Noi-based Buffalo Tours, said “home cooking” had become increasingly popular with visitors over the last few years.

“We introduce tourists to local households, where they can stay, preparing food together with the hosts and experiencing the warmth of family life,” she said.

Karen Belcher from Denmark said she particularly enjoyed shopping at the local fishing village in Hoi An.

With a fresh squid in her hand, she could barely contain her excitement. “I feel as if I have lived here for years rather than just a few days.”

Huynh Thanh Phuoc, 78, who often hosts foreign cookery students at his home near Cua Dai Beach, said it made him feel younger being surrounded by eager tourists.

“From the time we have spent together I have learnt interesting things about life in their home countries,” he said. “For example, Chinese people prefer oily food, French people eat slowly and chew carefully and tend to chat a lot during meals, while Thais and Malaysians prefer spicier food.”

Nguyen Son Thuy, deputy director of Hoi An Travel Company, said most Vietnamese women knew how to cook and were therefore not interested in cookery classes.

However, he said learning how to cook Vietnamese food can be a memorable and rewarding experience for foreign tourists.

He said a lot of restaurants even claimed a short cookery course would equip a visitor with the skills needed to open his own Vietnamese restaurant.

It’s a bold claim, but few doubt that learning how to cook Vietnamese food enhances and enlivens a visitor’s trip to Viet Nam.

(Source: VNS)

The diverse fauna and flora make it ideal for scientific research, ecological tourism and rejuvenation.

A sanctuary away from vehicle noise and exhaust, millions of trees send oxygen back into the atmosphere, one of the reasons why it is recognized as a world salt-marsh biosphere reserve.

Visitors can enjoy fishing, cruising, watching wildlife, walking on bamboo bridges and tasting the local specialties.

The tour starts with a hired motorboat at Dan Xay Bridge accompanied by female guides in traditional costumes. The boat follows the canals under the tree canopy.

After about 20 minutes, you will arrive in Bat Swamp, where you can see troupes of monkeys and bats in the tree tops. You can also try your hand at catching one of the local crabs so you can eat its giant claws for lunch.

Saying goodbye to the Bat Swamp, the tour takes you crocodile fishing at a crocodile farm, swimming in the sea, or feeding monkeys and deer.

The view of the mangroves from

Visiting Vam Sat Eco-Tourist Area by boat from HCMC is a new way to see the mangroves. The journey starts from Bach Dang Wharf in the very early morning. Visitors can also head to Binh Khanh ferry station and then take an hour long bus ride to Dan Xay Bridge.

(Source: SGT)

3 days/ 2 nights:     89 USD

Note:

- Early check in and late check out is subject to room availability.
- Validity: January 31st 2011.

3 days/ 2 nights:     89 USD
Included: B-fast, wifi free, Pick up & transfer by Taxi, make arrangement direct with the hotel a late, early check in & check out.
Excluded: VAT
4 days/ 3 nights:     130 USD
Included: B-fast, wifi free, Pick up & transfer by Taxi, laundry free, make arrangement direct with the hotel a late, early check in & check out.
Excluded: VAT

Note:

- Early check in and late check out is subject to room availability.
- Validaty: January 31st 2011.

Lining the beach at the foot of the sand dunes are endless miles of casuarina forests.

From Tra Vinh take National Road 53 east to get to Duyen Hai. The first place of interest there is Ba Dong Beach in Truong Long Hoa Commune. Ba Dong has giant sand dunes, formed by the action of the river and the ocean.

Behind the sand dunes are potato farms where visitors can join in the harvest with local farmers to learn how to farm and about the local culture. As the soil is sandy and soft, it’s easy to dig the big sweet potatoes up. Along the beach there are farms that grow rau muong, a type of water spinach with purple flowers.

Also in Truong Long Hoa Commune, about 55 kilometers from Tra Vinh Town, is the Nha Trang – Duyen Hai, also called Ba Dong tourist area where tourists can find accommodation, a swimming beach, volleyball court and places to relax.

Farmers in their potato garden near Ba Dong Beach in Tra Vinh Province
The tourist area covers seven hectares. There is also a food area and bungalows to rent. The sunsets are spectacular.

The tourist area contains an old temple dedicated to worship Trieu Thi Trinh who led the revolution against the Chinese in 248AD. She failed and drowned herself in the river.

The temple attracts many visitors and pilgrims every year to the heroine’s commemoration ceremony.

About 200 meters from the temple is an old tomb built of stone under the shade. Locals say it is the tomb of a princess in Nguyen Dynasty who may have been the sister of Gia Long King.

(Source: SGT)

To get to the islet, take a taxi to Cau Da Port and then take a cable car to Vinpearl Land at VND320,000 return. After playing some games at the Vinpearl Land such as outdoor games, 4D movies, water sports at Vinpearl Water Park and a visit to the bizarre marine creatures at Vinpearl Underwater World, it’s just a few steps more and your toes will be squeaking in the fine white sand of Bai Tru Beach.

The beach is like a postcard. There are lines of coconut trees leaning toward the sea, blinding white sand, azure water that is as flat as bathtub and bungalows under the shade of the palms. Get yourself an umbrella or lie back on a reed mat under the coconut palms and let Bai Tru help you forget your worries.

You can hire a motor boat and cruise around the island, even hire some diving equipment to go underwater and admire the reef.

If thrills are your thing, try the hot air balloon to take in an amazing panoramic view of the islet and Nha Trang City.

(Source: SGT)

The Viet Adventure crew climbs to the top of Green Hill
Hiking or biking is the best ways to travel on the forest tracks. The park has important conservation value because of the rainforest, mountains, river and rich biodiversity that attracts thousands of tourists and scientists from all over the world.

Instead of risking it alone, the team at Viet Adventure, organizes hiking and biking trips into the Cat Tien jungle with a back-up crew to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Catch the bus from HCMC in the afternoon to the national park in Tan Phu Commune, Dong Nai Province, arriving in plenty of time for a good night’s sleep in accommodation at the park headquarters. The hike starts early the next day to avoid the mid-day heat and jungle humidity.

The destination is Green Hill; to get there the track goes past ethnic minority Ma and S’Tieng villages then continues through a thick bamboo jungle following one of the local tribe’s tracks. It’s likely to pass some of the minorities as they go about their business in the forest and see some deer and birdlife but the going is not easy. The tour arrives at the top of Green Hill, an inactive volcano over 300 meters above sea level in time for lunch. Before getting to the top, there’s a cave containing thousands of bats.

Another village path is taken for the trip down, which is a scramble over the loose red basalt soil. The scenery is different with streams, tall grass and bamboo.

(Source: SGT)

This comment was made by Pham Sanh Chau, Head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department for External Cultural Affairs and UNESCO, at a meeting with the press in Hanoi on December 6.

Playing the role of Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam has undertaken to organise a host of activities highlighting the group. These have not only enhanced mutual understanding among ASEAN member countries but also promoted Vietnam’s image to the world, Chau said.

Noteworthy were the walks for the ASEAN Community of Peace and Prosperity, the publication of a collection of stamps featuring ASEAN, ASEAN culinary week and artistic performances held at gala dinners at the end of the 16th and 17th ASEAN Summits.

Referring to cultural and artistic activities marking the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, Chau noted the UNESCO General Director’s handover of a certificate recognising Central Sector of Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi as a world cultural heritage on the first day of the ceremony, as a gesture to promote images of culture-rich Hanoi.

He said the organisation of Vietnamese days in a number of countriess including Germany, Russia and China ­ to mark diplomatic ties with these countries in the event year was significant to the country’s cultural diplomacy.

Chau highlighted efforts made by diplomats to win UNESCO recognition of the Central Sector of Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi as a cultural heritage, Giong Festival in Phu Dong and Soc temples as an intangible cultural heritage and 82 doctor laureate steles in Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) as historical documentary heritage, making Hanoi the first city in the world to have its three heritages honoured by UNESCO in a year.

In the year, Vietnam also won UNESCO recognition for Dong Van Stone Plateau in the northern province of Ha Giang as a member of the Global Network of National Geoparks (GGN).

The country now boasts a total of 13 world heritages, including two natural heritages, four cultural, five intangible, and two historical documentary heritages. It is also home to eight world bio reserves and one global geopark. According to Chau, in 2011, the cultural diplomacy work will be further stepped up via the deployment of an action plan to implement the Strategy for Vietnam’s Cultural Diplomacy toward 2020, the acceleration of establishment of a fund for cultural diplomacy and the organisation of Vietnamese days and weeks overseas.

The Department for External Cultural Affairs and UNESCO will work with relevant agencies to seek UNESCO recognition for the Hat Xoan singing genre (Phu Tho Province), Ho Dynasty Citadel (central Thanh Hoa Province) and woodblocks engraved with Buddhist sutras of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in northern Bac Giang Province.

(Source: VNA)

Among the other members of her group, Akihito Obama performs shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), displaying a combination of traditional techniques with a fluency in Western styles, while rounding out the quartet are pianist Mami Ishizuka and percussionist Akira Sunrise, who plays a variety of self-made and other instruments from around the world.

Local guest artists will also join in the performance, including Vanessa Vo Van Anh on dan tranh (16-chord zither) and cheo (traditional opera) singer Thu Huyen.

Van Anh started playing the zither at the age of four at the Viet Nam Academy of Music and co-composed and recorded the 2009 Emmy Award-winning soundtrack for the documentary Bolinao 52.

Huyen studied at the Ha Noi College of Art. She won first prize at the Young Talent Competition of Traditional Arts in 2000 and received the honour of Meritorious Artist from the Vietnamese Government in 2007.

The Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange is presenting the concert, and free free tickets are available at the Japan Foundation Centre, 27 Quang Trung Street in Ha Noi, beginning on November 26.

(Source: VNS)