Posted by huongpr2389 on June 5, 2009 under Vietnam Travel Info | 
Since the beginning of this year, an estimated 30,000 Chinese tourists have visited Hanlong Bay, marking an increase of 25 percent against the same period last year.
Currently, around 400 to 500 Chinese tourists arrive in Vietnam via the Mong Cai Border Gate each day. During the recent Lunar New Year (Tet) Holiday 2009, nearly 1,000-1,500 Chinese tourists were visiting Vietnam every day.
Chinese tourists visiting Quang Ninh Province via other border gates have now reached an estimated 7,000 people. This comes as Chinese interest in traveling to Vietnam during Vietnam’s tradtional Tet Holiday increases.
Before, and after Tet, all hotels in Halong were filled to capacity. Large crowds of Chinese tourists stayed overnight in Halong, but they mainly slept in two to three-star hotels at costs of around RMB 8,00-1,000 per person.
In Lang Son Province, Chinese tourists also queued up to enter Vietnam. Deputy Head of the Huu Nghi Customs Deparment Nguyen Bao Ngoc said that the number of Chinese tourists entering to Vietnam during the Tet Holiday number several thousand. At the Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son, many Chinese tourists said that they were coming to Vietnam to visit relatives and do businesses now that China had officially opened the border gate and relaxed restrictions.
In Lao Cai, statistics showed that nearly 10,000 Chinese tourists entered Vietnam via the Ha Khau Border Gate during the Tet Holiday until February 1st. This was the largest-ever number of Chinese tourists to pass through Lao Cai in only a few days, marking an increase of 30 percent against the same period last year.
Director of the Binh Minh International Travel Center Le Anh Dai said that because Chinese people were taking a longer vacation during the Lunar New Year, and had a custom to travel to the South in the Year of Buffalo, they chose Vietnam as an ideal destination. Moreover, a five package tour to Vietnam only costs around RMB 7,000 per person.
Posted by huongpr2389 on May 27, 2009 under Vietnam Travel Info |
Attractive discounts rates on package tours and the public holidays on April 30 and May 1 which help create four-day weekend at the end of this month have encouraged more people to go on tour on the occasion.
Domestic travel firm Viettravel reported an increase of 10 and 40 percent in the number of tourists booking domestic and outbound tours for the public holiday over the same period last year.
Local tour operators in HCMC reported an increase of 25 percent in bookings for domestic and overseas tours.
Saigontourist said its package tours to Europe and the U.S. are fully booked.
Only tours to Singapore-Malaysia and Thailand were still available, it said.
Tours for short holidays to south central coastal Phan Thiet City and central resort Nha Trang City are no longer available, as all local accommodation is fully booked.
This year’s holidays which fall on Thursday and Friday has resulted in the increasing number of tourists asking for longer days of traveling.
Among the popular domestic destinations are central resort cities of Danang and Nha Trang, Hoi An ancient town, northern mountainous Sapa town and Phu Quoc Island.
The primitive landscape of Ba Na tourist site also saw an increasing number of tourists thanks to the newly-operational cable car at Ba Na Mountain.
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong remain favorite destinations for Vietnamese. Budget package tours to South Korea with discounts of 40 percent have also been booked by a large number of tourists.
According to the industry’s insiders, the average tour prices on this occasion rose by US$30 to 40 for outbound tours while domestic tours saw little changes in prices.
But most tourists are willing to pay more on the occasion to fully enjoy their four-day weekend.
Viettravel also teamed up with national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to offer budget domestic package tours with prices lowered by VND2 million ($112) this summer.
Posted by huongpr2389 on May 18, 2009 under Vietnam Culture |
Sa Huynh is an area dotted with quaint fishing villages and sandy beaches in the central region’s Quang Ngai Province.Located off National Highway 1A, along milestones 983-987 on the coast of Duc Pho District and parallel to the national railway line, Sa Huynh abounds with golden sand.
The color of the sand changes during the day from an earthy brown early in the morning, to a shimmering gold around noon, followed by a pale blue hue on moonlit nights.
Sa Huynh is rich in local seafood and there are several restaurants offering up fresh meals from the sea.
The area is also steeped in ancient culture dating back to 1,000 BC. The Sa Huynh people are thought to be predecessors of the Cham, the founders of the Champa Kingdom.
Along with the Dong Son Culture in the north and the Oc Eo Culture in the Mekong Delta, Sa Huynh is considered one of the most famous ancient Vietnamese cultures of the Iron Age era.
Along the beach, stretching around 6km, and near the Sa Huynh Tourist Resort is an abundance of scenic highlights.
Visitors can rent motorbikes and travel around Ma Vuong Mound to see historic archeological sites.
In the culture of the ancient Sa Huynh people, the dead were cremated and buried in jars. In the early 20th century, French archeologists excavated these ‘tomb jars’ and found many were also buried with stone adornments and tools.
At Sa Huynh Hotel, about one kilometer south of the Sa Huynh Railway Station, visitors can enjoy the view of the vast blue sea, rest in the shade of green casuarinas, feel the cool breeze on their skin, swim in the sea by a sloping beach, and enjoy food specialties such as boiled crabs with salt and chili, rice porridge with sea urchins, and sour soup with groupers.
When visiting Sa Huynh, be sure to purchase a few kilos of nep ngu (a type of glutinous rice once offered to kings) and fermented urchin paste, which is only available in the summer.
Posted by huongpr2389 on May 5, 2009 under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam Travel Tips |
It is not commonly known that the history of signboards of shops in Hoi An, Quang Nam province, is the history of the development of this ancient city.
There is nowhere like in this city where the past, the present and the future are as connected to business and nowhere like in Hoi An where signboards of shops can tell so much.
Some of the signboards in Hoi An have been around since the 18th century and they are still hanging on the doors of ancient houses like living proof of the ancient city’s history.
Culture of signboards
On ancient streets of Hoi An, old signboards prevail on doors, giving the ancient city a unique architectural characteristic.
Signboards of shops are very diverse and eye-catching. There are 75 old signboards on the road of Tran Phu and 40 on Nguyen Thai Hoc street, belonging to shops of Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese.
According to the Hoi An Relics Preservation Centre, there are 45 signboards of 100-200 years old and 30 of less than 100 years. Many shops have been known for centuries, such as Duc Hung, Xan Thanh, Van Buu, Tan Ky, Tuong Lan, Chan Nam Hung, Thuan An Duong and Quan Thang San.
Mrs. Thai Thi Sam, 90, at No. 77, Tran Phu road, said: “Quan Thang San signboard is written in Chinese script. It has been used for more than 200 years, since the age of my paternal grandfather. It has been moved several times. Though my family doesn’t do business anymore, we still keep it because it is the brand of my grandparents.”
The old signboard Quan Thang San is now hung on the most beautiful old house in Hoi An. This house is a typical example of the architecture of Hoa Ha region in China. The house’s owner, Mr. Diep Bao Hung, is the 7th descendant of a Chinese captain named Thai Ke Trinh, who traded traditional Chinese medicines with Asian countries.
According to a survey of the Hoi An Relics Preservation Centre, most signboards were made based on the Chinese conception of prosperity and luck. However, the signboard of each house has its own special quality.
Most signboards of Chinese-Vietnamese are written in Chinese and made of wood. They are carved and gilded. Typical examples are Chan Nam Hung, Tuong Lan, and Tan Ky, which are decorated with leaves, flowers, dragons, and cranes.
There are some signboards made of concrete on walls, decorated with patterns, such as Thai Vinh Xuong, Nam Phat and Cam Thach.
Traditional values
Minh Duc Duong signboard, 120 Nguyen Thai Hoc.
The names of signboards tell the history of Hoi An, a commercial port established by the open door policy of the Nguyen Dynasty to boost trade with Chinese, Japanese, Dutch and others.
Signboards also express good things, combining with the names of shop owners.
The signboards like Hoa An Duong, Chan Nam Hung, Bao An Long, Nam Phat and An Thai express the wish to live and work in peace in this southern land by Chinese traders from Fujian, Chiu Chow, Hainan, and Guangzhou.
Annually, signboards are cleaned by a wiping cloth wet with alcohol but they are never painted again. During the lunar New Year holiday, they are decorated with red-cloth flowers. Below the signboards are scrolls of parallel lines of script: “Safe and Sound” or “Prosperous”.
Whenever a shop hangs up its signboard, the owner always chooses a good time and performs rituals with flowers, betel and areca, wine, steamed glutinous rice, boiled chicken, incense and votive paper.
At Chinese shops, there are some more offerings like a bowl of noodles, a piece of red paper on the plate of chicken and steamed glutinous rice to wish for luck and immortality.
Le Thi Tuan from the Hoi An Relics Preservation Centre said that as trade has been the foundation of Hoi An for several centuries so shop owners treasure their signboards. The position of major signboards will never be changed. Each shop has 2-4 signboards, one in the house’s centre, one in the living-room, and another hung outdoors.
“Even when a shop changes its business, the signboard is still kept out of respect to tradition,” Tuan said.
Modern meanings
The famous La Thien Thai shop.
There is nowhere like in Hoi An where signboards contain intangible cultural values. By looking at signboards and talking with signboard owners, one can learn about the life, habits and trade history of a family and the prosperity of Hoi An from the past to the present. Thus, the local government has regulations to manage signboards.
According to the chief of the Hoi An Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Van Lanh, in 1997, Hoi An issued the first regulations on signboards in the ancient city. These regulations are very strict and based on the traditional way of using signboards at shops in Hoi An.
“Hoi An can both develop business, tourism while preserving its traditional values when it preserves its unique signboards,” Lanh said.
According to regulations, signboards must be clear, of standard size and suitable to the traditional style of Hoi An.
In region 1 of the ancient city, signboards must have brown, stone, dark yellow colours. The local authorities encourage traders to use wood to make signboards. The script on signboards must be Vietnamese.
Of nearly 1,000 signboards in Hoi An, around 70% are made of timber and done in the traditional style.
Hoi An will continue to introduce its culture to tourists through this system of unique signboards.
Visa to Vietnam can be applied on: Vietnamvisaexpress and Vietnam-visa
Posted by huongpr2389 on April 22, 2009 under Vietnam Travel Info, Vietnam Travel Tips |
To get visa on arrival (for those traveling by air and picking up visa at airport), what you need to do is as follows:
- Getting approved letters by clicking here for filling in the form and send to us. 24 business hours after receiving your final confirmation on payment, you will be sent a copy of the pre-approved letter with code for picking up Vietnam visa
- Print the approved letter and 2 photos size 4×6cm with you for picking up visa at the airport
- Stamping fee will be paid directly at the airport.
Notes:
- Your visa upon arrival will be automatically arranged for those who enter Vietnam by airport.
- Visa on arrival is applied for those who travel by air only.
Posted by huongpr2389 on April 14, 2009 under Vietnam Travel Info, Vietnam Travel Stories |
A trip aboard a ‘royal boat’ on the Huong (Perfume) River is a great way to discover the historic town of Hue.
The central town of Hue is well known for its dragon boat trips along the Huong (Perfume) River. It is a great way to learn about the unique culture and history of the central region. On most trips, visitors can travel via these boats to visit the Nguyen Kings’ mausoleums while enjoying ca Hue (traditional Hue singing).
The Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) was the last monarchy of Vietnam and for a truly royal experience, visitors can opt to take a special royal boat adapted from the dynasty’s Yen Nhu boat. This type of vessel was featured at the Legend of Huong River Festival, part of Festival Hue 2008.
Compared with ordinary dragon boats that serve tourists, the royal boat is much bigger. It is 27 meters long, seven meters wide, and nearly six meters tall with seating for 120 people. Spectacular dragons and tigers are carved into the boat’s wooden floor and railings.
The cruise begins at Nghinh Luong Dinh Quay and lasts one and a half hours from 7 p.m. every night. On the voyage, visitors travel along the Huong River, from Truong Tien to Bach Ho bridges. The boat cruises gently past several scenic areas of Hue while traditional cuisine is served with musical accompaniment.
The trip is also enhanced by drama performances including royal songs, time-honored dances and poetry readings. Visitors can also share in the fun by trying on costumes like that worn by the kings and royal family during gala dinners.
Guests are sure to enjoy an evening of floating along the peaceful river while learning about royal culture and history.
A royal boat trip costs a base rate of VND50,000 (US$2.90) with optional activities costing more.
Posted by huongpr2389 on April 6, 2009 under Vietnam Culture, Vietnam Travel Info |
The ancient village of Phuoc Tich in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue has been recognised as a national cultural heritage by the Government.
Phuoc Tich, located 40km to the north of Hue, has 117 old houses, including 27 in traditional style that are of invaluable architectural and cultural value.
Importantly, it has clung to its traditional pottery craft through the centuries.
The first villages sprung up in central Viet Nam centuries ago. During the Le dynasty in the late 15th century, especially during the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, great southward migrations were organised to extend the nation’s territory southward in the face of Chinese aggression in the north.
Later, in the mid-16th century, the Nguyen Lords, seeking to build a new royal capital in the south, set off a further migration that saw more villages mushroom in the central region.
Most of the migrants were farmers, and their foremost interest upon arrival at a new place was growing crops.
But some villages chose handicrafts and other vocations to make a living. Phuoc Tich was one such.
The founders decided to build the village in Con Duong, a sanctuary for local Cham villagers who were also the owners of the land.
The site was probably picked because it was ideal for the vocation the founders had chosen: pottery.
It was near a river, thus assuring a supply of vital water and enabling easy transport of raw materials and finished products.
Royal approval
Phuoc Tich was a famous pottery village in its heyday, supplying the entire central region. It achieved great honour when the Nguyen Court in Hue had the village produce “om ngu”, or clay pots for cooking in the Forbidden City.
Their success enabled Phuoc Tich residents to afford the renowned Hue-style traditional wooden houses that are now regarded as a cultural heritage of the village – 27 of them in an area of just 1.4sq.km, each nestling in a spacious garden.
Looking at these garden-houses now, visitors can easily picture in their mind’s eye the golden age of the village with its hustle and bustle, splendour, and prosperity.
Like in Hoi An, the village’s old structures have been preserved by a chance of history: Pottery-making gradually lost its charm and young people began to go to other places, leaving behind the old and very young, in search of jobs.
Those who stayed back had no reason to make changes to their homes, and a large number of them have survived intact.
These days the village is again receiving a lot of attention, this time from researchers in and outside the country. Its large assemblage of old traditional houses and vestiges of Cham culture convince them of its great cultural heritage.
The Government and foreign organisations are considering plans to revive the pottery art of Phuoc Tich and, to an extent, restore the vitality of this typical handicraft.
The most ambitious project is one envisaged by Belgium’s Wallonie Heritage Institute and the Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Arts to revive the village through a tourism-based project. It is expected to help research the cultural heritage of the village, preserve the old traditional houses, and revive the traditional handicraft by organising tours to the place based on pottery, holding a “Heritage Day” festival in the village, setting up a website for it, and exhibiting Phuoc Tich products in Belgium.
The project could benefit the village greatly but suffers from some drawbacks.
No paddy fields
Because of its traditional dependence on pottery, the village is one of those rare Vietnamese ones without rice paddies.
In the late 20th century, when plastic products appeared on the market, everyday pottery died out slowly.
Without rice fields to turn to unlike in most other villages, people, especially young ones, began to migrate to cities, leaving behind old people and children.
This is a reasonably common occurrence in Vietnamese villages but Phuoc Tich has taken it to an extreme: old people and children make up 80 per cent of its population.
The farm chores that give rise to the iconic images of rural Viet Nam and draw tourists are conspicuous by their absence here.
Last summer I visited Phuoc Tich with American woman Le Thi Ngoc Dieu, and her husband Daniel Mark, both university professors. We were disappointed despite being briefed about its present state.
The fields appeared withered and uncared for, the houses were deadly quiet with old people and children listlessly sitting on the doorstep, staring vacantly, and doing nothing.
We agreed that to make the village interesting for tourists, the first thing to do was to give it back its pastoral life.
Then, the planned revival of the pottery craft should be able to provide well-paid employment to persuade young people to return home.
Another issue is the value of the pottery they may produce. The craftspeople, no longer conversant with the demands of the market, should be thoroughly apprised on patterns and styles they should create.
Nguyen Huu Thong, president chairman of the Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Arts, said his agency plans to link up Phuoc Tich with two neighbouring villages – My Xuyen (famous for its carvings) and Phu Oc Dem (rush-weaving) – to make wooden statues with ceramic pedestals.
This is likely to add value to Phuoc Tich’s products and help bring young people from neighbouring villages before Phuoc Tich’s young return themselves.
It appears to be most viable project conceived yet to resuscitate the village.
Posted by huongpr2389 on April 3, 2009 under Food and Drinks |
Nuoc mam, fish sauce, is the most essential ingredient for everyday meals and cooking in Viet Nam.
It is a signature aspect of Vietnamese cuisine, and distinguishes it from Chinese cooking, which is marked by its prominent use of soy sauce. This inimitable, Vietnamese sauce is obtained through the maceration of saltwater fish and their fermentation under sunny, natural conditions. The ingredients and climate are readily available thanks to the country’s lengthy coastline and tropical forecasts.
The best nuoc mam comes from the islands of Phu Quoc and Cat Hai, respectively on the southwestern and northern coasts, and from the central province of Phan Thiet.
There’s a Thai variation of nuoc mam, but it does not compare to the original Vietnamese product. Nuoc mam is rich in amino acids, sodium chloride, histamines and organic and mineral phosphors.
Nuoc mam may have a strong smell for the uninitiated, but it is no more intense than a Roquefort cheese or a gamy meat. Plus, there are ways to lighten the odour, namely by not using it when cooking over an open fire.
By flavouring it with a variety of condiments, nuoc mam can be used to enhance a number of different dishes. When ginger is added, it is perfect for boiled duck; vinegar, lemon, garlic and onion are added for fried fish; and a smashed, hard-boiled duck egg may be added for boiled cabbage.
Nem, spring rolls, require a very light sauce seasoned simply with vinegar, sugar and pepper, while banh cuon, a plain or stuffed rice wrap, goes particularly well with a wee bit of natural belostomid essence.
In Phan Thiet, home to one of the country’s most famous brands, nuoc mam is garnished with pineapple slices, while house wives in some other parts of the South boast a more exotic recipe: nuoc mam in boiled coconut milk.
But the ingredient that tops all others is chilli, fresh or powdered the hotter the better and lots of it. In addition to nuoc mam, there are paste products, generically named mam, also made from macerated marine fish and crustaceans and believed to have been introduced by the Cham and other ethnic groups of Malayo-Polynesian origin.
The most common of these other products is the shrimp-based mam tom, notorious for its strong smell but irreplaceable in regards to dog meat, pig organs, grilled tofu and fat pork. Mam tom, called mam ruoc in the central regions, is a must-have for certain Hue specialities, such as bun bo, beef noodles, and com hen, mussels with rice.
Still, there’s nothing like mam tom chua, sour fermented shrimp, the crown jewel of Hue cooking. Farmers in the Hong (Red) River Delta have their own special brew, which they make from small, fresh-water shrimp and call mam tep. It’s unforgettable once you’ve tried it with a little fat pork, noodles and some aromatic herbs.
Posted by huongpr2389 on April 1, 2009 under Visa to Vietnam |
You need a visa to enter Vietnam before you travel to the country. It’s easy to organise a Vietnam visa in Bangkok if you know where to go.
The first way is to go directly to the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok. Once inside, fill in one of the application forms and then submit it at the window along with the appropriate fee. It’s around 1000 Baht ($30 US) for a one entry visa – make sure you request a multiple entry visa if you intend to exit and re-enter Vietnam during your travels, otherwise you’ll have to apply for a second visa all over again. You need to submit the visa application between 8.30am to 11.30 am and 1.30pm to 4.30pm. You can collect it 3 days later or pay a little more and get express service to collect it the next day, but make sure you drop it early in the morning if you want to be sure of this. You can find more info on the quite helpful
The second way is to order visa online. It will take you about 2 days to receive the approval letter from the Vietnam Immigration Department via e-mail after filling in the application form. All you have to do is to print it out and bring it to your Vietnam arrival airport to get stampted. This way is rather popular now because of its convenience and cheap price.
You can use either of these methods to ontain a visa to Vietnam. It is so easy.
Posted by huongpr2389 on March 25, 2009 under Visa to Vietnam |
A Vietnamese entry visa is required for all foreigners wishing to visit Vietnam except for citizens of countries having bilateral agreements on visa exemption with Vietnam.
There are two ways to get visa to Vietnam
1. Visa getting up on arrival
* Arrival visa means the visa that you can collect upon arrival at the airport. The advantages of arrival visa is you will not need to go anywhere to apply for the visa and it is convenient for people who really want to save their valuable time in business.
* You will need to have a letter of visa upon arrival which is issued by Vietnam Immigration Department. Airlines accept this letter and you can get visa upon arrival at airports in Vietnam easily. You can apply visa on approval here
2. Visa getting at the Embassy
* Visa getting at the embassy means the visa that you collect at Vietnam Embassy in the country you are living.
* You will need to have a letter of visa getting at the Embassy which is issued by Vietnam Immigration Department. Vietnam Embassy accept this letter and you can get the visa toVietnam easily.
