Posted by admin on August 24, 2011 under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam beauty | 
Talking about Quang Nam province, probably many people would think about Hoi An street or My Son holy city; however, the beautiful landscape in the west of Que Son town, at the headwaters of Thu Bon River is also a very attractive destination.
Tay Vien hot spring brings enjoyment and relaxation
Distant from My Son vestige about three kilometers towards the west is Tay Vien hot spring. This place is taken form from some earthquakes in the entrails of the earth millions of years ago.
The water in these two streams is very clear, with the average temperature of about 85 degrees.
This is an ideal place for tourist to steam bath. The stream’s water contains many precious mineral substances such as calcium, potassium, sulphur and iron.Tourists can also have a mud – bath here, which can help them to relax and cure some sickness.
At a distance of about five kilometers from Tay Vien towards the east, there is a very beautiful stream, named Fairy Stream. This is one of the most beautiful streams in the Central region.
Located in two sides of the stream are the rocky mountains. In the afternoon, the sunset contrasts and creates miraculous colors, and makes the landscape become a natural painting, which is so beautiful and impressive.
About 2.5 kilometres from Tay Vien hot spring towards the west, there is a cultural village, Dai Binh village. It is located nearby Thu Bon River.
Coming there, tourists can totally feel comfortable when relaxing in the ancient houses and enjoy the countryside fruits. The gardens here are just like ones in the South with so many kinds of fruit such as durian, mangosteen, rambutan, langsat, orange and grapefruit.
There is also ferry – boats for tourists to enjoy the scene along Thu Bon River. On the two sides of the river, people grow many mulberry. Tourists would be very impressed with the immense green of these mulberry gardens.
Tourist can stop their ferry – boats at any white sand – banks along the river to enjoy the beautiful landscape around as well as swimming, catching fishes and the delicious baked fishes.
The flow crosses two mountains. The cliffs look just like the huge dykes that divide the water into two parts. The scene is just so imposing.
When the ferry – boat floats downstream, tourists would have chance to visit Le Pass, with a beauty that is not very different from Fairy Stream. On this way back, Que Chau village would welcome tourists with the traditional Vietnamese opera and Non village would make tourists interested with the process of making “non la” (conical hat)- the traditional hat of Vietnamee people.
(Source: SGGP)
Posted by admin on July 26, 2011 under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam attractions |
Many visitors and local residents in HCM City are very eager to visit the Saigon Skydeck observatory on the 49th floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower to see the city from above.
The 178m observatory opens from 9.30am to 9.30 pm everyday. It has become a destination for many visitors who want to discover HCM City by binoculars.
Mrs. Lucy, 65, from New Zealand, said: “I’ve been here twice and I’m impressed by Ho Chi Minh City panorama from the top. I will return to this observatory with my friends.”
Mr. Phil, 40, a British visitor who comes to the observatory with his girlfriend, said: “Though the observatory does not have entertainment services, it is interesting to see the whole HCM City at the height of nearly 180 meters. I like the lotus-shaped design of this building.”
However, most of Vietnamese visitors said that the observatory ticket prices are too high.
The ticket for adult is priced VND200,000 ($9), VND130,000 for children from 4 to 12 and the elderly of over 65 years old. It is free for kids of less than 3. Group visitors will enjoy softer prices.
Saigon Skydeck is equipped with six long-range binoculars, enabling visitors to see details in Saigon’s streets very clearly.
The observatory also has six screens on the glass wall, which display information about the city’s landscapes or relics.
Saigon Skydeck is the first 180m observatory in Vietnam. It is located in HCM City’s tallest building, the Bitexco Financial Tower.
(Source: VNE)
Posted by admin on under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam Travel Stories, Vietnam attractions |
Po Cung Grotto on Pha Hang Mountain in Thanh Hoa Province is the largest grotto cemetery in Vietnam.
The grotto is 10m high, divided into three parts with two doors of 5m high. It is the cemetery for 74 ancient coffins made of tree-trunks. Most of them are quite intact.
Anthropologists explained that instead of burying dead people, some ethnic groups put dead people in caves. In Vietnam, this practice was popular during the Dong Son era.
Archaeologists discovered coffins dating back to the first century in Thailand caves and coffins from the 5th century BCE to the early 20th century in China’s caves. Coffins in the form of dug-out canoes in Po Cung grotto are the first of their kind to be discovered in Vietnam. These coffins are made of tree-trunks and they are placed on wooden brackets.
The biggest coffins are 2.8m long, 0.48m wide and the smallest are 1.4m long and 0.28m wide. Many coffins don’t have bones inside.
Scientists observed that this grotto may be a cemetery of several big families and they still want to know how they brought the coffins into the grotto, which is located high on the mountain.
After Po Cung grotto was discovered several years ago in Quan Hoa district, officials have combined with the Institute for Archaeology to research the grotto. The provincial government aims to turn it into a tourist site.
Discovering Vietnam’s Po Cung Cave:
On the way to Po Cung cave.
The red cross sign is the cave
Archaeologists left signs on the road.
The cave door.
Broken coffins.
(Source: Vietnamnet)
Posted by admin on July 19, 2011 under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam beauty |
For a long time, Hue has been famous for many beautiful and ancient landscapes, and one of them is the Perfume River.
Perfume River flows mildly like a silk range and leads to Vy Da garden, Thien Mu pagoda, Bach Yen River and Huyen Khong pier one after another. All of these four destinations are magnificent, peaceful and ancient.
Along with those beautiful and romantic scenes, Hue is also famous for many pleasure activities, which are very interesting such as “Releasing boat”, “Playing with the moon”, “Hue singing”, “Sleeping on boat ”and“ Playing with verse All these activities are associated with Perfume River and only have in Hue city.
“Sleeping on the boat” is just a name, since nobody come to the boats for sleeping but only for enjoying the cool wind, watching the moon and the sky and listening to the beautiful songs.
“Playing with verse” is a literary gamble, which enquires players to be very intelligent as well as to have good plans and strategies. The interesting point of the game is that players cannot only make use of all knowledge about literature that they have but also learn many new things from others.
Hue singing is originated from the combination of traditional music and royal music. This elegant and attractive kind of music is really worth listening. Tourists would have a chance to sit on the imperial boats that kings and lords used to be seated in the old time.
In the hold of the boat, there is an imposing orchestra includes nearly all kinds of Vietnamese traditional musical instruments.
The bandsmen as well as the singers are still very young, and they all wear “áo dài”, the Vietnamese traditional clothes. On the prow of the boats, there is a wide and airy space for enjoying the moonlight and the fresh air.
When the night falls down, Perfume River becomes more fantastic. The lamplight spreads on the river just like silver. The winds blow softly and the boat floats slowly. Everything makes travelers feel so peaceful.
In the distance across the river, Thien Mu pagoda appears vaporously, Phuoc Duyen tower looks like being laminated with the moonlight. The scene is so charming and romantic.
Having a night on Perfume River, listening to Hue singing and enjoying the fresh cool air along with the beautiful scenes around, tourists would discover some feelings that could only be found in Huế.
(Source: SGGP)
Posted by admin on May 9, 2011 under Vietnam Travel Tips, Vietnam attractions |
A life-sized replica of a Jarai burial ground in the outdoor viewing area at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi.
Many foreigners make the mistake of thinking about Vietnam as a homogenous nation, comprised of a single race of people.
In fact, it is home to a variegated tapestry of cultures—54 ethnic minorities live within its borders.
These tribal communities are scattered throughout the country and some are isolated by rugged terrain.
Those looking to get a rudimentary grasp on these various cultures should head to the Museum of Ethnology on Nguyen Van Huyen Street in Hanoi.
On May 18, in celebration of International Museum Day, the institution will give away gifts to the first 100 visitors. Special tours have been organized on the day as well as a series of reports on the institution’s cultural preservation efforts
A foreign favorite
Director Vo Quang Trong said the museum sees about half a million visitors, every year. Lately, he said, it’s getting a bit crowded.
More than thirty foreigners have posted comments on www.travel.yahoo.com and www.tripadvisor.com calling the museum an excellent first stop in Vietnam.
“The museum really gives you great insight into [Vietnam’s] 54 ethnic groups […] and a sense of the country you’re in,” wrote Nadja Ring and Kevin Madigan on the yahoo website.
French President Jaques Chirac inaugurated the building during his visit in 1997.
Since then, the museum has continued to showcase exhibits created by local and foreign photographers and ethnologists.
The façade was designed by the Tay architect Ha Duc Linh and modeled after an ancient Dong Son Drum. The interior was designed by the French architect Véronique Dollfus.
Fourteen years later, the museum serves as a center for the exhibition, preservation and research of these groups’ cultural legacies in Vietnam.
Today the museum’s collection includes 30,000 artifacts, 2,190 slides, 42,000 photographs, 237 audiotapes, 373 videotapes and 25 audio and video CDs.
The exhibits also include interactive video displays that chronicle the process of making non la (palm-leaf conical hats), the funeral rights of the Muong people and a Bahnar buffalo-slaughtering ceremony.
The director said that 30,000 artifacts collected in Vietnam and abroad are not divided equally among the ethnics due to difficulties in studying and collecting subjects especially in underdeveloped and shrinking ethnic groups.
Green museum
A sizeable portion of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is situated in a well-manicured outdoor space.
During regular visiting hours, ethnic artisans hold craft demonstrations as well as traditional food preparations.
Children have the chance to watch water puppet shows, enjoy to he (edible toy figurines), and participate in traditional games.
The museum’s “living” displays are probably the largest of their kind and cover an area of roughly 3.3 hectares.
Most of these exhibits are located in the meticulously-landscaped garden. So far, these exhibits are divided into ten plots, some of which house up to seven life-sized traditional structures.
Trong laments that only ten ethnic groups are represented in this outdoor space.
Last year, the 830-hectare Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village opened 37 kilometers west of Hanoi. Trong claims that the village does not adequately represent any ethnic groups since the organizers invited some private companies to built tourist attractions – mostly out of concrete.
Trong said his museum invited members of each ethnic community to build traditional structures for visitors to see and enter. These builders periodically return to maintain the structures.
The model structures include a Dao home, a Tay stilt home and a long stilt-home (45m) associated with the matriarchal Ede.
The latest additions to the display garden include traditional Ha Nhi homes of the Bahnar and Cham people.
The structures are presented alongside information about the tools and techniques used as well as information about the builders themselves.
“Few museums have such an outstanding green space,” said Doan Thanh, a Vietnamese-German painter, who held an exhibition at the museum in 2008. “As a result, it provides an ideal place to study Vietnam’s various cultures as well as providing a space for picnicking, taking wedding photos, and allowing children to play.”
Some of the capital’s urban residents consider it a place to go back in time.
Nguyen Dang Tuan Minh often heads to the museum on his bicycle. Once there, he enjoys the cool breezes and open space.
“Whenever I think of my late grandmother and my hometown in the province, I spend time in the museum garden and visit the model northern home,” said Minh. “It brings back memories of my childhood.”
Address: Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi (about 8km from downtown)
Open from 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Tours take at least three hours.
Ticket: VND25,000 (US$1.25)
Reported by Minh Ngoc – Priscilla Aquilla – Thanh nien news
Posted by admin on May 6, 2011 under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam Travel Info, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam beauty |
Sapa Town in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai has been voted one of the world’s top ten spots for walking by popular travel guide Lonely Planet.
The other greatest places for walkers are the Grand Canyon in the US, Aoraki/Mount Cook Village in New Zealand, Lake District in England, Torres del Paine in Chile, Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, Brecon Beacons in Wales, Kakadu National Park in Australia, Taman Negara in Malaysia, and Dartmoor in England.
According to Lonely Planet, walking can be the best way to experience a place.
“Heaven on earth”
For Vietnamese, Sapa is also a top holiday destination.
1.600m higher than the sea level, Sapa has a mild temperature of 15 to 18 Celsius degree.
Though this town welcomes visitors all year around, it is generally agreed to be most beautiful in April and May.
Before the summer, the weather may be a bit cold and foggy, and after the summer, the rain season sets in.
In April and May, Sapa is blooming with green pastures and flowers, many of which can’t be found anywhere else in the country, and few visitors fail to marvel at the beauty of the cloudy valleys here every summer morning.
Sapa is also home to many breathtaking spots such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave.
And this is here that adventurers can climb to Vietnam’s rooftop on Fansipan Mountain at 3.143m above the sea level.
See the best hotel in sapa at the website http://Vietnamhotels.net/.
Posted by admin on April 13, 2011 under Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam beauty |
HANOI, Vietnam — Close your eyes in the streets of Hanoi Old Quarter and you’ll experience two sensations. The first is the earsplitting cacophony of conversation, cars, clamor and chaos. The second is the realization that closing your eyes for very long in such a crowded place can be unwise, unless you enjoy being jostled, bumped, hustled, shouted at, or maybe even knocked down.
Such is the Vietnamese capital, lurching into the 21st century with the swirl of unfettered street capitalism set to the soundtrack of Communist proclamations.
Everywhere people are buying, selling, hawking goods and offering services, while nationalistic music and announcements about keeping streets clean play regularly in the background. Six million people live in this former colonial metropolis; add hundreds of thousands more who jammed Hanoi last fall for the celebration marking its 1,000th anniversary, and you sense that this already dizzying city is spinning into a new era.
This is not to say that traditions are endangered. The Old Quarter is arguably the epicenter for the city’s connections to its past. Wander its crisscross of streets — with tall trees, narrow buildings, louvered windows and people’s lives spilling onto sidewalks — and you’ll discover a district known as 36 Streets, named for the craft guilds that populated the neighborhood over the centuries, mixing Vietnamese and Chinese merchants and artisans together. Silk Street (Hang Gai), Silver Street (Hang Bac), Sails Street (Hang Buom), among others, all offer their crafts and other goods for tourists or locals. The Old Quarter’s oldest building, the Bach Ma (White Horse) Temple, dates back to Hanoi’s original incarnation as the imperial city of Thang Long — Soaring Dragon.
For culinary traditions, Cha Ca La Vong is a nondescript restaurant on Cha Ca Street that’s been serving up one dish for more than a century. Sit down at a communal tables shared by random guests — common language not required — and forget the menu. Waiters bring out tabletop, gas-fired stoves in which chunks of marinated, turmeric-coated whitefish are fried in oil — by patrons themselves — along with dill, chives and other greens. Dump the mixture over rice noodles, top with peanuts and wash it down with a draft beer known as bia hoi. The fish itself doesn’t deserve many superlatives and tourists have pushed up prices, but it’s still worth the experience. You can also find bia hoi at the corner of Luong Ngoc Quyen and Dinh Liet streets, where backpacker tourists outnumber the Vietnamese sitting on the stools.
Pho is the dish Vietnam is best known for — a steamy broth of beef or chicken with noodles, greens, star anise and spices. It’s served up everywhere, and everyone has their own spice secret. Order a bowl from a sidewalk vendor, squat on a plastic stool a foot or so from the traffic, savor the broth and watch the crush of people go by. You can also sop up good soup in quieter, though less interesting settings in the indoor comforts of the chain restaurant Pho 24.
Vietnam is one of the world’s top coffee exporters, and it’s known for bitter, super-strong coffee, lightened with condensed milk. You may also see ads for ca phe chon, the coffee famously brewed from beans that have been digested — in one end, then out the other — by weasel-like animals known as civets. Real civet coffee is extremely expensive — $100 a cup — so beware of imitations, which are extremely common, particularly in areas frequented by tourists.
http://www.news-press.com
Tourists ride in the Old Quarter neighborhood in Hanoi, Vietnam. / The Associated Press file photo
Getting there: No major international carriers serve Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport directly from the United States or Europe. But travelers can easily connect via flights from Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong or other Asian hubs.
Tips: May to September is the hottest time of year. Travelers from most countries need visa to Vietnam, usually obtained ahead of time, though if crossing the border by land, it’s an easy procedure to get a stamp for your passport. U.S. citizens can get them through the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington or through online visa processing services.
Accommodations: Hanoi has hotels, hostels, boutique accommodations and bed-and-breakfasts to suit any traveler’s budget. Most Old Quarter hotels are midrange ($25-$65 a night) such as the Classic I Hotel, Ta Hien Street, or the Paradise hanoi Hotel, Hang Chieu Street. Outside the Old Quarter, modest hotels range from the Church Hotel, Nha Tho Street, to upscale hotels (from about $125 a night) like the high-rise Sofitel Plaza, Thanh Nien Street, or the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake, Nghi Tam Street.
Posted by admin on April 5, 2011 under Vietnam Beaches, Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam Travel Info, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam beauty |
The National Tourism Year 2011 will take place in many localities in the south central coastal region. On this occasion, Saigon-Phu Yen Tourism Joint Stock Company introduces many events to attract tourists.
The National Tourism Year in south central coastal region, Phu Yen 2011, is expected to go with more than 30 cultural, sport and tourist events of national and international levels.
The event, hosted by Phu Yen Province together with other localities in the central region – Danang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, aims to mark the 400 years of its establishment and development.
Throughout this year, south central coastal provinces, especially Phu Yen, will hold a series of activities for the National Tourism Year. The key of them are the sea and island tourism, meeting and parade to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Phu Yen on April 1, international seminar on “Cultural legacies in Vietnam’s south central region” on April 2 and 3, and the cultural exchange night between Vietnam and South Korea and some other countries on April 3.
Phu Yen has a 189-kilometer coastline with sceneries of wild beauty such as Cu Mong and O Loan lagoons, Vung Ro and Xuan Dai bays, and Dai Lanh Cape. In particular, this province has Da Dia Rock as the country’s exclusive scenic spot and more than 10 desolate, beautiful beaches.
Phu Yen is also a land with a cultural tradition and many historical events. The inhabitation of various ethnic groups creates an abundant folk culture. Visitors to the province will enjoy the sounds of Tuy An District’s rock music instrument, attend fishermen’s festivals, or festivals of ethnic communities with people playing gongs around a big fire.
Saigon-Phu Yen Tourism Joint Stock Company, which is an affiliate of Saigontourist Holding Company and runs Saigon Phu Yen Hotel and Huong Sen Hotel in the provincial city of Tuy Hoa, will welcome the national tourism year with its business activities.
Saigon Phu Yen Hotel, one of the biggest accommodation facilities in Tuy Hoa, has 87 rooms, 10 suites, a hall for 300 people, restaurants with five sections to serve Vietnamese, Asian and European cuisines, and bars. Providing places for conferen-ces and parties are among its servi-ces. The four-star hotel was brought into operation in August last year.
The hotel has launched two new programs. That is, it serves dinner buffets with more than 30 selected dishes for VND49,000-59,000 on weekends and offers rooms with a price discount for VND400,000 per night.
Huong Sen Hotel, accredited with two-star standards, consists of 56 rooms. Competitive room rates make it one of the best venues for visitors to the city.
Saigon-Phu Yen Tourism Joint Stock Company is strong in providing tours. A wide range of tours meet diverse tastes of guests and visitors. These tours include visiting Da Dia Rock, watching sunset and dawn at Dai Lanh Cape, and trekking in primeval forests.
Saigon-Phu Yen Hotel:
541 Tran Hung Dao St., Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province.
Huong Sen Hotel:
22B Nguyen Tat Thanh St., Ward 2, Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province.
Posted by admin on March 30, 2011 under Vietnam Beaches, Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam hotels |
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 Sometimes all you need is the right setting of sun, sea and sand for love to simply blossom.
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Boutique hotel collection Mr & Mrs Smith (www.mrandmrssmith.com) help you to find the romantic beach retreats to get you in the mood for passion.
1. Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, Nha Trang, Vietnam
Set on a private peninsula that’s just a sexy speedboat ride from coastal town Nha Trang in south-central Vietnam, romantic boutique hotel Six Senses Ninh Van Bay offers luxury for lovers. Its 58 dreamy villas all feature seductive beds and bath tubs open to the outdoors, with private pools for cooling dips (choose between beach, spa or waterside settings). You can also dine alfresco by the bay, the pool or up on the rocks for serene sea views – or book a table for two in the atmospherically lit Wine Cave, perfect for popping the question. After quality pampering at the Six Senses Spa, make a date with a sunlounger on the secluded beach. REUTERS/Handout
2. Cap d’Antibes Beach Hotel, Côte d’Azur, France
With design as glittering as the surrounding sea, chic Côte d’Azur retreat Cap d’Antibes Beach Hotel in the south of France is all about Gallic glamour. Once a beachside club for the jet-set, including film stars Sofia Loren and Cary Grant, this heavenly hotel has its own beach for sandy sojourns. With just 27 rooms, it’s intimate, too; Deluxe Room 208 has dazzling views, but Room 201 has a fabulous fish mural. Even the restaurant is named Les Pecheurs (The Fishermen) after the maritime setting. Dine here for gastronomic gravitas, or casual beachside Le Cap serves up pasta, fish and local dishes by the waves. Bring this season’s swimwear for poolside posing.
3. Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
For a romantic hotel on the Great Barrier Reef, look no further than Australian boutique retreat Lizard Island, a short flight from Cairns off the Far North Queensland coast. With just 40 secluded rooms and 24 ivory-white beaches to choose from, you’re likely to have a seductive cove of sand all to yourself for that picnic by the waves. Swim off the beach, take a kayak or boat out, or go snorkeling or diving at famous Cod Hole on the outer reef with turtles and rays for company. Back at base camp, enjoy a hot-stone massage at Azure Spa, then dine on fresh fish and seafood at airy Osprey’s restaurant. This idyllic island has honeymoon written all over it. REUTERS/Handout
4. The Datai, Langkawi, Malaysia
Set on beach-blessed Langkawi Island, a back-to-nature getaway off Malaysia’s northwest coast, the Datai occupies a dramatic perch between pure white-sand beaches and verdant rainforest. Famed for its opulence, this beachfront luxury hotel attracts the great and the glam, with 112 wood-crafted rooms, including standalone villas in jungle pockets. The striking main pool boasts beach views, and is for adults only, so you can relax in peace. Alternatively, take a couple’s cooking class, enjoy a spa or yoga session, or go on a guided nature walk (look out for monkeys and eagles). With delicious Malaysian and Thai dishes up for grabs, as well as a beach club restaurant, dining is an affair in itself. REUTERS/Handout
5. Masseria Torre Coccaro, Puglia, Italy
A fortified farmhouse set amid sea-scented olive groves, Masseria Torre Coccaro boutique hotel in Puglia offers refined romance on Italy’s Adriatic shores. Located between Brindisi and Bari on the country’s south-east coast, its 37 stone-walled rooms are exquisitely decorated with linen bedding, silky sofas, baroque mirrors and antique furniture. Chill out in a poolside hammock, warm up in the Turkish baths or treat yourself in the Aveda spa. For nautical romance, commandeer Masseria’s private 14-meter yacht, then relax at the beach club restaurant. The hotel also runs a horse riding center, if you fancy a trot along the sand. REUTERS/Handout
6. Zeavola, Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
One of the only boutique hotels on the intimate twin islands of Koh Phi Phi, Zeavola resort is a sandy seaside hamlet of traditional Thai huts blending relaxed rusticity with mod-con indulgence. An affordable spot to savour beautiful shores, it offers 52 freestanding villas (beachfront ones are the most romantic – plump for number 51, nearest the sea). Inside, net-draped beds, teak surfaces and Thai furniture keep things simple. When you’ve overdosed on swimming and sunbathing, learn to dive at the PADI center or take a speedboat trip around the islands, then settle in at Tecada beach bar and restaurant for some serious sunset-scoping. REUTERS/Handout
7. Martinhal Beach Resort & Hotel, Sagres, Portugal
Set at Sagres on the wild south-west coast of Portugal’s Algarve, Martinhal Beach Resort & Hotel is beloved by beachcombers, with an inviting stretch of sand and a national park for neighbors. Natural materials rule in the 38 rooms, from cork to timber, wicker and stone, ensuring ocean views remain the star of the show. The Beach Rooms are the most private, with sea vistas from airy balconies. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring the outdoors in at O Terraço restaurant, too, where sea urchin roe with scrambled egg is a must. Distractions include tennis courts, a sports club, pools, watersports, a spa, sauna and steam rooms, but strolling along the seductive beaches at Sagres’ fishing port takes some beating. REUTERS/Handout
8. Cocoa Island, Maldives, Indian Ocean
To rev up the romance, escape to serene sanctuary Cocoa Island, a cluster of 33 suites and villas set over the Indian Ocean in the Maldives. A hit with honeymooning couples and lovers of pristine diving, it’s the stuff of faraway island fantasies. All rooms are individual at-sea dwellings sited off a snaking wooden pier, with private sun-decks, walk-in showers, roll-top baths and vintage-style ceiling fans. Resembling Keralan boathouses, they promise over-water views, soothing white interiors and teak flooring for laid-back romance. Scuba diving and snorkeling on the reef are mind-blowing, or just explore the holistic Como Shambhala Spa. Cocktails at poolside bar Faru beckon for re-intoxicating after. REUTERS/Handout
9. Shore Club Miami, Miami, United States
Miami meets Marrakech at Shore Club Miami, a stylish 309-room retreat in the heart of South Beach. This art deco hotel is a hedonistic playground for grown-ups by day or night, with a sexy retro lobby, sprawling lawns, the slinky Skybar and a branch of acclaimed Japanese restaurant Nobu. The party people may flock here, but it’s a romantic spot, too. Bag a sleek white room with a balcony sea view, loaded with hi-tech treats, then head down to the steamy hot tub and two elevated infinity-edge pools, fringed by decadent cushion-strewn day-beds. Luxurious, tropical and right by the beach. You’ve so arrived…REUTERS/Handout
10. Alila Villas Soori, Bali, Indonesia
Strung along Bali’s south-west coast between black-sand beaches and jade-green rice paddies, just-remote-enough Indonesian retreat Alila Villas Soori is seriously seductive. All 48 of its pool villas are sublime, minimal havens with ocean views, but book a second-storey Ocean Pool Villa for a blue bonus: a sea-view bath tub. After lazing by the beach or 25-meter infinity pool, enjoy a slumber-inducing Balinese massage at Spa Alila. Surfing, horse-riding and cycling are all on offer, or ask the Leisure Concierge to hook you up with bespoke visits to local food markets, artisans or romantic temples. Just steps off Kelating Beach, the resort’s casual restaurant Coast grills fresh seafood over charcoal or clink glasses at more formal restaurant Cotta. REUTERS/Handout
Source: Reuters
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Posted by admin on March 28, 2011 under Vietnam Beaches, Vietnam Destinations, Vietnam attractions, Vietnam beauty |
The beaches and attractive landscapes of Cu Lao Cham in Quang Nam Province are a draw for travellers.
The island in Tan Diep Commune in Hoi An has been recognised by UNESCO as World’s Biosphere Reserve. It boasts several relics from diverse and ancient cultures, such as Sa Huynh, Cham Pa and Dai Viet. More information about hoi an hotels, please visit this link http://Vietnamhotels.net.
Arriving in Cu Lao Cham in the early morning is a rare delight, giving the visitor a chance to see the dawn’s glow from serene beaches.
Blue, clear and isolated coastline, such as Ong and Huong, are ideal destinations for holidays. The sea takes on a special sparkle at sunrise and sunset.
Visitors’ first impressions may be the warm smile and hospitality of the locals.
This is a fishing town, and fresh fish can be found in the area markets.
In addition, this is one of the few areas in Vietnam where Cham people can still be found.
Hai Tang Pagoda, built more than 400 years ago, adds to the town’s rare atmosphere. Burning a few sticks of incense and walking around the town may renew your senses and give you a bit of respite from the noise and fury of every day life.
At night, the silence of Cu Lao Cham is quite noticeable, compared to the busy streets of big cities. The only sounds are made by the waves crashing into the shore.
Peaceful beaches
An ancient well
Holy pagoda
An intimate sunrise
