A visit to Dam Long-Bang Ta forest eco-tourist area

One cannot help feeling surprised when visiting Dam Long-Bang Ta forest eco-tourist area for the first time. Dam Long provides an escape from the bustle and hustle of urban life as one breathes the fresh air and embraces the tranquility of the mountains, forests and landscapes.


A tram ride runs through the primeval forest from which one can see deer, muntjac and stags eating leaves. Alternatively, one can ride a bicycle around the forest to breathe the fresh air in the morning.

Dam Long eco-tourist area is located at the heart of Ba Vi tourist complex, 70 kilometers from Hanoi to the west. The area covers 70 hectares including 50 hectares of water surface and 20 hectares of forest.

Bang Ta is a primeval forest with four layers of trees. The highest layer mainly consists of trees on average from 30 to 35 meters tall. The next layer is chestnut trees and fuchsia, between 20 and 25 meters high. The third layer is mainly ricinus, oleander, mulberry, soapberry trees, and bead trees, and the lowest layer includes a variety of fern and mistletoe, creating a beautiful look. The fauna and flora here are abundant, with 240 species of trees and many species listed in the red book. The most profuse is a group of 76 valuable medicinal herbs.

Going through paths full of liana, tourists will discover the wildness and mystery of the forest, enjoy the singing of tens of species of birds, and observe herds of spotted deer roaming in the silent space.

Leaving from the forest, tourists will contemplate the beauty of Dam Long, an immense lake filled with lotus spreading their fragrance in summer, and birds, reptiles such as suamp hens, boucals, geckos, and lizards.

Fish caught on the lake can be broiled in floating houses which are decorated with multi-coloured lanterns. Breakfast and soft drinks are served in the houses.

Water sports in swimming pools or games on rope bridges or cau khi, characteristics of the southern region will excite young people.

The tourist area has 56 hotel rooms and four bungalows available for massage and karaoke, a meeting hall with 300 seats and a dining room serving 1,000 guests.

Hotels here are modern and well-equipped while maintaining the beauty of nature.

Stilted Muong ethnic minority houses are suitable as camping sites, to enjoy camp-fires, ruou can or wine drunk out of a jar through pipes, and traditional music.

Furthermore, tourists can take part in local markets to buy souvenirs, specialties of Ba Vi, and visit Ngoc Nhi stork garden, Suoi Hai or Hai Stream, and Ao Vua or Pond of Kings.

Tours may be booked via Vietnam Open Tour Ltd., Co., tel: (04) 3926 2328 or Hanoi ETOCO via (04) 3516 0534 or contact: Dam Long-Bang Ta forest, Cam Linh Commune, Ba Vi, Hanoi, tel: (04) 3362 1588.

(Source: SGT)

Mu Cang Chai in late rice harvest season

Though farmers in Mu Cang Chai are harvesting paddy on the last parts of their terraced fields, the remote mountainous district of Yen Bai Province still boasts its charms that are hidden in the scenic rice fields and thin blankets of fog at the beginning of the winter.



The popular attraction of Mu Cang Chai lies in its terraced rice fields which are primarily situated in the district’s Che Cu Nha, La Pan Tan and De Zu Phinh villages. These imposing fields draw a large number of both Vietnamese and foreign travelers who love to take pictures of and indulge themselves in the amazing beauty of the national heritage site.

Visitors do not have to exert much effort to view the natural wonder; they can see a picturesque range of terraced fields along National Road 32 after going through Khau Pha Pass, which winds more than 20 kilometers when coming from Hanoi.

That is the option for those who do not have enough time to wander up and down hills and mountains of the terraced fields. Of course, when one is further from the road, the more beautiful terraced rice fields are visible.

Bui Thi Ha of Suoi Mo Guesthouse in Mu Cang Chai told the Daily that many travelers visited Mu Cang Chai from late September to early October to see waves of terraced rice fields, as this is when the fields turn brilliant yellow and shine in their fullest beauty.

This is also the time when the fields become full of life as Mong ethnic minority farmers in their traditional attire harvest the ripe rice grains, and shoulder bags of the fruit home through mountains and hills as well as over swinging suspension bridges.

It is normal to see ethnic minority mothers use cloth as a cradle to carry their infants on their back when they are harvesting paddy in the fields in the northwest of Vietnam. Children of the farmers run here and there in the fields, chatting with their parents and giggling in tune with the joy of their parents during the harvest season.

It is in late harvest season that visitors can distinguish the atmosphere of terraced fields in the rice harvest season and off the season. The real charm of yellow fields and the fields without paddy, and above all the type of soil and the attempts of the farmers to produce paddy, are most obvious at this time.

Believe me! My experience shows that it is in Mu Cang Chai that you can see more beautiful terraced rice fields than Hoang Su Phi in the mountainous province of Ha Giang and other sites that have become famous for terraced rice fields and captured the great interest of travelers near and far.

There in Mu Cang Chai, terraced rice fields rise and fall around hillsides and mountainsides as well as streams and rivers, making them look like giant yellow staircases for people to step from earth to heaven.

Terraced rice fields have been not only a source of food and income for the Mong people; they are an intrinsic part of their culture and Mu Cang Chai, which is itself a quiet town on the bank of the Nam River.

Fashioned over many centuries, the yellow terraced fields are now a symbol of the mountainous district and make it one of the top destinations for those who seek to look into the life of ethnic minority groups in the countryside and the natural surroundings.

Mu Cang Chai is about 300 kilometers from Hanoi, and can be accessible only by road.

(Source: SGT)

Hermes Store in Hanoi

Hermes Store in Hanoi, originally uploaded by Kiva.Dang.

31 10 2008 is a milestone marked the first appearance of Hermes in Vietnam. Located within the Hotel Sofitel Metropole Hanoi where has legendary ancient architecture as European style,Hermes stores highlight items with the definition of deep and sophisticated by RDAI architecture interior company design.

More photos in Hermes Hanoi Store.



















Photo credit by: Kenzovn and Hermesinhanoi.vn

Cham charm crumbling away

The bumpy road to My Son temples leading out of Hoi An town reminds me of a trip four years ago when I had to turn back as the road was being upgraded. Today as we coast along the road the trip from Hoi An to My Son seems to be easy.



The road is wide, flat and seemingly built to last.

The rickety bamboo bridge leading into My Son is still there but it is no longer in use. A mock-wood concrete bridge has taken over, spanning across a stream that runs through the lush forest where My Son sanctuary is nestled.

When I cross the bridge, a tanned man snaps: “Bought a ticket?”

“Yes,” I reply.

“Get on,” he barks, jumping into an old US jeep on the sidewalk. The jeep trundles up the narrow track towards the religious centre. We jump out at a thatched bungalow and from there we make our way to the nearby temple.

But the old jeep in My Son evokes images of the American war in my mind. Once, fierce battles occurred in this area. The lush forest surrounding the temples was used as a hideout for North Vietnamese soldiers.

American B 52 bombers ravaged the remote valleys. In fact, between 1945 and 1975 it was quite simply a no-go zone.

The bombardment ended in 1969 after strong public protest. Tragically, the central temple, home to some of the most impressive Cham architecture had been destroyed by then. Bomb craters filled with mossy-water surround the temples.

But unexploded bombs and mines remained a threat in My Son valley even after the war. In 1977 a number of engineers were killed by mines while they attempted to clear the bushes and defuse explosives in the area.

Perhaps, visitors may be disappointed at what remains in My Son today as it is not grand as the Angkor Watt in Cambodia. But it is worth noting that the buildings here predate Angkor Watt by several centuries and represent the typical sculptures and cultural values of the Cham people.

The buildings of My Son were created for religious purposes. Records on a stone stele in My Son show the first wooden temples were built in the 4th century to worship the Siva Bhadresvara. However, the complex was destroyed by a big fire two centuries later.

As time passed, temples and towers in My Son grew up in groups in the small valley. Once My Son was a forest of towers and temples with 70 architectural works built in different stages between the 4th and 13th century in the central coast.

Only 25 structures remain today but the site was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage for its exceptional example of cultural interchange, with the introduction of Hindu architecture from the Indian sub-continent into Southeast Asia and the vivid reflection of Cham culture.

Wandering in between ruins, I was filled with emotion. Looking at the once mighty Champa kings surrounded by soldiers and dancing girls that now are in a significant state of disrepair.

The first groups of temples I come across are perhaps the best ones. Some of them retain their original structure. At a closer look, I see statues of Gods, dancing girls and animals carved into brick walls.

Chipped sandstone pillars and shattered remnants lay everywhere. Time is also working against the temples. Some towers have collapsed while only the foundations remain of others. Two of the towers, the roof of which were destroyed and replaced by aluminum sheets, house a collection of Champa sculptures and other temple ornaments such as altars, bricks, Brahma and Dikpalak statutes, female deities and terracotta artifacts.

I spot a bombshell in a tower as I walk towards a small path, which winds through another group of dilapidated temples.

One collapsed tower is overgrown with grass. Another rundown tower nearby is held up with scaffolding and sheltered from rain and sun by an aluminum roof.

Looking closer, to my surprise, there is no mortar between the bricks of the temples. It is still a mystery how the ancient Champa people stuck bricks together. Some scientists argued clay was used while others thought a kind of vegetable resin helped.

Conservation and restoration work is underway in My Son but it is also proving to be a challenge. The construction techniques used to build the temples also remains a mystery. It is hard to replicate the bricks in My Son. I heard long time ago that an old man in the area was able to produce bricks that appeared to be quite similar but I was told that he had since died.

However, I am lucky enough to see a Cham dancing show. Two shows are performed every morning, except on Mondays, in an open thatched house. Young men and women move as you might imagine the gods carved on the temple walls in stone would.

The performers are not Cham people but locals who have been trained by Truong Ton, an old Cham man from Ninh Thuan province.

The old man also performs for the audience by blowing non-stop through a Cham bronze trumpet for around seven minutes. Its sound is so mighty you half expect a barrage of kings and soldiers from Champa kingdom to suddenly appear.

Personally, I believe the best time to see My Son is in the afternoon when the sun still shines over the crumbling towers and trees.

A young boy tells me a foreigner recently got lost for a few days in the thick forest after becoming captivated by the sunset over My Son. He’d climbed up the mountain to take photos and after darkness fell, he got lost on the way back.

Now, in an attempt to let visitors enjoy My Son’s mystery, the management board recently decided to open the site in the evenings.

So these days neon lights are turned on when the sun goes down and the temples can be seen in a way that the Cham kings never could have imagined.

Source: Time-out

A cake of ardent love between husband and wife

Visitors to Dinh Bang Village in Bac Ninh Province should not miss tasting a specialty of this region: the phu the (husband and wife) cake, a traditional cake made from local materials representing marital fidelity, originating from the time of the Ly dynasty (1009 – 1225).



The skin is made by grinding and filtering large-sized grain glutinous rice to retrieve the starch. The starch of this rice will be mixed with scraped green papaya and soaked in the juice of the fruit of cape jasmine, which makes the skin both crispy and glutinous and gives it a light yellow color.

Its stuffing is made of green bean ground with sugar, sugar coated lotus seeds and coconut meat. Once stuffed, the cake is wrapped into a square shape in leaves from phrinium and coconut trees and boiled in hot water.

The whole cake is made by hand and every household in the village has their own secret recipe passed down through generations, creating their own tastes and brands for the cake.

It is said that the kings of the Ly Dynasty encouraged agricultural expansion and in their period Dinh Bang and other villages in the country had bumper crops. During festivals and the Lunar New Year, the villagers of Dinh Bang used these agricultural products to make a cake named su se to make offerings to the ancestors.

Once, King Ly Thanh Tong (1023 – 1072) and his wife Y Lan visited the village for a festival and had a chance to taste this cake. They complimented this cake, renamed it to phu the cake and asked the villagers to make it for wedding ceremonies to celebrate the happiness of the couple. Once the cakes are boiled they are wrapped in green banana leaves and tied in pairs with bamboo strings dyed in pink, as an icon of the loyalty of the love between husband and wife.

The cake now is widely known in the whole country and it is made all year round in the markets of the village. In some regions it is wrapped in a square box of banana leaves to offer as a gift. The cakes travel all the country and overseas.

Visitors to Do Temple in Dinh Bang Village will find the cake sold outside the temple priced at VND15,000 for ten cakes.

From: Thuy Nguyen

Visiting Cat Ba Island – world’s biosphere reserve

The Bai Tho (Poem) Cruise to Cat Ba Island, which a group of reporters and I from HCMC and Hanoi were on as part of a ‘fam’ (familiarization) trip with Vietravel, departed from Bai Chay Tourist Wharf in Halong Bay and arrived in the island’s town at about 5 p.m.
When we arrived I was chilled with the cool weather of the autumn in the north, but I felt an instant love for the pure sea breeze and the quietness and peacefulness of the coastal town.

We stayed at the Holiday View Hotel, a 120 – room hotel on road 1/4 in Catba island, overlooking the Lan Ha Bay and just a five minutes walk to the three beaches on the island. We spent one night there, hoping that tomorrow would be a sunny day for a discovery tour to the bay. However, we had a bit of bad luck as it was raining heavily early the next morning due to a sudden tropical low pressure, but when it stopped we hurried down to the wharf for a cruise to Lan Ha Bay on the southeastern side of the island.

Lan Ha Bay covers an area of over 7,000 hectares, of which 5,400 hectares is under the management of Cat Ba National Park. While the cruise moved slowly through small islets and floating fishing villages, I found the landscape to be as magnificent as Ha Long Bay.

Though the journey is a bit rougher than cruising Halong there are over 100 small sandy beaches between the blocks of rocks on the islands, 30 of which are ideal for a swim or a picnic.

Other interesting activities in the bay are fishing, kayaking, and a visit to Monkey Island, home to over 5,000 monkeys, or a long hike in Cat Ba National Park. The trek is approximately 11 kilometers long through three mountains to Viet Hai, a small fishing village. On the way one can take a short rest at Frog Lake, a beautiful, tranquil lake in the middle of the forest.

Cat Ba National Park is a highly diverse biosphere and the endangered golden headed langur can be found here.

We were leaving for Haiphong in two hours and consequently did not have enough time for the trek, so we chose to return to town and went sightseeing at Cat Co beach. On our walk back to the hotel we saw many foreign tourists jogging in the beach and walking leisurely on the hilly streets of the town. Regretting that we were not staying longer, I gathered some brochures from the travel center at the hotel to learn about other destinations on the island, such as Quan Y cave, which served as a military hospital and shelter for locals in the war, Phu Long village and Thien Long, a primitive and beautiful stalactite, stalagmite cave.

Huynh Thu Dung, head of Vietravel’s press office, told me that this season is the best time of year for foreign tourists doing a tour of the north because the weather is so mild and beautiful and the sights are not as crowded since it is low tourist season in Vietnam. This also falls on the winter holiday period for most of the tourists from Western countries.

She said that Vietravel recently opened a new branch in Hai Phong City to serve as a bridge to link important destinations between Halong and Cat Ba, as well as the northeastern side of Lang Son and Cao Bang, and create new tours from Halong to Cat Ba and Ninh Binh.

(Source: SGT)

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Java – a good look

Located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, on the tourist-riddled corner of Dong Khoi and Dong Du streets in District 1, Java offers a modern, comfortable setting to enjoy a cup of coffee.


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One of the city’s original coffee houses, Java, is an excellent choice whether for a lunch break or a cocktail by night.

Java had a face lift over a year ago that replaced an upstairs spa with couches, tables and wooden partitions, making it a haven away from home.

The lounge area is a favorite retreat for those looking for a private chat, a quiet interlude with a book or laptop or a dinner with someone special.

The glass-walled ground floor now has slick, laptop-friendly tables and cushioned chairs.

It’s a popular spot for expats and tourists to cool off with some caffeine or fresh fruit smoothies. There’s a set breakfast and a la carte menu plus daily blackboard specials featuring meals, snacks and drinks.

All the Vietnamese and international mainstays are listed on the coffee menu. Vietnamese black ice coffee goes for VND40,000 (US$2.50) while cappuccinos, lattes and espressos cost VND55,000 ($3.50).

The smoothies selection contains some imaginative concoctions with inspiring names. Try the “big bold banana,” a mix of soya milk, silken tofu, honey, vanilla and chocolate or “the fountain of youth,” a blend of yogurt, cranberries, cherries and blueberries for a new taste experience. Prices range from VND45,000-55,000 ($3-3.50). Alcoholic drinks are plentiful, including cocktails and standard beers at around VND55,000 ($3.50).

The daily specialties of the house are usually salads, sandwiches, curry, pasta and bruschetta at around VND60,000 ($4) and apple pie and cakes baked fresh everyday for desert.

The friendly, English-speaking staff combined with a good selection of food and beverages, makes Java a chilled-out stop for gourmet lovers.

Du Mien Cafe - Phu Nhuan District

One of the best kept secrets in Saigon is the Du Mien Cafe located in the Phu Nhuan District. It is located about 5 minutes from my house and a very convenient location for me to meet my Vietnamese friends and students. If you are tired of the expat crowds, this is the ideal location to go. The majority of expats do not even know this place exists though if you asked the taxi driver in District 1, I am sure he he knows about this coffee shop. I did notice that Pao (Rising Above the Phantasm of a Geek) mention this coffee shop in his blog.

The architecture of this cafe is quite nice. I am sure Mel (Antidote to Burnout) would like this coffee shop since it used to be a French villa with a huge garden and pools. The coffee and food is really good. It is packed in the evenings and a really popular place for a guy to take out his girl…

Du Mien Cafe Address:

48/9A Ho Bieu Chanh Str., Phu Nhuan District, Saigon, Vietnam

Images from Flickr/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arena_provietnam/

Mt. Fansipan up 12 places in new world wonders vote

Vietnam’s Fansipan mountain has jumped 12 places to the 13th position among 77 candidates in the online voting for seven new world natural wonders launched by the NewOpen World.

According to the Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism department of the northern mountainous Lao Cai Province Tran Huu Son, the advancement was attributed to a campaign launched by the province from early October to the end of December.

Lao Cai Province is preparing for a Fansipan climbing competition to open in Sa Pa town on Nov. 14. The competition expects to attract 300 climbers.

Fansipan is the highest peak in Indochina at 3,143 m. It is dubbed “the Roof of Indochina”. The mountain is to be approved as one of the very few ecotourist spots of Vietnam with 2,024 floral varieties and 327 faunal species.

(Source: VNA)

Vote now: http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/vote_on_nominees/

Exhibition to honour art-loving diplomats

In response to the Government’s policy to promote cultural diplomacy in addition to the economic relations, an exhibition gathering many works of art made by diplomats, who are working in Vietnam, opened in Hanoi on October 23.

The exhibition displays many lacquer and oil color paintings and installations by twelve diplomats from eleven countries, who are art enthusiasts.

A lacquer painting titled “Raking Mussels” depicts the image of a poor old Vietnamese woman who patiently toiling to earn her living.

The painter Hoang Hai, who is a Vietnamese diplomat says that his painting was inspired by a real woman he saw working in the central region of Vietnam.

“I started drawing 10 years ago without any guidance. Despite my busy schedule, I have always tried to devote time to the arts, which makes me feel enormous relief from the pressure of work,” Mr Hai confides.

Falling in love with Vietnam’s green fields and hardworking Vietnamese women, Mrs Malsawmi Muana has made a number of oil paintings.

Living in Vietnam for two years with her husband, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mrs Muana said she has been through many places in Vietnam and has been inspired by the Vietnamese landscape and women.

Dang Thi Khue, an art researcher, highly appreciates the works of diplomats, adding that their styles are very special and extraordinarily open as if they are free from having to adhere to any strict guidelines about art.

“The works depicts their sense of life and work. The arts can be considered one of the best ways to relieve stress after work, especially for diplomats whose duties put them under a great deal of pressure,” says Ms Khue.

The exhibition aims to reveal hidden corners deep inside the diplomats themselves, says Nguyen Nga, director of the Maison des Arts where the exhibition is being hosted.

“The diplomats, who are not only art enthusiasts but also genuine artists, brought us visual universes of creativity and diversity. And I hope that the exhibition which is considered an initiation of the Government’s policy on cultural diplomacy, will offer a good place for diplomats from around the world to share their spare-time interests as well as their country’s cultural values,” she adds.

The event will last until November 5 at the Maison des Arts, 31A Van Mieu Street, Hanoi.

From: Nguyen Hanh

A natural man-made park

Just four kilometers away from the heart of the famous resort town of Da Lat, the Doi Mong Mo(Hills of dreams) Tourist Park is a surprisingly efficient, symbolic marriage of culture and nature.


The retreat has hundreds of bonsai and flowers that are gorgeous and will never fail to strike admiration in every heart, but it is a host of cultural replicas scattered throughout the park that catch the eye.

The Great Wall of China is 6,700 kilometers long from east to west, 1,000 kilometers at its highest point and has existed for over two centuries.

Mong Mo Hill presents a two-kilometer long version of this amazing monument that offers visitors a chance to reflect on the real history that happened far away, a long time ago, aided by that well known Vietnamese saying: Bat dao truong thanh phi hao han (One cannot be a hero if one has never set foot on the Great Wall).

The park is at its best early in the morning, it seems, as one listens to the real sounds of the artificial waterfall, and observes a flock of pigeons perched on a 300-year-old house transported from central Binh Dinh Province.

Other park attractions include a stage for cong chieng (gong) shows that are performed by the ethnic minority from the plateau every weekend.

At the end of some stone steps is the wine cellar displaying a variety of ruou can (fermented rice wine that’s sipped from a ceramic jar through long bamboo straws).

Local wines are on sale here for souvenir shopping, or visitors may pause at the rattan table and chairs for a cup of wine before continuing their walk.

A few houses on stilts, museums in their own right, including a traditional brewery where visitors can get a first-hand look at how locals make their wine and catch warm wine drops from a large brewing pot, offer other opportunities to relax and unwind.

From: Thuy Nhien

Image from Flickr