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.

Over 10,000 foreign tourists have flocked to the Huong (Perfume) Pagoda Festival in My Duc district, northern Ha Tay province, since it opened on Feb. 3, the sixth day of the lunar New Year.

The figure brought the total number of visitors to this year’s festival to nearly 300,000, around 23,000 more than last year, said the provincial Tourism Department on Mar. 7.

Visitors to the festival, which lasts for three months, enjoy the beauty of the Huong Son limestone mountains at a time when apricot trees are in bloom and pay tribute to Buddha, specifically to Avalokitasvara, one of Buddha’s disciples.

Legend has it that the festival is held to worship a princess named Dieu Thien who incarnated Avalokitasvara and attained enlightenment there. As the princess was born on the 19th day of the second lunar month, that date is now observed by all Vietnamese Buddhists as a saint day. The shrine in which she practised her religion was discovered in the 15th century by three monks.

However, it was not until 1687 when the Superior Bonze Tran Dao Vien Quang came to the place, and Huong Son (Perfume Mountain) was transformed into a major Buddhist sanctuary and the greatest place of worship for Buddhists in Vietnam.

The pilgrimage to Huong Son dwindled to a trickle during the war years and the temples and shrines were left vacant. In 1958, after the restoration of peace in North Vietnam, the Government and President Ho Chi Minh personally gave instructions for the repair of the pagodas and temples and the restoration of the festival.

Sam Son beach, Thanh Hoa

Sam Son is only two and a half hour drive from Hanoi on the way to the South. The beach is exceptional with its natural beauty and unspoiled charm.

Sam Son Beach is 16 km from the city of Thanh Hoa. This is a wonderful seaside resort which the French began exploiting in 1906. It soon became a famous spot of the then-Indochine. A number of decades ago, many holiday villas were sonstructed here. Sam Son has a lot of beauty spot such as : the “Trong Mai” Mountain, the “Doc Cuoc” Temple, and “Co Tien” Moutain…

Ethnic data: Viet/Kinh, Dao, Hmong, Lao, Lu, Muong, Red Thai, Thai, Tho.
Districts/wards: Bim Son, Ba Thuoc, Cam Thuy, Dong Son, Ha Trung, Hau Loc, Hoang Hoa, Lang Chanh, Muong Lat, Nga Son, Ngoc Lac, Nhu Thanh, Nhu Xuan, Nong Cong, Quan Hoa, Quan Son, Quang Xuong, Sam Son, Thach Thanh, Thieu Hoa, Tho Xuan, Thuong Xuan, Tinh Gia, Trieu Son, Vinh Loc, Yen Dinh.

Description:
Thanh Hoa is located at the head of the narrow waste that connects with the \’head\’ of northern VirtNam. It is bordered on the north by Son La, Hoa Binh and Ninh Binh; on the south by Nghe An; on the east by the coast of the South China Sea; on the west by the Laos border.

Economy:
Forestry, marine resources and minerals.

Natural beauty sights:
Sam Son Resort with wide, smooth beaches lapped by emerald waters (2), and a view of the Truong Le Mountain.

Markets:
Nga Son Mat Market, Thanh Hoa; Flower Garden Market, Le Van Phuong Street, Lam Son, Thanh Hoa

Transport:
Thanh Hoa is 153 kilometres south of Ha Noi; 139 kilometres north of Vinh; 502 kilometres north of Hue; 16 kilometres west of Sam Son Beach. Thanh Hoa is serviced by rail and road.

Rail:
Thanh Hoa is a scheduled stop for Express Trains.

Car/Bus
Services from Ha Noi’s Southern Bus Station are scheduled every four hours en route to Ninh Binh, Vinh and other destinations on National Highway 1

A view of Duong Lam ancient village

For every tourist who comes to explore the Northern Vietnamese culture, Duong Lam ancient village is a good suggested destination. In addition to the hallmarks of a traditional northern village, Duong Lam also offers visitors the heartfelt welcome of its country people. We guys have had a chance to experience this wonderful village.

We can see it in the smile of a tea-shop owner near Mong Phu communal house, which we visited with a local volunteer acting as our tour guide.

Duong Lam is located 50km to the west of Hanoi. The unique village, which was recognised as a National Cultural-Historic Relic, has houses which are around 200 years old.

Of the nine hamlets within Duong Lam Village, Dong Sang and Mong Phu have maintained the most ancient houses: 441 and 350, respectively, among the total 956 traditional houses.

The old Duong Lam Village is famous for its homes made of laterite, a type of red soil. Most of these houses have their own courtyards surrounded by a laterite wall.

We stayed at Nguyen Van The’s house, which was built in 1703 and is one of the three oldest houses in Duong Lam. We ate a delicious lunch with his family of boiled chicken, vegetables and fried tofu, prepared by The’s wife and daughter-in-law.

“We inherited the house from our parents. We are making an effort to preserve the house although it is deteriorating,” The said. “We get a lot of foreign visitors and often talk with them about the life of the country people.”

The country is experiencing a general trend towards modernisation not only in the urban areas, but also in the rural regions, but the people of Duong Lam have preserved the customs of the rural people.

The village didn’t have the restaurants and souvenir shops of tourist destinations. Instead, the owners of the old houses were hospitable and ready to spend half the day talking with their visitors.

The’s wife introduced us to a soy sauce, peanut candy she made and told us about herself while we munched away.

Liked many women in rural areas, she got married when she was young, only 19, and had three children. She has been so busy taking care of her children, then her grandchildren, that she has only visited Ha Noi once, 18 years ago. “On TV, I see tall buildings, big supermarkets, shops and large roads with bright lighting. I can’t even imagine how the capital city has changed,” she said.

Both The and his wife are concerned that the old houses will disappear in the future if owners knock them down to build new cement homes.

Duong Lam also lures visitors to see its architectural relics, including the Mong Phu hamlet gate, the Mong Phu communal house, the Ngo Quyen imperial tomb and Mia Pagoda.

Attractions like the 500 year-old communal gate, the century-old banyan tree and the river wharf all bear the characteristics of Viet Nam’s northern countryside, but their unique characteristics set Duong Lam apart from other villages.

While many northern villages have hamlet gates, Mong Phu’s ancient gate was built to look like a house with a sloping roof.

On our one-day trip, we were able to visit four of the village’s 16 historic relics: Mia Pagoda, Ngo Quyen Tomb, Mong Phu communal house and Phung Hung Temple.

The communal house, built in 1684, combines the architectural style of the Kinh people (majority population in Viet Nam) with the timber floor of the Muong ethnic minority group. Festivals and folk performances usually take place in the large yard in front of the house.

The 73-year-old keeper told us that the restoration of the communal house was part of an ongoing VND200 billion (US$11.4 million) project to preserve historic monuments in Duong Lam, including the restoration of ancient wells and houses and a shrine dedicated to Chinese philosopher Confucius.

If Ha Noi’s old quarter and Hoi An’s ancient town are relics of an ancient urban lifestyle, then Duong Lam’s old village is a valuable relic of rural village life, said the keeper of the Mong Phu communal house.

Mia Pagoda, with 286 statues made of bronze, wood and clay, is one of the most beautiful pagodas in the north, said Tran Van The, our volunteer guide.

At the end of a day spent enjoying the historic relics of an age-old culture, we enjoyed some Duong Lam specialities: Mia chicken, Mong Phu soy sauce, Cam Lam tea and Dong Sang peanut candy. Visitors often bring these specialties home as gifts.

More and more young couples are flocking to the village to capture its traditional beauty in their wedding photographs. “We chose the location for its ancient houses and consider it a chance to both escape the stress of the city’s dusty streets and to feel the Vietnamese soul through the culture here,” said Nguyen Khanh Linh, a bride-to-be.

To know more about Duong Lam, you can check out this website:

Hue festival

Am Sac Viet (Vietnamese Timbre) – a program that brings three musical styles from the North, the Central and the South of Vietnam -  is attracting thousands of people in the Hue festival.

Am Sac Viet is a combination of ca tru (choral chamber music) from the north, ca Hue (Hue singing) and cai luong (renovated opera) from the south.

Three troupes, one from each region, got together for their first one-hour performance inside Dien Tho palace on Sunday night.

The four-member Thai Ha group from Ha Noi, Hue-based Phu Xuan with seven artists and two artists from Bach Tuyet and Thanh Hai from HCM City each performed a 20-minute item.

“I love the atmosphere of this music which feels like a trip back in history to the time of the mandarin or the court of the Vietnamese kings, when there was nothing electronic, only music, architecture and simple things,” French tourist Alain Thomas said. “It is extremely emotional music and has a very unique timbre.”

The audience was welcomed through the three entrances of the wooden palace by young women in ao dai (traditional long dress of Viet Nam) and were shown to their seats on embroidered pillows around a slightly raised stage.

In front of each pillow was a porcelain flowered tray on which sat a pottery tea set, a small pottery plate plus a white or pink lotus flower.

The show’s director said three sweet bean candies and three sugar-coated lotus seeds were laid out for audience members to allow the fine fragrance of the lotus flower to circulate during the performance.

“I have no idea about the programme but its name absorbed me,” said a Viet kieu (an overseas Vietnamese), home from the US for one month.

“As a Viet kieu living far from Viet Nam for such a long time, I am very interested in this music,” the middle-aged woman said. “I know it is something very original.”

Seventy-year-old Nguyen Van Mui, the leader of the Thai Ha troupe, said the combination in such solemn surroundings helps the audiences better understand the typical features of each style of music.

“I am happy to see not only middle-aged and old people, but also young people show respect for traditional music.”

Sitting silently from the beginning to the end of the show, 19-year-old Nguyen Le Minh, a student from the Hue, was one of the youngest members of the audience.

Minh had only come inside Dien Tho to shelter from the rain, but then decided to stay.

“But it is not easy to enjoy the three typical kinds of music at the same time and in a such a serious atmosphere.”

Am Sac Viet programme is performed every night at Dien Tho Palace throughout the Hue Festival.

Written by Lewis Kalmbach

People always contrast north Louisiana and south Louisiana as opposites. The same can be said for Vietnam. In the north, I found Hanoi (perched on the banks of the Red River!) to be a bit cold and suspicious, but in Saigon, I was received differently.

The city of Saigon now is called Ho Chi Minh City, or HCMC, after the beloved leader of “the people.” While the name is used interchangeably, the historic downtown area, where most tourists and businessmen stay, is still called Saigon.

Cu Chi tunnel
Lewis Kalmbach descends into one of the tunnels at Cu Chi outside Saigon. Note the tunnel’s width
For Asia, Saigon is a relatively young city founded only in the mid-18th century as a Chinese port. Situated on the Saigon River, it became a secure and logical trading post for goods shipped from India and China on their way to Europe. Americans, however, know it best for playing a major role in the Vietnam War as the stronghold of the South.

After the war, Saigon fell into despair. In the early 1990s, western investors flocked to the city but pulled out a few years later due bureaucratic bullying. Today, the Asian powerhouse economies of China and Korea are making for a brighter future in Saigon.

The tree-lined Don Khoi is the Rodeo Drive of Saigon and will most likely be near your hotel. Here you’ll find some of the best shopping, dining and nightlife in Asia. Make time for an ice cream break here. I have never seen such clever creations made from cones, sprinkles and exotic flavors of ice cream and sorbets. Plan to spend a whopping 75 cents.

The museums were quite interesting with much memorabilia from the war. More remarkable, though, was the Reunification Palace. Designed as the home for former president Ngo Dinh Diem, the U.S.-backed leader of Vietnam until his untimely assassination — this building is symbolic for its role in the fall of Saigon. It was here the tanks of the North Vietnamese breached the gates and hung their victory flag from the balcony.

The best part about this building is the architecture. A fan of the mid-century style, this iconic ’60s monstrosity was virtually left untouched inside and out. What I mean to say is all of the furniture and equipment still is there just beyond the velvet ropes. It was like being at Graceland with the outlandish furniture and fabrics of the day. One easily can imagine heads of state (and Dean Martin) gathering for cocktails in the swanky parlors and billiard room. The map room was massive and had a Dr. Strangelove aura about it.

Forty miles outside of HCMC, I found one of the most indelible experiences on my adventure. The Cu Chi Tunnels lie at the end of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and served as the base for attacking Saigon. It was here the U.S. carpet-bombed the region, which forced the residents to literally go underground. A vast network of narrow tunnels stretched as far as Cambodia and featured meeting rooms, kitchens and triage units.

The guided tour starts with a campy war-era propaganda film that references us as “those red-hot American devils.” Next there are simulations of gory booby traps and guerrilla snares that are as gruesome as any Wes Craven horror flick. Grab a real AK-47 at the shooting range where for $1 a bullet you can play soldier. Finally, at one of the tunnels, tourists are encouraged to crawl through these very claustrophobic passages to gain appreciation for the ingenuity of these clever people. After emerging from these dark, dank and earthy tunnels, my guide kicked a few leaves around only to expose three very large scorpions.

I must confess I have newfound respect for our brave men and women who had to serve in the Vietnam War. Once on this foreign turf, I could see how we lost. We were simply not prepared for the cunning of the Vietnamese and their perilous terrain. Can the same be said for Iraq? I hope not.

TRAVEL TIP
When visiting Southeast Asia, only book your initial round-trip flight from the U.S. Once in your gateway city, there are many more flight options at cheaper prices than can be bought in advance from the States. Also, consider Manila, Philippines, as your gateway. There are three nonstops daily from the West Coast. The national carrier, Philippine Airlines, was less than half the price of flying directly to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. While the service is not as stellar as the legendary Thai Airways or even Cathay Pacific, it still was better than most U.S. carriers, especially in business class. My round-trip business class was only $1,900! Check philippineairlines.com for special deals.

Well, that wraps up Southeast Asia. While I did most of my site-seeing in the big cities, I would revisit all of these countries to explore the coastlines and backwoods. Thank you for following these top-of-mind ramblings. I hope I provided some new insight into this rich region and that you will start planing your own adventure today.

Safe travels.

Source: www.shreveporttimes.com

By Heather Ramsay

21.03.06
A cruise on Halong Bay is an essential part of any visit to northern Vietnam, claimed our itinerary. Similar statements must be made in every guide to the country, because when we arrived at the embarkation point we felt as if we’d a entered a tourist mill where we’d be sucked in, processed and churned out a day later.

However, we were soon led through the throngs towards the junk-style boat that would be our home for the next 24 hours. After inspecting our cute, wood-panelled cabin, we hastened upstairs to the spacious sundeck, eager to see how the crew would extricate us from the tangle of boats. Miraculously, it happened without a fuss and we were soon floating towards Halong Bay, often described as one of the greatest wonders of Asia.

Soon after casting off we were invited to lunch, which consisted of whole crab, fresh prawns, melt-in-your mouth fish and an unrecognisable but tasty Vietnamese dessert. Oh, and did I mention French wine?

Thus sated, we retired to the deckchairs to watch the panorama of Halong Bay unfold. This Unesco World Heritage site consists of around 3000 precipitous limestone islands jutting out of the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The name translates loosely as “place of the descending dragon” and legend says that the islands were hewn from the seabed by the thrashing tail of a dragon.

Our junk cruised through narrow channels between towering islands covered in dense vegetation, and navigated slowly past misshapen pillars of rock. The concentration of odd-shaped islands in such a compact area made them seem as if they overlapped, creating a layered effect that stretched into infinity.

Groups of simple houseboats huddled under craggy overhangs, and our junk nudged up alongside one of these floating villages. As well as being the family home, the houseboats are fish farms that provide an income. Large square nets attached to pontoons disappear into the depths, while smaller tanks hold seafood that’s ready for sale.

Our chef purchased a selection of fish and crustaceans, and after we’d watched the sun set over the bay, we settled in for another meal extravaganza, knowing that the seafood couldn’t possibly be any fresher.

Most of the time we didn’t see other tourist boats, but the lights of other boats reflecting on the silken waters imparted a sense of security. There are also a couple of places where tourist boats congregate to disgorge their human cargo for short excursions. The first of these was Sung Sot cave, where we traipsed through a series of limestone caverns lit (rather tastelessly, I thought) by coloured bulbs.

The other was Luong Cave, where we clambered in to a rowboat and headed through a low opening at the base of a rocky island. We emerged into a lagoon encircled by sheer cliffs where we drifted in silence, listening to the shriek of seabirds and the wash of waves against the boat. Our timing was fortunate because as we exited the cave an armada of rowboats was heading our way, but despite the occasional feeling of being on a tourist treadmill, the cruise was a superb travel experience.

For a complete contrast to the seascapes of Halong Bay we headed back to the capital, Hanoi, and took an overnight train to the former French summer retreat of Sapa. Sapa and the surrounding mountain areas are known for their ethnic minority groups (known collectively as Montagnards) who follow a simple rural lifestyle raising animals and growing crops. Many women are skilled at embroidery and stitch-work, producing intricate pieces for their own use and for sale.

Once a week the hill tribe people converge to trade livestock, produce and goods – and once again our timing was fortunate. We arrived in time for the Coc Ly market, which only happens on Tuesdays – and although 17km of the drive was over a rough dirt road, it was worth the discomfort.

Coc Ly market is mainly attended by the Flower H’mong people, whose traditional dress features floral patterns embroidered in ultra-bright colours. Flamboyant headgear seemed to be the rage, with some women sporting large, round hats that resembled 70s-style lampshades, while others opted for folded cloth.

The market carried all kinds of everyday goods but, not surprisingly, the most popular stalls were those offering cloth and fluorescent wool. Meanwhile the men hung around stalls selling mounds of fresh tobacco leaves, which were smoked in a big bamboo bong.

From Coc Ly we took a relaxing boat ride down the Chay River then drove to Sapa via Lao Cai, on the Chinese border. After Lao Cai, the road wound tortuously up through a series of switchbacks, zigzagging towards the distant mountains. Heavily terraced hillsides dropped away below us, sculpted into productive land by hundreds of years of human toil.

Sapa town perches on the slopes of a high valley surrounded by mountains, and its French colonial architecture gives it the feeling of a European alpine village. From our hotel room we could see Fansipan, which, at 3143m, is the highest peak in Vietnam. Keen trampers can make the ascent, while another popular option in this region is multi-day treks with overnight stays in hill-tribe villages.

There are several H’mong, Dsao and Tay villages near town, and once we dragged ourselves away from Sapa’s cosy cafes, we wandered down paths through rice paddies to subsistence communities that still live by the rhythm of the seasons.

With the increase in tourism, canny villagers have seen a way to make extra cash and our rural rambles were often interrupted by women and children selling embroidered goods such as purses, tablecloths, and bedspreads. But it was worth the meagre cost of a couple of colourful pencil cases to be escorted around the villages and given an insight into local lifestyle and customs.

On our last morning we slogged up a steep path to Dragon Mountain, where attractive public gardens have been created among tall, thin spikes of black rock. From a high point known as Dragon’s Awe we looked over the gardens and the town to Fansipan, which, as usual, was draped in clouds.

We made the most of this peaceful vista, knowing that our next destination was hectic Hanoi, which contrasts well with Sapa and Halong Bay to form an interesting tourism triangle in the north of Vietnam.

NEED TO KNOW

Getting there: Flight Centre has return flights to either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City ex-Auckland from $1569. Flights can be to Hanoi and from Ho Chi Minh City or vice versa, and can be packaged with Adventure World’s range of Vietnam tours.

These include the 10-day Highlights of Vietnam tour, which is priced from $1270 per person, share twin. Conditions apply to fares and tour packages. Adventure World can also customise itineraries for individual travellers.