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Vietnam Open Tour News & EventsWEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST, 2009 |
 Phu Quoc’s waterfalls
Take a dip in the pure cold water of Tranh Creek on Phu Quoc Island.
Kien Giang Province’s Phu Quoc Island is endowed with beautiful beaches and scenic spots. The picturesque Tranh Creek is known widely by tourists as it is easy to reach. It is about five kilometers south of the island district’s Duong Dong Town. From the road, it’s a quick 200-meter walk to get there. Tranh Creek starts high in the mountains and passes through the meadows that give it its name, Tranh, which is a type of plant that grows wild there. The path to one of the water falls is just dirt and rocks with some natural stone steps in some steep sections. Tranh Creek is surrounded with greenery. A stream with pure water winds its way through cavities and huge rocks, creating waterfalls and ponds before merging into a bigger stream that is about 15 kilometers long. There are a lot of smooth flat rocks by the stream making it suitable for group activities. Visitors can have a bracing swim in the pure, cold water, watch the waterfall or pick forest orchids. You can also explore nearby caves, especially the Bat Cave with beautiful stalactites. For visitors who like fishing – you can catch freshwater fish there. Local residents used to catch big ones up to about 10 kilos but they are not easy to catch as they swim quickly into rock cavities to hide. If you go trekking to this area, bring some food for lunch. You will find it fun to take a meal in the forest. A visit to Tranh Creek will make your trip to Phu Quoc more enjoyable and memorable. To get to Phu Quoc, you can take a ship from Rach Gia and Ha Tien towns of Kien Giang Province or a plane from Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. VietNamNet/Thanh Nien
Tourist waste pollutes seas, rivers Although a booming tourism industry has turned Viet Nam into one of the hottest destinations in all of Asia, rampant waste by the same industry is destroying the country’s charming coasts and waterways.
According to the Nha Trang Bay Reserve, every day, nearly 10 tonnes of waste water are let into the sea by tourism facilities and locals in Nha Trang City.
Statistics from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Tourism Department showed that only 300cu.m of more than 1,600cu.m of waste water discarded from hotels and resorts were treated each day. As forecast by the department, the amount of nitrogen discarded into the sea from waste water will be between 26 and 52 tonnes per day by the year 2020. Research done by the HCM City Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources showed that sea pollution in tourist areas had become more serious in recent years. The level of Total Suspended Solid (TSS) content in beaches like Do Son, Hai Phong, Binh Dinh, Quy Nhon and Vung Tau was normally two to four times higher than the country’s standard level of 25g per cubic metre. The head of the Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources, Nguyen Van Phuoc, said that construction projects in tourist areas were messy and destroying nearby ocean ecosystems. Negligence in regards to waste water treatment in tourist areas had resulted in higher levels of organic pollution in the country’s coastal areas, while fishing and souvenir hunting were also harming underwater environments. The research showed that a lack of awareness on environment protection had made the situation much worse. Along the beaches of Binh Dinh, Nha Trang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, waste water from urban and tourist areas was being discarded into the sea without any treatment. A report, the Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Viet Nam 2008 by the World Bank, said that about 8.8 per cent of the nation’s total economic costs was a direct result of tourism, with an absolute value of US$69 million. VNAT was now building a framework for a national action programme for the tourism industry. The programme will aim to communicate with hotel and resort owners to raise their awareness of sustainable development. The Department of Hotels under VNAT was now working with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to build up one set of criteria, giving specific instructions on how to effectively manage energy, water and waste treatments. The director of the Hotel Department, Nguyen Phuong Anh, said, "It’s not easy to make everyone comply with these standards, as some environmental-friendly facilities will require large investments." The department will first focus on education to raise awareness among hotel and resort owners, and then gradually create a set of requirements for all newly-established companies. With support from the Energy Conservation Research and Development Centre and the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, the department was working on the Eco-label Programme in the hotel sector and across ISO 14000, on environmental management standards, to help organisations minimise their operations’ negative effect on the environment. "This professional working environment in hotels will effect suppliers, who will in turn also have to prove themselves as friendly to the environment." The department also helps hotels and resorts promote their own images overseas by nominating their models at international competitions on tourism and environmental programmes. "Overseas tourists, especially from European countries, are very picky and tend to choose environmentally-friendly services," said Anh. According to Anh, the Committee for Standards Reviews will soon be set up, after the department finishes working on a set of environmentally friendly criteria and labelling satisfied units. Recognising the vital role tourism was playing in saving the environment, businesses have begun their own programmes. The Sai Gon Tourist Company, for example, now uses recycled products in their 15 member hotels. The Victoria Chau Doc Company launched their own Green Logo Programme, which co-operates with local authorities and students to clean up surrounding areas each quarter. "This is an investment in the future. Viet Nam attracts tourists with its wild and beautiful landscapes, but we won’t be able to survive in the long term if the environment is destroyed," said Trinh Quang Man, Director of the Victoria Chau Doc Company. VietNamNet/Viet Nam News Only some “Phu Quoc pearls” are the real thing Pearls are a favorite souvenir of visitors to the beautiful
The one-year warranty paper Pearl products are for sale everywhere on Phu Quoc island. Sellers all assure prospective customers that these are local wares. Itinerant vendors on the beaches, shops at the airport, stalls at the Dinh Cau night market or the ferry boat wharf – all selling “Phu Quoc pearls” (and Phu Quoc’s famous nuoc mam as well).
Reporters from Tuoi Tre relate that when they went to a pearl jewelry workshop in Duong To commune, a girl there welcomed their driver. Later, they learned that every time a driver brings customers to the workshops, the driver can get a one or two hundred thousand dong commission.
The reporters finally purchased a big pearl for 500,000 dong and a necklace for 500,000 dong. At their request, the girl provided a one-year warranty paper. Then the reporters asked the girl to write down on the receipt that the purchased products are Phu Quoc pearls. That’s not necessary, she replied. Pointing to the workshop’s red stamp at the bottom of the paper, she said “that’s your guarantee.”
The purchased products were then taken to an expert, who declared immediately that these were both counterfeit products. “Neither of these products are pearls cultivated in Phu Quoc. They are worth only thirty or forty thousand dong,” he said. “The one-year ‘warranty’ is given only to counterfeit products”.
Tuoi Tre’s reporters are not the only victims of the counterfeit pearl sellers. Hundreds of tourists, both Vietnamese and foreigners, visit the pearl workshops in Phu Quoc every day. Because the tourists go in groups, they go where the drivers take them.
“Besides tips, we drivers always get a 20 percent commission for bringing customers to the workshops,” one revealed. “Therefore, though we well know that the workshops sell counterfeit pearls or freshwater pearls from
According to Le Quoc Tuan at the Kien Giang Planning and Investment Department, there are two genuine pearl producing enterprises on Phu Quoc island. One, in An Thoi town, was once a Japanese venture. The Japanese enterprise failed during the 1997 financial crisis and was subsequently purchased by Ho Phi Thuy, a local resident. It is now in business as Ngoc Hien Enterprises. Thuy has hired a Japanese expert to supervise cultivation of the pearl oysters.
The other workshop is Australian invested. It has been operating for the many years, but not at full capacity.
Thuy said that he has invested many billion dong and hired Japanese experts, but he is still gaining experience. Most of his products are being exported to
VietNamNet/TT
Travel to Phu Yen: stay in brand new five-star hotel Since last month, tour operators in HCMC have been introducing tours to Phu Yen province to stay in the five-star Cendeluxe Hotel or the newly opened Tuy Hoa luxury hotel.
Ben Thanh Tourist is offering a four-day, three-night tour from HCMC to Phu Yen province. According to the tour operator, the price is lower than other tours at VND3.4 million per guest.
“The price is equal to only three-nights in a three-star hotel,” said Cao Ngoc Minh, public relations executive of Ben Thanh Tourist, and added that the tour operator and other travel firms in HCMC had made familiarization trips through Phu Yen province to prepare for the new tours. Minh said the tour operator hoped the first tour would start this week. Now in the low season, hotels, even five star hotels, are less expensive, making August a good time to vacation. “Visitors have asked about Phu Yen since the opening of the first five-star facility there,” Minh said.
The CenDeluxe Hotel is located in An Ninh Dong commune, Tuy An district, around 540km from Ho Chi Minh City. It has 218 rooms and suites designed by French Interior Architect and it maintains a distinguished ambience throughout the entire property.
By the tour’s program, tourists will arrive in Phu Yen province in a day. The second day will explore Vung Ro bay, one of the most beautiful bays in Central Vietnam. The tour then moves on to visit Mon Beach and its lighthouse. This is one of the first places in the country to receive the morning sun. The tour operator will arrange volleyball on the beach and an afternoon hike up the 700 meter Da Bia mountain. On the third day, the tour hits a place called Da Dia, a beach of black and yellow rock columns which are half-undersea. Each 60-80 centimeter tall rock weighs hundreds of kilograms. They are either hexagonal, square or round and just right for stepping on. Seen from afar, the area looks like a giant honey comb, with the rocks the comb’s cells. At Da Dia, the ocean waves beat on the rocks and this creates beautiful rays in the spray. Oysters and seaweed are plentiful here. In the center of the rock area is a pool formed by rain and sea water. This pool is home to small colored fish. Around the pool, the layers of rocks allow visitors to sit with a backrest and relax. Before the return to HCMC, the tour takes in some of the sights in Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province. VietNamNet/SGT Communal experience
Co Vien Lau Village offers a unique glimpse into an older way of life in northern Vietnam’s Red River Delta.
Nestled amid the famous grottoes and karst landscapes of Tam Coc-Bich Dong in the northern province of Ninh Binh, the village’s twenty 18th-20th century houses have been transplanted from villages throughout northern Vietnam. Facing the nearby Thai Vi Temple, Ngo Dong River and the Cua Quen Mountains, the houses have beautiful natural views of the stunning countryside: winding canals and rivers snaking their way through rice paddies and jagged limestone hills and caves. Each house boasts the traditional architectural traits of its home village or district. The Luu Phuong house is made of jack wood and bead tree, with a fish fin tile roof. The curved beams of the Van Hai house are shaped like the neck of goose and chiseled with intricate carvings. The Khanh Hoa house’s unique pair of lacquered panels engraved with Chinese characters display poems from the 18th and 19th century. Most noteworthy is the Nghenh Tan Cac Royal House built by King Gia Long in 1820. Moved from its original home in Hoa Binh Province’s Cam Son region, the house’s famous lotus-like design has inspired generations of Vietnamese poets. Then there are the majestic village gates of Tam Quan and Ang Ngoai, which along with the Thanh Liem Communal House are exemplary of northern Vietnamese architecture. Inside the old houses are antiques and artifacts dating back hundreds or even thousands of years ago. There are indigenous Vietnamese tools from the stone age, the bronze age, the pottery age, such as hand shovels, saws and jars, as well as drums and other everyday items. After visiting Co Vien Lau, take a boat trip along the rivers of Tam Coc-Bich Dong or a visit to the ruins of Vietnam’s first capital city, Hoa Lu. The Co Vien Lau hotel rents rooms in replica of traditional Vietnamese homes, outfitted with modern amenities, VND300,000-800,000 (US$17.50-46.80) a night. VietNamNet/Thanh Nien
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