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TUESDAY 18 AUGUST, 2009 |

What’s On August 17 - 23

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Exhibitions

Hanoi

L'Espace

24 Trang Tien St., Tel: 39362164

- Itinerant plastic installation exhibition Hanoi-Paris-Rio, till Aug 28.

Hanoi Future Art

64, Lane 310, Nghi Tam Road

- Exhibition entitled Business As Usual of six Vietnamese and Danish artists, till Aug 21.

25Studio

Lane 34, Giang Van Minh St.

- Exhibition entitled Chap (Crazy) of nine young Vietnamese artists, till Aug 25.

Ho Chi Minh City

War Remnant Museum

Vo Van Tan St., Dist 3.

- Photo exhibition showcasing images of the war and subsequent changes in Viet Nam by Japanese photojournalists Yasufumi Murayama and Nishimura Yoichi, till August 27.

Tu Do Gallery

53 Ho Tung Mau St., Dist 1.

- Contemporary art paintings, daily 9am-7pm.

Performances

Hanoi

Ha Noi Opera House

1 Trang Tien St, Tel: 39330131 ; 35651806

- Symphony concert, Spanish conductor Carlos Cuesta, violin soloist Bui Cong Duy and Ha Noi Phiharmonic Orchestra, at 8pm, Apr 25.

- Symphony concert, conductor Le Phi Phi, piano soloist Nguyen Bich Tra, 8pm, Aug 27&28.

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre

57B Dinh Tien Hoang St,

Tel: 38220268

- Water puppet excepts at 4pm; 5.15pm; 6.30pm; 8pm; 9.15pm. Tickets: VND20,000-40,000.

National Circus Theatre

67-69 Tran Nhan Tong St.

Tel: 38220277/68

- Shows at 10am; 8pm everyday. Tickets: VND40,000-50,000.

Ha Noi Cheo Club

15 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St.

Tel: 39437361

- Vietnamese popular opera accompanied by traditional orchestra. Performances on Mon & Fri at 8pm. Ticket price at VND50,000.

Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology

Nguyen Van Huyen Rd.,

Tel: 37562193

- Water puppet performance at 10am; 11.30am; 2.30pm; 4pm. Tickets: VND10,000-20,000.

Viet Nam Tuong Theatre

51 Duong Thanh St,.

Tel 38287268

- Five scenes from traditional Tuong plays, at 5pm, Wed & Thu. Ticket prices at VND50,000.

Hanoi Daewoo Hotel

360 Kim Ma Rd, Tel: 8315000

Lake View

- New Attitude - Fillipino band, Hanoian hottest live performances nightly from 9pm to midnight from Tue to Sun.

Melia Hanoi Hotel

44B Ly Thuong Kiet St,

Tel 39343343

Latino Bar

- Authentic Tapas Bar and live band: happy hour from 4pm-8pm, Mon-Sat and all night happy hour on Sun.

 Ho Chi Minh City

Cinemas

Hanoi

MegaStar Cineplex

191 Ba Trieu St,

Tel: 39743333

- G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra (US, OV)

- Land of the Lost (US, OV)

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (US, OV)

- Ghost Train (US, OV)

- Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (US, OV)

- Public Enemies (US, OV)

- Up  (US, OV)

 

National Cinema Centre

87 Lang Ha St,

Tel: 5141791

Dan Chu Cinema

211 Kham Thien St,

Tel: 38516702

August Cinema

45 Hang Bai St,

Tel: 04 38253911

Ngoc Khanh Cinema

521 Kim Ma St,

Tel: 7712750

- G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra (US, OV)

- Ghost Train (US, OV)

- Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (US, DV)

- Public Enemies (US, DV)

- Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (US, DV)

Bach Mai Cinema

437 Bach Mai St,

Tel: 36273966

- Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (US, DV)

Ho Chi Minh City

Galaxy Nguyen Du Cinema

116 Nguyen Du St, Dist 1,

Tel: 08 38235235

- Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (US, OV)

- Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (US, OV)

- The Talking of Pelham 1 2 3 (US, OV)

- Shaolin Girl (China, ES)

Galaxy Nguyen Trai Cinema

230 Nguyen Trai St, Dist 1,

Tel: 39206688

- Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (US, OV)

- Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (US, OV)

- The Talking of Pelham 1 2 3 (US, OV)

- Shaolin Girl (China, ES)

Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong

126 Hung Vuong Dist 5.

Tel: 32220388

- G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra (US, OV)

- Land of the Lost (US, OV)

- Up  (US, OV)

- Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (US, OV)

- The Talking of Pelham 1 2 3 (US, OV)

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (US, OV)

- Public Enemies (US, OV)

- The Game Plan (US, OV)

Megastar Cineplex CT Plaza Tan Son Nhat

60A Truong Son St, Tan Binh Dist.

Tel: 62971981

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (US, OV)

- Up  (US, OV)

- Land of the Lost (US, OV)

- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (US, OV)

- G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra (US, OV)

- The Proposal (US, OV)

- Kung Fu Panda (US, OV)

Dining Out

Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh City 

VietNamNet Bridge

Underground spring answers call of thirst in Binh Dinh’s ‘yelling cellar’

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"Would you like to go and hear the cellar yelling?" a friend asked me when I was in Quy Nhon city in the central province of Binh Dinh.

Hiring a motorbike, we drove for an hour to Ham Ho, 45km from the city and one of the province’s most attractive eco-parks.

The spring is downstream of the Kut river and adjoins Phu Yen and Gia Lai provinces.

There is a fascinating legend about the place. A long time ago, the region suffered serious droughts every year. Once local residents had almost nothing to eat or drink and their imploring screams filled the entire region. The Jade Emperor was moved and dispatched the God of Rain to create streams and rivers, saving lives.

The Kut river and Ham Ho stream were believed to be created at that time and links the imposing Central Highlands with the East Sea.

The spring runs a few kilometers through a shallow, bumpy ravine with high, rocky walls on either side. It spills into a lake that resembles a large rocky cellar. When the water flows into that cellar, it produces a noise remarkably like a yell. Hence its name.

Another explanation for the origin of the name is equally curious: at the peak of summer, when locals expect rain, they often hear noises like people screaming in the night. Soon, it begins to rain.

But this has a more mundane explanation. Ham Ho is in the downstream part of Kut River where the water runs between two mountains. Here, the temperature here is often lower in comparison with the valley. So, when rain clouds gather and blow through the thick foliage and caves near Ham Ho, the air appears to scream.

Nature’s bounty

Nature’s sculpture: A rock that looks like a partly submerged elephant in the Kut river.

They were mandarins sent by the Latter Le dynasty in the 17th century to build a dyke to harness the Ham Ho’s waters. Older brother Boi died before the work was completed, a victim of the harsh terrain. Bang finished the dyke.

A temple was built in their honour and a memorial ceremony and festival is held here on the 20th of the first lunar month.

Leaving the temple, we moved to a pier. A small canoe took us 500m along a narrow canal to the dyke on Ham Ho.

The stream was an impressive sight with hundreds of granite stones jutting out in the middle, much like a miniature Ha Long Bay.

Stopping at the "Lying Buffaloes" puddle, we seemed to step into a floating stone forest with limpid water. On the bank, leaves and flowers in a dazzling array of colours and the sounds of birds made the scene fetching.

Further upstream, more rocks constricted the flow of water. We walked until we reached a steep stone wall covered in green moss and a bunch of ancient tree roots. In the stream, we fancied we saw rocks that looked like a large crocodile, hon banh it (a kind of cake), da mai nha (roof), da ban co (chessboard), dau chan khong lo (giant footprint), even a group of fairies combing the water.

The wild beauty evokes in beholders images of a world inhabited by gods. Thus, Ham Ho also has other names like "Gate to Heaven".

On the banks of the spring are stilt houses built under the shade of large trees for visitors to relax, enjoying the fresh air and stunning sights.

It is tailor-made for trekking, and the place also offers kayaking in the spring and swimming in front of the Hoa Loc Vung restaurant.

The restaurant is named after the ornamental tree, lecythidales, which is very common in the area. It serves popular culinary specialties like fried stream fish and roasted birds caught in sugarcane fields.

Ham Ho is also known as "flying fish spring" because of the thousands of fish swimming back upstream to their birthplace to spawn.

Inaccessible Ham Ho served as a military base during the Tay Son uprising in the 18th century. General Vo Van Dung’s troops carried out their drills here.

It was also the site of Mai Xuan Thuong’s battle against French colonialists in the early 20th century.

Nowadays, 150,000sq.km of the area are protected by the law and receives around 70,000 visitors each year.

"If you want to fully experience Ham Ho, you should spend a night here. Staying in a stilt house and enjoying the peace of the night, you could hear the strange noises that give Ham Ho its name," Nguyen Dinh Sanh, director of Ham Ho tourism company, tempted us.

Though we would have loved to stay, time was limited and we had to leave.

But we promised ourselves we would return soon.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Getting lost in misty city

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It is August and this is the time awaiting autumn with much melancholy in poetry, peace and romance in scenery and tranquility in human souls. This is the time when summer fades and the chill of winter is on the horizon and cool winds fling everywhere. However, HCM City is still overwhelmed with heat and motorbike smoke with no space for cool air to weave through the high buildings.

A view of Tuyen Lam Lake in Dalat City.

Dalat City belongs to the Central Highlands’ Lam Dong Province, about 320 kilometers from HCM City. Located at 1,500 meters above sea level, Dalat offers favorable climatic conditions. And thanks to the good weather, the whole city of Dalat is a great garden of flowers that bloom the year round and famous for its expanse of pine forests and many beautiful waterfalls and lakes.

In mid August, Dalat fluctuates from 17 to 20 degrees Celsius, ideal for relaxing and sightseeing.

About six kilometers from the center of Dalat City, Tuyen Lam Lake is a must-see destination with its tranquil environment and fresh air amidst such attractive landscapes as mountains, woods, other lakes, streams, waterfalls and many other attractive beauties that make it a popular tourist magnet suitable for tours of various types such as sightseeing, camping, convalescing, walking, fishing and climbing.

The lake looks poetic with a vast and tranquil surface that compares to a human being in meditation. It is amazing for tourists to hire one among 60 boats to drift around the lake under the shade of pine trees and many kinds of colorful flowers. Dropping a fishing rod and patiently waiting for a fish or sitting silently is a suggested way to reduce daily worries.

The next stop must be Da Tien (Fairy Stone) Tourist Area, about 15 kilometers from the center of the city. The site is surrounded by mountains and immense trees. Here are many stilt houses on the hillsides and the lake is equipped with necessities such as beds, cushions, blankets, tables, chairs, lights and a community playground for tourists to stay overnight.

When night falls, tourists can feel the soul of the mountain in the tranquility and the whispers of the breeze in the pine trees as they sit around a camp fire enjoying fresh grilled corn, potatoes and ruou can (wine drunk out of a jar through bamboo pipes) while listening to old stories told by the village patriarch and the tunes of panpipes performed by ethnic artisans.

Stepping to the right, tourists can get lost in a place called Voi (Elephant) Mountain where climbers prove their strength and appreciate nature. In the cool weather of dawn, visitors can ride an elephant to stroll along valleys to see the wildlife and learn more about the life and customs of ethnic people, and as the sun rises high and the smog disappears, the sweet melodies of the wild birds fill the air as the girls of K’ho, Chil or Lat peoples in their brocade dresses and with babies on their backs, make their way to the farms.

At Nui Voi, tourists can stay in a hillside stilt house or in a tree house. Standing on a balcony, tourists can catch a panoramic view of the stilt houses along the abyss with smoke emerging from kitchens, glowing in the sunset and warming a deserted and silent mountainside. It is an absolutely brand new and amazing experience.

Phuong Nam Ecotourism Company is offering a tour running from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to Tuyen Lam Lake, Da Tien Tourist Area and Voi Mountain priced at VND100,000 per person.

For more information, contact Phuong Nam Ecotourism Joint Stock Company at 6 Ho Tung Mau Street, Dalat City, Lam Dong Province, tel: 063 382 2781 email: pnamoffice@phuongnamtours.com.

VietNamNet/SGT

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Chasing waterfalls

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The Bac Waterfall in the northwestern province of Lao Cai.

West of Sa Pa about 12 kilometers the waters of Muong Hoa Creek run cold over jagged and rocky terrain.

The tortuous creek eventually runs in to Bac Waterfall (Silver Waterfall), one of the lesser-known sites around the town of Sa Pa, a former French hill station in the mountains of Lao Cai Province, northwest Vietnam.

The waterfall can only be reached by walking across steep paths on slippery slopes through the mountainous jungle. The waterfall is particularly cold in the morning as the fog rolls in over the peaks.

A dip in the cold current is more than refreshing and relaxing in the shade of forest trees. A swim is the perfect way to forget everyday concerns and nap-away the fatigue of your long journey.

The only way to Sa Pa is by an overnight train from Hanoi to the provincial capital of Son La. From there, it’s around an hour by car to Sa Pa or about 40 minutes to the trailhead leading to Bac Waterfall.

On both sides of falls, H’Mong women sell home-made crafts and fabrics, often out of baskets on their backs. Many also carry their children. Women of the Dao Do community can be recognized by their bright red clothes.

The surrounding area’s markets offer a cornucopia of local goods including brocade, hats, purses, embroidered neckerchiefs, wine, and medicinal herbs from Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range. You can also find Hoang Lien specialties such as thang co (horse meat and entrails soup). But if your stomach isn’t too adventurous, try some of the chicken or pork specialties, of which there are plenty. Sit in the shade of trees at small outdoor restaurants to eat fresh sweet potatoes, corn or eggs—all cooked on red-hot coal stoves—and drink locally-made rice wine.

One of the best local dishes around Sa Pa is com lam (rice cooked in a bamboo shoot), accompanied by grilled sparrow, grilled frog or grilled pork.

You can ask a local tour guide to show you local villages and even arrange a home stay. Most guides around Sa Pa’s ethnic communities can speak Vietnamese, English, French and a local language or two.

In Sa Pa, local xe om (motorbike taxi) drivers can guide you around town and the outskirts for about VND150,000 (US$8) per day.

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

The Cham villages of An Giang

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Cham village in the Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta province of An Giang is home to some of the largest ethnic Cham communities in Vietnam.

Some 13,000 Cham live in 2,100 households on Chau Giang Islet across the Hau River from the town of Chau Doc.

There are seven other major Cham villages in An Giang, each known by a Cham and Vietnamese name.

For example Chau Giang, Da Phuoc and Chau Phong villages are also known by their Cham names as Koh Taboong, Mat Chru and Koh Kaboak, respectively.

In Cham culture, men must cut their hair short and in line with Muslim custom they wear a black or white turban, depending on their age, during certain community activities. Women must cover their heads in public and they usually wear a sarong.

Cham people live in stilt houses. The homes, usually roofed with palm leaves or tiles, have a unique and traditional design. Each house usually has four rooms and a separate kitchen. The two front rooms are for receiving male guests while the two rear rooms are used for sleeping and receiving female guests. Between each room is a partition with a door and an intricately-embroidered curtain.

Guests to a Cham house are invited to sit on a mat and are served tea and cakes.

Outsiders often criticize the old Cham culture in which women were not allowed to go out and communicate with strangers, especially men. But nowadays women go to school, sell or buy goods at markets and interact with outsiders.

At most Cham villages, you can buy scarves, sarongs and clothes made by Cham women. You can see them weave brocade and learn some basic weaving techniques. In addition, you can try delicious Cham delicacies.

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

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Unexplored Hai Hoa beach

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Located in Tinh Gia district in the central province of Thanh Hoa, Hai Hoa beach is not known as a tourist site yet. However, it is becoming popular for its wild beauty and clean beach.

The local authorities plan to turn Hai Hoa into an ecological tourism site in the near future. VnMedia captures the life of Hai Hoa people.

Hai Hoa’s fishermen begin their work in the early morning.

VietNamNet/VNMedia

Over 100 businesses to join in food international exhibition

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The exhibition will introduce traditional and new food and drink products and food processing and packing technology displayed at 150 booths by businesses from Vietnam and the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, China, Thailand and Malaysia.

The annual exhibition is an important event of the food and beverage industry, offering participating businesses trade exchange opportunities and creating an ideal trading floor for products of the sector.

Food and beverage industry is developing strongly in Vietnam and plays an important part in the national economy. More and more businesses are operating in this field.

The industry is considered an ‘output’ for farm produce, attracting a large number of workers and making great contribution to stabilising the market.
 
VietNamNet/VNA

Ten special national historical sites announced

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Hoi An ancient town.

They include archaeological and historical sites such as the Hoang Thanh Thang Long – Hanoi central area in Ba Dinh district in Hanoi, the Hue Ancient Capital, and similar architectural complexes in Huong Tra, Huong Thuy, Phu Vang and Phu Loc districts in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue.

A number of sites important to the history of architecture and design, including the My Son Temple complex, and the Hoi An Ancient Town in the central province of Quang Nam, made the list, as well as national landscapes including Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh and Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park in the central province of Quang Binh.

The remaining four selected historical vestiges are the Hung Temple in the mountainous northern province of Phu Tho, the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Complex at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield in the mountainous northern province of Dien Bien and the Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City.
 
VietNamNet/VNA

World of wetlands

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A tourist fishes in U Minh Thuong National Park in Kien Giang Province

U Minh Thuong National Park is among the most precious flooded forests of Southeast Asia and is a “green lung” of the Mekong Delta.

Situated 50 kilometers southwest of Rach Gia Town, the park has been open to tourists for almost five years and covers an area of more than 80 square kilometers with a 130 square kilometers green buffer zone.

In U Minh Thuong National Park, tourists can visit cajuput forests, situated on a stratum of muddy coal. Some of them are still recovering after a big fire in 2002. There are bird and bat sanctuaries, swamps with aquatic life and plenty of good fishing.

Hundreds of strange species of plants and animals are represented. The wet lands are full of water lilies and another type of water flower called convolvulus; packs of boars feed during the day and forest walks will reveal amazing birdlife and monkey colonies. The water world is its most magnificent in July and August.

It is great fun to sit in a vo lai (a kind of speedboat that has a propeller attached to a long drive shaft extending behind the boat) on a tour of the canals.

No trip to U Minh Thuong National Park is complete without trying the food specialties. You can find a wide range of dishes at Huong Tram Restaurant near the lake, or take food back to your tent in the camping ground. The restaurant even rents out tents. The food is very fresh as nearly all the ingredients come from the park. Dishes are made from eels, snakes, fish and field mice and forest vegetables.

From Rach Gia, the biggest of the two towns of Kien Giang Province, you can go to U Minh Thuong National Park by car or boat. If by car or motorbike, head for Rach Soi, cross Tac Cau Ferry and take National Highway 63. The trip takes about two hours.

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

A politician’s pagoda

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Cau Dong pagoda

Thankfully Cau Dong pagoda is still standing, proudly ignoring the sights and sounds of the 21st century. Built nearly 1,000 years ago under the direction of the Ly Dynasty (1010-1125), when Buddhism came to the fore in Vietnam, the pagoda is also known as Dong Mon or Dong Kieu Tu (The Pagoda facing West), a name that referenced the famous bridge crossing over the To Lich River by the Thang Long Citadel’s Eastern Gate. But in the late 19th century that section of the To Lich River running through the city’s old quarter was filled in and covered up.

The pagoda has undergone five overhauls (the latest one in 2000-2004) due to serious degradation. But we can still see evidence of the Ly Dynasty’s architects although the overall design was refashioned under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945AD). The pagoda is home to a number of 400-year-old statues, stone stelae and a copper bell made in 1800AD. To the left of the pagoda is Duc Mon communal house, which worships Ngo Van Long, a talented and successful general, who served under the Tran Dynasty.

Cau Dong Pagoda is the sole pagoda in Hanoi dedicated to Tran Thu Do (1194-1264AD), an eminent general-cum-advisor under the Ly Dynasty, who orchestrated the demise of the Ly Dynasty and the beginning of the Tran Dynasty through shrewd political maneuvering. He persuaded King Ly Hue Tong (1211-1225) to marry off his daughter, and heir-to-the-throne, Ly Chieu Hoang to Tran Thu Do’s nephew Tran Canh, when they both just seven years old.

Ly Chieu Hoang quickly yielded the throne to her husband, who thus became the official Emperor of Vietnam, and founder of the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), while Tran Thu Do assumed the role of Prime Minister, and effectively ruled the country, as his nephew was only seven. The transfer of power between the two dynasties took place without bloodshed, testament to Tran Thu Do’s political guile. During his proxy rule, he wasted little time by enacting major civil reforms, including the division of the Vietnamese kingdom into 12 provinces and the institution of various taxes on land holdings and transactions.

He was also responsible for brokering a peaceful settlement with Mongol invaders from the north. Despite the fact he’d wrested control of the country without shedding blood, he did secure the new Tran Dynasty by wiping out as many family members of the previous Ly Dynasty as possible. Those who survived did so in hiding or in exile. Prince Ly Long Tuong was one exile who later became a national hero in Korea for defeating the Mongols.

In 1226, Tran Thu Do then married his cousin Tran Thi Dung, the former wife of Ly Hue Tong, who was later declared to be Linh Tu Quoc Mau (Mother of the nation) because of her great contributions to the court as well as her military strategies. In January 1258, when the Chinese Yuan and Mongol invaders encroached on Vietnamese soil for the first time, Tran Thu Do calmly told the king that: “Your Majesty, you should not be anxious as my head remains!” In the heat of the moment, his famous statement held true as he masterminded a famous victory in only 10 days.

Feudal historical texts often considered him a talented but immoral courtier. But his rise to power is undoubtedly a captivating story. In order to celebrate the 1000th grand anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi as Vietnam’s capital, the Vietnam Feature Film Studio 1 is making a VND48 billion ($2.66 million) film about Tran Thu Do.  

VietNamNet/Time-out

Hanoi’s jasmine fields

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Phu Lo town in Soc Son district, Hanoi is the area that provides jasmine for the Thai Hoa Tea Factory in Soc Son. August is the harvest season of jasmine in Phu Lo. Farmers only pluck jasmine in the afternoon, from 2-6pm. Each person can harvest 2-3kg of jasmine a day. 

Some images of jasmine fields in Phu Lo town.

The field of jasmines.

VietNamNet/Dat Viet

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