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Vietnam Open Tour News & EventsTUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER, 2009 |
 Eyrie of the gods
Imposing Chua Mountain in Quang Nam Province At night when the moon is full, or in the early morning when the mountainside is shrouded in mist, Chua’s twin peaks twinkle above the white clouds, especially if viewed from Khe Giao Bridge in My Son Valley. There are many legends and myths about Chua Mountain, whose name means “lord.” One story tells of a hunter from Trung Loc Valley in Que Son District who lost his way while chasing his prey. Hungry and thirsty, he reached the top of the mountain at dusk and chanced upon a garden where there was plenty of sweet fruit and a pool of cool water. After slaking his thirst and filling his belly, the hunter headed home and told the villagers about his strange experience. A few days later he was stricken dumb and fell ill. He stayed that way for three months and 10 days, and then died. After his earthly demise, the villagers decided that the hunter had been punished by the goddess who owned the garden because he had taken seeds of fruit from the mountain. Another tale that the old people like to tell is how the god of Mount Chua and the goddess of nearby Ca Tang Mountain would meet every night in the form of rays of red light that flew between the two peaks. There’s a mysterious sign on a 30-meter cliff near the mountain’s summit that is the source of much conjecture. It’s simple enough - a circle with a square inside - but no one knows what it means or how it came to be there. Various myths say it was made by this or that god, others that it was drawn by a Chinese feng shui master named Cao Bien, who lived in Vietnam in the ninth century. Tall tales aside, Chua Mountain is considered the second Da Lat of the central region thanks to the temperate weather, and is a great place for trekkers to explore. The densely forested peak, whose summit is nearly 1,500 meters above sea level, looms over a land of ancient Cham towers and is the westernmost prominence of a range that goes east to the sea. It can be reached by the road that connects Que Son and Nong Son districts and is situated 40 kilometers southwest of Da Nang a short way beyond Le Pass. The village of Dai Binh near the foot of the mountain is famous for its fruit. VietNamNet/Thanh Nien
A different side of Mai Chau
A Mong boy smiles in Pa Co Commune, Hoa Binh Province. Most seasoned travelers in Vietnam already know the enchanting White Thai communities of Mai Chau Valley in Hoa Binh Province. But in the same lush valley, a group of ethnic Mong communities have begun opening their doors to tourists in Pa Co Commune. Boasting the same rigid mountains and rich rice fields as Lac and Pom Coong hamlets, where the White Thai have been welcoming home stays for years, Pa Co also offers a centuries’ old tea forest that’s still cultivated today. About 73 kilometers southwest of Hanoi, Mai Chau is only reachable via one of Vietnam’s most scenic drives. After exiting the city, the road hikes up into the green limestone mountains, revealing fresh rice paddies and fruit orchards below. In the summer, each orchard is a different color as the fruits begin to ripen. Behind the crowded shops that flank certain parts of the road, crystal clear canals and patches of jungle shine in the distance. As you approach Mai Chau Valley, traditional stilt houses can be seen interjecting themselves between the modern homes. As the road descends into Mai Chau Town, the difference is clear: modern homes along the road, stilt houses in the valley’s rice paddies. A little over a decade ago, Mong locals in the area still lived as nomads. But now, many have settled in Pa Co Hamlet to farm tea or enter the tea processing trade in nearby Tra Day Hamlet. Here, locals offer tourists the local specialty, Shan Tuyet tea, made from trees that have been growing in Mai Chau’s highest mountains for hundreds of years. According to Pha, director of a local tea processing business, Pa Co Hamlet is famous for its tea trees, about which the Mong communities still tell a local legend. According to the story, the trees appeared on Pa Hang Mountain hundreds of years ago when yellow -beaked phoenixes scattered tea seeds throughout the area because they liked eating tea tree fruit. It is said that the trees in the northwestern mountains of Vietnam were their favorite. The tea trees grew incredibly fast and soon formed a forest thanks to both the superb tea-growing climate and the special seeds scattered by the phoenixes. Pa Co’s tea forest still has more than 1,000 old trees. These days, tourists can visit Pa Co to walk through the forest and sample the Mong’s centuries’ old tea recipes. VietNamNet/Thanh Nien
Vietcombank loans $39mil for resort Indochina Land and Vietcombank signed on Saturday an agreement for a US$39 million loan to fund development of the Hyatt Regency Da Nang Resort and Spa.
The complex, developed by Indochina Land and managed by Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, will comprise a 200-room five-star hotel and 174 high-end condominiums and 27 three-bedroom villas for sale. Peter Ryder, CEO and co-chairman of Indochina Capital, the parent company of Indochina Land, said the central coastal region surrounding Da Nang had always been a strategic investment location for Indochina Land. "With the ideal combination of spectacular natural and cultural attractions, from picturesque white sand beaches to the legendary Marble Mountains, and three UNESCO World Heritage sites, we anticipate that Da Nang and the central coast will emerge as the next great Southeast Asian beach destination, rivalling Phuket in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia," he said. After the $60-million Nam Hai Resort in Quang Nam, Indochina Land has developed a number of properties in the region at a total cost of around $300 million. These include the 18-hole Montgomerie Links Viet Nam golf course and the Indochina Riverside Towers, a commercial, office and residential complex in the heart of Da Nang. In addition to the $39 million medium - and long-term loan, Vietcombank has also agreed to provide a working capital facility to fund the resort's future operations, said Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, director of Vietcombank's Da Nang branch. VietNamNet/Viet Nam News Quang Nam to promote culture tours Central Quang Nam province will introduce its special culture and tourism potentials at the biggest ever Tourism Culture Week slated for the end of November in Hanoi, a provincial official said. Deputy Director of the provincial Culture, Sports and Tourism Department Ho Tan Cuong said that the two world cultural heritage sites - My Son relics and Hoi An ancient town – and the cultures of mountainous ethnic people will be introduced at the event. Quang Nam will showcase Thanh Ha porcelains, Ma Chau silk, Ban Thach mats and Kim Bong carpentry and Phuoc Kieu bronze casting products among its traditional craft products. The week will also include Quang Nam’s traditional costume show, folk arts and games performance as well as the introduction of the provincial gastronomic arts with its specialties, such as “Cao Lau” (pork noodle soup), “banh beo” (bloating fern-shaped cakes) and “banh bao” and “banh vac” (white rose). Apart from the two world cultural heritage sites, Quang Nam is home to hundreds of historical and cultural sites and ethnic-imbued culture. According to the statistics of Quang Nam’s tourism sector, the province has welcomed around 200,000 tourists each month since the start of the year. Despite the A/H1N1 flu epidemic, 212,000 tourists flocked to Quang Nam in August. Cuong said that his province will continue implementing advertisement campaigns in local and foreign markets, organise promotion programmes at hotels and restaurants and develop tours to traditional craft villages, in a bid to lure more visitors. VietNamNet/VNA Hai Phong’s leading lady
The Chinese – specifically the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220AD) – had annexed Vietnam (known as Nam Viet at the time) in 111BC and for over a hundred years had sent officials to govern the “southern province”. The Vietnamese were allowed to keep their own system of feudal chiefs at lower levels but the Chinese overlords still ruled the roost – often in draconian fashion – and tension inevitably simmered overtime. After the execution of Thi Sach, who was married to Trung Trac, the two sisters led an angry but well-organised uprising against the Chinese, ably assisted by the likes of Le Chan, who is believed to have been the Hai Ba Trung’s most crafty general and strategist. Crucially before the battle began Le Chan had helped recruit troops. She had also built a garrison where provisions could be stored and troops could train. She named the garrison An Bien after her homeland, located in Quang Ninh province today. Le Chan was appointed chief of the garrison and Commander of Hai Tan town (Haiphong today). She was also given the honorary title of Thanh Chan Princess for founding Hai Tan Town’s Defensive Force. After this period of secretive preparation, the Hai Ba Trung rebellion undoubtedly took the Chinese overlords by surprise. In 39AD Trung Trac and Trung Nhi first repelled a small Chinese force from their village and after assembling a large army – according to legend consisting mostly of women – they went on to seize 65 citadels back from the Chinese and just like that Nam Viet had been liberated. It’s easy to see why the Hai Ba Trung sisters are revered to this day in Vietnam. As Louise Williams writes in her book Wives, Mistresses and Matriarchs, “The powerful vision of three women leading their men atop of the gilded seats on elephants, tumbles forward through the generations, a national source of pride and strength.” Tellingly, afterwards the Hai Ba Trung sisters were declared kings, not queens (perhaps, reflective of the times, as only a ‘king’ could rule men). The Hai Ba Trung’s reign of power would be short lived however. In 43AD the Chinese Han King ordered his General Ma Vien to amass a huge army and invade Nam Viet. The Trung Sisters and Le Chan rallied the troops once more. Another female general Phung Thi Chinh went into battle despite being heavily pregnant. Legend has it that she gave birth on the front line and with her baby in one arm and a sword in the other, she continued to fight. But this time the Han had returned in numbers and the Viet troops were soon completely overrun. To preserve her dignity, Le Chan took her own life, as did the Trung sisters and all the other female generals, including Phung Thi Chinh. Afterwards An Bien people set up a temple as a shrine in honour of Le Chan, where today stands Den Nghe (Nghe Temple). The temple is not just a sacred place but also of great artistic value and well worth visiting. The main shrine has a space in the form of the Chinese character Tam (Three) with an anteroom, a middle room and a back room. The walls and ceiling are covered with sculpted reliefs depicting scenes from Vietnamese mythology. Engravings on wood depict scenes representing the four seasons. The most valuable relic remaining there is the stone memorial stele with characters reading ‘The story of An Bien Haiphong’ that dates back to the reign of King Khai Dinh (1916- 1925). The inscription on the stele tells the story of Le Chan and lists the various titles conferred on her by the kings of different dynasties. The tomb, recognised as a national heritage in 1975, is still regularly visited by Vietnamese people who still credit Le Chan with establishing An Bien- Haiphong township and admire her bravery in the face of adversity. VietNamNet/Time-out Trang An awakes after 1,000 years Ninh Binh, the glorious citadel of Dai Co Viet (old name of Vietnam), has been stamped with the footprints of 42 years of sovereign of dynasties, Dinh, Le, Pre-Le and Ly. The land comprises three different types of landscape, wetlands, coastal delta and uplands, and is endowed with many places of particular interest such as Tam Coc-Bich Dong Grotto, Cuc Phuong National Park and Van Long Nature Reserve.
Tourists cruise the Trang An-Bai Dinh tourist complex in Ninh Binh province. The site is also home to many wild creatures and plants. Each cave has its own beauty with many stalactites in a profusion of colors. Once touring Trang An, travelers surely will get lost in a land of myth and fantasy to leave behind daily stresses and worries. And while rowing through Trang An grotto in the quiet, fresh air of the highlands, with only the sound of birds and the oars stirring the clear water and surrounded by magnificent forested mountains upon which graze white goats, visitors enjoy a heaven on earth. Ninh Binh City is about 90 kilometers from Hanoi, so tourists can book travel agencies in Hanoi for the tours. At the site, one-day tours are available for VND60,000 per person to take a cruise to the caves. Two-day tours allow time to visit the ancient Bai Dinh Pagoda of the Ly Dynasty, which dates back 1,000 years, and to admire the new Bai Dinh Pagoda complex in the Bai Dinh limestone mountain range which is famous for its imposing size. Coming to Trang An, travelers should not miss enjoying the indigenous specialty, mountain goat, which is grilled, steamed or barbecued at a price of VND50,000 to VND60,000 per dish. VietNamNet/SGT Tourism project boom in central Vietnam
Endowed with some of the most popular beachside attractions in the country, Vietnam’s central region is being transformed into a tourist mecca as developers take advantage of the area’s natural beauty. Central Vietnam is home to some of Vietnam’s most impoverished provinces where local residents battle harsh weather and floods and droughts every year. But Mother Earth also gave the region pristine white beaches and beautiful vistas along its 1,500-kilometer coastal line. The middle part of the S-shaped nation of Vietnam is also well-known for its four world heritage sites - the “ancient town” of Hoi An, Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, the My Son Sanctuary, a complex of ancient Cham temples, and a series of ancient sites in the former imperial city of Hue, including the Hue Citadel. Central Vietnam is receiving a lot of attention from Vietnam’s tourism authorities, who see even more tourism opportunities in the region. Foreign and domestic investors, including big-name hotel companies such as Hyatt Hotels Corporation and the Intercontinental Hotels Group, are also aware of the potential and are rushing to build resorts and hotels. “Central Vietnam will become one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Asia as it is home to one of the six most beautiful beaches around the globe, as voted by Forbes magazine,” Peter Ryder, general director of Indochina Capital’s real estate division Indochina Land, told Tu Van va Tieu Dung (Consultant and Consumer) Magazine. “The region is also the gateway to three world cultural heritage sites, Hoi An, My Son and Hue,” he said. Two years ago, Indochina Land, one of the biggest investors in the region, opened the super-luxury Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An, where the regular rate for one night in a three-bedroom beachfront villa is US$3,250. The firm has also invested in the $45 million Montgomerie Links, a golf and villa complex, the Indochina Riverside Towers and the Hyatt Recency Danang Resort and Spa, all in central Vietnam. “Danang and central Vietnam are among the most interesting destinations in the world for tourists and investors,” said John Tomlison, general director of the Montgomerie Links Golf Club. “The beautiful beaches, pleasant weather year-round and friendly locals have turned the region into a paradise.” The road along Danang’s Non Nuoc Beach, voted by Forbes as one of the most beautiful beaches of the planet in 2005, has even been nick-named “Five-Star Road” for the millions of dollars of tourism projects being built along the road. Despite the interest and the potential of the area, central Vietnam has experiencing a slump in international arrivals this year as a result of the global economic downturn and the swine flu pandemic. The region estimated to have received 18.7 percent fewer visitors in the first eight months of this year than over the same period last year. Local authorities are calling for further spending on roads and a reduction in red tape to encourage more organize caravan tours to the region. The government is also planning to offer discounts on landing and takeoff fees at Hue’s Phu Bai International Airport to encourage more foreign and domestic airlines to fly to the central destination. With new tourist facilities to be launched and more open investment policies in the future, local tourism service providers are hopeful for a rebound in the number of international arrivals soon. Source: Tu Van va Tieu Dung magazine - Vietnews
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