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Vietnam Open Tour News & EventsTUESDAY 01 DECEMBER, 2009 |
 Dalat Flower Festival 2010
Say it with flowers - The Dalat Flower Festival 2010 will see the capital of Lam Dong province in full bloom once again. The Dalat Flower Festival 2010, scheduled to take place from January 1-4 next year, promises to be the biggest and most flowery festival yet! As ever the festival will promote Dalat’s stunning beauty and help promote the city’s as a brand. The former French colonial hill station is one of the country’s most popular holiday resort towns offering visitors a cool, temperate climate and a stunning landscape that is endowed with precipitous mountains, waterfalls, pine forests and bountiful flora and fauna. Often dubbed Vietnam’s honeymoon capital it’s no surprise newly-weds are lured to this romantic and awe-inspiring destination. 
Dalat Flower Festival The festival is an opportunity for flower traders, farmers, florists and botanists to come together and share knowledgs and experiences. This year the Dalat Flower Festival 2010 organising committee has elected to strip back some of the superfluous pomp and curtail the ceremonial aspect of the event. As a result the festival is a bona-fide ‘flower festival’ for the people of Dalat and visitors from beyond the pale. The organisers have also launched a campaign to cultivate more flowers, trees and ornamental plants throughout the city so Dalat will truly be in full bloom come January. The flower festival this year will not be confined within the city limits and includes Duc Trong district so that once visitors arrive at Dalat airport or enter from the Lien Khuong – Prenn expressway they will literally be engulfed in flowers. Besides the showcasing of Dalat’s flowers there will be an exposition on flowers and ornamental plants, a flower arranging contest, a flower trade fair and a scientific workshop entitled ‘enhancing competitiveness and developing the flower industry’. According to Nguyen Vu Hoang, the general director of the Dalat Flower Festival 2010, there will be a number of flower spaces around the city that will “enthrall tourists”. The Dalat Flower Market Day and the “flower roads” such as the one that will encircle Xuan Huong Lake promise to be eye-catching affairs that will dazzle both locals and tourists. There will also be “flower islands” and “flower towers” and even a 108-metre-long flower dragon next to Xuan Huong Lake. There might also be a new entry for the Guinness Book of Records – a flower vase designed in the shape of an old kettle-drum to be made by 1,000 florists and tourists will be on display. Other associated events will bring plenty of colour and fun to Dalat. A bicycle race will help promote environmentally friendly vehicles. The Dalat Open Golf Championship tees off on January 2. For those looking for love, well sign up for ‘Dalat: a love Rendez-Vous’ on New Year’s Eve and you never know, you might find your other half! An international trade fair with over 400 stalls featuring goods from Vietnam, Japan, China, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia will also be held at the same time as the flower festival. Nice rice rolled with soul
White rice is inescapable in Vietnam. Even if you’re not having a “rice-dish,” chances are the noodles you’re eating, whether in soup or fried, are made from rice. Even the cake in Vietnam is made from rice.
Banh cuon, or steamed rice rolls, is one of Vietnam’s most ubiquitous rice-derivatives.
The rolls are made by grinding white rice and mixing it with water to create rice batter. A pot with a thin piece of cloth covering it is put to boil on the stove. The watery batter is then poured on the surface of the cloth and spread wide and thin to make a sheet of what looks like rice “paper.”
The rice sheet needs to be as thin as possible. It is then taken off the cloth and rolled with various fillings, depending on where you eat it.
In each region, namely the north, south and central areas of Vietnam, the steamed rice roll has its own recipe, ingredients and flavors.
In Hanoi, customers often enjoy banh cuon rolled with minced meat and peziza, an edible mushroom-like fungus. The dish is served with fried shallots, nuoc mam (fish sauce) and Vietnamese pork sausage.
In the central town of Hue, the rice sheets are rolled with grilled pork. The dish is served with fish sauce infused with the essence of ca cuong (giant water bug) for extra flavor.
Hue’s other version of the roll, known as banh uot tom chay (steamed rice roll with dried ground shrimp), is popular for the little bit of shrimp powder sprinkled on the surface of the dish.
There are two versions of banh cuon in the south.
The first version is similar to that served in the north.
The second version is vegetarian and rolled without filling, served with fried shallots, scalded bean sprout, cucumber and herbs. The rolls are then dipped in a concoction of fish sauce, garlic, lemon, chili and sugar. The sauce needs to be a little salty and both sweet and sour.
Whatever the color and flavor, banh cuon is a lasting favorite throughout Vietnam and more and more foreigners are making it part of their diet.
Besides traditional versions of banh cuon, an increasing number of modern versions of the dish have appeared in recent years, including steamed rolls stuffed with pate, chicken, salted pork and scallops.
Banh cuon can be found at the following Ho Chi Minh City restaurants:
Banh cuon la 57 Nguyen Du Street, District 1
Banh cuon Tay Ho 127 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, District 1
Banh cuon Hai Nam 11 A Cao Thang Street, District 3 More to Saigon than just gridlock traffic Strolling around Saigon can be a fascinating experience with the hurry of pedestrians and the bustle of heavy traffic. Saigon is bustling, hustling and dusty, even smoky. Saigon has no the ancientness of thousand-year-old Athens City or the magnificence of Paris. Saigon is young, small, but entices tourists thanks to its distinctions in culture, history, food and people.
“Saigon is too weird, amidst the center are towering green trees, making the city poetic,” said a tourist from the Netherlands. Saigon is also made interesting by its small corner markets which are always busy in a jubilant ambiance of trading. Some trading streets have existed for a long time, such as a 200-year-old trading street in Cho Lon (China Town) in District 5 and a rice selling street called Tran Chanh Chieu that was born in 1750 in the Chinese community. Those interested in antiques can roam Le Cong Kieu Street in District 1. This small street holds about 40 shops selling antique lamps in thousands of shapes and sizes, ceramics, chairs, tables and clocks. At the end of the street are paintings, wood works and parallel sentences. Coming here, tourists feel they are lost in an antique museum. Colorful flowers and fruits abound on Le Thanh Ton Street next to Ben Thanh Market. There, tourists can purchase all kinds of Vietnamese fruit and multicolored flowers. If tourists want to wander colorful streets, Hai Thuong Lan Ong and Trang Tu in District 5 are recommended. Coming here, tourists can learn more about the daily life and customs of Chinese people and can satisfy their eyes with cute ornaments, especially near Christmas. Luong Nhu Hoc in this district is dazzling with red and yellow dragon costumes, bonnets and gowns for royal and traditional drama performances. Exploring Saigon on foot, by bicycle or by cyclo to take a taste of Saigon life gives a sense that Saigon is also poetic, charming and gentle, not only bustling and hustling as standard complaints go. VietNamNet/SGT Where natural beauty, legend unite Located at Nghia Phuong Commune, Luc Nam District, the northern province of Bac Giang; about 90km from Ha Noi, Mo Stream winds through a valley between Huyen Dinh and Yen Tu mountains creating natural swimming pools and waterfalls.
Stepping out: Tourists flock to Mo Stream to enjoy some sightseeing and visit historical relics (above photo). The area features many waterfalls (below) adding to the beauty of the stream. The three temples that can be found along the stream consist of the Thuong (Upper), Trung (Middle) and Ha (Lower) and were built during the 10th century Le dynasty. Que My Nuong, a daughter of King Hung Dinh Vuong (1400 BC) is credited with creating the Mo Stream and waterfalls that feed the fields and developing irrigation works. The people respect her as Mother of the Forest and worship at the temples. The legend says, one day, the princess wandered about enjoying the beautiful landscapes. She visited the commune and realised that local agriculture often faced droughts. She climbed to the mountain’s peak, pressed her hand on the stone, and from her finger prints, five waterfalls appeared leading water to the fields, saving the people’s crops. Since then, the stream has been known as the Mo (Fertile). She discussed with the village chiefs and designed irrigation plans for the region. The Trung Temple still preserves the place where the princess and the elders sat. A large stone right in the middle of the temple’s yard is the centre of the site. Pilgrims visiting the temple often touch their hands to the stone as they believe that healthiness and happiness would come. The region experiences floods between May and October which sometimes sweep away the bridge leading to the temple, but the water level has never reached to the temple’s yard. The temple at this time of year resembles an island and can only be visited by tourists via boat, says tour guide Do Bach Tra. Ha Temple was built on large scale in typical religious architecture. It’s the place for pilgrims to burn incense and ask for holy permission to visit the other temples and pagodas in the site. Thuong Temple is located at the highest point. Leaning on the mountain, the temple has its rear linked to a stone chamber built into the mountain. A path beside Thuong Temple leads tourists to Giong Khe, with a panoramic view of the mountains and streams.
The Mo Stream Festival is held annually on the first day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar. Neighbouring villages and communes join the festival by contributing offerings to the locals and young women and men for the festival procession. They are divided into different processional teams wearing red, green, brown and yellow. When the rites are finished, festival-goers join various festive activities such as archery, traditional martial arts, cock fighting, wrestling and swinging.
Hau dong (spiritual singing) is performed in the evenings at all temples to entertain and praise the gods. Large numbers of pilgrims who attend the festival. Women often come to pray for happiness and health, and enjoy the hau dong performance. Young people enjoy the sightseeing of mountains and streams. Men sit down together and enjoy the local wine and tea. Another must-see venue is the Tran Temple worshipping General Tran Hung Dao. The race tracks and holes for measuring soldiers are remains that prove that the Tran dynasty’s troops were stationed at the location to fight against Mongol invaders in the 13th century. Before and after a battle, the soldiers jumped into the holes. Each hole could contain ten people. Through counting the holes, a commander could find out how many soldiers had been lost. With beautiful nature and a long history, Mo Stream was recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national historical and cultural site in 1998. VietNamNet/Viet Nam News Gathering steam in Sapa
Herbs pot to boil in preparation for the spa
After a long day of hiking the steep hills and terraced rice paddies of the mountains around Sa Pa, an all-natural herbal steam bath was just what my aching muscles needed.
At Red Dao Spa, I was led into a small bath full of fragrant steam wafting from the large wooden tub. First, I washed down with some herb-infused water, a dark reddish color, and then sat in the warm water for a 20 minute soak.
The Red Dao people in Sa Pa are known as the best herbalists in the area thanks to a vibrant medicinal culture centered on herbal remedies. Living near thick forests, Red Dao communities have taken advantage of the rich source of medicine to keep them healthy and full of energy. The Red Dao use herbs to treat everything from flu to skin diseases and muscle problems.
For generations, the Red Dao people have used traditional herbal spas to treat a variety of ailments. Their baths include ten different kinds of herbs collected fresh from the forest before each soak.
The leaves, some fresh but some dried, are boiled for 3-4 hours. Then they are mixed with fresh water at 30-37oC. The bathtub, put in a small room to keep the steam and fragrance of the herbs, is usually made from fir or another aromatic wood.
Therapy
Red Dao Spa is run by Sa Pa local Ly Lao Lo in Ta Chai Village, Ta Phin Commune, around 12 kilometers from the center of the town.
The spa is small and sparsely furnished, but welcoming and comfortable. I visited after a Sa Pa woman suggested the place.
Once I arrived, I was briefed about the history of the herbal therapies I would be given and the properties of each herb.
Then I had my soak. Sitting in the warm, red water, I felt all my senses tingle and my muscles eased and relaxed. A soothing feeling crept up and down my body. After 20 minutes, I was thoroughly relaxed.
Goldmine
The only problem with Sa Pa’s new Red Dao-style spas is that there are a lot of them and it’s not easy to tell which ones are authentic.
“The thing that worries me is if people sell the service when they don’t really understand it and do not use the herbs properly,” said Lo.
“It also saddens me to see villagers working very hard to collect the herbs when the spas don’t pay them very well.”
With help from doctors at the Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Lo has also established a small company producing soap with traditional Red Dao herbs and leaves. To make the product, which can be found in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Lo has hired some 40 families in his village to grow the herbs themselves.
Try the true Dao’s spa at:
Red Dao Spa: Ta Chai Village, Ta Phin Commune, Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 871 756/098 897 5704 Foreign visitors to Vietnam on the rise
Most of the visitors came from China, the Republic of Korea, the US and Taiwan, said a VNAT representative at a workshop in Hanoi on November 27.
This suggests a recovery in the tourism sector in the two remaining months of the year, as foreign arrivals fell dramatically in October due to the global economic recession, he said.
He attributed the positive sign to the sector’s promotion campaigns overseas, including Impressive Vietnam. The recovery of the national economy has also lured foreigners back to Vietnam.
Vietnam welcomed just 3.4 million foreign visitors in the past 11 months, down by 12 percent compared to last November. If the upward trend continues in December, the country hopes to receive approximately 4 million foreigners for the whole year.
At the workshop, delegates gave opinions on a strategy for national tourism development until 2020 with a view toward 2030. The strategy aims for breakthroughs in tourism development, enabling the sector to compete on a par with other countries in the region and the world.
Under the strategy, the sector will focus on diversifying markets and products, developing brand names, training human resources, upgrading infrastructure and increasing international cooperation.
It expects to serve 7-8 million foreign visitors and 32-35 million domestic holiday-makers in 2015. For 2030, the targets are 11-12 million foreign visitors and 45-48 million domestic tourists.
VietNamNet/VOV Southern provinces to launch tourism road show in Cambodia Tourism authorities of southern cities and provinces as well as entrepreneurs will organize a road show in Cambodia next month to promote tourism as well as to make a chance for local investors to develop tourism properties there, a tourism official said.
Local participants will include tourism officials, tourism transport operators, tour operators, investors as well as other relevant services providers. Such participants will go to the neighboring country via the Giang Thanh border gate in Kien Giang Province. “It’s not only a tourism promotion trip but also the trip for Vietnam and Cambodia tourism participants to have further discussions on cooperation to develop tourist sites and tourism products of the two sides such as caravan tours, sea tourism, health tourism,” he said. Son said that the exchange of visitors between the two countries has been on the increase. Therefore, stronger cooperation will help the tourism sector better serve such tourists and attract more travelers from the third country to Vietnam and Cambodia. “The high-ranking officials of the two countries have pledged to cooperate in joint programs for tourism development so the above activity is one of programs that we will do to realize this purpose,” Son said. He said that another important purpose of the road show is to offer a chance for local investors to have direct meetings with representatives of Cambodia’s Tourism Ministry as well as officials of other localities there to find new opportunities to develop tourism properties in Cambodia. VietNamNet/SGT Discovering Indochina by road Traveling to South East Asian countries by air is quite popular but it is more interesting and rewarding to reach these destinations by road. Bangkok, Vientiane, Siem Riep and other cultural heritages like Angkor and That Luang will appear in front of you on your exciting road trip. To answer the demand for traveling by road, BenThanh Tourist has designed an eight-day/seven-night tour through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand for both local and international tourists. In the past, tourists have had to fly to visit Thailand and Cambodia. Now they can travel to these countries by road and at the lowest possible cost. The first destination on the new itinerary is Vinh City, Vietnam. This city has been well-known for its tradition of learning community and as a cradle of many PhDs as well as the homeland of late President Ho Chi Minh. Tourists will be taken to Ho Chi Minh’s father’s village and mother’s village to understand his childhood. There is a tour of his house with many of his family’s keepsakes, such as a bamboo bed, a wooden wardrobe and a loom, on display to recreate the simple life of the President’s family. From here, the tour takes Road 8 for tourists to contemplate the imposing Truong Son Mountain Range, the natural frontier between Vietnam and Laos. On the way, tourists may stand on the highest point of Road 8 to see a splendid stone forest. After passing through the Cau Treo border gate, tourists arrive in Vientiane to enjoy the Laotian capital’s landscapes at night on a tuktuk, a kind of three-wheeled car, or sit on the bank of the Mekong River to enjoy a glass of Laotian beer and grilled foods. Tourists will be shown the victory statue Patuxay, known as the Champs Élysées of Vientiane, That Luang, the symbol of Buddhism in Laos, Sisaket Pagoda, an age-old pagoda which contains nearly 7,000 precious Buddha statues made in bronze, and Salakeoku Park, a unique construction of Hinduism. Leaving Laos through the Nong Khai border gate, the tour moves to Bangkok, a boisterous capital with many year-round festivals. In Thailand, the country of smiles, tourists can release all their tiredness after the long journey. There is a gentle sightseeing tour of the Golden Pagoda, boating on the Chaophaya River and a visit to the dragon boat fleet of the King of Thailand. In the afternoon, there is time for shopping, and at night dinner with Siam Niramit, a special art show. The next destination on the journey is Siem Riep. After passing the Poipet border gate, tourists will enter the land of mysterious Angkor in the primeval forest of north Cambodia. The Angkor complex, built from the 10th to early 13th century, was a cultural and political center of the strong Khmer Empire. With hundreds of temples, Angkor is considered one of the leading architectural and sculptural heritages in the world and was recognized as a world heritage by UNESCO in 1992. Saying goodbye to Siem Riep, tourists return to HCMC through the Moc Bai border gate to end this interesting trip. Tourists will bring home unforgettable memories of the beautiful landscapes of forests, mountains and deltas from their overland tour that are not available to those who fly. VietNamNet/SGT $2.77 million promotes tourism in Vietnam
What do you conclude from Vietnam tourism in November 2009?
The world economy is recovering. That is good news for tourism in all countries. If the volume of foreign tourists to Vietnam dropped in October, it grew impressively in November, with 231,000 visitors or 19 percent. Notably, the numbers of tourists from Japan, Northeastern Asia and North American resumed their former rate.
The volume of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the first half of 2009 fell by 19.6 percent year on year. The reduction was 16.6 percent for October, but in November it was only 12.4 percent compared to 2008.
Besides the recovery of the world economy, what are other reasons for resumed tourism?
The recent advertising campaigns for Vietnam’s tourism are absolutely effective. The tourism sector has never invested intensively on events like the recent road shows. VNAT launched its road show in China and the results began coming right away in October. Some travel firms welcomed up to 3000 Chinese visitors in November 2009.
Based on current trends, the tourism sector anticipates welcoming around 400,000 foreign visitors in December. If Vietnam reaches this number, we will have a total of 3.9 to 4 million foreign tourists for 2009, a reduction of only 10 percent compared with 2008. This is a very good sign.
I have been informed that luxury resorts plus tourist sites and hotels in the central and the southern regions have high occupancy rates. From now through early 2010 is the tourist season.
In the context of economic slowdowns, some countries have encouraged their citizens not to travel abroad. Do you think that Vietnam should do the same?
Some countries, even our neighbours with big tourism markets, have focused on stimulating the domestic economy. Restrictions on overseas tourism is only a temporary measure. We stimulate our domestic market, but we also don’t hinder citizens who want to travel abroad.
What will VNAT do in the coming time to promote tourism?
We have advertising campaigns focused on China, Northeastern Asia (Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), ASEAN and some Western European, Northern European countries and North Americas.
We will also have three big programs in ASEAN, Taiwan and France in December 2009.
Based on current trends, what are the goals of the tourism sector for 2010?
We don’t made public our 2010 plans, but we have two basic scripts. First, under normal conditions, we want to welcome 4.2 to 4.25 million foreign visitors. Second, if the world’s economy recovers strongly and our tourism promotion activities are implemented well, we aim to attract 4.5 million visitors.
How much was the state budget for tourism promotion in 2009?
The national tourism action plan had 25 billion dong to develop tourism products and human resource training. In addition, the national tourism promotion program was allocated an additional 25 billion dong.
I can’t say how much the State will allocate to tourism promotion in 2010, but, according to information from the Finance Ministry, the tourism promotion program will be funded with 40 billion dong.
What do you think about the “Impressive Vietnam” program?
Thanks to this program, tourism grew well in 2009, from 20.8 million to 25 million local visitors. While the number of foreign visitors fell around 10 percent, the volume of local tourists rose by 15-17 percent. As a result, tourism revenues still grew by 8-10 percent.
Some tourism firms want to know if it will be difficult to attract tourists from neighboring countries because of the similarities in tourism between Vietnam and these nations. How can the VNAT deal with this?
We can’t say that neighbouring markets are similar. We have differences in terms of space, landscapes, culture, food, ecology and environment, so we still have ways to advertise our own unique aspects to garner tourists from near-by countries.
Secondly, we stimulate their markets as our own grows and we don’t forget our traditional markets with rich tourists and markets with big differences in terms of tastes and culture such as Western and Northern Europe, North America and others.
VietNamNet/VNE News for Monday 30 November, 2009
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