#Vietnam - Major hotspots brace for National Day tourism surge

 As the 3-day National Day holiday nears, accommodations in tourism hotspots show varying occupancy levels, online reservation sites say.

The vacancy rate in the central Vietnam destinations of Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, and Phan Thiet is hovering around 50 percent on average, according to Agoda, a global online accommodation reservations provider.

On Traveloka, one of the leading flight and hotel booking platforms in Southeast Asia, a number of places in the ancient imperial capital of Hue like Gold Hotel Hue, Hotel La Perle, Cherry Hotel, and Huong Giang Hotel still have rooms for VND600,000 ($26) to VND1.4 million ($60) per night.

In Da Nang, the occupancy rate is abnormally low due to the city's shortage of water. High salinity levels in the Cau Do (Red Bridge) River, the main source of freshwater for a million residents and tourists in Da Nang, mean the city can only meet 70 percent of its water needs.

Some hotels are refusing to accept bookings because they do not have enough water. At Melia Danang Beach Resort, the number of room bookings by Vietnamese between August 30 and September 2, the National Day, is only 10 percent.

Some hotel managers in Da Nang, a top tourist attraction, said tourists booking hotel rooms during the holiday weekend are mainly from South Korea, Japan and mainland China.

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 The average occupancy rate of hotels in Vung Tau, a popular vacation destination in southern Vietnam, is also 50 percent, while it is 85 percent at some high-end hotels and resorts like Pullman, Malibu and Green Hotel.

Tu Le, a teacher working in HCMC's District 1, said she booked two rooms facing the sea at Leman Cap Resort & Spa in the southern beach town, and the rates were not much higher than normal.

Bookings seem tougher at hotels in Da Lat. Most hotels and resorts in the Central Highlands resort town have been fully booked up ahead of the holiday.

Bao Lam, 32, a bank employee in Ho Chi Minh City, said he was unable to get a family room in a luxury hotel in Da Lat.

Nomad Home Dalat and Elegant Dalat Hotel, two of Da Lat's most popular hotels, only have one or two double rooms available and they cost around VND1.2 million ($52) each per night, according to Booking.com, a travel fare aggregator and travel metasearch engine for hotel reservations. 

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Pham Van Bay, Deputy Director of Vietravel Hanoi, said since the National Day holiday this year is not long, most people have opted for domestic tours, with northern mountainous destinations like Moc Chau, Sa Pa, Cao Bang, and Ha Giang being very popular.

Pham Cao Vy, chairman of the Sa Pa Tourism Association, said most hotels have kept their rates unchanged though it could be a bit difficult for travelers to find a place.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific have said they would add a total of 240,000 seats on domestic routes from August 30 to September 2 to meet the increased travel demand.

SOURCE - VN EXPRESS

#Indonesia - Things you should know before visiting temples in #Bali

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, a Hindu temple on Lake Bratan, a famous tourist attraction in Bali

 Visiting places of worship is a popular activity for tourists from around the world, with foreign and local tourists alike regularly flocking to Bali’s Hindu pura (temples).

However, as holy sites, there are certain rules one must obey when visiting. Being respectful is one rule recently violated by Czech national Zdenek Slouka, who was caught on video using holy water flowing from a pelinggih (altar) at Ubud's Pura Beji, also known as the Holy Bathing Temple, to splash the bottom of his girlfriend, also a Czech tourist, Sabina Dolezalova. 

Planning a visit to Bali’s pura any time soon? Here are two key things you should be aware of, as shared by I Gede Pitana, a professor at Bali's Udayana University, to KompasTravel:

1. Temples are divided into three parts

The first part is Hutama Mandala, also known as the middle part or yard. Only those who want to pray are allowed to visit this section, which also hosts a variety of sacred artworks, statues and symbols of Hindu deities that are a manifestation of God in Balinese Hinduism.

The next section is Madya Mandala, where semi-sacred art is kept, such as puppets, masks and barong (lion). Cooking for temple purposes is usually done in this area as well. Similar to Hutama Mandala, only those who want to pray are allowed to enter Madya Mandala.

Next is the outermost part of the temple, namely Nista Mandala. Everyone can visit this section, including those who do not intend to pray, such as tourists. 

 However, there are still some special rules that apply to people visiting Nista Mandala.

2. Special rules for temple visitors

According to Pitana, the first rule for those who want to visit a pura is they must not be “dirty”, known as cuntaka in the Balinese language. 

Cuntaka refers to women who are on their period, people who have recently had a family member pass away or people who are bleeding because of childbirth or wounds.

Another rule is to wear modest, non-revealing clothing and to style your hair properly to not be considered as disheveled.

"Actually, at every temple in Bali you can rent Balinese cloth and a shawl. For men, as long as you are wearing trousers it's okay to only wear a shawl," Pitana said.

Another important rule is to maintain proper manners and conversation, as pura are places of worship.

 “Cultural heritage must be preserved physically and spiritually; there are ethical guidelines for cultural tourism compiled by the UNWTO. There needs to be a shared awareness to protect it,"

Source - TheJakartaPost

Mekong Jewel: Another ‘super ship’ to ply the Mekong River

Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, a United States-based international cruise line, will soon launch another river cruise ship that will ply the waters between Cambodia and Vietnam.

As reported in ‘World of Cruising’, Mekong Jewel, which is among four “super ships” that Uniworld will launch next year, will ferry passengers between the two countries starting January 3 next year.

Mekong Jewel will replace its sister ship, Mekong Navigator, which has been in operation in the Mekong since 2017. The Mekong Navigator, which can carry 68 passengers, is famous for a design that mirrors that of manors that lined Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) during the French colonial era.

According to an article in ‘Cruise Critic’, Uniworld CEO Ellen Bettridege said the company is putting the best ships out there. “Our ships are absolutely unique and, like a boutique hotel, reflect the destinations they serve, from decor and artwork to food, beverage, and programming,” she said.

“We look forward to making our high-caliber service and personalisation in these remarkable destinations even better,” she added.

Mekong Jewel will traverse the Mekong from its homeport in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Mekong Jewel’s 13-day itinerary brings it from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap in Cambodia, with stops in Phnom Penh and other tourist destinations in both countries, including the world-famous Angkor Wat.

Kampong Cham and several river towns in Vietnam like Vinh Long and Cai Be, where Mekong Navigator used to make stops, could also be part of the itinerary.

 According to the official website of Uniworld, Mekong Jewel can carry 68 passengers and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including suite accommodation, an indoor swimming pool, an alfresco eatery, sauna, gym, library, and two lounges.

The ship is made out of eco-friendly materials.

A part of The Travel Corporation (TTC), Uniworld operates a fleet of more than 20 river cruise ships across the globe, including Europe, Russia, and China.

Source - Khmer Times

Jump in domestic tourists to Thailand’s west during rainy season: study

Thailand’s rainy season is typically associated with travel to the western region, where nature becomes its most beautiful during the period. 

 

Despite the weather, new data from Hotels.com has revealed a 26-per-cent jump in searches among Thai travelers for accommodation in the Western region from 2018 to 2019.

According to search data from Hotels.com, local searches for hotels located in Thailand’s western region, including Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Tak and Prachuap Khiri Khan, increased by 26 per cent during May to September 2019, compared with the same period of last year. 

Perhaps surprising to some, the most desired province for Thai tourists in the Western region this year during the rainy season is Ratchaburi – which experienced an 83-per-cent rise in searches for overnight accommodation in 2019. 

Other Western provinces experiencing an increase in search volume included Phetchaburi (31 per cent), Tak (19 per cent) and Prachuap Khiri Khan (18 per cent).

“The data indicates a positive, upward trend in travel to Thailand’s Western region, especially during the rainy season. Come rain or shine, locals are still willing to travel to great lengths to explore regions with natural, untouched beauty for truly rewarding experiences,” Jessica 

 Chuang, the Hotels.com regional marketing director for Greater China, Southeast Asia and India, said. 

“With a wide range of accommodation options, [the brand] aims to provide more inspiration and opportunity for travellers to stay in hotels they never knew existed – whether they are in the forest, the jungle or even up a mountain!” she said.

Source The Nation

 

#Vietnam - Trees that grow green tea and their own snow

Well-known tea production areas in Vietnam are Mộc Châu, Thái Nguyên, Lâm Đồng and Phú Thọ, but when it comes to tea trees of hundreds of years old, the important provinces are on the axis from the northeast to the northwest such as Hà Giang, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Sơn La and Điện Biên.

My search for old tea trees was motivated by tales about a tree hundreds of years old in the Hà Giang highlands that grows wild and has a white down. Monkeys are trained to pick this tea, because the job is dangerous for humans.

The trees are called chè (tea) san tuyết (san – transcription of a Chinese word which means mountain and tuyết means snow).

I started along the mountain range of West Con Linh in Hà Giang Province. This province shares its border with China on its northeast side. I was disappointed to find that some very big plantation tea trees – two or three people can barely join hands around the trunk – had been cut down, milled and sold away to China since 2008. The law does not prohibit the felling of plantation tea trees. There are only trees with trunks 20 cm to 40 cm across left. According to the tea-growers I have met, tea trees 20 cm across are 60 to 80 years old.

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Until recent decades, the Dao ethnic groups used to grow tea trees. Above their doors they used to hang bundles of tea for the treatment of stomach upset or ailments caused by the weather or miasmas.

The lowlanders have known about the old san tuyết tea trees in Hà Giang since 1979 when their soldiers went to the frontier to defend the country against an invading Chinese.

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Mr Ngo Viet Thanh, a tea dealer in Hà Giang, told me that san tuyết tea trees in Hà Giang grew untended on the highlands above 1,000 metres. The san tuyết tea in Hà Giang has a tart taste when drunk for the first time due to a high level of tannin, but then the taste becomes pleasantly sweet. ‘The ethnic people consider this a gift from the heavens and pick they take it without having to tend it’, he said.

Mr Thanh in 1993 he began to be interested san tuyết tea. He went to hamlets and villages in the Hà Giang highlands to bring it to the lowland markets. I accompanied him to the Nhìu Sang Dao hamlet, in the commune of Xín Chải, Vị Xuyên District, Hà Giang Province. It took us more than two hours to go 50 kilometres in a Russian automobile, covering steep, stony and dangerous tracks along the Vietnam-China border, with precipitous slopes above and below.
The old tea trees in Nhìu Sang, close to the Dao houses, have a diameter of 20 cm and more. A dozen kilometres away from Nhìu Sang, where the Mông Hoa (Flower Hmong) ethnic group live in Lao Chải, there are tea trees with trunks that can only just be circled by the arms join clasping hands. Mr Thanh said ‘It was hard to transport the tea out because of the tracks full of obstacles. People picked the tea, dried it in the sun, and sold it to Chinese merchants. It is a few kilometres from Lao Chải to China.

I was told that on top of Mount Fansipan, in the Hoàng Liên Sơn mountain range, there were tea trees hundreds of years old.

Having got through a number of paperwork formalities that required waiting two days, I had permission to enter Hoàng Liên National Park on foot in search of old tea trees. The path I travelled on there was the one travellers take for the peak of Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam.

At an altitude of 2,200 metres, I and my guide came to a fork. On the right a path led to Fansipan’s top. We took to the left, leading to a ravine. The guide warned me that the area where the tea trees grew had a warm climate that favoured several kinds of snakes.
The first tea tree I found was about a metre in diameter and taller than I could estimate. It was hard to recognize it as a tea tree because the whole area was dark green, every root covered with a lush, green moss. Under the canopy was a fern forest. Although I had seen several old tea trees, I had never seen such lofty and big ones. The trunks were close to each other and covered with a white mould. This made the tea trees very different from the other kinds of trees in the area. The guide told me that from the altitude of 2,200 metres up to 2,800 metres, there were old tea trees everywhere and the higher we got the smaller and shorter they would be.

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READ CONTINUE

VIDEO

  Ha Giang tea tree remains productive after 500 years
A 500-year-old Shan tuyet tea tree in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang still retains its productivity and the special taste of its leaves.

 TEA TOURISTS

Laos, Thailand To Build Another Friendship Bridge

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Laos and Thailand are considering the construction of one more friendship bridge to connect the two countries in a move that would link Vientiane Province and Loei.

The governor of Vientiane Province, Mr. Khamphan Sithidampha told reporters on August 16 that Vientiane provincial authorities had proposed the project to the government for its consideration.

“We are conducting a study on the location of the bridge, to decide whether it should be in Sanakham or Meun district,” Mr. Khamphan, as quoted by Vientiane Times.

It is unclear when the construction of the bridge would begin.

The first friendship bridge to connect the two nations was built in 1994, with help from the Australian government.

Since then, the two governments have constructed a total of four Lao-Thai bridges across the Mekong River and have signed an agreement to build another bridge linking Borikhamxay province with the Thai province of Bueng Kan.

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 Mr. Khamphan said the construction of the bridge and the upgrade of border crossings between Vientiane province and Loei Province would provide a significant boost for domestic and foreign investment.

Laos and Thailand have beefed up their efforts to improve connectivity between two nations in recent years.

The first freight train service to and from Laos was launched in early August, which will carry cargo from a container yard at Thanaleng Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, to as far as the Laem Chaban seaport in Thailand.

Trains to and from Vientiane used to be only able to carry passengers only across the 3.5km track, while freight was carried across the border to Nong Khai by truck.

Meanwhile, Thailand is preparing to launch the country’s first bullet train that will run between Bangkok and Beijing, China, with Laos as one of the intermediate stations.

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In particular, the first route, a Thai-Sino project linking Bangkok and Nong Khai in the far Northeast, is currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

 

In July, Laos and Thailand also signed an agreement to extend road and rail connections between the two countries worth more than THB 3 billion (USD 98.2 million).

Under the agreement, the two countries plan to improve the R11 road linking the Phudu border checkpoint in Uttaradit province in Northern Thailand with the Lao capital, Vientiane. 

The two-lane road will be paved with asphalt and will cost about THB 1.8 billion (USD 59 million).

Source - The Laotian Times 

Surge of Thai visitors lifts Da Nang hopes for tourism market diversity

 Da Nang, which wants to reduce its dependence on Chinese and South Korean tourists, is seeing a jump in the number of Thai visitors.

With 60 weekly flights connecting Vietnam’s third largest city with major Thai destinations, the number of Thai arrivals to Da Nang quadrupled year-on-year in the first seven months of this year to almost 107,000.

Thais accounted for 6 percent of Da Nang's total foreign arrivals, becoming the third largest group after South Koreans (1 million, making up 57 percent) and Chinese (500,000 or 26 percent), according to the city’s tourism department.

Domestic and foreign carriers, betting on this trend, have been racing to launch more flights. Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet Air last year launched flights from Da Nang to Bangkok. In April Malaysian-owned budget airline Thai AirAsia began a daily service from Chiang Mai to Da Nang.

Da Nang is a major economy-tourism hub that attracts many foreign visitors, including Thai tourists, all year round, Santisuk Khlongchaiya, head of Thai AirAsia’s commercial operations, said.

 From Da Nang, tourists can easily travel to world-renowned destinations such as Hoi An, Hue and My Son, he added.

Da Nang, home to Asia’s most beautiful beach, My Khe, in the central region and next door to the UNESCO heritage site Hoi An, an ancien town, has long been a favorite for South Korean and Chinese visitors.

However, its heavy dependence on the two markets poses a risk, city tourism officials said.

"The Chinese market is volatile due to political and economic reasons," Truong Hong Hanh, Deputy Director of the city Tourism Department, said.

"The surge in number of Chinese arrivals also presents numerous challenges for the Vietnamese government such as ‘zero dollar tours,’ the use of Chinese electronic wallets such as WeChat Pay and AliPay and illegal payment devices at travel hotspots frequented by Chinese tourists that could circumvent Vietnam’s banking system and national regulations, leading to loss of tax revenues and other potential problems."

Meanwhile, the overseas travel trend of South Korean tourists is "very changeable", Hanh added.

Da Nang tourism authorities said they were therefore looking at diversifying the tourism market away from Chinese and South Koreans by working with airlines to launch more flights to and from other markets.

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Tourists enjoy the blue sea in Da Nang in central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong.

Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air is expected to begin services between Jakarta and Da Nang, while Cambodia’s Angkor Air is set to launch flights from Phnom Penh and Vientiane, both by year-end.

City authorities also s  aid they are striving to attract more Middle Eastern visitors, whose spending is higher than that of other Asians and Europeans.

Last year Qatar Airways began flying from the Qatari capital Doha to Da Nang.

The city's foreign arrivals in January-July was 1.9 million, up 11.2 percent year-on-year, with some of the biggest source markets posting huge growth. The number of visitors from Taiwan increased by 86 percent, while it was 81.5 percent for Germany, 79 percent for India, 70 percent for Malaysia, 68 percent for France, and 53 percent for Singapore.

Da Nang, which has won global attention with its annual international fireworks competitions in June-July and its spectacular Golden Bridge, has been improving its transport, healthcare, commercial, and services infrastructure to cope with the rising number of tourists.

Images of the two giant hands holding up the 150 meters long Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills have gone viral since its launch in June last year.

The New York Times earlier this year included the city in its 52 best places to visit in 2019 while Australian travel website Finder listed it among 10 trending global destinations this year.

Last year Da Nang received 7.6 million visitors, 2.87 million of them foreigners, a 23.3 percent increase year-on-year.

Video

Source - VN Express