#Vietnam - Festival to offer paragliders views of northern terrace fields

Mu Cang Chai, a rural district in Yen Bai Province with iconic rice terraces, will host a paragliding festival from September 20-22.

The annual festival, organized by VietWings Hanoi Paragliding Club since 2013, has become the largest such event in the country.

Its timing makes the festival more popular: it coincides with the rice harvest season in Mu Cang Chai, which is said to be at its most beautiful from late September to early October, when the fields are dyed yellow.

This year around 200 local and foreign competitors are expected to take part in the festival, six times the number in its inaugural year.

The paragliders will take off from Khau Pha Mountain, one of the four most dangerous passes in Vietnam due to its foggy winding roads and steep terrain.

Khau Pha rises 1,200 meters, and will provide the contestants with the best views of the golden carpet stretching over 500 hectares in the Mu Cang Chai valley.

Visitors who love adventure can join the paragliders as passengers and ride tandem over the terrace fields, voted as one of "the most colorful places" on the planet by U.S.magazine Condé Nast Traveler.

Mu Cang Chai, around seven hours by road to the northwest of Hanoi, is at the foot of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.

The H’Mong ethnic group started carving rice terraces into the mountains centuries ago and continue to plant the crop today.

In 2017 the terraced fields were named one of the 19 most picturesque peaks on earth by U.S. travel site Insider.

Source VN Express

#Vietnam - A treasure bequeathed by millions of years of evolution in Phu Yen

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 At the foothills of Bai Xep in An Chan Commune, Tuy An District, Phu Yen Province is a unique geological formation with black and yellow basalt rocks in all kinds of conceivable shapes. Geologists have said that this is the result of volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago.

To reach Bai Xep, one has to travel 17 kilometers north on the Doc Lap coastal road of Tuy Hoa Town, the capital of Phu Yen Province.

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Bai Xep is surrrounded by the Ganh Ong (Ong Reef) and the Ganh Ba (Ba Reef) with two long beaches on each side. The place still remains relatively pristine, surrounded by casuarina equisetifolia, a tree that commonly grows in coastal habitats with white sands and cacti.

Thanks to its geological structure, many movies have been shot here, including the award-winning Toi Thay Hoa Vang Tren Co Xanh or Yellow Flower On The Grass directed by Victor Vu. The Vietnamese coming-of-age drama won in the 2016 Best Feature Film category of the Young People's Jury Award - part of the annual TIFF Kids International Film Festival in Toronto. It was premiere in Cannes Film Festival 2015.

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  Bai Xep has become one of Phu Yen's iconic tourist attractions. Phu Yen is the first point on the Vietnamese mainland to welcome the sun every morning. It has a diverse topography consisting of mountains, rivers, lagoons, bays, and islands and a myriad of beautiful natural sights for visitors to explore.

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Source - VN Express

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

#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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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

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

#Vietnam - Once a barrier against invaders, now a beautiful valley

Chi Lang Passage in Lang Son Province used to be a strategic bulwark for Vietnam and now boasts tourist attractions.

Chi Lang Passage is a narrow valley between the Bao Dai mountain range in the east and the Cai Kinh range in the west in the northern province. The mountains form two natural barriers. 

Running zigzag along the valley is the Thuong River. Historical accounts show the valley was once regarded as an impenetrable barrier that keep out invaders from the north. King Le Dai Hanh (941-1005) once said the area helped destroy enemies no matter how large and powerful their armies were.

From Hanoi, you can follow National Highway 1A to get to the place. It stretches for around 20 km, with the main sights being Chi Lang and Quang Lang communes in Chi Lang District, Lang Son Province.

 Bai Hao Lake, one of the sights in Chi Lang, is surrounded by undulating mountains.

The Chi Lang Temple is currently being built by the lake as a spiritual and cultural complex to cherish the historical values of Chi Lang.

 The train runs through Bac Thuy Bridge in Chi Lang District on the Hanoi - Dong Dang (Lang Son Province) route. 

The train also connects with Dong Mo and Ban Thi stations in Chi Lang District.

 About 30 km from the center of Chi Lang District is Khau Sao hill (Khau Slao), a popular destination for visitors. Situated in Suoi Ma A Village, Huu Kien Commune, it is dubbed the ‘Green steppe of Lang Son’.

The hill is 760 meters high and its terrain makes it a strenuous climb. Locals allow their horses and cattle to graze there. There are more than 1,700 horses being raised here, of which nearly 700 are pure white.

 The Tay and Nung ethnic minorities here mainly make a living by raising horses. The abundant grass, clean water and salubrious climate help the horses breed rapidly.

The animals are left completely free. In the morning people bring their horses to the hill and leave them there until afternoon when they are taken to each family’s private area to drink water.

Custard apples are another Chi Lang specialty. They are grown throughout Chi Lang and the trees are ubiquitous along National Highway 1A.

One of the most famous places where the fruit is grown in Chi Lang is Dong Banh rock mountain, which is about 200 m tall. The harvest is transported in baskets by pulley from the top to the foot of the hill.

he custard apples are then delivered over a bamboo bridge by farmers to Dong Banh Market next to National Highway 1A. A lot of them are also sent to markets elsewhere including in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

On Sunday the third Chi Lang custard apple festival took place with many promotional activities and tips on growing the fruit. There were competitions between farmers to see who grew the best custard apples.

Source - VN Express

#Vietnam - Rough Guides names Ha Long Bay among world’s 100 best places to visit

 British travel magazine Rough Guides has voted for Ha Long Bay as one of the 100 most beautiful places to visit next year.

In the "The Rough Guides to the 100 Best Places on Earth," the magazine described "the scattering of limestone pinnacles jutting out of the smooth waters of Ha Long Bay", around four hours east of Hanoi, as an "incredible sight."

It is the only Vietnamese destination in the list, which covers many historical and cultural sites around the world such as the Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Forbidden City in China, Kamniške-Savinja Alps in Slovenia, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, and the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue in Mongolia.

Dropping anchor in the bay to explore small islands and caves is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Rough Guides said, adding that "the best junk boats have private cabins and serve gourmet food and in the early morning you can pull back the curtains to watch the sunlight dancing on the emerald green water."

Since its recognition as a UNESCO natural world heritage in 1994 Ha Long Bay has entrenched itself on the global tourism map, receiving rave reviews from travel bloggers and filmmakers. Around 5.2 million foreigners visited the bay last year, up 22 percent from a year earlier. A total of 15.6 million visited the country.

In its latest conservation move, the Ha Long Bay management said all tourism services in the bay would limit the use of plastic bags and straws from September 1. Fifteen local firms providing tourist boats, kayaks and high-speed boats will embark on a pilot program, banning the use of plastic products on sightseeing boats, starting August 1.

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The recent improvements in infrastructure have made traveling to and around Ha Long much easier for foreigners. Last December Van Don International Airport, 50 kilometers from Ha Long Bay, opened.

An expressway connecting the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway with Ha Long, opened to traffic last September, reducing the Hanoi-Ha Long commute by 50 km to 130 km.

In addition to the popular kayaking and cruise tours, visitors can book Ha Long Heli Tours, a new helicopter tour, through Fastsky, the country’s first helicopter ride-sharing service offered by ride-hailing firm FastGo.

The South China Morning Post recently named Ha Long Bay in its list of 10 most popular Asian attractions. British magazine Woman and Home last May labeled the bay one of the most mentioned global cruise destinations on Instagram.

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Source - VN Express

Asia holds lion's share of #Vietnam's foreign arrivals

Vietnam’s tourism growth is driven mainly by Asian tourists who account for nearly 80 percent of total foreign arrivals in January-July. 

7.6 million Asians visited Vietnam in the first seven months of the year, up 8.8 percent year-on-year, accounting for 77.6 percent of total foreign arrivals.

The period saw the highest rise in Thai visitors at 227,400 arrivals, a 48.2 percent increase, followed by Taiwan (27.6 percent), South Korea (22.1 percent), Indonesia (21.2 percent), the Philippines (19.6 percent), Malaysia (13.9 percent and Japan (12.9 percent).

Vietnam welcomed 9.8 million foreigners in January-July, up 7.9 percent against the same period of last year, putting the country on track to meet its annual target of receiving 18 million foreigners this year, according to the General Statistics Office. Chinese and South Korean tourists accounted for over two-thirds of the total.

Despite a 2.8 percent decrease, mainland China remained the country’s biggest feeder market with 2.89 arrivals, followed by South Korea with 2.4 million.

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 The launch of several domestic and international flight routes to connect Vietnam's popular tourist destinations like Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Nha Trang with other Asian destinations, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea have contributed to push this growth, market observers said.

For instance, Jeju Air, a South Korean low-cost airline, last December began operating flights everyday between Daegu City and Da Nang. Korean Air, the oldest and largest air carrier in Asia, launched a direct air route between Busan and Da Nang last year. Malaysian budget airline AirAsia last April launched direct flights from Thailand's Chiang Mai to Da Nang.

Vietnam's private budget carrier Vietjet Air recently announced the launch of two new direct routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang with Tokyo this year. While the HCMC-Tokyo daily flight began operations on July 12, the Da Nang-Tokyo route is scheduled to take off on October 26.

Based on the average annual growth rate of foreign arrivals, Vietnam is forecast to become a leading travel destination in the next five years, according to the latest Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2019 - 2023 report released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Source - VN EXPRESS

Beach hustle: Thousands pack popular #Vietnam shore

Thousands of daytrippers jostled for selfie space and elbowed their way to the sea at a popular north Vietnam beach over the weekend, with extra vigilant lifeguards watching worriedly over the summer surge.

There are few beaches in this part of the country, and Sam Son in Thanh Hoa province has long been a go-to destination with its white sand coastline and blue waters.

But its beauty has proven both a blessing and a curse, leading vacationers to pack out the 16 kilometer-long beach. 

"Today, there are too many tourists," said Le Huu Mui, an 80-year-old visiting with family.

He last came to Sam Son five years ago and was shocked at the difference. 

"We have to hustle on the beach and it is less comfortable than previous years." 

On Saturday couples snapped selfies in front of elaborate sandcastles and families played spirited games of tug of war. 

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But not everyone was relaxing.

"We have to keep an eye on everything," said lifeguard Nguyen Huu Linh, 41. "There are cases of tourists not listening to us."

Visitor Dao Quyet Tien, who comes to the beach frequently, has also noticed murkier waters as more swimmers stir up sand and sediment.

"There have been a few times...when the beach water was dirty," he told AFP. "It's not comfortable to swim." 

But he admitted the crowds also brought a lively a

tmosphere to Sam Son.

Source - TheJakartaPost

#Vietnam a top holiday draw in Southeast Asia

South China Morning Post has listed Vietnam among six Southeast Asian countries whose beauty is largely undiscovered.

The Hong Kong newspaper said "from stunning beaches and elephant sanctuaries to adventurous underwater activities, much of the region’s beauty has yet to be discovered" and Vietnam is recommended for those seeking "authentic travel experiences".

It described Hue, the country's ancient imperial capital that witnessed the glories and collapse of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), the last feudal rulers of Vietnam, as a must-visit place for more historical activities.

"Visitors can embark on tours to explore the old temples and pagodas that make up most of the city and explore central Vietnamese cuisine with a street food tour." 

To the north of Ho Chi Minh City is the mountain town of Da Lat where adventure lovers can indulge themselves with canyoneering, white water rafting and a high ropes course, it said.

Da Lat, situated 1,500 meters above sea level in the Central Highlands, was a summer getaway for French officials who built villas to escape the heat and humidity of the lowlands during colonial times. It is now a top holiday destination providing cool respite from the year-round hot weather.

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"In the mountains northwest of Hanoi lies Sapa where nature lovers can embrace the serenity of the mountains with a tour to the Love and Silver waterfalls and the historic Cat Cat village," SCMP said.

Tourists can also visit the Saturday night "love market," the Gothic stone church at the town center which is a reminder of the French missionary influence. Cat Cat village, two kilometers from Sa Pa, is home to the H’Mong ethnic people.

The SCMP list also includes Thailand, where elephant sanctuaries for rehabilitation and enticing cooking classes await visitors, the Philippines, famous for its dolphin watching, paddle yoga and mountain biking, and Cambodia, which offers travelers a snorkeling tour to see bioluminescent marine life and scuba diving.

Myanmar "is home to shiny gems that are rarely visited," the newspaper said. It also has UNESCO heritage sites and centuries-old temples.

Laos, "often overlooked when it comes to travel within Southeast Asia," it said, urging holiday-goers to visit the town of Vang Vieng north of Vientiane to experience bike tours and zip lines in the hills, cave exploration and rock climbing.

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Southeast Asia is composed of 11 countries, namely Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Earlier this year, British travel magazine Rough Guides included Hue in its list of six lesser-known Asian destinations.

The New York Times recently recommended Da Lat among 52 places to go in 2019, describing it as "an agricultural El Dorado" with unique scenes of pine forests, locally grown avocados, and artichoke tea.

Vietnam received 7.3 million visitors in January-May this year, up 8.8 percent from a year ago, putting the country on track to meet its annual target of 18 million arrivals this year, according to the General Statistics Office.

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Sourse - VN Express
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#Vietnam emerges top Asia-Pacific travel choice for Russians

Russian traveling to the Asia-Pacific region heavily favor Vietnam and neighbor Thailand, says global travel analysis firm ForwardKeys.

From May 2018 to April 2019, Russian arrivals to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region rose 54.5 percent, far outstripping the 3.8 percent growth of international arrivals to the region, according to ForwardKeys data.

The huge spike in Russian travelers has been prompted by a doubling of direct flights from Russia to Asian tourist destinations, mainly in Vietnam and Thailand, with air seat capacity increasing by 38 percent overall.

The ForwardKeys survey shows Vietnam saw the highest increase in Russian market seat capacity at 153 percent, followed by Thailand and the Maldives, which saw a growth of 125 percent and 58 percent respectively. South Korea and India also saw seat capacity rising by more than 30 percent.

Vietnam has emerged as a favorite destination for Russian holiday-goers in recent years and is expected to surpass its neighbor Thailand, a favored Russian haunt for a long time.

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Market observers say the launch of direct air connections from multiple secondary and tertiary cities in Russia to Vietnam's popular beach towns have propped up the Russian tourism boom.

Russia's S7 Airlines last year launched a direct flight connecting Irkutsk City with Cam Ranh, an hour south of its much busier sister Nha Trang in the central province of Khanh Hoa, while Vladivostok Air had begun operating daily flights from major cities of Vladivostok and Khabarovsk to Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay even earlier.

Khanh Hoa, home to the famous beach town of Nha Trang, has been much loved by Russian tourists, accounting for one fifth of total foreign arrivals. Last year, Russian tourist arrivals to Khanh Hoa reached nearly 400,000, up 1.5 percent year-on-year, making it the second biggest feeder market for local tourism after China.

"Vietnam is certainly going through a tremendous growth in demand from the Russian market," global media company Skift quoted Stephan Roemer, CEO of Diethelm Travel Group, as saying.

Russia is the sixth largest source market for Vietnam’s tourism, with mainland China topping the list, followed by South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S.

Vietnam received a record high of 606,000 Russians last year, accounting for 4 percent of total foreign tourist arrivals.

Apart from visa exemptions for tourists from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam offers 15-day visa exemptions for visitors from the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Belarus.

Russian tourists spend an average of $1,600 per stay in Vietnam while the average for foreign visitors overall is $900, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

The country welcomed 7.3 million arrivals during January-May, up 8.8 percent from a year ago, putting the it on track to meet its annual target of receiving 18 million foreigners this year, according to the General Statistics Office.

With the changes to the visa policies, the tourism industry hopes to get 17-20 million foreign visitors by 2020 and revenues of $35 billion a year, contributing 10 percent to the country’s GDP compared to 7.5 percent last year.

Last year a record 15.4 million visitors came to the country, a whopping 20 percent increase from 2017.

Many travel agencies have said that Vietnam should further relax its visa policies and simplify procedures to attract high spending tourists from Japan, North America, Northern Europe, China and South Korea.

They have called for the current 15-day visa exemption extended to 30 days.

Source - VN EXPRESS

Two #Vietnam waterfalls among world’s most beautiful

 Microsoft network MSN has included two waterfalls in Vietnam in its list of 15 most charming cascades in the world.

It describes Ban Gioc Waterfall in the northern province of Cao Bang, near the border with China, as ‘a paradise on earth’ while the Dambri Waterfall in Bao Loc Town in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong is mentioned as place worth visiting.

Around 340 kilometers (225 miles) to the north of Hanoi, Ban Gioc is still a relatively uncrowded natural beauty in Vietnam.  

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The waterfall can be visited at any time of year, but the best time is said to be September and October when the summer rains that feed the falls are less frequent and the rice harvest is in full swing.

"Forget a blue drop against grey rocks, this waterfall is surrounded by bamboo groves and splashes over limestone rocks into a jade-colored natural pool. You can even take a dip in the pool," the site writes.

Swimming is banned here but there are small bamboo rafts that take tourists to the very edge of the falls.

Around 130 kilometers from the popular highlands resort town of Da Lat, Dambri is one of the highest waterfalls in Vietnam, setting a majestic landscape that draws backpackers and adventurous trekkers in their thousands every year.

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Other waterfalls on the MSN list include Victoria Falls on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, Niagara Falls in Canada and the U.S., Yosemite Falls in the U.S., Dudhsagar Falls in India and Yumbilla Falls in Peru.

Source - VN Expess

#Vietnam - Notre-Dame Cathedral, Ho Chi Minh City

Notre-Dame Cathedral, aka Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, stands in the heart of HCMC, Vietnam's largest city. Construction of the cathedral was completed in 1880 under the supervision of architect J. Bourard. It originally provided religious services for French colonists in the 19th and 20th centuries. All the construction materials were imported from France. The cathedral has two bell towers that are 58 meters high. 

The cathedral, in District 1, has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. The outer walls are built of red bricks from Toulouse, France. The cathedral sanctum, 93 meters long, 21 meters high and 35 meters wide, can accommodate 1,200 people. The cathedral, HCMC's biggest, has been closed for restoration since July 2017. The restoration work is expected to last two years. 

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St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi

Inaugurated in 1887, the St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi, which stands on Nha Chung Street, is a site of significant religious importance in the capital city. It is also a familiar destination for tourists, drawn by its beauty and peaceful ambience. The church is also the hub of an area filled with tea and coffee shops that attract thousands of locals and foreigners everyday. 

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi

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Saigon's ‘floating temple’

Like many other spiritual sites in this city, the year-end is the time when this floating temple is at its busiest.    

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It was built over 300 years ago with a touch of Chinese influence.

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This temple in Ho Chi Minh City covers an entire islet on Vam Thuat River in Go Vap District, making it look as if it were floating. The temple was originally known as Phu Chau, but nowadays people call it the Floating Temple.

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Legend has it that a fisherman found the body of a dead woman in the river back in the 18th century so he decided to bury her on the islet and build a temple to worship her. From that moment on, his life became much better. Locals have continued his work to expand and upgrade the temple to what it is now.

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At the beginning of the year, people come to pray for luck and peace, and to express their gratitude to the five goddesses they call “the Five Mothers”.

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Source - VN Express

The problem with traveling to Vietnam just because it’s cheap

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Tourists love the country because it’s cheap, but low costs come with risks.

Yet another travel list has named Vietnam among the must-visit places in the world because it’s cheap.

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This time, it’s Emily Zemler, a writer from Refinery29, who describes Vietnam as one of the best “super cheap” destinations in the world.

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“Asian destinations like Japan and Singapore can be pricy, but Vietnam is notably budget-friendly. The food, which is just as good from a street cart as it is from a sit-down restaurant, is cheap (usually less than 10 bucks a pop) and hotels are reasonable, with luxury properties averaging around $80 per night…

Don’t be afraid to sample the street food, which includes signature dishes like beef pho and bun cha, and make sure to spring for a countryside bicycle tour from Hoi An, which run $17 and up.”

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 To be fair, cost-based recommendations like these are what Vietnam, still an emerging travel destination, needs now.

It’s perfectly fine to love something when it doesn’t bankrupt you – it’s even better when that something is also good. “Cheap” is not a dirty word. We don’t need to avoid it and replace it with pretentious phrases like “budget-friendly” or “best value for your buck” when we promote a product or a travel destination.

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But “cheap” does come with a connotation: some sort of compromises must be made and accepted.

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For cheap travel, the biggest compromises are on quality and safety. In Vietnam, this can mean anything: drinking a beer that tastes like water, sleeping on a hostel bed with a dirty sheet, getting food poisoning after a meal at a delicious sidewalk joint, drinking toxic moonshine, or falling from a waterfall. And the list goes on.

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Many travelers will take these risks without blinking an eye. Ask any backpacker in Saigon and they will tell you how happy they are when they only need a few hundred bucks to travel in Vietnam. Diarrhea and those serious travel safety warnings don’t faze them one bit.

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Hoi An Ancient Town - The beauty of Vietnam

Whereas Da Nang is the focus point of central Nam, a couple of hours further south will take you not only to the our son ruins from the Cham Empire, but also the ancient town of Hoi An. It is a major stop on the itinerary for every backpacker as they adventure through South East Asia – and it’s not hard to see why.

 When we first arrived in Vietnam, it took a long time to fully appreciate the people and the culture. It was never on the radar for us first wave of nations to backpack, but as we began getting more and more used to the region, We realised that we couldn’t put off flying to Vietnam any longer, and we got our visa sorted and finally made it to Hanoi. Soon, We had made our way south to the central parts of the country. Da Nang was disappointing. Hue was incredible (one of the best places We’ve visited). Hoi An was the last of these major cities in central Nam that we got it, and we wondered how it would rank alongside the other two.

 As it turned out, we really enjoyed my stay in Hoi An, and we wish we could have spent longer there. There were times when it didn’t really feel like Vietnam at all. Some people say Hoi An is a little too “fake”; that is designed like a theme park to impress tourists. However, we thought the opposite: it was a great town to check out in close proximity the Vietnamese people going about their everyday business. There was great food, great people, lovely architecture (oh the architecture!), and all that was missing was a few tourist attractions to keep me occupied – which is kind of ironic when you think of the criticism Hoi An gets for being “touristy”!

 

 Rather than walking around a huge theme park, at times we thought we was in Mexico or Peru, what with the brightly coloured façades of the buildings and rustic look of the bars and cafés. Of course, you’re going to notice lanterns in Hoi An (lanterns are one of the trademarks of the city), but also here you are beside the water and it was nice to take a river cruise on a small junk boat. Unlike some of the junk boats at Halong Bay up north, these boats looked much more traditional. It was as if we where sailing out to sea with a couple of local fishermen in their trawlers!

 Overall, we would come back to Hoi An in an instant. The sights, sounds, and smells still stick with me now, some weeks since returning. It could possibly be that Hoi An, like no other place in the country, typifies Vietnamese culture, and if you can find some cheap accommodation it must be great to spend a while here and just immerse yourself in the daily goings-on – that’s what we’ll be doing next time!

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