#Vietnam - A 3-day retreat in Tu Le

 Tu Le's rice fields, a major attraction of the commune.

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  Tu Le Commune in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai is well-known for its beautiful rice fields, hot mineral springs and infinity swimming pool.

Located on National Highway 32 in Van Chan District and next to Khau Pha Pass, Tu Le could be a get-away spot of choice for many types of travelers, from backpackers to luxury seekers. The commune is home to the Black H’Mong and Thai communities.

The roads through Tu Le show off all of what makes northwestern Vietnam so beautiful. The scenery here, especially mountains, mountain passes and rice fields, is a big attraction for photographers and trekkers. 

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 Khau Pha Pass in Yen Bai Province stuns travelers with its twists and turns with high mountains on the one side and a deep valley on the other.

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Day One

Tourists can either ride a motorcycle from Hanoi or take a 6-hour-bus from the city's My Dinh Station to Tu Le, 300 km away.

After checking into a hotel, homestay or resort and have lunch, you can take a tour of Khau Pha Pass, which means "the sky’s horn". Tu Le is about 4 kilometers from the pass, one of northwestern Vietnam’s four top mountain passes for its roughness, height and beauty.

Located at an altitude of over 1,200 meters above sea level, Khau Pha’s climate mirrors that of resort town Da Lat in the Central Highlands. However, temperatures may drop due to its subtropical positioning. In winter, temperatures might even reach below zero with the possibility of snow.

In the afternoon, you can do traditional food shopping or visit local markets.

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The Thai ethnic group people in Yen Bai still make com in the traditional way

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Day Two

Bathing in a hot mineral spring is a must-try activity when visiting Tu Le. Relaxing in a massive 35 degrees Celsius pool not only benefits your joints and circulation but could also help you relax and rejuvenate. An indoor hot mineral spring additionally provides a chance for quiet solitude.

Tien Nu Cave, near central Tu Le, is a not-to-miss tourist attraction. At VND50,000 ($2) per adult, visitors can explore the cave where fairies were said to descend from Khau Pha sky gate to earth according to local legends.

For the last 300 years, Thai ethnic people have held the belief that, on the 30th of the 12th month on the lunar calendar, fairies descend from the sky to revel in worldly beauty. Amid sliver smoke, the fairies are said to bathe in Nam Lung stream and get changed in Tien Nu Cave.

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 A resort on the hills in Tu Le

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Day Three

Another location worth a dive is the infinity swimming pool on top of a hill, especially at 5 a.m, when clouds drift by at leisure. Filled via a direct supply of mineral water, the pool remains warm and fresh.

To add more to the trip, don’t forget to savor local delicacies like green rice flakes (com), sticky rice, nuggets, liquor, bamboo noodles with boiled goose, and fried pork.

There are many types of hotels, resorts and homestays in the area highly rated on TripAdvisor and Booking.com, namely Guesthouse Kim Quy (VND130,000 or $5.6), Le Champ Tu Le Resort (VND2.5 million or $108) for a bungalow and less for a dorm bed, Yen Bai Homestay - Zoni House (VND260,000 or $11), and Pho Nui Hotel (VND350,000 or $15) per night. Such variety provides plenty of options for every type of travelers.

Source - VN Express

Cambodia - Montagnards fled to Thailand, fearing return to persecution in Vietnam

Montagnards – or “mountain people” as they were named by the French colonialists
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 Fearing repatriation to Vietnam, almost 50 Montagnards fled Cambodia for Thailand after the Interior Ministry began rejecting some of their asylum claims last month, The Post has learned. 
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Meanwhile, the head of the ministry’s refugee department Tan Sovichea yesterday revealed only three of nearly 100 members of the majority Christian Vietnamese ethnic group remaining in Phnom Penh were being considered for refugee status.
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But the exodus, which began on the weekend of March 25, included some individuals with a “very strong” case for asylum, said Denise Coghlan, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, which has been assisting the group during their stay in Cambodia.
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“I can say I was very disappointed that some we considered to have very strong cases received a negative decision and very surprised at the number who were rejected in a very short space of time,” Coghlan said, adding the government began notifying dozens of the refugees that their applications were rejected on March 20.
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“I hope the people who ran away are safe somewhere and hope in the future they receive a just decision,” she said.
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Some 200 Montagnards – or “mountain people” as they were named by the French colonialists – arrived in Cambodia in late 2014 and 2015 from Vietnam’s Central Highlands, where the group has long complained of religious and political persecution by communist authorities and in decades past.
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Reached yesterday by phone, one of the Montagnards who fled, a 27-year-old, said about 50 Montagnards had made it to Thailand in several separate groups. He said he left by car with five other people and spent two nights near the border before paying a broker $50 to get across during the night.

“We were absolutely terrified, but it would be much worse than that if we were sent back to Vietnam. They will arrest, jail or kill us” he said, speaking his native language of Jarai through a translator. 
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He said his group had made contact with Montagnards in Thailand before fleeing and added he was now with 14 runaways staying in a rental house and trying to make contact with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to apply for asylum. The UNHCR could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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“We dare not go anywhere so we are not arrested; we just stay inside the home,” he said.
Though an initial group of 13 from the 200 who fled in 2014 and 2015 was granted refugee status – and flown to the Philippines in May where they are seeking asylum in a third country – most spent months in limbo before being registered as asylum seekers in January last year. 
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The Post has been told there are now 96 Montagnards left in United Nations-supported accommodation in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district, where immigration officers have increased their presence since the mass departure. 
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According to a source with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the exodus, police have now restricted the group’s movement.
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 A Montagnard in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district holds up photos of a Montagnard’s funeral inside a Vietnamese prison last year.
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 “Before they were allowed to go out and they could play football. After the other group fled they are not allowed to go out a lot; just to buy food or go to the market for 10 to 15 minutes,” said the source. “They are all concerned that they will be rejected and taken back to Vietnam.”
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Yesterday, at least four Cambodian officials, who were not in uniform, but were obviously there for security, occupied a table in front of the building while a vehicle from the Department of Immigration was parked nearby. 
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One official, who appeared to be in charge, directed questions to the Interior Ministry and refused to identify himself, saying: “You have no right to ask my name.”
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Yesterday, Sovichea, of the refugee department, said he had “no information” on the fate of those who fled, but said it was “not a problem” for the Cambodian government and denied there was any pressure from Vietnam to send them back. 
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He said only 20 or 30 of the group were yet to receive a decision and noted some of those rejected had appealed their rejections. He said only three were being considered for asylum.
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“Only three of them will hopefully be recognised as refugees,” Sovichea said. “The department has evaluated them and made a letter to the superiors to sign to agree and they will get it back within the next two weeks.”
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Sovichea said the rest would be voluntarily repatriated to Vietnam with assistance from the UNHCR, as has been the case with other individuals rejected, including six who were sent back on March 14. 
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He added that authorities had intended last month to send back 10 people, but four refused at the last minute to leave and were later among those who fled. 
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The Montagnard speaking from Thailand claimed one of the recent returnees to Vietnam had been harassed by police upon arriving and “slapped in the face” for not answering questions about fleeing to Cambodia, though The Post could not independently verify this. 
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The asylum seeker said he had crossed the border into Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province in 2015 after being detained for two days by Vietnamese authorities who he said had also “tortured” his brother and jailed his brother-in-law, whom he said died in prison.
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“[In Vietnam] we were persecuted, not allowed to gather, pray or celebrate Christmas. Particularly we were afraid of arrest by the authorities, so we fled to Cambodia but they did not grant us refugee status so we came here because we are frightened of repatriation to Vietnam.”
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Contact authors: Shaun Turton and Phak Seangly

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