Travel NewsViet Nam Open Tour
Travel firms start Tet tours for foreigners
The organizer of the annual Nguyen Hue Flower Street program has entered the final phase with Nguyen Hue Boulevard closed on January 21 to begin installing 120,000 flowerpots.
The flower street will be opened to visitors on January 31, or the 28th day of the final lunar month, and closed on February 6, or the fourth day of the new lunar year.
Chiem Thanh Long, deputy head of the organizing committee of the Nguyen Hue Flower Street, told the Daily last weekend that the organizer had placed orders for flowers with farmers in HCMC, the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands city of Dalat.
Visitors will have the opportunity to see around 90 species of flowers along the main street in the city’s commercial district as they ring in the Lunar New Year.
Vietnam to promote tourism in Cambodia
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will take part in the Travex’ 2011 in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh from Jan.18-22 to popularize the nation’s tourism, according to the Hanoi Moi daily.
During the five-day event, Vietnam’s tourism sector will introduce the country’s cultural and historical architectures and UNESCO-recognised heritages such as the Ha Long Bay, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Phong Nha – Ke Bang, the Hoi An Ancient City, the Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands, the Giong festival.
In framework of the event, posters on beautiful beaches, landscapes and tourism products will be showcased to attract visitors from ASEAN countries and the world.
Restored Mong King's house becomes major tourism site
Hanoian couple Bich Thuy and Thanh Trung chose the Vuong Mansion – an old two-storey wooden house in the Dong Van karst plateau in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, as the background for their wedding photos.
The house is the place where bride-to-be Thuy received her proposal of marriage a year ago. "The beautiful wooden mansion somehow is a part of our love story, so we wanted it (the house) present in our photos," she said.
Located in Sa Phin Valley, the house originally was the mansion of Vuong Chinh Duc, the head of the Vuong family – the most powerful Mong ethnic family in the region more than 100 years ago. He proclaimed himself as the King of the region, and adopted the title "Vua Meo", meaning "King of the Meo" (former name of the Mong ethnic group) to dominate all the northern mountainous region.
Start of year augurs well for tourist trade
The number of International tourists to Viet Nam in the first week of this year was up 10 – 20 per cent on the same period last year, according to initial estimates.
According to travel companies, regular promotions and advertisements on Viet Nam tourism have been the driving force behind the surge in the number of tourists.
The opening of new of international routes, including HCM City-Istanbul on Turkish Airlines on December 30 last year, Taipei-Da Nang City on Taiwan's Transasia Airlines in mid-December, and HCM City-Beijing on Viet Nam Airlines in mid-December, has also spurred tourist interest. Viet Nam Airlines has seven direct flights to China, and it intends to increase the HCM City-Beijing route from three to four flights per week beginning in April.
Beginning from November, Viet Nam Airlines in cooperation with Vietnamtourist (Vitours) in Central Da Nang City launched charter flights for a three-month period from Hong Kong to Da Nang on Wednesday and Saturday.
Dances and wine on the plateau
The winter cold is starting to ease so spring will soon be coming in the highland village of Pom Coong on Mai Chau Plateau in the northern province of Hoa Binh.
Early in the morning, when the mist is lifting, the Thai ethnic people of the village send their kids off to school and the women in colorful brocade dresses walk to the farm with wooden papooses on their backs. When the night falls, the stilt houses are warmed by the sounds of pan-pipes, drumming by the tribal boys, girls’ singing and laughter and stories around the fire.
The simple things link people together, making them love their village and make it more beautiful. Pom Coong has become a famous cultural and tourism village on the plateau
