Simultaneous investment to boost craft village tourism

Over the past years, traditional craft villages in the southern provinces of Tien Giang, Dong Thap, An Giang, Tay Ninh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau have proved popular destinations for travel companies. However, due to lack poor planning and limited tourist products, these villages have been unable to cash in on return visits.

Attracting visitors

Craft village tourism is a type of tourism to discover the traditional culture of the local people combined with purchasing the products they make. In southern provinces like Tien Giang, Dong Thap and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, there are many craft villages that have a hundred-year history of development and now still keep their craft production ways and draw the attention of tourists, especially those coming from Germany, Japan, Australia and the US.

According to Master of Arts Phan Buu Toan – Deputy Director of Saigon Tourist College, craft villages development associated with tourism not only make tourism activities more diversified but also increase consumption demand for craft village products, create jobs for local laborers and contribute to the economic restructuring. However, the State plays an important role in making orientations and drafting a sustainable development plan for craft villages to exploit their potential and promote links among travel companies and the local people.

Trinh Van Thanh, Director of Thanh Dat Cocoa Co, Ltd in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province said from the wish to popularize and build a brand name for cocoa products, the company has also upgraded infrastructure to receive visitor arrivals. Every month, it welcomes from three to five delegations of foreign tourists (6-80 people in a delegation). They come to visit cocoa gardens, the process of manufacturing cocoa and enjoy products made from cocoa and most of them felt excited about their trips. The company is currently coordinating with Saigontourist Company to expand this tourism model.

Simultaneous investment required

Nguyen Thi Nam from Tan Thanh Tourism Company said craft villages mainly intend to do business but not promote tourism. Every time when tourists want to visit craft villages, the travel companies have to make an appointment with production households in advance. Despite this, most of tourists were excited and impressed as they enjoyed the natural scenes and witnessed the real life works of local residents.

In the coming time, one of the main targets of localities is to increase international tourist arrivals. The Director of Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Tourism Promotion and Information Center Trinh Ngoc Hoan said to effectively exploit craft village tourism potential, the Center has determined traditional crafts that are likely to attract more tourists including arca and snail fine arts products, Hoa Long wine and girdle cakes.

Nguyen Huu Phuc, a visitor from the US shared his experience during his tours to some craft villages specialized in making souvenirs made of bamboos, tea and food made of tea. He said that when taking tours in the villages, visitors seemed to be lost in modern workshops with private sections for each processes including putting in materials, primary treatment, processing and packaging. Apart from sightseeing and shopping, tourists could take part in producing handicraft products under the instructions of craftsmen and they could buy these products as the gifts to their relatives. If they buy handicraft products in a large amount, the goods would be sent to them by post. Such kind of tourism and services, however, have not been adopted in craft villages in Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Tay Ninh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.

Arousing the potentials of marine tourism and ecotourism in Bac Binh district (Binh Thuan)

With the aim to fully exploit the tourism potential, to make tourism to be a key economic sector of Bac Binh district, the district’s authorities is mobilizing all resources to invest in marine tourism and ecotourism.

Hoa Thang beach, which has a 15 km coastline extending from Hon Rom (Mui Ne) to Hoa Phu (Tuy Phong district), has favourable conditions to develop tourism with pristine features such as: white and smooth sand strips, mild waves, blue and clear sea water. The sea of Hoa Thang has not only a beautiful beach but also an abundant source of fresh seafood: shrimp, crab, squid, mussel, clam, many kinds of fish… to serve visitors.

In recent years, more and more tourists from other localities come to Hoa Thang. In 2011, the sea of Hoa Thang welcomed more than  60,000 turns of visitors, an increase of 15% in comparison with the tourist volume of 2010. During the first 6 months of 2012, nearly 40,000 turns of domestic and foreign visitors coming to Hoa Thang. This is a positive sign and important basis for Bac Binh district to develop marine tourism and ecotourism in Bau Trang.

To effectively exploit the potentials of tourism in general and marine tourism combined with ecotourism in particular, leaders of Bac Binh district People’s Committee are promoting the planning of tourism development, including marine tourism. At the same time, the district’s authorities have gradually implemented the constructions of coastal traffic system, given priority to investment in tourism-service development by exploiting all resources and having proper investment policies in order to turn Bau Trang-Hoa Thang ecotourism area into a tourism center of Bac Binh district. Leaders of Bac Binh People’s Committee announced that: Recently, the provincial authority has granted Bac Binh district a permission to set up planning of tourism and other essential services. Accordingly, People’s Committee of Bac Binh district is  working with the Department of Culture-Sports and Tourism  to boost promotion activities, design community based tours to connect Binh Thuan province with Lam Dong, Khanh Hoa provinces and Ho Chi Minh city.

Visitors who come to Bac Binh have a good chance to join in traditional activities bearing native characters, with the combination of the past, the present and the future, the heaven, the earth and the natural and faithful hearts of Bac Binh people whose. Bac Binh authority will focus on  developing traditional trades associated with services for sand-related tourism activities such as: all terrain vehicles driving, horse  riding, ostrich riding, sand sliding, seafood exploitation and processing, handicraft… in order to create attractive tourism products which bear the local characteristics; strengthen the connection between travel tours within Binh Thuan province (from Hon Rom, Mui Ne (Phan Thiet) to surrounding districts, contributing to enhance the value of trade-service sector and gradually build Bac Binh district so that it can become a center of marine tourism and ecotourism.

In the short term, Bac Binh district People’s Committee has directed the authorities of localities and functional agencies to strengthen rescue work, ensure public order and security, propagandize to enhance people’s awareness of environmental protection, intenfify environmental protection, not to damage the environment and social security, and publicly set the prices of food, beverage and services at tourist destinations.

HCM City among world’s top 10 cities for street foods

Ho Chi Minh City has recently been again ranked among the world’s top ten cities for street foods in a list made by travel website VirtualTourist.com.

It was also recommended on Reuters’ Travel Picks column.

“Vietnamese cuisine has received some major street cred in recent memory (Anthony Bourdain’s praise comes to mind), and a quick visit to HCM City’s Ben Thanh or Binh Tay Markets explains why,” the travel site introduced about Vietnamese foods.

The site mentions famous dishes in the city, namely pho, banh mi, bo la lot(seasoned beef in a leaf), spring rolls and com tam (cooked broken rice with a fried egg on the top) with an explanation about fish sauce.

“A member noted that no matter what com tam dish you get, it will always be served with nuoc mam (fish sauce), and since each street food stall usually makes their own, people will often choose which stall to return to based on their nuoc mam,” the site added.

VirtualTourist also gives advice to tourists coming to the country for the first time.

“However, since hawker registration and street food health standards aren’t as stringent in Vietnam, travelers should be careful to always choose popular, crowded stalls with high turnover.”

Other cities in the list are Bangkok, Singapore, Penang, Marrakech, Palermo, Istanbul, Mexico City, Brussels and Beachside Ceviche in Ambergris Caye.

This is not the first time HCM City is recommended as a good place for street food. Early this year, the city was ranked among the world’s top ten cities for street foods by the US’s monthly culinary magazine Food & Wine.

Travel guide book Lonely Planet also listed banh mi as one of the most lip-smacking street foods around the world.

Explore the Central Highland Vietnam, May 2007 (Part 1)

May 2007 was our ‘travelling month’ as after the trip to Laos, we had a 7-day break in Southern Vietnam (we deserved it after a very adventure tour in Laos, 🙂 ). At the end of May, we took another inspection trip to the Central Highland Vietnam.           The direct flight from Hanoi to Buon Ma Thuot did not take off until late evening so we have most of the day free at home doing packing. We arrived in Buon Ma Thuot nearly 9pm and just had enough time to check in the hotel, had some late street food before going to bed. It was nearly midnight when we back to the hotel.  Our hotel, the Dam San Hotel is a stated-owned hotel, located on a riverside site in the heart of Buon Ma Thuot City in Daklak Province, a short distance from Daklak’s interesting Cultural Centre. At our time of visit, the Dam San Hotel was one of the best accommodation in town, however, the newly opened Swiss -Belhotel Dakruco Hotel, the only international hotel in Buon Ma Thuot is much better in term of quality of room and services.  The next morning, we drove to visit Buon Juin (Jun Village) – a M’Nong ethnic minority village, Lak Lake and had a pleasant boat row on the Lak Lake to visit Buon M’lieng for an elephant ride.  This is an unique experience for my friends but for me, well, it was really adventure, even more adventure than the long trek in Nam Ha Protected Area in Luang Namtha (Laos). Although the elephants are fully tame, they do have a mind of their own, so don’t be surprised if your mount decides to cool you down with a shower half-way. After lunch, we visited Ethnology Museum and Acothon Village, home of many Ede ethnic minority people. The Ethnology Museum is small, but has some interesting exhibits relating to the ethnic minority groups in the immediate area. The surrounding is good with some big trees around.  A Co Thon village is remarkable. Despite its location almost in the centre of the city, surrounded by Kinh ethnic majority households and farms, the Ede people’s traditional buildings and many of their ethnic customs are still prominent. During the 1950’s, French Catholic missionaries helped the Ede families to update their homes to include modern conveniences and standards of hygiene, and more efficient farming techniques, but simultaneously retaining their traditions of architecture and ceremonial. The result is one of the very few examples of ethnic groups that have achieved a comfortable standard of living in the Vietnamese social mainstream without being assimilated. After dinner at a good local restaurant, we wander around the street and stopped at a local coffee and enjoyed the famous Buon Ma Thuot coffee (shown in the Ly ca phe Ban Me, very good song by Nguyen Cuong). The next morning was dedicated to the Gia Long Waterfall, Dray Nur Waterfall, two of the biggest waterfall in the Central Highland. Both waterfalls are spectacular and little visited, but their settings are different. Gia Long is surrounded by lush vegetation. The forest on the other side of the falls is old, with huge trees and full of birds. Dray Nur falls are larger and more powerful, but the area is comparatively barren with only a few trees. Huge black boulders lie in a jumble at the bottom. Gia Long has a few small bamboo huts for overnight stays and a small shop. Dray Nur has no development at all. It’s me sitting in a rock at Gia Long Waterfall! Dray Nur Waterfall! In the afternoon, we visited Buon Don (Don Village), which is very popular for Vietnamese children with the song ‘Chu voi con o Ban Don’ (The little elephant in Don Village), about 45km from Buon Ma Thuot. Here, we had a short talk with an old M’Nong couple and enjoyed a wonderful music performance. We then took a boat rowing in the Serepok River to Yok Don National Park. We have a short trek in the park seeing its various kind of flora. We then another elephant ride along the Serepok River before going back to the hotel for the third night in Buon Ma Thuot. It’s me with the Orchid in Yok Don National Park! See you in Part 2!

Hanoi tops list of cheapest tourist cities

Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, has topped the list of cheapest global tourist destinations in 2012 summertime, according to the Trip Index recently announced by the world’s largest travel website ‘TripAdvisor.’ 

The rating is based on the average cost of one night’s accommodation for two at a four-star hotel, inclusive of dinner and return taxi fares over a 3.2 kilometre route. The other cities from Asia are Beijing in China , which came second, closely followed by Bangkok in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. 

Cities in Europe have once again come out as the most expensive destinations to visit.

The most expensive is London in the UK , followed by Oslo in Norway , Zurich in Switzerland , Paris in France and Stockholm in Sweden.

The results were from a survey of US cities, which receive the largest number of international visitors during the period from June 1 to August 31.

Travel East Jsc

 

Vietnam’s amazing beauty displayed in photos

More than 100 photographs on the amazing beauty of Vietnam by photographer Pham Hong Thang will be showcased in the 360o Panorama Exhibition at the Sofitel Plaza Hanoi hotel from June 28 to July 28. 

Thang has been taking the photos in this collection since 2009, traveling all over the country from Phu Quoc Island to the Ha Giang plateau.

He is particularly pleased to show some pictures from the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Viewers will have the opportunity to view images on a wide LED screen and discover Vietnam’s stunning landscape in bright, living colour.

Travel East Jsc

Hoi An to host 3rd International Choir Festival

The ancient town of Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam has been chosen to host the third International Choir Festival from June 19-22 next year.

The event will be organized jointly by the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee and Interkultur Foundation of Germany, and directly managed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Interkultur executive director, Thomas Schule said the first festival held in 2011 with the participation of over 1,000 artists from 11 countries and territories received great applause from international audiences. Next year’s festival is expected to attract thousands of art troupes and visitors from around the globe to the World Heritage site of Hoi An, he added.

How do you like your bun?

After sampling a smattering of Vietnamese fare, it is fair and rather fitting to inquire, “how do you like your bun?” Bun, popularly translated as ‘rice noodles’, is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine and one of the most popular noodles, used for preparing a plethora of delicious and exotic dishes, some good and some, well, exotic.

Bun cha (bun with grilled pork), bun thit nuong (bun with grilled meat), bun dau mom tom (bun with tofu and shrimp sauce), bun thang (bun with chicken, egg and pork) and bun oc (bun with snail) can all be consumed at dusty meal vendors around the city but which one is the best?

To answer this question it is imperative to investigate with your nose, mouth and mind. First of all, you can’t just choose any bun cha or bun thit nuong place willy-nilly. You must do some research, either with your own palate, which can be fun, time-consuming and occasionally disappointing or you can ask a local to tell you what street or area makes the best particular bun dish you are coveting.

Most people agree on these areas in general but are quick to point out that there are many places where you can find delicious bun dishes outside of their famous locations. Only once you have tried several of these bun dishes at their most pristine locations can you properly answer the question, “how do you like your bun?”

More often than not the answer is, “bun cha”, especially if you are asking an Ex-Pat, tourist or western student in Hanoi. Why? Simply because it is preposterously delicious and ultimately because it agrees with even the most picky of Westerner palates.

Bun Cha is a paragon of noodle deconstruction; it is served on two separate plates and one bowl, all celebrating powerfully simple flavors, and is consumed by combining the three in accordance with your preferred taste. The first plate consists of the obligatory Vietnamese mound of herbs, the second plate is piled with pristine white bun noodles and the bowl is full of a steamy sweet broth, sliced carrots and susu, and grilled pork (cha). While the herbs and bun play integral parts in this dish it is the grilled pork that makes this dish a dynasty. The pork is seasoned with a secret family recipe then placed into a flat metal cage, which is turned over a charcoal fire until the pork is cooked. The grills used to cook the cha are sustained by small fans that simultaneously function as homing beacons, blowing the delicious smell of grilled cha into the streets and up the nostrils of passing motorists. When you get a good whiff of bun cha it is hard to keep driving.

Once all three pieces of the bun cha puzzle are in front of you it is high time to consume the traditional Hanoian dish, this is obviously the best part. Everyone eats their bun cha a little differently but the general approach is to place a chopstick full of bun noodles into the broth, gather a piece of meat and some veggies and lift the delectable morsel into your watering mouth, chew, swallow and repeat. To alter the taste of your bites, many people add their own combination of herbs, either by placing them directly in the broth or by eating them prior to any given bite. Yum! For an added bonus, order some nem ran hai san (fried sea food spring rolls) and dip them in the broth, which doubles as nem ran dipping sauce.

Pho might be the most famous dish of Vietnam but there is nothing that screams Hanoi louder than bun cha. A trip to Hanoi without at least one sampling of bun cha is like a trip to Paris sans the Eiffel Tour but make sure to seek your bun cha fix in the afternoon because it is strictly a lunch dish (although you can occasionally find it at night).

Because it is a traditional Hanoian dish, bun cha can be found all over the city. Many places around the city boast the best bun cha and because the dish is so popular many of these places concoct rather tasty bun cha to back up their claims.

However, if you are a true foodie, interested in the best bun cha in Hanoi, head to Le Van Huu, off Pho Hue by Cho Hom market, and follow your nose. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Travel East Jsc – Royal court music performance attracts tourists to Hue

The Hue Academy of Music has set up a group of artists to perform Nha nhac cung dinh Hue (Hue royal court music) for free every weekend to attract more visitors to the former capital city.

The 21-member troupe consists of students from the Faculty of Heritage Music who play traditional instruments.

Their first performance on May 19 drew special attention from both local people and foreign tourists.

The artists perform from 17.00 to 18.00 every Saturday at Nghinh Luong Dinh relic site in Hue city.

The royal court music has been recognized by UNESCO as World Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Travel East Jsc

Folk paintings on show in Lang Son

Nearly 78 folk paintings from the collection of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum are being displayed in the northern province of Lang Son from May 18-30. 

Visitors to the exhibition will learn more about various genres of Vietnamese folk painting including Dong Ho (from Bac Ninh), Hang Trong (Hanoi), and Kim Hoang (the former Ha Tay, now Hanoi), as well as other types especially for religious purposes such as Vu Di (from Vinh Phuc), Doc Loi (Nghe An) and art from the Nung, Tay, and Dao ethnic groups.

Do Quoc Viet, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, said the exhibition will bring local people closer to traditional national art through paintings illustrating daily life activities, agricultural production and the Lunar New Year Festival.

The event is held jointly by the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum and the Lang Son provincial People’s Committee to mark the 122nd birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19) and International Museum Day (May 18).