It's time to travel

Mortiz Alexy, a German tourist, realized a tour across cities and provinces in Vietnam such as Cantho, Ho Chi Minh, Dalat, Kontum, Hoi An, Sapa ... This travel took 9 weeks, spanning 8,000 km by a motorbike.

From 2012, Mortiz, a software engineer, left Germany to make a tour around the world, going to 40 countries, which include Vietnam. Vietnam is a nation he has travelled nine times and taken a collection of photos of locations he stayed.

Mortiz has a way to make his voyage which he hasn't thought about a plan ahead. Instead, he visits places on the base of suggestions of people he meets on a journey or interesting sites he finds on Google.

During his visits to Vietnam, he strikes up conversations with local people in Mekong River Delta and is interested in finding their hospitality that makes him realize the collection of photographs to recall his memories in this country.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Sapa

Sapa is known for its fine, rugged scenery and cultural diversity as it is host to terrace fields, lush vegetation, Fansipan Mountain and hill tribes as well. Sapa is nowadays a tourist hotspot where you find a throng of vendors who surround tourists aggressively to sell their wares. However, your interesting exploration of this countryside would be worth trouble.

One of the interests that have attracted you is that you have an opportunity to learn about the culture of the ethnic minority people in Sapa, which include H'mong, Dao, Tay, Giay, Muong, Thai, Hoa. Many of them make crafty items or blankets to sell. Striking up a conversation would make you surprised as their ability in English is considerably impressive. Since tourism has developed in Sapa, many people have indulged in learning English to see this language as a way of livelihood.

Miss Universe Pageant of 2018

H'Hen Nie, Miss Vietnam of 2017, clad in a traditional dress designed by Linh Sa, drew the media attention at the Miss Universe Pageant, particularly Thai Vogue Magazine, which posted some of her images. 

The beauty contest is organized by the Miss Universe Organization, which is run by women and has attracted the participation of thousands of young women from every corner of life annually. The noble mission of this organization is to empower women to become secure. They are self-confident to stand up in any situation to declare "I am secure. That's what makes them beautiful"

The contestants and winner will be provided with opportunities to cultivate their career goals, advocate for humanitarian issues to create the impact the society in terms of humanity, culture, and environment. To do these, they have joined high profile activities in government, business, finance, broadcasting, filming, and television.  

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

A Cave House in Hanoi

A brick cave house has attracted public attention as is considered as a blast from the past. Its construction style is environment-friendlier as it used recycled bricks to prevent the wind and sun to make the accommodation more breathable and incorporate green element and nature light as well. The unique house was built by H&P Architects to contrast the surrounding man-made structures and harken back to man's earliest domicile.

The outer layer of brick is used as a shield against smoke, dust, and noise that are prevented from entering the house. Nooks and crevices are places to decorate plants or vegetables to provide shade and green to residents. A unique idea is that people sense the weather and time through these nooks and crevices from the inside. In addition, windows are skillfully constructed to let shadow and nature light into the hallway and walkway.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

H'hen Nie shines on the catwalk.

After claiming the Top 5 Miss Universe 2018 organised in Thailand, H'hen Nie strutted the catwalk in the event of the Autumn Winter 2018 fashion show, designed by Cuong, Do Manh.

H'hen Nie is an impressive success of an ethnic minority person who rose from scratch. She refused to get married at an early age under her mother's obligation that she revealed later after Hhen's Miss Vietnam Crown Winning. With her tan skin along with her athletic figure, H'hen Nie has attracted the attention of the public

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Lang Son City

Lang Son is a small mountainous city in northern Vietnam and a city of Lang Son Province as well. It is bestowed scenic beauty along with breath-taking caves that have attracted the attention from international and local tourists annually. In addition, it owns poetic countryside like an above photo that depicts a rural life in flower blossom. This is a simple, healthy, and free-worry life of local people.

Lang Son is also home to many ethnic minority groups such as Nung, Hoa Mong, and Kinh Dao. It is why it organises lots of traditional festivals that are held from January to April of the lunar new year to retain their own culture and promote their tourism in the province. The meaningful ideas of these festivals are building, praying for prosperity and happiness of a family.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Phu Quoc Island

Phu Quoc, sitting off the coast of Cambodia, is an unassuming best-retained island. The reason that Phu Quoc still keeps its beauty of nature is mostly uninhabited areas at the moment although it is made of 28 small islands where most of the tourism activities take place and some luxury resorts are built to serve the increasing number of international and local tourists.

One of the must-see places in Phu Quoc Island is Hon Xuong that is considered as Robinson Crusoe's island because it can be accessed by a boat. Due to no accommodations on this site, tourists have to stay in the open air by camping on the beach to enjoy picturesque waters.

Phu Quoc spans 150 km of ice-cream soft sand and includes 20 un-exploited beaches that have attracted the attention of tourists in Asian countries nearby.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Bao Loc City

Bao Loc City is home to green tea and coffee on which most of the local people live on. Someone explains the name of Bao Loc or B'Lao City that means low flying clouds or goodness. Bao Loc is also home to ethnic minority people Ma.

Things to visit in Bao Loc City include Dambri Waterfall that is considered as a gem of Bao Loc's tourism. The photo above depicts the beauty of nature that the waterfall has spellbound thousands of international and local tourists annually. A moving story of love originating from this fall. A K'Ho girl had to leave the sweetheart that made her shed tears at a stream to the death and her body turned into rocks. K'Ho People named the fall Dambri that means "waiting" in their own language.     

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Hoi An Ancient Town is celebrating UNESCO's 19th recognition on the world's heritage

Hoi An Ancient Town is celebrating UNESCO's 19th recognition on the world's heritage on December 4, 2018. It gains UNESCO's noble nomination as Hoi An still combine the construction styles of Japan, China, and Europe that creates its unique characteristics. The town reflects a well-preserved complex of wooden frame houses with red tiles and yellow walls, an open market, a ferry quay, and ancient temples. Street front buildings make convenient customer's access while their backs facing a river provide easy loading or off-loading goods from boats.

Hoi An used to be Southeast Asian Trade port dating from the 15th to 19th century, which is a vital route among countries of Southeast and East Asia and the rest of the world. At present, it is one of the must tours for international tourists who come to Vietnam if they want to learn about one of UNESCO's heritages in Vietnam. 

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Pagoda Buu Minh in Pleiku City

Pagoda Buu Minh was established in 1936 to meet the need of religious belief of the people in Middle Vietnam. Before building the pagoda, the most venerable spent more than 10 years to do research on the construction styles of pagodas across the country and the ones of Japan, China, and Korea as well.

Nowadays, the pagoda is one of the tourist attractions in tours to Gia Lai Province as it contains historic relics and is nested in a huge green tea fields.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Impressive Celebration of a match win

Vietnam has created a surprise by claiming the Asian Football Federation Cup (AFF) of 2018 after beating Malaysia in the second leg final at the national stadium My Dinh with the presence of 40,000 football fans. After the last whistle was blown this match, millions of Vietnamese erupted with joy, going out in streets across the nation by motorbikes, carrying flags with a yellow star and red background.

The Thai media is very impressive with the above photo that demonstrates the Vietnamese's passion and love for football as this is the second time AFF Champion of Vietnam.

The photograph courtesy of Soho News Online

Suoi Vang Lake

Suoi Vang Lake is an ideal place for international and local photography professionals who want to captivate breathe-taking images. Suoi Vang Lake belongs to Dalat City, which is considered as a city of flowers as its climate is cool all year around.

This is one of the collections of photos that depict Dalat in late year. It is a time for international and local tourists to enjoy the beauty of nature. Dalat has more attracted people in October and November.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Vietnam won the Asian Football Federation Cup Champion for the second time

Vietnam's victory in the Asian Football Federation Cup final made big cities such as Hanoi, Saigon, and other localities virtually a sea of red. Million football fans erupted with joy, pouring out into streets to celebrate Vietnam's win. Right after the last whistle at the Vietnam-Malaysia clash at the national 40,000-seat stadium had blown, an impressive audio-visual feast, with red colour covering every corner of streets along with a bizarre sound of vuvuzela-like horns, took place across the country.

This is what said as "di bao", literally translated as "going like a storm", in Vietnamese. That is, Vietnamese people go out into streets by motorbikes with their national flags, a yellow star on the red background, carrying anything that can make noises. In addition, thousands of people standing on two sidewalks to welcome these people. This is a way the Vietnamese celebrate their win of the national football team at any important football tournament.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Xuan Huong Lake

At dusk is a beautiful time at Xuan Huong Lake, which reflects as a clear mirror the romantic scenery of Da Lat City. It's also the time for local people to stroll around the lake on the spruce shaded roads to breathe fresh air. Xuan Huong is said to be translated from the French noun. Someone said the lake is circled with fragrant trees and grass so they took that name.

Walking around the lake and pine hills, you pass the green lawns stretching through many of Da Lat City's tourist attractions such as Da Lat Flower Park, Yersin Park, Cu Hill. That's why newly-married couples make honeymoon trips in this area.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Kim Lien Relic Complex

Kim Lien Relic Complex retains many memories of President Ho Chi Minh, which have attracted thousands of visitors to come to learn about his life. It converses historical relics of the childhood and his family's members. It consists of two main parts:

Sen Village is home to his family's members that includes many thatched cottages where visitors find interior furniture like wooden beds, bamboo beds, hammock and alter.

The Worship House is the one of President Ho Chi Minh's grandfather, where is used as an altar with

Kim Lien Relic Site will be developed to become a tourist attraction. A group of experts will study the technical facilities of Kim Lien Complex and do research about ties between the local community and the site.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

The Vietnamese erupted with joy after Vietnam beat the Azkals

Millions of Vietnamese football fans poured out into streets from every corner of the country to celebrate the victory of the home side after Vietnam knocked out the Azkals at the second leg semifinal of the 2018 AFF Cup Champion. This triumph helps Vietnam advance in the final match against Malaysia, who has just defeated Thailand in a choking match on Wednesday 5 December.

This is the first time for Vietnam to advance to the 2018 AFF Cup Champion in a decade and it is why Vietnam seems to be on a national festival that people regardless of age, sex, local or international people who are living and working in Vietnam took participation at.

On the first leg semifinal at Bacolod, Filipino's national stadium, Vietnam defeated the Azkals at the score of 2-1 that made Coach Eriksson's team determine to beat Vietnam with a hope to enter the final with Malaysia. However, with current human resources, Eriksson couldn't turn the situation. At the result, his side had to suffer the loss of 2-1 score. However, his coaching talent has made a great change in the Azkals's qualification that will be demonstrated at the Asian Cup 2019.

The photograph courtesy of Thanh Nien Online

Tea Plantation

The Vietnamese live on farming and one of the well-known agricultural products is green tea. The photo above depicts a cottage in a green tea plantation in Da Lat City. Dalat has a long history of tea planting. At first, local people planted some tea trees in their neighbourhood or picked up tea leaves in the forest. After the departure of the French administration, they invested in this industry by doing research and expanding their growing areas that lead to the increase of their tea quality.

The most growing regions are Thai Nguyen Province in northern Vietnam or Lam Dong Province in central highlands. There are three popular kinds of tea that include black tea, green tea, and oolong. The second is the most favourite drink for Vietnamese. The green tea is processed to scent jasmine or lotus or pandan tea that is served after a meal.

A question for a foreigner is how to buy a bag of delicious tea. It is hard to find our a solution as most of the tea companies are small- or medium-scales ones that don't stand out in the complicate market of Vietnam. The best way is that you visit the tea plantation that is known to see in person how they grow and to find how quality they are and directly purchase from farmers.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Mangrove Forest Ru Cha

The photograph above describes the pristine beauty of Mangrove Forest Ru Cha, which is nestled in Tam Giang Lagoon, Middle Vietnam. In late October, trees turn grey-white that gives an impression of the forest covered with snow. Ru Cha is touted as a tourist attraction for those who want to stay from stuffy city life and earsplitting atmosphere to enjoy a tranquil place, poetic landscape.

The forest brings to you a moment of relaxation as it is circled by lakes, channels and endowed with a diverse ecosystem, including a wide range of fauna and flora. In addition, it gives an opportunity to take a boat on a small river in the middle of the forest to learn more about the harsh life of fishermen, to enjoy the untouched natural beauty and the authentic cuisine of Middle Vietnam.

In terms of climate change, The Worldwide Life Fund (WWF) sponsored a two-year project (2014-2015) on planting more than 23,000 mangrove trees on the coastal area to retain biodiversity here.

The photograph courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Thuy Khue Street

Thuy Khue Street is one of the streets in Hanoi, which still preserves old features like village gates and moss covered roofs of temples or communal houses dotted in a modern coat of the urbanization. High-rise buildings and villas have developed to replace front street gardens and village houses. However, thanks to huge trunks and their large foliage, Thuy Khue still retains its ancient look and give cool shapes to pedestrians in the scorching days. In addition to this, a large number of village gates clusters in a section near a market. An interesting thing is that none of them looks alike; some are recently restored, others are colourfully faded.

Each gate bears a different name that is a short but intimate name like Gieng, Hau, Chua. They are intimate as they are names of persons. The gates exist from generation to generation of residents dating back thousand years.

The photograph courtesy of VN Express Online

Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An was once a Southeast Asian port in the 16th and 17th century and also a museum of the construction styles. Luckily, it still preserves Chinese temples, Japanese-designed bridge, French construction style houses, and old canals.

You should miss walking along Hoi An Riverside where many colourful lanterns float, creating an interesting atmosphere. For those loving beaches, it offers two lovely beaches 5 km far away from the town centre.

Hoi An is also known for Middle Vietnam gastronomy, shopping, skilful tailors who make a suit in a short time.

Two things about Hoi An Ancient Town make you unforgettable is that the town is too small to walk around and its traffic is nowhere near as big as a big city. on roads are pedestrians, bikes, and bicycles.       

The photograph courtesy of Thanh Nien Online