Sapa resort

Sapa is well-known as a holiday destination for international and local tourists. On season's greetings, flocks of people pour in here to enjoy the same cold climate as that in western countries. There is no place where tourists meet a diversity of ethnic minority people in Vietnam. This population lives on slash and burn culture. Since the tourism has been developed here, more people change their livelihood into tourist business. Some become tourist guides with a level of English that makes themselves understood.

A photo of Sapa resort illustrates a level of the tourist development in Sapa. Bungalows look down on endlessly expanding forests.

A photo of VN Express online

Buffalo fighting in Hanoi

The year of 2017 is coming to an end is the time when many local authorities in Vietnam are organizing many traditional festivals to welcome the coming of the New Year. Some are deserved to retain because they remind the young generation of their history, and culture that this population will ignore due to the invasion of western culture. Others should be eradicated because of the violence, cruelty, for instance, buffalo fightings are often held in North Vietnam for entertainment.

In 2018, Hanoi City Authorities will not issue any licence to buffalo fightings. This is a success of animal-protecting people. The buffalo fighting is criticized by international and domestic civil society associations.

However, this festival still happens in some provinces, particularly in North Vietnam.

A photo of Tuoi Tre online

Hoi An Ancient Town welcomes the New Year

In these days, Hoi An Ancient Town is preparing a festival to welcome the New Year. Every household decorates their front houses with domestically hand-made lanterns. The city government designs a model of early 20th-century Hoi An where domestic and international tourists explore a quiet Hoi An.

The local authorities organize the performance of art groups along main streets to present traditional culture. The business of vendors and peddlers is banned to yield their space for this festival and the traffic is not prohibited in some street. The city will cut off the electricity in some places.

On the eve of the New Year, tourists feel a calm Hoi An without the sound of modern music, lights of services or business operation.

Lighting in households is encouraged to use lantern instead of fluorescent lights on that night. On the Hoai River, there are no motorboats but tourists paddles on the river to enjoy the romance of the city. 
A photo of Tuoi Tre online 

Isle Cham, Phan Thiet City

Isle Cham is around 1.5 km, thus it takes nearly one hour to walk. This isle seems to separate from Phan Thiet City and still remains primitive. There is not an electric grid system, the isle sinks in the blackout every night. Solar energy appliances are commonly used in this area.

The ideal time to travel here is from May to September when there is no storm, the sea is calm with turquoise water and breezes.

To explore this isle, a tourist takes a bus from Lien Huong or Ca Na Townships. There is not a hotel but two restaurants where tourists order seafood and vegetable.

A photo of Tuoi Tre online   

Dalat City is a must on season's greetings

Dalat City is a destination for international and domestic tourists at the end of the year as its climate is mild. Tis an "Enropean" city in Vietnam due to its climate. The city organizes a festival of flowers to welcome the coming year and tourists as well. There are activities of culture and art on these days to hook the attention of people across the country.

However, a flow of people pours into the city that makes the rise of hotel and service rates. The price mounts but the service descents. The result is that many complaints about the city after each event arise.

If you want to see more photos, click here.

Photo of  VN Express online

Moc Chau Province on the season's greetings

The season's greeting is upon us. Most of us promise to lose weight in the coming days but girls in ethnic minority girls in Moc Chau Province are clad in traditional clothes to welcome the coming new year. Their clothes are full of colours that stand out in the setting which includes fields, green trees, hills, and mountains.

These days are their days-off when they set aside all farming work to enjoy moments of rest yearly. Children go visit their friends, teens go meeting up with their opposite-sex friends for datings while their parents take advantage of free time to do some errands at home.

This is a picture of lifestyle in the rural area in Vietnam at the end of a year.

For more photo, click here.

The photo of VN Express online

  

Festival of Flowers in Dalat City

The season's greetings is upon us is the time the festival of flowers in Dalat City was organised on December 23 to welcome domestic and international tourists to Dalat City.

In front of Lam Vien Square and near Xuan Huong Lake takes place the festival of flowers organized by Hasfarm, a flower giant supplier in the South of Vietnam. This year, they use the ancient vehicle such as Vespa, Honda and decorate them with flowers.

To organize this festival, 14 craftsmen from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City join craftsmen of Hasfarm to decorate these vehicles all four days long.

If you are interested in more photos, click Festival of Flowers.

Photo of Thanh Nien online
 

Railway Coffee

A coffee shop makes use of the railway to put some more tables and chairs on it. The owner doesn't care the safety of guests. This coffee is in Hanoi.

Protection fences are not built on two sides of a railway in Vietnam to prevent people walk back and forth when a train is on way. A train goes through residential areas. Sometimes deadly accidents come up to deprive of the loss of life.   

Homestay in Hoi An Ancient Town

Homestay is a model of business in Hoi An Ancient Town where the local government has just released some stipulations on this sort of business. The business owner must be a citizen of this town. They are permitted to build a not-more-than-two-floor house. A house must include a living room, kitchen, bedrooms for tourists. Total rooms are not allowed exceeding 7 rooms.

Nowadays, there are 842 business households with the total number of 13,212 rooms for rent. This is an interesting form of tourism many want to learn about rural life, cultural activities in the locality.

A photo above depicts a tourist riding a buffalo, a familiar scene in this area where a farmer ride this animal to plough a field.

Photo and source by VN Express
 

Lap An Lagoon

Lap An Lagoon is called another name as An Cu that sits near 1A National Route passing Lang Co Township. Lap An Lagoon occupies a nice view location: sitting at the foot of Phu Gia Pass, surrounded by Bach Ma Mountain (White Horse Mountain) and in front of it being Lang Co Beach.

It would be an ideal spot for professional and amateur photographers to capture breathtaking views from March to June when they found here light clouded sun under scorching heat.

Photo and source by VN Express.

Hang Dong Village, Son La Province

A photo above depicts a breathtaking scene of Hang Dong Village at sunrise. Clouds are wandering in the sun. It is a goal backpackers leave very early in the morning for Hang Dong Village to hunt for the dawn of clouds. To start trips this village, many have to take muddy roads that easily enable road slippering. Their heart is filled with anxiety and interest as well. Anxiety is because they hear sounds of mud under their vehicle wheels and don't know if their car is slippery. Interest is they want to enjoy clouds on sunrise at this village.

It is not easy to witness natural spellbound sights. An experienced witness said these sights happen if there must be light showers, low temperature at night and sunny high all a day long. 

Source and photo by Tuoi Tre Online

Flower channels in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City has organised flower streets in downtowns annually for years. Some people think it seems to be getting bored with this event. Ideas for establishing yearly flowers streets are same. There are three different spaces displaying cultures of three regions of Vietnam (the South, the Middle Vietnam, and the North). Each space features images of rural life, iconic landscapes of an individual region. The repetition of such a kind of the festival lessens the attraction of the public. It's time to make a change.

Ho Chi Minh City possesses a system of plentiful channels that go around the city. This is an advantage Ho Chi Minh is endowed. According to Mr My, an entrepreneur of a tourist company, he proposes to organise flower markets on Ben Nghe Channels which are bordered with two avenues Vo Van Kiet and Ben Van Don. These events should be held on greeting seasons, the lunar new year. This is an approach to encourage the public to take tours on a boat to enjoy floating flower markets.

This idea is one of the measures to develop the traffic on the water. Ho Chi Minh City is facing current congestion on the daily basis. The local government seeks solutions to break down this problem. The proposal of establishing flower markets on the water should attract the attention from the public and relevant authorities.

Photo of VN Express.

Phu Quy Island

Phu Quy Island stays 120 km away from southeast Phan Thiet Sea. Phu Quy is fairly new to tourists, thus, it still retains primitive features of sandy beach and coral reefs. Phu Quy, which is endowed with the all-year mild weather, turquoise water, is an ideal place for tourists to enjoy romantic settings.

However, there is a disadvantage in this region. It is an undeveloped electricity-grid system. The lighting of this region is energized by diesel-driven motors. The area stops its operation early evening and sinks the dark till the next early morning.


Photo of Tuoi Tre online

Nam Mu River

Nam Mu River comes from peaks of mountains Hoang Lien in Lai Chau Province, which is home to ethnic groups. They live on farming and husbandry. Water wheels that are installed along the river irrigate their paddy fields.

The image of Nam Mu River in the sunset looks like a painting including water, forest, hills, mountains and white clouds.

Today, Nam Mu River is a must in many tours to Lai Chau Province. It helps these inhabitants develop tourist services. Some become tourist guides who don't charge tourists in a tour, in return, tourists buy their handcraft items.

Photo of Tuoi Tre online

Da Lat City

Da Lat City is named as an ideal paradise for professional photographers who want to capture scenic landscapes of nature. Da Lat is known as a western country in Vietnam because of its mild weather. Dalat holds tourists spellbound thanks to breath-taking magnificent sights of hills, mountains, waterfalls spanning to the horizon.

Sight-seeing places is a must in any tours to Da Lat City are Hon Bo Mountain, Tuyen Lam Lake, Du Sinh Cemetary and a lot of others. 

A pleasure for a tourist is to get up early in the morning, go up to hills and look down at a city still in a deep sleep. The city seems to be covered by white clouds wandering above it.

Greeting seasons and the New Year is time for visiting Da Lat City, a city of dream. During this time, a flower festival is organised to display hundreds of kinds of flowers that are grown in this land. However, it is an opportunity for service owners to take use of animated flocks of tourists to raise service price such as hotel rates, meal prices in restaurants. The local government has exerted strict measures against this illegal practice.


For more photos of Da Lat City, click here.

Photo of VN Express

A Bamboo Bridge in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

A bamboo bridge is a familiar scene in rural areas of Quang Nam Province, the middle of Vietnam. People here use a ferry to transport, however, in rain season or storms, a ferry is not able to carry passengers. To solve this problem, inhabitants contribute their effort, materials to construct a bamboo bridge. Some join a project with bamboos, others provide tons of nails and lots of others give worn-out wheel tires. This bridge helps villagers to move forwards and backwards on the daily basis to develop the economy of a village. However, it poses a threat: the bridge is not safe after a long time in use. The grim reaper is looming for those of bad luck walking on a slipery bridge on raining days.

Nowadays, many civil society associations call for all-kind donation to build concrete bridges in far remote regions to help children go to school or people go to work or do business safely.

Photo of Tuoi Tre online

Notrt Dame Cathedral reflecting on a puddle

Saigon Notre Dame Cathedrale was built at the end of the late 19th century by French architects. It is a big Cathedrale institute in a country like Vietnam where the Budha influence is overwhelming. 

The church consists of two towers with six bronze bells that ring on the religious holidays such as the Christmas eve. High-quality red bricks were imported from Marseille, France. They remain unchanged under the scortching sun and persistent rains in Saigon.  

The church was named after the status of Peace Notre Dame that was installed in 1959 in the middle of a small garden in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. There was a scandal in October 2005 that Notre Dame Statue shed tears that hooked flocks and flocks of believers to visit it. However, Cathedral people refuted this news. 

Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral opens to the public on mass services. It is a holy place international tourists and expats come for religious masses. 

Photo of Tuoi Tre online 

One-time motorbike Velo Solex in Saigon

Velo Solex, the French name of a motor bicycle, was widely used in Saigon in two decades from 1950's to 1970's. This vehicle tends to design for female. A slim and compact design fits the slender appearance of a Vietnamese girl in a traditional long dress.

Velo Solex was fabricated in 1946 by two French entrepreneurs Maurice Goudard and Marcel Mannesson. By that time, the French were proud of their motor bicycle as they said: "A motor bicycle runs by itself." A piece of a motor is installed in front of this bicycle. This motor transfers the movement to the front wheel that moves the back wheel, quite opposite of the principle of today's vehicle movement, the back wheel moved by a motor pushes the front wheel.

If you want to see more photos, click here. 

Photo of Tuoi Tre online

Animals Asian Foundation calls for the termination of Buffalo Fighting Festival Do Son

Mr David Neale, Animal Welfare Director at Animals Asian Foundation, sent a request to the Chair of Hai Phong City People's Committee to call for the termination of the Buffalo Fighting Festival Do Son. In his letter, he expresses his concern about the welfare of animals and the safety of a community.

Recently, a deadly accident happened in a buffalo fight where the owner of a buffalo was gored by his trained animal. It generated a wave of critics of international and domestic people against a violate game.

More information, please click here.

Photo of Tuoi Tre online

A Terrace Field in Yen Bai Province

A terrace field is a typical icon of rural regions in the Northern Vietnam. It is home to ethnic minority peoples who live in farming, husbandry.

At the end of September and the beginning of October, it's time for a rice crop harvest when fields turn golden, spanning to the horizon. It is also a window of opportunity for tourists to see the scenic beauty of nature.

If you are interested in more photos, click here.

Photo of VN Express