A cheaper way to make a trip to Mui Ne

Thanks to its natural land-scapes and pristine beaches, Mui Ne is a popular destination for international and local tourists who go there to expand their travel itinerary or for a weekend escape from work.

Scattered along the coastline are many resorts offering comfortable and luxury accommodations and other services for tourists to relax during their holidays. And off course, in return for the comfort, vacationers have to pay more money.

However, there is a cheaper, but no less interesting, way to make the trip to Mui Ne for backpackers or travelers on a limited budget.

Bus is the cheapest means of transportation to get there. From HCMC, travelers can buy bus tickets at open-tour operators, such as Sinh Café and Phuong Trang among others. A number of tour providers offering daily tours to Mui Ne have offices located in the heart of the city, on De Tham Street and Pham Ngu Lao Street, with buses usually leaving in the morning.

With tickets costing from VND60,000 to VND65,000 (US$3.8) each, travelers will make their journey in a 45-seat, air conditioned bus. In addition, the ticket includes a bottle of pure water, a paper tissue and a bag of coconut.



Travelers get on a bus at Mui Ne Resort to return to HCMC



For reasons of safety, the driver will often keep the bus running slowly enough for passengers to enjoy looking out of the windows at the landscape and scenes of the daily activities of people living along the national road!

After four hours and some 220 kilometers, travelers will feel the sea winds in the air as they approach the ‘kingdom of resorts’ in the Mui Ne region.

The artery street of Nguyen Dinh Chieu divides the resort town into two separated worlds. One side is dotted with many luxury and comfortable resorts along the pristine beaches, meanwhile on the other side is the world of restaurants, boutique shops, entertainment services and guest houses or inns.

Depending on the weight of their pockets vacationers can choose a luxury service or a comfortable accommodation. For those in search of less expensive options, inns or guest houses are the best choice for their stay during their holidays.

Prices are changed subject to the travel season and days of the week. However, a good bargain will provide travelers an air-conditioned room for two with prices ranging from VND100,000 to VND150,000, or from VND60,000 to VND80,000 for a room with fans.

Vacationers will also find a wide range of pricing for dining, according to their taste. Restaurants scattered along the street serve many different kinds of food, including Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and French among others. However, a seafood barbecue is what a traveler should try, with prices starting from VND35,000 per dish.

To explore the region, one can hire a motorbike or a bicycle priced at VND70,000 and VND15,000 respectively for 24 hours. There are also buses running from Phan Thiet City to Mui Ne every 30 minutes with tickets ranging from VND3,000 to VND8,000 each.

For swimming, one can ask any local for a path leading to the beach, and of course, one can swim freely anywhere once they get to the water.

Read More

Practice martial arts in the Delta

A tour to the Mekong Delta could be an interesting trip for visitors who want to explore the culture and the daily life of the local people in the southern area of Vietnam. This time, it could offer them a more special experience as the tour operator has added a new feature: a chance to learn some martial arts.

This two-day tour in Vinh Long Province in the Mekong Delta starts in HCMC in the morning. After a sight-seeing trip to the Vinh Sang Farm in An Thuan Hamlet, An Binh Commune, Long Ho District, martial arts instructors will join the tour to explain some martial arts postures to guests and tourists will practice the postures in the fruit garden.

This not only gives guests some hints on how to protect themselves but also helps them reject stress and improve their health. “With elderly people, we will show them some tai chi and describe methods to reduce stress,” said Cao Ngoc Minh, public relations executive of Ben Thanh Tourist, the tour’s arranger.

Tourists practice the martial arts under guide of the martial arts instructor

She said that each group of 15 to 20 guests will receive guidance from a martial arts instructor from HCMC. While the elderly people on the tour are offered opportunities to explore the culture, history, and rural scenery of the Mekong Delta, the younger people will spend more time practicing martial arts.

In the evening, tourists will have a romantic dinner on a three level boat and enjoy don ca tai tu (amateur traditional Southern opera). The ideal time for the tour could be on Saturdays, when all the lights of My Thuan Bridge are turned on creating a wonderful view of the bridge and the river.

On the second day, tourists will practice martial arts again, catch fish and bathe in the Co Chien river. At Vinh Sang Farm, tourists will also have the chance to become farmers as they learn more about the daily lives of the southern delta peoples. They will wear ao ba ba (a kind of shirt used by South Vietnamese peoples), and khan ran (bandanna) provided by the farm to catch fish, and try some of the other daily activities of farmers.

Guests who enjoy adventure could try riding one of the many ostriches at the farm who are used to having visitors ride on their backs.

The tour costs VND675,000 per tourist for groups of ten people, VND595,000 per tourist for groups of 20 people.

By SGT

Read More

Enjoying barbeque and hot pot dishes in town

When Saigonese people dine out, they often fre-quent restaurants that serve barbeque and hot pot dishes, making the two dishes popular gastronomic trends in HCMC. The restaurants featuring these dishes are often the choices of Saigonese diners because they are ideal places to not only enjoy tasty food but chitchat with family and friends.

Guests who want to have a quiet, airy space to enjoy barbeque and a view of the city center at night can go to the Breeze Sky Bar on the fifth floor of the Majestic Hotel. This Sunday, the bar will introduce a new “BBQ on the Roof Top” program featuring about 20 selected dishes of shrimp, salmon, beef, chicken, and more.

The barbecued meat of each dish will be combined with special kinds of sauce such as apple or peppermint; dishes of salad and deserts are also included. The “BBQ on the Roof Top” program will be offered daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. with prices ranging from US$15 to US$24 per dish.

The Breeze Sky Bar with a view of the city center and the Saigon River is open from 10 a.m. to midnight. It also serves an international buffet breakfast, eastern and western food a la carte, plus many kinds of drinks, cocktails, ice-cream and snacks.

Also this July, the Golden Palace Restaurant in the Palace Hotel will introduce a buffet program featuring eight popular kinds of hot pots from three regions to Saigonese diners. The sweet, tasty flavor of the hot pot that attracts many gastronomes comes from beef, goat and shellfish meat, or fish, seafood and curry.



A view of the Breeze Sky Bar in the Majestic Hotel

Hot pot is a dish to share and people can easily see diners gathering around a hot pot chatting happily while putting many kinds of vegetables and meat into the hot soup. The many kinds of ingredients in hot pots are displayed in separated sections for guests to choose from and there will be staff to guide guests when choosing the ingredients for their own hot pots.

The restaurant also offers a dessert buffet corner with tropical fruits, sweet soups, drinks and green tea. Joining this hot pot buffet program, diners will have a relaxing time enjoying the meal with a flow of music in a cozy place. The price is VND144,000++ per person.

Read More

Wandering around Hoi An ancient town

Located in the central region of Vietnam in Quang Nam Province, the ancient town of Hoi An, one of six sites in Vietnam granted world heritage status in 1999, is a very popular destination for tourists.

The ancient town is registered UNESCO’s world heritage list as being a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating back the 15th to 19th centuries. Besides the ancient beauty of Hoi An, local tourism has turned the town into a must-visit tourism destination for shopping and relaxation with various art and craft, and tailor shops as well as a variety of coffee shops, bars and restaurants along the riverfront.

Touring around town by cyclo is the favorite way of local and foreign tourists. Along Tran Phu Street and the Hoai River are best choices

By providing tourists with diversified services and local cultural features Hoi An has become an even more attractive destination and attracts a large number of tourists each year. To explore the ancient town, tourists can walk, bike or use a cyclo-pedicab to peruse the narrow streets. Visitors need to bear in mind that they will need to stop often, as every corner of the town is likely to attract their admiration. Hereunder are some newly-taken pictures that feature many activities of foreign tourists in Hoi An, proving the everlasting attraction of the ancient town.

Tourists buy lenterns at a shop. At night, the town becomes even more beautiful bye the light of colorful lanterns. Particularly on the first day and 15th day of the month, tourists can see flower garlands and colored lanterns on the Hoai River

Tourists enjoy a painting by an artist at a gallery. The gallery's owner said that some foreign tourists decide to buy paintings soon after the works are completed

Read More

Visiting Dray Sap waterfall in Central Highlands

A view of the upstream of Dray Sap waterfall in the central highlands

In the Central Highlands, travelers wandering about 30 kilometers south of Buon Ma Thuot City to Krong No District in Dac Nong Province will find themselves in the misty world of the Dray Sap waterfall.

The Dray Sap is one of a popular group of waterfalls in the Central Highlands including Gia Long, Dray Nur and Trinh Nu (Maiden). It is called the waterfall of smoky mist because Dray Sap in the E De ethnic people’s language means ‘fall of smoke.’


To reach the waterfall, visitors must cross many small slopes and a wooded area where visitors will sometimes see ethnic people with papooses in their back. There are not many tourism services at the waterfall except for a ticket entrance and a beverage booth since Dac Nong Province has not yet started developing tourism services at the popular group of waterfalls.

Visitors begin the journey to explore this giant waterfall by climbing down a moss-grown staircase. There are two ways to discover the waterfall, one is the roundabout route to the top and one will lead visitors to the foot of the waterfall.

Dray Sap Falls extend 500 meters divided into three parts; the upstream, the middle and the lower stream. The water is supplied by two rivers, the Krong No, which means river of the husband in the M’Nong ethnic people’s language, and the Krong A, the river of the wife. There are usually legendary stories associated with famous landscapes and Dray Sap is no exception.

Dray Sap’s legend is about a beautiful E De girl named H’Mi. Many rich M’Nong and E De men love her and propose to her but she denies them because she falls in love with a poor man from her village.

H’Mi usually makes an appointment with her boyfriend to go to work together in the mountain fields. Once, when they sat side-by-side on a mountain rock, a bird-like beast appears and lands near them.

The beast has a large trunk and its trunk drills down into the ground making water erupt into the air. It starts raining heavily and H’Mi changes into a cloud drifting in the sky while her boyfriend changes into an ancient tree.

The ground that the beast bored, turns into Dray Sap Falls. Nowadays, visitors can find a huge ancient tree beside a large rock upstream of the waterfall.

The path upstream of the fall is rather rocky. At first, visitors should climb down the moss-grown stairs and pass a small wooded area. Then, visitors will pass a wooden bridge and mountain fields of the ethnic people. Visitors continue to follow a small path to arrive upstream. Standing at a height of 20 meters upstream, visitors can contemplate the vastness and the mightiness of the waterfall.

Visitors who want to explore the lower stream can return by following the old, rather rocky, path. It is suggested that visitors wear sandals on the journey to discover the waterfall.
By SGT

Read More

Quang Nam: Tourism and trade village exhibition fair 2007

The Quang Nam Department of Trade, in conjunction with the Duy Xuyen’s People’s Committee, held a traditional trade village and tourism exhibition fair for the first time in July, in Duy Xuyen District.

The fair attracted the participation of 150 kiosks from 60 domestic and foreign enterprises and traditional trade villages of Duy Xuyen District.


The fair is one of the major commercial promotion activities of Quang Nam Province, with the aim of offering favorable conditions for enterprises to exchange, popularize, and introduce products for market expansion and mutual development and to create shopping and amusement festival days for local people.

This is also a chance for tourists to visit two world’s cultural heritages such as Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Temple and local trade villages such as the Mai Chau weaving village, Dong Duong mulberry village, and Ban Thach sedge mat weaving village.

The fair will close on July 9, 2007.

Read More

Pandanus woos travelers with new services

Tourists ride the all-terrain vehicle, a sea sport game at Pandanus Resort

After 12 years developing as a tourist destination, Mui Ne, in the coastal resort town of Phan Thiet in the central province of Binh Thuan, is the home of some 80 small and large resorts which were built on winding pristine beaches and lie under thousands of coco trees.

Traveling along Nguyen Dinh Chieu Road, travelers have many choices of resorts for their vacations. The Pandanus Resort is among the 80 resorts where travelers can spend their holidays.


The resort is still young compared to others, but very spacious. It was built in 2004 within a ten-hectare tropical garden and with a private beach three hundred meters long.

Scattered throughout the garden are some 130 rooms, suits and bungalows designed with views of the ocean, the landscaped garden or facing the pool area that has a huge free-form pool surrounding an island covered with palm trees.

To make guests feel relaxed and comfortable, the resort offers, among other luxuries, a foot and body massage service on the beach, around the pool, or in the spa.

However, to provide more choices for travelers during their stay, the resort has just set up activities for those who are sports enthusiasts.

Steve Raymond, general manager of the resort, said that last month the Speed Boat Pleasure Company set up operations at the corner of the resort, providing jet ski rentals, snorkeling trips, rubber rafting excursions and fishing trips.

When night falls, at the resort’s Blue Lagoon Restaurant, diners can enjoy a performance by the Philippine group “Stardust” that has joined the in-house traditional Cham band. For families, the resort has just added a ‘kid’s corner’, so that parents can leave their children to play in the supervised games room while they enjoy cocktails and listen to the bands.

Apart from these new activities, there are other things to do while not swimming in the pool or lounging on the widest pristine white sandy beach in the area. Around the gardens are a flood-lit tennis court, a badminton court, a football field, beach volleyball, karaoke rooms, a discotheque, billiards tables, table tennis, complimentary bicycles and a game room.

In addition, the resort is located close to the famous Orange Sand Dunes and Red Canyon. Guests can take a ten to fifteen minute walk to both attractions.

Currently the resort offers promotional rates of US$75++ per night for a superior room, US$90++ for a junior suite and US$99++ for a bungalow.
By SGT

Read More

Touring Tien River in the south

Tourists visit Thai Son Isle by boat

The Tien River, a branch of the Mekong River in south-ern Vietnam, flows through an area enriched with alluvium, making the land of Tien Giang and Ben Tre, the two provinces that the river flows through, prime for growing thousands of hectares of tropical orchards.


Lying not far from HCMC, the two provinces attract many visitors coming for eco-tourism, exploring specific features of the land along waterways in the south, and for the hospitality of the locals. Tourists wanting to discover this area can book a new tour offered by some HCMC tourism services.

Joining this new tour, tourists can learn about the daily lives of the local people by visiting traditional three-compartment houses and orchards of the locals, and exploring the surroundings on foot following small paths through the isles.

Tourists can rest at a restaurant nestled in the green trees and bonsai gardens, and taste local fruits and specialties. A special lunch will be served with dishes of grilled or baked recently caught fish. For those who want to catch the fish by themselves, there are many kinds of fishing supplies such as fishing rods, buckets or fishing tackle for them to choose, or tourists can simply join the locals in bailing out water from the ditch and catching fish by hand.

To tour the two provinces, tourists have a choice to go by boat or canoe, the main means of transport here, and pass through canals having green orchards on both sides. The floating market, a unique tourist attraction in the waterway lands of the south, is also a must-see.

In Tien Giang, the Cai Be floating market originated from the establishment of a small town on the banks of the Tien River. The market serves not only as a trading place for the locals but also as an attractive destination. Reaching the Cai Be rivulet’s mouth, tourists can see dynamic trading activities along a large section of the river.

Everyday, hundreds of boats and canoes, transporting many kinds of local fruits, anchor in this section to wait for traders. The area, at this time, is filled with sounds of transportation, laughter and voices creating the special charm of the waterways in the south.

Coming to Tien Giang, tourists can visit landscapes such as the Thoi Son Tourism Area, the Rach Gam – Xoai Mut relics, Tan Phong Isle and more. In Ben Tre, tourists should not miss Minh, Bao and An Hoa isles, and Qui Islet.

Among them, Qui Islet, despite having a small area, still reserves the rural beauty of the waterway lands with hospitable locals. It can be reached by canoe and will offer tourists a breath of fresh air.

The tour to the two provinces from HCMC is a one-day tour by car. There are also homestay services for tourists who want to stay longer.
By SGT

Read More

Trans-Asia Bridge Span Festival – A friendly art space

On the occasion of celebrating important events in 2007, Quang Tri Province planned to organize a series of festivals, especially the second “Trans-Asia Bridge Span Festival” from July 24 to 30. The festival is expected to make Quang Tri an interesting place for tourists.

The second “Trans-Asia Bridge Span” Festival will host participation from numerous art troupes nationwide. Particularly, during the festival, apart from exhibitions, fairs, sport competitions among the provinces of Vietnam, Thailand, Lao, and Myanmar, there will be a four-night festival among Indochinese countries with cultural performance items from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The second “Trans-Asia Bridge Span” Festival will also introduce the Quang Tri international fair and exhibition 2007 model, held by the CIAT. The fair and exhibition attracts participation from domestic enterprises and enterprises from Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and China.

In 2004, the first “Trans-Asia Bridge Span” Festival created an attractive art playground. The Vietnamese side had the attendance of art troupes from Quang Binh, Hue, Danang, and Quang Nam. Numerous foreign art troupes took part in the festival, with a variety of art performance items such from Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and China.

2007 is the year marking numerous significant events for Quang Tri Province, such as the 100 year anniversay of late General Secretary Le Duan’s (death? Birthday?), 35 years since Quang Tri’s Inpendence Day, and 60 years of the dead and wounded soldiers day.

Apart from the festival, Quang Tri will also hold some activities such as the “Quang Tri Festival – April Memory”, “Night Ancient Citadel” festival, and “July Gratitude Festival”.

Source : CPV/HNM

Read More

A restaurant of Vietnam’s country life

On the way from Nha Trang to HCMC, travelers can easily find a small signboard at Km5 telling the way via a small street to Thon Viet Restaurant. Literally, the meaning of the restaurant’s name is simply Vietnamese Village, implying a place that promises guests the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the country life of Vietnam.

Without the signboard, guests could hardly find the way to the restaurant nestled under the lines of betel trees, the green fields and trees. Passing a garden, guests will see the restaurant that was opened only a couple of months ago with waitresses in ao ba ba, the traditional dress of southern women in the village.

Construction of the village-style restaurant was closely supervised to every decoration detail by the owner, farm engineer Nguyen Trung Binh. Either side of the pathway in the restaurant is decorated with flowers and grass. Here and there in the restaurant are the water wells, small bridges across small canals, the Lunar New Year Poles and long-handle buckets.

Typical images of the Vietnamese village seem to be well depicted in Thon Viet Restaurant where guests could find a flock of chicken walking around the area to look for rice, the banana and bamboo trees, the eartherned jars to hold water with the dippers made of coconut shell.

Diners can choose many outdoor corners in the restaurant to have their meal such as behind the banana trees, by the bamboo bridge or the small pond, feeling like they are dining in a village.

Thon Viet serves many kinds of traditional rural dishes, each of them being displayed in baskets or panniers or wrapped in banana leaves and guests will be served with fresh vegetables, which are grown around the restaurant, according to Binh.

Diners will find it enjoyable tasting the fresh, piping hot dishes such as fresh grilled anabas and amaranth soup and rice in clay pot in the natural setting of the Vietnamese village, which could bring guests an authentic Vietnamese dinning experience.

Thon Viet Restaurant is located at Km5 on 23-10 Road, Vinh Diem Thuong, Vinh Hiep Commmune, Nha Trang City, tel: (058) 892 340, fax: (058) 871 185.

By SGT

Read More

Like a shy lass sleeping in the mountain

The landscape on the way to Si Ma Cai

Mountain adventurers like to compare Si Ma Cai in Lao Cai Province to a shy lass with discrete charms sleeping in the mountain as the beauty of the little-known village lies in the quiet and simple daily lives of different people.


Si Ma Cai is not as frequented as Bac Ha or Sapa, also located in the mountainous province, since it is nestled at the far end of a road near the border with China. Many travel tips are awaiting in the village, although traveling there requires visitors to hold onto their hats and their seats either in a car or on a motorcycle depending on the means they use to travel the nearly 40 kilometers of bumpy, winding road from Bac Ha.

In recent years, the charms of Si Ma Cai have been awakened and have become attractive to travelers by the flower-colored clothes of the ethnic peoples H’Mong and Red Dao, by the greenery of mountains and hills, and by the legends.

Local people explain that Si Ma Cai means a horse market or a place where horses are tied. However, H’Mong people like to talk about Si Ma Cai as a place for legendary horses whose steps resound on the hills and mountains of the region.

Of course, there are no legendary horses in Si Ma Cai now, but visitors can hear the steps of horses pleasantly harmonize with the footsteps of ethnic peoples on the long trip from the hills and mountains to the village’s center market, particularly on Sunday.

The quiet Si Ma Cai turns bustling on Sunday as H’Mong, Dao and other ethnic peoples arrive from different directions for a hill-tribe market. There, they buy and sell meat, vegetables, fruit, clothes and other necessities of life as well as swap fun stories after a week of hard work.

The Si Ma Cai market remains distinct to its origins since locals sell what they harvest from the forest and business is just a matter for locals, not traders bringing items from Hanoi or elsewhere to sale there.
By SGT

Read More

Banks bank on property

The majority of commercial banks still rely on real estate as collateral assets for providing loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm and the Vietnam Bankers’ Association, recently completed a survey of lending practices showing that 93 per cent of banks prefer property as collateral for commercial loans.
Most businesses assets, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are usually movable.
Sin Foong Wong, IFC’s country manager for Vietnam, said: “Better access to credit is crucial to achieve more widespread business growth in Vietnam, particularly for SMEs that now generate 60 per cent of GDP.
“Most of these firms cannot finance their operations through formal means because they cannot meet the collateral requirements of Vietnam’s financial institutions. Currently, Vietnamese banks rarely lend without property as collateral,” he said.
According to the survey, SMEs’ moveable assets which are worth billions of dollars, could be put to productive use and contribute to economic growth if businesses could use their assets to secure the financing they need to upgrade and expand.
To address this challenge the Ministry of Justice, with the IFC, Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (IFC-MPDF), together with the World Bank’s Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) has worked for the past year to improve the legal framework for asset based lending.
According to experts, as experience with other reforms shows, effective implementation was needed to maximise impact.
This includes computerising National Registration Agency operations for secured transactions and educating financial institutions about the reforms and how to profit from asset based lending.
Nguyen Thuy Hien, National Registration Agency director general for secured transactions (NRAST), said: “Vietnam needs to complement the legal reforms with an effective collateral registry. This will give financial institutions the quick and accurate information they need to make good lending decision.”
“Having this information available on an easy-to-access secure website will greatly enhance information flows, and make it easier for all parties involved,” she said.
NRAST is an institution under the Ministry of Justice, set up in 2001, with the objectives of undertaking administrative functions related to secured transactions (developing policy and a legal framework) and directly managing the operations of the registration agency for secured transactions, including leasing, sales with retention of ownership, and sales of the right to collect debts.
After nearly four years of operating, the NRAST has registered almost 15,000 secured transactions. Nearly 900 bank head offices and branches have registered as “regular clients” with the registry.
By VIR

Read More

Tourism: Tortoise’s In Town

Located in the heart of HCM City, the Tortoise Fountain is among the city’s well-known historical sites



Tortoise Fountain is the name of a square in central HCM City. It is located at the intersection of Pham Ngoc Thach, Vo Van Tan and Tran Cao Van streets, approximately 200 meters from the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The structure was originally built in 1879 and had gone through many alternations ever since. Initiated by the French, the 20-meter-high water tower was built in the center of the traffic circle. The water tank of steel with a capacity of 100 cubic meters was supported by eight pillars, placed in octagonal shape. The top of the tower was layered with tiles. The overall structure reflected the Pearl of the Far East design, which was the name of Saigon at the time, and can be seen on postcards dated in the late 19th century.

In 1921, the tower was destroyed. The reasons are unclear since all official and architectural documentations were lost. Records were not well kept at the time. They originally were in the possession of the Admiralty, then transferred to the General Governor’s Palace, to the Ministry of Public Works, and finally to the City Hall. It is likely that they were destroyed in transport or eaten away by moth in storage. The speculations for the abolition of the tower are either the structures were broken but repairs were unable to be made since the plans were lost or that the structures was too small to meet the demands of the citizens.

Once the tower was gone, the Council of Saigon City repaired the traffic circle and named it Marechal Joffre Square. In 1927, a Memorial to the 1914-1918 World War Dead was erected at the center of the square.

In 1972, the Vietnamese government rebuilt the intersection to commemorate allied countries that provided aid for the then South Vietnam. In the center of the fountain, stand five 20-meter-high upright pillars, reminiscence of five arms with five palms holding a globe. Beside the five pillars is a copper turtle. On its back was a stone stele which was engraved with the names of aiding countries. There was also a set of unique 30-step staircase, in which there is a resting platform after every 10 steps, on the south side of the fountain’s pool, leading up to an offering table for Heavens and Earth, which was five meters above ground level. Unlike the offering altar of Nam Giao in Hue, the table of the Tortoise Fountain in HCM City was neither round nor square but elliptical, with two axes being 12 and about seven meters long. The table was sustained by one main pillar and eight supporting pillars. On it, there was a one-meter-high altar, which faced the north.

When completed, it was not well received. Saigonese felt the five pillar hands turned upward as though to beg for aid. This was not believed to be a work of pride. Thus, the government transformed the five arms with five hands into a 25-petal flower. This became the structure seen today.

In early April of 1976, or 11 months after Saigon was liberated, an explosion took place at the traffic circle at 8 p.m., killing one young man and injured four others. The copper tortoise was damaged. According to HCM City Police, this incident was a political sabotage and the dead young man, himself, placed the dynamite on the tortoise.

Today, the tortoise no longer exists but the name Tortoise Fountain still remains. This site is particularly lively at night. It is surrounded by local coffee shops and street vendors. It has a reputation for great ice cream, especially coconut flavor. Around the lake, there are many age-old golden oak trees. They have fruits with two wings. When falling, these fruits twist and slowly land onto the ground. In the blooming seasons, these trees emit gentlefragrances throughout the area,creating poetical atmosphere for passers-by.
by TTM

Read More

Tourism news: Famtrip to India

Saigontourist Holding Co. is collaborating with its partners for the press trip from India to Vietnam. In the program, Indian reporters will visit different destinations in Vietnam, including HCM City.

India is now viewed as a potential market for the tourism industry, specifically from Saigontourist standpoint, which has launched many programs to promote the industry to India. The tourism conference named Vietnam an attractive destination for Indian tourists in New Delhi is the result of their efforts. It is well received and is much appreciated by Indian media and tourists.

Not only India, Saigontourist is also collaborating with many travel agencies to set up international programs to countries worldwide.

Martini Loungeinaugurated
Lion Restaurant has just opened its Martini Lounge inside the restaurant. The lounge is capable of accommodating up to 100 people. It has a balcony with airy atmosphere, a bar with buzzing jazz, and more.

Martini Lounge introduces to guests over 20 types of cocktails with special flavors. It also offers selections of snacks. The lounge opens from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. daily.
By SGT

Read More

Big Push For Stronger Banks

Banking regulators want stronger local banks to be able to stand the fiercer competition now that Vietnam has to open its economy as a WTO member


Vietnam is in the process of opening its finance-banking sector in line with its commitments to the World Trade Organization. At present, there are five State-owned commercial banks, one policy bank, one development bank and 37 commercial joint stock banks holding nearly 90% of the banking market share. However, except for a few strong banks, most of the commercial joint stock banks are not large by international standards, with their charter capital averaging VND500-1,000 billion (US$31.2-62.5 million).

HSBC, Standard Chartered, ANZ and Citigroup already have a presence but with the opening of the local banking market, more and more foreign banks, most of them established institutions with strong financial capacity and extensive experience, are keen to gain a good share of the local market.

Shrinking number

In an effort to help the local banking sector strengthen competitiveness, the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, is mulling regulations in step with the Government’s policy to restrict the establishment of new banks and encourage the merger of joint stock banks. “In the long term, the aim is to bring the number of domestic banks and financial groups down to 15 to 20 before 2010,” said a source from the central bank.

Kieu Huu Dung, director of the central bank’s bank department, expresses the idea this way: “When competition reaches a certain level, it will create pressure for mergers. At present, there is room for local commercial banks to grow in Vietnam, but merging may take place after five years more.”

To reach this target, the State Bank will implement policies regulated by the Basel Commission, which include high requirements for financial security, financial capacity, and experience in new banks’ big shareholders. The bank has just issued a decision on setting up new banks, which is seen as a new step to translate its plan into reality.

Under Decision 24/2007/QD-NHNN issued on June 7, the minimum charter capital required for a new bank will be periodically regulated by the Government. All commercial joint stock banks established between now and December 31, 2008, must have charter capital of at least VND1 trillion (US$62.5 million). Those coming into existence between December 31, 2008, and 2010 must have capital of at least VND3 trillion (US$187.5 million). A new commercial joint stock bank must have at least 100 shareholders, including at least three institutional founding shareholders.

The requirements for a founding shareholder do not make the role easy. If this shareholder is a non-bank enterprise, it must have equity capital of at least VND500 billion (US$31.2 million) and profitable operations in three consecutive years. If it is a bank, it must have total assets of at least VND10 trillion (nearly US$625 million), a bad debt ratio of less than 2% of total outstanding loans and profitable operations in three consecutive years.

The shareholders also face some restrictions in share ownership. An individual investor can hold at most 10% of the charter capital and an institutional investor at most 20%. In the first five years after the bank is established, founding shareholders can transfer their shares only among themselves. Meanwhile, non-founding shareholders cannot transfer their shares in the first three years. The shareholders must contribute capital with their own money, not with loans in any form.

The central bank’s intention to restrict the establishment of new banks is also a move to terminate the operation of ailing commercial banks. The collapse of any one of these may have a negative effect on the whole banking system. In the period of consolidating the operations of commercial joint stock banks from 1998-2001, the State Bank had to close 10 ailing banks, leaving 30 that have regained their vitality only over the past three years.

Stronger players

Despite the strict requirements of the new decision, more new commercial joint stock banks will likely come into existence this year. Dung says this is a strong trend at the moment. “Banks are doing well. So, the move to set up a bank is unavoidable,” he said. About 25 applications for setting up commercial joint stock banks have been received by the central bank.

Meanwhile, several strong corporations have plans to set up their own banks. Among their number are FPT, Bao Viet (Vietnam Insurance) Group, Postal Savings Company and PetroVietnam Finance. The central bank is cautious about this move. Central bank governor Le Duc Thuy early this year reminded the local media of the bitter outcome of events in the 1990s when many big businesses rushed to establish banks to raise funds for their operations and faced heavy losses.

At present, big State corporations are keen to establish banks or to hold a dominant role in a certain bank. According to Dung, this move is understandable, but it may lead to the corporations “manipulating” the banks when the corporations face some challenges. Therefore, the central bank has ruled that a corporation that is a member of the board of directors or a big shareholder of a bank cannot take out loans from that bank.

For these reasons, the Government is encouraging the merger of banks to establish bigger domestic institutions. To encourage bank mergers, the central bank will cooperate with the Finance Ministry to issue preferential tax policies for parties to a bank merger. The policies will appear next year. Along with this, the authorities will issue regulations to restrict the network expansion by banks which have capital below VND1 trillion this year. They will also adjust regulations on financial safety to meet international rules and create chances for the successful merger of banks.

According to a source from the central bank, strong backing will go to financial groups that combine insurance, banking and securities services. In 2006-2008, the Government will build one or two pilot financial groups by supporting a merger between a State-owned bank and Vietnam’s insurance giant Bao Viet. A law on financial groups will be adopted to replace the current law on credit institutions. The central bank will encourage financial groups to set up finance leasing companies to give a boost to the diversification of products and services on this market.

To help local banks boost their strength, Vietnam will give priority to foreign investors wishing to become strategic investors of local commercial joint stock banks. In a decree issued in April, the Government allows a strategic foreign investor to own a maximum stake equivalent to 15% of the charter capital of the local bank. Decree 69/2007 states that in particular cases, the Prime Minister may permit the strategic foreign investor to hold a stake equivalent to 20% of the capital. However, strategic foreign investors can transfer their shares only five years after their purchase.

On their part, a local bank that sell shares to foreign investors must also be a strong institution with charter capital of at least VND1 trillion (US$62.5 million), in addition to meeting other requirements on financial status, management and operations. Meanwhile, the foreign credit institutions buying shares of local commercial banks must have total assets of at least US$20 billion.

Aware of the need to become stronger players, many existing commercial joint stock banks are rushing to raise their charter capital to the level required, either by issuing shares or inviting the participation of local investors with strong financial capacity or foreign financial institutions. Some banks, like Vietnam Eximbank, have sold shares to strategic local partners such as Kinh Do Corp., Saigon Jewelry Co., PetroVietnam, Asia Commercial Bank and others. Others are selling part of their stakes to strong foreign banks. Among such deals are those between Orient Commercial Bank and BNP Paribas, Techcombank and HSBC, Habubank and Deutsche Bank, Southern Bank and United Overseas Bank, VP Bank and Overseas Chinese Banking Corp., Sacombank and ANZ Bank, and Asia Commercial Bank and three foreign partners–Standard Chartered, International Finance Corp. and Dragon Capital.

Vietnam will give priority to foreign financial institutions that become strategic investors of local banks. Therefore, foreign investors’ ownership in local banks may be allowed to increase from the present 30% to 49%. After 2010, the country will open up the financial sector in accordance with World Trade Organization commitments.
By SGT

Read More

More Choices Available

Many Vietnamese travel companies continue to introduce new products and services to serve the ever increasing and diversifying demand of tourists, both local and international

MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and meetings) has been the strength of Saigontourist Travel Service. In the first five months of this year, Saigontourist organized MICE tours for over 4,000 tourists in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Portugal and Singapore. This June, it designed a total of eight MICE programs for 2,300 tourists. At present, Saigontourist has its own MICE department to serve MICE demands.

In addition to traditional MICE, Saigontourist also launches special MICE tours. On June 21, Saigontourist held special MICE tours to Malaysia and Singapore for 78 tourists on the five-star Super Star Gemini cruise. The spacious ship with special design was filled with specific activities to boost morality, team spirit, and understanding. New experiences were created and visitors were buzzing with excitement.

Aside from the group activities, there were plenty of time for individual attention. Tourists were given private rooms, fully furnished with all the amenities. Included on the ship were several recreational spaces like bars, music shows, game club, gym and swimming pool. Western and Asian foods were always ready for tourists to enjoy.

On the journey to Singapore, the cruise dropped by Tioman Island of Malaysia. Then it headed to Singapore and stopped by the the lion city’s beautiful landscapes, such as Faber Mount, Sentosa Island, Sealion Park, and more. On June 25, the tourists returned to its final destination, HCM City. This was the first time Saigontourist held such a tour.

From June 13-23, Saigontourist also began the trans-Viet tour for veterans. The tour’s main destinations were Truong Son trails and Dien Bien Phu. It offered traveling on automobiles and planes.

The first journey was from HCM City to Kontum, where tourists visited famous Dong Xoai, Bom Bo Village, etc. Then visitors were headed to Dong Ha and stopped by Phuc Son, Vietnam’s biggest gold mine, as well as Ngang Pass, Quang Tri Old Citadel, Pha Din Pass, Dien Bien Museum, and the likes.

In addition, this tour also offered veterans chances to visit the country’s renowned landscapes such as Fairy Cave, Cung Dinh Cave, Single-Pole Pagoda, and the likes in Phong Nha-Ke Bang.

Fiditour offers promotion

Saigontourist is not the only one hopping on the MICE tour train. Fiditour has won a contract to offer MICE tours to over 300 agencies of Dong Tam Tile Co. Mid-June, 60 agencies of the company went to China, where Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Beijing were the main destinations. The trip lasted eight days and seven nights.

Prior to the China trip, Fiditour organized tours for some 240 agencies from HCM City and Hanoi to Bangkok-Pattaya for five days and four nights. It also awarded agencies with outstanding business performances with a high-end voucher of US$1,000/person to Korea and Europe. Currently, Fiditour is working on its tour for a group of 450 tourists to Phan Thiet City next July.

A special package of Fiditour is the Sea and Green Islands. It features beautiful beaches and islands like Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Qui Nhon and Danang. Visitors will spend their holidays at the luxurious Furama Resort on the three-day and two-night trip from Danang to Hoi An or at the five-star VinPearl Resort on the three-day and two-night stay in Nha Trang. At both resorts, tourists can enjoy rejuvenating sports like Yoga and Taichi or fitness centers and free physical consultations on body building, steam bath and sauna. In Nhatrang, tourists can also enjoy hydrotherapy in hot springs. Babysitting service for free is also provided, with safe and fun game activities.
In case tourists like to enjoy the warm and cool atmosphere of the highlands, as well as relax in the sunshine and the sea, they can book for such tours as Nha Trang-Dalat, Ninh Chu-Dalat, Phan Thiet-Dalat, Qui Nhon-Nha Trang, Truong Son Road-Danang-Ba Na-Hoi An-Hue-Phong Nha, Hanoi-Sapa-Yen Tu-Halong-Tuan Chau, and trans-Viet. These are open tours, thus they are very flexible. Tourists can opt or add any destination, depending on their interests.

With the aim of providing the best for tourists this holiday season, as well as constantly creating new experiences, Fiditour proudly offers a lucky draw program of big prizes called Fiditour Holiday Season-Valuable Holiday Season. It is running now and will end on September 2 this year. Clients who spend over VND1 million on booking, airplane tickets, study abroad consultancy or any of Fiditour’s services like food and accommodation in its hotel and restaurant chain, are qualified for the program. The special prize is valued at over VND50 million, comprising an LCD monitor, an Acer laptop, and a Nokia N series cellphone. One first prize is priced at VND20 million, consisting of a Sony video camera and a Canon IXUS 7.0 camera. Two second prizes worth VND10 million, including a Sony hi-fi player and an Apple Ipod. Three third prizes are worth VND5 million each, comprising a tour coupon of VND5 million. And 30 consolidation prizes include a buffet coupon each for two persons at a five-star hotel in Vietnam.
By SGN

Read More

New bank establishment not easy

A new commercial joint stock bank must have at least 100 founders, according to a new regulation issued on June 7 by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Vietnam’s central bank.

Decision 24/2007/QD-NHNN, which details regulations for the establishment of a new commercial joint stock bank, states that the new bank must also have at least three member institutions, each with capital valued at a minimum of VND500 billion. New banks must meet the legal requirement of capital, at least VND1 trillion initially, but no less than VND3 trillion by early 2009.

The decision also states that the capital of a new bank must be owned by shareholders, and not be loaned in any form. Each member institution can own a maximum stake of 20% of the bank’s charter capital, and an individual shareholder can hold a maximum 10%.

To ensure the stability and development of new banks in this transition stage, the central bank will allow new bank founders to make transfers to each other five years after the launch of their banks; and other shareholders to transfer their stakes in a bank three years after its founding.

Foreigners cannot serve as a party to the founding of a bank. However, they can purchase the bank’s stake after it begins operations. Apart from the capital requirements, the new decision establishes detailed criteria for human resources, information technology, and business strategy.

Kieu Huu Dung, head of the banking department within the central bank, said that authorities would receive petitions for the establishment of a new bank and consider relevant stakeholders after the new decision came into force. About 24 proposals to create new banks have been sent to the central bank, among them are proposals by big corporations like PetroVietnam, Bao Viet and FPT. The bank will apply the standards of the recent decision, and take six months to examine each file.

Reuters makes Vietnam’s stock prices known worldwide

Reuters, one of the world’s leading news agencies, has launched a new service allowing its customers worldwide to follow prices of HCM City bourse-listed stocks online.

The British news agency earlier brought prices of shares traded on the Hanoi Securities Trading Center online as well, making it easier for overseas investors to instantly track stock price movements in Vietnam.

Edward Haddad, managing director of Reuters for ASEAN, said the new service was added to the Vietnam market information section provided through the Reuters 3000 Xtra product. Customers of Reuters can now watch price movements instantly, and place orders with securities companies in Vietnam through a secure, high-speed order-making system.

Reuters and Thailand’s firm Bisnews AFE have also launched an information service called Bisnews Equities Terminal focusing on Vietnam’s stock market. This product provides updates about local stock indexes, indexes of stock exchanges in the world, forward markets, foreign exchange rates, reports on stock and foreign exchange markets, and Vietnam’s stock market. The service will help securities firms receive orders from foreign countries through Reuters’ secure order-making system.

Big deals expected during U.S. visit

Many big business deals are expected to be signed during President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to the U.S. this week, the first by a Vietnamese head of state.

According to Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Triet is accompanied by a powerful business mission comprising more than 100 top Vietnamese businesses. The big deals may involve Vietnam Airlines and Boeing; Electricity of Vietnam, Chevron and Citibank; Saigon Securities Incorporation and Credit Suisse; and some ministries, IT companies and Microsoft. The biggest deal worth more than US$1.5 billion involves Agribank and Wachovia Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and RZB Bank.

Triet is scheduled to meet the CEOs of more than 100 top U.S. companies in New York, visit the New York Stock Exchange and attend a forum on financial investment in Vietnam organized by AIG and VCCI. He will also witness the signing of contracts between Vietnamese and American businesses and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.

Read More

Investors look past corporate tax cuts

The government is planning to lower the corporate income tax rate in a bid to favour investors, but some observers have countered that greater investment incentives should also be taken into consideration।





Scores of foreign invested firms have put their hand up in support of lowering corporate tax rates


Truong Chi Trung, Vice Minister of Finance, said the plan to reduce corporate income tax (CIT) by 3 per cent down to 25 per cent, which would bring Vietnam in line with other countries in the region, was being carefully considered.
Trung said that a number of companies had complained in recent years about the tax being too high, and expressed their belief that maintaining tax level at 28 per cent could adversely impact the business environment.
“The CIT reduction plan, which is expected to become effective in 2008, could cause the state coffers to witness a dramatic drop in revenues,” said Nguyen Van Ninh, head of the General Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Finance.
He estimated CIT collection would provide around VND30 trillion ($1.9 billion) to the state budget this year, around 3 per cent of the country’s GDP.
“If the CIT reduction goes into effect, the state budget could lose around VND3 trillion ($190 million), equivalent to 10 per cent of total CIT revenues,” he said.
“On the other side,” he added, “the business environment will become more and more attractive, resulting in increased investment”.
Ninh said the CIT adjustment was planned within a comprehensive and long-term strategy on tax reshuffles until 2010, and set up in an effort to make the country’s tax system more attractive to investors.
Martin Rama, a lead economist at the World Bank, said the CIT reduction was obviously a positive step forward to attract investors.
“However,” he said, “more importantly, the government should pay special attention to other investment incentives in line with its WTO commitments.”
Rama noted that there remained different standards for foreign and domestic investors, an obstacle that needed to be tackled quickly.
He said Vietnam’s drive to create a favourable business environment was on the right track, resulting in numerous new firms entering the nation’s market.
Ngo Thanh Tung, managing partner of the Vietnam International Law Firm, said the CIT rate was just one factor that foreign investors take into consideration before setting up in Vietnam.
“Other important factors are comfort and ease of infrastructure and administrative procedures,” he highlighted, adding that the assurance of a highly-qualified labour force was a necessity.
Tung commented that the adjusted CIT rate of 25 per cent was lower than that currently applied in China and other regional countries.
“Now is the perfect time for Vietnam to attract foreign investors, but the government must pay due attention to a comprehensive package of reforms regarding not only taxes but also other factors so as to keep foreign investors. The immediate and urgent problem to be settled is the assurance of enough electricity for investors.
“The macro-economic policies are favourable, but implementation at the grassroots levels remains cumbersome,” Tung said.
He said apart from improvements to the investment environment, Vietnam needed to improve living conditions for investors, particularly the diversification of services like entertainment, shopping, healthcare as well as the minimisation of environmental pollution.
By VIR

Read More

Foreign currency reserves at record high

Vietnam has seen record increases in foreign currency reserves in the first half of 2007, due to rising indirect investment in the stock market and a stabilised domestic exchange rate.
State Bank governor Le Duc Thuy said the increases in foreign currency reserves had tripled those of 2006 in the first five months of this year.
“The central bank of Vietnam will continue to invest in foreign currencies in the next few months to meet the target level equal to 20 weeks of imports,” said Thuy.
According to the IMF, Vietnam’s total foreign currency reserves were equal to 12 weeks of imports at the end of last year, reaching the minimum international standard for foreign currency reserves.
The reserve increase helps stabilise the exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and the US dollar with a fluctuation rate of around one per cent by the end of this year. While the Vietnamese dong fell against the US dollar at the end of 2006 and in the beginning of this year, the interbank nominal effective exchange rate was higher than the real exchange rate for the first time in Vietnam’s history due to the surplus of foreign currency supply.
“Recently, the increase in the national forex reserve has stabilised the exchange rate, narrowing the gap between the interbank nominal effective exchange rate and the rate on the market,” Thuy added.
In January, the State Bank doubled the trading band for the dong-dollar rate. In the first two months of this year, the dong appreciated by about 0.3 per cent against the dollar after declining around 0.9 per cent in 2006.
“One reason for the surplus stems from indirect foreign investment capital which is expected to keep increasing in the last half of this year,” said Thuy.
According to the World Bank’s assessment of Vietnam’s economic development released in June, rising capital inflows complicated the implementation of monetary policy. Vietnam was confronted with what is called an ‘impossible trinity’: simultaneously maintaining a fixed or nearly fixed exchange rate, independent monetary policy and an open capital account. In addition, increasing capital inflows have put pressure on the exchange rate to appreciate. However, the authorities have been unwilling to allow a greater appreciation as it may harm the competitiveness of exports and slow down growth.
Officials have thus intervened in the market by purchasing foreign currency. The dong has, as a result, returned to a slow depreciation. This type of intervention in the foreign exchange market has resulted in a build-up of reserves.
ब्य SGT

Read More

HCMC’s largest shopping center opened to business

Shoppers buy discount luggage at the Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza in HCMC's District 5 on the opening day Friday

By QUOC HUNG



(SGT-HCMC) Hung Vuong Plaza, HCMC’s largest shopping center, started operations in busy District 5 Friday and has since attracted large numbers of shoppers as well as curious window-shoppers.

The US$45-million Hung Vuong Plaza comprises of a luxury commercial complex and two 30-floor blocks with 276 apartments.

The complex, surrounded by Hung Vuong, Ly Thuong Kiet, Nguyen Kim and Pham Huu Chi streets of the vibrant district, has total floor space of nearly 93,000 square meters.

The first eight floors of each block will be for luxury boutiques, entertainment facilities, restaurants, educational and sport facilities and a cineplex.

The project is developed by Saigon Trading Construction Co. 5 and Hung Vuong Corp. with an 18:82 footing.

Tran Le Nguyen, general director of Hung Vuong Corp., said the complex was nearly full with major tenants like Parkson, Megastar Media, ILA and California WOW Xperience. Parkson is the first tenant that opened to business the same day of Hung Vuong Plaza’s inauguration.

This is the third department store in Vietnam and the second one in HCMC of Parkson Corporation Sdn Bhd, a leading shopping mall operator of Malaysia.

The four-story Parkson Hung Vuong Plaza, 1.5 times the size of its current Parkson Saigontourist Plaza in District 1, has total floor space of 24,000 square meters.

The ILA English Training Center has leased more than 1,200 square meters on the fifth floor to open 18 classrooms.

MegaStar, a joint venture between Envoy Media Partners Limited (British Virgin Islands) and Phuong Nam Corporation of Vietnam, will soon open eight cinemas on the seventh and eighth floors. The 9th floor of the commercial area will be home to a swimming pool.

Nguyen said the apartment section of the building would be completed some time this year and that more than 93% of the apartments had been sold out.

Read More

Making an affectionate homeland tour

A tour guide (R) guides foreign tourists to visit Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in Hanoi

The affectionate homeland tour of Ben Thanh Tourist was designed for travelers who have plenty of time for vacations. They can combine traveling in cars and planes.

The 13-day tour, which starts in HCMC, gives tourists an opportunity to enjoy great sunny beaches in a beautiful country for those looking for relaxation, plus learning about the history and culture of Vietnam by visiting royal tombs, temples and world heritage sites.

On the trip that includes 11 provinces and cities in the country, travelers can wallow in the sunshine of beautiful beaches at Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Dai Lanh and My Khe.

It offers a variety of different activities to ensure that all participants will have an enjoyable time. When travelers get worn-out from all the sea sport activities such as water-skiing, jet skiing and snorkeling, the tour operator will arrange other pleasant programs in the ancient city of Hue.

In the city, visitors can witness a performance of nha nhac, the royal music of the former Nguyen Dynasty, and visit cultural heritage sites recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They also can enjoy a boat trip on the Huong River to see the Trang Tien Bridge and enjoy traditional, regal Hue music while releasing flower garlands and colored lanterns to bring good fortune.

After seven days of traveling by car to provinces and cities in southern and central regions including Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Danang, Quang Nam, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh, tourists will fly to the capital city of Hanoi from Phu Bai Airport in Hue.

Ben Thanh Tourist allocates six days to explore tourist attractions in the north.

Hanoi is the major destination of the tour with a three-night stay in the city for sightseeing and preparing to visit other destinations such as Halong, Ninh Binh and Ha Tay.

The tour takes in most of the major sites in the capital including Hoan Kiem (restored sword) Lake, Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), the National University, Dong Xuan Market, Quan Thanh Temple, West Lake, Tran Quoc Pagoda, and One Pillar Pagoda, among others.

From Hanoi tourists return to HCMC by plane.

The tour costs VND10.5 million per person. The tour offers two ways for visitors to choose their meals. Ben Thanh Tourist can arrange meals for guests during the 13-day excursion or if guests do it by themselves, the tour operator will refund VND1.2 million.

Read More

Chinese, CambodianOr Vietnamese?

A tasty dish will go around the world, but in Saigon the world comes to you, delivering three versions of that one dish

Hu tiu, the Chinese rice noodle soup, was imported to Saigon and southern Vietnam by Chinese immigrants centuries ago.

Ask for hu tiu at any Chinese restaurant that serves dim sum (breakfast), and you’ll have a hot bowl of white noodles whose flavor will make your mouth water. On top of the noodles are slices of pork, and on top of the slices are lettuce leaves. Chinese cooks often add small cubes of fried fat to make their hu tiu more delicious.

Use your chopsticks and spoon to take some of the noodles, lettuce and pork each time. As the bowl is served hot, diners have to blow on their first spoonfuls to be able to eat. But that’s the way diners often do with their hu tiu, be they Vietnamese or Chinese.

Saigonese have adopted not only Chinese noodles but also “Cambodian hu tiu.” Called hu tiu Nam Vang (literally Phnom Penh noodles), it may be a variant of the Chinese original. In addition to sliced pork, this kind of hu tiu also has shrimp and sometimes quail eggs. But what makes the Phnom Penh version different from the Chinese are garlic and a special sauce. A lot of fried chopped garlic is used. The distinctive flavor of this version of hu tiu is created by adding a special sour sauce when the hu tiu is served “dry,” which means the broth is put in a separate bowl instead of being poured into the same bowl of noodles.


Like many exotic dishes, hu tiu has been “Vietnamized.” Therefore, apart from Chinese and Phnom Penh hu tiu, Saigonese have their own as well. There are slightly different versions of Vietnamese hu tiu in the provinces of the Mekong Delta. But the most famous of them comes from My Tho, 70km south of HCM City. This version uses stronger noodles as in Phnom Penh hu tiu, but it doesn’t use garlic or sour sauce.

So, what makes one version and one restaurant of hu tiu different from another? Ingredients like pork, shrimp and eggs, count to a certain extent, but not too much. The two key elements are the broth and the noodles. Broth is created mainly from pig bones and a dozen spices. Noodles are made of rice, everyone knows. But only a handful of hu tiu restaurants can offer diners with the quality that pleases every customer’s taste. If you know those secrets, set up a hu tiu restaurant. You’ll be rich in Saigon.

Now you’re asking where to eat hu tiu in town. Well, Saigon Stories once reported that hu tiu has lost its position as Saigonese top breakfast dish. However, there are still several addresses worth trying.

First, Nhan Quan, or Nhan Restaurant. Nhan Quan offers only hu tiu. It’s on Nguyen Trai Street in District 1, near Cong Quynh roundabout.

Lien Hua on Vo Van Tan Street, District 3, is another good place. The ambience is better, and the restaurant is cleaner, though prices are dearer, as you would expect.
Hu Tiu Banh Bao Ong Ca Can on Nguyen Tri Phuong, District 5, is a place tourists on a tight budget should try.

Again, Nhan Quan. But this is different from the one above. Of the same chain, the second Nhan Quan is on Nguyen Thuong Hien Street in District 3. The restaurant is open from 3 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day. So, if other restaurants serve hu tiu as a breakfast dish, this one is for diners who love to eat hu tiu at night.

So, which one will you choose, Chinese, Cambodian or Vietnamese hu tiu? If you’re hesitating with your choice, you should take this advice: try them all. And, Saigon Stories can assure you, you won’t regret it!

Read More

The Shame Of Saigon’s Traffic Chaos

Traffic jams in HCM City are worsening as a result of the growing number of vehicles and of infrastructure projects. But people’s disregard of traffic rules is the biggest reason.

My working week started with angry words from a colleague in the editorial staff about the battle he had getting to work because of traffic jams.
Traffic jams have become a well-worn topic in this city, which is said to be resident or temporary home to seven million people and three million motorbikes. Despite the development of its road system since 1975, given the fact that the city’s population has more than doubled, the road improvements are paltry.

My colleague also noted that traffic was congested even on Le Loi Boulevard, a vast space considering the size of most streets in HCM City.
Traffic jams in Saigon are inevitable, as predicted years ago when the country embraced elements of a market-oriented economy. But there are several new reasons for the matter to become worse recently.
Many big infrastructure projects are under way in HCM City and they are making traffic congestion worse. Take the project to improve the water quality and environment, a mammoth US$190-million project financed by the World Bank. To save space for construction, many sections of streets essential to traffic have been narrowed and become bottlenecks, making travel a nightmare. Similarly, temporary bridges built after the blocking of Calmette, Chu Y and Cha Va bridges have failed to ensure a smooth traffic flow during peak hours.
Even a project that aims to reduce traffic jams is making the situation worse at the moment: the expansion of the Nguyen Van Troi-Nam Ky Khoi Nghia route linking Tan Son Nhat Airport with the downtown.
Another reason for the worsening traffic congestion, many argue, is the rapidly rising number of new motorbikes after the restriction on motorbikes was lifted last year.
Vietnam imposed such a restriction in 2003 to curb the growing fleet of motorbikes. But the ban was removed after lawmakers said it went against the will of the people and it was against law as it stands.
The authorities have embarked on a campaign to replace motorbikes with buses. During the last three years, HCM City has introduced about 1,000 buses to raise the total number to almost 3,300. Yet during the same period, nearly 780,000 new motorbikes rolled out on to the streets, the municipal Committee for Traffic Safety reports. Statistics from the city’s traffic police show that each day 700 new motorbikes are registered.
Coupled with the expanding motorbike fleet is the mounting number of automobiles. In 2001, 11,000 cars of different kinds were registered in HCM City. But during the last three years, more than 100,000 automobiles joined the city’s car fleet, which numbers more than 300,000 now! And the figure is predicted to be bigger year by year.
Despite the growing number of vehicles, some domestic and foreign observers say traffic jams are getting worse mostly due to the lack of awareness of good behavior of people in the streets.
People disregard traffic laws and forget that courtesy also applies to fellow drivers. Second, there is poor enforcement of traffic regulations. These are the real culprits behind the worsening situation in HCM City as well as in Vietnam’s big cities, the observers say.
Ask a foreigner in Vietnam, a resident or a tourist, about the biggest problems Vietnam is facing, and one of the answers will be the traffic chaos! Some even say the disregard of traffic rules should be the cause of shame among all Vietnamese.
Hardly had my colleague finished his complaining about traffic jams than another said she was hit by a careless motorcyclist at the gate of our office. “The man was driving his motorbike on the sidewalk. I was hurt but fortunately not badly.”
We have heard too enough complaints on traffic jams, but what have we done to curb them? So, when taking to the streets, ask yourself the same question.

Read More

The History Of Me Linh Square

The tides of history are reflected in the use of a park in the center of HCM City

The term Me Linh reminds Vietnamese of two national heroines, the sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi. The sisters led a revolt against the domination of the Han Emperor from China. Trung Trac’s husband, General Thi Sach, was killed by the Han rulers because he did not submit to them. In the year 42 A.D., Trung Trac and her younger sister, Trung Nhi, started a resistance movement against the Han rulers and quickly drove them out of Vietnam.


She then proclaimed herself empress and settled in Me Linh, making it the capital of Vietnam. Three years later, the Han emperor assigned famous general Ma Vien to Vietnam to suppress the revolt and reinstate the Han rule. The two sisters could not stand against Ma Vien’s strong army and were pushed to a critical situation in Cam Khe. They drowned themselves in the river rather than surrender. Their feats and spirit have been warmly remembered by Vietnamese.

In HCM City, Me Linh Square is on Ton Duc Thang Street facing the Saigon River. The square stands near the Me Linh Point Tower and the Renaissance Riverside Hotel. Hai Ba Trung and Thi Sach streets, names linked to the sisters, also start there.

Under French rule, the square bore the name Rigault de Genouilly, after a commander of the French navy in the Far East. De Genouilly’s navy, together with British troops, attacked and seized Guangzhou in China in February 1857. In August of the same year, De Genouilly moved his navy southward and attacked Danang as a show of French strength and to protest the Nguyen Dynasty’s ban on Christianity in Vietnam. In February 1859, Vice Admiral De Genouilly commanded the French troops in an attack to seize Gia Dinh, the protective citadel of Saigon, marking the beginning of the French takeover of Vietnam. De Genouilly then returned to France and won a seat in the French parliament in 1860. In 1864, he became minister of the navy and the French colonies. He died in 1873. In 1879, a bronze statue of De Genouilly was erected at the present site of Me Linh Square. During the August Revolution in 1945, Vietnamese patriots took the statue away and the French rulers could not regain it.

At the Me Linh Square today is the statue of Marshall Tran Hung Dao, a Vietnamese general under the Tran Dynasty in the 13th century. Tran Hung Dao defeated the strong Mongol troops three times during their invasion into Vietnam. He has been recognized worldwide as a top military strategist and is someone Vietnamese are very proud of.

One big issue about the square is whether, as its name suggests, it should have the statues of the Trung sisters instead of Marshall Tran Hung Dao. In fact, the statues of the Trung sisters were erected there in the early 1960s under the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. The Saigonese at that time thought that the face of Trung Trac looked like Madam Tran Le Xuan, wife of advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu and sister-in-law of President Diem. The Diem regime, which was criticized for nepotism, collapsed in 1963. Diem and Nhu were killed. At that time Tran Le Xuan was not in Vietnam. She had to live abroad until the end of her life. The statues of the Trung sisters were destroyed, and the statue of Marshall Tran Hung Dao was erected at the square instead.

In HCM City now there is a solemn temple dedicated to the Trung sisters. The temple, on Hoang Hoa Tham Street in Binh Thanh District, has a pair of white elephants. The sisters used to ride elephants into battle with the Han troops.
By SGT

In the center of Me Linh Square today is a beautiful park with colorful flowers. Many Saigonese go there for physical exercise in the early morning or to enjoy the fresh breeze from the river in the hot afternoon.

Read More

Small “Pyramid” Cakes

Tết Đoan Ngọ, or Doan Ngo festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This year, the festival is on June 19.

By Thong Nhat and staff writers

Tet Doan Ngo originates from a big festival in China where it is called the Dragon Boat Festival or the Festival of the Double Fifth.

There are several legends surrounding the origin of the festival. In Vietnam, the best known version tells the story of Qu Yuan, a celebrity in the Chinese history. A statesman and poet, Qu Yuan lived in his state of Chu in southern China in the Warring States period (481-221 BC).

At the time, Qin, a state in the north, proposed a peace treaty and asked the king of Chu to sign it. Knowing that Qin had no intention to honor the agreement, Qu Yuan advised his king to refuse the treaty. Not only did the king sign the treaty but he also sent Qu Yuan into exile.

Later the unprepared Chu was easily defeated by Qin. Learning of the news, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of 278 BC, Qu Yuan drowned himself.

In Vietnam, the story is not very popular, but Tet Doan Ngo is a popular event. As a tradition, Vietnamese people consider the festival an occasion to symbolically kill crop-damaging insects.

At dawn of the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, children are treated with a variety of foods, and pink pigment is applied to their heads, chests and navels. It is believed that these practices can help kill insects.


At noon, people go out to pick leaves of the fifth day. That time of the day is believed to be the best throughout the year for leaf picking as leaves in this period have the best effect in disease treatment.

Some people try to find mugwort leaves to weave them into the shape of the animals of the year. These miniature animals are hung in front of the main door as people believe they can chase away bad spirits.

However, Tet Doan Ngo in Vietnam is characterized by a special food—bánh ú tro, a kind of cake made of glutinous rice soaked in water with wood ash. The way to prepare the water gives the cake its name. To make delicious bánh ú tro, rain water and ash of mangrove firewood must be used. After a month, water with ash is used to soak glutinous rice. Due to this kind of specially treated water, the outer coat of the cake is translucent.
Two kinds of bánh ú tro can be distinguished: those with and those without green bean core. Both have a pyramid shape, which makes them different from other cakes.

During the week of the festival, bánh ú tro is available in the streets of HCM City. With a wire basket full of bánh ú tro on the back of their bicycles, these vendors stop in front of market gates or ride around town to sell their homemade products.
by SGT

Read More