Magical mystery tour

- Thien Duong is Vietnam’s longest cave and filled with magical and mysterious formations, no wonder Quang Binh province hope to entice tourists into the dark. On a train from Hanoi station, my friends and I travel south into the night. Our destination is Quang Binh province, but ultimately we are heading for Thien Duong (Paradise) Cave, which is, we are told, the most spectacular cave in Vietnam. At 31km, Thien Duong is certainly...

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Yang Bay attracts tourists in search of natural paradise

Yang Bay in the central province of Khanh Hoa is famed for its pristine beauty, expansive forests, and glassy waterfalls – in fact the superlatives go on and on. Tranquil: Local and foreign travellers enjoy the cool waters at the Yang Khang Waterfall. (VNS File Photos) Duong Le Na, an overseas Vietnamese from the US and her friends recently decided to travel to the site. When they arrived at Yang Bay she was beside herself...

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Vietnam joins ranks of Asia’s finest hotels and resorts

Conde Nast Traveler, a renowned luxury travel magazine, has placed five Vietnamese hotels and resorts atop its list of Readers’ Choice Awards. Vietnamese resorts that made the top 20 list for best resorts in Asia included, Life Heritage Resort-Hoi An, The Nam Hai, and Evason Ana Mandara & Six Senses Spa. The Sofitel Legend Metropole-Hanoi and the Park Hyatt-Saigon, each won top spots in the survey of the 100 top hotels in Asia. While...

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Get Ready Adventures in Vietnam’s Best Eco Lodges

Renowned for hiking, highly qualified local guides, stunning backdrops and a rich cultural heritage, Vietnam’s northwestern highlands are a prime destination for travelers looking for an off-the-beaten-path adventure like no other. Making the region even more attractive are the spectacular eco-friendly accommodations built on a vision of community sustainability.Mai Chau Valley, VietnamMai Chau LodgeNestled in the stunningly beautiful mountainous...

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101 reasons to love living in Hanoi

In 2001, Mark Rapoport and his family left New York to settle in Hanoi. The long-time expat and his Vietnamese partner run 54 Traditions, a gallery that sells handicrafts produced by ethnic minorities from all over the country. Almost every year, Rapaport’s two sons visit their parents and travel throughout the city.Sword lake, Hanoi“Over the last nine years, my wife, Alison, and I (with some help from our two children Robert and Jane Hughes)...

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Gone Fishing in Vam Nao

The Mekong Delta is inherently famous for immense rice fields, floating markets on alluvial rivers, colorful orchards and serpentine canals. The excellent fishing in the delta has become a tourism drawcard as can be seen in the many brochures on display at travel agencies – with tours that take you fishing one day and farming the next.Every part of the Mekong Delta has its own peculiar fishing techniques. Locals use different types of fish traps, nets and fishing rods. As we wanted to find out what it would be like...

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Pilgrimage to Cau Mountain

VietNamNet Bridge – The traditional practice of taking pilgrimages in Vietnam has become a popular tourism product. The stillness of sacred places, while the smoke from burning incense curls upwards, brings the focus back to the rudiments of life, easing daily stresses and woes and instilling peace and reverence for the soul. The statue of Bodhisattva at Thai Son...

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Perfume Pagoda

After 70 km or 2 hours driving out of Hanoi, located on the limestone rocks of Huong Son Mountain in beautiful and mystical surroundings. Unlike other temples in Vietnam, the only way to reach this sanctuary is floating along a narrow but extremely poetic stream by rowing boats that takes 45 minutes.An iron boat can carry 3-5 people and a large wooden boat – up to 20 locals. The stream is edged by rice, grass, small paths, and temples here and there....

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Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park

The Park is considered a paradise for researchers and explorers of grottoes and caves and is the home to 140 families, 427 branches, and 751 species of precious plants Phong Nha - Ke Bang is a national park in the center of Quang Binh province in north-central Vietnam. It protects one of the world's two largest karst regions with several hundred caves and grottoes. Its name derives from Phong Nha cave, the most beautiful one, with numerous fascinating...

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Vietnam Air services to central region normal

– Vietnam Airlines is expecting to resume all daily flights to central Vietnam on Wednesday after it has canceled 34 flights to certain airports due to downpours over the past days in the region. The national flag carrier said it aborted four services to and from Dong Hoi on Tuesday and transported stranded passengers by road from the airport...

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Cat Ba National Park in Vietnam

Cat Ba National Park is centred on Cat Ba Island, the largest island in Halong Bay. The Cat Ba archipelago itself comprises 366 islents and islands. Together they cover an area of 20,000 hectares of limestone islands. When I visited Halong Bay with a group of AsiaExplorers members, we had an opportunity to kayak in Cat Ba National Park. The kayaking session was long and exhausting, but ultimately fulfilling, as we rowed from island to island,...

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Historic and picturesque Cao Bang

VietNamNet Bridge – Cao Bang Province, about 286 kilometers north of Hanoi, has a landscape that begs exploration and a history that demands looking back at. Ban Gioc Waterfall is the largest waterfall in Vietnam. (Photo: SGT) The province is famous for Pac Po Cave, Ban Gioc Waterfall and Lenin Stream. We came to Cao Bang in the late noon. The highlands city was not...

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Four million international visitors arrive Vietnam

VietNamNem Bridge - Vietnam welcomed nearly four million foreign arrivals between January and September of 2010. This number is a huge increase compared to previous years: up 34.2 percent from last year’s figure, according to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). Of the 4 million tourists, around 37,500 traveled by sea, an increase of 22 percent from the same period last year. On October 15, Viet Excursion Company welcomed a five-star cruise liner named Diamond Princess at Phu My port in HCM City....

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Dong Van stone plateau

VietNamNet Bridge – The plateau was recognized by the UNESCO as one of the 77 geological parks in the world and the second in Southeast Asia on October 3. The park covers four districts of Meo Vac, Dong Van, Yen Minh and Quan Ba, totaling over 2,300sq.km, with nearly 250,000 residents. Up to 80 percent of the plateau is covered by limestone. Scientists have discovered 40 locations which have special values in terms of natural resources in Dong...

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10 Things Travel Guidebooks Won't Say

1. We’re already out of date.After more than a week in $5-a-night hostels in Peru, Caitlin Childs was looking forward to a hot shower and a comfortable bed. But when she got to the Hotel Paracas, there was no hot shower, no bed – and no hotel. “It had been leveled in an earthquake the year before,” says Childs, a graphic designer and frequent traveler. It turned out her Footprint Peru Handbook – the latest edition – had been published a year and a half before her July 2008 trip.Even without earthquakes, much of the information covered by...

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A path to somewhere

It takes some getting to, but a bamboo-lined dirt road makes it worthwhile A long bridge across the Ma River is just one of the picturesque features on the trip to the Suoi Muong bamboo path If it’s all about the journey and not the destination, there is a “journey to a journey” involving quite a few ups and downs, not to mention twists and turns, that awaits the nature lover in Vietnam’s northern region.The destination is a path, 40 kilometers...

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Elephant hunter cemetery in Dak Lak

VietNamNet Bridge – For a taste of central highlands history, tourists to Daklak Province should visit the tomb of the king of elephant hunters in Buon Don Village. The tomb of the king of elephant hunting, N’Thu Knul, in Buon Don Village in Daklak. There are 40 elephant hunters buried in the unique graveyard that has about 40 tombs. The hunters entombed there killed at least 25 to 30 elephants each. To be buried in the cemetery was a...

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National Tourism Year to be celebrated nationwide

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proposed to the Prime Minister that localities take turns celebrating National Tourism Year from 2012-2017. Thua Thien-Hue will do in 2012, Hai Phong in 2013, Lam Dong in 2014, Thanh Hoa in 2015, Kien Giang in 2016 and Lao Cai in 2017. National Tourism Year is the biggest annual event in Vietnam’s tourism industry and is intended to encourage investment in local infrastructure...

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VISITING REMOTE BA BE LAKE

We weren’t quite sure what to expect from our final road trip in Vietnam. Ba Be Lake was not even mentioned in our two guidebooks, but we had been happy with the itinerary up to this point, so we figured we would trust the travel agency. The original itinerary had called for our two nights in Ba Be Lake to be a home stay with a local family. After our experience in the loft with the rice bags in Sapa we were thinking that one home stay was enough...

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Int’l arrivals in high season recover in uncertainties

VietNamNet Bridge – Local travel firms have reported recovery in international tourists in the high season of the inbound tourism, but most still refrain from predicting business outcome for the rest of the year, saying uncertainties are still ahead. Saigontourist Travel Service Co. has reported a good number of foreign travelers in the January-September period at 180,000, up 11% year-on-year....

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Third private carrier flies Viet Nam’s skies

VietNamNet Bridge – Air Mekong, Viet Nam’s third private airline, received its Air Operator’s Certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV) in southern Kien Giang Province on Friday. On the same day, the carrier also launched its first two routes, Ha Noi – Phu Quoc and HCM City – Phu Quoc. "The Vietnamese aviation market is dramatically developing. The aviation demand,...

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