Vietnam Heritage No. 42 October-November 2014

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Published by the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam Publication licence No: 1648/GP-BTTTT from the Ministry of Information and Communications of the SocialistRepublic of Vietnam for the English-language edition of The Gioi Di San (The World of Heritage) magazineEditor-in-Chief: Le Thanh Hai; Public Relations Director: Bui Thi Hang;Sub-editing: Erik Johnson; Assistant: Kha Tu Anh; Production: Nguyen Hoang Kim Long; Contributing Photographers:Nguyen Ba Han, Hoang Quoc Tuan, Hoang The Nhiem, Huynh Van Nam, Le Hoai Phuong, Nguyen Anh Tuan; Ngo Nguyen Huynh Trung Tin; Tran Viet DucCorrespondent: Pip de Rouvray; Advertising and Circulation: Green Viet Advertising JSC Advertising and Subscriptions Service: Email: [email protected];Thuy Phuong 0166 79 70 706 Email: [email protected] Advertising and Subscription: The He Moi MHN Viet Nam Co.Ltd, Mr Song Hao: 0903 476 999 Contact in the US for subscription and advertising: 2628 Sturla dr. San Jose, CA 95148 Vietnam Heritage is published monthly, produced in Vietnam and printed at Army Printing House No 2. © All rights reserved.

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COVER STORYReligionBuddhist in the front, Holy in the rear

No 9, Vol.4, October-November 2014

Vietnam Heritage Editorial Office:l 4th Floor, 1/1 Hoang Viet St., Ward 4,Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City

Tel: (84-8) 38 11 88 46 Fax: (84-8) 38 11 87 75

Email: [email protected]@gmail.com

www.vietnamheritage.com.vn

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ArcheologyDeity or fallen hero?

CraftsHand-painted hopes

FolkismThe movement of the soul

HistoryDefusing the past

22FestivalsA world of diversity

24FoodTubes of plenty

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TourismThe long road to prosperityThe mud and the darkness

TravelA short jungle trek on Con Dao

Cover photograph:Inside Thay Pagoda. Photo: Ba Ngoc

Vietnam Heritage

Vietnam Heritage

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VIETNAM HERITAGE - OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2014 • 5

CONTENT

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Terrace fields in Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai Province.Photo: Vu Chien

8 • VIETNAM HERITAGE - OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2014

Standing modestly at thefoot of an arc-shaped limemount which rises from aplain in Sai Son Com-

mune, Thay Pagoda belongs to DaPhuc and Thuy Khue Communes,Quoc Oai District, Hanoi. It is alsocalled Thien Phuc (Heaven’s Bless-ing), and this name fits the beauti-ful pagoda and its sereneatmosphere. The old ones relatethat when the monk Tu Dao Hanhcame here to establish the pagoda,he saw a lake beside the mount. Abig promontory jutted out, lookingto him like a dragon coming downfor a drink of water. The pagodafounders widened the ‘dragon’s’

back and built the pagoda on it.The pagoda is at the centre of adensely populated and thrivingarea; thus this Zen site always hasworshippers and caretakers. Lo-cated near Day River, a major high-way, Thay Pagoda, together withLong Dau, Hoa Phat, Kim Hoangand Boi Am Pagodas, form an inte-grated spiritual conglomerate.

The pagoda follows the ‘Bud-dhist front, Holy rear’ architecture,which is dominant in VietnameseBuddhism. In the Red River Delta,there are 15 pagodas built in thisstyle, but only five of them are trulyBuddhist front, Holy rear, whichmeans they have a separate struc-

Buddhistin the

front, Holyin the rear

TEXT BY TRIEU THANH TU AND PHOTOS BY BA NGOC

Thay Pagoda


ture for the worshipping of saints. Those fiveare Thay pagoda, Keo pagoda (Thai Binh andNam Dinh), Boi Khe pagoda and Tongpagoda (Hanoi). But Thay pagoda has someother unique features.

Long ago, it was a hermitage for Tu DaoHanh, a famous monk of Vietnamese ZenBuddhism during the Ly Dynasty. Accordingto the official records, after Dao Hanh left hisbody in 1117, Lady Do* gave birth to a son.Thinking that it was a holy sign, the villagersput his body in a hollow altar. In Thay pagoda,one can still see two stone lotus-shapedpedestals, one supporting Tu Dao Hanh’sstatue. There is no carving to show the timeof their making, but aestheticians say that thestyle, form and decorations belong to the Ly-Tran era. Notably, these pedestals, typically

made for Buddha’s statues, are not placed inthe upper edifice, but in the Holy area. Thisfact proves that this was a centre of Buddhismof the Ly-Tran era, at the birth of the Buddhistfront, Holy rear accent.

The pagoda has retained seven stone ste-les, all dating to the 17th century. One ofthem, the ‘Acknowledgement’, made in the7th year of Duong Duc’s reign, described theconstruction of the Holy Edifice, and listedthe names of contributors. From this dateand the architectural features, we can imag-ine that the pagoda, built in the Tran Dynasty(1225-1400), acquired this ‘hybrid’ featureduring the major renovations of the 17th cen-tury. It was at that time that the structuresdedicated to Buddha and the Saint (Tu DaoHanh) were separated, giving birth to the

Buddhist front, Holy rear architecture.In the context of rapid economic devel-

opment in the 17th century, the autonomy ofvillages grew stronger. It was an era whenVietnamese culture reaffirmed its independ-ence from foreign influence. People paidspecial attention to national saints, whoplayed vital roles in the life of the country andthe people. When placed in the pagodas,they are worshipped not only behind theBuddha, like in most other pagodas, but alsoas the forefather of certain professions in alarge region. For example, Duong Khong Lois considered as the forefather of bronze cast-ing, fishing and irrigation. As for Tu DaoHanh, he was not only a celebrated Zenpriest, but also the forefather of the waterpuppet show. Therefore, saint worship is

Thay Pagoda Inside Thay Pagoda

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sometimes more practical than Buddhaworship. In Thay pagoda, the interior designand the architecture of the Saint edifice aremore sophisticated. The thuribles and altarsare more ancient and beautifully made.

Moreover, the pagoda has three statuesof Tu Dao Hanh. One is in the Forefathercompartment, one is in the main altar, andone is in a sacred box in the Saint’s Edifice.

The one in the sacred box, made after his ap-pearance in the religious meditation incar-nation is the most notable. It’s said that it hasknuckles, connected to control strings, sowhen the box is opened, the statue can standup and greet visitors. The box is opened onlyonce a year, during the local festival. Thestatue was made in such a special way to ho-nour the Saint as the Forefather of the art of

water puppets. For the same reason, a stagewas built in the middle of the lake in front ofthe pagoda to be used by the water puppetshow puppeteers during the festivals. Duringnon-festive times, only a side door of thepagoda is opened for pilgrims to come in andpay their respect to the Saint without havingto pass the Buddha’s edifice. The Saint’s Edi-fice is also called the Upper Edifice, while the

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Buddha Edifice is called the Middle Edifice.This shows that here the Saint is esteemedmore than Buddha.

The scenery and the legends surroundingthe Saint Tu Dao Hanh, one of Vietnam’s Im-mortal Four, have given the Sai Son region aspecial spiritual value. Thay pagoda, a rareand beautiful architectural masterpiece, is acentre of Buddhism in the Red River Delta, a

place for people to come to seek tranquillityof the soul.n

* Editor’s note: Legend said that, before TuDao Hanh died, he had told his students hewould be reincarnated as Lady Do’s son, KingLy Than Tong (1128- 1138). Lady Do is the wifeof Sung Hien Hau, the brother of King LyNhan Tong (1072- 1127).

Clockwise from left:The sanctuary at ThayPagoda; the statues atThay Pagoda; Stonelotus shaped pedestals


ARCHEOLOGY

The stone dragon at thetemple dedicated to theworship of Le Van Thinhis extremely strange; its

mouth and claws tear its own body.But some say that this is a snake,not a dragon.The temple of Le Van Thinh

was chosen by Bac Ninh Provinceto be one of four historical sites tohost the celebration of the millen-nium of Thang Long. 50 metresbelow the surface, archaeologistshave found a treasure; two sectionsof a dragon statue, each about 60centimetres long, 35 centimetreshigh and 40 centimetres wide.Most importantly, the dragon’s legsand feet are completely intact, withsharp claws deeply ripping into thebody.

Remarkably, it was fully com-patible in terms of material andstyle with the statues in a temple ofa snake deity nearby. That’s why thenational treasure certification for

the statue in the temple of Le VanThinh reads, ‘relatively unique andintact.’According to the relic manage-

ment bureau of Bac Ninh, the two

Deity or fallen hero?TEXT BY TRINH NGUYEN AND PHOTOS BY T GROUP

Above and below:The front and the side

of stone dragon (snake deity) statue

at the shrine of Le Van Thinh,

Gia Binh District,Bac Ninh Province

Bac NinhProvince

newly -found fragments don’tfully connect to the statue. Thatmade many guess that therecould be other sections. Theybegan hoping to find the remain-der of the sculpture when exca-vating related areas in the future.The official public records of

Bac Ninh Province clearly say:‘This is a unique dragon statue,half snake, the other half, thebearing and claws of a dragon.Such a symbol has never beenfound in the history of Vietnamor South East Asia.’‘The dragon was found in an

area which used to be a part theproperty of Le Van Thinh, whowon the very first erudition con-test of the Ly Dynasty in 1075. So,many think that it reflects thedrama of the injustice that he en-dured in the Dam Dam Lake caseduring the reign of King Ly NhanTong,’ the file says. Dr Le DinhPhung, head of the historical ar-chaeology department of the In-stitute of Archaeology of Vietnamremarked, ‘That’s a very uniquecase, a dragon shredding itself.Common opinion is that this is avindication for Le Van Thinh.’ After earning the prize, he be-

came the head of the Ly court ofthe time. At the prime of his suc-cess, he was convicted for ‘turninginto a tiger to kill the King’ in 1096and was exiled to Thao Giang.The Book ‘Great Viet Full History’recorded the episode. The Kingwent to Lake Dam Dam on asmall boat to watch fishing. Acloud covered the boat, and hesaw a tiger in it. That’s why theythought Le Van Thinh intendedto kill the King.In the opinion of many, the

image of a dragon biting itself re-flects King Ly Nhan Tong’s regretfor wrongly suspecting his headof court. One ear is intact, theother ripped off; that symbolizes

his listening to the false accusa-tions.Although experts are rela-

tively unanimous on the meaningof the statue, the name of the‘lead character’ and its date re-main controversial. The nationaltreasure certification calls it byboth names, stone dragon andsnake deity. The date is recordedas being during the Ly Dynasty.Nevertheless, Dr Le Dinh

Phung said, ‘In don’t think it wasmade during Ly Dynasty’s reign.The dragon belongs to Le VanThinh shrine. He suffered injus-tice and was exiled in that time, soit’s hard to believe that he wouldbe enshrined right after his death.It must have been done later. Onlythe subsequent era could under-stand and do such a deed.’Dr Phung also thinks that the

statue’s style deviates too muchfrom the common standards fordragons of Ly era, so it could nothave been made then. ‘ThangLong, Phat Tich, and Doi Sondragons are very much the same.This one is out of the frame of artof the time. I would say that it be-longs to Le era. That’s my per-sonal opinion,’ he added.But Dr Tong Trung Tin,

Chairman of the Vietnam Associ-ation of Archaeologists, a mem-ber of the Board of ScientificAssessment of National Treas-ures, thinks that it is a snake. ‘Adragon cannot be in a shrine of amandarin. It’s an exclusive sym-bol of kings. This is a snake deity.I myself proposed to call it a snakedeity in the certification. In termsof technical and stylistic ele-ments, it is very typical for the Lyera,’ Mr Tin said.The certification reads ‘Stone

dragon (snake deity), Ly era, cur-rently kept at the shrine of Le VanThinh, Gia Binh District, BacNinh Province.’n


CRAFTS

In the South, among the old idol-ized items, wood carvings werethe rarest, and then came reliefs,painted in red and gold, then vo-

tive tablets with carved Chinese char-acters. Next were sacred items. Mostpopular were writings and paintingson red papers. Early 20th Centuryglass paintings came to satisfy theneed for altar decoration. They wereparticularly useful and affordable, andquickly spread throughout the South,from pagodas and temples to homesand shops.

Historically, the glass paintingtrade was brought to Vietnam by Chi-nese migrants in the early 20th Cen-tury. At first, the glass shops in ChoLon sold only mirrors, picture frameglass, closet glass and mirrors andcoloured glass for doors and windows.Later, they painted large gold charac-ters on glass for occasions such asweddings, funerals, longevity celebrations,shop openings and calligraphic sets.

In the 1920s, some glass painters movedto Lai Thieu, the cradle of craft industry. LaiThieu belonged to Thu Dau Mot (currentlyBinh Duong Province), not far from Saigon– Cho Lon. Being rich in resources, easilyaccessible by waterways and the Saigon-LocNinh railway, this was a hub market wherewholesale goods were gathered to be dis-tributed everywhere. Lai Thieu’s glasspainting trade quickly boomed. Reinforcedby batches of artists graduating from theThu Dau Mot Art School, the quality im-proved, and they won a large market shareall over the South. A line of trading junkswaited in line day and night at docks.

Technically, the painting is done on theback side of the glass. The painter makes amirror image on paper, then puts the glasson top and draws border lines according tothe paper pattern. This is called ‘separation’.The separation lines must be clear and thin.After that, the separated areas are painted in

the order from nearest to furthest. The back-ground is last. Separation lines can be‘smeared’ where bordering areas have thesame colour with different intensities. Thenthe painting is dried in the sun. Later, thepainter can glue nacre, gold powder or goldpaper to add glory to the picture. Finally, thepainting is coated with a protective layer,framed, and finished.

Originally, the painters used colour pow-der, mixed with Chinese ink and vegetableoil. Later, natural and chemical paints andcolour powder mixed with leather glue werealso introduced.

Remarkably, in its development and pop-ularization as a genre, glass paintings have al-ways embraced local culture to form newstrains, each unique in its own right.

1. The Cho Lon (Big Bazaar) strainGlass paintings of the Chinese at Big

Bazaar are the oldest, serving the cultural andreligious needs of the Chinese and the Viet-namese in the area. This strain uses mostly

red colour and glues and gold and silversheets to make the picture glisten. Tocreate bright lines or backgrounds, thepainter waxes the back side of the glass,then scrapes out the wax on the lines orbackground areas, and applies chemi-cal reactions similar to mirror backcoating.

The Cho Lon strain is used mostlyfor congratulation gifts and worshipitems.

The congratulation gifts are verydiverse, both in topic and format.These are gifts for occasions such asNew Year, longevity celebrations, shopopenings and new homes. The topicsare usually a reference to Chinese clas-sic literature. For example, ‘Fisher-man’s big catch’ is given on theoccasion of shop opening to wish thehost gain much profit, ‘Eight saints’represents best wishes, ‘Riding to fin-ish line’ means to wish success in busi-

ness and career. ‘Five Gods of wealth’ meansto wish prosperity.

Among the worship items, most popularare pictures of Shakyamuni [the historicalname given to Buddha], meditating in thelotus posture, with his hands in different po-sitions. His dress may reveal his right shoulderand arm, or hide both shoulders, according tothe dress code of Hīnayāna Buddhism. ThisBuddha is seated on a lotus, and the back-ground may vary.

Worship paintings for the Chinese com-munity mostly depict historical figures dei-fied by the common folks. There are alsopictures that depict both Chinese and Viet-namese deities combined. These are calledpictures of Life-Supporting Gods.

Family Guardian Gods are also impor-tant for all families. Paintings of Tu Vi arehung above doorways to guard the house, toscare away evil spirits. These paintings areextremely popular. Tu Vi is a young boy sit-ting on an imposing lion, sword in one hand,and the Eight Trigrams in the other.

Hand-painted hopesTEXT AND PHOTOS BY HUYNH THANH BINH

A glass painting of Lai Thieu strain

CRAFTS


2. Lai Thieu strainRich in colours-notably pink, blue,

white, yellow, and green, but there are alsoblack and red backgrounds. The special fea-ture is that all designs and patterns are sa-cred to create a reflective effect.Traditionally, the reflected light was greenon wood engravings. Then they use nacre,multicolour metal sheets, gold and silver,and later, chemical coating.

Ancestry worship paintings are a spe-cialty of the Lai Thieu strain. It depicts alandscape with a mountain in the back-ground, a tortuous creek, a few houses half-hidden behind some trees, and in the centre,a beautiful house that has a garden by thestream and a bridge. It is meant to remindus that ‘Father’s labour is like the Thai Sonmountain. / Mother’s love is like the waterin the stream.’ Later, they added an old treewith a big trunk and large canopy to the pic-ture, meaning ‘Trees have roots, and watercomes from small springs.’

3. Ba Ve strain Later from Long Dien B Commune, Cho

Moi District, An Giang Province, came theBa Ve strain. Once, a woman used to sellnecessary supplies to traders passing a busyspot on a river. That was Ms Ve (Ba Ve). Later,the place became a bazaar, called Ba Vebazaar. Gradually the area around this smallvillage bazaar took the name too.

The trade began here in the 1950s. Theman who started it was Mr Tran Van Tu. Helearned to make glass paintings in Can Tho,in the Lai Thieu style. After that, manylearned it from him, and glass painting be-came a trade of the village.

In the last two decades in Ba Ve, theyhave moved from hand painting to silkprinting technology. Each picture uses sevenor eight colours, and people use colour lay-ering techniques to mix them to create therequired effect.

In this strain, Buddhist paintings play amajor part, especially the set to hang on ahorizontal beam that runs through all threecompartments of a house, depicting greatepisodes in the life of Shakyamuni.

Another main topic of Ba Ve strain is an-cestry worship. Each set consists of three

paintings. The middle one has the Chinesecharacters Happiness, Wealth, andLongevity at the top; the middle reads ‘SevenGenerations in the Ninth Heaven’, with a pairof kow-towing dragons, or other sacred ani-mals and a lotus within a lace patternedframe; a tray of five fruits lies at the bottom.The two on the sides have parallel sentencesin Chinese or Vietnamese, ‘Glory’ on oneside and ‘Riches’ on the other, with a flowerunderneath. A simplified version consists of

only one painting with the Chinese phrase‘Seven Generation on Ninth Heaven’ in themiddle, and the parallel sentences on thesides:

Think of Buddha with every sip,Feel those in the Ninth Heaven day and night.Ba Ve strain produces a lot of decoration

paintings, two-piece sets of chamber doorpaintings on topics such as ‘Spouses in har-mony’, ‘Peony and phoenix’ (wealth and lll

A glass painting of Ba Ve strain

CRAFTS

high life), and ‘Plumeria and peacock’(freshness and splendour). There are alsoflower- painting sets of four with ochnaceae,orchid, daisy, and yellow bamboo, repre-senting the four seasons of the year. Thereare also very simple paintings of countrysidescenes, such as a brick house by a streamwith a bridge across it, or a buffalo boy play-ing a flute. There is no limit for decorationtopics, but all the paintings show the aspira-tion for peace and prosperity.

Finally there are three particular paint-ings of the Ba Ve strain, related to the localreligions: Precious Mount’s Fragrance, FourGratitudes and Hoa Hao Buddhism. Oneshows the sacred Seven Mounts with theprophecy ‘On five mounts dragon andphoenix blossom/The seven mounts will beprecious.’ The second depicts the Prajñāboat with the description verses ‘It’s thePrajñā boat I am steering/Resolute to saveyou from the river of blind passions.’ Thirdis a picture of a lotus on a brown back-ground for followers of Hoa Hao Bud-dhism.

4. The Khmer strainAccording to maestro Thach Narin-Det,

Khmer glass paintings appeared in Tra Vinhduring 1935 – 1936, and in Soc Trang in the‘40s, and are continuing today.

The ancestry worship paintings in thisstrain are mostly portraits. The person in theportrait wears traditional Khmer dress: asampot, a square-collar shirt, a checkedmuffler or white ‘sen sam nak tho’, and sitson a carved wooden chair with or withoutcushions, next to a table with tea utensilsand a flower vase on it. Behind the person isa curtained window. The floor is enameltiles. The solemnly dressed body and every-thing else is usually ready-made, and whenan order comes, the painter adds a face.

A Khmer house has a Buddhist-stylealtar in the centre, but with one difference;the Khmer rarely use Buddha statues. Theyhave paintings instead. During the New Yearcelebration (Chol chnam thmay) the Khmerbring their Buddha paintings to a temple forthe ritual of bathing Buddha, and then takethem home.

All Khmer paintings-on glass, wall orcanvas-use the same themes, similes, styleand colours. It is clear that the wall paint-ings came first, then those on canvas.Glass was very rare and therefore expen-sive. Since then, Hīnayāna Buddhism andHinduism became infinite sources ofthemes and topics and inspiration for thefolk artists. As in most of folk art, thesepaintings are two-dimensional, exploitingblock building and colour shading tech-niques. Nowadays new techniques are alsoapplied to create three dimensions andlight effect, making them objects of highaesthetical value.

Khmer folk artists are real virtuosos oftheir trade. They share the same themes andtopics, but each master’s work is very dis-tinct. And the Khmer glass paintings are verymuch different from those of the Hue, ChoLon, Lai Thieu and Ba Ve strains. They allcontribute to the common treasure thatbears the signature of each community andethnicity, making diverse yet unified worksof art.n

First impressions last forever

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In the Co Tu language, ‘tungtung da da’ is a folk dance, alongstanding traditional eth-nic dance of the Co Tu people

in Quang Nam. ‘Tung tung’ is adance that for Co Tu boys and menthat re-enacts hunts for game andcelebrations of victory in war. Itembodies the elevated gallantry ofthe Co Tu people. The language ofthe dance suggests aspirations forhardy youths to rise to the perpet-uation of their predecessors’ tradi-tion and to maintain and protecttheir homeland of forests andmountains. When they dance, CoTu men wear loincloths and pullover an embroidered woven upper

garment. They drag their bare feeton the ground while they graspshields, spears and scimitars withtheir hands; otherwise they firmlyhold hands with a companionwhile spreading out both arms asthey step and shout confidently,energetically, and courageously atthe same time. They exhibit thestrength of their village’s men andfearlessness before the harshness of

nature or enemies who come to doharm. At the same time, they fur-ther manifest their confident inspi-rations as well as their love of life,home village, and the forests andmountains.

‘Da da’ is the Co Tu women’sdance, which originates from themovements of presenting obla-tions in the distant past. With suchsignificance, the da da dance is re-served for Co Tu women and girls,who are naturally gentle, love theirhusbands and children, love theforests and mountains, and arequiet about everything, for the sur-vival and development of the com-munity. In order to display the da

The Co Tu peopleexpress identityand aspirationthrough dance


FOLKISM

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY NGUYEN GIA PHUC

The movement of the soul

Quang NamProvince

FOLKISM


da dance, Co Tu women wearwoven brocade dresses that barethe shoulders and have manyvividly-coloured patterns. Aroundtheir necks, they wear beadednecklaces. The women extend botharms with the hands palm-up andfingers pointing backwards to ex-press the joyous reception of the sa-cred. They look straight ahead,their mouths constantly smiling.They drag their bare feet on tiptoearound in counter-clockwise cir-cles. When they dance, thewomen’s feet stand erect. Theirarms both extend towards theirheads with the palms pointingbackwards as if supporting the sky,resembling a pair of buffalo hornsthat symbolize ‘the head of a buf-falo bubbling below the water’ssurface’ — a cultural nuance ofmany ethnic minorities as in the CoTu sacrificial statues.

‘Tung tung da da’ is an amalga-mated dance that shows the inte-gration of men, boys, women andgirls, as well as of yin and yang in avast universe that occurs at a singu-lar time and spirals in a fixed circle.‘Tung tung da da’ has become acomponent that encourages the ef-fort to produce and develop. ‘Tungtung da da’ is, moreover, a space thatintimates the love between couples,village friends, the forests and theCo Tu people. ‘Tung tung da da’seems to suggest the close-knit at-tachment of people with one an-other and a more natural way of life.

On 12 August, 2014, the Na-tional Heritage Council officiallyrecognized the Quang Nam Co Tustyle of ‘tung tung da da’ dance as aform of national immaterial cul-ture heritage.n

Opposite and below: Tung tungdance for Co Tu boys and men

Above: da da dance for Co Tu women

In Quang Tri, the most ‘mine-polluted’ land of the country,there is a tour for visitors toget close to these deadly

weapons.Not everybody knows about

this new and exotic kind oftourism. Many local people, knownamong jokers by the dashing title‘Bomb Sawyers,’ shook their headswhen asked about it.

The Renew Quang Tri organi-

zation, with the aid of NorwegianPeople’s Aid and Vietnam Back-packers Hostels, created thisunique tour. It’s been functioningfor over two years, having taken 76groups, mostly foreign, to the det-onation sites.

According to Renew, Quang Triis the most heavily mine-pollutedin the country, with 3,866 km² ofmined land (83 per cent of the totalarea, while the country’s average isonly 21 per cent). From 1975 to 2010,there were 7,035 victims of the left-over mines and bombs in QuangTri, 31 per cent of who were chil-dren.

When I registered with MrNguyen Thanh Phu, a staff mem-

ber of Renew Quang Tri, in addi-tion to my name, place of work andID number, I had to check a bloodtype box on the form. ‘This tour in-volves mines and bombs, so onecannot be too careful. At the site,there are even more strict rules toguarantee absolute safety for visi-tors,’ he explained.

Early that afternoon, a vanpicked him and I up at the QuangTri province’s Exhibition Centre ofOvercoming the Consequences ofWar to the detonation site at VinhAn Village, Cam Hieu Commune,Cam LoDistrict. In the van therewere 15 young tourists from the UK,US, Norway, and Holland.

Thomas Stone, head of Renew


HISTORY

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY NGUYEN PHUC

Defusing the pastUnique danger tourism

brings awareness of unexploded ordinance

Quang TriProvince

HISTORY


and one of the main founders ofthis fascinating tour, said, ‘like theprevious 75 groups, this group’smembers are young (aged 18-20),mainly students on summer vaca-tion. They may at best know just alittle about the Vietnam Warthrough literature, and a littleabout bombs and mines throughthe TV, I guess.’

Thomas Stone has lived in Viet-nam for over five years and hadworked sometime at Phong Nha –Ke Bang National Park, QuangBinh Province. He has made a lot ofefforts to promote the ‘mine tours’in Quang Tri in the process of tak-ing his ‘guests’ to discovering Viet-nam, because ‘Just like me before,these young people only knowvaguely about war, and they wantto know more. I take them here tosee, that after over 40 years, theweapons of war are still there, fullyfunctional, in Quang Tri villages, inpeople’s living quarters. This is thefastest and simplest way for themto understand, to a certain extent,war and the pain of its aftermath.’

The van stopped at the end of ared soil path, surrounded by adesert, not too far from residentialarea. Mr Le Xuan Tung, head of Ex-plosive Ordnance Disposal and histeam were waiting for us. After ex-plaining basic steps of his team’swork, he told us that morning, histeam found three HE mortars, andtwo 40 mm shells in this area, allAmerican made. ‘We will destroythese right here. We have preparedthe ditches, sand bags, explosivesand wires over there. You have 10minutes to come to see the sceneunder our supervision before re-treating to safety and watch the de-struction,’ he said.

We gathered at about 300 me-tres from the explosion field towatch the most thrilling part. LiamO’Connell, a 21-year old English-man, was lucky to be assigned to

push the detonation button. Eyesand cameras were all ready. Weheard a ‘boom’ and we saw a big,dense cloud of smoke and dirt. ‘It’sa hard to describe the sensation. Iam still quite shocked.’ Liam con-fessed.

Then the visitors can collectsome shrapnel as a unique ‘trophy’to show off to those back home.

Thomas Stone told me that apart of the revenue of the tour isused to help the victims in QuangTri. ‘I always hint and encouragethe visitors to donate for the victimsof mines and Agent Orange. Theamount may be small, but moneyfor this purpose can never be use-less or wasted,’ he said. He also toldme that he currently organizes two‘mine tours’ a week, and the num-ber of tourists who want to join thetour is increasing significantly. Hehopes the amount of donation willalso increase accordingly.

To Phu, who accompanied al-most all the 76 touring groups, themost rewarding thing is the transi-

tion of visitors’ emotions beforeand after seeing the mines andtheir destructive power. ‘Normallyit takes some time to ponder afteryou see it. But it’s not easy for thedescendants of American andSouth Vietnamese ex-militarymen. We show them the horrors ofwar, not to invoke the feeling ofguilt, but to make them feel eagerto heal, to promote peace and toshare something with the victims,’Phu said.

Stories told by Mr Ngo XuanHieu, manager of communicationand development of Renew QuangTri, were even more heart-soften-ing. An Irish doctor, Mr AidanRyan, moved by the ‘mine tour’,after coming home, has organizeda bicycle event in Dublin in August,2014, to raise money for Quang Trimine victims. Or an overseas Viet-namese actor, Mr Trieu Tran, aftervisiting a family of Agent Orangevictims in Cam Hieu Commune,Cam Lo District, has sent them$600 to rebuild their house.n

Opposite: The scenebefore destruction Above: The ordinance is ex-ploded

Rich in tradition, the highlands festival has something for all

A worldof

diversityBY KHAI HOAN

Going to a fair or carnival isa good way to learn aboutthe culture, customs andlife of the highland eth-

nicities. It was a fortuitous blessingthat I recently had a chance to takepart in this lively event put on by the23 minority groups living on therocky Dong Van plateau, Meo Vac,Ha Giang Province.

When the sky was still a thickgrey mass, the sun was still hiding be-hind the mountains and the bitingcold still devouring the plateau rocks,I heard the noises of people on thepasses, calling and urging each otherto make it to the carnival on time.

Dong Van market is very old. It’s

a part of the old Dong Van town, thehub of economic and cultural tradingon this plateau. This U-shaped struc-ture, built of rocks, has long been theconvergence point of the ethniccolours of the country’s northern-most land.

On gathering days, these old,normally quiet and gray streets be-come crowded, colourful and lively.Hmong, Dao, Tay, Giay, Nung, Lolo ...folks in their traditional dresses fromall directions, some from a fewmountains away, pour down to town,bringing something to trade. Lan-guages and dialects add rich flavoursto the uneven rhythm of this boilingchorus of life.


FESTIVALS

Ha GiangProvince


The goods that change handshere are also ethnic, adding evenmore uniqueness to the gathering.There is produce and livestock, ei-ther made at home, or farmed orcollected in the forests, such as veg-etables, corn, rice, alcoholic bever-ages, honey, pigs, chickens,buffalos, cows and brocades. Somepeople bring just a very few almostworthless things, but the spirit ishigh nonetheless. They normallybuy salt, kerosene, torchlights,blankets, and mosquito nets, thingsthat are made in the low lands.

Down the low lands, peoplecome to bazaars just to trade goods.Up here, the fair is also a cultural

event. People come here to meeteach other, to talk, to drink, to eat‘thắng cố’ (meat soup consisting ofcow, buffalo, goat, or horse in-nards). Here is the place for womento show off their best dresses, formen to show off with ‘khèn’ (a wayof singing named after a sweetdessert.)

Hard core travellers say, ‘Nothaving tasted thắng cố means notknowing the highland.’ A hot bowlof thắng cố, a glass of sweet-smelling corn vodka and the tunesof Hmong khèn will bring you thefeel of this rocky plateau.

Particularly, during the 14th,15th and 16th of the lunar months,

many cultural activities, such asbird fights, a food fair, music, songsand dances, and traditional brocadeweaving shows take place in this oldtown. At night, the streets are litwith red lanterns, attractingtourists to family brocade showsand old style cafés.n

According to Thanh Nien News, 27 March, 2014,Dong Van Market was relocated in 2011. The new site is afew hundreds of metres away from the old site. The relo-cation was necessary because the amount of sellers andbuyers had increased, exceeding the market’s capacity.Also it was a must for the preservation of the ancientDong Van Town, after the latter was recognized as a na-tional relic site.

FESTIVALS

Clockwise from left: Dong Van plateau, Ha GiangProvince, Northernmost Vietnam. Photo: Kim Manh; Dong Van Market. Photos: Dang Van Tran and Do Huu Tien; Dong Van Ancient Town. Photo: Mai Loc


FOOD

Just put rice, the earth’s essence, into abamboo tube that already has water fil-tered by the bamboo (heaven’s essence),

and then onto a fire. That’s all there isthe art. No one remembers when it cameinto the life of Muong people. It is not onlya simple kind of food, but also a feature ofthe unique Muong culture.

The old ones say this is an easy-to-pre-pare kind of food for when Muongs arescouting the forest with only a flint stone, amachete and a few days worth of sticky rice.Just cut a section of bamboo, put some riceinto it and put it on the fire. That’s how itcame into being. They found it tasty and aro-matic, and began making it at home, too.And now, coming to this mountainous re-gion without tasting a few chunks of bam-boo tube rice, visitors would feel thatsomething is missing.

First, the bamboo section should befresh, long, not too old, and not too young.Too old, and it will burn. Too young, it willwither and deform. The wall should be nottoo thin, and not too fat. There is normally alittle water inside. It gives the rice the typicalaroma that makes it appealing.

It is the famous milpa glutinous rice thatmakes bamboo tube rice in Hoa BinhProvince different from that of other places.The rice is harvested during the months ofAugust and September. Rinsed cleanly,

soaked overnight, salted moderately, it isput into the bamboo. A little creek water isadded, and the bamboo is covered tightlywith banana leaves. The tubes are stoodaround a fire and turned regularly. It is nor-mally cooked for about an hour. When therice feels soft at the touch, it is ready. MsDinh of Mo Da Village, Ha Bi Commune,Kim Boi District, Hoa Binh Province, is fa-mous for her bamboo tube rice. ‘The rice

has to be soft, opaque, with a buttery tasteand the typical aroma of forest bamboo,’ shesaid. ‘After splitting the bamboo, the ricegrains have to retain their form. To achievethis quality, the tube has to be full of rice,and tightly shut with banana leaves. Expe-rienced people can tell if the rice is readyjust by the smell.’

Today, the life of the Muong people haschanged significantly. Bamboo tube rice is

The Muong bamboo tube rice

BY LY HA

Tubesof

plenty

FOOD

not only their frequent food, but also asource of income for those living around thenumerous tourist destinations of Hoa BinhProvince. Ms Bui Thi Dien, a big bambootube rice producer of Mo Da Village, Ha BiCommune, Kim Boi District, where the min-eral water centre is located, told us that herfamily also has a small restaurant near thecentre, which sells over 200 rice tubes a day,at VND5,000 each. They also receive ordersfrom other food provider in the area, fromHoa Binh city and from Hanoi. Overall, ricetubes bring her family around VND100 mil-lion a year. Ms Dinh also said that cookingrice tubes has become an extra trade, apartfrom growing rice.

According to Ms Bui Thi Dung, deputychair of the People Committee of Ha BiCommune, Kim Boi District, tourism hasturned rice tubes into a source of income

for the people in her commune. ‘Rice tubeshave helped improve the people’s lives. Onthe other hand, the local government alsosees that the business has to be put undercontrol. We have educated the peopleabout hygiene and food safety, as well ascultural conservation. Commercializationneeds to let the rice tubes be remain a cul-tural product. Profit should not take away

the cultural beauty of the Muong bambootube rice,’ she said.

Rice tubes have made their way to bigrestaurants in the cities. But that doesn’t stoppeople from buying them in their nativeland, to bring home as an exotic gift that re-veals the genuine and virgin flavour of theMuong land and helps remind urbandwellers of their own origins.n

Opposite, above: Chong Ro people making bambootube rice in Dong Nai Province. Photo: Bui Viet Dong

Opposite, below: Bamboo tube rice. Photo: Hoai PhuongRight: Making bamboo tube rice. Photo: Ly Ha

From Cao Bang city centre,following the smooth as-phaltic zigzags of the Na-tional Highway no. 3, Ms

Truong Ha, a local reporter, and Icame to Pac Rang, a unique villagein Phuc Sen Commune, QuangUyen District. We turned right to aconcrete road among yellow corn,green vegetables and gray rocks, andthe traffic noise quickly was re-duced, replaced by the clanging ofhammers, puffing of bellows andsizzling of hot iron in water. Ironforging is a traditional trade of theNung An ethnicity here.

Walking around the villageunder the shade of indigo-dyedcloths, we were most amazed to seethat Pac Rang was so neat comparedto most ethnic villages in the north-ern mountains, with concrete orbrick paved streets, just like citysidewalks, a clean water supply sys-

tem that serves every household, agarbage collection system, a bigdrainage system, and no humansliving right above the animals.

Seeing a pretty, stilted housethat leans on a rock wall and looksout to the plain fields, we entered itsgates. A middle-aged man stoppedhammering his unfinished knife towarmly invite us into the house. Hewas Long Van Hai, Pac Rang villagechief. He made tea for us and calledhis wife Trieu Thi Dan to come outto receive the guests. His house,with stone walls outside, woodenfloor, ying-yang tile roof, and mixedmud-hay partitioning walls inside,was built in 1996. Now it had ac-quired the beautiful sheen of time.It was one of the five stilted housesinvested in by the Executive Com-mittee of the Sustainable TourismDevelopment of the Extended Sub-Mekong Region of Cao Bang

Province for community tourism. Iwas quite fascinated to see a housein such a remote place that had aclean and neat bathroom, with amirror, a comb, towels, shampoosand shower creams.

We were the first guests onwhom our host had a chance topractice their hospitality skills. Thehusband lovingly showed us the se-crets of iron forging, from selectingthe steel of a car shock absorber, tohammering and tempering succes-sively and continuously for ninetyminutes to make a black, beautifuland sharp knife that would last atleast fifteen years. A Nung An manthat can not forge iron is considereduseless. His wife related every detailof cotton planting, harvesting,threading, weaving, dyeing, sewingand embroidering to make a set ofbrocades that will last more than tenyears and costs three million dongfor men and six million for women.

Then he took us to the fields infront of the house to show us thestone jetty. Nung people build ter-races to plant rice, so they take carenot to let the land slide. ‘An upperterrace owner has to build a jetty tohold his land, the lower terraceowner in turn does the same for his

TOURISM


The long roadto prosperity

TEXT BY DO QUANG TUAN HOANG AND PHOTOS BY TRUONG HA

Cao BangProvince

Above: Reinforcinga stone jetty

Opposite, left: sellinghome-grown vegetables

Opposite, right: Forgingiron tools

land. That way, everybody protects his landand water to grow rice, corn and beans,’ ex-plained Long Van Chien, while reinforcing hisjetty. Highland people collect stones, big andsmall, assemble them like a jigsaw puzzle tomake them fit each other, then mortar thewall with dirt or cement. These walls standstrong against buffalo butts and the weatherfor centuries, not only to protect the terraces,but also as a unique cultural feature.

When we came back, dinner was ready ona straw mat spread in front of the house. MsDan had prepared for us all the smells andtastes of local specialties: steamed grilledpork, stir-fried beef with forest vegetables,pork BBQ and fried fish from a nearby creek.Having exotic food and drinks and a conver-sation with hospitable and simple-heartedNung An folks amidst the mountains wassomething to remember. At nightfall, we min-gled with a group of artists and the villagers intheir traditional songs and dances.

The development project, sponsored byAsian Development Bank, aims at helping thelocal communities that have potential to de-velop ecotourism and community tourism inorder to eliminate poverty step by step. PacRang village had 51 households, with over 400Nung An ethnic persons. They lived in an areaof 167,000 square metres for many genera-tions. Surrounded by high mountains, stiltedhouses grouped together among paddy fields,creeks and a water mine, it creates an idyllic,peaceful scenery. The people here have thetrades of iron forging, stonework and weav-ing, and many unique songs and dances. Inearly 2009, Pac Rang was officially chosen tobe the first community tourist attraction of

Cao Bang Province.The first obstacle the committee had to

overcome was the problem with livestock. MsNhan Thi Minh Thi, deputy head of the De-partment of Culture and deputy director ofthe development project, still shudder at theirfirst impression of five years before. The NungAn used to use the space under the floor tokeep working tools, firewood and livestock.The floor is where all the living activities takeplace. Humans and animals were separatedonly by a layer of wooden or bamboo boards.The animals ate, defecated and pissed on theground, then walked and lied down on it all.Year after year, layers of filth accumulated. MsThi recalls, ‘The stench was permanent in thevillage. Flies and mosquitoes swarmedaround. Everybody had to cover their nose.When we proposed to move the livestockaway for better hygiene, the reaction was over-whelming. ‘This is our way for generations.’‘You can’t separate us from our livestock, whatif bad guys steal them to sell in China?’ Wehad to slowly answer their questions, explain-ing bit by bit. The project’s executive commit-tee built each family a house with two roomsto keep the animals, but the next time wecame, they were still beneath the floor. Weasked why the animals were not moved, theysaid because they were too tired or too busy.So we took off our shoes, rolled up our sleeves,put on hygiene masks and waded in to theankle-deep faeces to clean it up. It took usnearly a year! Now all the households have aseparate livestock houses and a clean groundunder the floor. What a feat!’

Having cleaned up under the floors, theproject built for each family peripheral facil-

ities, including a shower room, an autolytictoilet, a bio-gas chamber for animal excre-ment, and gave them a gas stove that wascleaner and that freed them from having tocollect firewood in the forest. Then we in-vited the Vietnam Project ManagementConsulting Company to plan a communitytourist destination at blacksmith village PacRang for 2005. The plan included a two-storey village cultural centre with over 120square metres for communal activities andartefact exhibition, with computers con-nected to the internet. Then, we built park-ing spaces, sport courts for the villagers,concrete and brick roads, connected cleanwater supply pipes to every house and asmoke outlet for every furnace. The project’smost important activity was skill improve-ment for the community. The project exec-utive committee opened hospitality skillclasses for the folks and a crash English classfor 20 persons.

Ms Thi said, ‘The project was conductedfrom 2009 to 2013, with a nearly 12 billiondong ($571,428) investment. Right now, fiveamong 56 households are ready to receivetourist guests. We donated to each familyfour sets of blankets, pillows, mattresses andbed sheets to encourage them to offer serv-ices to guests. We helped them to build theprice list: VND40,000 ($1.90)/meal/personand VND60,000 ($2.86)/bed/night. Wehelped them print info sheets and bulletinsto distribute at domestic and internationaltourist fairs to promote this new destination.We will also help them to create a fund, to ex-tract a part of the revenue to reinvest in com-munity development.’n


TOURISM


Dark Cave is about 20kilometres from PhongNha Cave, Quang BinhProvince, by road. Ex-

amined by British Royal explorersin 1990 and 1992, its entry way is 20metres wide and 40 metres high.The cave is 5,258 metres long, andthe ceiling inside is up to 80 metreshigh. Like many other caves inPhong Nha - Ke Bang area, it has adry part and a submerged part. Thedarkness inside the cave is thick,much thicker than in other caves.So thick that one feels one canscoop it. That’s why people call itthe Dark Cave.

Visitors can get on a boat atPhong Nha landing on Son River,go upstream and then follow ChayRiver for about five kilometres toreach the Dark Cave. Or, fromDong Hoi City to Phong Nha - KeBang Heritage Centre, it takes 40minutes to drive on the fabulous HoChi Minh trail. The Zip Line enter-tainment park is 17 kilometres fromthere. Then I and my friends rode azip line over the Chay River andtook a boat to Dark Cave.

The entry is a mysterious nar-row hollow in a gigantic lime stonemass. When we went inside, dark-ness immediately enveloped us.Without the stairs and a guide, fewwould dare to come in.

We admired a big stalagmitestanding guard at the entrance,with a wavy surface covered by tiny,glittering grains. We found fos-silized shells in the cave walls. Therewas even a fish skeleton high above.We had to climb up a large rock tosee it in its entirety.

The deeper we went, the darkerit became, and the more fascinat-ing. We followed a section of a caveriver, wading waist-deep in coldwater, and then turned to anotherpath to walk in mud. Nobodywould expect such a path amidststone walls. Amazing! It was verynarrow; at times the bottom wasjust wide enough for our feet. Mudcovered the walls and stalactites.The path zigzagged for about 10minutes, and we came to a widearea, with soft, fine mud thatthickly covered the slopes, allowingus to slide like kids, then splash intoa muddy ditch. We yelled like kidsand let the mud cover us from headto toe. ‘Nothing anywhere can com-pare to this muddy joy,’ Pon, a for-eign tourist exclaimed. He and hispal had a specialized camera. Onesnapped continuously while theother slid and fell and splashed.

At the end of the muddy pathwe cheered loudly again, seeing an-other muddy hole about 20 metresin diameter. Again, sliding andfalling, eagerly and wildly. The mudpenetrated our skin, feeling like anelixir of life. We turned off all thelights on our helmets to enjoy theprimeval darkness and the silence,disturbed only by dripping water.

After a few minutes of soakingin the mud, we turned to anotherpath that led to the Thuy Tien pool.It was quite big, with clear, coolwater. On the other side of the poolthere was a passage, about two me-tres wide, leading to a submergedinterstice. We dived through it andemerged to a field of rugged rocks.We sat there for a while, enjoying

the air, the absolute silence and theperilous beauty of the rocks, andthen went back, finishing the ex-ploration of the Dark Cave to joinsportive games that take place onChay River.

For a long time, people said thatPhong Nha - Ke Bang is like a beau-tiful woman that one can only lookat, without touching. That’s becausemonotonous sight-seeing was theonly thing available here. Lately,some tour companies have venturedinto the realm of adventure tourismwith considerable success.

Last August, zip line, a daringsport, appeared in Phong Nha - KeBang for the first time. Tourists cancable slide 400 metres from thewildlife watch station to Dark Cave,and slide further to a creek bath site.To guarantee safety for guests,Phong Nha - Ke Bang tourist centrehas hired three Vietnamese moun-tain climbers to train mountainclimbing and cable sliding here.Since the opening of zip line serv-ices, the area has become muchlivelier. Every day it receives on av-erage 60-80 tourists, mostly foreign.

According to Mr Le Thanh Loi,Phong Nha - Ke Bang tourist cen-tre’s director, his centre will soon in-vest in the Chay River and DarkCave area to create more attractionssuch as a suspension bridge orhomestead eco tourism, so touristswill have a more in-depth experi-ence of this land of caves.n

The mud andthe darkness

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY TRUONG QUANG NAM

TOURISM

Clockwise from top:Inside Dark Cave; Entranceof Dark Cave; Riding a zipline crossing Chay River


TRAVEL

So Ray is a fruit and veg-etable plantation hackedout of the jungle on aplateau, rising 210 metres

above sea level on Con Dao's mainisland. It was cleared by prisonersof the French settlement to supplythe tables of their captors. Lookinghalf way up the mountains abovethe island's little town of Cay Bangyou can spot a blue pavilion. Thismarks So Ray.

We were a party of three. Myfourteen-year-old daughter andher nineteen-year-old cousin were

joining me. We set out from ourbeach front hotel, deciding to walkthe two kilometres along a quietcountry lane to the base of So Ray.Whilst this was a day to be close tonature, you cannot escape ConDao's grim past as a penal colony.On the outskirts of town, wepassed what was ‘The Cow Shed’.As it name implies, in this prison,inmates were treated like animals.Just across the way, there is a signwith explanation in Vietnameseand English, marking the place ofexecution of prisoners, including

twenty-two buried alive after amass break out.

But soon, we were in the coun-try, passing grazing brown cowsand lakes covered with bloomingred lotus flowers. We visited theNational Park Headquarters Visi-tors Centre, which has an excellentexhibition on the fauna to be foundon Con Dao, including a rareDugong (Sea Cow), preserved informaldehyde in a tank. Then, backon the road, there were glimpses ofthe endemic Con Dao black squir-rel frolicking in the trees.

A short jungle trekon Con Dao

TEXT AND PHOTO BY PIP DE ROUVRAY

Con DaoIslands

TRAVEL


We reached the base of the trackup to So Ray and there had beenchanges since I made my two previ-ous ascents. On the positive side, youcan now climb up directly after hav-ing had breakfast. A brightsparklingly clean villa has been con-verted into the So Ray Guest House.Less happily, the sign board whichpreviously had announced the BritishPetroleum-sponsored So Ray projecthad changed. This project was de-signed to save rare species of floraafter the havoc wreaked by TyphoonLinda in 1997, which destroyedswathes of the jungle. The sign nowthreatened ‘No Ticket, No Entry’. Ihad been unaware that this was con-sidered part of the National Park. Ifyou want a walk up a jungle pathway,there are plenty of places to have thisexperience without paying. On theother hand, contributing to the up-keep of Con Dao's natural beauty is anoble act. We would have been will-ing to buy our tickets, but there wasno one there to get them from and wewere not going back to the Headquar-ters on foot to do so. So we just car-ried on regardless.

I would not advise going up if ithas been raining. It will be more slip-pery and the first section will turninto a stream. It was under such con-ditions when I walked up the secondtime. That time I was lucky and I wasamazed to see, so far from the beach,a large crab. In those days, informa-tion was hard to come by, but thistime I had noted in the Visitor centrethat there are two species of forestcrab on Con Dao.

Justification for charging for theclimb could be the four boards alongthe way that give information. One,for example, explains that trees thatgrow on mountains have long rootsthat lie shallow in the soil so as to an-chor them well. Certainly some ofthese huge roots provided seats forrest stops. Another explains that youare in the richest biome on the planet.

This may be so, but one treelooks just like another and youwill hear a variety of bird chat-ter but the feathered friendsare pretty good at hiding them-selves. The most common sightis skinks basking on rocks. Itried to photograph these beautifulcreatures with their golden backs andbluish tails, but they always shot off atthe last moment. One jungle soundthat I enjoy is that of the Tokay lizard- tac ke, tac ke is the cry that gives itits onomatopoeic Vietnamese name.

Basically, this walk is like going upa tube of greenery. You almost feel asif you are wearing the jungle. Thereare no views. You are simply en-veloped by nature. The way is steepand winding. I found it heavy on thelegs and the girls, too unused to anykind of walking, had to rest fre-quently. Suddenly, light comes shin-ing through above you and you know,thankfully, you are near the top. Atthis point, we heard the whooping ofmonkeys. I had met them on my firstvisit. They had come out to meet meat this point. I was hoping this timethey would keep their distance.

We had a long rest and finisheddrinking our water on seats around apicnic table at the top. Then wewalked along a path and climbedsteps up to the balcony of the pavil-ion. Our forty-minute climb was re-warded by superb views of the townbelow and seven of the archipelago'sislands gleaming in the azure ocean.

Then my daughter cried ‘a mon-key is coming!’ Sure enough, a hand-somely bearded male was climbingthe stairs. I was just wondering whywhen it grabbed a plastic bag we hadleft in the corner of the balcony. Therewas nothing in it but fruit, emptyplastic bottles and a packet of potatocrisps but I felt indignant at havingbeen robbed. After some moments ofdisbelief, I followed it down to thejungle edge. The monkey inside of mecame out as I grunted and grimaced at

it, brandishing the hotel umbrella Ihad been using as a staff for leverage.It fell back and I saw that this was afamily of four monkeys. There wereMum, Dad and two kids.

These monkeys have not lost theirfear of man, but as I read on the Inter-net about foolish people bringing ba-nanas up here, they may soon do so. Ifound my bag. It seems the monkeyhad made the same poor dietarychoice as some people did .He left thefruit and gobbled up the crisps. Thesemonkeys are unique to Con Dao.They are one of ten sub species ofLong Tailed Macaques. Anothername for them is the Crab EatingMacaque, though this now should bechanged to Poca Eating. Anothername is even more curious. It isCynomolgous Monkey, which means‘dog milker’. I learned that they havebeen on Con Dao a long time. Eight-een million years in fact!

I advised the youngsters thatwhilst going down was going to be lotless exhausting, they needed to bevery careful. Whilst I managed tokeep upright, my daughter did slip acouple of times. Once back on theroad, I decided to walk back the otherway and make a circular route back.But it was too much for the girls, sowe stopped at a cafe. We took much-needed refreshment and called for ataxi. We arrived back at the hotel hav-ing worked up a very good appetitefor lunch.

I can highly recommend to youthis half-day walk on your list ofthings to do on Con Dao. Please re-spect nature if you do, especially leav-ing the monkeys well alone and buyyour ticket before. You may not be aslucky as we were. Happy trekking!n

Opposite: View fromthe pavilion at So Ray,formerly a plantationworked by Vietnamesepolitical prisoners

Basically, this walk is like going upa tube of greenery. You almost feel

as if you are wearing the jungle.


WHAT THE PAPERS SAY

Ho Chi Minh City to add row-boat tours to downtown canalwww.thanhniennews.com, 27 September

Ho Chi Minh City plans to introducerowboats to allow tourists to travel an at-tractive portion of the Nhieu Loc-ThiNghe canal, starting this December.

Ten boats managed by the SaigonBoat Company will be rowed along thecanal between the Saigon Zoo and VinhNghiem Pagoda.

A one-way trip will take around twohours and each boat will be able to carry20 passengers, Thoi Bao Kinh Te SaigonOnline reported.

The boats will run every day fromearly morning to 11 p.m.

Endangered primate returnedto wild

Thanh Nien News, 2 OctoberForest rangers in the central city of

Danang released an endangered douclangur to a nature reserve on Thursday.

The douc was previously discoveredby Phan Van Quy, a local farmer, in a for-est in Hoa Vang District. He thenhanded over the douc to the Hoa VangDistrict Forest Protection Division,which in turn took care of the animaland released it to the Son Tra PeninsulaNature Reserve.

The douc langurs are regardedamong the most beautiful primates inthe world. All three species are endemicto Indochina. The three species are thered-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix ne-maeus), black-shanked douc langur (Py-gathix nigripes) and gray-shanked douclangur (Pygathix cinereus).

Lumberjacks aim saws at downtown alléewww.thanhniennews.com, 3 October

Ho Chi Minh City plans to clear amajestic allée of nearly 100 mahoganytrees on Ton Duc Thang Street to makeway for a bridge connecting Districts 1and 2.

Ton Duc Thang is considered oneof the most beautiful boulevards inVietnam's southern metropolis,thanks largely in part to its massive

canopy of trees.The Thu Thiem 2 bridge will con-

nect a new development area on the op-posite side of the river to the city’scentre. It will empty out precisely wherethe trees stand.

The plan has stricken many citydwellers with nostalgia and misgivings- particularly since the city abruptlycleared the heart of District 1 of trees inJuly to make way for the country's firstsubway station.

Vietnam airport offers free Wi-Fi,resumes sleeping pods www.thanhniennews.com, 6 October

The Ministry of Transport has al-lowed Vietnam Airlines Tourism Com-pany (VATC) to resume sleeping pods atHanoi’s Noi Bai International Airportafter the service was suspended morethan two months ago.

Meanwhile, the airport has suppliedfree Wi-Fi at the terminal and furnish-ing an additional of 500 trolleys to serveincreasing passengers.

Bringing trail biking to Vietnamtuoitrenews.vn, 22 September

Since 2008, the first few trail bikersin Vietnam have cherished their dreamof taking the fledging sport to interna-tional competitions, and part of theirdream has now been fulfilled, with thelaunch of the country’s first practicecourse.

The newly-built 3,000m² course inHo Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan Districtmeets 70 percent of the internationalstandard.

Antiques excavated in TruongSa affirm Vietnam’s sovereigntytuoitrenews.vn, 26 September

The Vietnam Institute of Archaeol-ogy reported that it has found a numberof artefacts dating back to the 18th and19th centuries in the Truong Sa (Spratly)archipelago, off central Vietnam’sKhanh Hoa Province, which help affirmthe country’s sovereignty over the is-lands.

The institute said at a conferencethat its excavation, which began in lateJune, was conducted on several islets, in-cluding Truong Sa Lon, Nam Yet, PhanVinh, and Son Ca.

The new findings help consolidatethose from previous excavations con-ducted in 1993, 1994, and 1999.

They also serve as concrete evidencethat Vietnamese people in prehistorictimes owned the archipelago, and havefished in the seas around it ever since.

Vietnam locations among TripAdvisor’s top Asian destinationstuoitrenews.vn, 5 October

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and HoiAn have been listed among the top 25destinations in Asia by travel websiteTripAdvisor.

Hanoi was ranked second, while HoChi Minh City and Hoi An AncientTown placed 9th and 14th, respectively.

Biodiversity conservation centreopenedvietnamnews.vn, 1 September

A rescue and conservation centrewas opened in Hoang Lien NationalPark in the northern mountainousprovince of Lao Cai in the end of Au-gust.

Nguyen Quang Vinh, director of theHoang Lien National Park, said the es-tablishment of the centre was particu-larly important since the park was givenan ‘A’ rating - the highest rating possible- by the Global Environment Fund forthe value of its biodiversity.

The 30,000ha park was recognised

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY


by the ASEAN Secretariat as a regional heritagesite in 2006.

The park is surrounded by a buffer zone of38,724ha, which borders a number of com-munes in the northern province of Lai Chau.

Authorities step in to save old treesvietnamnews.vn, 4 September

The Hanoi People's Committee has askedHanoi Urban Railway Management Unit to tryto avoid chopping down many old trees tomake way for a future metro line.

In August, Le Huy Hoang, deputy directorof the unit, caused a public outcry when he re-vealed that more than 30 huge, ancient trees inKim Ma Street in Ba Dinh District would haveto go to make space for the line from Nhon toHanoi Railway Station.

The trees took more than 40 years to growto their present size.

Hoang said his unit was working with acontractor for a detail solution for moving thetrees to Hanoi Railway Station in October if ap-proved by the city authority.

Old Quarter to get new food streetVietnamnews, 15 September

A plan is being studied to establish a one-stop food street for vendors in the Old Quarterarea of Hanoi.

It is the first phase in a comprehensive proj-ect by the Hoan Kiem District People's Com-mittee to transform the Old Quarter area intoa more attractive destination to all visitors - for-eigners and Vietnamese.

Many did not even know there was such avariety of stalls and restaurants hidden away inthe network of streets. Hanoi has also beenranked among Asia's 10 greatest food cities byCNN Travel.

Course helps protect endangered primatesvietnamnews.vn, 22 September

The Frankfurt Zoological Society's VietnamPrimate Conservation Programme will host aneight-day training course for students at thecity's Teachers' Training College.

The annual course aims to raise awarenessabout endangered primate protection in Viet-nam's central and Central Highlands regions.Students will visit Kon Ka Kinh Park in Gia Lai

Province, home to 250 grey-shanked douc.Vietnam is one of 30 countries in the world

with a population of grey-shanked douc. About1,000 animals live in forests in Binh Dinh,Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai and KonTum provinces.

Campaign to educate older men about rhinosvietnamnews.vn, 23 September

Population Services International in Viet-nam and the wildlife trade monitoring networkTRAFFIC launched a communication cam-paign in September that aims to reduce de-mand for rhino horn among middle-aged men.

The campaign, entitled Strength of Chi(Will), states that success, masculinity andgood luck flow from an individual's internalstrength of character – not a piece of rhinohorn.

It will target urban men aged between 35-50 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City through in-tegrated channels, including outdoor, in-storeand digital billboards, mobile messaging andtestimonials through mass media.

Project helps promote non-fired brick usagevietnamnews.vn, 24 September

The Prime Minister has approved a projectto promote non-fired brick (NFB) productionand utilisation.

The project aims to help Vietnam reducegreenhouse gas emissions by gradually cuttingdown on the use of fossil fuels and good qualitysoil for brick making, while increasing the pro-duction, sales and utilisation of NFBs.

In the decade following project completion,direct and indirect CO2 emissions will be re-duced by an estimated 383 ktonnes and 13,400ktonnes.

Ancient ceramics found at seaVietnam News, 8 October Fragments of ceramic ware and stone stat-

uary ware from an old shipwreck have beenfound on an ancient ship found under waternear the islet of An Binh, 3km from Ly Son Is-land in the central province of Quang Ngai.

Experts believed the ceramics are from the13th and 15th centuries.

The province has not yet decided to lift the

700-year-old shipwreck out of the water. An in-ternational conference on shipwrecks will beheld in the province from 14-16 October .

Bac Ninh to restore old quan ho housesVietnam News, 9 October

The Culture, Sports and Tourism Depart-ment of Bac Ninh Province has invested VND12billion (about $570,000) to restore two quan ho(love song duet) houses.

These houses were originally used as placesfor quan ho artists to gather for training andperformances or to receive fellow singers fromother villages.

Replicas of the seven-component ancient-style house, the two houses are being built inVan An Ward in Bac Ninh City, and in theLung Giang Hamlet in Lim Town in Tien DuDistrict.

More Champa relics discoveredVietnam Net English, 8 October

The Binh Dinh Museum has announcedthe discovery of more than 600 items during arecent archaeological excavation of Champaruins at Thu Thien Thuong Village, Binh NghiCommune, Tay Son District.

The museum is home to two valuableitems from the Champa culture, found in1989. They are an embossment of the godMahishamardini and a round stone altar thatlooks like the bronze drum of the ancient Viet-namese.

Central Binh Dinh Province has the largestnumber of Champa vestiges in the country,with 14 Cham towers.

Rare plant species discoveredVietnam Net English, 9 October

Vietnamese scientists at Xuan Lien NatureReserve have discovered a new floral species,which is named Aristolochia xuanlienensis, inThanh Hoa Province.

Scientists said that the newly-found plantbelongs to Aristolochiaceae family. It is theunique of its kind so far in the world.

The scientists also found three more specieswhich had never ever been recorded in Viet-nam, including Lindernia megaphylla PC,Kailarsenia lineata R.Br, and Didymocarpuspupureobracteatus Smith.


EVENTS

HANOI

EXHIBITIONS Paper horsesTill 26 October

An exhibition by Trieu TuanLong is on display at L’Espace till26 October. His art installation isa herd of seven horses calmlygrazing in a meadow. Thesehorses are crafted from Boi pa-pers, a Vietnamese traditionalmaterial, and are covered withrandomly arranged pictures con-veying messages such as: Are so-cial media networks graduallydominating our life? Transmit-ting information by horsebackenables us to search for informa-tion, screen and make it ours. Butmost importantly, it allows us tolive more slowly.

L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St,Hanoi. Free entrance.

Minimal AsianFrom 19 October to 9 November

On the occasion of a 12 yearcelebration, Module 7 presents aninterior exhibition titled ‘MinimalAsian’ by designer and founder ofModule 7, Pham Kieu Phuc, from19 October to 9 November. Theexhibition aims to preserve andraise the value of handicraft pro-duction methods using local ma-terials including woods, ceramics,bronze, bamboo and lacquer.

Module 7, 83 Xuan Dieu St,

Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi. Open: 9a.m. to 7 p.m.

Not Quite LandscapesFrom 12 October to 12 November

Artist Vu Duc Trung presentslacquer-art at the solo exhibition‘Not Quite Landscapes’ at DongPhong Art Gallery from 12 Octo-ber to 12 November. In Vu DucTrung’s work, nature is renderedusing traditional methods of lac-quer painting to produce an arrayof colours in which shapes andfigures have been eliminated. VuDuc Trung does not coerce theviewer into views of preconceivedforms, but rather lets them expe-rience a carefree and pleasingsense of nature between heavenand earth. The most striking fea-ture of this exhibition is theround lacquer boards on whichall the paintings are made.

Dong Phong Art Gallery, 3 LyDao Thanh St, Hoan Kiem Dist,Hanoi. Open: 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Colours talkUntil 4 December

Art Tunnel Gallery presentsan exhibition ‘Colours ChangingHues’ till 4 December. The organ-izer said ‘In art, an artwork at-tracts viewers because of not onlyits idea and content but also itsemotional attraction. Why does apainting have such a strong ob-sessing attraction to viewers? 80per cent of the reasons may be re-lated to the human’s sense ofcolours. Colour affects us, res-onating in memory, instinct, thebody and all the five senses.’ Inthis display, by arranging art-works, the organizer hopes tobring a multidimensional experi-ence of sense and feeling to all artlovers.

Art Tunnel Gallery, 16 TrangTien St, Hanoi

Variety art showUntil 9 October, 2015

28 artworks by many artists,including oil paintings, lacquerpaintings, silk paintings, paperpaintings, synthetic material andsculpture are on at Vietnam FineArts Museum till next year. Theexhibition gives a comprehensiveoverview about the developingmodern art of Vietnam throughthe richness of styles and materi-als.

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum,66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba DinhDist., Hanoi. Open: 8 a.m. to 5p.m. Entry fee: VND20,000

Pictures of poverty27 October to 8 November

To commemorate the 20thanniversary of Agence Françaisede Développement (AFD) inVietnam, a photo exhibition is or-ganized at L’Espace, 24 TrangTien St, Hanoi, from 27 Octoberto 8 November.

The exhibition includes 20photographs about Vietnameselandscapes and regional peoplewhere flagship projects were con-ducted by AFD in Vietnam.

AFD is a public developmentfinancial institution that hasbeen working to fight poverty andpromote sustainable develop-ment in the South and the FrenchOverseas Communities for over70 years.

New formUntil 4 November

Manzi Art Space presents anexhibition titled ‘New Form:Sculpture – Architecture – Space’by Vietnamese group artists in-cluding Pham Thai Binh, ThaiNhat Minh, Khong Do Tuyen andHoang Mai Thiep. ‘New Form’ isan experimental sculpture proj-ect, which aims to overcome

stereotypes of traditional sculp-ture and to open up new direc-tions in thinking and creativepossibilities of this art form. Art-works are displayed at Manzi ArtSpace, 14 Phan Huy Ich St, Hanoiuntil 4 November.

The blood of the workersTill undetermined date

The Vietnam National Mu-seum of History has launched anexhibition on Vietnam's Land Re-form, to continue until an unde-termined date. The exhibitionfeatures some 133 items, picturesand documents on the massLand Reform in the northern re-gion (1946-1957). The exhibitionfeatures contrasting images of therich land owners and poor peas-ants, luxurious furniture andclothing the landowners kept athome, models of peasant cot-tages, a punitive rod used bylandowners, and a book record-ing the taxes that share cropperspaid in rice. The exhibits are di-vided into four sections, includ-ing life before and after the LandReform, wrongdoings in theprocess and corrections made.

Vietnam National Museum ofHistory, 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi.Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Closedevery first Monday.

MUSICAn evening of fine music25 October

A night concert by the bandSong Hong Chamber Music willperform ‘trio op.50’ byTchaikovsky, ‘quartet in G minor’by Grieg and ‘quartet No.3’ byChostakovitch at 8 p.m. 25 Octo-ber at L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St,Hanoi. Ticket: VND160,000 andhalf price for students. Tel:(04)3936-21 64

Verdi’s ‘Requiem’22 and 23 October

The concert, ‘Requiem’, withconductor Honna Tetsuji, so-prano Thang Long, alto VanhKhuyen, tenor Anh Vu, baritoneManh Dung and artists fromVietnam National Opera and Bal-let, Hanoi University of Arts Edu-cation, Hanoi InternationalChoir, Hanoi Freude Choir andthe Vietnam National Symphony


EVENTS

Orchestra, will be held at 8 p.m.on 23 and 24 October at HanoiOpera House. Tickets:VND200,000, VND350,000,VND500,000. Tickets are avail-able at Hanoi Opera House, 1Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist,Hanoi or call 0913489858 for freedelivery.

VNSO, soloist to perform30 and 31 October

Conductor Olivier LeoSchmidt accompanied by pianosoloist Dao Trong Tuyen andartists from the Vietnam NationalSymphony Orchestra will per-form at 8 p.m. on 30 and 31 Octo-ber at Hanoi Opera House.Tickets: VND200,000,VND350,000 and VND500,000.Tickets are available at HanoiOpera House, 1 Trang Tien St,Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi or call0913489858 for free delivery.

FESTIVALDays of wineTill 31 October

As an ambassador of Frenchculture, Sofitel Plaza Hanoi willjoin Sofitel Luxury Hotels aroundthe world to celebrate this year’sgrape harvest in France throughan event ‘Sofitel Wine Days’ till 31October.

Guests have chances to enjoyFrench wines from renownedwineries including Rothschild,Guigal, Alain Chabanon, DaumasGassac, Brumont, Trimbach,Jadot, and Bordeaux.

Sofitel Plaza Hanoi, 1 ThanhNien Road, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi.

Oktoberfest Hanoi 23 and 24 October

Germany’s largest culturalevent, Oktoberfest, will be cele-brated in Hanoi this year at theJW Marriott Hotel from 6 p.m. tillmidnight on 23 and 24 October.Guests will be served unlimitedPaulaner Hefe Weissbier while aGerman band plays Bavarian clas-sics. Fun games and lucky drawswill also be held. Tickets areVND1.1 million for individualsand VND1 million for membersof the German Business Associa-tion (GBA), available at the JWMarriott Hanoi, 8 Do Duc Duc St,Me Tri, Nam Tu Liem Dist.,

Hanoi, tel: (04) 3833 5588 andGIC/AHK Vietnam at 1303 Viet-combank Tower, 198 Tran QuangKhai St, Hanoi, tel: (04) 38251420.

HOA BINH

Prize-winning artTill 25 October

A group of 23 artists will bringto the ‘Hoa Binh’s Fine Art Exhibi-tion 2014’ 33 artworks of lacquer,oil, silk, acrylic, ceramics andsculpture. Most of the artworksparticipated in the 2014 Fine ArtExhibition of Region III, Bac CanProvince. Artist Tran Thi Thu haswon first prize in the Region IIIcontest and is one of four artists toreceive the Vietnam Fine Arts As-sociation award for her painting‘Me’, selected from eight nationalapplicants. The exhibition is on atthe Muong’s Cultural Museum,202 Tay Tien St, Thai Binh Dist.,Hoa Binh Province, till 25 Octo-ber. Open: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

SAPA

Northern lifeUntil the end of 2014

More than 50 photos andpaintings featuring the life andculture of ethnic minorities, andthe landscape of Sapa are on dis-play at Lao Cai Tourist Informa-tion Centre, 2 Fansipan, Sapa,until the end of year 2014. The ex-hibition aims to raise fund forpoor children in Sa Pa and TaPhin communes. Hours: 7 a.m. to5.30 p.m.

HO CHI MINH CITY

EXHIBITIONS A love affair with lacquer3 November

A solo exhibition of lacquerpaintings by Nguyen Quang Sonis on at Craig Thomas Gallery till3 November.

Nguyen Quang Son was bornand raised in ‘lacquer village’ inBinh Duong Province. The artistsays, ‘Growing up in a family wed-ded to the use and production oflacquer, it is quite natural for meto pursue this as my artistic prac-tice. I know and understand thisspecial material and am more in-trigued by the possibilities of lac-quer than I am of any other kindof creative material.’ His fluencywith the entire lacquer process isevident in the flawless coloursand smooth finishing achieved inthe paintings.

The exhibition features ab-stract paintings. He uses largequantities of sliced pieces ofmother of pearl, inlaid into thelacquer and sanded. Set againstthe deep black background of thelacquer, Son’s images glitter andsparkle evoking the infinite cos-mos.

Craig Thomas Gallery, 27iTran Nhat Duat St, Tan Dinhward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City.Open: Tuesday to Saturday, 11a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 1p.m.to 5 p.m.

Through yonder windowUntil 31 October

Galerie Quynh is holding‘That Little Distance’, an exhibi-tion by Hanoi-based photogra-pher Jamie Maxtone-Graham till31 October. This is the artist’s firstexhibition in Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition features pho-tographs produced in the derelictsetting of a former factory, wherethe only light source was daylightpassing through a large, north-facing window. Each photo wastaken with an exposure of 15 to 20seconds. With a nod to 17th cen-tury Dutch painting and the me-mento mori genre, the dramaticlight in the photos lends the worka sacred and serene air.

Galerie Quynh, Level 2, 151/3Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho ChiMinh City. Open: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.,Tuesday to Saturday.

New art show ‘drops’Till 18 October

‘Drop’ is the title of a groupexhibition by Tiffany Chung, HaManh Thang, Sandrine Llouquet,Nguyen Manh Hung, Tran VanThao, Truc-Anh and Lien Truong.The exhibition is on at GalerieQuynh till 18 October. Tran VanThao presents a new series of joy-ful abstract paintings alongsidemysterious and brooding sculp-tures of paper and metal by Truc-Anh. Nguyen Manh Hung unveilsa new painting that humorouslyretells a familiar fable, while HaManh Thang shows landscapesthat raise ideas about monumen-tality and doubt. Tiffany Chungand Lien Truong exhibit poeticchronicles of traumatic topogra-phies through different creativeprocesses. Sandrine Llouquet, inher idiosyncratic disturbing andfantastical style, presents draw-ings incorporating the pharma-ceutical product methylene blue.

Galerie Quynh, 65 De Tham,Dist1, Ho Chi Minh City. Openhour: Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.to 6 p.m.; closed Sundays andMondays.

Multi-mediaTill 30 October

Autumn Galleria, a group ex-hibition using drawing, painting,and photography, is on at Sàn Art,3 Me Linh St, Binh Thanh Dist,Ho Chi Minh City, till 30 October.

The exhibition displays works ofartists Thao Nguyen, PhanQuang, Nguyen Thai Tuan, LePhi Long, Nguyen Van Du andBich Phuong.

Japanese antique showTill 28 February, 2015

More than 200 Japanese an-tiques are being displayed at anexhibition at the Ho Chi MinhCity History Museum, 2 NguyenBinh Khiem St, Dist.1, Ho ChiMinh City, till 28 February, 2015.

The objects are made from awide range of materials, with afocus on a number of themes in-cluding worship, decoration, andhandicrafts. The exhibition is toshowcase the hallmark of tradebetween Japan and Vietnam inthe 16th century.

MUSICBeethoven and Brahms at night19 October

A ‘Beethoven and Brahms’concert will be performed at 8p.m. on 19 October at the OperaHouse, 7 Lam Son Square, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh City. The perform-ance will be conducted byAlexander Merzyn, violinistHellen Weiss, cellist Gabriel Adri-ano Schwabe and artists from HoChi Minh City Ballet SymphonyOrchestra and Opera.

Tickets: VND200,000,VND350,000, VND400,000. Stu-dents enjoy the price atVND80,000.

Tickets are available at theOpera House or call (08) 3823-7419 for delivery.

Magic Flute8 and 9 November

Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’will be on at 8 p.m. on 8 and 9

November at Opera House, 7Lam Son Square, Dist.1, Ho ChiMinh City. The show has partici-pation of conductor Magnus Lod-dgard, Magnus Staveland (tenor),Halvor.F.Melien (baritone), DerekAnthony (bass), Cho Hae Ryong(soprano) and artists from the HoChi Minh City Ballet SymphonyOrchestra and Opera.

Tickets: VND400,000,VND550,000 and VND650,000.Students enjoy a price ofVND150,000.

Tickets are available at theOpera House or call (08) 3823-7419 for delivery.

Japanese instrumental rock29 October

A night of instrumental rockwill be performed by MONOfrom Japan at 8 p.m. 29 Octoberat Ho Chi Minh Conservatory ofMusic, 112 Nguyen Du St, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh City. Tickets:VND500,000 and VND700,000.

Hard Rock scares upa good time31 October and 1 November

Hard Rock Café Ho Chi MinhCity will transform itself into thescariest place in town in prepara-tion for its two coming Hal-loween parties.

At 8 p.m. on 31 October, thecafé will become a ghost house

where guests can enjoy a ‘sexiestcostume contest’, wild games, livemusic and ‘unlimited fun.’

At 9 p.m. on 1 November, thecafé will host the ‘HalloweenZumba Party’. The party will fea-ture a performance by a dancecrew from Nicky’s Zumba FitnessClub and Bad Neighbour band.Guests are encouraged to be inHalloween costume and danceand sing along with Zumbamelodies.

The party’s entrance fee isVND150,000; a portion of theticket price will go to Mai TamHouse of Hope to support aban-doned HIV-infected children inHo Chi Minh City. Tickets arenow available at Hard Rock CaféHCMC, Kumho Asiana Plaza, 39Le Duan St, Dist.1. Ho Chi MinhCity. Tel: (08) 6291 7595.

FESTIVALEins, zwei, drei, Prost!14 to 18 October

Oktoberfest, a celebration ofGerman culture, will be organ

ized from 14 October to 18 Octo-ber from 6 p.m. till midnight atWindsor Plaza Hotel, 18 AnDuong Vuong St, Dist 5, Ho ChiMinh City, tel: (08) 3833-6688.The event has a variety of tradi-tional German dishes, free flow ofGerman beer of Schneider Weisseand Krombacher, games, a luckydraw and a performance of theband Gaukis Bavaria. Ticketsfrom VND1,000,000 toVND1,300,000.


EVENTS

VALUE FOR MONEY


HOTELS

Novotel Ha Long Bay160 Halong St, Bai Chay Ward, HalongTel: (033) 3848-108

Novotel Ha Long Bay is offering a meetingpackage until 31 December for those who booka meeting room for at least 20 people. A half-day meeting package is VND550,000++ perperson, including a coffee break, set lunch anda soft drink or iced tea. A full day package isVND650,000++ per person, including two cof-fee breaks, set lunch and a soft drink or iced tea.

Michelia Hotel 4 Pasteur St, Xuong Huan Ward, Nha Trang,Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3820-820

Michelia Hotel has a ‘Golf Package’ till 20December at VND7,119,000++ ($339++) perroom for two nights in a Superior PremierRoom, breakfast and a day at a 18-hole golf atVinpearl Golf Course.

Novotel Nha Trang50 Tran Phu St, Nha TrangTel: (058) 6256-933

Novotel Nha Trang is offering a 30 per centdiscount on rooms for those who book 21 daysin advance on its website at www.novotel-nhatrang.com. The promotion runs till 31 Oc-tober.

Royal Hotel Saigon 133 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-5914www.kimdohotel.com

Royal Hotel Saigon is offering a weddingpackage at VND4,000,000 a table with a six-course menu and free flow of drinks. The pack-age is valid till 31 December.

Cat Tien Farm StayAp 4, Nam Cat Tien, Tan Phu District, Dong NaiProvinceTel: (061) 3664888www.cattienjunglelodge.com

Cat Tien Farm Stay is offering a one nightpackage, including twin-share accommoda-tion, lunch, breakfast, barbecue dinner, a jungletrek and a trip to Ta Lai Longhouse and free useof bicycles. VND2,599,000 per person for groupfrom 5-9 persons, VND 2,269,000 per personfor group from 10 – 19 and VND 2,099,000 perperson for group from 20. The prices includeservice charge and VAT. The package is valid till31 October.

RESORTS AND SPAS

Bai Tram Hideaway ResortHoa Loi, Xuan Canh, Song Cau, Phu YenTel: (057) 3722-563

Bai Tram Hideaway Resort has a two-nightpackage till 4 November. Beachfront Deluxe Villais VND11,550,000++ ($550++) for two and Ricefield Villa is VND9,450,000 ($450++) for two. Thepackage includes breakfast, lunch and dinner anda 20 per cent discount on the Beauty WellnessTreatment.

Vietstar Resort & SpaNui Thom, An Phu, Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen ProvinceTel: (057) 3789-999www.vietstarresort.com

Vietstar Resort & Spa is offering a ‘Honey-moon Package’ at VND3,569,000++ per roomper night in a Luxury Traveller Suite with break-fast, roundtrip airport transfers, electronic carto Bai Xep Beach, a candlelight dinner with onebottle of sparkling wine, spa treatment andlunch. The package is applied to bookings of atleast two nights and runs to 31 October.

Grand Mercure Danang HotelLot A1, Green Island, Hai Chau, Danang Tel: (0511) 3797-777www.grandmercure.com

Grand Mercure Danang has a weddingpackage, ‘Together Forever’ at VND450,000per person, including one night’s stay inDeluxe Privilege Room, a piano performancewelcoming guests, a flower gate décor, a five-tier wedding cake, a sparkling fountain and asix-course set menu. This promotion is validuntil 31 January and applicable for booking ofat least 150 guests.

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & SpaHoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist, DanangTel: (0511) 3981-234www.danang.regency.hyatt.com

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa is run-ning a three-night package starting atVND21,051,752 per room for two includingbreakfast, a 20 per cent discount on spa treat-ments and an international buffet dinner onChristmas or on New Year’s Eve. The price in-cludes service charge and VAT.

Sandy Beach Non Nuoc ResortDanang Vietnam, Managed byCentara255 Huyen Tran Cong Chua St, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., DanangTel: (0511) 3961-777

Sandy Beach Non Nuoc Resort DanangVietnam, Managed by Centara, is running apromotion ‘Stay more, pay less’ till 20 Decem-ber. Those who stay four nights pay threenights, those who stay three pay two and thosewho stay two get a 20 per cent discount. Thepromotion includes buffet breakfast, shuttlebus to Danang and Hoi An, a 50 per cent dis-

VALUE FOR MONEY


count on spa, a 50 per cent discount on airporttransfer and a 15 per cent discount on food andbeverage.

Palm Garden Beach Resort & SpaLac Long Quan St, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3927-927www.palmgardenresort.com.vn

Palm Garden Resort is offering an ‘AutumnFestive Getaway Paradise’ package atVND2,500,000++ per person per twin-shareroom, till 20 December. The package includestwo nights’ stay in a Superior Garden ViewRoom, breakfast, a choice of round trip airporttransfers or a lunch or a dinner, a voucher ofVND300,000 for body massage, a 20 per centdiscount on laundry service, a 15 per cent dis-count on sport services, a 15 per cent discounton food and beverage and a 15 per cent discounton spa services.

Vedana Lagoon Resort & SpaZone 1, Phu Loc Town, Phu Loc Dist., HueTel: (054) 3681-688www.vedanalagoon.com

Vedana Lagoon Resort & Spa has a ‘Pilgrim-age & Vedana – Combination Package’ atVND8,190,000 for stays from 1 to 31 October,2014 including two nights in a HoneymoonBungalow at Pilgrimage Village Boutique Re-sort & Spa and two nights in an Aqua Bungalowor a Pool Honeymoon Villa at Vedana LagoonResort & Spa, breakfast, tai chi and yoga class,shuttle bus transfer from Pilgrimage VillageBoutique Resort & Spa to Vedana Lagoon Re-sort & Spa.

Sunrise Hoi An Beach ResortCua Dai Beach, Hoi An Town, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3937-777www.sunrisehoian.vn

Sunrise Hoi An Beach Resort has a two-night honeymoon package in a Deluxe Roomwith roundtrip airport transfers, a candlelightdinner on the beach with a bottle of red wineor sparkling wine and a 60 minute body mas-sage. The prices start from VND10,479,000. Thepackage is valid till 31 December.

Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa12 A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3741-888www.mui-ne.anantara.com

Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa has a ‘Anan-tara Mui Ne Short Breaks Special’ with pricesstarting from VND2,899,508++ per night perroom with breakfast, a 20 per cent discount on

food and a 20 per cent discount on a 90-minuteoil massage. The special is applied to those whobook at least two nights and is valid till 31 De-cember.

Pandanus ResortQuarter 5, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3849-849

Pandanus Resort has a ‘Summer GetawayPackage 2014’ till 31 October. VND4,800,000++per room for two nights for two with dinner,lunch, round-trip transfers from Ho Chi MinhCity by bus, a 40-minute massage, tai chi andyoga class and walking Mui Ne tour. Surchargeis VND300,000++ per person for Saturday, in-cluding a barbecue buffet dinner at the poolsideand live music.

The Pegasus ResortKe Ga Bay, Ham Thuan Nam Dist., Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3683- 072www.thepegasusresort.com

The Pegasus Resort is offering a honey-moon package till 20 December atVND3,350,000++ ($160++) for two nights in aDeluxe Bungalow Sea view with breakfast, abottle of wine, fruits, one candlelit dinner andcocktail at pool bar.

Villa Aria Muine60A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward,Mui Ne, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3741-660www.villaariamuine.com

Villa Aria Muine offers ‘Winter Promotions’from 1 November to 21 December, 2014 and from1 March to 27 April, 2015. The package includestwo nights’ stay in a Garden Superior Room withbreakfast, afternoon tea time, dinner, two cock-

tails at the poolside and body massage. Theprices start from VND6,280,000 ($299).

Binh An Village ResortTuyen Lam Lake, Ward 4, DalatTel: (063) 3800-999www.binhanvillage.com

Binh An Village Resort is offering a ‘Honey-moon Package’ for those who book at least twonights. It costs VND5,169,000++ per room pernight in a Deluxe Suite with breakfast,roundtrip airport transfers, candlelight dinnerand a bottle of sparkling wine, spa treatmentand a half-day excursion to Valley of Love,Mong Mo Hill and picking strawberries. Thepackage is valid till 31 October.

Dalat Edensee Lake Resort & SpaTuyen Lam Lake, DalatTel: (063) 3831-515www.dalatedensee.com

Dalat Edensee Lake Resort & Spa has a spe-cial price at VND5,490,000 per room for two fortwo nights in a Mimosa Superior Room withbreakfast, dinner, two vouchers for spa treat-ment, roundtrip airport transfers and shuttlebus to Dalat city. The promotion is valid till 30November. The price includes service chargeand VAT.

Crystal Spa 3rd Floor, 202 Hoang Van Thu St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3847-9964

Bring a boarding pass or air ticket to CrystalSpa, near Tan Son Nhat Airport, in Ho ChiMinh City, to get complimentary spa servicestill 31 December. Those who have a ‘BusinessClass’ ticket will get a 30- minute foot massageor neck and shoulder massage. Making thereservation in advance is required

FOOD PROMOTIONS

Melia Hanoi Hotel44B Ly Thuong Kiet St, HanoiTel: (04) 3934-3343

El Oriental Restaurant at the Melia HanoiHotel is serving a steamboat menu, 5.30 p.m. to10 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. Every steam-boat is for two persons at the price of classic,mixed and premium seafood ofVND480,000++, VND550,000++ andVND750,000++, respectively.

Movenpick Hotel Hanoi83A Ly Thuong Kiet St, HanoiTel: (04) 3822-2800

Mangosteen Restaurant at the MövenpickHotel Hanoi has the ‘Halloween menu: notricks, just treats’ on 31 October atVND530,000++ for adults and a half price forchildren from 6 to 12. The restaurant preparesa variety of enticing and frightfully fun activi-

ties. Those who wear Halloween costumes willget a welcome drink.

Hotel de l’Opera29 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 6282-5555www.hoteldelopera.com

Café Lautrec, at the Hotel de l’Opera, hasthe Inspired Business Lunch at VND360,000++for buffet without a la carte main course orVND460,000++ for buffet with a la carte maincourse.

Also, Satine Restaurant at the hotel servesHanoian dishes for lunch and dinner atVND250,000++ for a two course menu andVND350,000++ for a three-course menu.

Press Club 59A Ly Thai To St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04 ) 3934-0888

Press Club serves Thai cuisine, includingred beef curry, green chicken curry, crispy fishwith yellow curry sauce served with rice andsteamed vegetables, seafood salad in a chillibasil dressing and Tom Yam Goong. The pricesstart from VND98,000 to VND268,000 a dish.

Pullman Danang Beach ResortVo Nguyen Giap St, Khue My Ward, Ngu HanhSon Dist., Danang, Tel: (0511) 3958-888

Epice Restaurant at the Pullman DanangBeach Resort serves international seafood buf-

fet from 5.30 p.m., every Saturday in November.The buffet also includes salads, slow roastedbeef and several kinds of mouth-wateringdesserts. VND650,000 including free flow ofbeer, wine and soft drinks.

BW Premier Indochine Palace105A Hung Vuong St, Hue, Tel: (054) 3936-666

For the occasion of Oktoberfest, BW Pre-mier Indochine Palace has many discounts offon beer till 31 October. Le Petit café offers a 15to 25 per cent discount and Au Rendezvous of-fers a 10 to 20 per cent discount.

Pullman Saigon Centre148 Tran Hung Dao St, Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Tel: (08) 3838-8686www.pullmanhotels.com/7489

Food ConneXion Restaurant, at the Pull-man Saigon Centre, serves buffet lunch andbuffet dinner. Besides over 80 dishes the restau-rant has a ‘Japanese a-la-minute’ counter and acorner to make a roll with ‘Peking duck’ crispyskin, vegetable and traditional Chinese pan-cakes. Diners can order any grilled item on the‘Specialist Grilled Menu’.

Lunch: 11.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner: 6.30p.m. to 10 p.m.

VND480,000++including of tea, coffee &mineral water

VND888,000++including of wine, softdrink & beer

VALUE FOR MONEY


RECIPE

Banana Blossom saladThis recipe for banana blos-

som salad (gỏi hoa chuối)comes from Executive Chef TaViet Anh, and is one of Hoi An’sspecialties. ‘It is also tourists’favourite choice when staying atthe Boutique Hoi An Resort,’ thechef said.

Ingredients (Serves one):Banana blossom: 200g; Pork

shoulder: 60g; Onion: 50g; Mint:50g; Carrot: 50g; Shrimp: 80g;Peanuts: 50g; Vietnamese dress-ing: 50ml; Fish sauce: 25ml;Lemon: 50g; Cooking oil: 30ml;Shallot: 50g; Coriander: 50g;Two big red chilies.

Directions:1. Fill a large bowl with coldwater. Add lime juice. Setaside.2. Remove and discard anydried and tough outer layer orbracts from the banana blos-som. Use a very sharp knife to dis-card stem at the bottom. Cut thebanana blossom into very thinslices or a fine julienne. You canuse either mandoline or foodprocessor. Put the sliced blossominto acidulated water for 15 - 30minutes.3. Wash and rinse the blossomunder cold running water. Drain.4.Cut the carrot and julienne onion.

5. Boil pork shoulder about 8minutes and thinly slice it.6. Peel skin of shrimp and boil inhot water for 1 to 2 minutes.Then drain and keep cold.7. Use a mortar and pestle to crushpeanut, sugar and salt. Transfer to amixing bowl. Then add bananablossom, pork, dried shrimp,peanuts, Vietnamese dressing andmint. Toss all the ingredients well

to combine. Then add lime juice.Toss well and adjust the taste ifneeded salt, sugar or lime juice.Transfer to serving platterdecoratedwith coriander and chili slices.

Boutique Hoi An ResortGroup 6, Block Tan Thinh, Cam

An Ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province

Tel: (0510) 3939-111

Pho

to: B

outiq

ue H

oi An

Res

ort

EMERGENCIESPolice: 113Fire: 114Ambulance: 115

SAPA(TELEPHONE CODE: 020)

Sapa is a former French hill stationin northwestern Vietnam, in Lao CaiProvince, near the Chinese border.A number of minority cultures including the H’mong, Dao and Taylive in villages in the countrysidearound Sapa.

HOTELS, RESORTSNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change daily

Cat Cat View Hotel46 Fan Xi Pang St, Sapa, Lao CaiProvinceTel: (020) 3871-946www.catcathotel.comVND735,000 to VND3,780,000($35 to $180)

Cha Pa Garden Boutique Hotel & Spa23B Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3872-907Email: [email protected] VND1,470,000 ($70)Chau Long Sapa Hotel

24 Dong Loi St, Sapa,Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3871-245Email: [email protected] VND700,000 ($33)

Holiday Sapa Hotel16 Muong Hoa, Sapa, Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3873-874Email: [email protected],000 to VND2,100,000 ($28 to $100)

Mường Thanh Sapa HotelNo 044, Ngu Chi Son, Sapa, Lao CaiProvinceTel: (020) 3887-766Email: [email protected]

Royal Hotel54B Cau May St, Sapa, Lao CaiProvinceTel: (020) 3771-131 Email: [email protected] VND340,000 ($17)

Topas EcolodgeThanh Kim Ward, Sapa,Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (04) [email protected] From VND2,300,000 ($110)

Victoria Sapa Resort and SpaXuan Vien St, Sapa, Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3871-522Email: [email protected] VND3,657,000 ($172)

RESTAURANTSBuffalo Bell Restaurant25 Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3873-455Delta Restaurant33 Cau May St, Sapa,Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3871-799Fansipan Restaurant23 Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai ProvinceTel: (020) 3871-556

HALONG(TELEPHONE CODE: 033)

With around 1,600 islands and isletsin the Gulf of Tonkin, Halong Bay,about 170 km east of Hanoi, is wellknown for its limestone seascape.Overnight boat trips out of HalongCity are a popular way to see it.

HOSPITALSBai Chay Hospital Gieng Day Ward, HalongTel: (033) 3846-557www.benhvienbaichay.vn

Traditional Medicine Hospital Cot 8, Hong Ha Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3838-113

Vietnam-Sweden Hospital Thanh Son Ward, Uong Bi Commune, HalongTel: (033) 3854-037www.bvubqn.tk

TRAVELHalong Tourism 1 Halong St, HalongTel: (033) 3846-272Quang Ninh Tourism Company Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, HalongTel: (033) 3846-350Syrena CruisesHung Thang new urban area,Bai Chay, HalongTel: (033) 3847-043Hanoi Sales Office: Syrena Tower,3th Floor, 51 Xuan Dieu St, HanoiTel: (04) 3719-7214Email: [email protected]


Asean Halong HotelHau Can St, Bai Chay Ward, HalongTel: (033) 3640-034 Email: [email protected] www.aseanhalonghotel.com

Halong Hidden Charm HotelBlock 22D, Tuan Chau Villas, Halong Tel: (033) 3842-360Email:infor.halonghiddencharmhotel@gmail.comwww.hiddencharmhotel.com.vn From VND600,000 ($29)

Halong Palace Hotel1, Block 20 Dong Hung Thang,Hoang Quoc Viet St, Bai Chay Ward,HalongTel: (033) 3619-819Email: [email protected] VND3,800,000 ($181)

Halong Plaza Hotel8 Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3845-810 Email: [email protected] www.halongplaza.com VND1,500,000 to VND3,800,000($71 to $179)

Heritage Halong Hotel 88 Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, HalongTel: (033) 3846-888 Email: [email protected],200,000 ($57)

Mường Thanh Halong HotelNo.7, Block 20, East of Hung Thang,Bai Chay Ward, HalongTel: (033) 3812-468/ (033) 3819-777Email: [email protected] VND1,400,000 ($67) Novotel Ha Long Bay160 Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Ha-longTel: (033) 3848-108 Email: [email protected] www.novotelhalongbay.com From VND2,772,000 ($132)

Saigon Halong HotelHa Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3845-845 [email protected] www.saigonhalonghotel.com From VND950,000 ($45)

StarCity Halong Bay Hotel

Halong St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3846-058Email: [email protected] In the centre of Halong, StarCity Ha-long Bay Hotel offers 152 well-

equipped rooms, with many breath-taking views of Halong Bay

RESTAURANTSCo Ngu RestaurantHalong St, HalongTel: (033) 3511-363Jumbo Vietnam Floating Restaurant119 Le Thanh Tong St, HalongTel: (033) 3624-888Sea Food RestaurantHalong St, HalongTel: (033) 3845-822Thu Huong RestaurantHalong St, HalongTel: (033) 3845-142

BARS & CAFÉSEmeraude CaféRoyal Park, Ha Long St, Halong Tel: (033) 3849-266 www.emeraude-cruises.comRoyal International Gaming Club and VillaBai Chay, Halong Tel: (033) 3848-777

HAI PHONG CITY(TELEPHONE CODE: 031)

HOTELS, RESORTSNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change dailyCatba Princes Hotel

303 Nui Ngoc, Cat Ba Island, HaiPhong CityTel: (031) 3888-899 Email: [email protected] VND527,500 ($25)Catba Sunrise ResortCat Ba Island, Hai Phong CityTel: (031) 3887-360Email: [email protected] VND3,520,000 ($168)

Harbour View Hotel12 Tran Phu St, Ngo Quyen Dist., HaiPhongTel: (031) 3827-827 Email:[email protected] VND2,772,000 ($132)

ENTERTAINMENTDo Son Casino Zone 3, Do Son town, Hai PhongTel: (031) 3864-888

DIRECTIONS SAPA, HALONG, HAI PHONG


A

1

2

3

4

CB

C E N T R E O F H A N O I

2

5

3

1

2 Capital Garden Hotel

3 Daewoo Hotel

4 De Syloia Hotel

5 Fortuna Hotel Hanoi

6 Green Mango

7 Sunway Hotel Hanoi

8 Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel

9 Joseph’s Hotel

10 Little Hanoi

11 MAison d’Hanoi Hanova Hotel

12 Melia Hanoi Hotel

13 Movenpick Hotel Hanoi

14 Nikko Hanoi Hotel

15 Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

Hanoi Emotion Hotel

TNEC OERT O

Capital Garden Hotel222

Daewoo Hotel333

De Syloia Hotel444444

Fortuna Hotel Hanoi555

Hanoi Emotion Hotel

1

A

A

B

C

Fortuna Hotel Hanoi5

Green Mango66

Sunway Hotel Hanoi777

Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel888888

s Hotel99 Joseph’

Little Hanoi111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

MAison d’Hanoi Hanova Hotel111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

2

Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel

MAison d’Hanoi Hanova Hotel

333

Melia Hanoi Hotel1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111122222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

Movenpick Hotel Hanoi111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111113333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Nikko Hanoi Hotel1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

3

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

555

3

222

5

4

Ba Trieu...................E3, E4Bac Son.........................D1Bach Dang.....................F2Bach Mai........................E4Bat Dan..........................E2Bich Cau........................C2Buoi................................A1Cat Linh..........................C2Cha Ca....................E1, E2Cua Bac.........................D1Cua Dong.......................D2

Da Tuong.......................E3Dang Tat.........................D1Dao Duy Anh.................D4Dao Duy Tu.............E1, E2Dien Bien Phu................D2Doc Ngu.........................A1Doi Can.............A1, B2, C2Duong Thanh.................E2Gam Cau........................E1Giai Phong.....................D4Giang Vo.....A3 ,B3 ,B2,C2

Hai Ba Trung.....E2, E3, F3Ham Long......................E3Han Thuyen....................F3Hang Bac.......................E2Hang Bo.........................E2Hang Bong.....................E2Hang Buom....................E2Hang Can.......................E2Hang Chuoi....................F3Hang Cot........................E1Hang Da.........................E2Hang Dao.......................E2

Hang Dau.......................E1Hang Ga.........................E2Hang Gai........................E2Hang Khay.....................E2Hang Khoai....................E1Hang Ma.........................E1Hang Quat......................E2Hang Trong....................E2Hang Chieu....................E1Hang Luoc......................E1Hao Nam........................C2Hoa Ma...........................F3

Hoang Dieu.............D1, D2Hoang Hoa Tham...................................A1, B1, C1, D1Hoang Van Thu..............D1Hoe Nhai........................E1Hung Vuong............D1, D2Huynh Thuc Khang........A3Kham Thien.............C3, D3Kim Ma..............A2, B2, C2La Thanh.................B3, C3Lang Ha..........................B3Nguyen Chi Thanh.........A3

Le Dai Hanh...................E4Le Duan............D2, D3, D4Le Hong Phong.............D2Le Lai..............................F2Le Thai To.......................E2 Le Thanh Tong...............F3Le Van Huu....................E3Lieu Giai........................A2Lo Duc......................F3, F4Lo Su..............................F2Luong Ngoc Quyen.......E2 Luong Van Can..............E2

S T R E E T G U I D E

A

1

2

3

4

FEDCB

C E N T R E O F H A N O I

13

1

12

15

8

4

911

610

14

2

5

3

1

2 Capital Garden Hotel

3 Daewoo Hotel

4 De Syloia Hotel

5 Fortuna Hotel Hanoi

6 Green Mango

7 Sunway Hotel Hanoi

8 Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel

9 Joseph’s Hotel

10 Little Hanoi

11 MAison d’Hanoi Hanova Hotel

12 Melia Hanoi Hotel

13 Movenpick Hotel Hanoi

14 Nikko Hanoi Hotel

15 Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

Hanoi Emotion Hotel

TNEC OERT AHFO ION

Capital Garden Hotel

Daewoo Hotel

De Syloia Hotel

Fortuna Hotel Hanoi

Hanoi Emotion Hotel

1

D

E

F

Fortuna Hotel Hanoi

Green Mango

Sunway Hotel Hanoi


s HotelJoseph’

Little Hanoi


2



1

9991111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

666666111111111111111111111111111111111100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Melia Hanoi Hotel

Movenpick Hotel Hanoi

Nikko Hanoi Hotel


3


1313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111112222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111155555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

44444

8888

3

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111144444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

4

Ly Nam De..............E1, E2Ly Quoc Su....................E2Ly Thai To.......................F2Ly Thuong Kiet........E3, F3Mai Hac De..............E3, E4Ngo Quyen.....................F3Ngo Si Lien....................D2Ngo Thi Nham................E3Ngoc Ha.........................C1Ngoc Khanh...................B2Nguyen Canh Chan......D1Nguyen Cong Hoa.........B2

Nguyen Dinh Chieu.............................................E3, E4Nguyen Du..............D3, E3Nguyen Huu Huan........ F2Nguyen Khuyen.............D2Nguyen Luong Bang.....C3Nguyen Thai Hoc....C2, D2Nguyen Thuong Hien.................................................D3Nguyen Van To..............E2Nha Chung.....................E2Nha Tho.........................E2

Nui Truc..........................B2Pham Dinh Ho................F3Pham Ngu Lao...............F3Phan Boi Chau.......D2, D3Phan Chu Trinh..............F3Phan Dinh Phung..........D1Phan Huy Chu................F3Pho Duc Chinh...............F3Pho Hue...................E3, E4Phu Doan.......................E2Phung Hung............E1, E2Quan Su..................E2, E3

Quan Thanh...................D1Quang Trung...........E2, E3Quoc Tu Giam...............D2Son Tay..........................C2Thai Phien......................E4Thanh Cong...................B3Thanh Nien....................D1Tho Nhuom.............E2, E3Thuy Khue..............................................A1, B1, C1, D1To Hien Thanh...............E4Tong Dan........................F2

Ton Duc Thang..............C3Tran Hung Dao..............................................D3, E3, F3Tran Huy Lieu................B2 Tran Khanh Du...............F3Tran Khat Chan..............F4Tran Nguyen Han..........F2Tran Nhan Tong......D3, E3Tran Nhat Duat..............E1Tran Phu........................D2Tran Quang Khai............F2Tran Qui Cap.................D2

Tran Quoc Toan......D3, E3Tran Thanh Tong............F3Tran Xuan Soan..................................................E3, E4Trang Thi........................E2Trang Tien................E2, F3Trieu Viet Vuong......E3, E4Trinh Hoai Duc...............C2Tue Tinh.........................E3Yen Phu..........................E1Yersin..............................F4Yet Kieu..........................D3

HANOI(TELEPHONE CODE: 04)

EMBASSIESAlgeria13 Phan Chu Trinh St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3825-3865

Argentina41A Ly Thai To St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3831-5263

Australia8 Dao Tan St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3831-7755

Austria53 Quang Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3943-3050BangladeshVilla D6B 5 – Khu Vuon Dao Ngo 675,Lac Long Quan St, Tay Ho Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3771-6625Belarus52 Ho Tay St, Tay Ho Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3829-0494BelgiumHanoi Tower, 49 Hai Ba Trung St,Hoan Kiem Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3934-6179

BrazilT72-14 Thuy Khue St, Tay Ho Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3843-2544

BruneiVilla 8-9 No 44/8-44, 9 Van Bao St, BaDinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3726-0001

Bulgaria5 Nui Truc St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3845-2908

Cambodia71A Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3942-7636Canada31 Hung Vuong St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3823-5500China46 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist.,Hanoi. Tel: (04) 3845-3736Cuba65 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3942-4775

Czech Republic13 Chu Van An St, Ba Dinh Dist.,Hanoi; Tel: (04) 3845-4131Denmark19 Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3823-1888

Egypt63 To Ngoc Van St, Tay Ho Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3829-4999

Finland31 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3826-6788

France57 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3944-5782

Germany29 Tran Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3845-3836

Hungary12th floor of Deaha Building, 360Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3771-5714India58-60 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3824-4990

Indonesia50 Ngo Quyen St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3825-3353Iran54 Tran Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3823-2068Iraq66 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3942-4141Ireland8th floor of Vincom Tower B, 191 Ba Trieu St, Ha Dong Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3974-3291Israel68 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba DinhDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3843-3141Italy9 Le Phung Hieu St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3825-6256

Japan27 Lieu Giai St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3846-3000Laos22 Tran Binh Trong St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3942-4576Libya298B Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3845-3379Malaysia43-45 Dien Bien Phu St, Ba DinhDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3734-3836MexicoCoco Villa T-11, 14 Thuy Khue St, TayHo Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3847-0948Mongolia5 Van Phuc, Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3845-3009Myanmar298A Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3845-3369

Netherlands6th floor of Deaha Building, 360 KimMa St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3831-5650New Zealand63 Ly Thai To St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3824-1481

North Korea25 Cao Ba Quat St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3845-3008Norway8th Floor, Hanoi Tower, 49 Hai BaTrung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3974-8900

Nigeria44/1 Van Bao St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3726-3610Palestine6 Dang Van Ngu St, Dong Da Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3852-4013Philippines27B Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3943-7948

Poland3 Chua Mot Cot St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3845-2027Romania5 Le Hong Phong St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3845-2014

Russia191 La Thanh St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: 3833-6991South Africa31 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3936-2000

South Korea4th floor of Deaha Building, 360 Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3831-5111

Spain15th floor of Deaha Building, 360 Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3771-5207

Sweden2 Nui Truc St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3726-0400Thailand63-65 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3823-5092Turkey14th Floor, HCO Building, 44B LyThuong Kiet St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Tel: (04) 3822-2460

United Kingdom31 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3936-0500

United States7 Lang Ha St, Dong Da Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3772-1500

MEDICAL CENTRESAcupuncture Institute49 Thai Thinh St, Dong Da Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3563-1069Hanoi French Hospital1 Phuong Mai St, Ba Dinh Dist.,Hanoi Tel: (04) 3577-1100International SOS Clinic1 Dang Thai May St, Tay Ho Dist.,Hanoi Tel: (04) 3934-0666Vinmec international hospital458 Minh Khai St, Hai Ba Trung Dist,Hanoi, Tel: (04) 3974-3556

AIRLINESAir France1 Ba Trieu St, Hoan Kiem Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3825-3484Qatar AirwaysHilton Hanoi Opera Building, M floor, 1 Le Thanh Tong St, HoanKiem Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3933-6767www.qatarairways.comSingapore Airlines17 Ngo Quyen St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,Hanoi. Tel: (04) 3826-8888Vietnam Airlines25 Trang Thi St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3823-0320

TRAVELAmega TravelNo 2606 Thang Long InternationalVillage, Tran Dang Ninh St, Cau GiayDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3783-3570www.amegatravelvietnam.com

Buffalo Tours94 Ma May St, HanoiTel: (04) 3828-0702www.buffalotours.comEmeraude Classic Cruises46 Le Thai To St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3935-1888 www.emeraude-cruises.comEmail: [email protected] 26 Tran Nhat Duat St, HanoiTel: (04) 3828-2150www.exotissimo.comEmail: [email protected]

Oriental Sails16A Ly Nam De St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3926-4009Email: [email protected] www.orientalsails.com

Topas Travel52 To Ngoc Van St, HanoiTel: (04) 3715-1005 Email: [email protected] www.topastravel.vn


DIRECTIONS HANOI

HOTELSNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change dailyBaoson International Hotel50 Nguyen Chi Thanh St, HanoiTel: (04) 3835-3536Email: [email protected] VND1,570,000 ($75)

De Syloia Hotel 17A Tran Hung Dao St, HanoiTel: (04) 3824-5346Email: [email protected] VND1,806,000 ($86)

Fortuna Hotel Hanoi6B Lang Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3831-3333Email: [email protected] VND1,920,000 ($91)

Hanoi Daewoo Hotel360 Kim Ma St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-5000Email: [email protected]

Hanoi Emotion Hotel26 – 28 Hang Bot St, HanoiTel: (04) 3848-9848Email: [email protected] hotel also provides Vietnamese,Japanese and International cuisine

Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel1 Le Thanh Tong St, HanoiTel: (04) 3933-0500Email: [email protected] www.hanoi.hilton.com

Hotel de l’Opera 29 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 6282-5555Email: [email protected]

Melia Hanoi Hotel44B Ly Thuong Kiet St, HanoiTel: (04) 3934-3343Email: [email protected]

Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi 83A Ly Thuong Kiet St, HanoiTel: (04) 3822-2800Email: [email protected]/hanoiFrom VND3,139,500 ($149.50)

Hotel Nikko Hanoi84 Tran Nhan Tong St, Hanoi Tel.: (04) 3822-3535 [email protected] VND4,620,000 ($220)

Pullman Hanoi40 Cat Linh St, HanoiTel: (04) 3733-0808

Email: [email protected] VND2,448,600 ($115.50)

Prestige Hotel Hanoi17 Pham Dinh Ho St, HanoiTel: (04) 6299-9888Email: [email protected] new four-star international stan-dard hotel, on a tree-lined street in theheart of Hanoi, 15 minutes walk fromthe Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake.Modern luxuries, impeccable serviceand excellent value for the business orpleasure traveller.80 rooms including elegant suites andan executive apartment, conferencefacilities, business centre, a restau-rant, a fitness centre, a rooftop swim-ming pool and a cocktail bar.

Silk Path Hotel Hanoi195-199 Hang Bong St, Hoan KiemDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3266-5555Email: [email protected] VND2,289,000 ($109)

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel 11 Xuan Dieu St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3719-9000 [email protected]/hanoiFrom VND4,956,000 ($236)As a ‘resort within the city’, SheratonHanoi Hotel is on the West Lake.

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi 15 Ngo Quyen St, HanoiTel: (04) 3826-6919 Email: [email protected] From VND6,090,000 ($290)

Sunway Hotel Hanoi 19 Pham Dinh Ho St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3971-3888 Email:[email protected]

APARTMENTSFraser Suites Hanoi51 Xuan Dieu St, Quang An Ward,Tay Ho Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3719-8877sales.hanoi@frasershospitality.comhanoi.frasershospitality.com

Somerset Serviced ResidenceVietnam49 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3934-2342www.somerset.comLuxurious apartments and propertiesfor hiring

RESTAURANTSCom Chay Nang Tam Restaurant79A Tran Hung Dao St, HanoiTel: (04) 3942-4140

Green Tangerine48 Hang Be St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3825-1286www.greentangerinehanoi.com Serving French food with a Vietnamese cuisine Hoa Vien Brauhaus1A Tang Bat Ho St, Hai Ba TrungDist., HanoiTel: (04) 3972-5088www.hoavien.vnThe restaurant has been famous forits production of Czech beer

Le Tonkin Restaurant14 Ngo Van So St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3943-3457www.letonkinrestaurant.vnServes Vietnamese food

BOOK STOREInfostones Bookshop41 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3826-2993Email: [email protected] of magazines and booksby hundreds of publishing housesworldwide

SHOPSCraft Link43 and 51 Van Mieu St, HanoiTel: (04) 3843-7710 Email: [email protected]

Ha Dong Silk102 Hang Gai St, HanoiTel: (04) 3928-5056Tan My Embroidery 66 Hang Gai St, HanoiEmail: [email protected] Tel: (04) 3825-1579

Viet Culture1 Trang Thi St, HanoiTel: (04) 3934-7417

Vietnam Quilts13 Hang Bac St, Hoan Kiem Dist.,HanoiTel: (04) 3926-4831www.vietnam-quilts.orgTraditional embroidery and otherhandicraft cloth products

FURNITURE/ INTERIORDome Au Co9 Au Co St, HanoiTel: (04) 3718-5866Email: [email protected]

Dome Yen The10 Yen The St, HanoiTel: (04) 3843-6036

STOREAnnam Gourmet 51 Xuan Dieu St, Quang An Ward,Tay Ho Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3718-4487www.annam-gourmet.comAnnam Gourmet’s motivation is to“Enjoy Life. Eat and Drink well.”

MUSEUMSHo Chi Minh Museum19 Ngoc Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3846-3752www.baotanghochiminh.vnOpen: 8 a.m. to noon (Monday andFriday), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (other days)Entry fee: VND25,000

Imperial Citadel of Thang Long12 Nguyen Tri Phuong St/ 9 HoangDieu St, Ba Dinh Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 37345427hoangthanhthanglong@gmail.comwww.hoangthanhthanhlong.vnOpen: 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 2p.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays)Entry fee: VND30,000

Vietnam National Museumof History1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi216 Tran Quang Khai St, HanoiTel: (04) 3824-1384www.baotanglichsu.vnOpen 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.Closedevery first Monday of monthsEntry fee VND 20,000 ($0.95) foradults and VND10,000 ($0.48) forchildren

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3733-2131 www.vnfineartsmuseum.org.vnOpen 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.Entry fee VND20,000 ($0.95)

Vietnam Military History Museum28A Dien Bien Phu St, Hanoiwww.btlsqsvn.org.vnOpen 8 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)

Vietnam Museum of EthnologyNguyen Van Huyen St, Cau Giay Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3756-2193, www.vme.org.vnOpen 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on MondaysEntry fee VND25,000 ($1.19)

Women’s Museum36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-9936www.womenmuseum.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Closed on MondaysEntry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)

SPAElite Fitness & Spa51 Xuan Dieu St, Tay Ho Dist., HanoiTel: (04) 3718-6281Email: [email protected]

Spa de PalaceFortuna Hotel Hanoi, 6B Lang Ha St, HanoiTel: (04) 3831-3333


DIRECTIONS HANOI

NINH BINH(TELEPHONE CODE: 030)

Emeralda Resort Ninh Binh

Van Long Reserve, Gia Van Commune,Gia Vien Dist., Ninh Binh Province Tel: (030) 3658-333 Email: [email protected] www.emeraldaresort.com

Ninh Binh Legend Hotel Tien Dong Zone, Ninh Khanh Ward,Ninh Binh City Tel: (030) 3899-880 Email: [email protected] www.ninhbinhlegendhotel.com From VND1,575,000 ($75)

NGHE AN(TELEPHONE CODE: 038)

Mường Thanh Song Lam Hotel13 Quang Trung St, Quang TrungWard, Vinh, Nghe An ProvinceTel: (038) 3737-666Email: [email protected]

QUANG BINH(TELEPHONE CODE: 052)


Bao Ninh Beach ResortHa Duong, Bao Ninh, Dong Hoi City,Quang Binh ProvinceTel: (052) 3854-866Email: [email protected] VND1,120,000 ($53)

Sun Spa ResortMy Canh, Bao Ninh Commune, DongHoi City, Quang Binh ProvinceTel: (052) 3842-999Email: [email protected] VND1,870,000 ($89)

TRAVELOxalis Adventure Tours Phong Nha Commune, Son Trach Vil-lage, Bo Trach Dist., Quang Binh ProvinceTel: (052)3677-678 www.oxalis.com.vn

HUE(TELEPHONE CODE: 054)

Hue is a city on the Perfume River inlowland central Vietnam and was thecapital of the Nguyen dynasty from1802 to 1945. Many imperial structuresremain. They were named part of

UNESCO World Heritage in 1993. Hueis also known for its particular cuisine.


Banyan Tree Lang Co HotelCu Du village, Loc Vinh Commune,Phu Loc Dist., Thua Thien HueProvince. Tel: (054) [email protected]

BW Premier Indochine Palace

105A Hung Vuong St, HueTel: (054) 3936-666Email: [email protected] VND3,024,000 ($144)The hotel is surrounded by lush greengardens that make it an outstandinglandmark in Hue and give the city thefeel of a resort. This luxurious, interna-tional standard hotel is created to ap-peal to Vietnamese and internationalvisitors to Hue.

Century Riverside Hotel Hue

49 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (054) 3823-390Email: [email protected] www.centuryriversidehue.com

Hue Riverside Boutique Resort & Spa

588 Bui Thi Xuan St, Thuy Bieu Dist., Hue Tel: (054) 3978-484 Email: [email protected]

Imperial Hotel8 Hung Vuong St, HueTel: (054) 3882-222Email: [email protected],300,000 to VND29,400,000($110 to $1,400)

Huong Giang Hotel Resort & Spa

51 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (054) [email protected]

La Résidence Hue Hotel & Spa5 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (054) 3837-475 Email: [email protected]

Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort & Spa

130 Minh Mang Road, HueTel: (054) 3885-461 Email: [email protected]

Vedanā Lagoon Resort & SpaZone 1, Phu Loc Town, Phu Loc Dist.,HueTel: (054) 3681-688Email: [email protected]

RESTAURANTThien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant110A Le Ngo Cat St, Thuy Xuan Ward, HueTel: (054) 3898-220 www.thientamrestaurant.com Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant fea-tures a Hue garden house with a simpledesign and a serene atmosphere. Therestaurant serves a variety of Hue vege-tarian food, from royal to local dishes, ata reasonable price. The menu has manychoices, with prices starting fromVND45,000 per dish. The restaurant alsoserves as an art playground for Hueartists. Guests have chance to get theirportraits drawn by the owners at a rea-sonable price. Vegetarian cookingclasses are also available. The restau-rant is about 1-2 km from Tu Duc tomb

DANANG(TELEPHONE CODE: 0511)


Grand Mercure DanangLot A1, Green Island, Hoa Cuong Bac,Hai Chau Dist., Danang

Tel: (0511) 3797-777Email: [email protected] www.accorhotels.com/7821

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & SpaHoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist.,DanangTel: (0511) 3981-234Email: [email protected] VND5,225,000 ($243)

Pullman Danang Beach ResortVo Nguyen Giap St, Khue My Ward,Ngu Hanh Son Dist., DanangTel: (0511) 3958-888Email: [email protected]

Novotel Danang Premier Han River

36 Bach Dang St, Hai Chau Dist.,Danang. Tel: (0511) 3929-999Email: [email protected] Beach Non Nuoc ResortDanang Vietnam, Managed by Centara

255 Huyen Tran Cong Chua St, NguHanh Son Dist., DanangTel: (0511) 3961-777Email: [email protected]/cdvVND1,785,000 to VND5,670,000($85 to $270)Ho Chi Minh sales office: 4th Floor, BenThanh TSC Building; 186-188 Le ThanhTon St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3914-7940

Vinpearl Luxury DanangTruong Sa St, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu HanhSon Dist., DanangTel: (0 511) 3968-888Email: [email protected]

MUSEUMDanang Museum of Cham Sculpture2, 2 Thang 9 St, Danang Tel: (0511) 3572-935www.chammuseum.danang.vnOpen 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m.Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)

HOI AN(TELEPHONE CODE: 0510)

A major port town from the 15th to

DIRECTIONS NINH BINH, NGHE AN, QUANG BINH, HUE, DANANG, HOI AN


19th centuries, Hoi An has well preserved vestiges of Vietnamese, Chi-nese and Japanese cultures. The build-ings are now often used for tailor’sshops. The old town is a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site. Hoi An is a littleover 30 km south of Danang, on thecentral coast.

HOTELS, RESORTSNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change dailyAnantara Hoi An Resort1 Pham Hong Thai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3914-555Email: [email protected]

Golden Sand Resort & Spa Hoi AnThanh Nien Road, Cua Dai BeachHoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3927-555 info@goldensandresort-spa.com.vnwww.goldensandresort-spa.com.vnVND3,759,000 to VND7,644,000

Golf Hoi An Hotel

187 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Cam Pho Ward,Hoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3861-171Email: [email protected]

Ancient House River ResortHamlet 2, Cam Thanh Village, Hoi An,Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3930-777Email: [email protected] VND2,656,500 ($126.50)

Hoi An Beach Resort1 Cua Dai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3927-011info@hoianbeachresort.com.vnwww.hoianbeachresort.com.vnVND2,184,000 to VND2,772,000($104 to $132)Hoi An Historic Hotel

10 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi An, QuangNam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3861-445Email: [email protected] VND2,127,500 ($101)

Hoi An Riverside Resort & Spa175 Cua Dai St, Hoi An,

Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3864-800reservation@hoianriverresort.com.vnwww.hoianriverresort.comFrom VND1,650,000 ($79)

Le Belhamy Hoi An Resort & SpaHa My Beach, Hoi AnTel: (0510) 3941-888 Email: [email protected] VND2,835,000 ($135)

Hoi An Pacific Hotel & Spa

321 Cua Dai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3923-777Email: [email protected] www.hoianpacific.comFrom VND1,113,000 ($53)

Sunrise Hoi An Beach ResortAu Co Road, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An,Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3937-777Email: [email protected]

Palm Garden Beach Resort and Spa

Lac Long Quan St, Cua Dai Beach, HoiAn, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3927-927Email: [email protected] VND 4,158,000 ($198)

River-Beach Resort & ResidencesHoi An

5 Cua Dai St, Hoi AnTel: (0510) 3927-888saleshoian@river-beachresort.comwww.river-beachresort.comFrom VND1,350,000 ($65)

($179 to $364)TRAVELRose Travel Service co..ltd37 - 39 Ly Thai To St, Cam Chau Ward,Hoi An, Quang Nam ProvinceTel: (0510) 3917-567

Email: [email protected]

MUSEUMHoi An Centre for Cultural HeritageManagement and Preservation10B Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi AnTel: (0510) 3862-367www.hoianheritage.netOpen daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

QUY NHON(TELEPHONE CODE: 056)


AVANI Quy Nhon Resort & SpaGhenh Rang, Bai Dai Beach, Quy Nhon,Binh Dinh ProvinceTel: (056) 3840-132Email: [email protected]/quynhonFrom VND1,995,000 ($95)

Royal Hotel and Healthcare Resort Quy Nhon1 Han Mac Tu St, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province Tel: (056) 374-7100Email: [email protected],155,000 to VND1,365,000($55 to $65)

MUSEUMQuang Trung MuseumBlock 1, Phu Phong town, Tay SonDist., Binh Dinh ProvinceTel: (056) 3580-320Open 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.Entry fee VND10,500 ($0.50). Free for children under six

NHA TRANG(TELEPHONE CODE: 058)

On the central coast, Nha Trang is acity originally known for beautifulbeaches but these have lately beenfound to suffer from pollution dueto modern life, development andtourism, like other popular resortareas in Vietnam. It has large num-bers of foreign tourists, island-hop-ping, scuba diving, sightseeing andlounging on the beach.


Champa Island Nha Trang Resort & Spa

304 2/4 St, Vinh Phuoc, Nha TrangEmail: [email protected]: 0123 6009 777With architecture reflecting nearby PoNagar temple, Champa Island NhaTrang offers exquisite cuisine and manyentertainment services that promise amemorable stay in Nha Trang

Best Western Premier Havana Nha Trang Hotel

38 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang,Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3889-999Email: [email protected]

Diamond Bay Resort & SpaSong Lo, Phuoc Ha, Phuoc Dong Dist.,Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3711-711Email: [email protected]

Evason Ana Mandara Nha TrangBeachside Tran Phu St, Nha Trang,Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) [email protected]/evason-resorts/ana-mandara/destination

Galina Hotel & Spa05 Hung Vuong St, Loc Tho Ward, NhaTrang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3839-999Email: [email protected]

InterContinental Nha Trang Hotel

32-34 Tran Phu St, Nha TrangTel: (058) 3887-777www.intercontinental.com

Michelia Hotel4 Pasteur St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3820-820Email: [email protected] VND2,200,000 ($105)

Mường Thanh Nha Trang Hotel6 Duong Hien Quyen St, Vinh HoaWard, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3552-468 Email: [email protected] VND1,400,000 ($66)

DIRECTIONS QUY NHON, NHA TRANG


Novotel Nha Trang Hotel50 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 6256-900Email: [email protected],415,000 to VND4,830,000($115 to $230)

Six Senses Ninh Van BayNinh Van bay, Ninh Hoa,Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3524-268Email: [email protected] www.sixsenses.com/resorts/ninh-van-bay/destinationFrom VND17,629,500 ($839.50)

Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa26-28 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, KhanhHoa Province. Tel: (058) 3880-000reservations.nhatrang@sheraton.comwww.sheratonnhatrang.comFrom VND3,565,000 ($170)

Sunrise Nha Trang Beach Hotel & Spa12-14 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3820-999Email: [email protected] VND2,520,000 to VND4,305,000($120 to $205)

Vinpearl Luxury Nha TrangHon Tre Island, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa ProvinceTel: (058) 3598-598Email: [email protected]

Vinpearl Resort Nha TrangHon Tre Island, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3598-188Email: [email protected]

White Sand Doclet Resort & Spa

Population group 9 Dong Cat, NinhHai Ward, Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3670-670Email: [email protected]

TOURNha Trang Limousine

93 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, NhaTrangTel: (058) 3516-612 or 09868 33555Email: [email protected]

SHOPPINGKhanh Hoa SalanganesNest Company248 Thong Nhat St, Nha Trang, KhanhHoa ProvinceTel: (058) [email protected]

MUSEUMAlexandre Yersin MuseumPasteur Institute, 10 Tran Phu St, NhaTrang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3822-406

PHAN RANG(TELEPHONE CODE: 068)

HOTEL, RESORTNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change daily

Saigon Ninh Chu Hotel & ResortKhanh Hai Town, Ninh Hai Dist., NinhThuan ProvinceTel: (068) 3876-011Email: [email protected],575,000 to VND4,200,000($75 to $200)

PHAN THIET(TELEPHONE CODE: 062)

Sitting on the coast about 200 kmnorth of Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Thietis a beach city with many resorts and hotels.


Allezboo Beach Resort & Spa8 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien,Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3743-777Email: [email protected] VND1,400,000 ($66)

Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa12A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-888Email: [email protected]

Bamboo Village Beach Resort & Spa

38 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet City, Binh ThuanProvince. Tel: (062) 3847-007 [email protected] www.bamboovillageresortvn.com From VND2,200,000 ($105)

Ocean Dunes Resort1 Ton Duc Thang St, Phan Thiet City,Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3822-393 Email: [email protected] VND1,500,000 ($71)

Hoang Ngoc (Oriental Pearl) Beach Resort & Spa

152 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet City, Binh ThuanProvince . Tel: (062) 3847-858 Email: [email protected] www.hoangngoc-resort.com VND1,600,000 to VND6,090,000($75 to $287)

Full Moon VillageSuoi Nuoc Beach, Mui Ne, Phan ThietCity, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3836-099Email: [email protected],100,000 to VND6,300,000 ($100 to $300)

Mom Da Chim - Lazi Beach ResortLy Thai To St, Tan Tien, Lagi, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3874-458Email: [email protected] VND1,900,000 ($90)

Muine de Century BeachResort & Spa16 Huynh Thuc Khang St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3743-668 [email protected] VND1,550,000 ($74)

Muine Ocean Resort & Spa10 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3741-616Email: [email protected] VND1,050,000 ($50)

Muine Bay Resort

Quarter 14, Mui Ne Ward , Phan ThietCity, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 2220-222Email: [email protected],205,000 to VND6,195,000($105 to $295)

Pandanus Resort

Quarter 5, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet, BinhThuan Province. Tel: (062) 3849-849Email: [email protected] www.pandanusresort.comFrom VND1,575,000 ($75)

Park Diamond HotelNguyen Tat Thanh St, Hung LongWard, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3835-666Email: [email protected] VND990,000 ($47)

Saigon - Suoi Nhum ResortThuan Quy, Ham Thuan Nam Ward,Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3683-240 [email protected] VND1,700,000 ($81)

Sandhills Beach Resort & SpaKm6, Tien Binh hamlet, Tien Thanh

DIRECTIONS PHAN RANG, PHAN THIET


Commune, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3846-789Email: [email protected] VND2,520,000 ($120)

Seahorse Resort & Spa

Km 11, Ham Tien Ward, Phan ThietCity, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3847-507Email: [email protected] VND1,440,000 ($68)

Sea Links Beach HotelKm 9, Nguyen Thong St, Phu Hai Ward,Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 2220-088 Email: [email protected] VND1,995,000 ($94)

Sea Lion Beach Resort & Spa12 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3743-390Email: [email protected]

Sunny Beach Resort & Spa

64-66 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, HamTien, Phan Thiet City, Binh ThuanProvinceTel: (062) 3741-355 Email: [email protected] VND1,699,000 ($80)

Saigon Mui Ne Resort56 - 97 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, HamTien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-044 Email: [email protected] VND1,908,000 ($90)

The Cliff Resort & ResidencesZone 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City,Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3719-111reservation@thecliffresort.com.vnwww.thecliffresort.com.vn

The Sailing Bay Beach Resort107 Ho Xuan Huong St, Mui Ne, Phan ThietTel: (062) 3836-555Email: [email protected] www.thesailingbay.comFrom VND2,571,000 ($122)

Mui Ne Unique Resort

20B, Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3741-617Email: [email protected] contact in Ho Chi MinhCity, 57 Pham Viet Chanh St, NguyenCu Trinh Ward, Dist.1Tel: (08) 3925-4196 Email: [email protected]

Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort & SpaPhu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3813-000 Email: [email protected] VND3,633,000 ($171)

Villa Aria Mui Ne

60A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham TienWard, Phan Thiet City, Binh ThuanProvince; Tel: (062) 3741-660Email: [email protected] VND1,743,000 ($83)

White Sands Resort

KM8, Nguyen Thong St, Phu Hai Ward,Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan ProvinceTel: (062) 3741-175 Email: [email protected] VND1,344,000 VND ($64)

MUSEUMCham Culture Exhibition CentreSong Mao intersection, Phan HiepCommune, Bac Binh Dist., Binh ThuanProvince; Tel: (062) 3641-456Open: 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.to 5 p.m. Monday to FridayFree entrance

DALAT(TELEPHONE CODE: 063)

Dalat, founded in 1893, has Frencharchitecture, pine forests and a

perpetually cool climate. It is in thesouthern Central Highlands, about 300kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City.

HOTELSNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change daily

Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa Le Lai St, Dalat, Lam Dong ProvinceTel: (063) 3555-888Email: [email protected] www.anamandara-resort.com From VND1,700,000 ($81)

Dalat Edensee Resort Tuyen Lam Lake, Zone VII.2, Dalat, LamDong ProvinceTel: (063) 3831-515Email: [email protected],331,000 to VND4,662,000 ($111 to $222)

Saigon-Dalat Hotel

02 Hoang Van Thu St, Dalat, Lam Dong ProvinceTel: (063) 3556-789Email: [email protected] ;[email protected] in the heart of Dalat, Saigon-Dalat Hotel is a four-star-standard hotel,comprised of 160 luxurious and com-fortable rooms with air-conditioningthroughout and other modern ameni-ties. Four restaurants, two bars, one ten-nis court, one indoor swimming pool,one fitness centre and one beauty salonand spa help make your getaway experi-ence complete.

HO CHI MINH CITY(TELEPHONE CODE: 08)

CONSULATESAustralia5B Ton Duc Thang St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-6035Belgium91 Nguyen Huu Canh St, Ward 22, BinhThanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3512-7968Cambodia41 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-2751CanadaMetropolitan, 235 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-9899China175 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3829-2457

Cuba45 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-7350France27 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-7231Germany126 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-2455India55 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-7853Indonesia18 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3825-1888

Japan13-17 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City; Tel: (08) 3822-5314Kuwait24 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City, tel: (08) 3827-0555Laos93 Pasteur St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-7667Mexico11 Tra Khuc St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3848-6290Netherlands29 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3823-5932New ZealandMetropolitan, 235 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-6907Panama7A Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3825-0334

Russia40 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3930-3936SingaporeSaigon Centre, 65 Le Loi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-5173South Korea107 Nguyen Du St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-5757Switzerland42 Giang Van Minh St, Dist.2, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3744-6996Thailand77 Tran Quoc Thao St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3932-7637United Kingdom25 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3825-1380, (08) 3829-8433United States4 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-9433

DIRECTIONS DALAT, HO CHI MINH CITY


HOSPITALSColumbia Asia Gia Dinh International Hospital1 No Trang Long St, Binh Thanh Dist.,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3803-0678FV Hospital6 Nguyen Luong Bang St, Dist.7, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 5411-3500Stamford Skin Centre254 Dien Bien Phu St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3932-1090Email: [email protected]

AIRLINESAir France130 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-0981

All Nippon Airways115 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3821-9612American Airlines69 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3933-0330

Asiana Airlines39 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-8710, (08) 3829-3038British Airways170-172 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Dist.3,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3930-2933

Cathay Pacific Airways72-74 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-3203Emirates Airlines170-172 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Dist.3,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3930-2939Japan Airlines88 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3821-9098Jetstar Pacific Airlines112 Hong Ha St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3955-0550

Philippine Airlines2nd Floor Saigon Royal Building 91 Pasteur St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-2105

Qatar Airways1-5 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-3888

Royal Brunei Airlines787 Tran Hung Dao St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3924-5100

Singapore Airlines29 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3823-1588

Thai Airways International29 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-2809

Turkish Airlines 76A Le Lai St, Room 4, 8th Floor, ABTower, Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3936-0360 - Ext 121Email: [email protected] AirlinesSuite 708 Sun Wah Tower, 115 NguyenHue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3823-4755Vietnam Airlines115 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3832-0320Vietjet Air8Bis Cong Truong Quoc Te, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-0123www.vietjetair.com

TRAVELAsiana Travel Mate113C Bui Vien St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3838-6678Buffalo Tours81 Mac Thi Buoi, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-9168Email: [email protected] www.buffalotours.com.vn Buffalo Tours operates in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. The Buffalo Tours portfolio caters to alltypes of tours.Exotissimo 80-82 Phan Xich Long St,

Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3995-9898www.exotissimo.com

Saigon Tourist45 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-9279www.saigon-tourist.comTrails of Indochina10/8 Phan Dinh Giot St, Tan Binh Dist.,Ho Chi Minh City; Tel: (08) 3844-1005Email: [email protected]

Transviet TravelTravel House, 170-172 Nam Ky KhoiNghia St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3933-0777www.transviet.com.vn


Catina Saigon Hotel109 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-6296www.hotelcatina.com.vnFrom VND1,690,500 ($80.50)

Caravelle Hotel19-23 Cong Truong Lam Son St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3823-4999www.caravellehotel.com

Duxton Hotel Saigon63 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) [email protected]

First Hotel

18 Hoang Viet St, Ward 4, Tan BinhDist, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3844-1199 Email: [email protected]

Grand Hotel Saigon

8 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3823-0163Email: [email protected] Built in 1930, the Ancient Wing of GrandHotel Saigon offers a cozy and elegant at-mosphere. The Luxury Wing, opened in

November 2011, adds a modern style. 230rooms and suites, a ballroom, recreationarea, VIP Lounge, Western & Asian restau-rants, Bars & Grand Café at Roof Garden

Hotel Nikko Saigon235 Nguyen Van Cu St, Dist.1, Ho ChiMinh City, tel: (08) 3925-7777reservation@hotelnikkosaigon.com.vnwww.hotelnikkosaigon.com.vnFrom VND4,830,000 ($230)

InterContinental Asiana Saigon Corner Hai Ba TrungSt. & Le Duan Blvd, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3520-9999Email: [email protected]/SaigonFrom VND5,845,455 ($278)

Kelly Hotel42-44 Thu Khoa Huan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3823-3364Email: [email protected] www.kellyhotel.com.vnFrom VND966,000 ($46)An elegant and cosy hotel with goodservice. Within walking distance toBen Thanh market, IndependencePalace and several museums. Vietnamese food is served at reason-able prices.

Mövenpick Hotel Saigon

253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu NhuanDist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3844-9222Email: [email protected]

Lotte Legend Hotel Saigon2A-4A Ton Duc Thang St, Ben NgheWard, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3823-333Email: [email protected] VND4,221,000 ($201)

Liberty Central Hotels in Ho ChiMinh City17 Ton Duc Thang St, Dist.1Tel: (08) 3827-1717177-179 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1Tel: (08) 3823-9269Email: [email protected]

New World Saigon Hotel76 Le Lai St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-8888Email: [email protected]

New Epoch Hotel120 Cach Mang Thang 8 St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3932-6169reservation@newepochhotel.com.vnwww.newepochhotel.com.vnFrom VND1,155,000 ($55)

DIRECTIONS HO CHI MINH CITY


Northern Hotel Saigon

11A Thi Sach St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3825-1751Email: [email protected] VND1,505,000 ($71)Three-star boutique hotel, 99 rooms inSuperior, Deluxe and Suite categories, ashort walk from major entertainmentand shopping venues.

Novotel Saigon Centre167 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3822-4866Email: [email protected] From VND2,959,000 ($140)

Palace Hotel Saigon56-66 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-2860Email: [email protected]

Park Hyatt Saigon2 Lam Son Square, District 1, Ho ChiMinh City Tel: (08) 3824-1234Email: [email protected] www.parkhyattsaigon.com From VND 8,424,900

PARKROYAL Saigon309B – 311 Nguyen Van Troi St,TanBinh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3842-1111enquiry.prsgn@parkroyalhotels.comwww.parkroyalhotels.comFrom VND2,173,500 ($103.50)

Ramana Hotel Saigon323 Le Van Sy St, Dist.3,Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3843-9999 Email: [email protected] www.ramanasaigon.comFrom VND1,050,000 ($50)

Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon8-15 Ton Duc Thang St, Ben Nghe

Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-0033Email: [email protected] VND4,105,500 ($195.50)

Royal Hotel Saigon133 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-5915Email: [email protected] From VND1,932,000 ($92)

Rex Hotel

141 Nguyen Hue St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-2185Email: [email protected] VND4,620,000 ($220)

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers88 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-2828Email: [email protected]/saigonFrom VND8,740,000 ($416)

Silver Creek City Resort112 An Phu Dong 11, Dist.12, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3719-9533Email: [email protected] VND1,207,500 ($57.50)

Sofitel Saigon Plaza

17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3824-1555

Email: [email protected] VND3,864,000 ($184)

Sonnet Saigon Hotel

14 Truong Dinh St., Ward 6, Dist.3, HoChi Minh CityTel: (08) 3930-1999 [email protected]

Windsor Plaza Hotel

18 An Duong Vuong, Dist.5, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) [email protected]

RESTAURANTSKim Lam Restaurant

23 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 6299-0879Email: [email protected] restaurant serves Vietnamese foodfrom the North, Centre and South withemphasis on artistic garnish. It has threefloors and can hold one hundred andtwenty people. The restaurant is a treas-ure trove of Vietnamese culture with artobjects serving as the decor

Kobe Teppanyaki Restaurant13A Tu Xuong St, Ward 7, Dist 3, Ho Chi MInh CityTel: (08) 3932-0187

Lemongrass Restaurant4 Nguyen Thiep St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-0496www.bongsencorporation.com

Mam Son Restaurant35 Ton That Thiep St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3915-3653Vietnamese food

Vatel Saigon Bistronomique-Lounge120 Bis Suong Nguyet Anh St, BenThanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 5404-2220www.vatelsaigon.com

Vietnam House Restaurant93 - 95 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-1623www.vietnamhousesaigon.com

BARS & CAFÉSElle Cafe45 Ngo Duc Ke St, Bitexco FinancialTower, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 6291-8769

Caffe Molinari5 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3910-6903Email: [email protected]

Sax N’ Art Jazz Club28 Le Loi St, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-8472www.saxnart.comThao Nguyen CaféFloor 7 and Rooftop of RestaurantNgon 138138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Ben NgheWard, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3827-9666Open from 7 a.m. until 10.30 p.m.

SHOPSIPA Nima85 Pasteur St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1,Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3824-2701IPA Nima is well-known for its bags.

Shin122 Ly Tu Trong St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City53A Nguyen Du St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: 0909352369Shin is famous for fashion clothes andleather bags.

SPAVspa & Skincare

15B/25 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho ChiMinh CityTel: (08) 3827-9484 Email: [email protected] 20 per cent off all treatments when youshow us a copy of Vietnam Heritage

COOKING CLASSESMint Culinary School778/45 Nguyen Kiem St, Phu NhuanDist., Ho Chi Minh City

DIRECTIONS HO CHI MINH CITY


A

1

2

3

4

CB

C E N T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I T YDuxton Hotel Saigon

Equatorial Hotel

Grand Hotel

Intercontinental Asiana Saigon Hotel

Kelly Hotel

Lotte Legend Hotel Saigon

Majestic Hotel

New World Hotel

Oscar Hotel

Park Hyatt

Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon

Rex Hotel

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers

New Epoch Hotel14

2

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15

16

17

Ngon 138 Restaurant

Vietnam House Restaurant

V-Spa

N T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TC E N T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I T


Kelly Hotel

Asiana Saigon HotelIntercontinental

Grand Hotel

Equatorial Hotel

Duxton Hotel Saigon 11222222223333333334444455555556666

1


A

Asiana Saigon Hotel

A B C

New Epoch Hotel

Sheraton Saigon Hotel &

Rex Hotel


Park Hyatt

Oscar Hotel

orld HotelNew W World Hotel

Majestic Hotel77788888999911111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000011111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111133333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333331111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111144444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

2owersTTowersSheraton Saigon Hotel &


New Epoch Hotel44444444444444444444444

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 ietnam House Restaurant

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111117777777777777777777777777777777777

V

Ngon 138 Restaurant

-SpaV

3

ietnam House Restaurant

111111111111111111111111111111444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

3

4

222222

3 Thang 2..........A2, A3, B2Alexandre De Rhodes................................................E2An Duong Vuong....A4, B4Ba Le Chan....................D1Ba Huyen Thanh Quan..............................................C2Ban Co...........................B3Ben Chuong Duong............................................D4, E4Ben Van Don...........D4, E4

Bui Thi Xuan..................C3Bui Vien...................C4, D4Cach Mang Thang Tam...........A1, B1, B2, C2, C3, D3Calmette.........................E4Cao Thang.....................B3Chu Manh Trinh.............F2Co Bac.....................C4, D4Co Giang............. ...C4, D4Cong Quynh............C3, C4De Tham........................D4

Dien Bien Phu.....................A3, B2, C2, D1, D2, E1, F1Dinh Tien Hoang............E1Do Quang Dau...............C4Do Thanh.......................B3Doan Cong Buu.............C1Doan Nhu Hai..........E4, F4Dong Du.........................F3Dong Khoi................E3, F3Hai Ba Trung..................................................D1, E2, F3Hai Trieu.........................F4

Ham Nghi.................E4, F4Han Thuyen....................E2Ho Hao Hon...................C4Ho Tung Mau...........E3, E4Ho Xuan Huong.............C2Hoa Hung.......................A2Hung Vuong...................A4Huyen Tran Cong Chua.............................................D3Huynh Thuc Khang........E3Huynh Tinh Cua.............D1Ky Con.....................D4, E4

Ky Dong...................B2, C1Le Duan...................E2, F2Le Hong Phong.............................................A2, A3, A4Le Lai.......................C3, D3Le Loi..............................E3Le Quy Don....................D2Le Thanh Ton.................................................D3, E3, F2Le Thi Hong Gam................................................D4, E4Le Thi Rieng............C3, D3

Le Van Sy.......................B1Luong Huu Khanh.........C3Ly Chinh Thang.......C1, C2Ly Thai To......................A3Ly Tu Trong....................................................D3, E3, F2Ly Van Phuc...................E1Mac Dinh Chi...........E1, E2Mac Thi Buoi..................F3Mai Thi Luu..............E1, F1Nam Ky Khoi Nghia...............................C1, D1, D2, D3

S T R E E T G U I D E

A

1

2

3

4

FEDCB

C E N T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I T YDuxton Hotel Saigon

Equatorial Hotel

Grand Hotel

Intercontinental Asiana Saigon Hotel

Kelly Hotel


Majestic Hotel

New World Hotel

Oscar Hotel

Park Hyatt


Rex Hotel

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers

New Epoch Hotel

5

14

15

1213

10

4

1916

8

2

3

7

6

11

1234567891011121314

15

16

17

17

Ngon 138 Restaurant

Vietnam House Restaurant

V-Spa

N T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TC E N T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I TN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I T YN T R E O F H O C H I M I N H C I T


Kelly Hotel

Asiana Saigon HotelIntercontinental

Grand Hotel

Equatorial Hotel

Duxton Hotel Saigon

1


Asiana Saigon Hotel

D E F

New Epoch Hotel

Sheraton Saigon Hotel &

Rex Hotel


Park Hyatt

Oscar Hotel

Majestic Hotel

2Sheraton Saigon Hotel &


New Epoch Hotel

ietnam House RestaurantV

Ngon 138 Restaurant

-SpaV

3

ietnam House Restaurant

555555

151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515151515

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

4444444

17171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717

6666

17171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717171717

3

888888

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3333

7

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

4

Ngo Duc Ke....................F3Ngo Thoi Nhiem ....C2, D2Ngo Van Nam.................F2Nguyen Binh Khiem...................................................F1, F2Nguyen Cau...................D1Nguyen Cong Tru................................................D4, E4Nguyen Dinh Chieu..................B3, C2, C3, D2, E1, F1Nguyen Du..............D3, E3Nguyen Hue.............E3, F3

Nguyen Khac Nhu...............................................C4, D4Nam Quoc Cang.....C3, C4Nguyen Phi Khanh.........E1Nguyen Sieu...................F3Nguyen Son Tra..................................................B3, C3Nguyen Tat Thanh..........F4Nguyen Thai Binh................................................D4, E4Nguyen Thai Hoc....D3, D4Nguyen Thanh Y............E1

Nguyen Thi Dieu............C2Nguyen Thi Minh Khai.........................................B3, C3Nguyen Thien Thuat............................................A3, B3Nguyen Thong........B2, C2Nguyen Thuong Hien.........................................B2, C3Nguyen Trai.............B4, C4Nguyen Trung Ngan......F2Nguyen Trung Truc........E3Nguyen Truong To.........E4

Nguyen Van Cu..............B4Nguyen Van Thu......E1, F1Pasteur...............................................D1, D2, E2, E3,E4Pham Ngoc Thach.........D1Pham Ngu Lao........C4, D4Pham Viet Chanh...........B3Phan Ke Binh..........E1, E2Pho Duc Chinh...............E4Phung Khac Khoan.......E2Suong Nguyet Anh........C3Thach Thi Thanh.....D1, E1

Thai Van Lung................F3Thi Sach.........................F3Thu Khoa Huan.......D3, E3To Hien Thanh................A1Ton That Dam..........E3, E4Ton Duc Thang..............C3Tran Binh Trong......A3, A4Tran Cao Van.................E2Tran Dinh Xu...........B4, C4Tran Hung Dao.......C4, D4Tran Minh Quyen...........A3Tran Nhan Tong.......A3, A4

Tran Phu.........................A4Tran Quang Dieu...........B1Tran Quang Khai.....D1, E1Tran Quoc Thao......C1, D2Tran Quoc Toan......C1, D1Truong Dinh............C1, C2Tu Xuong.......................C2Vinh Vien........................A3Vo Thi Sau........C2, D1, E1Vo Van Tan..............C3, B3Vuon Chuoi..............B2, B3Yersin..............................D4

DIRECTIONS VUNG TAU, LONG HAI, CON DAO, CAN THO, CHAU DOC


Tel: (08) 3844-5500Email: [email protected]

Saigon Cooking Class74/7 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3825-8485www.saigoncookingclass.com

GALLERIESArtists Long & Ngoc GalleryGrand Hotel (at the lobby), 8 DongKhoi, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTeL: (08) 2246-6839Mobile: 0908 229 708Email: [email protected]

Apricot Gallery50 Mac Thi Buoi St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-7962

Cactus Contemporary Art17/12 Nguen Huy Tuong St, Ward 6,Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) [email protected] www.cactusartgallery.com

Craig Thomas Gallery27i Tran Nhat Duat St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Mobile: 0903 888 431Email: [email protected]: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Mondays and Sundays

Galerie Quynh65 De Tham St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3836-8019www.galeriequynh.com

Sàn Art3 Me Linh St, Ward 19, Binh ThanhDist., Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3840-0183www.san-art.orgOpening: 10.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. every.Closed on Sunday and Monday

Tu Do Gallery53 Ho Tung Mau St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3821-0966 www.tudogallery.comOpening: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. everyday

MUSEUMSFine Arts Museum ofHo Chi Minh City97A Pho Duc Chinh St, Nguyen ThaiBinh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-4441www.baotangmythuattphcm.comOpen 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Ho Chi Minh City Museum65 Ly Tu Trong St, Ben Nghe Ward,Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3829-9741www.hcmc-museum.edu.vnOpen daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Independence Palace135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Ben Thanh

Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3822-3652www.dinhdoclap.gov.vnOpen daily, 7.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

War Remnants Museum28 Vo Van Tan St, Ward 6, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City, Tel: (08) 3930-5587Email: [email protected] daily 7.30 a.m. to midday and1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A popular beach resort town for residents of Ho Chi Minh City, VungTau is about 128 km southeast ofHCMC. It can be reached either byroad or by a 90-minute hydrofoil boatfrom HCMC. Sitting on a peninsulathat sticks out into the East Sea, VungTau does not have the most beautiful,or cleanest, beaches in Vietnam butcan act as a quick getaway from thebuzz of the city.


Mường Thanh Vung Tau HotelNo 09, Thong Nhat St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3835-567Email: [email protected] www.vungtau.muongthanh.vnFrom VND1,890,000 ($90)

Grand Hotel Vung Tau

2 Nguyen Du St, Ward.1, Vung TauTel: (064) 3856-888 Email: [email protected] VND2,058,000 ($98)A four star hotel, 125 km from Saigon,built in 1890s with the French architec-ture, near the beach and few hundredsmetres from Vung Tau Hydrofoil Termi-nal. 66 rooms and 17 apartments, threemeeting rooms seated from 20 to 250and wedding services.

Palace Hotel

1 Nguyen Trai St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3856-411 Email: [email protected] VND2,062,000 ($97)

Petrosetco Hotel12 Truong Cong Dinh St, Ward 2,Vung TauTel: (064) 3624-748Email: [email protected] VND1,085,700 ($52)

Petro House Hotel63 Tran Hung Dao St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3852-014Email: [email protected] VND1,260,000 ($60)Newly refurbished rooms convenientlylocated near Vung Tau ferry terminal.Catering to Asian and European tasteswith Malaysian cuisine specialty.

Romeliess Hotel

31 - 33 Thuy Van St, Vung TauTel: (064) 3613-366Email: [email protected] new three-star hotel at the BackBeach, the ‘best beach in Vung Tau,’with nearly 50 rooms overlooking thebeach! Many promotions atwww.romliess.com

The Imperial Hotel & ResidencesVung Tau 159 - 163 Thuy Van St, Vung TauTel: (064) 3628-888Email: [email protected]

MUSEUMWhite Palace6 Tran Phu St, Ward.1, Vung TauTel: (064) 3852-605Open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

LONG HAILong Hai is a beach town, 30km northeast of Vung Tau and 124 kmsoutheast of HCMC.

The Grand Ho Tram Strip

Phuoc Thuan, Xuyen Moc, Ba Ria-VungTau ProvinceTel: (064) 3788-888Email: [email protected]

CON DAO Six Senses Con DaoDat Doc Beach, Con Dao Dist., Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province

Tel : (064) [email protected]/resorts/con-dao/destinationFrom VND14,490,000 ($690)Six Senses Con Dao has been selected asone of 2013's 25 Best Ecolodges by National Geographic Traveler

CAN THO(TELEPHONE CODE: 0710)

Can Tho is the largest city in theMekong Delta, about 170 km south-west of Ho Chi Minh City, and acts asthe area’s economic, transportationand cultural centre. Sitting on theMekong River, Can Tho is popular forits nearby floating markets, canals andrivers that can be explored by boat.

HOTELS, RESORTSNote: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change daily Golf Can Tho Hotel2 Hai Ba Trung St, Tan An Ward, Ninh Kieu Dist., Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3812-210Email: [email protected]

Victoria Can Tho ResortCai Khe Ward, Ninh Kieu Dist., Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3810-111Email: [email protected] VND3,700,000 ($175)

MUSEUMCan Tho Museum1 Hoa Binh St, Tan An Ward, Can ThoTel: (0710) 3820-955Open: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs-day (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5p.m.); Saturday and Sunday (8 a.m. to11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Closedon Friday. Free admission

CHAU DOC(TELEPHONE CODE: 076)


Victoria Chau Doc Hotel1 Le Loi St, Chau Doc Town, An Giang ProvinceTel: (076) 3865-010resa.chaudoc@victoriahotels.asiawww.victoriahotels.asiaFrom VND3,169,000 ($149)

Victoria Nui Sam LodgeVinh Dong 1, Nui Sam, Chau Doc, AnGiang ProvinceTel: (076) 3575-888 Email: [email protected]

MUSEUMAn Giang Museum11 Ton Duc Thang St, My Binh Ward,Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province

DIRECTIONS PHU QUOC, OVERSEAS


Tel: (076) 3956-248Open hour 7a.m. to 11a.m. and 1.30p.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on MondayEntrance fee: VND42,000 ($2)

PHU QUOC(TELEPHONE CODE: 077)

Phu Quoc Island, off the southerntip of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thai-land, has some of the most beauti-ful beaches in the country.White-sand beaches, scuba divingaround coral reefs or exploring theprotected jungle. Accessible by ei-ther the Rach Gia hydrofoil boat ora 50-minute flight from Ho ChiMinh City. Modest family-ownedbungalows on the beach to five-star resorts.

HOTELS, RESORTS

Note: Prices at many hotels dependon occupancy and change daily

Eden Resort Phu QuocCua Lap Hamlet, Duong To Ward, PhuQuoc District, Kien Giang ProvinceTel: (077) 3985-598Email: [email protected]

Chen Sea Resort & Spa Phu Quoc,Centara Boutique CollectionBai Xep, Ong Lang, Cua Duong, Phu Quoc Island Tel: (077) 3995-895 Email: [email protected] www.centarahotelsresorts.comFrom VND3,381,000 ($161)

La Veranda ResortTran Hung Dao St, Ward 7, DuongDong Town Phu Quoc Island Tel: (077) 3982-988Email: [email protected],082,000 to VND8,694,000($242 to $414)

Sai Gon Phu Quoc Resort1 Tran Hung Dao St, Phu Quoc Island Tel: (077) 3846-999 Email: [email protected] VND2,499,000 to VND4,011,000($119 to $191)

CANADA(Telephone code: 1)

Xe Lua 254 Spadina Ave, Tonronto,Ontario Canada M5T2C2Tel: (1-416) 703-8330Xe Lua has been open since 1996 andserves phở for $6 a bowlOpen: 11.30 a.m. to 12 p.m

Chau Kitchen and Bar1500 Robson St. Vancouver, British ColumbiaTel: (1-604) 682-8020www.chaukitchenandbar.comServes Vietnamese dishes with pricesstarting at $7 per dish.

FRANCE(Telephone code: 33)

CLEMONT-FERRANDKim Anh6 Bis r Elie GintracTel: (33-4) 7391-9364Serves traditional Vietnamese food,from €12.80 per dishOpen 11.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (closed on Sundays).

GRENOBLEKim Ngan22 r Nicolas ChrierTel: (33-4) 7649-0847Serves Vietnamese food with pricesstarting at €8 per dish

UNITED STATES OFAMERICA

(Telephone code: 1)CALIFORNIA-CAEmerald RestaurantPacific Gateway Plaza3709 Convoy Street, Ste 101, San Diego, CA 92111Tel: (1) 858-565-6888Serves Vietnamese food

Hung Ky Mi Gia5237 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego,CA 92115; Tel: (1) 619-229-2188Serves noodle varieties with prices start-ing at $5 per dishOpen 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.International Restaurant 14444 – A University Ave, San Diego, CA 92115Tel: (1) 619-281-9999

Little Saigon7 Linden Ave (Railroad)South San Francisco, CA 94080Tel: (1) 650-589-1398

New York-NYSaigon Grill620 Amsterdam Ave, New York,NY 10024Tel: (1) 212-875-9072Serves over 100 Vietnamese dishes in-cluding vegetarian optionsOpen 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Mai Lan Vietnamese505 N State St Syracuse, NY 13203Tel: (1) 315-471-6740www.mailanrestaurant.comL’Annam121 University Pl New York,NY 10022Tel: (1) 212-420-1414

VIRGINIA-VAMinh’s Vietnamese2500 Wilson Blvd Arlington,VA 22201Tel: (1) 703-525-2828Prices start at $15 per dishOpen 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closed on Mondays)

WASHINGTON-WCHo Bac1314 S Jackson St Seattle, WA 98144Tel: (1) 206-860-8164

Kieu Nga LemongrassRestaurant514 12th Ave Seattle, WA 98122Tel: (1) 206-860-8164Moonlight Café1919 S Jackson St Seattle, WA 98144Tel: (1) 206-322-3378Massachusetts-MA Saigon Hut305-307 Meridian St. Boston, ]MA 02128; Tel: (1) 617-567-1944

Xinh Xinh7 Beach St (Washington St.) Boston,MA 02111Tel: (1) 617-422-0501

UNITED KINGDOM(Telephone code: 44)

Little Saigon Restaurant6 Bigg Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, EnglandTel: 01912330766Vietnamese dishes

AUSTRALIA(Telephone code: 61)

La Mint 62–64 Riley St, East Sydney NSW 2010Tel: (61) 293-311-818Email: [email protected] Open: Wednesday to Friday, noon to2:30 p.m., Monday to Saturday, 6 p.m. to10.30 p.m. French and Vietnamese dishes

INDONESIA(Telephone code: 62)

Pho 24Pondok Indah, Plaza I, Jln. Taman Duta1Blok UA 35 Jakarta SelatanTel: (62) 0217-505-909JIn. Wolter Mongonsidi No. 71, Ke-bayyoran Baru, Jakarta SelatanTel: (62) 0217-278-8411Pacific Place Mall, 5th Floor, SCBD, JIn.Jendral Sudirman Kav. 52-53, Jakarta 12190Tel: (62) 0215-140-0531

LAID BACK


Clockwise from top left:A gate at Phu Hau Village, Phu Tho

Province, 2012. Photo: Lai DienDam; Harry Potter in Saigon.

Photo: Nguyen Hoang Kim Long; Villagers with all kinds of tools to

catch fish at a festival in Xuan Vien Commune, Ha Tinh Province, 2013.Photo: Tran Duy Ngoan; Planting on therocks, Dong Van District, Ha Giang

Province, 2012. Photo: Vinh Cat

Documents

Vietnam Heritage No. 42 October-November 2014