Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Orchids blossom in spring time in Sa Pa.

For a special spring time holiday destination, head to Tay Bac Highland, and especially Sa Pa. Visitors will be amazed by the orchids, which blossom at this time, the beauty of nature and the many festivals held in the area welcoming the Lunar New Year.

Even in the cold weather, the young tribal people of Sa Pa make visitors feel unforgettably warm with their radiant smiles. During spring time, the fragrance of flowers, the colours of ethnic fabric of H’mong, Dao or Thai women, and the sounds of flutes and the leaf-horn of the village’s young men and women leave a strong impression of Sa Pa on every visitor.

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A real trans-Vietnam tour usually takes two or three weeks, with many landscapes from the North to the South. In the North you can visit Sapa and Mai Chau, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon and Hoi An are essential stops in the Central region and Saigon and Vinh Long are some in the South.

To meet higher demands of tourists for this kind of tour, Ho Chi Minh City-based tour operator Ben Thanh Tourist offers its own Trans-Vietnam-tour option.

The starting destination will be the Mekong Delta. There, tourists have the opportunity to walk along villages full of many kinds of fruit trees, including mango, plum and lemon.

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Undoubtedly, Son La Prison is one of the most famous historic relics in Son La Province and a large number of tourists visit \”the hell on earth\” during French colonialism to listen to the stories about the struggle and bravery of communists.

The French colonialists built the prison on the initial area of 500m² on the top of Khau Ca Hill in the center of the town of Son La in 1908, mainly for confining common criminals.

Frightened by the ever-surging movement, the French expanded the prison by 1,500m² in 1930 and a further 170m² in 1940 to detain more revolutionary soldiers.

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The Bai Chay bridge over the Cua Luc strait has been inaugurated after more than three years’ construction. This is the first prestressed concrete and single-plane cable-stayed bridge in Vietnam and, at the same time, the cable-stayed bridge in single plane also sets a world record – the longest span in the world, 435m. The new bridge is viewed as “Ha Long String Instrument” – a new wonder created by intellect and effort of human beings, which is very harmonious with the natural wonder of Ha Long Bay.

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After the success of the second Hong Kong – Nha Trang international yacht race, together with the construction of a marina for yachts at Phu Quy eco-tourism site, Nha Trang is becoming an attractive destination for international yacht races.

The international yacht race from Hong Kong to Nha Trang bay, one of the 29 best bays of the world, held in early November attracted the participation of 11 teams and 130 athletes.

The athletes were tourists and businessmen form Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the Philippines, Canada, China, the United States, Belgium, Norway, France and Vietnam.

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The highland market is always full of colours

From the primitive age, Tay Bac has been endowed with innumerable marvels by nature. Although many things have been discovered, this area still contains a lot of mysteries.

Going from Hanoi to Tay Bac (the northwestern area of Vietnam), visitors can follow Road 6 to Hoa Binh, Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien, and then turn to Lao Cai and Yen Bai by taking Road 3, which also leads to the starting point.

The gates to Tay Bac are Hoa Binh and Yen Bai where the mountains, hills and primal forests prevail. Ranges of high mountains stretch to the central region of the country and connect with the Truong Son Range which runs to the western area of the South. The mountains in Tay Bac are very high, seeming to touch the sky.

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Almost all the hamlets in the Central Highlands have gong teams in service of rituals and festivals

On November 25, 2005, Vietnam’s cong chieng (gong) culture of Tay Nguyen (the Central Highlands) was officially recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible culture of humanity after the court music of Hue. This affirms that Vietnam has an age-old culture with many traditional art-forms that should be protected, preserved and developed.

Nobody knows when the gongs appear on the sunny and windy land of Central Highlands. Many people guessed that the gong culture originated from the Dong Son Civilization (3,500-4,000 years ago) with its bronze drums being well known.

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After the success of the second Hong Kong – Nha Trang international yacht race, together with the construction of a marina for yachts at Phu Quy eco-tourism site, Nha Trang is becoming an attractive destination for international yacht races.

The international yacht race from Hong Kong to Nha Trang bay, one of the 29 best bays of the world, held in early November attracted the participation of 11 teams and 130 athletes.

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Water puppet performance of Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre always attracting a lot of foreign visitors

My dear fellow-countrymen, do I have to introduce myself when coming here?” This is the greeting of buffoon character Teu, who enters onto the water stage from the tormentor to the beat of drums and exciting rhythms of percussion music, starting a water puppet play.

Originating from effigies made to keep birds or mice from destroying crops plus their habits of wet rice cultivation, farmers created the art of water puppetry. The water surface of lakes or ponds serves as the stage while spectators sit at Read the rest of this entry »

Visiting the historical Tan Trao Banyan tree

The residents in Tuyen Quang Province are proud of their native land and its development. Over the past half a century, the province where people of 22 ethnic groups live together has experienced great socio-economic changes that brought a better life to the locals and changed the thinking and working habits of the authorities and people in the new period of time. Read the rest of this entry »