Ha Long Bay cave parties annoy locals

While holding parties in Halong Bay is an ever more popular trend, it has faced opposition from locals who fear that tourism will ruin the caves.

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Partying in caves

According to Image Halong Cruise Company, visitors who book places on their high-class boats can order to hold party in Trong, Tien and Soi Kim caves. 

However, they have to book several weeks in advance because the company has to prepare and transport large amounts of equipment, food and employees to the caves.

Parties have been held in the caves for several years. Since then, many companies have opened their own services because of increasing demand and good profits. 

It is also widely advertised on internet, especially on the Foody.vn website.

Tourist groups of over 10 people can party in caves with the price of VND3m (USD136) a head. Smaller groups have to pay from VND4m to VND5m.

However, Le Chinh, former deputy head of Management Board of Quang Ninh's Historical Sites, said holding parties in caves was unreasonable because it could pollute the environment.

Vu Van Hung, director of Halong Fishing Village Co-operative said, "Halong is a heritage site so we must preserve it. We can't ignore the risks just for profits. I’ve lived here for 50 years and I really don't approve of this cave partying. There are many ways to develop sustainable tourism, why do they choose this?"

Ho Quang Huy, vice chairman of Halong City, said they had asked Halong Bay Management Board to review the situation and propose solutions.

According to Decision 1139 of Quang Ninh People's Committee last year about preserving Halong Bay with view toward 2020, catering service, events and celebration parties are banned from caves in the bay, especially Trong and Dong Tien caves.

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Thai Brocade in Mai Chau

 Mai Chau brocade has become a symbol of the local Thai people’s culture.

The image of a shy, young Thai woman wearing traditional dress and absorbed in weaving at a loom is now synonymous with Mai Chau. The brocade is a major feature of Thai women’s traditional clothing. It can be seen on the headscarf, the neck opening and the waistband of the tight-fitting ankle-length skirt, highlighting the slender waists of the young Thai woman.

Handmade weaving continues to be an integral part of daily life in Thai community. Thai women are expected to be good at weaving, as well as farming. By the time they reach marital age, they should have already made their own clothes, blankets, and pillows, like a dowry. Hence the Thai saying, “Daughter inherit the weaving profession; boys inherit the family profession.”

Hand dyed, the colors used in the brocades come from nature- forest greens, the colors of various flowers, and the yellow of sunlight, all intricately woven together into vivid patterns by the skilful hands of the Thai women.

The thread most commonly used for the brocade is silk. Thai women have to work very hard to produce the brocade and the thread from which it is made.

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Vi Thi Im, a 51-year-old woman from Ban Lac Village, says it takes a Thai woman a great deal of time involving many stages and much effort to make a piece of brocade. The fir stage involves raising the silkworms and growing the mulberry trees on which they feed. An old Vietnamese saying describes the hardship of this life, “A pig farmer can lie down to have meals, while a silkworm farmer must stand to have meals.”

The silkworms are fed on fresh mulberry leaves. About 25 days later, they start to make their cocoon. After 2-3 days, the silkworm will have spun about a kilometer of filament. After harvesting the glossy yellow cocoons, the Thai women put the cocoons into boiling water to kill the silk worms before extracting the individual long fibers which are then fed into the spinning reel. Silk reeling is the longest and most tiring stage. This stage must be done with skill and great care, otherwise the silk threads will not be smooth or equally-sized, and the woven cloth will not be of a high quality. This is what makes handmade silk different from machine-made silk.

The newly-reeled silk is often dry and hard, so it is then steamed to soften it before being dyed. The Thai steam the silk for a day, using a mixture of concentrated indigo leaves, betel leaf extract, lemon juice, parts of trees with sticky substances (which make the silk durable), and sliced unripe papayas.

Natural silk is white in color. Different forest trees are then used for dying the silk, such as Lignum Sappan for red silk, indigo for dark blue and black silk, and saffron for yellow silk. After the silk have been dyed, the young Thai women in Lac Village weave the silk reels into beautiful pieces of brocade in a variety of vivid patterns.

Brocade has a long history in the tradition of the Thai people and reflects not only the high level of skill as artisans, but also the role such crafts play in preserving the culture of the Thai community in Mai Chau.

For each kilogram of silk, the Thai women have to reel three kilograms of cocoons which takes around one day. As a result of the time and labor involved each kilogram of silk costs up to VND600,000 (US$28.4). Brocade weaving brings the local people a reasonably stable income source and silk is the main material for many local products such as dresses, scarves, hats and handbags.

See more: Deluxe group tour, Mai chau homestay

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British tourist dies in Halong Bay

A British man fell from a boat and drowned near the island of Ti-top in Ha Long Bay on April 3.

The British tourist died near Ti-top Island. 

Authorities of Quang Ninh Province say that Wright David Denning, 62, was a member of a group of European visitors that was touring Ha Long Bay in a boat operated by Hai Phong Co., Ltd.

The Viettour-led group included members from Switzerland, Great Britain, Denmark and Germany.

The victim's body is being held at Bai Chay Hospital, awaiting arrangements by British Embassy and Denning’s family to conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

See more: Halong bay tours, Halong bay cruises

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First mountain bike race in Vietnam to take place in Sapa

The first edition of Vietnam Mountain Bike Marathon is set to take place on November 4-6 in the remote mountainous region around Sapa Town in the northwestern province of Lao Cai, organizer Topas Travel has announced.

A striking view of Sapa

The three-day mountain bike race is expected to take racers through terraced paddy fields and ethnic minority villages. The route covers large parts of remote mountains, meaning competitors will see parts of this region that are normally out of reach.

The first stage will feature a 55-kilometer trail in the beautiful and rarely visited Muong Hum Commune in northern Sapa which is home to the H’Mong ethnic minority group. For stage two which stretches 68 km, bikers will head to Thanh Phu Commune populated by Tay and Red Dao peoples. The race then concludes with a wild sprint stage back towards Sapa.

Cory Wallace, a Canadian multiple award-winning biker who rode some of the course on test runs earlier in the year, said: “Every year there are a couple of rides that blow your mind and the recon mission into the backwoods of Vietnam to check out this race course for November was one of them.”

With registrations from Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Malaysia and Indonesia, the race is set to be a truly international event, according to the organizer

Similar to its sister event Vietnam Mountain Marathon, a trail running event organized by Topas Travel annually in the mountainous areas of Sapa since 2013, the first Vietnam Mountain Bike Marathon will bring about social benefits.

A biker is seen taking a break during a trail around Sapa Town – Photos: Topas Travel

For this first year, a charity donation of US$20 is included in every race entry to support communities that live along its route.

Vietnam Mountain Marathon has rocketed from 250 entrants in its first year to almost 1,500 in just four years and donated thousands of dollars to good causes by collecting a fee from participants.

See more: Sapa trekking tours, Sapa 3 nights 2 days

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Banh Mi Pho - A new fast food in Saigon

Certainly, no one can tell all kinds of breads in Vietnam because each region has the different "variations" styles. With pho bread (Banh Mi Pho), this dish was a mix of picky flavor of noodle and quickness of bread .

The pho bread looks like a regular hamburger, but a big difference has seen in the crust. By creation, chef of Ro22 makes the pho bread with crusts having fragrant smell of pho. Bread flour is mixed with 22 spices used in noodle soup, so it takes more time and skills to make the crust than other types of crust.

Undergo several stages and be molded at the hands of bakers, spices is absorbed into flour, after baking, the crust of the bread was not only fragrant, delicious, crunchy, but also has a special smell of Vietnamese Pho inside .

Vegetables eaten with this bread are basils, corianders and onions instead of lettuces or tomatoes - these herbs are indispensable when eating noodles. Main crumb consists of brisket and plate. Beef which is cooked and sliced in accordance with standard of pho is moderately soft. Just from the first bite of the bread, diners have felt the special taste of pho. The trick is that after clamping the beef, the vegetables, the chef will add a sauce similar as condensed soup cooked from the bones as other common noodle soup uphill, finally a bit of chili sauce is added.

Like many other fast foods, it only takes 1-3 minutes to have a hot loaf of bread with fragrant smell of traditional beef noodle soup. This is a fast food with health benefits because it contains many nutrients as a bowl of pho. You can fully replace "a bowl of pho" by "a loaf of pho bread" in busy days without worries about the quality as the other fast foods.

Pho bread is the perfect combination cuisine of the South and the North: Saigon bread has long been a distinctive brand of the South, also when mentioning Northern cuisine it is the known pho.
Whether this food appeared in Vietnam not long ago, but not only Vietnamese people but a lot of foreign tourists have come to try it. Most of them feel the novelty and charm of the bread. The first shop selling this dish is Ro22, Truong Dinh Street, District 3, HCMC. With trips to ho chi minh city or trips from ho chi minh city to mekong delta, visitors will have chance to enjoy this new and delicious food.

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Autumn colors in Hanoi Old Quarter

Just to autumn, Hanoi was promptly put on her a glamorous gown. Time as stops to catch the autumn quietly through the old town, surfing on moss roof and leaving behind a carpet of rustling yellow leaves. Sky is full of nostalgia.

Road with yellow leaves in Hanoi

I have sometimes come to Hanoi on the balmy autumn day, and tiny indescribable emotions are always in my mind. Perhaps no place on this S-shaped land you can feel the autumn beauty gentle and so deep as Hanoi autumn. Space is outlined by blue color of the sky, sunshine, golden leaves, and the pristine white of "Ao Dai" dress flying on windy afternoon.

Hanoi autumn afternoon

The fall is a priceless gift nature has given to this thousands of years land, and then only once of coming is a thousand times of missing. I love the early morning of wandering on the old streets and seeing a new day. On early morning, the streets are too quite and peace. Morning market is crowded by sisters preparing her full burden of "Cốm Làng Vòng", fresh fruits of autumn to go to all Hanoi streets.

Through the ups and downs, Hanoi remains unique ancient features with old houses, streets, alleys intertwined like a chessboard. 36 Hanoi streets in autumn, yellow leaves fall on moss roofs, stretch down the road. Narrow ancient streets with very special names: Hang Duong, Hang Bong, Hang Trong, Hang Than ... are always bustling with tourists. Between these old houses picturesque,pretty and romantic small cafes are ideal stops to admire beauty of Hanoi streets.

Bikes loaded with yellow sunflowers

Hoan Kiem Lake

I love wandering the streets, watching the bikes loaded with yellow sunflowers as carrying the autumn. I also love a magical Sword lake immersing yellow colors of the autumn, and windy autumn nights when I am immersed in sweet fragrance of blackboard tree's flowers on Nguyen Du street.

Blackboard tree flowers

Only by wandering around in the night, you can feel all the beauty of Hanoi old Quarters. Leaving noisy, narrowness and dusty, now streets come back its taciturn and ancient appearance. Somewhere in street, love songs of guitars sound deeply and quitely. The memories of a far away time awake, still filled and full of emotion as ever. The dry soul suddenly seemed to be transformed into poets who know and love deeply autumn's cold mist.

This time, Hanoi begins autumn season. To have full emotions of Hanoi autumn, you should soon book Vietnam tour offered by Vietnam Tour Booking. Wish you have a memorable autumn in Hanoi Old Quaters.

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Discover Halong Bay Undersea World

Halong Bay is a spectacular location for sightseeing in Vietnam. Located in the Gulf of Tonkin, it forms an amazing seascape of limestone pillars along with more than 1,600 islands and islets. Travelers coming to Halong Bay will enjoy not only the boat trip, sea kayaking but also the very scuba diving experience. 

Scuba-diving is a favorite activity of tourists on Halong Bay

>>Kayaking in Halong Bay

For tourists who love discovery, scuba-diving will be a favorite activity on Halong Bay. By scuba-diving, tourists will have chance to see the the wonderful underwater world of Halong by their eyes.

The time from April to December is the most wonderful period for travelers to join “Halong Bay Scuba Diving”. The temperature of water at this time is from 26-29 celsius degrees. Scuba diving with Halong Voyage – a the special product which no one has done before in Halong bay. Travelers can explore hidden beauty underwater with thousands of splendid coral and fish like sergeant major fish, Clark’s anemone fish. Tourists will see colorful their method survive. Underwater world will make you to feel novel, small and peaceful as come back inside your mother. Tourists will perfect relax and excited to discover underwater world.  With internationally-licensed, well-trained scuba divers and assistants, we guarantee the safety, papering amenities with friendly and attentive management which gives you an unforgettable experience.

The hidden beauty underwater with thousands of splendid coral 

and fish like sergeant major fish, Clark’s anemone fish

When tourists snorkel underwater in Halong bay, you will be provided useful equipments such as: mask, fins, snorkel, cylinder, exposure suite, compass, regulator…  All facilities are regularly checked and match safety standard. Therefore, it’s unnecessary to worry about your safety.

Some Tips for diving longer and deeper safely

There are a number of techniques to increase the diver's ability to dive deeper and longer:

- Technical diving – diving deeper than 40 meters (130 ft), using mixed gases, and/or entering overhead environments (caves or wrecks)

- Surface supplied diving – use of umbilical gas supply and diving helmets

- Saturation diving – long-term use of underwater habitats under pressure and a gradual release of pressure over several days in a decompression chamber at the end of a dive.

Source : https://www.halong-bay-tours.com/travel-guide/things-to-do/discover-halong-bay-undersea-world.html

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Snowfall draws over 10,000 visitors to Sapa

More than 10,000 visitors are estimated to have descended on the northern resort town of Sapa on January 24 to catch a glimpse of the snowfall - a rare occurrence in a tropical country like Vietnam.

>> Sapa trekking tours

>> Sapa 3 nights 2 days

 

Lu Van Khuyen, head of the Sapa culture department, said that popular guesthouses and mid-range hotels were all booked and only rooms in four-star hotels or above were available.

According to the national weather service, a strong cold wave plunged Vietnam’s northern region into temperatures below ten degrees Celsius, with temperatures in many mountainous sites plummeting below zero, triggering snowfall over the weekend.

Ha Van Cong, owner of Mua Xuan Hotel in the centre of Sapa, said the number of visitors began to surge Saturday morning upon news of snowfall in conjunction with the weekend.

It was reported that room rates were largely the same as normal days despite a jump in visitor numbers, averaging between VND500,000 and 1,000,000 (US$22.50-45) a night depending on the type of room.

A constant streams of vehicles carrying travelers to watch the unusual weather phenomenon in Vietnam caused serious congestion on National Highway 4D, according to reports.

In addition to Sapa, visitors looking for a sight of snow also flocked to the area around Phja Oac Mountain and elsewhere in Cao Bang province where the temperature dropped to as low as -8 degrees Celsius.

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Ha Long Bay among Top 3 places to visit in Southeast Asia

Ha Long Bay has been ranked third in a list of the 29 Best Places to Visit in Southeast Asia by Touropia, an international travel website featuring the most amazing sights around the world divided into various “Best of” lists.

>> Halong bay tours

>> Hanoi halong bay day trip

“Located in northeastern Vietnam, Ha Long Bay resembles a scene from a fantasy story with its thousands of limestone karst islands of different shapes and sizes,” the website explained.

“Some of the islands contain lakes while some are hollow, with a colorful fairyland of grottoes inside.”

Quang Ninh province, home of Ha Long Bay, has recently provided three new experiences for tourists.

In June it opened a cable car line 2.2 km in length, from Bai Chay Beach to Ba Deo Mountain.

The cable car has two cabins and can transport about 2,000 people an hour.

It was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world, with one cabin holding up to 230 people, and for having the world’s highest pillar, at 188.88 meters above the ground.

The Sun Wheel, where people can gaze over Ha Long Bay and the surrounding area from a height of 215 meters above sea level, is the second new local experience.

The Ferris wheel uses Japanese technology and has 64 cabins carrying 1,200 people an hour.

A wax museum, meanwhile, was opened over the summer, featuring wax figures of famous people from around the world.

In the first half of this year Quang Ninh is estimated to have welcomed almost 6 million tourists, a 9 per cent increase year-on-year. International tourist arrivals totaled 1.9 million, a 30 per cent increase, and came from more countries than previously. 

Hoi An, Hanoi, and Sapa also found places on Touropia’s list. Hoi An, ranked 15th, was described as a charming town known for its great atmosphere at the mouth of the Thu Bon River on the central coast.

“The narrow, winding lanes of the old port are lined with beautiful old architecture, traditional wooden houses and hundreds of tailor shops selling everything from clothing to souvenirs,” it said.

Hanoi, ranked 25th, made the list for blending the charm of the old world with a pace of life that is quickening as the old city modernizes and is where visitors can see local people both taking tai chi chuan exercises and aerobics.

“At the heart of Hanoi is its Old Quarter, an open-air museum of historic Asian and French colonial architecture that has largely remained intact,” it wrote.

Sapa, ranked 27^th and located in remote northwest of Vietnam, was assessed by Touropia as being suitable for trekking in the surrounding mountains, touring rice paddies, and visiting traditional villages and ethnic minorities.

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