Oct
29
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The imagine of tourism for peace
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VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has a particular tourism product that is still neglected by domestic companies to make the difference: it is the epic history of the nation.
In HCM City, visiting the Cu Chi tunnels, the War Remnants Museum or the Reunification Hall is usually part of the Vietnam discovery program that travel firms introducing to foreign visitors.
The emphasis in the program is always beauty spots, cuisine, culture, music... Meanwhile, for the last 20 years, the War Remnants Museum has formed a special type of tourism - tourism for peace. A majority of foreign tourists, particularly veterans and students, enjoy this unique tourism product. May of them came back Vietnam twice a year, one month each.
According to Ms. Huynh Ngoc Van, director of the War Remnants Museum, tourism for peace was born from the actual needs of many travelers. They went to the museum to express their willingness to meet and exchange with Vietnamese witnesses of war.
Ms. Van said that she had witnessed intimate encounters full of tears among Vietnamese veterans and American, Australian, Korean veterans who participated in the Vietnam War.
There are many stories that she can not forget. American physiotherapist John Fisher (a veteran in the Vietnam War), his wife and friends asked the museum to help them meet with Vietnamese veterans. After the meeting, the couple recommended to give massage for Vietnamese veterans. They brought massage beds to Vietnam and directly massaged on the disabled body of the people who confronted them in the war. Since then, every year the couple went to Vietnam twice, one month each, to guide and assist the victims of war to treat their sequel.
Many foreign tourists do not understand why a country of poverty, backwardness as Vietnam could beat France, Japan and the United States. They said that Vietnamese people must be very combative and aggressive. They go to this country to learn the story. But they are astonished by the hospitality of Vietnamese people. They can not understand how the Vietnamese are so tolerant to the extent that they are possible to speak in a friendly way, sing with those who used to be their enemies.
All the things make visitors surprised, touched and they want to come back to Vietnam to work together to build peace. From that fact a unique tourism product has been gradually formed – tourism for peace.
Gold mine
"The beauty of material brings people to you, but the beauty of spirit is what makes people come back," Van said.
According to the museum’s report, in 2007, it received over 380,000 visitors but the figure increased to 660,000 in 2011, including more than 400,000 foreign visitors.
Van said foreign visitors would love for this unique type of tourism. Many people returned with their friends and relatives or at least told others about this type of tourism. It’s one of the reasons for the number of visitors to the museum continues to grow.
Of the total number of visitors to the museum, up to one third are young people. Many delegations consist of only university students. There were groups of Japanese students with up to 500 people. These visitors usually stay in 4-5 star hotels and spend a lot of money. This shows the ability of expanding the market for tourism for peace.
"This is a gold mine of tourism but so far we have not cared," Van insisted.
Tourism for peace is a type of tourism is interested in by foreign travel companies. The Center Tourist Company of Japan has offered this service for many years. Every year, they organize tours to Vietnam for high school students. Students in the U.S., Australia ... are also brought to the museum. Many backpackers take up to three days to learn about the museum thoroughly.
Tourism is generally divided into two seasons: peak and off-peak seasons in a year. "But tourism for peace is always in the peak season," Van said.
Then she suggested to be based on the holidays in the years to organize tours under different themes to attract tourists such as: Love in the War on the occasion of the Valentine Day, February 14, or Women in the War on the occasion of the International Day for Women, March 8.
Vietnam currently has some destinations for tourism for peace such as the Cu Chi tunnels in the south; Vinh Moc tunnels and the DMZ (demilitarized zone) in the central region; Long Bien Bridge, Hoa Lo Prison, Dien Bien Phu in the north. This number of destinations is too small compared to the country’s history.
Tourism companies admitted that they have not explored the value of the chain of war relics while this is a competitive product.
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Oct
29
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Lagoon known for seafood
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VietNamNet Bridge – O Loan Lagoon is one of the best-known scenic spots in the southern province of Phu Yen, drawing many visitors thanks to the area's picturesque scenery and also the delicious seafood on offer here.
The lagoon, which is situated at the foot of Quan Cau Pass near National Highway 1A in Tuy An District, is the shape of a swan when viewed from a plane passing overhead. The 1,200ha wide lagoon with an average depth of 1.2m to 1.4m is surrounded by rolling hills, and linked to the Cai River. A small creek also links the lagoon and the sea.
Golden sand dunes and casuarina forests also line the banks of the lagoon, providing shelter for pelicans, storks and ducks.
According to traveller Nguyen Manh Dung, one of the most enjoyable things to do at O Loan is to jump into a boat to cruise the lagoon. Local boatmen will take you out across the calm waters, "and you may even be surprised to see fish jumping out of the water," said Dung. "One even jumped into my boat."
O Loan lagoon is famous for culinary specialities such as red oysters, cuttle-fish, jelly fish and a type of red algae that is used in food.
"The seafood here, especially the red clams, are very delicious because of the scent and sweet taste," said Dung.
There's a famous saying here: "One can not say that they have visited Phu Yen without having tasted O Loan's blood cockles."
Directions: A saltwater lagoon, O Loan is situated at the foot of Quan Cau Pass
near Highway 1A in Tuy An District in the southern province of Phu Yen.
These saltwater clams are thought to be extremely healthy to eat. They're also extremely yummy, and called "blood cockles" because the meat of the clam looks red.
They contain the highest nutritional content when compared to other clam or oyster species in Viet Nam.
The clams can be grilled, boiled or steamed but grilling is the most simple and delicious way to prepare them. Dinners can enjoy a wide range of clam dishes such as clams with rice porridge, stir-fried clams and more, and which ever dish you choose, it's best to eat it while out on the water.
Diners can enjoy the dish with a dipping sauce of salt, pepper and lime juice, spicy vegetables, grilled girdle cake and wine.
Le Hoang Sang, chairman of district's People's Committee, said O Loan is one of Tuy An District's most important tourism destinations.
"The value of O Loan is in both its beautiful landscape and unique specialities which are the means of subsistence for locals here," said Sang.
According to him, the environment in the area is very clean, an important factor that has helped to preserve the natural beauty here. In 1996, the lagoon was recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a beauty spot that must be protected.
Dig in: Red clams are a speciality of O Loan Lagoon.
Many enterprises have asked to breed other types of seafood in the lagoon but have not been allowed to do so by district authorities keen on preserving the ecosystem.
If you want to discover other landmarks in the district, you'll have to get back onshore. Near O Loan Lagoon to the north is Mang Lang Church in An Thach Commune, one of the oldest churches in the country that is home to one of the first books printed in Vietnamese romanised script.
Not far from the church is the historical Quang Duc pottery village, which was settled in the 17th century and saw a period of strong development during the 18th century. The outstanding feature of Quang Duc pottery is the enamel covering on the pottery, which incorporates clam shells form O Loan lagoon.
The picturesque Da Dia Reef is located in the area in An Ninh Dong Commune. It is 50m wide and stretches for more than 200m. It is made up of thousands of pentagonal rocks, causing passers-by to stop and contemplate the unusual and magnificent landscape.
Next to Da Dia Reef, there is a sand beach that stretches for about 3km. The sand here is white, clean and smooth, the water is clear and blue, making it a still unspoilt seaside haven for tourists. The scenery here still keeps its isolated beauty and the pristine environment.
Travellers who want to visit the area when it's at its most liveliest should plan their trip during the O Loan Lagoon Festival, held on January 7th on the lunar calendar every year. You'll get the chance to see traditional boat racing and a range of Phu Yen's traditional folklore features. The festival attracts thousands of people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.
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Oct
29
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Study Vietnam Hotel Booking Online Tips
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With the advent of online booking sites, booking a place for a trip to Vietnam has never been such easy and convenient like that.
However, online booking also exists many problems:
Sometimes, price of online booking ismuch higher than direct reservation’s, hotel information on the website is notthe same as reality, the methods of payment are complex and not secured, theprestige of the site is not high ... And it’s time to consider and choose areputable website.
These are some experiences in onine hotel booking in Vietnam for you toconsider:
1. Identify information needed
To determine destination, date ofarrival, length of stay, hotel name (if any), etc.
2. Choose a reputable website to book
Nowadays, in Vietnam, there are manyonline booking sites; each site has different policy on pricing. To ensure thatnot to encounter risks as unclear price, bad hotel quality, unofficialwebsites... you should choose a reputable website managed by a reputable brandin Vietnam as bookhotel.vn to book, which ismanaged by Asianwaytravel, a professional inbound tourism brand certified as aVietnamese prestige brand in 2011.
3 Compare prices.
Each online booking page has its ownpolicy on pricing. To make sure to find a room with the best price, you shouldcheck out and compare prices between websites. You could also use intermediatesites like tripadvisor.com or Kayak.com. More carefully, you can check the prices by directly calling the hotel orcomparing prices of the travel agents.
Checking directly with the hotel willhelp you to get a better price if the hotel is running promotion program, whichonly applies to customers booking directly.
4 Refer to information from several sources.
In addition, you should refer to thereviews of your desired hotel on the booking websites or through travel forumposts to be able to choose the hotel that satisfies yourself.
5. Check carefully methods of payment and security policies.
Another important thing is to check themethods of payment and security policies of the online booking websites.
In addition, high-security paymentwebsite, enabling users to rest assured in the implementation of their transactions.
6. Finally, remember to reconfirm your booking by contacting thehotel directly via phone or email to ensure there are no errors for your trip.
Some reputable website to book:Hostelworld.com, bookhotel.vn...
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A bean cake record will be displayed
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29/10/2012 08:44:57
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Performance of HCM City Circus troupe is attracted
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29/10/2012 08:38:58
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Paintings show in Orphans
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29/10/2012 08:34:57
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language Day with learning language
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29/10/2012 08:31:19
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Korean singer to see fans in Vietnam
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29/10/2012 08:25:40
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Hanoi welcomes Apsara dances show
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29/10/2012 08:19:36
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The boycott “arrogant” tourist sites from travel firms
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27/10/2012 09:36:26
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Picture show of the rocky horror picture
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27/10/2012 09:29:47
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Welcome Halloween day in the city with strange things
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27/10/2012 09:26:25
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