Archive for » May, 2011 «

Hanoi to build wharf for floating restaurants, boats
hotay Hanoi to build wharf for floating restaurants, boats

A tourist boat on the West Lake in Hanoi.

Hanoi plans to build a large dock on its famous Ho Tay (West Lake) to end the disorder and pollution caused by floating restaurants and tourist boats on the lake.

Thai Van Ha, vice chairman of Tay Ho District People’s Committee, said construction of the wharf covering an area of 1.5 hectares is scheduled for July and to be finished by December.

Estimated costs will reach VND12 billion (US$583,000), according to Ha.

“Once the wharf is put into operation, owners of floating restaurants and tourist boats will have to join the waste treatment system instead of dumping waste onto the lake like they are doing now,” he said.

According to the lake management board, four Vietnamese companies are running 10 floating restaurants and tourist boats on the 500-hectare lake.

(Source: Tien Phong)

Swallow bird island in Phu Quoc

Nhan Island (Swallow bird island) in Phu Quoc District in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang resembles a ship carrying white stones sailing on the blue waters of the sea with swallows flying above.

images201906 daonhan201105121726192011051217281520110512173815 Swallow bird island in Phu Quoc
Nhan Island
images201904 chimnhanaptrung201105121726212011051217281620110512173816 Swallow bird island in Phu Quoc
A swallow sitting beside her eggs

Visitors leave the wharf in Ham Ninh Commune to travel for over 14 hours to reach Tho Chau Commune. There they transfer on to a motorboat to continue on to Nhan Island for a 10-minute ride.

Hundreds of swallows hover all over the island, which are often seen dipping into the sea to catch anchovy. There are no trees on the island but only stones piled up to create shallow caves which are place for their habitat, nesting and breeding from lunar June to October annually.

A swallow lays only one or two eggs on the stones or in the small caves. It does not hatch eggs like other species of birds do but keeps a close watch on its eggs for a month until the chicks hatch. Then the swallow flies out frequently to look for food to feed her young.

During the breeding season, visitors have to be very careful not to step onto swallow eggs, which are the same color as the stones.

When the breeding season is over, from lunar November to March, the swallows migrate from the island only to return during the next breeding season.

Visiting Nhan Island is also an opportunity for tourists to bathe in the pure blue waters, or deep-sea dive and collect colorful and uniquely shaped corals. They can also sit around the white stones or go fishing for cuttlefish in a serene atmosphere filled with the chirping of swallows.

(Source: SGGP)

Pristinely beautiful Ban Vat waterfall

Ban Vat Waterfall is known for its pristine natural beauty and as the historical home of the Thai ethnic minority of Muong Sang Commune in Moc Chau District of the northwestern province of Son La.

images201510 thac20110507070533 Pristinely beautiful Ban Vat waterfall
The spectacular Ban Vat Waterfall in the northwestern province of Son La

Ban Vat Waterfall is located north of Hanoi across many mountain passes covered with fog, near the road leading to Son La town.

The Kinh ethnic group calls the waterfall Dai Yem (an ancient Vietnamese undergarment) or Nang (She). These names signify that the waterfall is so beautiful that it resembles the beauty of a 16-year-old girl.

Local residents call the waterfall Thai Hung or Ban Vat, meaning the home of the Thai ethnic minority.

Amidst green forests, chirping birds and gibbon calls, the 100-meter high waterfall gushes down day and night.

The Ban Vat Waterfall flows from the two rivulets of Bo Co Lam and Bo Ta Chau, originating from a cave in Vat mountain village that has long been the home of the Thai ethnic minority.

Water seeps out of the limestone mountain to create the Vat spring, which stretches for five kilometers before merging with Bo Sap spring in the Bo Sap mountain village on the borders of Laos, to transform eventually into the magnificent Ban Vat Waterfall.

The waterfall comprises of two levels of falls with the second one located 150 meters at an angle below the first one. Above the second waterfall is a floral stretch of land from where visitors can view the surrounding mountainous view.

The Ban Vat Waterfall looks most stunning during the rainy season from April to September every year, when the 70-metre wide fall gushes water down its slope, looking a dazzling white and imposingly dramatic and poetic.

(Source: SGGP)

In photos: Pha Din Pass – Son La, Vietnam

Pha Din Pass holds an important and heroic part in history, and for many recalls the courage of Vietnamese soldiers at Dien Bien Phu.

The 32-km pass in the northern province of Son La was a key road to transport weapons and food to the soldiers who fought the battle at Dien Bien Phu, which led to the historic victory on May 7, 1954.

To commemorate the anniversary we give you some photos of the pass today.

e4b1201105072220172011050722213320110507222322 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

A girl sitting by the simple house in Lai Village

2201105072220172011050722213420110507222322 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Ha Thi Tuoi, 20 years old.

3201105072220182011050722213520110507222323 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Windy roads

4201105072220182011050722213520110507222323 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Home only to a few Mong people who live near the peak of the pass. An old woman repairs a buffalo enclosure.

5201105072220192011050722213620110507222324 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Thao Thi Du, nearly 100 years old, in Huoi Ai Village: a place with a long history.

62011050722213720110507222325 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Mong bird market

72011050722213820110507222326 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

The birds come from from Tuan Giao District in Dien Bien Province

82011050722213820110507222326 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Bird collecting attracts locals and visitors

92011050722213920110507222327 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Selecting a bird

1020110507222328 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Path to Mong village

1120110507222332 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Boy selling birds

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Worship?

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No, a Mong woman moving birds from their cages

1420110507222334 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

Clean and quite roads

1520110507222334 In photos: Pha Din Pass   Son La, Vietnam

View from the top of Pha Din Pass

(Source: dtinews)

Sapa ranked among top ten places to walk

Sapa Town in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai has been voted one of the world’s top ten spots for walking by popular travel guide Lonely Planet.

image2011050418425120110504184555 Sapa ranked among top ten places to walkThe other greatest places for walkers are the Grand Canyon in the US, Aoraki/Mount Cook Village in New Zealand, Lake District in England, Torres del Paine in Chile, Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, Brecon Beacons in Wales, Kakadu National Park in Australia, Taman Negara in Malaysia, and Dartmoor in England.

According to Lonely Planet, walking can be the best way to experience a place.

“Heaven on earth”

For Vietnamese, Sapa is also a top holiday destination.

1.600m higher than the sea level, Sapa has a mild temperature of 15 to 18 Celsius degree.

Though this town welcomes visitors all year around, it is generally agreed to be most beautiful in April and May.

Before the summer, the weather may be a bit cold and foggy, and after the summer, the rain season sets in.

In April and May, Sapa is blooming with green pastures and flowers, many of which can’t be found anywhere else in the country, and few visitors fail to marvel at the beauty of the cloudy valleys here every summer morning.

Sapa is also home to many breathtaking spots such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave.

And this is here that adventurers can climb to Vietnam’s rooftop on Fansipan Mountain at 3.143m above the sea level.

image20110504184556 Sapa ranked among top ten places to walk

image20110504184557 Sapa ranked among top ten places to walk

image20110504184558 Sapa ranked among top ten places to walk

image20110504184558 Sapa ranked among top ten places to walk

image20110504184559 Sapa ranked among top ten places to walk

(Source: Tuoitre)

Legendary Yang Bay Waterfall

On the occasion of the Nation Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1), a large number of tourists flocked to Yang Bay waterfall in Khanh Hoa.

Thactroi12011050414285620110504143116 Legendary Yang Bay Waterfall

Yang Bay 45km from Nha Trang

Yang Bay, also known as Thac Troi or the Waterfall of the Gods, is located in the middle of a forest surrounded by high mountains.

The waterfall, about 45 kilometres from Nha Trang, is not only beautiful, but has a legend that goes along with it.

The story goes that on the top of 900-metre high Gia Kang Mountain, a great many very smooth stones were laid down, creating a playground for the gods and fairies.

Among the fairies, the youngest often disguised herself as a countryside girl. She was then adopted by a village couple.

After some time, she fell in love with a local man named Cau Son. When informed about their love, the gods became angry and turned Cau Son into a rock. This did not discourage the fairy, however, who decided to stay and guard the statue of her beloved.

So the gods took out their anger on the people of the village by drying up their water. Blazing heat along with dried up rivers and streams was making the place uninhabitable.

Then two frogs appeared, a mother and her baby frog. Searching for water and scorched, the mother frog jumped around until she was overcome by the heat. The baby frog cried over his mother until his last breath.

The gods were so moved that they cried. Their tears created two waterfalls, one large one and one smaller, in the places where the two frogs died.

When the water touched the the statue of Cau Son, he was brought back to life and reunited with the fairy.

To commemorate the great services of the frogs, people decided to named the great waterfall as Yang Bay or Waterfall of the Gods, and the smaller one as Yang Khang or the Child of the Gods, and a third as Ho Cho or the Mother Waterfall.

Photos captured from the Yang Bay waterfall:

Thactroi1a2011050414285620110504143116 Legendary Yang Bay Waterfall

Untitled20110504143117 Legendary Yang Bay Waterfall

Thactroi32011050414285820110504143118 Legendary Yang Bay Waterfall

Thactroi42011050414285920110504143119 Legendary Yang Bay Waterfall

(Source: dtinews)