Luong Stream Ecotourism

The center of Da Nang city 15 km to the north, ecotourism zone Luong Stream nestled under the Hai Van Quan, covered harmonious space, verdant mountains vast, mingles with the voice stream murmuring, calling birds, gibbons sing … all creating a pristine setting, rustic and quiet.

Right from the entrance to resort, Vietnamese soul with wings Us hundred eggs of the same parent symbol Au is quite impressive layout. Inside, the restaurant is designed in the center of Cham architectural style with patterned lines prototypes, unique, and strange things eye care, sexism Champa culture a time. Besides the domesticated space Vietnam also skillfully reproduced by the model of ethnic minorities, such as the Muong stilt, Tay, K’tu, Dao, Nung … Here, visitors can relax, visit and buy souvenirs, visit the ancient house Quang, Hue beam house, .. More and more amazing, when night falls, visitors are just watching the moon in the Lunar holiday house, just lift the cup Hong Dao, poetry, music …

By Luong Stream Resort, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the wonders that nature presents, can bask in the cool waters to feel the peaceful moments, listening to the sound of the stream , slightly off to roaring voices murmuring rock, mixed with birds, rustling of the jungle. And if you need a space more fun, visit the theater (seats per cent), or wander through the “city” home market … there will be more surprises await.

After a trip ‘adventure’ tired travelers can save ancient villas with full facilities, delicious food, fit much different audience, to enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend family, friends, colleagues. Suoi Luong indeed brings visitors endless fun and a quiet, airy unexpectedly after the dusty streets and the hustle of industrialization.

Han River Bridge

Da Nang is located on the west side of the Han River and the beaches are to the east. In the middle night, traffic is restricted to get from crossing the Han River Bridge and it swings on its axis to allow shipping traffic to pass along the river. The area around the bridge is beautifully paved into a riverside promenade and is the location of Da Nang’s cultural centre.

The Han River Bridge, a suspension bridge connecting the east and west sides of the city, was inaugurated on 29 March 2000.

Han River Bridge is the first bridge that Vietnamese architects and workers designed. Han River Bridge was built by the people of Danang and holds a special place in their pride for their city. The bridge is the unique swing bridge to be built in Vietnam and it is also an important part of Danang’s cityscape. The Han River Bridge is the symbol for new vitality and the developing desire of the city-was built with the contribution of the entire city’s people. It is not also facilitates transport and potential for tourism but also a cultural spot of Danang people today left behind for the future generations.

Cao Lanh

Cao Lanh was a capital city of Dong Thap province, in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. During the French colonial period Cao Lanh found some supporters for the nationalist appeal of Tran Huy Lieu's Indochina Times founded in May 1923.

There is a myth behind the name Cao Lanh. Once upon a time, there was a husband and wife name Lanh, came here from the middle part of Vietnam. Due to being straightforward and upright, he was promoted to be the legal representative men of the localities. Till 1820, the cholera spread out and many locals died. At that time, there was no medicines and medical measures, so people thought this epidemic is a punishment coming from God. Mr.Lanh also thought like that and he created an altar to pray to stop the disease. His wife, Mrs. Lanh was also infected and died in one day. After that, he was also infected and went in peace. The villagers then inhumed them right before the disappearance of the cholera. To memorize Mr. Lanh and his wife, the villagers called the market Cau Lanh. The name Cao Lanh as we know like nowadays is just another sound of Cau Lanh.

When in Cao Lanh, there are some prominent sites and interesting things that you can’t ignore. The first is the Nguyen Sinh Sac Complex. With an area of 3.6 hectares, this complex includes two parts, the Grave and the Memorable House with stilted house and fish pond. The second one is a dish with rats, the roasted rat meat. The Cao Lanh Rat Meat is very famous in the South Vietnam. Coming here without tasting rat meat means that you have lost one third of interesting things of the tour package.

Trang Tien Bridge - a symbol of Hue

Trang Tien Bridge is the most beautiful bridge in Hue (Vietnam). Trang Tien Bridge joins north and south of Perfume River in Hue. The north side of Trang Tien Bridge belongs to Phu Hoa District, close to Dong Ba market in Hue. The south of Trang Tien Bridge belongs to Phu Hoi District, right in the center of Hue city in Vietnam. 

Spanning the Perfume River there are more than ten bridges but only one becomes Hue’s symbol, that's Trang Tien bridge.

There was a bridge made of bamboo crossing over Perfume River in Hue. The French Governor in the center of Vietnam, Levécque ordered the Eiffel Construction Company to design and build Trang Tien Bridge and Gustave Eiffel designed it. Trang Tien Bridge was built of concrete, steel and finished building in 1899. After finishing, Trang Tien Bridge was named Thanh Thai and the total cost to build it was 400 million dong. This was huge amount of money at that time. After Thanh Thai King was exiled to Réunion Island, the French governor in Vietnam changed the name of Trang Tien Bridge to Clémenceau. 

Trang Tien Bridge was renovated in 1906. Its length is 401.10 meter. The width is 6.20 meter. Trang Tien Bridge was named Nguyen Hoang in 1945 and this bridge now is one of the historical sites in Hue in Vietnam. Every night, a lot of local people come to the park to enjoy the fresh air from Perfume River in Hue as well as enjoy looking at Trang Tien Bridge is shined by different colours. 

The Perfume River

The Perfume River have two sources. They come from the Truong Son range: the Ta Trach (Left Tributary) from Truong Dong mounts toward north-west through 55 impressive waterfalls, and then slowly to Bang Lang fork; the shorter Huu Trach (Right Tributary) flowing through 14 dangerous waterfalls and Tuan ferry landing to Bang Lang fork where the two tributaries join to form the poetic Perfume river.

From Bang Lang to Thuan An estuary, the Perfume river is 30 km long (The river level is not much above that of the sea) so that the river runs very slowly.

The colour of the Perfume river is darker when it winds along the foot of Ngoc Tran mount - the Jade Cup Temple - where there is a very deep abyss.

 The river runs slowly through the verdant and shady villages of Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vy Da, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi, Dinh market, Nam Pho, Bao Vinh, mingling with the odours of flowers of Hue... The river with the shimmer blue limpid colour is like a pearl in the sun. Hue boats rowing up and down with remote, meditative and deep folk melodies at deep night. It is an eternal pleasure for many generations of tourists who go boating to behold the poetic landscape, to listen to the folk melodies of Hue in tranquil nights.

The views on both sides of the river with the citadel, town, gardens, pagodas, towers and temples, etc. and their reflections in the waters make the already loveable river even more poetic and musical. Many people think that Hue city has peaceful, gentle and tranquil landscapes mostly thanks to the Perfume river. This river brings to the city a meditative poetic characteristics and the harmonious limpidity exhaling from a land of age-old culture.

The 105m Ngu Binh has a striking and symmetric figure. On both sides of the Even Mount (Bang Son) are 2  nr_nuingu02.gif (14504 bytes)small mounts called Ta Bat Son (Left Mount) and Huu Bat Son (Right Mount). The Nguyen dynasty was established and decided to build up the Hue Capital. When seeing that Bang Son look like a front screen. Gia Long Emperor approved the design of geo-mancers: to choose this mount as a front altar of the imposing and solid defending wall system, and renamed it Ngu Binh.

Together with the Perfume river, Ngu Binh Mount is the second invaluable gift endowed by Nature to Hue. These two mingle with each other creating the romantic mountain and river beauty of Hue. For a long time, this beautiful mount and the blue limpid Perfume river have become the symbol of Hue city. Therefore, people often call Hue "The land of the Perfume river and Ngu Binh mount" or "Huong-Ngu Land".

Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary Nature Reserve- Attractive Eco-tourism Destination in Vietnam Tourism

Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary is considered one of the most attractive eco-tourism spots in the Mekong River Delta. Thanks to its biological diversity, the sanctuary was recognized as Nature Reserve in 1984. Tourists in Vietnam travel coming there not only have chance to see beautiful and precious birds, but also are indulged yourself with the rich flora and fauna.

Bac Lieu Province, around 100 km from the southernmost tip of Vietnam, is home to a popular bird sanctuary located in Hiep Thanh Commune of Bac Lieu Town. The sanctuary is one of the most attractive ecological tourist spots in the Mekong River Delta.

The Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary is the vestige of a forest which ran along the East Sea coast and came into existence over a century ago. The sanctuary is just around five kilometers from the town center. It covers some 107 hectares and lies within the remaining 385 hectares of forest area. The sanctuary is now home to 46 bird species, 60 fish species, seven frog species, 10 species of mammals, eight reptile species, and 100 species of plants. On the ground are a massive number of eggs, and in the air, you can spot some species with 2 m wing-spans.

Over nearly one century, the Sanctuary is the place where generations of birds are born, usually in the rainy season, and developed. There are currently some 40,000 birds and 5,000 nests, according to preliminary statistics. Birds mostly gather here during the rainy season between May and October. In August and September, flocks of birds gather at the sanctuary to build nests and breed. The forest comes alive with the singing of various kinds of birds and trees overflow with hundreds of birds’ nests. The Sanctuary is also the important home of several water birds, mainly teal, stork, heron, night heron and cormorant.

According to documentation of Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary Nature Reserve, in the first, it was a coastal rich and diversified salt forest floor with the natural salt-marsh ecosystem. As a part of the remaining forest floor along the East Sea, it is increasingly far from the sea due to alluvial deposits. In 1962, it was looked after, protected and controlled by a household. Then, the local authority realized that it is a precious natural property, so they have a step by step investment.

The best time for tourists in Vietnam travel to visit Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary is in the early morning when most birds leave their nests to begin a day of feeding. Alternatively, at sunset the birds can also be seen more easily as they return to their nests to sleep, flocks of bird fly one after another. This is the moment of enjoying the most spectacular sight the sanctuary.

Moreover, the rich flora and fauna of the enclosure gives the lush, natural area a feeling of wonder and enchantment. Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary is a favorite destination of both nature lovers and researchers and visitors in Vietnam travel will easily find several types of birds listed in Vietnam’s “Red Book” of endangered species of plants and animals. The area is also popular amongst photographers who come to the sanctuary for one-of-a-kind shots of the breathtakingly beautiful birds.

Although it has potential for further development, the Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary remains off the radar of most large tourist companies and thus, tourists wishing to visit the area must organize travel themselves or seek out a local guide.

Traveling to Bac Lieu, tourists in Vietnam travel should not forget to visit Bac Lieu bird sanctuary nature reserve where is home to over 40 species of inhabiting bird , especially the rare and valuable ones.

" Feeling the pulse" of Vietnam Tourism

The gloomy picture of the development of the tourism industry of Vietnam has been defined at the consultation meeting on the state management of tourism recently, held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Hanoi. How to stimulate tourism in the difficult economic context is still a difficult problem for the non-smoke industry.

In the current context of economic difficulties, tourism is considered the highlight with around 6.7 million foreign visitors (up by 11 percent), 32.5 million domestic visitors (up 7 percent) and the total revenue of VND160 trillion (up 16 percent).

Foreign tourists in Vietnam

However, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh said that the growth rate of tourism industry was relatively high in the last three years, but its development is unsustainable, unstable and not commensurate with the potential, particularly the competitiveness is low compared to many countries in the region.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, General Director of Vietravel, resource planning for tourism development is not good, leading to more resources being destroyed, especially marine ecotourism. Ky also pointed out the lack of connection between localities that causes a waste of resources.

Mr. Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association said that travel firms are called for cutting down the charges for hotel rooms, transport fees and food prices nobody pays adequate attention to the legitimate request for preferential policies to tourism stimulus.

According to Director of Hoa Binh Hoa Le Tourism, the state should exempt or reduce import tax rates on tourism cars, reduce land tax to encourage businesses to invest in tourism, develop infrastructure in the remote areas that are rich in tourism potential.

The panorama of the smokeless industry in recent years reveals many inadequacies. State management in tourism is not good enough, proved in the decrease in tourism environment, for instance: Many small travel firms imitate famous brands to cheat customers; tour guides of different companies are in collusion to exchange tourists; the qualification of tour guides in Vietnam is still low; fraud, robbery, environmental pollution still occur in many localities, especially in the key areas of tourism.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky warned: “This is an alarming problem. If we do not handle it firmly, it will affect the image of Vietnam’s tourism, and decrease the number of tourists to our country. The environmental tourism protection policy must become a major policy, which is inseparable from the Vietnam’s tourism development strategy.”

Tourism promotion program of Vietnam is so small compared to other countries in the region. According to Mr. Luu Duc Ke, Director of Hanoitourist, in many countries, when the number of tourists increases, the budget for tourism promotion also rises. In Vietnam, it is contrary.

The revenue of the tourism industry increased in the last three years but the funding for tourism promotion shrank, from VND40 billion ($2 million) in 2010 to VND35 billion ($1.7 million) in 2011 and only VND30 billion ($1.5 million) in 2012 (equivalent to $0.25/visitor while in Thailand and Singapore the rate is $10-15/visitor). On the other hand, tourism companies are not permitted to open representative offices abroad.

However, tourism promotion is not just the money, but also depends on the promotion measures. It is very important to answer the question “what are the things that make a difference for Vietnam’s tourism?”

Many tour operators believe that, in order to promote tourism it is necessary to build the national tourism brand as quickly as possible.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky said that Vietnamese cuisine is very attractive to international visitors. Many cuisines such as pho (noodles) and nem cuon (spring rolls) are frequently among the top world’s most attractive dishes. Vietnamese food, therefore, can be considered as the focus of the national tourism brand.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan asked the tourism industry to promote cultural and human strengths in building the brand; to consider safety for visitors as top priority; tourism firms must accompany the State in promoting tourism image.

The Deputy PM also asked the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to have the answer for the question–whether local travel firms are allowed to open overseas representative offices in the first quarter of 2013.

“The master plan for Vietnam tourism development to 2020, vision to 2030″ will be approved before December 20, 2012, and will be immediately implemented by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Dining etiquettes of Vietnamese

Each country has its own way of organizing and tasting meals. Also, Vietnamese have their own beliefs and habits of eating.

Vietnamese usually have breakfast, lunch and dinner without tea or coffee break in between. Because most Vietnamese are early risers, breakfast is eaten before 9, though many restaurants serve breakfasts until much later. Foods for breakfasts are as diverse as you can imagine. Some of the most popular are the “notorious” pho-noodle soup; baguette stuffed with pate, ppq porked and veggies; rice congee with minced pork; banh cuon (rice crepes), xoi (sticky rice). Contrary to the Western diet, breakfasts in Vietnam involves more salt than sugar.  

Bowl of fish sauce is an indispensable element

 Lunch is served from 12-1 p.m. Most office workers have lunch at one of street stores where they can choose a main dish-fish, beef, pork, chicken or tofu with side vegetables and steamed rice. Some others order lunch box from a nearby restaurant if they want to avoid the heat and traffic. Lunch in Vietnam is quick yet does not lack any nutrients.

Dinner is the main meal where family gathers and report back their day. Women are usually responsible for preparing the meal, with or without the help of their mother or daughters. Some better-off families have a dining table while the rest, though you may find it bizarre, have dinner on the ground floor. It is Vietnamese tradition to share food while eating.

As a result, the whole family circumvents a tray of food, each with a bowl of rice and taking food from the common dish. Dinner foods usually include one or two main dishes such as stewed pork, steamed chicken or fried fish; one dish of boiled or stir-fried vegetable and one bowl of broth. Steamed rice is considered as inevitable in most meals.

Time for gathering and sharing

  Eating out is not a habit of Vietnamese until recently and nowadays, it is popular in cities ad better off family only. Eating out used to take place on the occasion of daddy receiving salary, or family celebrating an achievement or weekend gateway. However, as modern life leads to lesser time and interest for cooking, eating out is also in the sharp increase.

Vietnamese also have the habit of organizing meals together; members in families gather in time and have close depend on others, which is totally different from Westerners because they ignore to talk during the meals. In the contrary, Vietnamese really like talking during the meal and talking during the meals is the crucial need of Vietnamese because it is also the time for them to gather, express their interests about health, life and share experience of working together or freely discuss about some of their favorite problems.

Foods are delicious while the weather is not good that the meals aren’t delicious. Good places for having meals without good friends make them feel that the meals aren’t delicious.

Vietnamese are both simple and casual. Normal etiquette apply in dining time and fewer expectations are placed on foreigners. If you are invited into a family dinner, make yourself at home and open your eyes, ears and mind to learn about this special aspect of Vietnamese culture

Mooncake now and then

The Mid-Autumn festival is for lunar worship and moon watching, when mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Vietnamese festivals.

When the Mid-Autumn Festival came, our mothers bought us one bánh nướng (the baked mooncake) and one bánh dẻo (the snowy glutinous cake). They were saved on the 15th night of the eighth lunar month when the moon was roundest and brightest. Her whole family consumed the cakes, piece by piece, over the course of the following week.

Moon cakes were sold in the past

Out of our perpetual desire for this annual treat, we sought out a mundane biscuit and pretended to divide up our imagined treat. Our unpracticed knife slipped on the harder cookie and cut deep.

Now a mother herself who can buy her children as many mooncakes as they like—considers her resulting scar, I am reminded of my childish wish to eat a whole mooncake by herself.

The smell and sight of mooncakes conjures the sounds and excitement of the special annual holiday in the minds of Vietnamese children. From Mid-Autumn Festival to Mid-Autumn Festival, anticipation only builds.

Modern,mooncakes are much more affordable and widely available. One month prior to the Mid-Autumn Festival, red stores pop up at every street corner displaying a diverse array of options. Their fancy packaging is specifically designed to serve as luxurious gifts.

New fillings are invented every year to satisfy consumer tastes. Mooncakes with shark fin or swallow’s nest are no longer unusual, but the most popular remain the traditional tastes of green bean paste, lotus seeds, and salted pork.

As more and more businesses enter the mooncake market, competition gets fiercer every year. Bakeries, restaurants, hotels, and even seasonal private enterprises are now mooncake producers. The choices are endless.

Moon cakes are sold everywhere before Mid-Autumn festival a month

Food hygiene concerns and waves of advertising have turned consumers away from home-made mooncakes in favour of factory-produced varieties. Household businesses that might have made and sold mooncakes for generations cannot compete with the resources and manpower of major companies. Preservatives are a factor too, with many unwilling to risk the unpredictable humidity ruining their gifts.

But the old-fashioned, traditional homemade businesses have mounted resurgence. Some family businesses have won hearts by remaining free of preservatives and selling fresher and safer mooncakes. Mothers equipping themselves with electric ovens and convenient baking tools are starting to make mooncakes themselves.

I managed to teach myself following internet recipes and spent a Sunday afternoon with my friends making mooncakes. Many things might have changed, my own passion for mooncakes have never faded and I still intent on soft and sweet mooncake memories that I still treasure.

The beauty of Ham Rong Mountain in Sapa

Ham Rong in spring is filled with colorful flowers blooming along the way through. The poetic and grandiose Ham Rong mountain is considered as a fairy land of Sapa for its natural beauty as well as rich cultural value.

Ham Rong Mountain, situated in the center of Sapa town, is a impressive tourist attraction. According to Legend, once upon a time there were a couple of dragons so mad in love that while a biblical flood was rising but they didn't know. When they awoke, it was too late for them to escape from the flood so they were washed away separately. Even now, turned into stone, but due to be natural instinct, the female (Ham Rong Mountain) always looks toward her lover in the west (the Hoang Lien Son mountain range).

Shaped like a dragon’s head in the clouds, Ham Rong Mountain is approximately  2000 meters high with green trees and colorful flowers almost all year round. Most tourists in Vietnam travel  visiting Sapa do the exciting climb up to the mountain. The path leading up to Ham Rong Mountain consists of many stone steps and a winding trail higher up will help to see small streams lazily run through bushy foliages. About mid­way, travelers will find themselves in an orchid -garden with over 400 species of colorful blooms. Standing on the highest point of Ham Rong Mountain, tourists will have a breathtaking view over the romantic Sapa town.

If visitors in Vietnam tourism come here in spring, the surprise will be greater to see blooming peach, plum and apricot garden. At midway upwards, there are ethnic cutural villages where visitors will enjoy art-performance by Dao, Mong or Sa Pho young locals.

The sound of bamboo flutes by Mong minority boys echo far and wide, their dances, songs, folksongs sound strong and romantic that will leave unforgettable impressions. A little further more will be a mini stone-forest where thousands of stone columns, pillars that surprisingly open visitors’ eyes.

A stroll among these pillars seems to be a walk in the fairyland, thentourists proceed to the heavens gate, a beaten trail leads to the cloud-yard and a TV station. San May (Cloud Yard) is an ideal location to view the whole panorama of Sapa.

EXPERIENCING A WONDERFUL SUMMER HOLIDAY IN SAM SON

Sam Son is a resort town in Thanh Hoa province in northern Vietnam.

In order to go from Hanoi to Thanh Hoa, you can choose to go by coach or train. The coaches start from My Dinh, Giap Bat bus station. The price of ticket is 60,000-100,000 dong. You go by coach to Thanh Hoa city and then catch a bus to Sam Son. It just takes you about 10-15 minutes. If you go by train, the ticket is 70,000-120,000 dong. You will feel safe when swimming in Sam Son beach because there are always a rescue team of nearly 50 people here. Since early summer in 2013, the rescue team rescued successfully more than 200 drowned tourists. Besides, Sam Son also has Truong Le mountain that is 76 meters in height with imposing cliffs. There is Doc Cuoc shrine, Co Tien shrine, To Hien Thanh shrine on the mountain. You should not miss Trong Mai  isle, a symbol of Sam Son. On Truong Le mountain, there are a lot of large lawn, and old pine trees so this is an ideal place for camping and outdoor activities. You also can visit relics and tourist spots in Thanh Hoa such as Ba Trieu temple at Gai mountain, Phu Dien village or city walls of the Citadel of the Ho Dynasty. In addition, being 60 kilometers from Sam Son, Ben En National Park in Nhu Thanh district has mountains, river and lakes with an area of over 16,000 hectares. There are many rare species of animals here such as elephant, tiger, bear, monkey, etc. If you are a romantic person and you want to travel around Sam Son and enjoy the atmosphere, you can hire a tandem bycicle. This service is about 50,000 dong an hour. Besides, on the way to leaving Sam Son, you can stop at Thanh Hoa city and visit Dien Bien market on Phan Chu Trinh street to buy fresh seafood.

Drive back the heat at Ho Tay Water Park

Cool down your Vietnam summer vacation with the only water park in Hanoi city. It situates on one side of West Lake, the largest lake in the city and also a nice entertainment complex of a "Sen" buffet restaurant, a large Kinder park, an amusement park named "new Solar" and this Water Park.

Fun rides and attractions, great place to hang out with locals in a non-touristy setting, great views of Ho Tay Lake and adjacent lotus pond, relaxing setting with lots of shade and benches.

Bathrooms and showers are sprayed down frequently but remain smelly and feel pretty dirty with no soap available and no mirrors in the gents' room, the park has uneven (and even slightly slippery in places) pavement making flip-flops a necessity, men can't wear a rash guard (sun-protective in my case) even on the lazy river ride or wave pool.

Fun things to see: There's a temple dedicated, it says in Chinese, to the water moon, in one corner of the park. Creaky, rusty old monorail from adjacent theme park sometimes trundles around overhead. Vietnamese, while not prudish, are very modest and you'll notice that many women wear swimsuits that amount to leggings-plus-T-shirt. Western visitors may want to take this into account. Lockers are available in several sizes. Fast food and drinks at several stands.

Ho Tay Water Park in early morning

Sliding lanes should be the most exciting activities when one comes to this water park, consisting of high-speed lanes for single; black thrilling lanes for couples and carpet sliding lanes with a height of 14,5m may provide extremely excitement.

Visitors seeking for strong high surf don’t need to go to the seas because Ho Tay Water Park features a 3m depth wave-making pool with its waves of 1,2m high. Extreme experiences can be collected in a system of swinging ropes and diving pool of 3,5m in depth. For ones enjoy relaxing moment may lay on a buoy, then let the artificial currents of the 450m long “lazy-stream” drive you around the park while sunbathing and sightseeing the poetic West Lake outside the complex.

Lazy stream

Children are prioritized with a large area well designed with funny cartoon characters and colorful lanes of lower height. Near this zone are a wide array of food and drink serving stalls as well as many eye-catching fountains and statue for photo posing.

Located right beside the water park is Moon Park with dozen of games for youngsters and kids vary from thrilling games like high-speed train, aspen blitz, dropping down from height to games which are more appropriate for kids like driving carts, bubble house, or bumping cars. In here can also found the magnificent ferries wheel lifting ones to a height of 60m, offering the whole great view of the West Lake and part of Hanoi.

Adjacent to the Water Park is New Sun Park, an amusement complex with more challenging games than the merry-go-round of downtown parks, such as the Giant Wheel or Thang Long roller-coaster. Just outside of both parks is the famous Sen Ho Tay restaurant, which took the lead in reviving Vietnamese traditional specialty in the forms of buffet. If you are a fan of Ngon restaurant, you cannot miss Sen.

Lotus Pond

Come and join the so funny atmosphere at Ho Tay Water Park to struggle in cool water, wallow and play exciting games, taste delicious dishes and soft drinks by the side of West Lake. This is a place worthy enjoying with families and friends. 

AN AFTERNOON ON LAP AN LAKE

Being a part of Lang Co Bay (in 2009, Lang Co Bay was ranked as the most beautiful bay in the world), Lap An Lake is famous for its charming beauty. The best time to explore Lap An Lake is in the afternoon.

Lap An Lake has an area of 800 hectares, near Phu Gia mountain pass. Because of its attractive beauty, it has been a familiar place to many photographers. Nowadays, local people take advantage of the lake to breed oyster. This has effect on the environment and ecosystem a little bit. Lap An Lake is one of famous tourist spot in Thua Thien – Hue city and is considered as the Elysium. The water in Lap An Lake is very clear. Sitting on the boat, you can see the bottom of the lake. Surrounding the lake, there are roads curving around the foot of the mountain, which makes charming landscape. Lap An always attracts a lot of travelers by the blend of colours of sky and mountain. If you have a chance to contemplate the dawn here, you will never forget. It will surprise you by its picturesque beauty. Lap An has an important role in the protection of coastal areas and it is home of many valuable marine species.

Ba Be National Park

Ba Be national Park is a popular Vietnam’s natural complex mainly consisting of Ba Be Lake, the supposed largest natural fresh water lake in Vietnam. The 150-m altitude makes  it the Vietnam’s  highest lake above sea level.

Location

Geographically, Ba Be National Park is a reserve in Bac Kan Province, northeast Vietnam, whose role is to protect a freshwater lake (Ba Be Lake) along with surrounding limestone and lowland evergreen forests. It is located about 240 kilometers northwest of the capital city - Hanoi.

Ba Be Lake

Ba Be means “Three Lakes”, however, all of them converge into a single continuous body of water. The lake is 8 kilometers long in total, about 400 meters wide, and has the deepest point of 35 meters. It is covered with many limestone mountain chains which have numerous caves and underground streams.

Flora and fauna

If you keen on the ecotourism activities, Ba Be National Park is the ideal place to visit because it is featured by the diversified and specious fauna and flora. The vegetation in Ba Be National Park mainly consists of limestone and evergreen forest. There are approximately about more 417 species of plant. Climbing bamboo is a regional endemic plant common on the hill slopes near the lake shore. Furthermore, Ba Be National Park also attracts those tourists that are interested in animal life with plentiful animal system. There are 600 species, in which 66 are specious; some were recorded in Viet Nam Red Book.

Scenic landscape features

There are some interesting places that you should not leave out when coming to Ba Be National Park. Firstly, you can enjoy a boat trip on a part of Nang River inside Puong Cave - a large cave with 30m high, 300m long. Looking into the cave, you will see that it is inhabited by a population of thousand of bats belonging to 18 species. After exploring the cave, you will note that Nang River flows at the foot of the limestone mountain, goes through Puong Cave to reach Ba Be Lake and consists of a series of spectacular cascades between perpendicular walls of rock.

You will feel healthy with the cool and fresh climate when coming to Ao Tien - a small lake on the top of the mountain. This lake is filled with clear water which seeps through the surrounding limestone rock. The primary for the name Ao Tien (the lake of fairy) is based on a legend that the fairies always go down in this place to swim and play chess.

Conservation

Ba Be National Park was established to conserve important ecosystems, rare plant, animal species, and the special landscapes as well as manage the sustainable use of natural resources. It also assists local communities to improve their current living conditions and mitigating pressures on forests and biodiversity.

Tourist activities: The national park is really an inviting environment to relax and enjoy nature. It's special limestone landscape which is dotted with small villages of different ethnic groups that creates a charming vista of both human and natural beauty. To enjoy these sites, there are some activities for you to choose:

Boat tours around Ba Be Lake and Nang River stopping off at various beauty spots.

Trekking through the valleys, forests and visits to caves.

The population in Ba Be National Park is about 3,000 people from five different ethnic groups. For over 2,000 years, Ba Be has been inhabited by Tay people, who make up the majority (58%), Nung and Dao people may have arrived about 100 years ago and Kinh and Mong are relatively recent arrivals. This characteristic creates the good condition for many cultural activities include visiting local villages, markets and musical performances.

Without doubt, Ba Be National Park displays an impressive amount of evidence of ecological condition. It is a site of very great importance for increasing our understanding of the geologic, geomorphic of the region.

Cape Ca Mau National Park

Covering an area of 41,862ha, Cape Ca Mau National Park is located in Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province, nearly 400km away from Ho Chi Minh City.

 Cape Ca Mau National Park is originally covered by natural mangrove forest; however, the vast majority was destroyed during the Second Indochina War. Most of the aqua cultural ponds have been abandoned and now support extensive areas of re-colonizing mangrove forest. There are extensive mudflats which are also being colonized naturally by mangrove. These areas are continually growing due to accretion rates along the coastline of up to 50m per year in places.

Biodiversity values. The Park is a submerged area with a floral complex, mainly including mangrove and Mam (avicenia, black mangrove) trees. This is an ecological system of natural salt-marsh forests with high values in terms of bio-diversity, landscapes, environment, culture and history.

Some small areas of old Rhizophora apiculata mangrove remain at Mui Ca Mau. This vegetation type probably covered much of the area in the past. Evidence of over-exploitation is abundant with many old logged bases of large Rhizophora apiculata trees. There are still some big trees over 10 years old, though the habitat is degraded. There are also extensive Rhizophora apiculata plantations at the national park; the density of them varies from one to six trees per square metre. Each year, the submerged flora on the western beach of the park extends nearly 100m into the sea, creating an ideal environment for the reproduction and development of shrimp, fish and mollusk.

The park has a rich fauna with 13 species of animals belonging to 9 families, including 2 species listed in the Red Book of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). They are the long-tailed monkey and ca khu (Trachypithecus cristatus). The park is also considered to be an important site for a number of migratory water birds with 74 species of birds belonging to 23 families, including 5 species listed in IUCN Red Book, namely the Chinese stork, grey-legged pelican, ibis leucocephalus, curved beak snipe and black-headed ibis

The mangroves at Mui Ca Mau perform an important coastal protection function, which was strongly emphasized on coastal protection in the management of the site to date. The national park also has high potential for recreation, ecotourism, conservation education and scientific research. Although present visitor use of the national park is low, visitor numbers are likely to increase in the future.

Bac Giang: Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve

Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve that is located in Luc Nam and Son Dong Districts, Bac Giang Province and about 150 kilometers far from Hanoi to the north-east, is considered as an interesting place for nature lovers. You can come here by any kinds of transportations such as bicycles, motorbikes and cars.

Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve is situated on the west side of the Yen Tu mountain.. Yen Tu is a high mountain with the system of natural native forests, recognized as a nature reserve since1986. Yen Tu mountain is famous for many hundreds years old trees or sacred and quite temples.

Our group made a decision to visit Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve to enjoy the natural beauty here.

Signpost

In fact, Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve has the total area of 13.020.4 ha of special-use forests comprising 11.710 ha of natural forests. This Reserve contains a high biodiversity potentiality, features for the Northeast Vietnam.

There are five major vegetation types att the different heights. For example, under 100m, there are grassland and shrubs, from 100m to 200m is small timbers and bamboos….In addition to, Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve owns plenty of medicinal plants: Ba Kich, Tram Huong, Tho Phuc Linh. In particular, there are some species of rare plants: Lim Xanh, Kim Giao, Sa Nhan, Vu Huong, Tung La Han….In addition, Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve has a very diverse fauna, consisting of many rare and threatened species listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam and the Global. Even, series of new species were discovered in here.

On the other hand, Tay Yen Tu is also well-known for ecotourism with Khe Ro Primitive Forest and Golden water (nước Vàng) stream, Giot waterfall. Khe Ro consists of shaggy forest canopy, waterfalls, cliffs, especially, the blue small lake in the middle of the forest. And, Golden water stream has its special name because the water of stream is only honey-yellow all time. Golden water stream has a diverse and abundant fauna.

Golden stream

Giot Waterfall 

Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve is very suitable for many kinds of travelers. That people enjoy exploring and conquering nature can come there, tourists want to relax, avoid all busy anything or even scientists would like to study fauna and flora.