“Viet Hai in Cat Ba District, Hai Phong City is a potential tourism village of Vietnam travel in a near future,” said Colonel Phuong Minh Quang, Second Commissioner of the Border Guard.
Sustainable model
In implementation of the policy of the High Command of Border Guard on helping local people to develop economy and ensure national defence and security in border and island communes, the Hai Phong Command of Border Guard applied a tourism-oriented economic development in Viet Hai commune, Cat Hai district from now to 2015.
Archive for August, 2010
I often tell myself that if in a given day I don’t learn anything new or do something useful, then I have wasted that day.
Before going on a trip with Peace Trees Vietnam (PTVN), I didn’t think that it was possible to have so many different experiences while I was on vacation. I was able to relax, travel, and chat with the locals, while also working to help people who are in need and learn from them.
PTVN is not a Vietnam travel company. It’s a non-profit organisation. Through their Vietnam tour packages, the company allows Vietnamese and foreign travellers to learn more about Vietnam and work with social programmes.
The tour company allows travellers to assist in the removal of land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in central Vietnam. Tourists will also be able to work alongside locals to help create an infrastructure that will create a safe and healthy future for residents of the central province of Quang Tri.
During my trip, I visited the Truong Son Cemetery in Gio Linh District that is home to 15,000 graves of soldiers and civilians who died while fighting against the US. After that we went to Vinh Moc tunnels in Vinh Linh District, which housed an underground village built in the demilitarised zone dividing north and south Viet Nam. Later, we went to Quang Tri Citadel where Vietnamese soldiers fought a bloody 81-day battle. Finally we arrived at the historic Hien Luong Bridge over the Ben Hai River, which served as the border between the two regions between 1954 and 1975.
After visiting these destinations, I felt that I had learned a lot about the bravery of the Vietnamese people and the soldiers who fought during the war. However, I also felt that I understood the true cost of the war, which still affects people today.
After the inspiring tour, the group visited and worked at a friendship village that PTVN built for UXO and Agent Orange victims and impoverished poor children.
I will never forget playing with the children. The children at the centre were overcome with joy as they played with the balloons and stickers that tourists bought for them. While the children that live in the city where I am from may not be that impressed with such gifts, the poor children here thoroughly enjoyed them.
Nguyen Thi Cuc lost her legs in an accident caused by a UXO. Now unable to work, Cuc continues to live an active lifestyle and even won several medals during the province’s special olympics.
She has had a hard life, but now she looks relaxed and is able to teach courses on how to properly prepare sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Interesting
“Vietnamese people love these snacks, especially during Tet (lunar new year) or when they are receiving guests,” she says. “I don’t know why they are so popular, perhaps because they are delicious and they make interesting noises when you bite into their shells.”
This type of trip is known as responsible travel, which encourages travellers to participated in tour packages that are designed by companies to form responsible relationships with local communities. This new approach to tourism can help improve businesses incomes and create more jobs for people. The concept is new to Vietnam.
Le Nguyen Travel is one the first companies that has implemented this new paradigm into their Vietnam travel packages. The company works with its Canadian counterpart, Cegep Marie Victoria Company, to recruit Canadian tourists to travel to Hoian. Participating travellers can stay up to one month in the area, where they will live together with the locals and volunteer in social programmes.
The tourists are able to help with household chores, study Vietnamese, and learn how to cook Vietnamese food. They can also help village elders and disabled residents and teach English to orphans.
With this package, travellers can visit Tra Que Village, which is famous for its vegetables, and Thanh Ha pottery village where they can learn how to make pottery.
“I stayed at a house in Hoian and I shared warm moments with the family when we cooked, ate and did house chores together,” says K Paul, who went on the package. “We really understood each other.”
“We didn’t use the air conditioner in order to save electricity and protect the environment,” Paul says. “Hoian people are so nice and friendly and the life here is peaceful.”
According to the director of one Vietnam travel company, the three key components that play a central role in responsible travel are the local people, the tour operator and the travellers.
There are two essential aspects that responsible tourism utilises – environmental protection and socio-economic development. Both aspects are crucial to creating responsible and sustainable services that will employ large numbers of people without harming the environment.
A pilot project Responsible Travel in Vietnam has been launched in co-operation with the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and will last until December 2010.
“Visitors are now becoming more aware and concerned about other matters relating to tourism such as littering in public places and water and noise pollution,” says Phil Harman, senior advisor of SNV in Vietnam. “About 97 per cent of tourists, when interviewed, said that they were willing to pay more for a responsible travel holiday that is environmentally conscious and brings about more benefits for needy local people.”
Someone may think travelling is all about enjoying yourself, but for me its about making a difference.
Before leaving Quang Tri, we spent the morning planting trees. Looking at the saplings, I felt satisfied with my trip and I hope one day to come back and see how much growth has taken place in the area.
By: Jose Maurette Garces
Danang has a coastline of 30 kilometres long, famous for many beautiful seashores stretching from the north to the south. It makes a perfect location for a beach break on your Vietnam holidays. They are calm seas with green water and nice temperatures throughout the whole year.
My Khe Beach, with around 900 meters in length, is the most crowded of Danang beaches and very popular amongst the locals. It is located about 6 km east of Danang city and about 24km north of Hoian. It is a stretch of smooth sand with an average width between 50m and 70m.
My Son Sanctuary is one of the must-see destinations in the Central part of Vietnam where tourists travel to Vietnam can admire old Cham temples and enjoy Apsara dance. About 69 kilometers from Danang City, My Son Sanctuary is located in Duy Phu Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province.
Hoian is well known for its culinary delights, so visitors are recommended to work up an appetite before hitting the streets.
By My Tran in Quang Ninh
I arrived at Halong Bay in Quang Ninh Province on a weekend morning in early August without sunlight and without rain. Halong was blanketed in mist. Before me in that vaporous moody place, an endless fleet of tour boats appeared, proving that the world heritage bay is always attractive regardless of bad weather.
Together some friends and I bought tickets at the wharf to join a group in one of the old wooden cruisers that picked up anchor at 7 a.m. The mist started to melt and the limestone islands became clearer.
Unlike previous years, Vietnamese travellers tend to go in group like family or company and resorts are the most preferred destinations. As Thailand is in chaos, many people choose domestic Vietnam tours and they are willing to pay higher for staying at seaside resorts. Favourite destinations include Ha Long, Cat Ba, Hoian, Nha Trang, Dalat, Muine and Phu Quoc.
Explaining this trend, Mr Dao Hong Thuong, Tour Operator of Vietsky International Travel, said children are on summer holiday and more families plan to go on holiday thanks to their higher living conditions and better services quality of resorts.
A cycling tour in the northern province of Ninh Binh was one of Rett Townsley’s favourite activities while travelling around Vietnam.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a plan to develop tourism as a key economic sector in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
The plan, which extends to 2020, will aid in the country’s economic transformation and help reduce hunger and poverty, according to the ministry.
Based Daily Telegraph has announced the list of world’s top-ten surreal landscapes, including Vietnam’s Halong Bay, a world natural heritage recognized by the UNESCO, the National Administration of Tourism said on its website July 28.
Halong Bay features 3,000 limestone pillars rising out of the emerald waters on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Tonkin. Local legend has it that the islands were created by giant dragons, summoned by the gods to fight foreign invaders.
