Vietnam Heritage issue Mar-Apr 2014

ISSN 1859-4123

2:4 MAR-APR 2014

Of Offf the beaten track track in Quang Binh

content

No 2, Vol.4, March-April 2014 COVER STORY Destination: Quang Binh 6 A subterranean adventure befitting a movie 10 Hope springs eternal in Ta Vong 12 The mysterious witchcraft of the Ruc people

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Travel

14 Sapa in winter, or ‘I would like to book a double fireplace’

18 My five-coloured pilgrimage Nature

22 A new species Art Portraiture in the raw 24 Advertorial Hotel

26 Mường Thanh expands southward to Vung Tau 30 And quiet flows the Perfume River 31 Purity, finery and taste mark Sofitel Saigon

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Plaza’s 15th anniversary Advertorial Resort

28 ‘Highland spring heaven’

32 What the papers say 33 Asides 34 Events

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38 Value for money 43 Directions 58 Laid back Cover photograph: Paradise Cave in Quang Binh Province, Central Vietnam, 2013.

From Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards 2013 Photo: Nguyen Van Phuc Published by the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam

Vietnam Heritage Editorial Office:

Publication licence No: 1648/GP-BTTTT from the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the English-language edition of The Gioi Di San (The World of Heritage) magazine Editor-in-Chief: Le Thanh Hai; Public Relations Director: Bui Thi Hang; Managing Editor: Le Duc Tan; Sub-editing: Erik Johnson; Assistant: Kha Tu Anh; Production: Nguyen Hoang Kim Long; Contributing Photographers: Nguyen Ba Han, Hoang Quoc Tuan, Hoang The Nhiem, Huynh Van Nam, Le Hoai Phuong, Nguyen Anh Tuan; Ngo Nguyen Huynh Trung Tin; Tran Viet Duc Correspondent: Pip de Rouvray; Advertising and Circulation: Green Viet Advertising JSC Advertising Service: Hong Ngoc 099 747 1526 Email: ads.vietnamheritage@gmail.com; Subscriptions: Thuy Phuong 0166 79 70 706 Email: subs.vietnamheritage@gmail.com Hanoi Advertising and Subscription: Nguyen Huong 0988 424 395; Vietnam Heritage is published monthly, produced in Vietnam and printed at Army Printing House No 2. © All rights reserved.

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vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

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Cave pearls in Son Doong Cave in Quang Binh Province, Central Vietnam.

Cave pearls are formed when water droplets containing calcite fall and hit a grain of sand on the ground, causing the calcite to stick to the sand.

Over time they get bigger and bigger. Photo: Ryan Deboodt, August, 2013

destination: quang binh

A subterrAneAn Adventure befitting A movie TexT by Lam Phong

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A

n explorer from the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) told me, ‘Quang Binh has an open cast “gold mine,” a natural heritage of extremely intricate cave systems. Properly exploited, this site would be a world-famous caving centre.’

In June 2012, I came back to the Truong Son Range in the Central Province of Quang Binh with a group of explorers from the BCRA, who are looking for new caves to

add to the caving ‘gold mine’ of Quang Binh. The expedition took place in the Tu Lan Valley of the Minh Hoa area. Howard Limbert, the BCRA team leader said, ‘Finding new caves is becoming increasingly difficult, because they are further away. Sometimes it takes four to five days of hiking to find the entrance.’

The wilderness potentially always holds unexpected perils for cave explorers. Treacherous paths, rugged terrain, dangerous animals

such as snakes and even the vegetable cover can cause trouble in most unexpected ways. Howard warned me about a lush, green plant named ‘Second Lady’ that grows everywhere and seems to invite one to touch its white, smooth hair. But doing so causes a very unpleasant burning sensation.

Howard instructed me that if I touched these leaves, I should not wash or scratch, but cover the touched spot with a palm leaf and wipe myself down to remove lll

Clockwise from left: On the way to Tu Lan Valley; Howard Limbert at work at Uoi Cave.

Photos: Lam Phong; Tu Lan Cave, 2012.

Photo: Thanh Vuong

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destination: quang binh

those white hairs from the skin.

On the way, I was mesmerized by thick flocks of colourful butterflies. But in the forest, beauty is often deceitful. Howard fell victim during a break while drying his stuff. The butterflies came and left pollen in his shoes and socks that caused him a lot of pain.

In this expedition, we explored two new caves, introduced by the locals as Uoi Cave and Ken Cave. To get to Uoi, we had to go through the Chuot Cave, which is over one kilometre long. Walking in the dark, I felt cool breezes-meaning that the cave led to a big exit. Another familiar signature feature of the Quang Binh caves was that there were many fish and clam fossils on the cave walls, beside the stalagmites and stalactites. In those caves with strong ventilation, the stalactites often grow layers of very hard moles.

Howard called them ‘cave popcorn’.

The way to Uoi was not easy at

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Beauty, danger and wonder in the big caves at Quang Binh

Left: Uoi Cave Photo: Lam Phong

Right: Ken Cave, 2012 Photo: Thanh Vuong

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all. We had to slash our way through the thick brush. The entrance is at a mountain top. We lost our way many times, although led by local guides. Not until late in the afternoon did we come to the entrance. Looking from afar, Howard remarked, ‘This must be a big one.’

I didn’t understand, and he explained, ‘In my 20 years’ experience of cave exploration in Quang Binh, if you see trees with big leaves at the entrance, then it’s a big one.’

The explorers got to work immediately. Martin Holroyd made a spreadsheet to create a detailed chart of the exploration. Howard prepared a laser gauge. Another team member was Martin Colledge, a specialist of forest road design. Technical data on height, width and depth of every metre in the cave was noted. Deep in the cave, I realized that Howard’s prediction was correct. Cave Uoi was very wide, breathtakingly beautiful, with countless colourful stalactites; but the most striking feature was the pearl carpet. Big and small,

they covered the cave floor.

Howard was delighted, ‘This is the specialty of Quang Binh caves. In Son Doong, there are pearls as big as a fist. The ones here are smaller, but still very big compared to those found elsewhere. In England, some caves that I have explored also have pearls of this kind, but they are only as big as the tip of a chopstick, not big like these.’

A little over 500m inside, the passage was suddenly obstructed by a sheer stalactite wall. On one side, there was an abyss so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen in the torch light. After a few minutes, Howard found a man-sized hole.

Howard strapped himself and disappeared behind the hole, followed by Martin. My heart pounding, I also grabbed the strap and crawled through. Suddenly, my hair stood up. I had narrowly escaped a free fall, thanks to the safety strap. I skirted along the stone wall to a vast vault, captivated by the thrill of true cave exploration.n

destination: quang binh

Hope springs eternal in

Ta Vong

By Xuan Hoang – Xuan THi

T

a Vong Village, Trong Hoa Commune, Minh Hoa District, Quang Binh Province, Central Vietnam, lies along the border between Vietnam and Laos. Viewed from the top of a nearby pass, the dozens of houses on stilts look like blurred music notes dancing on the slashing lines drawn by rain drops, amongst the rocking and rolling mountains and forests.

Ta Vong Village used to be about two kilometres from its current location, deeper in the mountains on 10 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

the other side of the Ta Leng Spring. But it was dangerous there during the rainy season, because of the steep slopes. In 2010, a whole mountainside slid down to the spring. Seeing the potential danger, the local government persuaded the villagers to move to the current location, on a hill. The new, strong houses, built with support from PetroVietnam, were constructed at the beginning of 2012.

In the plans for sustainable livelihood for the population in the buffer zone of the Project of Nature Conservation and Sustainable Resources Management of the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, Ta Vong was chosen to develop community tourism. Three households in the village will be selected to host tourists.

I joined a group of representatives from travel companies and local officials in a trip to Ta Vong to explore its tourism potential. Smiling warmly and shaking our hands under the first rain of the season, village elder Ho Khien couldn’t hide his emotions. ‘So glad you come even in the rain. I thought the big water had dampened your will. I would be so sad then.’ He signalled for the village young men to carry our luggage to his house. Meanwhile, Ho Thi Pang, Ho Khien’s wife, quickly pounded a handful of fresh green tea leaves, put them in a pot and boiled them for his

guests. Ho Khien explained, ‘The tea tastes and smells better if pounded like this’. Indeed, the sweetness and the peculiar aroma of the thick, hot tea made me feel warm and comfortable, despite the rain.

My first impression was that the village was very clean; perhaps partly due to the custom of living high in the mountains, where the spring begins. The people were warm and smiling. The kids were timid, hiding behind doors, curiously studying us.

Ta Vong Village has 25 households, with 136 persons, mostly Chut ethnics. Among our hosts was also Ho Xep, the eldest of the village, an 87-year-old man, but still strong and sound. Ho Khien was his eldest son.

Walking us around the village, Ho Khien said, ‘Right now, water is conducted from the source to a common container shared by the whole village. The commune’s primary school is right down the hill, and Ta Vong also has a kindergarten.’

Ta Vong has no electricity yet. For the guests that night, Ho Khien had a tiny, dim bulb connected to a few batteries in a bamboo tube.

Lunch, prepared by Ho Thi Pang, consisted of forest banana flower, spring fish, boiled forest vegetables and rice. All was served on a very beautiful rattan tray.

Mr Dinh Tien Dung, Trong Hoa commune’s cultural officer said, ‘The local government is persuading the villagers to stop slashing the forest and farm only on land that was already cleared. Up here, they can only plant low-yield rice, alternating with cassava, corn and sweet potato.’ The government subsidizes the villagers with 15kg of rice per person per month during the first five years of farming, to stabilize their lives.

We ate and talked, our spirits fermented by rice wine. From time to time, old Ho Xep pensively and with much melancholy pointed at a high mountaintop on the other side of the spring, ‘Our village used to be there. Moving around was hard because the slopes are so steep. We lived in fear every time it rained. The house could be swept down at any moment. The kids had to skip school. Now we are happy. If the project people teach us how to develop tourism to earn our living, then we have no more worries.’

In the afternoon, we took a walk around the village and the neighbouring Do Village to ask about the festivities and customs of this people. The Chut people in Ta Vong still keep some of their traditional festivals. The rain had stopped. The clouds slid slowly between the

dwellings, making the whole scene drift and bob somewhat. Darkness fell quickly, pulling with it the dim light of the month-end moon, just enough to make us feel the vastness of space. Cool breezes passed through our hair, swaying the light of the candles that we brought. Our conversation also swayed till after midnight, while the whole of Ta Vong was deep asleep in the lullaby of the mountains and the song of nocturnal birds.

The next morning, I woke up in the sound of pồi pounding. The sound came from all 25 houses of the village, like a symphony orchestra. Pồi, a mixture of corn, rice and cassava, is the main dish in the villagers’ meals.

The women woke up very early to make pồi for their family’s breakfast. Every kid had a piece of pồi while walking downhill to school.

After breakfast, we went to contemplate the beautiful views along the Ta Leng spring. Cascades of small waterfalls, pebble beaches and graceful turns made the spring look so romantic and attractive. Lining the spring, stripes of grass and bushes of cornflowers, tormentose myrtles and other wild flowers that I don’t know the names of woke up under the morning sun, full of life. Dew drops sparkled on the leaves, and wooden bells rang with every step the buffalos made.

We went uphill, and the village was reduced to neatly arranged toy houses.n

Opposite: Ta Vong Village from a hill.

Above: A Ma Lieng woman in Ta Vong Village.

Below: Food at Ho Khien’s home.

Photos: Xuan Hoang

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destination: quang binh

The mysterious witchcraft of the Ruc people TexT and phoTos by hoang nam

Clockwise from left: Shaman Cao Ong performs blow close ritual; Mo O O O Village; a close-up of the shaman’s tools 12 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

A

t the end of 1959, the Ca Xeng border guards, stationed in Thuong Hoa, Minh Hoa District, Quang Binh Province, Central Vietnam, during one of their patrols, saw a group of ‘forest people’, very timid and naked, who climbed cliffs and trees with the agility of wild animals.

After months of approaching them, the guards finally managed to persuade them to leave the caves and settle in Ruc Lan Valley, Thuong Hoa Commune. Since then, the Ruc have been known as the youngest members in the family of ethnicities of Vietnam. In 2013, after over 50 years of merging with the community, the Ruc were named in the list of 10 least-known tribes of the world.

To Mr Dinh Thanh Du, a researcher of ethnic cultures of the minorities in Quang Binh, who spent most of his time studying ethnic groups in the area, and to

destination: quang binh many others who have studied them, the Ruc people still remain a mystery.

Mr Du said that the Ruc have no family names and no tribal name. They live in caves that let water pass through, which are called ‘Ruc’ in the local dialect, so others call the people the Ruc. After anthropological and linguistics studies, scientists put them in the group of Chut people of Quang Binh, together with the tribes of Sach, May, Ma Lieng, and A Rem. Before leaving the caves, there were 109 Ruc persons.

They lived in isolation and ran away at the sight of strangers. Their life was completely natural. They lived in the high mountains, hunting and gathering. Both men and women tied their hair behind them, covering their bodies with antiar bark. They slept sitting.

Having left the caves over 50 years ago, the couple, Mr Cao Chon and Mrs Cao Thi Bim (80 plus years old), still keep their primal way of life. The government built them a house and gave them land to farm, but they don’t live there. They moved back to the caves, hunting and gathering in day time, then coming back to the cave to sit-sleep at night, despite the government’s and their children’s persuasion.

Mr Cao Van Dan, 39, head of Mo O O O village told us, not only the Cao Chon couple, but all of about 500 Ruc people still sometimes miss the caves. Every harvest season, many families move to caves to live for a few months.

According to Mr Dinh Thanh Du, the Ruc have retained very mysterious witchcraft rituals, unknown to other tribes; these include ‘blow open’, ‘blow close’, and ‘air cut’.

Mr Du told us the Ruc use blow close to ‘blow’ a spell into a woman so she can have sex without conceiving; they ‘blow open’ a woman when she wants to be pregnant. They use the air cut witchcraft to avoid wild beasts.

In the forests, a Ruc needs only to murmur some incantation, and the tigers, leopards, even wild elephants won’t dare to attack them.

Mr Du relates that during a field trip he took with Dr Vo Xuan Trang, a linguist and folklore researcher, to learn about the Ruc witchcraft, Dr Trang almost died trying to test the power of the air cut spell. They went into a forest with an old Ruc man, and the Ruc warned them that they had to go at least five metres ahead of him. They should in no circumstances fall behind the Ruc man (who had at that moment already cast the air

cut spell). But suddenly, Dr Trang intentionally fell behind, and he immediately fell down in convulsion, with blood foam on his mouth. The Ruc old man came back and murmured something. Only then did Dr Trang regain normalcy.

Mr Cao Van Dan, head of Mo O O O village, told us that nowadays, these rituals are no longer popular among the Ruc community. But some shamans can still perform them. Mr Dan and two border guards took us to a shaman named Cao Ong. The man was already in his 80’s, frail and unable to walk. But his mind was relatively clear. After several refusals, he finally agreed to show us the blow open and blow close spell casting.

His tools were in a corner of the house, but no one dared to pick them up.

A while later, Mr Cao Ngoc En, Cao Ong’s brother, came and only he dared to bring out the tools and arrange them for a ritual. The tools included two bamboo tubes, one metre and 0.5 metre, one flat rock twice the size of a man’s palm, a bowl of water, and a bowl of flowers. Mr En said that there must also be a piece of beeswax for a candle, some incense and a hair or a thread in the water bowl.

Cao Ong squatted on his bed, holding the two bamboo tubes in his hands and rubbing them on the rock to make some low and high-pitched sounds. At the same time, he murmured an incantation to the tune and rhythm of the bamboo tubes and blew air in the water bowl. After about 30 minutes of this, the bowl was supposed to be given to a woman to drink who does not want to bear a child. And that was the blow close ritual.

Mr Cao Ong said that the blow open ritual was similar, but with a different incantation. He could also, he maintained, blow away bleeding wounds, snake bites and various diseases with different incantations.

Besides the air cut trick for one person to avoid predators, he could also draw a circle with many people inside to block animal attacks. But when asked to reveal the content of the incantations and to translate them to Vietnamese, he shook his head, ‘That’s a sacred and forbidden thing that belongs to the Ruc only. Others are not allowed to know.’n vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

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travel

Sapa in winter, or

‘I would like to book a double fireplace’ TexT and phoTos by James Gordon

T

Precious winter flames in Sapa: a flash of heat near the entrance to the market, candles in the meat section during a blackout and a fire to get close to in a restaurant

o know how extraordinarily powerful a thing fire is you only need to observe that you can light a fire in Sapa in winter, that if you put too long a piece of wood on the fire it is conceivable that, after you are asleep, the nearer end of this piece will come out of the fireplace and set fire to the hotel and that you need to keep the curtains away from the fireplace, and do the same with the ethnic-minority, back-borne basket in which the wood is delivered to the room.

The buildings in Sapa could in general be described as multi-storey concrete tropical. It is as if the

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lowland, rice-growing Vietnamese have used their box architecture for the highlands as well. To wake to the news that such-and-such a hotel had burnt down would be improbable. But then the existence of the flint-lock rifle in history shows that you can get fire out of stone. In passing, let’s mention the imagined slight smell of fired flint you may get in a minibus on the hour-long drive to Sapa from Lao Cai. This is due to the pieces of rock that have fallen on the road from the mountains. It may seem that your very vehicle could be hit, but this, while it has happened, is a statistically negligible risk just the right size for the adventure of Sapa in winter.

At any hour of the day you will see the importance of fire to Sapa in the ethnic-minority people who carry more than their body’s weight of wood upright in their basket. It had snowed at Sapa a week before we were there - our stay was Christmas 2013 to New Year - and when we wondered to a ranger at the stooks of firewood behind a Sapa peak, the wood was, likely story, like a windfall of apples, a snowfall of broken branches.

Wood is so scarce that even at zero degrees centigrade outside and much the same inside, a cafe, bar or

travel restaurant is not necessarily going to light a fire in the hearth. The hearth looks at you without heart, saying, depending our your mood, you are not worth a fire, that what you wear outside will be needed inside as well, that is, top to bottom, a beanie or balaclava or both, two or three scarves, a singlet, shirt, two jumpers and an overcoat, long johns, trousers, two pairs of socks and a pair of boots with thick soles. If you are lucky you have brought a woollen singlet from Australia or, as a man from Belgium put it, pulling up his trouser leg, ‘merino’ long johns. Even ye olde hot chestnuts, reminiscent of Charles Dickens and the Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town, I saw heated not on a brazier but in an electric grill.

Before we went to Sapa in winter, this extreme sport, not like simply going to Sapa, but like climbing the local mountaineering challenge Fansipan in summer, numerous Vietnamese friends and relations told us not to go. Because they did not know of, let alone know the word for, central heating, the only reason they gave was that the temperature would hang around zero centigrade in mist that lasted till 4.30 p.m. Because they did not give a cogent reason, I just thought, ‘Oh, they’re lowland, wet-paddy people who think snow comes out of a pressure pack.’ The most eloquent of these Vietnamese said we were being . . here they gave a Vietnamese phrase my Vietnamese wife tried to explain: ‘It is like thrashing your own body.’ I dare say the precise translation was ‘masochism’. Of course, to enjoy the biathlon that is Sapa in winter you need to take it as a bath of beating with Scandinavian birch twigs, imagine these are in plentiful supply and imagine they are more the weight of snow-laden branches.

Some people have a natural handicap for this biathlon, which is a test not of cross-country skiing and rifle but of the two states sleeping and waking. The usual way to get to Lao Cai is by sleeper train from Hanoi. I had previously been led to a hospital in Hanoi after spending 30 or more hours on a train from Saigon.

I returned to Saigon by plane, which is not allowed in this kind of contest. Whether a compartment on a Vietnamese train is far too hot or far too cold depends on the compartment, the date, time of departure, the destination and the personality and emotional state of the traveller. The best advice is to take a roll of unusually tenacious adhesive tape and hang a regulation rectangular Vietnamese rain cape between yourself and

the air-conditioning vent. This in addition to the basic balaclava with beanie over that. They supplied an eiderdown in which it was not likely the down was from the eider, a northern sea duck, but was most satisfactory as far as it reached.

This time I was euphoric and careless, on the lap from Hanoi to Lao Cai. When shortly challenged to descend and reascend a valley via an ethnic-minority village I became more or less lodged in the seat of the valley and had to claim ‘altitude sickness’. Some people say the altitude is only 1,500 metres, however.

As I pretended not to be affected, in coming up the valley’s side, I received a telephone call from a slight, mountaineering companion looking down and telling me I had taken the wrong turn. Trying every theory, including age, I eventually diagnosed a chill caught on the train, which had allowed the entry of a nasty bacterium to the walls of my intestine. My wife obtained some ciprofloxacin under a Canadian brand. ‘It is made in Canada,’ she said with delight. On closer examination of the box it was made in Vietnam. By this time it was nearly on to the minibus for return to Lao Cai. But we had not missed anything of the Olympian enterprise Sapa in winter. And to show you how good it is a middle-aged Russian woman in our loose group of four decided she would settle there not like the infrequent snow but for the rest of her life.

When we first arrived and got out of the minibus and stood among other hotel guests in a lobby lll

Above: A load of firewood on a crest

vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

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travel whose uninsulated walls sucked calories so strongly that they had no need to stub their cigarettes in a dish of wistfully regarded beach sand, they looked at us in shock. Many of them we didn’t see again. The friend who had been there seven times before and challenged us to Sapa in winter normally was a balanced chatter on the Internet and it seemed inexplicable when she kept saying, with capitals, that we needed to book a room with a ‘FIREPLACE’. Her message was so powerful that when I phoned the hotel I said, ‘I would like to book a double fireplace.’ The mouth of the fireplace we got was not much more than half-a-metre wide. I come from the Snowy Mountains (it is a big country) of Australia and a house where there was no such thing as a fireplace smiling under a metre-and-a-half and there was one of these in each of every inhabited room. The wood pile, as high as the roof and as wide as high, was created by a mighty disc saw like a reflective lake driven by a belt from a tractor.

That in Sapa we got by on only two or three baskets of wood a day (a few dollars extra for more than one a day) was due to our intelligent use of the electric blanket. I asked my Russian host whether we could buy a battery to run the blanket and wear it over our shoulders as we found our way through the fog.

There are blackouts in Sapa, as anywhere, and candles were lit in the market and where wild pork was advertised by a strip of white lard with black hairs streaming out of it, seeming to stand somewhat on end. What if there is both a blackout and no basket of wood? A blackout did happen, and, asking at reception for an extra basket, we held our breaths. My wife complained about this stopping of steam from my mouth on her cheek. There would be the extra basket, however. If there had not been, then I did hear there were commercial baths in Sapa, which would be, I think, of the Turkish, not Scandinavian, persuasion.

Not forgetting this is a sport, I had to learn to work out where toilets were and employ the words politely to wangle use of them. I saw a cafe at the top of a ladder going up an earth bank. ‘Can I use your toilet,’ I asked.

‘There is no toilet,’ a young woman said. ‘I will pay you one hundred thousand dongs to use your toilet,’ I said.

She showed me the toilet. I used it. I dropped ten thousand dongs through the window of her scullery and descended the ladder. ‘That is not a hundred thousand,’ she said.’ ‘Ten thousand is plenty,’ I said. In

lll

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biathlon terms, I had not failed to take a corner and soiled my trousers on colourful heather, which would have required a return to the hotel.

It is only when you arrive deeply in northern Vietnam that you appreciate their enlightening form of truth. Language for them is about what you can achieve with it, not about language with a life and meaning of its own. It is not the dragon that the speaker is. In fact, conversations are one of two groups of artefacts that charm most in Sapa, the other being ethnic-minority handcrafts. About a bowl of noodle soup, I said, ‘This does not appear to be thinly-sliced beef.’ ‘No. It is pork but it is very good.’ About a snack: ‘This was not warm goat cheese. It was blue cheese, probably from Auvergne.’ ‘The chef is French.’ ‘May I speak to the chef?’ ‘The chef is not here.’ He was also not noticeably French, when he phoned me, as they had kindly asked him to do.

There is also, of course, the Sapa indicated in the empathetic statement of a member of our hotel’s staff: ‘Sapa is only good in summer.’

It is your aim in Sapa in winter, however, to land at the fireside of any attractive venue without shooting a wood porter instead of a buffalo-silhouette target on a crest or drowning in their famous ‘silver’ waterfall. In fact, the owner of our own hotel was the one in front of the fire at the establishment of the menu written in French (possibly before the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, in 1954) when we got there. We were runners up at this hearth but by the use of patience we moved into first position when our hotelier left. He also frequented a hot spring, or heated pool, at the EFM (establishment with French menu). If you cannot find a moose head on a wall in Sapa you are guaranteed to find a buffalo’s for sale in the street.

The lowland Vietnamese in the northern highlands sell things, and these things are more and more made in China, which is not far to the north. On silk, they say, ‘Oh, Vietnam has many kinds of silk, and the kind from silkworms is only one of them, which we don’t have.’ On wool, they say, ‘You are talking about the kind of wool that comes from sheep. That would be far too expensive.’ This, despite that Vietnam has plenty of woolly sheep at Phan Rang. It is not as if the extra dollars would go astray. I tried on some of their so-called ‘woollen’ balaclavas and pom-pom hats and beanies. I almost got an adjunct chill from the repeated

applications of cold compresses that these tryings on constituted. I found that darker colours sucked calories more than lighter. I decided to stick with a white hat my wife had packed and never put it on without sleeping on it first or warming it by the fireplace. My hat had a flower appliquéd to it, so that I heard women half my age in a Lao Cai cafe agree between them I looked ‘cute’. This is part of what you get on the Sapa biathlon.

The ethnic-minority people make as well as sell things. I obtained a collage of Black H’mong collar embroideries for a wall hanging or table mat. These embroideries will never be made again once the old stitchers die out. I obtained a hemp scarf not yet dyed, so that my neck would not take the green or blue of indigo seen on ethnic-minority fingers. The hemp is spun by hand the length of a woman’s day as she goes round doing other things. While the ethnic-minority people survive in clothes made from mountain plants, we outsiders probably need ones made from animals or least derived from Vung Tau petroleum.

Should you not be from Vladivostok, of a certain age and caught this side of the Urals with nothing to lose, not have evolved the ability of a reverse firewalker and go barefoot below zero (as many ethnicminority people do), or not know how to live in a wooden-slab hut picturesque in peak and mist, then Sapa in winter is a surefire (fingers as well as kindling sticks crossed about the ‘-fire’) adventure. I cite a young Latvian woman in our train compartment, travelling on her own, who was going to home-stay in an ethnic-minority village. The adventure holiday is equal in attraction to the mollycoddling one in temperate lounges with well-meaning buffets.

It has the lasting frisson of survival.

The adventure Sapa in winter is realised most essentially when, though despite the relatively high temperature of zero centigrade, your fire seems, when you first crouch before it, like one of those used to create ‘cosiness’ at Ho Chi Minh City barbecues, comprising plastic logs, an electric light, pinkish-red, genuine, silkworm silk tongues and a fan underneath to make the them lick ravenously. After five or ten minutes, given your degree of faith and the exceptionally combustible firewood supplied, radiation begins.

Part of what makes for the adventure Sapa in win-

ter is turning up not fully prepared. This adventure is not about necessarily bringing icepicks and crampons on the train but bargaining for surprisingly, dubiously, labelled Gore-Tex and North Face items, and long johns, in the Sapa shops. The thing to avoid at all costs is sitting or lying in one place and just relying on clothes, no matter how many you have stuffed into a 20-kilogram case. A successful contender at the biathlon of Sapa in winter is one who does not end up like either one of the less hardy buffaloes that died in the recent snow or the man who slides like a coffinshaped ice block from the dogsled that crashes in the classic Alaska film White Fang. Take it as a caution if this film is shown on the TV beside the fire in your room, as it was in ours.n

Winter promises in Sapa: a sign of heat in an eatery and not only wood but a chicken to cook with it

vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

• 17

Travel

My five-coloured

pilgrimage

By Kha Tu anh

V

Dinh Co Festival, 2008 Photo: Le Thang My

ietnamese usually go to pagodas at the beginning of Lunar New Year, especially in the first month, to pray for a lucky, prosperous and peaceful new year. Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is a fantastic place for a pilgrimage.

Soon after last Tet, I and my family had a one-day trip to Dinh Cô (Co Shrine) and Dinh Bà Cố (Ba Co Shrine) in Long Hai, a beach town, 30 km northeast of Vung Tau City and 124 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Both of them are old shrines.

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The driver, who had 30 years’ experience driving tourists and knew many tourist sites in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, said that there were a lot of pagodas and temples in the province.

Along the National Road 51 that connects Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau, I saw many big pagodas on both sides of the road. There are pagodas which are not only sacred, but also famous for good vegetarian food, such as ‘Tu Vien Phuoc Hai’ in Dong Nai Province, nicknamed ‘Bun Rieu Pagoda’ or Rice Vermicelli Soup

Travel

Pagoda and ‘Ni Vien Thien Hoa’ in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, nicknamed ‘Banh Xeo Pagoda’ or Vietnamese Pancake Pagoda. Tourists stop here to visit the pagodas and then enjoy the free food. The pagodas are usually crowded with them.

Dinh Cô is on a hill facing Long Hai Beach. Going through a gate at the base and going up a short flight of stairs, I was standing at an area for visitors to take a rest on benches. Opposite this area was the sanctum.

My eyes caught a sign on the wall on which the history of the shrine is written. The sign said that, two centuries ago, there was a 16-year-old virgin named Le Thi Hong from Central Vietnam. On a sailing trip, her boat met a storm and she was drowned. Then villagers found her body and buried her on Co Son Hill, which was about one kilometer east of the shrine. After that, they built a small simple shrine, made of wood and leaves, at the seaside. Since then, she is believed to have always protected and helped villagers and fishermen.

Mr Thai Van Canh, the manager of the shrine, told me that in 1930, the shrine was moved to this hill and rebuilt. After many repairs, the most recent being in 2009, the shrine was bigger and quite imposing.

There were many gods worshipped in the sanctum, however, the 0.7 m statue of Bà Cô stood out. She wore a long red brocade dress, a necklace and a hat decorated with small pearls. There were also many golden plaques given by pilgrims to thank Bà Cô.

The shrine was made of cement and paved with bricks on the floor. It was decorated with dragon, phoenix, turtle and unicorn statues carved on the pillars, walls and roofs.

Next to the sanctum was a two-storey area displaying hats, clothes, accessories and boat models, which were offered by pilgrims to Bà Cô.

Taking a rest on the bench, I saw two colour paintings carved on the wall. One was the painting of the Cô shrine before 1930s. Another was one of rituals in the Dinh Cô Festival, which is held from the 10th to the 12th of the second lunar month (10 to 12 March, 2014). The festival includes many rituals, a unicorn and dragon dance and traditional performances. Mr Canh said the festival attracted thousands of people every year.

In 2005, Dinh Cô was recognized by the government as a national historical and cultural relic.

The shrine overlooks Long Hai Beach, about seven minutes by foot from the shrine. Breezes wafted in from the sea, and were not strong enough to dispel the heat of the dry season, but left my hair in disorder. The hill base below was crowded with visitors and vendors selling drinks, fruits, souvenirs and seafood. Visitors sat under the big thatched roofs and the colourful umbrellas at the seaside and enjoyed fresh seafood cooked by vendors. The children were not afraid of the noon sunshine and eager to go to the sea for bathing. lll

Left: Dinh Co (Co Shrine) Right: Bamboo tubes to consult an oracle at Dinh Ba Co (Ba Co Shrine) Photos: Kha Tu Anh

vieTnam heriTage - march-april 2014

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Travel

We rented 12 chairs at VND900,000 and sat on a thatched roof. A vendor asked me to buy 80 oysters at VND100,000. She agreed as soon as I bargained VND100,000 for 100. She grilled oysters on the coals and then added some peanut and onion leaf. They smelled so good and tasted so delicious.

Dinh Bà Cố is on top of a mountain in Tam An Commune, Long Dat Dist., Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

I was out of breath after climbing over 200 steps to the shrine. However, it was worth it when I was at the top.

Standing on the mountain, looking at the clear blue sky, enjoying the cool of the wind, contemplating countryside landscape and listening to the sound of the shrine bell, I felt refreshed.

According to two paintings hanging on the wall, the shrine was over 250 years old. The poem on the painting said that back then, Chinese businessmen were sailing by and they met a storm. While the boat was sinking, a goddess appeared in the sky and showed them the way to the shore. Since then, she had appeared many times to protect and help people. So villagers built a small shrine to commemorate her and called her Bà Cố.

Most people visit the shrine to consult an oracle (xin xăm) by shaking a bamboo tube, which contains bamboo slices, until a slice falls out. On each bamboo slice is a number. Each number corresponds to a poem accompanied with interpretation, giving answers to lll

A painting at Co Shrine, featuring one of rituals in the Dinh Co Festival Photo: Kha Tu Anh

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questions of the enquirer.

I met two Australian tourists visiting the shrine. One of them looked at the triangle five-colour flags hanging at the shrine and told me a story. He had bought some five colour-flags as a gift for a friend in Hanoi. The friend was astonished and told him that this kind of flag is used in funerals. Professor Tran Ngoc Them, a Vietnamese culture researcher, told me that the five-colour flags have existed since ancient times. According to the article ‘On the five colour-flag’ by Pham Thuc, the five colours symbolize the five basic elements: green (wood), red (fire), yellow (earth), white (metal) and purple (water). They are hung at historical sites, temples, shrines, pagodas, and traditional festivals.

On the way back to Ho Chi Minh City, we stopped at Dinh Mountain.

According to the Tourism Guidebook of Ba RiaVung Tau Province, Dinh Mountain, in Tan Thanh Dist., in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, 100 km from Ho Chi Minh City, is 500m high. Dinh Mountain is also called ‘Dalat number two’, because in the evening it is covered with translucent mist and cold air. Among the streams flowing from the top of Dinh Mountain, Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien), is among the most beautiful. This stream has small murmuring waterfalls and calm, clear-blue lakes. According to the General Museum of Ba Ria Vung Tau, Dinh Mountain has more than 100 pagodas. Some of them were built 300 years ago. One of the pagodas that attracts many Buddhists to its rituals is To Dinh Linh Son Co Tu Pagoda. The pagoda has dozens of valuable statues with unique sculptural values.

The road to the top was smooth, steep and extremely winding. However, it had a great view of city below. We stopped at a gate of Ngoc Hoa Pagoda before going on to the stream.

The road leading down the pagoda was extremely steep. The pagoda itself was in a valley covered with big, lush trees. Next to the pagoda was a stream bed, but it had no water, only large, exposed rocks. A nun told me the stream was full of water in June in rainy season. She said the stream would make a loud noise all day and people could not hear one another clearly.n

nature

A new species TexT and phoTo by phung My Trung*

V

Oreolalax sterlingae

ietnamese and German scientists have announced the finding of a new species of mountain toad on Fan-si-pan in Lao Cai Province in the northwest. This toad has scientific name Oreolalax sterlingae [Nguyen, Phung, Le, Ziegler & Boehme, 2013], and was described in an American scientific journal, Copeia, no.2, June 2013: I found this new toad species during an adventure trip to conquer Fan-si-pan, the rooftop of Indochina, in April, 2010, with a few friends from Ho Chi Minh City. I immediately suspected that this was a new species [of toad] in Vietnam, because I can’t recall seeing any mountain toad that was so strange. After an exhausting day of hiking from the Ton camp site (1,900 m) to the rest site at 2,800m, everybody was out of breath because of the long, steep slopes of the mountain. It was dark, and the rain got heavier.

The cold penetrated the flesh of those from the ‘land without winter’, making them cling to each other, because they had never had to endure such cold. We tried to eat and sleep to regain strength for the next day’s hiking. Thank God, the sleeping bags

22 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

were warm. But, as I am an independent researcher, and because this was a rare chance for me to collect a specimen and take good pictures for the website www. vncreatures.net, I decided to take a H’Mong guide with me and move on to the peak (3,143 m) immediately, despite the perils that multiplied by the night. The slippery road, from time to time, made me practice ‘hind-landing’. But it was the whipping cold wind, together with the rain and the cold mist that made my teeth clap incessantly. At the height of 2,900m, in a stream bed lined with moss-covered rocks and thick with bush trees of the baboo family (Poaceae), I saw two mountain toads under the torch light that sluggishly penetrated the fog. They were mating. I knew that I was disrupting their happy moment, that I was ‘heartless’, but this toad couple had to sacrifice in the name of science.

Moreover such a chance may never come again in my life. Our legs numbed by the cold, we stopped and crawled in to a sleeping bag. Covered by a water proof canvas, a raincoat and warm clothes, the H’Mong young man and I shared body warmth in the darkness and raging winds to wait for daylight. The next day, when the mist was lifted by the wind and sunlight, I was able to take photos of the toads to announce a new find.

Dr. Nguyen Quang Truong from the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources told us, ‘After collecting data about this species, we analysed

the DNA and concluded that this is a new species in Vietnam, because before that, it was found only in China.”

We divided the work among the group members. Dr. Le Duc Minh (Hanoi National University) did the molecular biology analysis and comparison. Dr. Nguyen Quang Truong analysed samples of other mountain toads species kept in the museums of Paris, Bonn (Germany) and Kunming (China). One difficulty was that most of the published materials of Chinese scientists on frogs and toads are in Mandarin. We had to ask our colleagues at the Sichuan Institute of Biology (China) to translate into English the description of related species found in China. After over a year of data collection, the paper was finally accepted by Copeia, a prestigious journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH). This journal has also published many papers on the discovery of Oreolalax and many other species of this breed.

After two rounds of critical analysis by specialists, at the end of 2012, the paper was accepted by Copeia.

However, there was another unforeseen problem: the journal required the author group to pay quite a high publishing fee: $110 per page, which was $1,100 for the whole paper. Luckily, Professor Wolfgang Boehme, a member of the author group, was an honorary member of ASIH, so the fee was not charged.n *Phung My Trung is a freelance researcher in biodiversity

art

Photo: Sofitel Saigon Plaza

Portraiture in the raw

By PiP de RouvRay

S

ome artists paint nudes. Luong Luu Bien paints nudes without their skin. Many artists make a study of anatomy, and this one certainly seems to know his deltoid from his gastrocnemius and he certainly will show you the gluteus maximus. How did I feel when seeing his pictures?

Well, it was a bag of emotions: shock, fear, revulsion and fascination. They are simultaneously ugly and beautiful.

Most of these pictures show people in ordinary situations. One is of two men seated by the side of a road.

Another depicts two men playing a board game. Just as I was getting used to the idea that there is a can of minced beef inside all of us, I came across a picture which at first I thought was a pile of dead bodies. On closer inspection, I saw that the bodies had been arranged in the form of the intestines, clever and at the same time, macabre.

I spotted one entitled ‘Shell’ and was of an opened up oyster shell. My daughter drew my attention to a silvery shadowy figure in among the mother-of-pearl.

Was the artist making a point? I remembered a line quoting Bien in the press release - ‘I am more considered with viewers’ feeling...rather than their understanding’.

Several of the paintings will show a more aesthetic, even romantic, side of Bien. My daughter was impressed by one of a head in mid- air with steaming hair and drizzling droplets of water. Bien has named it ‘Space Dust.’ Another is of a slightly contorted female figure with clothes and hair streaming in the wind next to a solid upright tree and it is entitled ‘Strong Wind’.

The picture I liked the best is called ‘Dancing’ and it has been affected in beautiful hues of brown and gold. At first sight, it may appear quite abstract, but soon among the whorls and swirls you will discern three or four dancers, one of them definitely a ballet dancer. My daughter also saw fish and even a dolphin.

The artist gets much of his vibrant effect through using lacquer on canvas. Like many Vietnamese artists I have had the pleasure of knowing, he is an expert colourist.

I had the chance to talk briefly with Bien. In contrast to the boldness of his work, he is a quiet, unassuming chap. I asked him who his favourite artists were and was quite surprised by the answer-Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud; both British artists of the last century. One can certainly see the influence of Bacon, but Bien is never going to get the same extreme reactions to his work as Bacon did in his life time.

I can certainly recommend you investing your time in seeing this exhibition. If you do not take my word for it, listen to what my daughter Anh Viet had to say on leaving the show. ‘I am so happy that Vietnam has such good art’.n ‘Evolution’, an exhibition of works by artist Luong Luu Bien organised by Craig Thomas Gallery in collaboration with Softel Saigon Plaza at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza from February 2oth to April 20th, 2014, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sofitel Saigon Plaza, 17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3824-1555 Craig Thomas Gallery. Tel: 0903 888 431

An exhibition of the anatomical works of Luong Luu Bien

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hoTel advertorial

Möôøng Thanh expands southward to Vung Tau

By PiP de RouvRay

U

Photos: Möôøng Thanh Vung Tau Hotel

ntil recently, I had not heard of Mường Thanh. I was flummoxed by the meaning until I was informed it is actually Thai and could be translated as ‘God’s own country’. A suitable slogan for the company could be ‘God's Own Hotel’. I was lucky enough to be invited to stay at Mường Thanh Vung Tau Hotel, which has been opened barely a year.

That day, I had climbed up and down a mountain and walked several miles of road in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. A young female receptionist was there to greet me with a welcome drink. I was escorted to my eleventh-floor room by the Front Office Manager himself, Mr Phuong.

The chairs and wall were white and the furniture dark tropical hardwood. The colours were reflected in the accessories; white patterned lamp shade and black wooden clock. There was attention to detail with white leaf-shaped soap in the bathroom in a black leafshaped container. The floors were white tiled and

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brown mock parquet. A large widow framed a panorama of the bay, a park and Big Mountain. To the side, another window afforded a view of much of the rest of the city. Freshly budding carnations, orange, red and white, adorned the window- side table and there were fresh tangerines still with green leaves attached.

Feeling a new man after a couple hours’ rest, I went down to the second floor for dinner at the Hai Dang Restaurant. I had been offered both a Western menu and a Vietnamese one. I chose the latter. My company was Mr Buu, Assistant to the General Manager and Mr Dong, Food and Beverage Manager. Although this was the table d' hoteI, I was invited to select one dish. ‘How about frog’? I said. I went for the San Miguel draught beer at a very reasonable 20,000 dongs a glass.

The first appetiser was buffalo jerky with raw diced cucumber and garnishing. The follow-up was a giant oyster baked in cheese and served in its shell.

Next, the ever-attentive Maître d' brought on cubes of pork cut from the ribs, garlic bread and chips.

advertorial hoTel Then, I had been expecting the frog to hop onto the table dressed in butter sauce, but a new culinary delight awaited me. The frog meat had been minced, garlic and herbs added and deep fried into patties.

My hosts informed me that this is quite a common way of serving frog in Vietnam.

The next course was a visual, as well as a gastronomic, delight-King prawn in tamarind sauce. I was not so used to eating in courses. The other difference between home and the restaurant is that we normally begin to eat rice about halfway through the meal. Here it was served fried with seafood at the end. ‘That is to fill you up after savouring the other dishes’ I was told.

Quite right too! I had enjoyed a wonderful meal with just enough room to finish off with fresh tropical fruit.

I had a long, peaceful sleep and found a good full buffet breakfast in the Hai Dang the following morning. I continued eating Vietnamese, with a flavoursome bowl of Pho with the tenderest slices of chicken.

Finally, I tucked into some kim chi.

Mention should be made of the hotel's other facilities. There is a well-stocked bar with live music some nights on the ground floor. In the basement, there is a spa treatment salon. On the third floor is the fitness centre, a karaoke room and the swimming pool.

All too soon, it was time to get home. In a nutshell, this is a great addition to Vung Tau's range of hostelries. Whether on business or for pleasure, this is an excellent place to rest up, enjoy the great food on offer in Vietnam and in particular, the wonderful seafood of this town, and even to quaff a great glass of chilled beer. I look forward to returning here and hope to get to know some of the other seventeen hotels in this chain.n

Mường Thanh Vung Tau Hotel 09 Thong Nhat St, Ward 1, Vung Tau City Tel: (064) 3552-468, Fax: (064) 3551-468 Advertised room rates from 1,890,000 dongs per night including breakfast

Hotline: 0917288211 (Mr. Quang)

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resort AdvertoriAl

Photos: Dalat Edensee Resort

‘Highland spring heaven’

D

alat Edensee Resort, a resort & spa that has quickly become the go-to place for discerning travellers to savour the charms of Vietnam’s famous Highlands, has announced a special ‘Highland Spring Heaven’ package for guests to escape the heat into the sanctuary of a cooler clime with stunning views.

Inspired by the Rhine Valley region in Germany, where Tieu Nhu Phuong, owner of the resort, has 28 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

been living, Dalat Edensee Resort is every bit as fabulous and sophisticated as the area it is modelled after. The decorations, from guest accommodations to the stately lounge and glamorous rooftop terrace, are distinctively European, with chandeliers sparkling as if reflected by the light from Tuyen Lam Lake, beautifully crafted furniture, marble fireplaces and sweeping staircases, all against a sweeping backdrop of lush pine forest that takes your breath away

the first time you see it.

This package is priced at VND5,300,000 per room (for two persons), for two nights, three days accommodation in a Mimosa Superior Room with daily breakfast, a romantic dinner for two and a fullbody massage for two, which allows you to choose from many tempting options - Swedish, Vietnamese, Aromatherapy Revival, Thai and Herbal Compress Therapy.

Also included in the package are welcome drinks and a fruit plate

AdvertoriAl resort when you check in, use of the resort’s facilities such as swimming pool, tennis court, cinema and billiard tables, round-trip airport transfer and shuttle to and from Dalat city centre.

Carole, an English lady who lives in Vietnam, wrote this wonderful review on Trip Advisor after taking her sister and niece who were visiting her from England, to Dalat Edensee Resort: ‘I have been lucky enough to stay in some beautiful hotels around the world, but I don’t think I have ever stayed in a place that was so spotlessly clean, or where the staff were so professional, friendly, courteous, attentive, and eager to please. It was obvious how proud they were to work in such a magnificent setting, and I know from talking to them that they love their jobs. I’m not going to describe the resort in detail, or add photographs, because everything really is ex-

actly how it appears on the website. What the website doesn’t show, however, is the professionalism of the staff or the quality of the food and the way it is so beautifully presented and served. The breakfasts were fantastic with a wide choice to suit all tastes, including the most delicious breads and pastries I’ve ever had in Vietnam. We had dinner in the resort on our second night, and wished we’d done so on the first instead of eating in the city. The service and quality was unbelievable, and we felt like royalty. At one point I said to the waiter ‘I feel like a VIP!’ He replied that all guests at Dalat Edensee Resort are VIPs. How lovely is that?

‘We are always happy to receive such great reviews,’ said Tieu Nhu Phuong, owner of Dalat Edensee Resort. ‘But we never rest on our laurels; the team at Dalat Edensee Resort always strives to make us one of the top

resorts not only in Vietnam, but in South East Asia. The Highland Spring Heaven package is a way to thank our customers by offering a special deal to escape the heat so they are inspired to return to us. We also hope that those who have not had a chance to visit us will do so this time, to experience the ultimate highland luxury at Dalat Edensee Resort.’

If you want to stay longer as part of the package, any extra night costs only VND1,990,000 per a couple including dinner.

The offer runs from now till 25 April 2014, and includes all taxes and service charges.n Dalat EDEnsEE REsoRt Tuyen Lam Lake, Dalat Tel:(84-63) 383 15 15 Email: info@dalatedensee.com www.dalatedensee.com

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hotel advertorial

And quiet flows the Perfume River

By Ritch Pickens

C

entury Riverside Hotel Hue, which occupies the longest stretch of the Perfume River of any hostelry in Hue, is an imposing and somewhat bland edifice. Yet, once through the doors, the coldness of the Soviet-era exterior immediately melts and you are enveloped in the timeless warmth of the friendliest of Vietnamese cities. ‘The Century’ has a great deal to recommend indeed.

Firstly, this is a full-service hotel. It has five restaurants, one of which is a Hue banqueting hall, where guests can enjoy dishes invented for the Imperial Court whilst being serenaded by musicians playing classical Vietnamese music. On the terrace, there is a beautiful swimming pool, whilst further back are the tennis courts. Furthermore, there is a spa-cum- massage service, as well as a tour desk and travel agent. The hotel has recently become independent from the Chinese Century chain and adopted the slogan, ‘Towards a New Style of Service’. My experience of the service was that it was courteous, attentive and very friendly.

Another reason to choose this four-star hotel is its superb location. From the terraces, the entire sweep of the city's riverside can be enjoyed. To the east lies a large island. Turning to the west, you can see the Truong Tien Bridge. Streetside, the hotel is in an quarter bustling with cafes, restaurants, tailors’ booths, souvenir shops and general stores.

You should experience this hotel's signature cocktail- the 'Hue Shot'. Sit yourself down in the gardens by the pool or at a table in the long corridor terrace and order some snacks and this sundowner. It resembles a ‘Screwdriver’, but with rice wine and lime juice added. It 30 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

Photo: Century Riverside Hotel Hue

really is a great tangy drink.

There are one hundred and thirty rooms, eighty of which face the river. The remainder affords garden and lotus pond views. The corridor has photographs and paintings of Vietnamese scenes. My spacious white washed Deluxe Riverside Room was simply but tastefully arranged with dark red tropical hardwood furniture. There was inclusive tea and coffee-making facilities, as well as sweet-smelling toiletries in the bathroom. One beautiful touch-the bed was adorned with purple orchid petals.

Not only the rooms, but also the dining is very affordable at ‘The Century’. I ate dinner a la carte on the balcony of the Terrace Restaurant. I could have made it a three- course meal, but instead I opted for Asian-style service, having a number of both Vietnamese and Western dishes brought to the table at once. At least one dish had to be Imperial Hue. I chose the 'banh beo'- literally translated as ‘water fern cakes’, which consist of shredded shrimp in little milky rice pancakes which are dipped in fish sauce. Then there was the grilled mackerel in lemongrass. More European were the succulent slices of chicken breast with honey. Chinese-style squid and roast pork completed the table.

To sum up, this is a hotel that offers it all for a wide range of guests. As for beauty, here nature provides it with one of the world's most beautiful waterways, as right under your hotel room quietly flows the Perfume River!n

Century Riverside Hotel Hue 49 Le Loi St, Hue. Tel: (84_54) 3823 390, www.centuryriversidehue.com

advertorial hotel

I

Purity, finery and taste mark Sofitel Saigon Plaza’s 15th anniversary

t is now fifteen years since the Sofitel Saigon Plaza opened its doors and coincidentally, fifty years since the founding of the now-worldwide luxury brand of Sofitel. The double anniversary was recently celebrated on 15 February in a style fitting the slogan projected onto a screen in the hostelry’s large lobby - ‘French elegance amidst Saigon charm’.

Invited guests were treated to France’s signatory luxury beverage – Champagne – and canapés exhibiting both French and Vietnamese influences such as prime beef rolls and cocktail prawns. The opening ceremonies reminded us of the sobriquet given to the French capital -’Paris: City of Light’, as employees clad in dark, nocturnal uniforms bearing lit candles in bamboo cages descended a red carpeted stairway leading from the mezzanine. Accompanying this was a light show on the ceiling and dulcet piano music delivered by the renowned Canadian pianist and composer Miss Mary Ancheta.

After hearing speeches from General Manager M. Bertrand Courtois and local dignitaries, it was time to enjoy a fashion show from designer Ha Linh Thu of the fashion label ‘Pearl Ha’ (the Jewellery River). The models were young, Vietnamese girls, hardly exhibiting a curve, which allowed one to concentrate on the clothing rather the female form. Someone has genetically modified the Vietnamese female, I thought, to create these tall, slim creatures. The clothes were all very tasteful; a mixture

By PiP de RouvRay

of East and West with very little exposure of flesh. There was nothing outrageous and all of the clothes could adorn the average woman. Were it not for the priority of my wine merchant bills, I could even consider one of these outfits for the wife!

The second part of the soiree was held in the adjoining ‘Boudoir Lounge’, for the further degustation of fine French wine and digestion of scrumptious victuals, which included Peking Duck. A piano was set up for Miss Ancheta and this time she also displayed her vocal skills with renderings of Jazz standards.

All in all, an excellent way to celebrate how lucky we have been these last fifteen years. Many happy returns of the day to Sofitel Saigon Plaza and may the marriage of all that is great in France and Vietnam continue to bear fruit for our lives and for those of generations to come.n Sofitel Saigon Plaza 17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3824-1555. www.sofitel.com

Photos: Sofitel Saigon Plaza

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what the papers say Cookie-cutter cuisine

Vietnamese cry ‘fowl’ www.thanhniennews.com, 14 February Vietnam has banned the import of poultry from China after the FAO and WHO sounded a warning that the new and virulent H7N9 bird flu strain could enter the country from China at any time.

The virus has infected fowls and people in Guangxi, which shares a border with four Vietnamese provinces.

The virus was first detected in China in March last year and has since killed 73 out of 330 people who contracted it, including 130 this year.

Good news for the disadvantaged vietnamnews.vn, 24 February Students with severe disabilities will be allowed to enter universities and colleges without taking examinations, according to a recent joint circular on educational policies.

The school admissions will be based upon candidates' school records in high school, as well as their health conditions and the requirements at each college and university.

Disabled students will also be exempted from some subjects, be prioritized in studying results, tuition fees, scholarships and fees for learning tools.

32 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

Thanh Nien News, 14 February & New York Times, 7 February McDonald’s, the fast-food giant, which has restaurants in more than 100 countries, opened its first Vietnam location in February.

KFC opened in Vietnam in 1997, two years after the country normalized relations with the United States.

There are now 134 KFC locations and 34 Pizza Hut locations in the country.

American-style Asian fast-food chains, like Lotteria from South Korea and Jollibee from the Philippines, have slowly introduced restaurants in a few major cities.

Sudden death www.thanhniennews.com, 18 February Deputy Minister of Public Security Pham Quy Ngo, alleged to have received $510,000 in bribes at a recent high-profile corruption trial, died of cancer in February.

Senior Lieutenant General Ngo, a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee, headed a team that investigated wrongdoings which resulted in losses of billions of dollars to the state exchequer at the state-owned shipping group Vinalines .

Former Vinalines chairman Duong Chi Dung, who was arrested after fleeing the country and sentenced to death last December for embezzlement, alleged that Ngo had tipped him of his arrest in advance in return for two payments totalling $510,000.

Jade district? www.thanhniennews.com Vietnam should establish redlight districts as a way to control

prostitution, Chung A, former deputy chairman of the National Committee for Prevention and Control of AIDS, told a conference on measures to prevent and control prostitution in February. He said that while prostitution is not recognized as a legal profession in Vietnam, a series of ‘sensitive services’ a common term used for businesses that can be easily abused for prostitution activities like massage parlors, hotels, or karaoke bars - are licensed and thus flourishing.

Prostitutes, once caught, face administrative fines ranging $14 up to $189, which, according to A, would not deter them from relapsing into the illegal business.

According to the Department for Prevention and Control of Social Ills, there are currently around 32,700 sex workers in Vietnam, up 9.3 percent compared to 2012.

Hoi An shifts into high gear english.vietnamnet.vn, 21 February From 1 April, all officials and government employees of Hoi An ancient town will have to go to work on bicycles.

Employees of the Party Committee of Hoi An will have to go to office by bicycles from 15 March, officials of communes and wards from 20 March and employees of other state agencies from 1 April.

The use of bikes, according to the Hoi An authorities, is to contribute to environmental protection and to build Hoi An as an ecological, cultural and tourism city.

There are over 1,600 people working in party and government agencies in Hoi An. Hoi An is also the first city in Vietnam to launch the event ‘Car Free Day’ in 2012.

asides Japanese wanderer has yen for Vietnam vietnamnews.vn, 13 February As a teenager, Kiyotaka Yamaoka, who is now 34, dreamt he would visit all the provinces and cities in Vietnam. At the time, the Japanese teen could only learn about Vietnam through books, newspapers, and magazines.

Yamaoka made his first visit to the country four years ago and has since visited 63 provinces in 11 separate trips.

Riding a motorbike for over nine months in Vietnam, Kiyo narrowly escaped death several times.

Beach blues Thanh Nien, 7 February ‘The biggest mistake in tourism planning for Binh Thuan Province is that the sea view is blocked. Even local people have lost access to the beach’, Nguyen Huu Quy, former director of the province’s agriculture and rural development department is quoted as saying. Thanh Nien says many hospitality projects in Binh Thuan build fences denying local people’s access to beaches.

A good guide to Vietnam's contemporary art scene

By Ritch Pickens At last, there is a book, in reasonably welltranslated English, which gives an overview of what has been happening in the art scene since market-oriented reform was introduced in late 1980s and the hastening of the ‘technology revolution.’ The authors are two experienced researchers and art critics from the Fine Arts Research Institute of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. It covers the heady years in the local art scene from 1990 to 2010.

It is useful for art experts, professionals, and investors and to those with a general interest in the subject as well. The book starts by discussing what contemporary art is, and then covers installation art, body art, performance art, collage, video art and graffiti, as well as less controversial forms such as painting and print work. It then gives an essay on what contemporary artists are setting out to achieve, a few typically Vietnamese characteristics of their work and discusses its relationship to society in general. Finally, a good two-thirds of this book is devoted to information about and illustrations of the work of twenty-seven artists who are ‘brimming with the desire to break through’.

‘Vietnamese Contemporary 1990 to 2010’, authors: Bui Nhu Huong, and Pham Trung, is published by Knowledge Publishing House. Price: 450,000 dongs.

Did you know?

Thanh Nien, 11 February Van Hanh Monastery in Dalat is home to thousands of antiques. The antiques displayed at the monastery include Buddhist artefacts, agricultural tools and antiques of the Central Highlands people.

The heart of Vietnam vietnamnews.vn, 28 February The US-based National Geographic Traveller Magazine awarded Phu Quoc Island third place, after Paris and Whitefish (in the US), in the list of 15 editor-recommended destinations for Best Winter Trips 2014.

The magazine said some of Vietnam's best beaches are on heart-shaped Phu Quoc Island.

‘What's bringing international travellers so far is the restrained development on Phu Quoc, its warm, turquoise waters, secluded, deep sand

beaches, and lush, mountainous interior.’ It suggested tourists visit the island in dry season from December to March.

Top destination for sweethearts www.emeraude-cruises.com Halong Bay is ranked among the top ten Valentine's Day Retreats by the National Geographic book, ‘Four Seasons of Travel.’ The book says ‘Containing more than 1,600 islands, Halong Bay is a vision of astonishing beauty. Book an overnight cruise to watch the islands’ limestone pillars, caves, and arches become steeped in rich oranges and purples at sunset and veiled in an ethereal morning mist at sunrise.’

Flappy Bird gone forever www.forbes.com, 11 February

The mysterious developer of the world’s most popular free app, who drew global attention in February with his sudden decision to remove it, tells Forbes that Flappy Bird is dead.

Permanently.

‘Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed,’ says 29-year-old Dong Nguyen. ‘But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.’

Flappy Bird was released for free in May. It’s estimated his daily take from in-app advertising was $50,000.

Nguyen has several other top app store games, including Super Ball Juggling and Shuriken Block, which are currently #6 and #18 on the iOS store. Nguyen says he will continue to develop games.

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events HANOI MUSIC Celina Ramsauer 8 p.m., 17 March Swiss resident Celina Ramsauer is a multi-talented artist, writer, comedic actress, composer and television producer. She will hold a solo performance with voice and accordion at L’Espace Convention Hall at 8 p.m. on 17 March at L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi. The performance is supported by the Swiss Embassy in Hanoi. Free limited entry.

Contact the Embassy for ticket: Embassy of Switzerland, Hanoi Central Office Building (HCO Building) 15th Floor, 44B Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hanoi; tel: (04) 3934-6589.

French Rock 8 p.m., 20 March A throwback to the ‘flower power’ era, 60s revivalists ‘Brigitte’ are a French female duo who combine lounge-pop, retro folk, and French cabaret to produce an authentic hippy-chic sound. The duo was formed in 2008 by Sylvie Hoarau and Aurélie Saada. Together with three other musicians, these two ‘sexy ladies with brown and blonde hair’ will play at the L’Espace Convention Hall at 8 p.m. on 20 March.

Tickets are VND120,000, students and L’Espace members half price. Contact: L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St., Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi; tel: (04) 3936-2164.

Night of Cabaret 8.30-9.30 p.m., 22 March A mixed music performance entitled ‘A Night of Cabaret’ will take place from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m., on 22 March at L’Espace. The performance includes the band ‘Puzzle’ and other Vietnamese and French artists. Fabulous songs in Vietnamese, English and French will be performed on stage and this is a great chance for new overseas

and local music talent to perform.

Free entry. Contact: L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi; tel: (04) 3936-2164 The Woman Until 31 March

An exhibition of unpolished lacquer artwork by Nguyen Thi Mai, entitled ‘The Woman’ will be on display at L’Espace Exhibition Hall until 31 March. ‘Nature brings back my feelings about fading colour and time,’ Mai said. ‘Music brings back tempo, with the rhythm of the painting. Meanwhile, the shape of a woman leaves me with a feeling of softness and curviness’, she said. ‘The Woman’ is a ‘perfect combination of nature, music and professional lacquer techniques.’ Featuring over 20 pieces from Mai’s latest work, the exhibition showcases her unique perspective and interpretation of this traditional Vietnamese art form. Free entry. Contact: L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St., Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi; tel: (04) 39362164 Subscription Concert Vol. 68 8 p.m., 21 & 22 March Conductor Tetsuji Honna, cellist Ngo Hoang Quan and artists from the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra are to hold two symphony concerts at 8 p.m. on 21 & 22 March at the Hanoi Opera House, 1 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi. The programme features ‘Nhung O Cua’, or ‘The Windows’, by Vietnamese composer

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QUANG BINH Important milestone 27 April There will be many activities to celebrate the 410th anniversary of the founding of Quang Binh Province on 27 April. The programmes start at 7.45 p.m. in Dong Hoi City: lanterns will be floated down the Nhat Le River, a grand meeting, parade and lion dance will be held at Dong Hoi Museum, Hung Vuong St. Music performances will be given at the cultural centre of Dong Hoi City, Hung Vuong St. Also, there will be a fireworks show at 9.25 p.m. on Nhat Le Bridge.

Trong Dai, Rococo Variation by Tchaikovsky and Die Rosenkavalier Suite by Strauss. Ticket prices range from VND200,000 to VND700,000 and can be booked online via www.ticketvn.com or by calling 0913 489 858 or 0983 067 996 for free delivery.

FESTIVALS Longest-running Till April

honouring a variety of deities.

There will be crowds of people and hawkers in the pagoda; beware of scams such as over-priced drinks and demands for big tips from the boatwomen.

Praying for good fortune 5 April Tay Phuong Pagoda Festival is held on 5 April at Thach Xa Commune, Thach That District, Hanoi.

The pagoda is notable for its Le Dynasty architecture and woodwork, and the festival involves Buddhist rituals and ceremonies to confer blessings and good fortune.

Other activities include puppets, tug-of-war, cock fighting, human chess and wrestling.

NAM DINH The Huong Pagoda festival, at Huong Son Commune, My Duc District, Hanoi, is the Vietnam’s longest-running festival. It starts at the sixth day of the first month till the end of the third month in the lunar calendar. This year, it falls in 5 February and lasts until late April. Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims and visitors come to petition the gods for luck, wealth and happiness in the numerous pagodas scattered around a mountainous area. A visit to the pagoda includes a boat ride through winding streams and hours of mountain-climbing. The most popular destination is Huong Tich cave, which contains a great many altars

Princess cult 2 April to 7 April The annual Phu Day festival is going to be held from 2 April to 7 April at Kim Thai Commune, Vu Ban District, Nam Dinh Province, about 100 km from Hanoi. Phu Day is the centre of the cult of Princess Lieu Hanh. In popular tradition, the princess is honoured as the Holy Mother, one of the four immortal Vietnamese heroes. The main ceremonies of the Phu Day festival are the Holy Mother procession and a display of Chinese characters. Other highlights include a wrestling competition, cock-fighting, human chess and performances of chau van. The Phu Day area has 19 temples over three km.

events HUE Hue Festival 12 to 20 April

Hue Festival 2014 will take place from 12 to 20 April in Hue, with the following programmes: lGrand Opening Ceremony, at 20 p.m. 12 April at Ngo Mon Square l‘Imperial Night’, 7 p.m. 15 and 19 April at Hue Citadel l‘Ao dai Shows’, 8 p.m. 14 and 17 April at Ngo Mon Square lHue folk music, 8 p.m. 16 April at Nghinh Luong Pavilion l‘Oriental Night’ costume shows, 9 p.m. 13, 15, 16 and 18 April at Thai Hoa Palace, Hue Citadel l‘Fire installation’ by Carabosse Company from France in the evenings of 18 and 20 April at Truong Tien Bridge lCarnivals themed ‘Heritage and Cultural Colours’ by art troupes from East Asia and Latin America every afternoon on 13 to 19 April in the main streets of Hue. Closing Ceremony at 8 p.m. 20 April at Gia Hoi Park Also, from 13 to 16 April, a rural market festival will be held at Thanh Toan Bridge, Huong Thuy Commnue, Thua Thien Hue Province, with many agricultural products from all over the country. Visitors have an opportunity to play folk games and join the activities in the countryside, including rice grinding, rice pounding, fish-trapping and knitting.

Hon Chen Temple Festival 1-2 April Hon Chen Temple Festival is held on 1 and 2 April at Hon Chen Temple in Hai Cat Village, Huong Tra District of Thua Thien-Hue Province to commemorate Po Nagar Goddess (who, according to Cham legend, is believed to have created the earth). Boats decorated with flags and an altar start from Hai Cat Communal House and go along the Huong (Perfume) River to Hon Chen Temple to receive the goddess.

DANANG Mountain deity 17-19 March The Quan The Am Festival, 1719 March, will be held at Quan The Am Pagoda at the foot of Kim Son mountain belonging to Ngu Hanh Son mountain chain at Son Thuy Commune, Hoa Hai Ward, Hoa Vang District, 8 km from the centre of Danang City. The festival consists of a religious ceremony featuring flower offerings and prayers, and cultural activities such as performances of folk songs and classical opera, games of chess, music, painting, carving, a lion dance, and lanterns on the Truong Giang River.

NHATRANG He got the beat 7 p.m. every Wednesday and Thursday

Every Wednesday and Thursday night from 7 p.m., American

DJ Justin Murta will perform at Altitude Bar, at the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa. Creating his unique grooves from several styles, including Old Skool, Hip/Hop, R&B, House, Electro and Eclectic, Justin has performed in 34 countries for over eight years.

Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa 26- 28 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang.

Tel: (058) 3880-000

till 2 May at Sàn Art, 3 Me Linh St, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3840-0183. Open: Tuesday to Saturday, 10.30 a.m.to 6.30 p.m.

Net Xua Until further notice

HO CHI MINH CITY EXHIBITIONS Local art show Until 30 March

An exhibition of 26 lacquer paintings by artists Duong Tuan Kiet, Xuan Chieu, Phu Nam, Vo Xuan Huy, Nguyen Xuan Anh is on at Tu Do gallery until 30 March.

Tu Do Gallery, 53 Ho Tung Mau St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3821-0966.

Open: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Unconditional belief Until 2 May ‘Unconditional Belief’ is an exhibition by the collective ‘Art Labour’, including three artists Truong Cong Tung, Phan Thao Nguyen and Arlette Quynh Anh Tran - who imaginatively explore the concept of ‘belief’ in Vietnam by examining particular sites and historical account. The exhibition surveys different layers of belief from human dependence on spiritual power or sacred objects in healing sickness, to the usage of education to disseminate religious ideas. The exhibition is on

City Star Cellar is displaying over 200 antique objects and over 30 paintings in an exhibition called ‘Net Xua’. The objects are from many civilizations such as Dong Son, Champa and Dong Nai, and ceramic objects are from the period of Ly, Tran, Le, Nguyen and Mac Dynasties. The paintings are

by Nguyen Phan Chanh, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Luu Cong Nhan, Ta Ty, Trinh Huu Ngoc, Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Tien Chinh, Bui Xuan Phai, Tran Trung Tin, Luu Van Sin, Nguyen Duc Nung, Hoang Anh, Nguyen Viet, Thai Van Ngon, Truong Van Y, Nguyen Van Anh, Nguyen Tien Chung and Nguyen Sang. The paintings include watercolour on paper, water-colour on paper sticker, gouache on paper, silk painting, pencil drawing on paper and lacquer. Every five or six months, the City Star Cellar will change the subject of exhibition.

City Star Cellar, 13 Bui Thi Xuan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City.

Open: 9 a.m. to midnight.

THEATRE From the creators of A O 4, 10, 12, 20, 24, 26, 27, 28 March A O show will present ‘My Village’ or ‘Làng Tôi’, a delicate merger of tradition and innovation, where the poetic beauty of Northern Vietnam’s village life is presented

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events

with a new cirque approach. Farming, building activities, traditional games, and the lifestyle of Northern villagers are recreated by bamboo props, breath-taking cirque and rhythmic dance, juggling and acrobatic movements to distinct folk music. The show was created in 2005, in Hanoi, by the same creators of A O Show. My Village toured around the world from 2009 to 2012, with over 300 shows in France, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong. The show is on 4, 10, 12, 20,24, 26, 27, 28 March and there are two performances every night at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Tickets are from VND630,000 VND1,470,000 at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 38299976 MUSIC No, not Pearl Jam In March ‘Power Jam’, who won The Bat-

tle of the Bands in Philippines in 1996, as well as a first- runner-up prize in the Song Writing Contest for MTV Asia, is scheduled to show their power performance live regularly in March at Hard Rock Café Ho Chi Minh City, Kumho Link, 39 Le Duan, Dist.1. Tel: (08) 62917596 Formed in 1996 in Manila, Philippines, Power Jam, a 6-piece band, has performed throughout Asia, including Singapore, Japan, Macau, Malaysia and Thailand.

The band's versatile repertoire includes dance hit numbers, classic rock tunes, contemporary pop music, rhythm and blues, funk, soul, popular Latino music, acid jazz and ballads.

Don’t let this singer ‘Pass You By’ Every Tuesdays through Sundays until 4 May Mary Ancheta, a Canadian singer, composer, vocalist and pianist will perform at Boudoir Lounge every Tuesday to Sunday until 4 May. Mary has inspired people by her unique melodies, intuitively mixing and matching musical components. She has entertained audiences in Asia, the Middle East, across North America, and Europe.

Boudoir Lounge, Sofitel Saigon Hotel, 17 Le Duan St,

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Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3824-1555 A Prayer for the Dying 27 March

English singer Paul Di’Anno is on his tour ‘Beast in the Far East Tour 2014’ in March, before his retirement. Paul Di'Anno was the vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981, but his post-Maiden career has also been filled with numerous albums over the years, as both a solo artist and as a member of such bands as Gogmagog, Di'Anno's Battlezone, Praying Mantis, and Killers. He will perform at Hard Rock Café Ho Chi Minh City with other bands, including Suicide Solution, two local metal bands, Sagometal and Mephonic and Steel Saigon from Japan at 9 p.m. on 27 March.

Ticket: VND200,000 (for bookings until 23 March) and VND250,000 (for bookings from 24 March).

Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh City, 39 Le Duan St, Dist.1. Tel: (08) 6291-7595 Cuba Libre In March and April, from 9p.m. nightly, except Tuesdays Hailing from Cuba, Q’vans Band has five members, including drummer Dalyor Vazquez and trumpeter, keyboardist and singer Joel Rodriguez. Three female singers - Irian Flores, Sonia Hamilton and Lisandra Rondon perform the band’s captivating choreography. Patrons of Saigon Saigon Bar can expect to hear a mix of soulful Latin ballads, hipshaking beats and feel-good favourites, as Q’vans draws on its wide repertoire of pop, disco, techno, English and Spanish covers and Latin classics. In the tradition of Cuban festivals, Q’vans musicians also use instruments such as bamboo sticks, chancletas (sandals) and buckets to create the band’s unique sound. The band performs from 9 p.m. nightly, except on Tuesdays, in March and April at Saigon Saigon Bar, Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City.

Tel: (08) 3823-4999

value for money HOTELS Hoi An Hotel 10 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3861-445 Email: reservation@hoianhotel.com.vn www.hoianhotel.com.vn Hoi An Hotel has a two-night ‘Spa Essence Package’ until 31 December. It costs VND2,585,000++ per person per room, applicable for double occupancy. The package includes two nights’ stay in a Deluxe Room, breakfast, a 60-minute Hoi An White Lotus Signature massage, a 20 per cent discount on all other spa treatments, one-way transfer from or to Danang International Airport, shuttle bus to Cua Dai Beach, Tai-chi lessons, Vietnamese language class and a 15 per cent discount on food and beverage.

Best Western Premier Indochine Palace 105A Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (054) 3936-666 www.bwp-indochinepalace.com Best Western Premier Indochine Palace is offering a Honeymoon Package until 31 December for VND 5,289,000 ($246) per room in a Palace Deluxe Room with a romantic dinner for two, one bottle of Champagne in room and one-hour spa treatment for two. The price includes service charge and VAT.

RESORTS AND SPAS Boutique Hoi An Resort Group 6, Block Tan Thinh, Ward Cam An, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3939-111 Email: reservation@boutiquehoianresort.com www.boutiquehoianresort.com Boutique Hoi An Resort, 35 minutes from Danang Airport, has an up to 20 per cent discount for all room categories for those who book in advance at least seven days on their website until 30 April. The prices before discount start from VND3,300,000++ per Superior Room with breakfast.

has a 25 per cent discount for all types of rooms for those who stay from 3 May to 15 October and book from 15 February. The prices start from VND1,260,000 per room in a Deluxe Room to VND2,500,000 per room in a Family Suite.

Grand Mercure Danang Green Island, Hai Chau Dist., Danang Tel: (0511) 3797-777 www.accorhotels.com/7821 Karma Spa, at the Grand Mercure Danang, has a 100-minute package for VND1,200,000.

Starting with a calming foot bath and exfoliation to revive tired feet, then a blend of uplifting body oils and oriental massage technique to soothe muscles and improve blood circulation.

Head massage and foot reflexology will complete your overall wellness.

Best Western Premier Havana Nha Trang 38 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang Tel: (058) 3889-999 Email: info@havanahotel.vn www.havanahotel.vn Best Western Premier Havana Nha Trang offers a 30 per cent discount on all spa treatments at Havana Spa until 25 March. Havana Spa combines world-famous spa therapies, including Indian, Thai, Swedish, Saudi Arabian, Oriental Therapy, herbal and intensive hot stone massage. Using cosmetics derived entirely from natural essences such as coconut, aloe vera, and mineral mud, each treatment will relieve muscle soreness, facilitate blood circulation, eliminate body toxins, enrich your health and rejuvenate your skin.

Sandy Beach Non Nuoc Resort Danang Vietnam, Managed by Centara 255 Huyen Tran Cong Chua St, Ngu Hanh Son Dist, Danang Tel: (0511) 3961-777, Email: cdv@chr.co.th www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cdv

River-Beach Resort & Residences Hoi An 5 Cua Dai St, Hoi An Tel: (0510) 3927-888 www.river-beachresort.com River-Beach Resort & Residences Hoi An 38 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

Sandy Beach Non Nuoc Resort Danang Vietnam, Managed by Centara is offering a Honeymoon Package until 31 December.

VND5,900,000 for two nights’ stay in a Bungalow Garden View with roundtrip airport transfers, one bottle of sparkling wine, breakfast, a romantic candle-light dinner, a 45-minute spa treatment, a 10 per cent discount for food & beverage and a 15 per cent for other spa services.

An extra night is VND2,000,000 per room.

Dalat Edensee Resort Tuyen Lam Lake, Dalat Tel: (063) 3831-515, www.dalatedensee.com Dalat Edensee Resort has a two-night package for two for VND5,300,000 in a Mimosa Superior Room with breakfast, a romantic dinner, massage, round trip airport transfers and shuttle bus to Dalat centre. An extra night is VND1,990,000 per room. The promotion is valid till 25 April. The prices include service charge and VAT.

The Grand Ho Tram Strip Phuoc Thuan, Xuyen Moc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province Tel: (064) 3788-888 Email: info@thegrandhotramstrip.com www.thegrandhotramstrip.com The Grand Ho Tram Strip, in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, offers its ‘Grand Package’ for VND2,888,000++ ($138++) per room for two, including breakfast, round-trip shuttle bus between Ho Chi Minh City and the resort, a dining voucher valued at $15 (VND300,000) at 8 Dragons Restaurant and a 50 per cent discount on treatments at The Spa. The package is not available for Vietnamese and is valid till 30 June.

OPENING Crystal Spa Tan Son Nhat Hotel, 3rd Floor, 202 Hoang Van Thu St, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3847-9964

value for money The renowned Thai brand name of spa, arom:D, made its way to Vietnam in January and is named Crystal Spa, with an area of 1,200 sqm, on the 3rd floor of Tan Son Nhat Hotel, 1,5 km from Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Emotional therapy is created based on seven elements of mood accompanied with products naturally extracted from diamond, amethyst, sapphire, jade, citrine, gold, pearl, tourmaline and ruby.

In January, four-star Eden Resort Phu Quoc was listed as one of the Traveller’s Choice Awards by TripAdvisor. The award based on opinions of travellers posted on TripAdvisor.

FOOD PROMOTIONS Movenpick Hotel Hanoi

quesadillas and tacos. There are many activities for guests, especially for children, with a play room featuring fun activities, arts and crafts, puzzles, books and movies. 6.30 p.m. until 10 p.m., VND600,000 for adults and a half price for children from 6-12. The price includes a margarita cocktail, free flow of draft beer and soft drinks.

83A Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3822-2800

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa

On every second Friday of the month, Mangosteen Restaurant, at the Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi, has a ‘TexMex Food Festival’, serving Texan and Mexican cuisine, prepared by Executive Chef Trinh Cuong, including beef burritos, chicken and shrimp, chimichangas,

Truong Sa St, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist, Danang Tel: (0511) 3981-234 www.danang.regency.hyatt.com Beach House Restaurant, at the Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa, serves Vietnamese set dinner menus and Western dishes.

The price for a Vietnamese set dinner ranges from VND630,000 to VND830,000 per adult.

Half price for children between 6 and 12 years old. The restaurant also offers a European specialty, Brittany lobster, cooked the way you like, including grilled, poached, flambéed or wokfried with local spices. You can sit indoors or outdoors, with a sea view. Live music from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

OTHER Eden Resort Phu Quoc Cua Lap Hamlet, Duong To Ward, Phu Quoc Dist., Kien Giang Provine Tel: (077) 3985-598, www.edenresort.com.vn

A tasting of a new Table d’ Hote menu

By PiP de RouvRay

F

or some time now, I have been aware that the Windsor Plaza Hotel has a team of formidable chefs. I have dined in their Cantonese restaurant and can attest they treat one of the world’s greatest cuisines with the excellence it is due. My taste buds have revealed to me that the team is capable of providing just about any dish from East or West.

But are they capable of surprising one with something new? As luck would have it, I was invited the other evening to try out a new menu devised by Italian chefs Giovanni and Fabrizio.

The venue on the twentieth fifth floor was spectacular. There is a beautiful Italianate garden with greenery on pergolas and a classical rotunda. But dinner was set in the indoor dining area. With high glass windows, there were great views of Saigon by night below us.

Originality came from the word go as the bread was accompanied by chickpea oil. It was the first time I had seen such a beautifully decorated plate; with glazes and a squiggle of bal-

savoury lobster and crab cake and Vietnamese beef rolls wrapped in lot leaves.

There was a pastry looking like a Yorkshire pudding. Only upon cracking open the soft surface did I find the gorgeous minestrone.

Next was a pasta dish-the V-Tortellini. This came with pumpkin, stewed cabbage, truffle oil and parmesan sauce. At last came the main course, which was grilled salmon in banana leaf with mixed greens, courgettes and fresh ginger. Dessert had to be that Italian layered cake delight known as ‘tiramisu’.

He who is tired of dining at the Windsor Plaza would need to be tired of life. There is always something new. This meal left me with a very happy stomach and impressed at how the chefs mix some of the best ideas from two the great cuisines of Italy and Vietnam. samic reduction it was a white square on a translucent slab of onyx. Onto this soon was placed the appetizers. They comprised a mixed salad of baby lettuce, beetroot and cherry tomato and asparagus fritto misto, a

Windsor Plaza Hotel 18 An Duong Vuong St, Dist.5, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3833-6688

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value for money Grand Silverland Hotel & Spa 125 – 133 Ly Tu Trong, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-3888

per flakes on a sesame bun with glazed onions.

Also Cay Da Café, at the Mövenpick Hotel Saigon, has ice cream buffet daily from 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. at Cay Da Café at VND199,000++.

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers

Roof Garden Restaurant, at the four-star Grand Silverland Hotel & Spa, has a spectacular view of the city. From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to Sunday, it serves a buffet dinner with over 50 Asian and International dishes, including sashimi and dishes made from beef and seafood grilled on coal with three kinds of sauces. VND388,000.

Movenpick Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3844-9222 Mövenpick Hotel Saigon presents a new burger menu prepared by Executive Chef Peter D. Zobrist and served daily from 5 p.m. till 'late'.

The menu includes a double beef burger in a cheese and bacon bun, topped with melted cheese and served with seven assorted sauces; a double fish burger in a fried onion bun, topped with sweet and sour sauce; a double beef burger in a black olive bun topped with chili con carne and sour cream; and a double lamb burger with cumin, cilantro and red pep-

88 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-2828 From 13 March to 15 March, two Indian chefs, Jai Kishan and Jitender Himral, will be at Saigon Café, at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, to create menus for Indian food lovers in Saigon. Guests will have an opportunity to try all authentic Indian cuisine, including Haryali Kabab, Murgh Malai Tikka, Murgh Rehana, and Gosht Roganjosh. Besides this, there will be Kalbelia folk dance performance and mehndi, or art painting on hands and feet by Indian artists.

6 p.m. to 10 p.m. VND995,000++ including free flowing house wine, coffee and tea. Kalbelia folk dance at 6.30 p.m. on 13 March. Mehndi Art, 13, 14 and 15 March.

Winsor Plaza Hotel 18 An Duong Vuong St, Dist.5, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3833-6688 www.windsorplazahotel.com Café Central An Dong, at the Winsor Plaza Hotel, serves Italian lunch and dinner buffet with pizza, pasta, seafood and handmade Tiramisu. Diners will receive a voucher of 50 per cent discount on prices for next visit from Monday to Thursday until 27 March. New Australian wine varieties of Berri Estates in March.

Lunch buffet, Monday to Friday VND318,000++ and Saturday, Sunday VND338,000++

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Dinner buffet, Monday to Friday VND488,000++ and Saturday, Sunday VND545,000++

Sofitel Saigon Plaza 17 Le Duan Boulevard, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3824-1555 www.sofitel.com

In March, L’Olivier Restaurant, at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza, launches an à la carte menu prepared by Executive Chef Sakal. A variety of French dishes, will be served, including crab tartar, mango jelly and golden leave, pan fried duck foie gras, rhubarb on a royal of cumin flavour, lemongrass foam, half-cooked red tuna, eggplant caviar and spring vegetables pickles with sesame oil. Also offered will be Australian black angus beef tenderloin with smoked garlic and anchovy and carrots with orange cumin. The prices range from VND190,000 to VND695,000 a dish. Lunch: 11.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and dinner: 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.

Rates may be subject to 5-per-cent service charge and 10-per-cent VAT if there is no statement to the contrary.

BuyABLE

Incense burner, VND2,000,000

Incense burner, VND700,000

Chess set, VND2,800,000

A set of Vietnamese traditional musicians, VND1,400,000

Candle holders, VND1,200,000 each

Candle holders, VND1,300,000 each

Vietnamese ancient drum replica, VND900,000

Vase, VND1,300,000

Cabinet, VND1,200,000

All the products are made of marble Dong Duong 123A Bui Vien St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: 0943925348 3L Hung Vuong Extended St, Quan Tran Ward, Nha Trang Tel: (058)3523-233

42 • VIETNAM HErITAgE - MArCH-AprIL 2014

directiOnS Sapa, halOng, haiphOng EMERGENCIES Police: 113 Fire: 114 Ambulance: 115

SAPA

(TELEPHONE CODE: 020) Sapa is a former French hill station in northwestern Vietnam, in Lao Cai Province, near the Chinese border.

A number of minority cultures including the H’mong, Dao and Tay live in villages in the countryside around Sapa.

HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Cat Cat View Hotel 46 Fan Xi Pang St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3871-946 www.catcathotel.com VND735,000 to VND3,780,000 ($35 to $180) Cha Pa Garden Boutique Hotel & Spa 23B Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3872-907 Email: hotelchapagarden@gmail.com

www.chapagarden.com From VND1,470,000 ($70) Chau Long Sapa Hotel

Topas Ecolodge Thanh Kim Ward, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (04) 3715-1005 Email: reservation@topasecolodge.com www.topasecolodge.com From VND2,300,000 ($110) Victoria Sapa Resort and Spa Xuan Vien St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3871-522 Email: resa.sapa@victoriahotels.asia

www.victoriahotels.asia From VND3,657,000 ($172) RESTAURANTS Buffalo Bell Restaurant 25 Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3873-455 Delta Restaurant 33 Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3871-799 Fansipan Restaurant 23 Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3871-556

HALONG

(TELEPHONE CODE: 033) With around 1,600 islands and islets in the Gulf of Tonkin, Halong Bay, about 170 km east of Hanoi, is well known for its limestone seascape.

Overnight boat trips out of Halong City are a popular way to see it.

HOSPITALS Bai Chay Hospital Gieng Day Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3846-557 www.benhvienbaichay.vn

24 Dong Loi St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3871-245 Email: resa@chaulonghotel.com.vn www.chaulonghotel.com.vn From VND700,000 ($33) Holiday Sapa Hotel 16 Muong Hoa, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3873-874 Email: info@holidaysapa.com www.holidaysapa.com VND588,000 to VND2,100,000 ($28 to $100) Mường Thanh Sapa Hotel No 044, Ngu Chi Son, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3887-766 Email: sales@sapa.muongthanh.vn www.sapa.muongthanh.vn Royal Hotel 54B Cau May St, Sapa, Lao Cai Province Tel: (020) 3771-131 Email: hoanggiasapa@gmail.com www.royalsapahotel.com From VND340,000 ($17)

Traditional Medicine Hospital Cot 8, Hong Ha Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3838-113 Vietnam-Sweden Hospital Thanh Son Ward, Uong Bi Commune, Halong Tel: (033) 3854-037 www.bvubqn.tk TRAVEL Halong Tourism 1 Halong St, Halong Tel: (033) 3846-272 Quang Ninh Tourism Company Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3846-350 Syrena Cruises Hung Thang new urban area, Bai Chay, Halong Tel: (033) 3847-043 Hanoi Sales Office: Syrena Tower, 3th Floor, 51 Xuan Dieu St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3719-7214 Email: se@syrenacruises.com www.syrenacruises.com HOTELS, RESORTS

Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Asean Halong Hotel Hau Can St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3640-034 Email: sm@aseanhalonghotel.com www.aseanhalonghotel.com Halong Hidden Charm Hotel Block 22D, Tuan Chau Villas, Halong Tel: (033) 3842-360 Email: infor.halonghiddencharmhotel@gmail.com

www.hiddencharmhotel.com.vn From VND600,000 ($29) Halong Palace Hotel 1, Block 20 Dong Hung Thang, Hoang Quoc Viet St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3619-819 Email: info@halongpalacehotel.com www.halongpalacehotel.com From VND3,800,000 ($181) Halong Plaza Hotel 8 Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3845-810 Email: info@halongplaza.com www.halongplaza.com VND1,500,000 to VND3,800,000 ($71 to $179) Heritage Halong Hotel 88 Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3846-888 Email: saleheritagehl@gmail.com www.heritagehalonghotel.com.vn VND1,200,000 ($57) Mường Thanh Halong Hotel No.7, Block 20, East of Hung Thang, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3812-468/ (033) 3819-777 Email: info@halong.muongthanhhotel.vn www.muongthanhhotel.vn From VND1,400,000 ($67) Novotel Ha Long Bay Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3848-108 Email: info@novotelhalong.com.vn www.novotelhalongbay.com From VND2,772,000 ($132) Saigon Halong Hotel Ha Long St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3845-845 info@saigonhalonghotel.com www.saigonhalonghotel.com From VND700,000 ($35) StarCity Suoi Mo Hotel

rooms, with many breathtaking views of Ha Long Bay. RESTAURANTS Co Ngu Restaurant Halong St, Halong Tel: (033) 3511-363 Jumbo Vietnam Floating Restaurant 119 Le Thanh Tong St, Halong Tel: (033) 3624-888 Sea Food Restaurant Halong St, Halong Tel: (033) 3845-822

Thu Huong Restaurant Halong St, Halong Tel: (033) 3845-142 BARS & CAFÉS Emeraude Café Royal Park, Ha Long St, Halong Tel: (033) 3849-266 www.emeraude-cruises.com Royal International Gaming Club and Villa Bai Chay, Halong Tel: (033) 3848-777

HAI PHONG CITY (TELEPHONE CODE: 031) HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Catba Princes Hotel

303 Nui Ngoc, Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong City Tel: (031) 3888-899 Email: sale@catbaprinceshotel.com www.catbaprinceshotel.com From VND527,500 ($25) Catba Sunrise Resort Cat Ba Island, Hai Phong City Tel: (031) 3887-360 Email: info@catbasunriseresort.com www.catbasunriseresort.com From VND3,520,000 ($168) Harbour View Hotel 12 Tran Phu St, Ngo Quyen Dist., Hai Phong Tel: (031) 3827-827 Email: info@harbourviewvietnam.com www.harbourviewvietnam.com From VND2,772,000 ($132)

Halong St, Bai Chay Ward, Halong Tel: (033) 3846-058 Email: sm1.north@och.vn www.starcitysuoimo.com In the centre of Halong, StarCity Suoi Mo Hotel offers 167 well-equipped

ENTERTAINMENT Do Son Casino Zone 3, Do Son town, Hai Phong City Tel: (031) 3864-888

vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

• 43

CENTRE O

B

A

C

1 Asean International Hotel 2 Capital Garden Hotel 3 Daewoo Hotel

1

4 De Syloia Hotel 5 Fortuna Hotel Hanoi 6 Green Mango 7 Hanoi Horison Hotel 8 Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel 9 Joseph’ Joseph’ss Hotel 10 1 0 Little Hanoi 11 1 1 MAison d’Hanoi Hanova Hotel

3

2

12 1 2 Melia Hanoi Hotel 13 1 3 Movenpick Hotel Hanoi 14 1 4 Nikko Hanoi Hotel 15 1 5 Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi 16 1 6 Sunway Hotel Hanoi 17 1 7 Hanoi Emotion Hotel

3

5

2

4

STREET GUIDE Ba Trieu...................E3, E4 Bac Son.........................D1 Bach Dang.....................F2 Bach Mai........................E4 Bat Dan..........................E2 Bich Cau........................C2 Buoi................................A1 Cat Linh..........................C2 Cha Ca....................E1, E2 Cua Bac.........................D1 Cua Dong.......................D2

Da Tuong.......................E3 Dang Tat.........................D1 Dao Duy Anh.................D4 Dao Duy Tu.............E1, E2 Dien Bien Phu................D2 Doc Ngu.........................A1 Doi Can.............A1, B2, C2 Duong Thanh.................E2 Gam Cau........................E1 Giai Phong.....................D4 Giang Vo.....A3 ,B3 ,B2,C2

Hai Ba Trung.....E2, E3, F3 Ham Long......................E3 Han Thuyen....................F3 Hang Bac.......................E2 Hang Bo.........................E2 Hang Bong.....................E2 Hang Buom....................E2 Hang Can.......................E2 Hang Chuoi....................F3 Hang Cot........................E1 Hang Da.........................E2 Hang Dao.......................E2

Hang Dau.......................E1 Hang Ga.........................E2 Hang Gai........................E2 Hang Khay.....................E2 Hang Khoai....................E1 Hang Ma.........................E1 Hang Quat......................E2 Hang Trong....................E2 Hang Chieu....................E1 Hang Luoc......................E1 Hao Nam........................C2 Hoa Ma...........................F3

Hoang Dieu.............D1, D2 Hoang Hoa Tham............... ....................A1, B1, C1, D1 Hoang Van Thu..............D1 Hoe Nhai........................E1 Hung Vuong............D1, D2 Huynh Thuc Khang........A3 Kham Thien.............C3, D3 Kim Ma..............A2, B2, C2 La Thanh.................B3, C3 Lang Ha..........................B3 Nguyen Chi Thanh.........A3

Le Dai Hanh...................E4 Le Duan............D2, D3, D4 Le Hong Phong.............D2 Le Lai..............................F2 Le Thai To.......................E2 Le Thanh Tong...............F3 Le Van Huu....................E3 Lieu Giai........................A2 Lo Duc......................F3, F4 Lo Su..............................F2 Luong Ngoc Quyen.......E2 Luong Van Can..............E2

OF HA NOI D

E

F

6 10

11 9 17 15 13

12 8 4

14 16

Ly Nam De..............E1, E2 Ly Quoc Su....................E2 Ly Thai To.......................F2 Ly Thuong Kiet........E3, F3 Mai Hac De..............E3, E4 Ngo Quyen.....................F3 Ngo Si Lien....................D2 Ngo Thi Nham................E3 Ngoc Ha.........................C1 Ngoc Khanh...................B2 Nguyen Canh Chan......D1 Nguyen Cong Hoa.........B2

Nguyen Dinh Chieu............ .................................E3, E4 Nguyen Du..............D3, E3 Nguyen Huu Huan........ F2 Nguyen Khuyen.............D2 Nguyen Luong Bang.....C3 Nguyen Thai Hoc....C2, D2 Nguyen Thuong Hien......... ........................................D3 Nguyen Van To..............E2 Nha Chung.....................E2 Nha Tho.........................E2

Nui Truc..........................B2 Pham Dinh Ho................F3 Pham Ngu Lao...............F3 Phan Boi Chau.......D2, D3 Phan Chu Trinh..............F3 Phan Dinh Phung..........D1 Phan Huy Chu................F3 Pho Duc Chinh...............F3 Pho Hue...................E3, E4 Phu Doan.......................E2 Phung Hung............E1, E2 Quan Su..................E2, E3

Quan Thanh...................D1 Quang Trung...........E2, E3 Quoc Tu Giam...............D2 Son Tay..........................C2 Thai Phien......................E4 Thanh Cong...................B3 Thanh Nien....................D1 Tho Nhuom.............E2, E3 Thuy Khue.......................... ....................A1, B1, C1, D1 To Hien Thanh...............E4 Tong Dan........................F2

Ton Duc Thang..............C3 Tran Hung Dao................... ...........................D3, E3, F3 Tran Huy Lieu................B2 Tran Khanh Du...............F3 Tran Khat Chan..............F4 Tran Nguyen Han..........F2 Tran Nhan Tong......D3, E3 Tran Nhat Duat..............E1 Tran Phu........................D2 Tran Quang Khai............F2 Tran Qui Cap.................D2

Tran Quoc Toan......D3, E3 Tran Thanh Tong............F3 Tran Xuan Soan................. .................................E3, E4 Trang Thi........................E2 Trang Tien................E2, F3 Trieu Viet Vuong......E3, E4 Trinh Hoai Duc...............C2 Tue Tinh.........................E3 Yen Phu..........................E1 Yersin..............................F4 Yet Kieu..........................D3

directiONS haNOi HANOI

(TELEPHONE CODE: 04) EMBASSIES

Finland 31 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3826-6788

Algeria 13 Phan Chu Trinh St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-3865

France 57 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3944-5782

Argentina 41A Ly Thai To St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-5263

Germany 29 Tran Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-3836

Australia 8 Dao Tan St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-7755 Austria 53 Quang Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3943-3050 Bangladesh Villa D6B 5 – Khu Vuon Dao Ngo 675, Lac Long Quan St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3771-6625 Belarus 52 Ho Tay St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3829-0494 Belgium Hanoi Tower, 49 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3934-6179 Brazil T72-14 Thuy Khue St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3843-2544 Brunei Villa 8-9 No 44/8-44, 9 Van Bao St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3726-0001 Bulgaria 5 Nui Truc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-2908 Cambodia 71A Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3942-7636 Canada 31 Hung Vuong St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3823-5500 China 46 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi.

Tel: (04) 3845-3736 Cuba 65 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3942-4775 Czech Republic 13 Chu Van An St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi; Tel: (04) 3845-4131 Denmark 19 Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3823-1888 Egypt 63 To Ngoc Van St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3829-4999

Hungary 12th floor of Deaha Building, 360 Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3771-5714 India 58-60 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3824-4990 Indonesia 50 Ngo Quyen St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-3353 Iran 54 Tran Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3823-2068 Iraq 66 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3942-4141 Ireland 8th floor of Vincom Tower B, 191 Ba Trieu St, Ha Dong Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3974-3291 Israel 68 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3843-3141 Italy 9 Le Phung Hieu St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-6256 Japan 27 Lieu Giai St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3846-3000 Laos 22 Tran Binh Trong St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3942-4576 Libya 298B Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-3379 Malaysia 43-45 Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3734-3836 Mexico Coco Villa T-11, 14 Thuy Khue St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3847-0948 Mongolia 5 Van Phuc, Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-3009 Myanmar 298A Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-3369

46 • vietNam heritage - march-april 2014

Netherlands 6th floor of Deaha Building, 360 Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-5650 New Zealand 63 Ly Thai To St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3824-1481 North Korea 25 Cao Ba Quat St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-3008 Norway 8th Floor, Hanoi Tower, 49 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3974-8900 Nigeria 44/1 Van Bao St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3726-3610 Palestine 6 Dang Van Ngu St, Dong Da Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3852-4013 Philippines 27B Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3943-7948 Poland 3 Chua Mot Cot St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-2027 Romania 5 Le Hong Phong St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3845-2014 Russia 191 La Thanh St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: 3833-6991 South Africa 31 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3936-2000 South Korea 4th floor of Deaha Building, 360 Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-5111 Spain 15th floor of Deaha Building, 360 Kim Ma St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3771-5207 Sweden 2 Nui Truc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3726-0400 Thailand 63-65 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3823-5092 Turkey 14th Floor, HCO Building, 44B Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Tel: (04) 3822-2460 United Kingdom 31 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3936-0500 United States 7 Lang Ha St, Dong Da Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3772-1500

MEDICAL CENTRES Acupuncture Institute 49 Thai Thinh St, Dong Da Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3563-1069 Hanoi French Hospital 1 Phuong Mai St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3577-1100 International SOS Clinic 1 Dang Thai May St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3934-0666 Vinmec international hospital 458 Minh Khai St, Hai Ba Trung Dist, Hanoi, Tel: (04) 3974-3556 AIRLINES Air France 1 Ba Trieu St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-3484 Qatar Airways Hilton Hanoi Opera Building, M floor, 1 Le Thanh Tong St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3933-6767 www.qatarairways.com Singapore Airlines 17 Ngo Quyen St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi.

Tel: (04) 3826-8888 Vietnam Airlines 25 Trang Thi St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3823-0320 TRAVEL Amega Travel No 2606 Thang Long International Village, Tran Dang Ninh St, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3783-3570 www.amegatravelvietnam.com Buffalo Tours 94 Ma May St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3828-0702 www.buffalotours.com Emeraude Classic Cruises 46 Le Thai To St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3935-1888 www.emeraude-cruises.com Email: info@buffalotours.com Exotissmo 26 Tran Nhat Duat St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3828-2150 www.exotissimo.com Email: go.vietnam@exotissimo.com Oriental Sails 16A Ly Nam De St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3926-4009 Email: sales@orientalsails.com www.orientalsails.com Topas Travel 52 To Ngoc Van St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3715-1005 Email: sales@topastravel.vn www.topastravel.vn

directiONS haNOi HOTELS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Baoson International Hotel 50 Nguyen Chi Thanh St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3835-3536 Email: sales@baosonhotels.com www.baosonhotels.com From VND1,570,000 ($75) De Syloia Hotel 17A Tran Hung Dao St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3824-5346 Email: desyloia@hn.vnn.vn www.desyloia.com From VND1,806,000 ($86) Fortuna Hotel Hanoi 6B Lang Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-3333 Email: fortunahanoi@fortuna.vn www.fortuna.vn From VND1,920,000 ($91) Hanoi Daewoo Hotel 360 Kim Ma St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-5000 Email: sales@daewoohotel.com www.daewoohotel.com Hanoi Emotion Hotel 26 – 28 Hang Bot St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3848-9848 Email: info@hanoi-emotion.com www.hanoi-emotion.com The hotel also provides Vietnamese, Japanese and International cuisine Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel 1 Le Thanh Tong St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3933-0500 Email: hanoi.opera@hilton.com www.hanoi.hilton.com Hotel de l’Opera 29 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 6282-5555 Email: contact@hoteldelopera.com www.hoteldelopera.com From VND4,140,000 ($197) Melia Hanoi Hotel 44B Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3934-3343 Email: melia.hanoi@melia.com www.melia.com Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi 83A Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3822-2800 Email: hotel.hanoi@moevenpick.com www.moevenpickhotels.com/hanoi From VND3,139,500 ($149.50) Nikko Hanoi Hotel 84 Tran Nhan Tong St, Hanoi Tel.: (04) 3822-3535 reservation@hotelnikkohanoi.com.vn www.hotelnikkohanoi.com.vn From VND6,762,000 ($322) Pullman Hanoi 40 Cat Linh St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3733-0808

Email: getcloser@pullman-hanoi.com www.pullmanhotels.com From VND2,448,600 ($115.50) Prestige Hotel Hanoi 17 Pham Dinh Ho St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 6299-9888 Email: sales@prestigehotels.com.vn www.prestigehotels.com.vn A new four-star international standard hotel, on a tree-lined street in the heart of Hanoi, 15 minutes walk from the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake.

Modern luxuries, impeccable service and excellent value for the business or pleasure traveller.

80 rooms including elegant suites and an executive apartment, conference facilities, business centre, a restaurant, a fitness centre, a rooftop swimming pool and a cocktail bar.

Silk Path Hotel Hanoi 195-199 Hang Bong St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3266-5555 Email: info@silkpathhotel.com www.silkpathhotel.com From VND2,289,000 ($109) Sheraton Hanoi Hotel 11 Xuan Dieu St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3719-9000 reservations.hanoi@sheraton.com www.sheraton.com/hanoi From VND4,956,000 ($236) As a ‘resort within the city’, Sheraton Hanoi Hotel is on the West Lake.

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi 15 Ngo Quyen St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3826-6919 Email: h1555@sofitel.com www.sofitel.com From VND6,090,000 ($290) Sunway Hotel Hanoi 19 Pham Dinh Ho St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3971-3888 Email: reservation@sunwayhotel.com.vn www.hanoi.sunwayhotels.com APARTMENTS Fraser Suites Hanoi 51 Xuan Dieu St, Quang An Ward, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3719-8877 sales.hanoi@frasershospitality.com hanoi.frasershospitality.com Somerset Serviced Residence Vietnam 49 Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3934-2342 www.somerset.com Luxurious apartments and properties for hiring RESTAURANTS Com Chay Nang Tam Restaurant 79A Tran Hung Dao St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3942-4140

Green Tangerine 48 Hang Be St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-1286 www.greentangerinehanoi.com Serving French food with a Vietnamese cuisine Hoa Vien Brauhaus 1A Tang Bat Ho St, Hai Ba Trung Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3972-5088 www.hoavien.vn The restaurant has been famous for its production of Czech beer Le Tonkin Restaurant 14 Ngo Van So St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3943-3457 www.letonkinrestaurant.vn Serves Vietnamese food BOOK STORE Infostones Bookshop 41 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3826-2993 Email: sach41trangtien@gmail.com Thousands of magazines and books by hundreds of publishing houses worldwide SHOPS Craft Link 43 and 51 Van Mieu St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3843-7710 Email: craftlink@hn.vnn.vn Ha Dong Silk 102 Hang Gai St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3928-5056 Tan My Embroidery 66 Hang Gai St, Hanoi Email: tanmyhuong@fpt.vn Tel: (04) 3825-1579 Viet Culture 1 Trang Thi St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3934-7417 Vietnam Quilts 13 Hang Bac St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3926-4831 www.vietnam-quilts.org Traditional embroidery and other handicraft cloth products FURNITURE/ INTERIOR Dome Au Co 9 Au Co St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3718-5866 Email: sales@dome.com.vn

MUSEUMS Ho Chi Minh Museum 19 Ngoc Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3846-3752 www.baotanghochiminh.vn Open: 8 a.m. to noon (Monday and Friday), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (other days) Entry fee: VND25,000 Imperial Citadel of Thang Long 12 Nguyen Tri Phuong St/ 9 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 37345427 hoangthanhthanglong@gmail.com www.hoangthanhthanhlong.vn Open: 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays) Entry fee: VND30,000 Vietnam National Museum of History 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi 216 Tran Quang Khai St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3824-1384 www.baotanglichsu.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.Closed every first Monday of months Entry fee VND 20,000 ($0.95) for adults and VND10,000 ($0.48) for children Vietnam Fine Arts Museum 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3733-2131 www.vnfineartsmuseum.org.vn Open 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entry fee VND20,000 ($0.95) Vietnam Military History Museum 28A Dien Bien Phu St, Hanoi www.btlsqsvn.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43) Vietnam Museum of Ethnology Nguyen Van Huyen St, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3756-2193, www.vme.org.vn Open 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND25,000 ($1.19) Women’s Museum 36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3825-9936 www.womenmuseum.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43) SPA

Dome Yen The 10 Yen The St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3843-6036 STORE Annam Gourmet 51 Xuan Dieu St, Quang An Ward, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3718-4487 www.annam-gourmet.com Annam Gourmet’s motivation is to “Enjoy Life. Eat and Drink well.”

Elite Fitness & Spa 51 Xuan Dieu St, Tay Ho Dist., Hanoi Tel: (04) 3718-6281 Email: info@elitefitness.com.vn www.elitefitness.com.vn Spa de Palace Fortuna Hotel Hanoi, 6B Lang Ha St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3831-3333

vietNam heritage - march-april 2014

• 47

directiOnS ninh Binh, hue, danang, hOi an NINH BINH

(TELEPHONE CODE: 030) Cuc Phuong Resort & Spa Village of Dong Tam, Nho Quan, Ninh Binh Province Tel: (030) 3848-888 Email: cucphuongresort@gmail.com www.cucphuongresort.com From VND1,500,000 ($71) Emeralda Ninh Binh Van Long Reserve, Gia Van Commune, Gia Vien Dist., Ninh Binh Province Tel: (030) 3658-333 Email: info@emeraldaresort.com www.emeraldaresort.com Ninh Binh Legend Hotel Tien Dong Zone, Ninh Khanh Ward, Ninh Binh City Tel: (030) 3899-880 Email: info@ninhbinhlegendhotel.com

www.ninhbinhlegendhotel.com From VND1,575,000 ($75) A four-star hotel that features an elegant building in the French style.

NearTrang An Ecological Area, Tam Coc-Bich Dong River Landscape, Hoa Lu Ancient Citadel and Bai Dinh Pagoda.

NGHE AN

(TELEPHONE CODE: 038) Mường Thanh Song Lam Hotel 13 Quang Trung St, Quang Trung Ward, Vinh, Nghe An Province Tel: (038) 3737-666 Email: sales@songlam.muongthanh.vn

www.songlam.muongthanh.vn

HA TINH

(Telephone code: 039) White Palace Hotel 139 Ha Huy Tap St, Ha Tinh City Tel: (039) 6269-999 info.wh@hatinhtourist.com.vn www.whitepalacehotel.com.vn A three-star hotel in the heart of Ha Tinh City, Central Vietnam, near tourist sites. 50 rooms designed in the French style, VIP dining rooms and two international-standard meeting rooms which can seat up to 500 people

QUANG BINH

(TELEPHONE CODE: 052) HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Bao Ninh Beach Resort Ha Duong, Bao Ninh, Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh Province Tel: (052) 3854-866 Email: sales@baoninhbeachresort.com.vn www.baoninhbeachresort.com.vn From VND1,120,000 ($53) Sun Spa Resort My Canh, Bao Ninh Commune, Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh Province Tel: (052) 3842-999 Email: info@sunsparesortvietnam.com www.sunsparesortvietnam.com From VND1,870,000 ($89)

TRAVEL

Hue Riverside Boutique Resort & Spa

Sandy Beach Non Nuoc Resort Danang Vietnam, Managed by Centara

588 Bui Thi Xuan St, Thuy Bieu Dist., Hue Tel: (054) 3978-484 Email: sales@hueriversideresort.com www.hueriversideresort.com

255 Huyen Tran Cong Chua St, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., Danang Tel: (0511) 3961-777 Email: cdv@chr.co.th www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cdv VND1,785,000 to VND5,670,000 ($85 to $270) Ho Chi Minh sales office: 4th Floor, Ben Thanh TSC Building; 186-188 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3914-7940

Oxalis Adventure Tours Phong Nha Commune, Son Trach Village, Bo Trach Dist., Quang Binh Province Tel: (052)3677-678 www.oxalis.com.vn

Caving and jungle trekking in Vietnam

HUE

(TELEPHONE CODE: 054) Hue is a city on the Perfume River in lowland central Vietnam and was the capital of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945. Many imperial structures remain. They were named part of UNESCO World Heritage in 1993. Hue is also known for its particular cuisine.

HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Ana Mandara Hue Thuan An Town, Phu Vang Dist., Hue Tel: (054) 3983-333 Email: sales@anamandarahue-resort.com www.anamandarahue-resort.com Banyan Tree Lang Co Hotel Cu Du village, Loc Vinh Commune, Phu Loc Dist., Thua Thien Hue Province. Tel: (054) 3695-888 reservations-langco@banyantree.com www.banyantree.com Best Western Premier Indochine Palace

Imperial Hotel 8 Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (054) 3882-222 Email: info@imperial-hotel.com.vn www.imperial-hotel.com.vn VND2,300,000 to VND29,400,000 ($110 to $1,400) RESTAURANT Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant 110A Le Ngo Cat St, Thuy Xuan Ward, Hue Tel: (054) 3898-220 www.thientamrestaurant.com Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant features a Hue garden house with a simple design and a serene atmosphere. The restaurant serves a variety of Hue vegetarian food, from royal to local dishes, at a reasonable price. The menu has many choices, with prices starting from VND45,000 per dish. The restaurant also serves as an art playground for Hue artists. Guests have chance to get their portraits drawn by the owners at a reasonable price. Vegetarian cooking classes are also available. The restaurant is about 1-2 km from Tu Duc tomb

DANANG

105A Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (054) 3936-666 Email: rsvn@bwp-indochinepalace.com www.bwp-indochinepalace.com From VND3,024,000 ($144) The hotel is surrounded by lush green gardens that make it an outstanding landmark in Hue and give the city the feel of a resort. This luxurious, international standard hotel is created to appeal to Vietnamese and international visitors to Hue. Century Riverside Hotel Hue

49 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (054) 3823-390 Email: info@centuryriversidehue.com www.centuryriversidehue.com

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(TELEPHONE CODE: 0511) HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Grand Mercure Danang Lot A1, Green Island, Hoa Cuong Bac, Hai Chau Dist., Danang Tel: (0511) 3797-777 Email: H7821@accor.com www.accorhotels.com/7821 Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., Danang Tel: (0511) 3981-234 Email: danang.regency@hyatt.com www.danang.regency.hyatt.com From VND4,683,000 ($213) Pullman Danang Beach Resort Vo Nguyen Giap St, Khue My Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., Danang Tel: (0511) 3958-888 Email: info@pullman-danang.com www.pullman-danang.com

Vinpearl Luxury Danang Truong Sa St, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., Danang Tel: (0 511) 3968-888 Email: info@vinpearlluxury-danang.com www.vinpearl.com MUSEUM Danang Museum of Cham Sculpture 2, 2 Thang 9 St, Danang Tel: (0511) 3572-935 www.chammuseum.danang.vn Open 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)

HOI AN

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0510) A major port town from the 15th to 19th centuries, Hoi An has well preserved vestiges of Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese cultures. The buildings are now often used for tailor’s shops. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hoi An is a little over 30 km south of Danang, on the central coast.

HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Anantara Hoi An Resort 1 Pham Hong Thai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3914-555 Email: hoian@anantara.com www.hoi-an.anantara.com Golf Hoi An Hotel

187 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Cam Pho Ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3861-171

directiOnS quy nhOn, nha trang,phan rang Email: sales@golfhoianhotel.vn www.golfhoianhotel.vn

Palm Garden Beach Resort and Spa

Ancient House River Resort Hamlet 2, Cam Thanh Village, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3930-777 Email: sales@ancienthouseriver.com www.ancienthouseriver.com From VND2,656,500 ($126.50) Hoi An Beach Resort 1 Cua Dai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3927-011 Email: info@hoianbeachresort.com.vn www.hoianbeachresort.com.vn VND2,184,000 to VND2,772,000 ($104 to $132) Hoi An Historic Hotel

Lac Long Quan St, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3927-927 Email: info@pgr.com.vn www.palmgardenresort.com.vn From VND 4,158,000 ($198) River-Beach Resort & Residences Hoi An

www.life-resorts.com From VND1,995,000 ($95) Royal Hotel and Healthcare Resort Quy Nhon 1 Han Mac Tu St, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province Tel: (056) 374-7100 Email: reservation@royalquynhon.com www.royalquynhon.com VND1,155,000 to VND1,365,000 ($55 to $65) MUSEUM Quang Trung Museum Block 1, Phu Phong town, Tay Son Dist., Binh Dinh Province Tel: (056) 3580-320 Open 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Entry fee VND10,500 ($0.50).

Free for children under six

PHU YEN

(TELEPHONE CODE: 057)

10 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3861-445 Email: reservation@hoianhotel.com.vn www.hoianhotel.com.vn From VND2,127,500 ($101) Hoi An Pacific Hotel & Spa

5 Cua Dai St, Hoi An Tel: (0510) 3927-888 Email: saleshoian@river-beachresort.com www.river-beachresort.com From VND1,350,000 ($65) Golden Sand Resort & Spa Hoi An Thanh Nien Road, Cua Dai Beach Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3927-555 Email: info@goldensandresort-spa.com.vn

www.goldensandresort-spa.com.vn VND3,759,000 to VND7,644,000 ($179 to $364)TRAVEL 321 Cua Dai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3923-777 Email: info@hoianpacific.com www.hoianpacific.com From VND1,113,000 ($53) Le Belhamy Hoi An Resort & Spa Ha My Beach, Hoi An Tel: (0510) 3941-888 Email: reservations@belhamy.com www.belhamy.com From VND2,835,000 ($135) Hoi An Riverside Resort & Spa 175 Cua Dai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3864-800 Email: reservation@hoianriverresort.com.vn www.hoianriverresort.com From VND1,650,000 ($79) Sunrise Hoi An Beach Resort Au Co Road, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3937-777 Email: sm1.north@och.vn www.sunrisehoian.vn

Rose Travel Service co..ltd 37 - 39 Ly Thai To St, Cam Chau Ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0510) 3917-567 Email: sales@rosetravelservice.com www.rosetravelservice.com.vn MUSEUM Hoi An Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation 10B Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi An Tel: (0510) 3862-367 www.hoianheritage.net Open daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Viet Star Resort and Spa Núi Thơm, Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province Tel: (057) 3789-999 Email: info@vietstarresort.com www.vietstarresort.com VND2,898,000 to VND18,112,500 ($138 to $862.50)

HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Amiana Turtle Bay, Pham Van Dong St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 7305-555 Email: info@amiana.com.vn www.amiana.com.vn From VND8,001,000 ($381) Champa Island Nha Trang Resort & Spa

(TELEPHONE CODE: 056) HOTELS, RESORTS

Avani Quy Nhon Resort & Spa Ghenh Rang, Bai Dai Beach, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province Tel: (056) 3840-132 Email: quynhon@life-resorts.com

An Lam Ninh Van Bay Villas Hon Heo, Ninh Van Commune, Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (08) 3920-6949 Email: info@anlamninhvanbay.com www.anlamninhvanbay.com VND9,660,000 to VND19,320,000 ($460 to $920) Diamond Bay Resort & Spa Song Lo, Phuoc Ha, Phuoc Dong Dist., Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3711-711 Email: info@diamondbayresort.vn www.diamondbayresort.vn Evason Ana Mandara Nha Trang Beachside Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3524-705 reservations-nhatrang@evasonresorts.com

www.sixsenses.com/evasonresorts/ana-mandara/destination From VND7,728,000 ($368) Evason Ana Mandara has received the ‘Certificate of Excellence 2013’ by TripAdvisor Best Western Premier Havana Nha Trang Hotel

NHA TRANG

(TELEPHONE CODE: 058) On the central coast, Nha Trang is a city originally known for beautiful beaches but these have lately been found to suffer from pollution due to modern life, development and tourism, like other popular resort areas in Vietnam. It has large numbers of foreign tourists, island-hopping, scuba diving, sightseeing and lounging on the beach.

QUY NHON

Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily

Trang offers exquisite cuisine and many entertainment services that promise a memorable stay in Nha Trang

304 2/4 St, Vinh Phuoc, Nha Trang Email: sales@champaislandresort.vn www.champaisandresort.vn Hotline: 0123 6009 777 With architecture reflecting nearby Po Nagar temple, Champa Island Nha

38 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3889-999 Email: info@havanahotel.vn www.havanahotel.vn Michelia Hotel 4 Pasteur St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3820-820 Email: sales@michelia.vn www.michelia.vn From VND2,000,000 ($100) Mường Thanh Nha Trang Hotel 6 Duong Hien Quyen St, Vinh Hoa Ward, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3552-468 Email: info@nhatrang.muongthanh.vn www.nhatrang.muongthanh.vn From VND1,400,000 ($66) Novotel Nha Trang Hotel 50 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 6256-900 Email: rsvn@novotel-nhatrang.com www.novotel-nhatrang.com VND2,415,000 to VND4,830,000 ($115 to $230) Six Senses Ninh Van Bay Ninh Van bay, Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3524-268

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directiOnS phan thiet Email: reservationsninhvan@sixsenses.com www.sixsenses.com/resorts/ninh-vanbay/destination From VND17,629,500 ($839.50) In 2013 Six Senses Ninh Van Bay has been included in the list of ‘The Best Hotels in Vietnam’, by prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Also, Six Senses Ninh Van Bay was recognized as ‘Vietnam’s Leading Spa Resort’ by the World Travel Awards in October, 2013 Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa 26-28 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3880-000 reservations.nhatrang@sheraton.com www.sheratonnhatrang.com From VND3,565,000 ($170) Some Days of Silence Resort & Spa Dong Hai, Ninh Hai, Ninh Hoa, Hon Khoi, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3670-952 Email: generaldepartment@somedaysresort.com www.somedaysresort.com From VND2,310,000 ($110) Sunrise Nha Trang Beach Hotel & Spa 12-14 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3820-999 Email: info@sunrisenhatrang.com.vn www.sunrisenhatrang.com.vn VND2,520,000 to VND4,305,000 ($120 to $205) Vinpearl Luxury Nha Trang Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3598-598 Email: info@vinpearlluxury-nhatrang.com www.vinpearl.com White Sand Doclet Resort & Spa

Population group 9 Dong Cat, Ninh

Hai Ward, Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3670-670 Email: info@whitesandresort.com.vn www.whitesandresort.com.vn Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3598-188 Email: info@vinpearlresort-nhatrang.com www.vinpearl.com RESTAURANTS Letimo Piero Restaurant & Bakery 1/25 Tran Quang Khai St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: 0933537887 Letimo Restaurant & Bakery 25 Nguyen Thien Thuat St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: 0933537887 SHOPPING

PHAN THIET

(TELEPHONE CODE: 062) Sitting on the coast about 200 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Thiet is a beach city with many resorts and hotels.

HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Allezboo Beach Resort & Spa 8 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3743-777 Email: info@allezbooresort.com www.allezbooresort.com From VND1,400,000 ($66) Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa 12A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-888 Email: res.amui@anantara.com www.mui-ne.anantara.com

Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company 248 Thong Nhat St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3822-472 Email: yensaokh@yensaokhanhhoa.com.vn www.yensaokhanhhoa.com.vn

DuParc Phan Thiet Ocean Dunes & Golf Resort 1 Ton Duc Thang St, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3822-393 Email: reservation@phanthietresorts.com www.phanthietresorts.com From VND1,500,000 ($71)

MUSEUM

Bamboo Village Beach Resort & Spa

Email: info@hoangngoc-resort.com www.hoangngoc-resort.com VND1,600,000 to VND6,090,000 ($75 to $287) Mom Da Chim - Lazi Beach Resort Ly Thai To St, Tan Tien, Lagi, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3874-458 Email: contact@lazibeachresort.com www.lazibeachresort.com From VND1,900,000 ($90) Muine de Century Beach Resort & Spa 16 Huynh Thuc Khang St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3743-668 Email: reservation@muinedecentury.vn www.muinedecentury.vn From VND1,550,000 ($74) Muine Ocean Resort & Spa 10 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-616 Email: sale.muineocean@gmail.com www.muineoceanresort.com From VND1,050,000 ($50) Muine Bay Resort

Alexandre Yersin Museum Pasteur Institute, 10 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (058) 3822-406

PHAN RANG

(TELEPHONE CODE: 068)

HOTEL, RESORT Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Saigon Ninh Chu Hotel & Resort Khanh Hai Town, Ninh Hai Dist., Ninh Thuan Province Tel: (068) 3876-011 Email: sales@saigonninhchuhotel.com.vn www.saigonninhchuhotel.com.vn VND1,575,000 to VND4,200,000 ($75 to $200)

38 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3847-007 info@bamboovillageresortvn.com www.bamboovillageresortvn.com From VND2,200,000 ($105) Full Moon Village Suoi Nuoc Beach, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3836-099 Email: reservation@fullmoon-village.com www.fullmoon-village.com VND2,100,000 to VND6,300,000 ($100 to $300) Hoang Ngoc (Oriental Pearl) Beach Resort & Spa

152 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province . Tel: (062) 3847-858

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Quarter 14, Mui Ne Ward , Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 2220-222 Email: info@muinebayresort.com www.muinebayresort.com VND2,205,000 to VND6,195,000 ($105 to $295) Pandanus Resort

Quarter 5, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3849-849 Email: pandanus@pandanusresort.com www.pandanusresort.com From VND1,575,000 ($75) Park Diamond Hotel Nguyen Tat Thanh St, Hung Long Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3835-666 Email: reservations@parkdiamondhotel.vn www.parkdiamondhotel.vn From VND990,000 ($47) Saigon - Suoi Nhum Resort Thuan Quy, Ham Thuan Nam Ward,

directiOnS dalat, hO chi minh city Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3683-240 info@saigonsuoinhumresort.com www.saigonsuoinhumresort.com From VND1,700,000 ($81)

Email: resort@thesailingbay.com www.thesailingbay.com From VND2,571,000 ($122) Mui Ne Unique Resort

Sandhills Beach Resort & Spa Km6, Tien Binh hamlet, Tien Thanh Commune, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3846-789 Email: info@sandhillsresort.com.vn www.sandhillsresort.com.vn From VND2,520,000 ($120) Seahorse Resort & Spa

Km 11, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3847-507 Email: info@seahorseresortvn.com www.seahorseresortvn.com From VND1,440,000 ($68) Sea Links Beach Hotel Km 9, Nguyen Thong St, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 2220-088 Email: sales@sealinksbeachhotel.com www.sealinksbeachhotel.com From VND1,995,000 ($94) Sea Lion Beach Resort & Spa 12 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3743-390 Email: info@sealionresort-muine.com www.sealionresort-muine.com Sunny Beach Resort & Spa

64-66 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-355 Email: info@sunnybeach.com.vn www.sunnybeach.com.vn From VND1,699,000 ($80) Saigon Mui Ne Resort 56 - 97 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-044 Email: saigonmuineresort@hcm.vnn.vn www.saigonmuineresort.com.vn From VND1,908,000 ($90) The Sailing Bay Beach Resort 107 Ho Xuan Huong St, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet Tel: (062) 3836-555

Song Mao intersection, Phan Hiep Commune, Bac Binh Dist., Binh Thuan Province; Tel: (062) 3641-456 Open: 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday Free entrance

DALAT

(TELEPHONE CODE: 063) Dalat, founded in 1893, has Frencharchitecture, pine forests and a perpetually cool climate. It is in the southern Central Highlands, about 300 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City.

20B, Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-617 Email: info@muineuniqueresort.com www.muineuniqueresort.com Reservation contact in Ho Chi Minh City, 57 Pham Viet Chanh St, Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, Dist.1 Tel: (08) 3925-4196 Email: sales@muineuniqueresort.com Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort & Spa Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3813-000 Email: resa.phanthiet@victoriahotels.asia www.victoriahotels.asia From VND3,633,000 ($171) Villa Aria Mui Ne

HOTELS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa Le Lai St, Dalat, Lam Dong Province Tel: (063) 3555-888 Email: reservation-dalat@anamandara-resort.com www.anamandara-resort.com From VND1,700,000 ($81) Dalat Edensee Resort Tuyen Lam Lake, Zone VII.2, Dalat, Lam Dong Province Tel: (063) 3831-515 Email: reservation@dalatedensee.com www.dalatedensee.com VND2,331,000 to VND4,662,000 ($111 to $222) Saigon-Dalat Hotel

60A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province; Tel: (062) 3741-660 Email: info@villaariamuine.com www.villaariamuine.com From VND1,743,000 ($83) Villa Aria Muine is a beach resort at Mui Ne. The Villa offers 22 rooms and a suite, each with a terrace or balcony and a garden view. The resort is proud to feature solar power and locally-grown organic food.

White Sands Resort

02 Hoang Van Thu St, Dalat, Lam Dong Province Tel: (063) 3556-789 Email: hotel@saigondalat.com ; resvn@saigondalat.com www.saigondalathotel.com Located in the heart of Dalat, SaigonDalat Hotel is a four-star-standard hotel, comprised of 160 luxurious and comfortable rooms with air-conditioning throughout and other modern amenities. Four restaurants, two bars, one tennis court, one indoor swimming pool, one fitness centre and one beauty salon and spa help make your getaway experience complete.

HO CHI MINH CITY (TELEPHONE CODE: 08)

KM8, Nguyen Thong St, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (062) 3741-175 Email: frontoffice@whitesandresort.com www.whitesandresort.com From VND1,344,000 VND ($64) MUSEUM Cham Culture Exhibition Centre

CONSULATES Australia 5B Ton Duc Thang St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-6035 Belgium 91 Nguyen Huu Canh St, Ward 22, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3512-7968

Cambodia 41 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-2751 Canada Metropolitan, 235 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-9899 China 175 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3829-2457 Cuba 45 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-7350 France 27 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-7231 Germany 126 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-2455 India 55 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-7853 Indonesia 18 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3825-1888 Japan 13-17 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City; Tel: (08) 3822-5314 Kuwait 24 Phung Khac Khoan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City, tel: (08) 3827-0555 Laos 93 Pasteur St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-7667 Mexico 11 Tra Khuc St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3848-6290 Netherlands 29 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3823-5932 New Zealand Metropolitan, 235 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-6907 Panama 7A Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3825-0334 Russia 40 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3930-3936 Singapore Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-5173 South Korea 107 Nguyen Du St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-5757 Switzerland 42 Giang Van Minh St, Dist.2, Ho Chi Minh City

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directiOnS dalat, hO chi minh city Tel: (08) 3744-6996 Thailand 77 Tran Quoc Thao St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3932-7637 United Kingdom 25 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3825-1380, (08) 3829-8433 United States 4 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-9433 HOSPITALS Columbia Asia Gia Dinh International Hospital 1 No Trang Long St, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3803-0678 FV Hospital 6 Nguyen Luong Bang St, Dist.7, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 5411-3500 Stamford Skin Centre 254 Dien Bien Phu St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3932-1090 Email: info@stamfordskin.com www.stamfordskin.com

Tel: (08) 3822-3203 Emirates Airlines 170-172 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3930-2939 Japan Airlines 88 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3821-9098 Jetstar Pacific Airlines 112 Hong Ha St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3955-0550 Philippine Airlines 2nd Floor Saigon Royal Building 91 Pasteur St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-2105 Qatar Airways 1-5 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-3888 Royal Brunei Airlines 787 Tran Hung Dao St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh CityTel: (08) 3924-5100 Singapore Airlines 29 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3823-1588 Thai Airways International 29 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-2809

AIRLINES Air France 130 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-0981 All Nippon Airways 115 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3821-9612 American Airlines 69 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3933-0330 Asiana Airlines 39 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-8710, (08) 3829-3038 British Airways 170-172 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3930-2933 Cathay Pacific Airways 72-74 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City

Turkish Airlines 76A Le Lai St, Room 4, 8th Floor, AB Tower, Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3936-0360 - Ext 121 Email: saigon@thy.com.vn www.turkishairlines.com United Airlines Suite 708 Sun Wah Tower, 115 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3823-4755 Vietnam Airlines 115 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3832-0320 Vietjet Air 8Bis Cong Truong Quoc Te, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-0123 www.vietjetair.com TRAVEL

Asiana Travel Mate 113C Bui Vien St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3838-6678 Buffalo Tours 81 Mac Thi Buoi, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-9168 Email: travelagency@buffalotours.com www.buffalotours.com.vn Buffalo Tours operates in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

The Buffalo Tours portfolio caters to all types of tours.

Exotissimo 80-82 Phan Xich Long St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3995-9898 www.exotissimo.com Saigon Tourist 45 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-9279 www.saigon-tourist.com Trails of Indochina 10/8 Phan Dinh Giot St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City; Tel: (08) 3844-1005 Email: dosm@trailsofindochina.com www.trailsofindochina.com Transviet Travel Travel House, 170-172 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3933-0777 www.transviet.com.vn HOTELS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Catina Saigon Hotel 109 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-6296 Email: info@hotelcatina.com.vn www.hotelcatina.com.vn From VND1,690,500 ($80.50) Caravelle Hotel 19-23 Cong Truong Lam Son St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3823-4999 Email: hotel@caravellehotel.com www.caravellehotel.com

Grand Hotel Saigon

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52 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

Hotel Nikko Saigon 235 Nguyen Van Cu St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City, tel: (08) 3925-7777 reservation@hotelnikkosaigon.com.vn www.hotelnikkosaigon.com.vn From VND4,830,000 ($230) InterContinental Asiana Saigon Corner Hai Ba TrungSt. & Le Duan Blvd, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3520-9999 Email: saigon@ihg.com www.intercontinental.com/Saigon From VND5,845,455 ($278) Kelly Hotel 42-44 Thu Khoa Huan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (08) 3823-3364 Email: info@kellyhotel.com.vn www.kellyhotel.com.vn From VND966,000 ($46) An elegant and cosy hotel with good service. Within walking distance to Ben Thanh market, Independence Palace and several museums.

Vietnamese food is served at reasonable prices.

Lotte Legend Hotel Saigon 2A-4A Ton Duc Thang St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3823-333 Email: info@legendsaigon.com www.legendsaigon.com From VND4,221,000 ($201) Liberty Central Hotels in Ho Chi Minh City 17 Ton Duc Thang St, Dist.1 Tel: (08) 3827-1717 177-179 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1 Tel: (08) 3823-9269 Email: frontdesk.lcc@libertyhotels.com.vn

www.libertycentralhotel.com MĂśvenpick Hotel Saigon

Duxton Hotel Saigon 63 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-2999 Email: enquires@saigon.duxton.com.vn www.duxtonhotels.com

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Tel: (08) 3823-0163 Email: info@grandhotel.vn www.grandhotel.vn Built in 1930, the Ancient Wing of Grand Hotel Saigon offers a cozy and elegant atmosphere. The Luxury Wing, opened in November 2011, adds a modern style. 230 rooms and suites, a ballroom, recreation area, VIP Lounge, Western & Asian restaurants, Bars & Grand CafĂŠ at Roof Garden.

8 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City

253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3844-9222 Email: hotel.saigon@moevenpick.com www.moevenpick-hotels.com New World Saigon Hotel 76 Le Lai St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-8888 Email: saigon@newworldhotels.com www.saigon.newworldhotels.com New Epoch Hotel

directiOnS dalat, hO chi minh city 120 Cach Mang Thang 8 St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3932-6169 Email: reservation@newepochhotel.com.vn www.newepochhotel.com.vn From VND1,155,000 ($55)

Email: hotel@royalhotelsaigon.com www.royalhotelsaigon.com From VND1,932,000 ($92)

Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-0496 www.bongsencorporation.com

Rex Hotel

L-Lounge 47 Pham Viet Chanh St, Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 6260-2555 www.l-lounge.com.vn

Northern Hotel Saigon

Mam Son Restaurant 35 Ton That Thiep St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3915-3653 Vietnamese food

11A Thi Sach St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3825-1751

141 Nguyen Hue St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-2185 Email: rexhotel@rex.com.vn www.rexhotelvietnam.com From VND4,620,000 ($220)

Maxim Nam An Vietnamese Restaurant 13-15-17 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-6676

www.northernhotel.com.vn From VND1,505,000 ($71) Three-star boutique hotel, 99 rooms in Superior, Deluxe and Suite categories, a short walk from major entertainment and shopping venues.

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers 88 Dong Khoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-2828 Email: sheratonsaigon@sheraton.com www.sheraton.com/saigon From VND8,740,000 ($416)

Novotel Saigon Centre 167 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-4866 Email: H7965@accor.com www.novotel-saigon-centre.com From VND2,959,000 ($140)

Silver Creek City Resort 112 An Phu Dong 11, Dist.12, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3719-9533 Email: reservation@silvercreek.com.vn www.silvercreek.com.vn From VND1,207,500 ($57.50)

Vatel Saigon Bistronomique-Lounge 120 Bis Suong Nguyet Anh St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 5404-2220 www.vatelsaigon.com Recently opened, high-class French restaurant with attached hotel and catering school. Part of a worldwide franchise chain. One speciality is bouillabaisse, a seafood-hotpot relative of the Vietnamese ‘lẩu hải sản’ distinguished by its provencale herb broth.

Hallway has a glass cabinet display of a multitude of French and world wines.

Palace Hotel Saigon 56-66 Nguyen Hue Blvd, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-2860 Email: sales@palacesaigon.com www.palacesaigon.com

Sofitel Saigon Plaza

Vietnam House Restaurant

Email: reservation@northernhotel.com.vn

Park Hyatt Saigon 2 Lam Son Square, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3824-1234 Email: saigon.park@hyatt.com www.parkhyattsaigon.com From VND8,436,000 PARKROYAL Saigon 309B – 311 Nguyen Van Troi St,Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3842-1111 enquiry.prsgn@parkroyalhotels.com

www.parkroyalhotels.com From VND2,173,500 ($103.50) Ramana Hotel Saigon 323 Le Van Sy St, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3843-9999 Email: info@ramanasaigon.com www.ramanasaigon.com From VND1,050,000 ($50) Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon 8-15 Ton Duc Thang St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-0033 Email: reservation@renaissancesaigon.com www.renaissance-saigon.com From VND4,105,500 ($195.50) Royal Hotel Saigon 133 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-5915

138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3827-9666 Open from 7 a.m. until 10.30 p.m.

SHOPS IPA Nima 85 Pasteur St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3824-2701 IPA Nima is well-known for its bags.

Shin 122 Ly Tu Trong St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City 53A Nguyen Du St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: 0909352369 Shin is famous for fashion clothes and leather bags.

SPAS V Spa 15B/25 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 6291-8179 www.vspa.vn Massage Enjoy (Yuan) 15B3 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 2210-4990 or 0906 728 406 (Ms Thanh) Open 10 a.m.-11p.m.

At Massage Enjoy Spa, you will experience Shiatsu hard massage therapy, whereby you can let go of all your stress and invigorate your body in a relaxed and tranquil setting. Also offering foot massage. VND170,000-VND380,000 (including tips).

COOKING CLASSES

17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3824-1555 Email: h2077@sofitel.com www.sofitel.com From VND3,864,000 ($184) Tan Son Nhat Hotel 200 Hoang Van Thu St, Ward 9, Phu Nhuan Dist, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3844-1039 Email: hotel@tsnhotel.com www.tsnhotel.com From VND785,400 ($37) Windsor Plaza Hotel 18 An Duong Vuong, Dist.5, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3833-6688 Email: services@windsorplazahotel.com www.windsorplazahotel.com RESTAURANTS Kobe Teppanyaki Restaurant 13A Tu Xuong St, Ward 7, Dist 3, Ho Chi MInh City Tel: (08) 3932-0187 Lemongrass Restaurant 4 Nguyen Thiep St, Dist.1,

93 - 95 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-1623 www.vietnamhousesaigon.com Established in 1992, Vietnam House is a charming restaurant inside a French-Vietnamese style colonial mansion on chic Dong Khoi Street.. The restaurant features over 200 Vietnamese dishes, piano and traditional music.

BARS & CAFÉS Caffe Molinari 5 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3910-6903 Email: molinari@vnn.vn www.caffemolinari.com Elle Cafe 45 Ngo Duc Ke St, Bitexco Financial Tower, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 6291-8769 Sax N’ Art Jazz Club 28 Le Loi St, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-8472 www.saxnart.com Thao Nguyen Café Floor 7 and Rooftop of Restaurant Ngon 138

Mint Culinary School 778/45 Nguyen Kiem St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3844-5500 Email: sales@vca.com.vn www.vca.com.vn Saigon Cooking Class 74/7 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3825-8485 www.saigoncookingclass.com Tuesday to Sunday 8 a.m. till 5.30 p.m.

Half-day gourmet tour: 8.45 a.m. till 1 p.m., Tuesday till Sunday.

Ben Thanh market visit guided by our chef to purchase your own ingredients followed by a hands-on cooking class. $45,50 (VND955,500) per adult.

GALLERIES Artists Long & Ngoc Gallery Grand Hotel (at the lobby), 8 Dong Khoi, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City TeL: (08) 2246-6839 Mobile: 0908 229 708 Email: ngoclongfineart@yahoo.com Apricot Gallery 50 Mac Thi Buoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-7962

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CENTRE OF HO

A

B

C

1 Duxton Hotel Saigon 2 Equatorial Hotel 3 Grand Hotel 4 Intercontinental Asiana Saigon Hotel 5 Kelly Hotel

1

6 Lotte Legend Hotel Saigon 7 Majestic Hotel 8 New W World orld Hotel 9 Oscar Hotel 1 0 Park Hyatt 10 1 1 Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon 11 12 1 2 Rex Hotel 1 3 Sheraton Saigon Hotel & TTowers 13 owers 14 1 4 New Epoch Hotel

2 1 4 14

15 1 5 Ngon 138 Restaurant 16 1 6 V Vietnam ietnam House Restaurant

1 7 V 17 -Spa V-Spa

3

4 2

STREET GUIDE 3 Thang 2..........A2, A3, B2 Alexandre De Rhodes........ ........................................E2 An Duong Vuong....A4, B4 Ba Le Chan....................D1 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan...... ........................................C2 Ban Co...........................B3 Ben Chuong Duong........... .................................D4, E4 Ben Van Don...........D4, E4

Bui Thi Xuan..................C3 Bui Vien...................C4, D4 Cach Mang Thang Tam..... ......A1, B1, B2, C2, C3, D3 Calmette.........................E4 Cao Thang.....................B3 Chu Manh Trinh.............F2 Co Bac.....................C4, D4 Co Giang............. ...C4, D4 Cong Quynh............C3, C4 De Tham........................D4

Dien Bien Phu.....................

A3, B2, C2, D1, D2, E1, F1 Dinh Tien Hoang............E1 Do Quang Dau...............C4 Do Thanh.......................B3 Doan Cong Buu.............C1 Doan Nhu Hai..........E4, F4 Dong Du.........................F3 Dong Khoi................E3, F3 Hai Ba Trung....................... ...........................D1, E2, F3 Hai Trieu.........................F4

Ham Nghi.................E4, F4 Han Thuyen....................E2 Ho Hao Hon...................C4 Ho Tung Mau...........E3, E4 Ho Xuan Huong.............C2 Hoa Hung.......................A2 Hung Vuong...................A4 Huyen Tran Cong Chua..... ........................................D3 Huynh Thuc Khang........E3 Huynh Tinh Cua.............D1 Ky Con.....................D4, E4

Ky Dong...................B2, C1 Le Duan...................E2, F2 Le Hong Phong.................. ...........................A2, A3, A4 Le Lai.......................C3, D3 Le Loi..............................E3 Le Quy Don....................D2 Le Thanh Ton...................... ...........................D3, E3, F2 Le Thi Hong Gam............... .................................D4, E4 Le Thi Rieng............C3, D3

Le Van Sy.......................B1 Luong Huu Khanh.........C3 Ly Chinh Thang.......C1, C2 Ly Thai To......................A3 Ly Tu Trong......................... ...........................D3, E3, F2 Ly Van Phuc...................E1 Mac Dinh Chi...........E1, E2 Mac Thi Buoi..................F3 Mai Thi Luu..............E1, F1 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia............ ...................C1, D1, D2, D3

CHI MINH CITY D

E

F

17

4

17

15 10 5

12

13 1

6

16 9 3

8

11

7

Ngo Duc Ke....................F3 Ngo Thoi Nhiem ....C2, D2 Ngo Van Nam.................F2 Nguyen Binh Khiem.............. .....................................F1, F2 Nguyen Cau...................D1 Nguyen Cong Tru............... .................................D4, E4 Nguyen Dinh Chieu............ ......B3, C2, C3, D2, E1, F1 Nguyen Du..............D3, E3 Nguyen Hue.............E3, F3

Nguyen Khac Nhu.............. .................................C4, D4 Nam Quoc Cang.....C3, C4 Nguyen Phi Khanh.........E1 Nguyen Sieu...................F3 Nguyen Son Tra................. .................................B3, C3 Nguyen Tat Thanh..........F4 Nguyen Thai Binh............... .................................D4, E4 Nguyen Thai Hoc....D3, D4 Nguyen Thanh Y............E1

Nguyen Thi Dieu............C2 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai........ .................................B3, C3 Nguyen Thien Thuat........... .................................A3, B3 Nguyen Thong........B2, C2 Nguyen Thuong Hien........ .................................B2, C3 Nguyen Trai.............B4, C4 Nguyen Trung Ngan......F2 Nguyen Trung Truc........E3 Nguyen Truong To.........E4

Nguyen Van Cu..............B4 Nguyen Van Thu......E1, F1 Pasteur................................ ...............D1, D2, E2, E3,E4 Pham Ngoc Thach.........D1 Pham Ngu Lao........C4, D4 Pham Viet Chanh...........B3 Phan Ke Binh..........E1, E2 Pho Duc Chinh...............E4 Phung Khac Khoan.......E2 Suong Nguyet Anh........C3 Thach Thi Thanh.....D1, E1

Thai Van Lung................F3 Thi Sach.........................F3 Thu Khoa Huan.......D3, E3 To Hien Thanh................A1 Ton That Dam..........E3, E4 Ton Duc Thang..............C3 Tran Binh Trong......A3, A4 Tran Cao Van.................E2 Tran Dinh Xu...........B4, C4 Tran Hung Dao.......C4, D4 Tran Minh Quyen...........A3 Tran Nhan Tong.......A3, A4

Tran Phu.........................A4 Tran Quang Dieu...........B1 Tran Quang Khai.....D1, E1 Tran Quoc Thao......C1, D2 Tran Quoc Toan......C1, D1 Truong Dinh............C1, C2 Tu Xuong.......................C2 Vinh Vien........................A3 Vo Thi Sau........C2, D1, E1 Vo Van Tan..............C3, B3 Vuon Chuoi..............B2, B3 Yersin..............................D4

directiOnS mekOng delta Cactus Contemporary Art 17/12 Nguen Huy Tuong St, Ward 6, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 7300-1270 Email: info@cactusartgallery.com www.cactusartgallery.com Craig Thomas Gallery 27i Tran Nhat Duat St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Mobile: 0903 888 431 Email: cthomasgallery@gmail.com www.cthomasgallery.com Open: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Closed Mondays and Sundays

from HCMC. Sitting on a peninsula that sticks out into the East Sea, Vung Tau does not have the most beautiful, or cleanest, beaches in Vietnam but can act as a quick getaway from the buzz of the city.

Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Grand Hotel Vung Tau

Sàn Art 3 Me Linh St, Ward 19, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3840-0183 www.san-art.org Opening: 10.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. every.

Closed on Sunday and Monday

2 Nguyen Du St, Ward.1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3856-888 Email: sales@grandhotel.com.vn www.grandhotel.com.vn From VND2,058,000 ($98) A four star hotel, 125 km from Saigon, built in 1890s with the French architecture, near the beach and few hundreds metres from Vung Tau Hydrofoil Terminal. 66 rooms and 17 apartments, three meeting rooms seated from 20 to 250 and wedding services.

Palace Hotel

MUSEUMS Fine Arts Museum of Ho Chi Minh City 97A Pho Duc Chinh St, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-4441 www.baotangmythuattphcm.com Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Closed Mondays.

Ho Chi Minh City Museum 65 Ly Tu Trong St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3829-9741 www.hcmc-museum.edu.vn Open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Independence Palace 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3822-3652 www.dinhdoclap.gov.vn Open daily, 7.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

War Remnants Museum 28 Vo Van Tan St, Ward 6, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City, Tel: (08) 3930-5587 Email: warrmhcm@gmail.com Open daily 7.30 a.m. to midday and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A popular beach resort town for residents of Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau is about 128 km southeast of HCMC. It can be reached either by road or by a 90-minute hydrofoil boat

31 - 33 Thuy Van St, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3613-366 Email: sales@romeliss.com www.romeliesshotel.com A new three-star hotel at the Back Beach, the ‘best beach in Vung Tau,’ with nearly 50 rooms overlooking the beach! Many promotions at www.romliess.com Vietsovpetro Resort

Mường Thanh Vung Tau Hotel No 09, Thong Nhat St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3835-567 Email: sales@vungtau.muongthanh.vn www.vungtau.muongthanh.vn From VND1,890,000 ($90) Petrosetco Hotel 12 Truong Cong Dinh St, Ward 2, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3624-748 Email: sales@petrosetco.com.vn www.petrosetcohotel.vn From VND1,085,700 ($52) Petro House Hotel 63 Tran Hung Dao St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3852-014 Email: info@petrohousehotel.vn www.petrohousehotel.vn From VND1,260,000 ($60) Newly refurbished rooms conveniently located near Vung Tau ferry terminal.

Catering to Asian and European tastes with Malaysian cuisine specialty.

56 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

Six Senses Con Dao Dat Doc Beach, Con Dao Dist., Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province Tel : (064) 3831-222 reservations-condao@sixsenses.com www.sixsenses.com/resorts/ con-dao/destination From VND14,490,000 ($690) Six Senses Con Dao has been selected as one of 2013's 25 Best Ecolodges by National Geographic Traveler

CAN THO

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0710) Can Tho is the largest city in the Mekong Delta, about 170 km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, and acts as the area’s economic, transportation and cultural centre. Sitting on the Mekong River, Can Tho is popular for its nearby floating markets, canals and rivers that can be explored by boat.

HOTELS, RESORTS

Phuoc Thuan Commune, Xuyen Moc Dist., Ba Ria-Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3782-266 Email: info@vietsovpetroresort.com www.vietsovpetroresort.com The Imperial Hotel & Residences Vung Tau 159 - 163 Thuy Van St, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3628-888 Email: info@imperialhotel.vn www.imperialhotel.vn

1 Nguyen Trai St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3856-411 Email: sales@palacehotel.com.vn www.palacehotel.com.vn From VND2,062,000 ($97)

Phuoc Thuan, Xuyen Moc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province Tel: (064) 3788-888 Email: info@thegrandhotramstrip.com www.thegrandhotramstrip.com

CON DAO

HOTELS, RESORTS

Galerie Quynh 65 De Tham St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3836-8019 www.galeriequynh.com Tu Do Gallery 53 Ho Tung Mau St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (08) 3821-0966 www.tudogallery.com Opening: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. everyday

Romeliess Hotel

MUSEUM White Palace 6 Tran Phu St, Ward.1, Vung Tau Tel: (064) 3852-605 Open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

LONG HAI

Long Hai is a beach town, 30km northeast of Vung Tau and 124 km southeast of HCMC. Anoasis Beach Resort Domain Ky Van, Long Hai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province Tel: (064) 3868-227 Email: sales@anoasisresort.com.vn www.anoasisresort.com.vn From VND2,310,000 ($110) The Grand Ho Tram Strip

Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Golf Can Tho Hotel 2 Hai Ba Trung St, Tan An Ward, Ninh Kieu Dist., Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3812-210 Email: golf4.cantho@vinagolf.vn www.vinagolf.vn Victoria Can Tho Resort Cai Khe Ward, Ninh Kieu Dist., Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3810-111 Email: resa.cantho@victoriahotels.asia www.victoriahotels.asia From VND3,700,000 ($175) MUSEUM Can Tho Museum 1 Hoa Binh St, Tan An Ward, Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3820-955 Open: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Closed on Friday.

Free admission

CHAU DOC

(TELEPHONE CODE: 076) HOTELS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Victoria Chau Doc Hotel 1 Le Loi St, Chau Doc Town, An Giang Province Tel: (076) 3865-010 Email: resa.chaudoc@victoriahotels.asia www.victoriahotels.asia From VND3,169,000 ($149)

directiOnS phu QuOc, OverSeaS Victoria Nui Sam Lodge Vinh Dong 1, Nui Sam, Chau Doc, An Giang Province Tel: (076) 3575-888 Email: resa.nuisam@victoriahotels.asia www.victoriahotels.asia MUSEUM An Giang Museum 11 Ton Duc Thang St, My Binh Ward, Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province Tel: (076) 3956-248 Open hour 7a.m. to 11a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Monday Entrance fee: VND42,000 ($2)

PHU QUOC

(TELEPHONE CODE: 077) Phu Quoc Island, off the southern tip of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand, has some of the most beautiful beaches in the country.

White-sand beaches, scuba diving around coral reefs or exploring the protected jungle. Accessible by either the Rach Gia hydrofoil boat or a 50-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City. Modest family-owned bungalows on the beach to fivestar resorts.

HOTELS, RESORTS Note: Prices at many hotels depend on occupancy and change daily Eden Resort Phu Quoc Cua Lap Hamlet, Duong To Ward, Phu Quoc District, Kien Giang Province Tel: (077) 3985-598 Email: reservations@edenresort.com.vn

www.edenresort.com.vn Chen Sea Resort & Spa Phu Quoc, Centara Boutique Collection Bai Xep, Ong Lang, Cua Duong, Phu Quoc Island Tel: (077) 3995-895 Email: cpv@chr.co.th www.centarahotelsresorts.com From VND3,381,000 ($161) La Veranda Resort Tran Hung Dao St, Ward 7, Duong Dong Town Phu Quoc Island Tel: (077) 3982-988 Email: contact@laverandaresorts.com www.laverandaresorts.com VND5,082,000 to VND8,694,000 ($242 to $414) Sai Gon Phu Quoc Resort 1 Tran Hung Dao St, Phu Quoc Island Tel: (077) 3846-999 Email: sgphuquocresort@hcm.vnn.vn www.sgphuquocresort.com.vn VND2,499,000 to VND4,011,000 ($119 to $191)

CANADA

(Telephone code: 1) Xe Lua 254 Spadina Ave, Tonronto, Ontario Canada M5T2C2 Tel: (1-416) 703-8330 Xe Lua has been open since 1996 and serves phở for $6 a bowl Open: 11.30 a.m. to 12 p.m

Chau Kitchen and Bar 1500 Robson St. Vancouver, British Columbia Tel: (1-604) 682-8020 www.chaukitchenandbar.com Serves Vietnamese dishes with prices starting at $7 per dish.

FRANCE

(Telephone code: 33) CLEMONT-FERRAND Kim Anh 6 Bis r Elie Gintrac Tel: (33-4) 7391-9364 Serves traditional Vietnamese food, from €12.80 per dish Open 11.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (closed on Sundays).

GRENOBLE Kim Ngan 22 r Nicolas Chrier Tel: (33-4) 7649-0847 Serves Vietnamese food with prices starting at €8 per dish

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Telephone code: 1) CALIFORNIA-CA Emerald Restaurant Pacific Gateway Plaza 3709 Convoy Street, Ste 101, San Diego, CA 92111 Tel: (1) 858-565-6888 Serves Vietnamese food

Prices start at $15 per dish Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closed on Mondays) WASHINGTON-WC Ho Bac 1314 S Jackson St Seattle, WA 98144 Tel: (1) 206-860-8164 Kieu Nga Lemongrass Restaurant 514 12th Ave Seattle, WA 98122 Tel: (1) 206-860-8164 Moonlight Café 1919 S Jackson St Seattle, WA 98144 Tel: (1) 206-322-3378 Massachusetts-MA Saigon Hut 305-307 Meridian St. Boston, ] MA 02128; Tel: (1) 617-567-1944 Xinh Xinh 7 Beach St (Washington St.) Boston, MA 02111 Tel: (1) 617-422-0501

UNITED KINGDOM

(Telephone code: 44) Little Saigon Restaurant

6 Bigg Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, England Tel: 01912330766 Vietnamese dishes

AUSTRALIA

(Telephone code: 61) La Mint 62–64 Riley St, East Sydney NSW 2010 Tel: (61) 293-311-818 Email: service@lamint.com.au www.lamint.com.au Open: Wednesday to Friday, noon to 2:30 p.m., Monday to Saturday, 6 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. French and Vietnamese dishes

INDONESIA

(Telephone code: 62) Pho 24 Pondok Indah, Plaza I, Jln. Taman Duta 1Blok UA 35 Jakarta Selatan Tel: (62) 0217-505-909 JIn. Wolter Mongonsidi No. 71, Kebayyoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan Tel: (62) 0217-278-8411 Pacific Place Mall, 5th Floor, SCBD, JIn. Jendral Sudirman Kav. 52-53, Jakarta 12190 Tel: (62) 0215-140-0531

Hung Ky Mi Gia 5237 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115; Tel: (1) 619-229-2188 Serves noodle varieties with prices starting at $5 per dish Open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

International Restaurant 1 4444 – A University Ave, San Diego, CA 92115 Tel: (1) 619-281-9999 Little Saigon 7 Linden Ave (Railroad) South San Francisco, CA 94080 Tel: (1) 650-589-1398 New York-NY Saigon Grill 620 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024 Tel: (1) 212-875-9072 Serves over 100 Vietnamese dishes including vegetarian options Open 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Mai Lan Vietnamese 505 N State St Syracuse, NY 13203 Tel: (1) 315-471-6740 www.mailanrestaurant.com L’Annam 121 University Pl New York, NY 10022 Tel: (1) 212-420-1414 VIRGINIA-VA Minh’s Vietnamese 2500 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22201 Tel: (1) 703-525-2828

vietnam heritage - march-april 2014

• 57

laid back

Photo: Hoang Ngoc Thach

Cock-a-doodle-don’t

Tien Phong, 8 February There was a surge in chicken usage in Hanoi during and after the lunar New Year. Chicken is a popular dish during festivals and a must-offering for many rituals. Many Hanoians chose to keep live chicken for the New Year, despite a ban by the government, which is struggling to cope with bird flu.

Photo: Vu Duc Hai

From top: Blind man’s buff, Lao Cai Province, Northwestern Vietnam, 2013; A spring festival in Lao Cai Province, Northwestern Vietnam, 2004; Fishing in Tra Vinh Province, Mekong Delta, 2008.

The photos were selected from the Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards 2013 for exhibition

Photo: Duong Van Mai

58 • vietnam heritage - march-april 2014