Showing posts with label visit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visit. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A date with history in the Central

Take a stroll around the Imperial Hue Palace
I was born in the North and I grew up in the South, but the central is my favorite place for traveling.

When I was a child, I really loved the Mid-Autumn festival and taking part in the lantern parades with other kids along the village trails. At that time, we made lanterns by ourselves with bamboo sticks and colored paper or plastic. On one visit to Hoi An ancient town, I took part in a long Mid-Autumn Festival with many colorful lanterns hanging on the streets and lanterns shops. The old houses built in Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese or French architecture, made me feel like I was a child again.

My Son Sanctuary, a UNESCO world cultural heritage
My Son Sanctuary in Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province, gave me an insight into Cham people’s culture. The sanctuary was the site of religious ceremonies for kings of  Champa, between the 4th and 12th centuries. It was a worshipping place for the Hindu religion in the Cham kingdom and is the foremost heritage site of its kind in Vietnam. A large complex, My Son Sanctuary comprises more than 70 architectural works, including temples and towers that connect to each other.

Hue made the strongest impression on me with old buildings, royal palace, the roads where I sheltered from the light rain under tamarind trees and ladies in white ao dai and conical hats.

Despite being largely destroyed during the war, Hue’s Citadel is a great place to visit. Some of the buildings have been refurbished or have managed to escape damage and the architecture and the remaining statues and walls create an interesting look into the past. The museum exhibits inside the complex are informative, giving visitors more than a cursory summary of historical events.

A visit to Hue is to think about Vietnam’s history.

In Hue, I did not forget to visit Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the oldest pagodas in the country to find some peace during my trip and burn incense to pray for good luck and good health.

Danang is other prospect in the Central, a modern and dynamic city with many high-tech parks and towers. The city, which is endowed with stunning landscapes such as Han River, Son Tra Peninsula or Ngu Hanh Son Mountain, has plenty for tourists to do.

Ngu Hanh Son Mountain in Danang City - Photos: Dang Khoa
Tourists browse the lanterns in Hoi An ancient town
Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue City

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Con Dao from hell to heaven

A local woman waits for her husband’s fishing boat to return at dawn
One rainy November day in Saigon, with news of floods in the Central, I had a desire to explore something new. I decided to risk bad weather and backpack to Con Dao. 

From Tan Son Nhat International Airport it’s only half an hour on the plane to Co Ong or Con Son Airport. It’s mid-afternoon, but the weather is mild with a gentle sea breeze. The driver from Saigon Con Dao Resort picks me up with a friendly smile and we go to the resort, 12km from the airport. One thing surprises me about this resort - one side faces the sea but the old prison, Phu Son, is behind it. It was a little bit unnerving. When visiting Con Dao, don’t forget to visit the historical sites, the jails where revolutionary fighters against the French and the U.S colonialists were incarcerated and tortured. A tour guide tells me there are eight prisons including Phu Hai, Phu Son and Phu Tuong.

I spend all afternoon to visit the jail system in Con Dao and go to Hang Duong cemetery to burn incense for the dead. Over 20,000 prisoners are buried at the 19-hectare cemetery including the tombs of famous patriots Vo Thi Sau, Le Hong Phong, and Nguyen An Ninh. 

Tourists visit Con Dao’s notorious tiger cages at Phu Tuong prison - Photos: Tuong Vi
Con Dao has passed the 113 years where it was known as “Hell on earth”, to be transformed into something quite different – a peaceful archipelago surrounded by sea. It is now called “Heaven of the sea” or “The pearl in the middle of the ocean”.

A district of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Con Dao is 230km from HCMC. The coastline is still largely undeveloped especially on the beaches of An Hai, Nhat, Dam Trau, Lo Voi or Ong Dung. As darkness comes, I sit at a street café overlooking the historical Quay 914 built by the French where some people are fishing for cuttlefish.

The sun rises at 6a.m. sparkling like pearls on the ocean. A new day has come, and the fishing boats are ready to head to sea.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

See Tra Su wetlands in flood

The cajeput forest seems to go on forever from the top of the bird watching tower
The best time to visit Tra Su Cajuput Forest in An Giang is in the flooding season from July to December, according to one of the forest guides there. At this time, large areas of the forest become lakes that tourists can explore by motor-boat.

The forest has 106 colonies of water birds, bats and various rare and endangered animals and reptiles and over 140 flora species.

A 23m bird watching tower stands in the middle of the 845-hectare forest with a telescope for visitors to view the panorama and zoom in on some of the colonies of water birds.

It is possible to visit Tra Su, which is 20km from Chau Doc Town and 10km from the Vietnam-Cambodia border, on a tour that visits Sam Mountain, Forbidden Mountain, Tuc Dup Hill and Oc Eo cultural site.

Here are some snapshots taken by The Saigon Times Daily’ reporter Trung Chau during his visit to Tra Su.

Tourists travel through narrow canals in a motor-boat
Giang sen (Mycteria leucocephala) or painted storks are listed in the Vietnam Red Book
This tourist has a closer look at the birdlife through the tower’s telescope

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