A generally disappointing venture

A scene at the circus show Xin Chao! in September 23 Park in HCMC’s District 1 - Photo: The organizers

I am a fan of circuses, and the more traditional they are the better I like them. But Xin Chao!, though staged in the circus tent in Saigon’s September 23 Park on Pham Ngu Lao Street, is not a circus, but rather a pageant representing two episodes in Vietnam’s history plus an epilogue, all told in mime together with would-be-elegant costumes and lighting. There’s plenty of sound and fury, but in the end it doesn’t signify very much.

This show is neither a circus nor anything interestingly different. On the one hand you’re not going to learn much Vietnamese history from Xin Chao!, and on the other the thrills and splendour of the old circus are amost entirely absent. Various circus acts are incorporated to liven up what turns out to be a brief story (only Vietnam’s mythic origins and the ancient struggle with China are featured), but the music is unmemorable, whereas it’s the vibrant popular music that drives a traditional circus. Missing too is the circus’s sense of timing, and its characteristic panache.

 It might be argued that, with harmonised costumes and lighting, this show adds an artistic dimension to the old routines. But it’s pointless to try to incorporate a sense of beauty into the genre because circuses are beautiful already, as the works of many old painters (such as Picasso) testify. And acrobats are the purest form of theatre there is.

 Under a hundred patrons were present at Sunday’s performance, most of them foreigners. Indeed, the short last section of the show, supposedly representing Vietnam on Tuesday, could only be received with derision by any contemporary Vietnamese.

 More attractive, because more authentic, is the animal-based circus from Hanoi that shares the venue over the Tet period. Only small animals are used (though there is a sleepy crocodile and a rather large snake), and the truth is that this is primarily a show for children. But the many children present when I attended responded to the event with clearly genuine, and extremely vocal, enthusiasm.

 The prices for the two shows are very different - VND80,000 for the Hanoi circus and VND400,000 for Xin Chao! I could find no explanation for the difference except for the fact that more performers are involved in the latter. Neither of the shows, incidentally, is as enjoyable as that of the resident company, the excellent HCMC Circus, currently taking a break from its home turf.

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Russia – key market for Vietnamese tourism

Russia is an important market for Vietnamese tourism and has high
expectations, said Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Travel
Association.

Over the past five years, tourists from Russia
have always been among the leading groups of foreign visitors with the
highest growth of 20-30 percent, according to statistics supplied by the
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

However, the
number of Russian tourists was still low in 2010 with about 100,000
visitors due to the geographic distance and a lack of promotions.

Tourists
from Russia like the coastal resorts and luxurious relaxing tourist
destinations. On average they also stay longer and spend more, around
1,600-1,700 USD, an annual increase of 50-80 percent, according to
estimates from Vietnam ’s travel agencies.

They are also interested in local products such as clothes, footwear, embroidery work, gemstones, handicrafts and silk.

Bui
Nguyen Tam Dang, Director of Vietravel’s overseas market group, said
that Russia has always been considered a market with huge potential.
In 2010, the number of Russian tourists welcomed by Vietravel rose by
20 percent against the previous years figure.

In Vietnam ,
Phan Thiet and Nha Trang in the central coastal provinces of Binh Thuan
and Khanh Hoa, are the leading destinations in terms of attracting
Russian tourists, said Dang.

Russia ’s airline Vladivostok Air
opened a direct route to Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa province in late 2010
and could increase the number of Russian visitors to the central coastal
province by 50 percent in 2011, Dang estimated.

Travel agencies
operating in the Russian market say that Winter time is the high season
for Russian travellers. Their counterparts in Russia have also
promoted tours to Southeast Asian nations like Thailand , Indonesia
and Vietnam , instead of Egypt due to unstable political situation.

To
make the most of the opportunity, Vietravel says it is working with
service providers, especially hotels and resorts in Phan Thiet and Nha
Trang to attract more visitors from this promising market.

Localities
with the potential for maritime tourism like Da Nang City and Quang
Nam province in central Vietnam , are looking at ways of
attracting more Russian tourists.

Tran Chi Cuong, Head of the Da
Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Travel Management
Division, said that along with the continued investment in coastal
tourist sites, the city will focus on promotions in Russia in the
future.

Vietnam’s tourism industry will attend the MITT
international tourism fair in March in Russia, and is creating a project
to develop key markets, including Russia./.

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Where the sun rises and sets on the sea

A tourist poses for a photo beside the marker for Vietnam’s southernmost point in Ca Mau - Photo: Dang Hoang Tham

Ca Mau at the southern tip of Vietnam has more than 300-kilometers of coastline where the forest meets the sea.

About 350 kilometers from HCMC, the Mekong Delta province is famous for mangrove forests and a bird sanctuary.

We visited the province during the Tet holiday on the recently upgraded National Highway 1A, which made the journey much more comfortable than in the past. Ca Mau City is a proud young city with busy streets and industrial and trade centers.

The Ca Mau Gas - Electricity - Nitrogenous fertilizer IZ in the U Minh Ha Forest is one of the large-scale projects there.

We continued our journey to the southern tip of the country on a cruise to Tan An Commune in Ngoc Hien District, which was where tau khong so (army ships with no numbers) were stationed during the war.

At the tip there is a marker with the coordinates of 8.37.30 North and 104.43 East to mark the southernmost point of Vietnam. The area has been declared nature reserve there and there’s a tourist park.

An interesting fact is that each year, Ca Mau expands another 100m out into the sea.

From a 21-meter-high watchtower, the panoramic view filled us with love for the country, gratitude for the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the nation’s freedom and pride for the beauty of the motherland.

The point at Ca Mau is the only place in the country where people can see the sun rise and set on the ocean.

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Pancakes made from ostrich eggs

A pancake made from ostrich eggs served with fresh vegetables from the mountainside - Photo: Tuong Vi

Cam Mountain Tourism Park in An Giang Province serves banh xeo with a difference – a traditional Vietnamese pancake with ostrich eggs instead of chicken eggs.

Made with rice flour and the eggs from the ostriches that live at the tourist park, the pancakes are served with wild vegetables from the mountain such as kim that, la sung, cat loi, nganh nganh, dot bua, la vong and ma de. The aromatic leaves are all used to produce Vietnamese traditional medicine.  

Every egg weighs from 800 grams to 1.5 kilograms and sells for VND250,000 each. A cook at the restaurant told me that she could make 50 cakes from an egg. Each pancake costs VND12,000. 

In the cool climate of the mountain, the hot yellow pancake, the slight greasy flavor of the ostrich’s egg mixed with fried tiny shrimps, half fat and half lean pork, fresh bean sprouts, and green beans is delicious. The vegetables and the fish sauce give the dish a very special flavor.

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First sailing school holds party

Vietnam’s first sailing school, based in Mui Ne, will hold its official launch party on Saturday night, February 12.

MANTA Sail Training Centre, which is managed by sailing instructor, Julia Shaw, aims to promote sailing in the coastal resort town and establish sailing as a national sport in Vietnam.

Shaw said she is trying to establish sailing here with international safety and standards in place at the outset while helping the Vietnam government register Vietnam as a member of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

Membership would mean ISAF support to develop the sport plus permit local sailors to compete in ISAF events and allows Vietnam to run international events on ISAF rules.

Before coming to Mui Ne, the sailing coach, who recently held sailing training at the National Sports University in HCMC, had tried to set up sailing as an alternative livelihood for fishermen on Con Dao as part of marine conservation efforts.

“I came across the perfect site in Mui Ne for a sailing school, sixteen months ago, after a review of sailing centers along the coast for government,” the sailing instructor said. 

“We started setting up the school after basic renovations and drawing a national sailing plan based on a range of international guidelines which was reviewed by Bernard Bonneau from ISAF last July.”

“Recently I have  been blessed with great staff for development,” she said.

There will be drinking and dancing at Saturday’s “Rock the Boat” party followed by a day of sailing.

The dinghies at the center cover the range of Olympic and regional racing classes viable for Vietnam to ensure junior and senior teams can enter and train for international events.

The party starts at 8pm at 108 Huynh Thuc Khang Street just after the Mui Ne Village sign.

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Vietnamese kitesurfers head to Thailand for KTA contest

KINN team member, Ven, prepares during a four day training camp in Cam Ranh for the KTA championships in Thailand - Photo: Anny Barlow

Vietnam’s kitesurfing team, the KINN team will head off by bus on Friday to compete at Pranburi, Thailand for round four of the Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) championships.

The three team members, “Kin” (Nguyen Ngoc Kim), “My” (Nguyen Duc Long), “Ven” (Nguyen Ngoc Ven), will  travel via Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to arrive at the February 16-20 Thai event the day before registrations.

“For our two youngest members, Ven and My, who are both 18, it will be their first experience out of Vietnam. For Kin, his first experience was at last November’s KTA China,” team manager, Yoann Coutherut, who is also going on the trip, said.

“KINN team objectives for this season are to participate with all three riders at each of the remaining KTA rounds: Thailand, the Philippines, and Korea,” Coutherut said.

Kin who is 31 is currently first in the Asia KTA championship in Twin Tip (TT) Race Course and third in the Asia KTA championship in freestyle.

“We are hoping to retain the first place in TT Race course at the end of the championships and a place on the podium in freestyle would be very nice,” the team manager said.

“It is difficult to judge how the sport is developing in Vietnam as it is limited to Vietnamese guys that work on the beach. There is very little interest from Vietnamese girls so far.”

The KINN Pro Rider team also promotes the sport to young Vietnamese and helps the ones with potential to compete.

“Kitesurfing is developing well in Asia, and we are even starting to see the Chinese getting interested in this sport as well,” Coutherut said. 

The last KTA round was held in Vietnam in Mui Ne, Jan. 12-16. Rounds one and two were in Turkey and China respectively.

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Vincom Center shares moment of love with couples

To welcome Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), a romantic program named “Sharing moment of love with Vincom Center” is on at Vincom Center in HCMC’s District 1 until Feb. 14.

From now until the day for lovers arrives, come to the center for shopping or entertainment and have your photo shot with your beloved and receive gifts. After their photos are taken, customers can give their Facebook accounts to the center to have the shots posted on their Facebook wall.

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Feb. 14, couples who come to the center will be presented a romantic gift and be invited to join in an exchange program about love at the M floor. Those who make friends through the Vincom Center Facebook will receive some special presents like heart-shaped chocolates, T-shirts, hats and pens attached with sweet messages. Additionally, with the permission from customers, Vincom Center will post their photos on its official website.

Apart from promotions, customers also receive gifts from stores at the Vincom Center and listen to love songs at the center.

The Vincom Center is at 72 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: 3911 1177.

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