Kasilod Wuttichai from Thailand visited Ha Long Bay, a popular tourist site in Vietnam, with the excitement of exploring a new country.

After the boat carrying him [...]]]> A Thai tourist has been forced to pay VND10 million (around US$500) for a 6-kg fish at a fishing village in Ha Long Bay, northern Quang Ninh Province.

Kasilod Wuttichai from Thailand visited Ha Long Bay, a popular tourist site in Vietnam, with the excitement of exploring a new country.

After the boat carrying him stopped at the Ba Hang fishing village where many tourists like to visit, Kasilod and some friends went to a fishing craft for sightseeing. He caught a fish and told the owner that he wanted to buy it without asking the price first.

The owner told Kasilod that the fish he chose cost VND1.8 million per kg and weighed a total 6 kg.

As the result, he was forced to pay more than VND10 million (US$500).

“I told them I don’t want it any more, but they force me to buy it because they already beat the fish’s head to death,” Kasilod told Tuoi Tre.

After being informed about the scam, Nguyen Dang Truong, chief of Quang Ninh’s market management, reassured that during the Tet holiday from January 16 to 30, the price was very stable in the market and he had yet to receive any information about the rip-off at local fishing crafts.

However, he also warned tourists to be careful.

He said tourists should ask fishing craft owners to show the marked price first before deciding to buy anything.

In case they are ripped off, tourists should keep the receipts and notify authorities of the violation via hot-lines.

Think of the Grand Canyon in reverse: erosion wreaked by the ocean forming thousands of tiny islands that erupt like small mountains that are home to [...]]]> For three days we cruised around the islands of Halong Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, one of the most magnificent natural sights I’ve ever seen in my life.

Think of the Grand Canyon in reverse: erosion wreaked by the ocean forming thousands of tiny islands that erupt like small mountains that are home to soaring eagles.

I send an official photo because my words and pictures can’t do justice to its wondrous beauty, nor to the luxury of the red-sailed, wooden Chinese-style junk (The Prince, with 2 cabins) on which we wined and dined like royalty.

We took kayak trips to a beach to visit caves in the rocks and where they prepared a barbecue for us.

On the last night we celebrated Patricia’s birthday with champagne, music and dancing with our fellow shipmate, a handsome Dutchman, and the entire crew.

I noticed a twinkle in the Captain’s eye as we danced to music of the Beatles.

After our dream cruise, we returned to Hanoi where we caught the overnight train to Sapa, high in the mountains of the northwest region of Vietnam, near the Chinese border.

It’s cold but sunny and we marvel at the panoramic view from the large terrace of our large comfortable room.
The porters offer us a motorbike ride around the region.

We hop on and take off on the bumpy road to marvel at the terraced rice paddies cut in irregular shapes out of the steep mountainsides, crossing the nearby pass to visit a stunning waterfall.

Stunning mountain views surround.

We pass through villages of “minority tribes:” black Hmong, Red Hmong, Dao people and Tay people, whose women dress in traditional embroidered clothing, with large earrings and colorful leg warmers.
Patricia and I are glad we brought our anoraks and warm underwear.

After a delicious dinner of pork spring rolls and noodle soup in our hotel we light a fire in the fireplace of our room, turn on the electric blankets to warm our beds, and sleep like angels.

Next day a heavy fog descends on the mountains and the temperature drops to 40 degrees.
Not only can’t we see the mountains we can’t even see our terrace.

Bundled in all my warm clothes, plus the rubber boots I purchased in the market, we go for a three hour trek off the road, on a muddy track, to get a close look at a few Hmong villages.

But now the rain is falling hard, the temperature drops again and it’s too cold for this thin-blooded West Hollywood Los Angelina.

We head straight to the only place in town with central heating: the five-star $300 per night Hotel Victoria, where we spend a glorious warm spa afternoon getting foot massage, aromatic oil body massage, soothing papaya wraps, and hot soaks in wooden tubs filled with flower petals.

They bring us tea and snacks and we forget the cold for a little while.
Next day, the weather is colder yet and rainier, which is out of season.

Patricia went back to the market and I stayed in our room, next to a roaring fire and the space heater on full force.
Why don’t we get out of town now?

We’ve arranged for a private car to drive us to Dien Bien Phu tomorrow morning, a drive which my guidebook declares passes through the most scenic area in the country.

I just hope the weather will be clear enough for us to see something.

Source by: Carol Pearlman is a writer living in West Hollywood who makes world-girdling journeys as often as she can, reporting back to West Hollywood via WeHo News as she goes.

They were spotted first at a cell phone shop in Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel on December 23 and the information quickly spread on the Internet.

Local news media on Friday quoted witnesses as saying that [...]]]> Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his girl friend Pricilla Chan spent Christmas Eve on a cruise ship on Ha Long Bay.

They were spotted first at a cell phone shop in Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel on December 23 and the information quickly spread on the Internet.

Local news media on Friday quoted witnesses as saying that they saw Zuckerberg and Chan on Thursday visiting the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, known as the “Hanoi Hilton,” where American prisoners of war were held during the Vietnam War.

A source told Thanh Nien that the couple departed from Hanoi’s Gia Lam Airport in the morning on December 24 on two EC 155-B1 helicopters hired from the Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company.

Mark and his friends flew in one helicopter while the other was for their two guards, it said, adding that the payment for the two helicopters was about US$20,000.

A Quang Ninh tourism official told Thanh Nien on condition of anonymity that one of the helicopters landed on a hill at Bai Chay.

Zuckerberg and his entourage of eight people hired the Phoenix cruise ship and left the mainland at around 11:30 p.m. to cruise Bo Nau and Sung Sot caves in Ha Long Bay, another source told Thanh Nien.

Mark and his entourage spent the night in the bay and also rowed kayaks there.

On December 25, they visited other places in the bay before departing for Sa Pa by helicopter.

Earlier, a representative of Facebook in Vietnam confirmed that Zuckerberg and his girlfriend are in Vietnam for the Christmas holiday, according to local news website VietNamNet.

The report quoted Huynh Kim Tuoc, Growth Manager of Facebook in Vietnam, as saying that the company has confirmed that “Zuckerberg has arrived in Hanoi on December 12.”

His trip is “personal and not related whatsoever to his work at Facebook,” the report quoted Tuoc as saying.

According to comScore, Vietnam is a one of only seven markets where Facebook does not have the largest audience in the social networking category. The other markets are Brazil, China, Japan, Poland, Russia and South Korea.

Zuckerberg and Chan also made a low profile trip to China and Thailand for last year’s Christmas holiday.
By Thanh Nien News

Ha Long is also one of the top 25 most attractive destinations in Asia.

The conference focused on the great potential of sea tourism in Vietnam and ways to promote it in Europe, as well as measures [...]]]> More than 50 delegates from domestic and foreign travel agents and European tourism magazines gathered at a seminar in Khanh Hoa on December 2 to discuss promoting Vietnam sea tourism in Europe.

The conference focused on the great potential of sea tourism in Vietnam and ways to promote it in Europe, as well as measures to develop it.
Vietnam Airlines aims to coordinate with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and localities with sea tourism potential, such as Ha Long, Danang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne and Con Dao, to offer attractive tourism products to European visitors.
The airline will work with 10 leading European tourism magazines to introduce the best tourism destinations in Vietnam.
It will also increase its flights to European countries and improve infrastructure at airports and seaports in localities with sea tourism potential.
Key targeted markets include France, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, as well as Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and Poland.

Source: VOV

In 2007, you [...]]]> This is an interview with Nguyen Xuan Thang, Secretary General of the World Federation of UNESCO Associations and Chairman of the Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Association, a representative of UNESCO, one of the most prestigious organizations in the world in selecting world heritage–about the just-finished new seven natural wonders of the world.

In 2007, you wrote some articles to warn the public about the vote for Ha Long Bay as a new natural wonder of the world through the New Open World Corporation (NOWC), didn’t you?

In the summer 2007, NOWC, a private company, finished the “New seven wonders of the world” selection. Outstanding cultural works that have been recognized by the mankind as the world wonders, like the Parthenon temple in Greece or pyramids of Egypt were rejected from this organization’s “Seven New Wonders” list.

This was an unprecedented thing, which upset traditional conceptions, spiritual values of the past and of the history of civilization of the mankind. More worriedly, as journalist Al-Sayed of Egypt said, the “game” hosted by NOWC has not only “attacked civilizations” but also encouraged small-minded national consciousness among part of the people in many countries.

Why do not you raise your voice in the “Vote for Ha Long” campaign?

I wrote many articles to awaken the public in 2007-2008. Now I don’t be afraid but it is too late.

People who sent text messages to vote for Ha Long said that they did not have to pay much for the vote, but Ha Long Bay is honored as “a natural wonder of the world’. The management board of Ha Long Bay said they did not have pay just a coin. What is your comment?

Prestige and honor of a nation cannot be attained by money, particularly by cheap prices or free of charge. Money is not for sending text messages. Besides money, effort and time of the people, how much effort and money of the State was invested in the media, in buying computers, in making banners and slogans, in organizing meetings, in calling for the people to vote for Ha Long Bay and in drawing foreign tourists and diplomatic corps into this game…? The number is not small and only the insiders know about it.

I think relevant agencies should summarize and make public the cost of the game. However, the biggest problem is not only money and time of the people. I’m worried that such an easy game could make impact on the youth. That game is too self-interested and it is contrary to principles in international relations, standards of civilization, culture, peach and friendship that today’s countries are building.

Do you think that our people do not understand about this game?

We received dozens of phone calls a day from voters who asked us about the criteria of the selection since they thought that this is an event held by the UNESCO. Perhaps over 90 percent of Vietnamese believed that this is an event of the UNESCO.

Many students asked us why they were not allowed to vote for other wonderful sites in the world and we could not answer them.

Could you analyze the concepts of wonder and heritage?

I think the conception “cultural and natural heritage” is broader than “wonder”. The main meaning of “heritage” (under the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage) shows the inherit ion and responsibility to preserve cultural and natural values for the future, not for the interest or pride of any country but for the entire mankind. That is the progressive nature of the Convention and the common trend of the era.

What do you think when NOWC does not make public the official results of the selection and waits for the result verified by an auditing firm?

That is an “award” that does not include values of international public law and is unbinding. So it is the same if it is made public or not. If the results are officially published, what will happen? What will our Ha Long Bay benefit with the crow “top seven” of the world that we proclaim ourselves? The one that benefits the most is perhaps NOWC and firms that organized dependant events.

Do you think that the new title will help develop tourism in Ha Long Bay?

Three years ago I raised the question: Who dares to guarantee to the State and people that the achievement from this costly race will benefit Vietnam and its tourism industry? Only fame cannot cause an exploit, especially for the tourism industry.

If the environment of Ha Long gets worse and tourism services are not improved, titles cannot help change the situation.

What does the UNESCO and international community see the selection held by NOWC?

The today society is democratic and freedom. No one prohibits NOWC from holding this selection and no one prevents countries from joining this race, though in nature, this desecrates the face of many countries.

Some countries criticized this game. However, most of governments do not prevent or encourage their citizens from playing this game because they see it like a useless game of the online community.

With the same attitude, the UNESCO did not publicly criticize but it did not cooperate with NOWC in the recent two selections.

What do you sum up after this noise selection?

While many international organizations and nations are trying to create an internationally equal mechanism, promote the friendly and open atmosphere on culture, while the United Nations and the UNESCO are implementing campaigns to look after a new thought of international culture, the new humanism or “culture for peac” based on “equality and diversity of cultural values” in order to gradually abolish the gap between cultures, NOWC has drawn millions of people into a risky game, which is contrary to the trend of peace, integration and sustainable development that countries around the world are pursuing.

Source: KH&DS

The ancient house at 46 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street is showcasing 29 works by 21 artists who entered the final round of a contest to create souvenir products for Hoi [...]]]> Two exhibitions on souvenirs, paintings and statues are on at two ancient houses in the World Heritage-listed town of Hoi An in Quang Nam Province.

The ancient house at 46 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street is showcasing 29 works by 21 artists who entered the final round of a contest to create souvenir products for Hoi An in 2011.
Visitors to the exhibition will vote for their favorite artworks made from environmentally friendly materials including bamboo and wood and some from silver and bronze. A prize presentation ceremony for the contest winners is slated for December 4 to coincide with the 12th anniversary of Hoi An being proclaimed the World Cultural Heritage in 1999.
The second exhibition at the ancient house at 39 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street features over 100 works on contemporary art, pearl statues, carpets and precious stones by artists Le Dinh Quy, Do Quoc Vi and Pham Huynh. The exhibition runs until February 18.

Source: Saigon times