WATERWAY TRAVEL BY VIETNAM TRAVEL DEPOT

March 2010, Hochiminh City – Vietnam Travel Depot has introduced a new way of discover the famous Cuchi Tunnels and Mekong Delta in Vietnam by speed boats from Hochiminh City (Saigon).

The tours will take passengers from the wharf on Saigon River to visit Cuchi Tunnels, Can Gio Eco-Park or Mekong Delta’s favorite destinations of My Tho in one day. For those who whish to discover Mekong in deep can travel down to Can Tho and spend one night at provided hotels.

The speed boats are also available for rent on hour-basis to take short excursions along Saigon River and visit some spots such as Binh Quoi Tourist Village, Go Vap Temples or simply see how different Saigon is from the water view.

This is a new way of discovering the travel spots of Southern Vietnam as conventionally passengers have only an option of travel by road which sometimes takes longer because of the busy traffic.

Details of programs and rates please contact the travel advisers at sales(at)vietnamtraveldepot.com or call +84 – 8 – 6290 6577

Cuchi Tunnels: immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in Cu Chi District of Hochiminh City. The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War.

Mekong Delta: Nine Dragon River Delta in local term is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southeastern Vietnam of 39,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq miles). This is the hub of rice, fish and other key agricultural products of the country.

Vietnam Travel Depot: Vietnam specialized travel services for individuals and small group travelers. Visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com for more of company special deals and extensive Vietnam travel offers.

Cam Ranh to become international airport

Cam Ranh Airport in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa will become an international airport with the opening of an official direct air route linking Cam Ranh and Vladivostock in Russia on December 12.

This was announced at a recent working session between Chairman of the Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Vo Lam Phi, leaders of the Minh Nhat Ltd.Co. and representatives of Russia’s Vladivostock Avia and Transero Airlines.

Under the agreement, TU204 aircraft will be used for a flight every two weeks and the flight frequency will be increased later. Another air route will also open for flights from Moscow to Cam Ranh and vice versa.

Mr. Phi also asked hotels and guest houses to offer promotion programmes and lower service prices on the occasion of the inauguration of Cam Ranh international airport.

Travel agents’ hotels have pledged 50-70% discount in hotel room prices for nearly 130 international tourists flying from Russia to Cam Ranh on December 12.

The national aviation sector invested more than VND200 billion in building a new terminal, air traffic control station, a modern runway lights and other facilities in Cam Ranh Airport.

The capacity of the new terminal doubles the old one, which was only capable of loading 300 passengers per hour.

(Source: VNA)

Food fest to bring slice of Hanoi to HCMC

HCMC residents will have a chance to savour authentic Hanoi cuisine and experience the rural ambience of northern Vietnam at a three-day event held to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long- Hanoi.

The “Thang Long Citadel cuisine in South Vietnam” Festival at Van Thanh Tourism Park would introduce "significant cultural traits and folk cuisine of the North," said Chiem Thanh Long, Director of Van Thanh Tourism Park. "We are getting ready a miniature of ancient Hanoi at the park."

The event, organised by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will open on December 11. There will be a rural market, snack counter, temple festival, and traditional feast.

Visitors can enjoy delicacies like banh gai Hang Be (glutinous rice cake dyed black in a concoction of leaves made in Hang Be Street), banh gio Do Mang (pyramidal rice dumpling filled with meat, onion, and mushroom from a place called Madame Demange), banh com Hang Than (grilled cake of young rice in Hang Than Street), and banh tom (crisp shrimp pastry).

A death-anniversary feast and a wedding feast will be the highlights of the event.

"We will have artisans and officials from the Vietnam Cuisine Research Institute to make it a genuine northern feast," Long said.

"Every day we will serve only 40 tables of traditional feast, which will cost VND960,000 (US$52). Each table will have ten dishes serving six people."

Besides the food, daily Northern Vietnamese life will be depicted, including a market with street vendors in traditional costumes and calling out to passers-by, an exhibition of Vietnamese wines, and an exhibition of paintings and books about Thang Long, the country’s ancient capital.

Huynh Van Son, a department representative, said northern folk games would be on display, including Chinese chess, water puppetry, and wrestling.

There would be performances of ca tru (ceremonial singing), quan ho (love duet), hat xam (songs of an itinerant blind musician), and hat xoan (folk workship singing of Phu Tho Province), he added.

Around 8,000 visitors were expected at the festival, Long said. It will run from 4pm to 9pm on each of the three days.

(Source: VNS)

Cu Chi Tunnels Adventure with Jeeps by Vietnam Travel Depot ( Vietnam Jeep Tours)

This is one of our interesting trip: ( if you like this trip and wanna join with us, please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or email us at sales@vietnamtraveldepot.com)

In this tour, our group included our drivers and tour operators with 16 French tourist.

In this morning, at 7:30 AM our jeeps arrived early to stick the numbers on each jeeps then we pick up the tourist at their hotel and let jeep to the extraordinary Cu Chi tunnels, just outside Ho Chi Minh City.



On the way to Cu Chi, we stopped for a while to take photos of Notre Dame Cathedral and Post Office ( which were built during the French Colony). Then we jeep straight to Cu Chi Tunnels to start our adventure in Underground World.










During the war for independence, Viet Cong guerrillas built the labyrinth of narrow tunnels virtually underneath U.S. bases, using them to hide during bombing raids and to stage surprise attacks. On the way to Cu Chi, we saw many cottages and beautiful fields which still only exist in Vietnam countryside.



At the end of this tour,at 1:30 PM, on the way to Saigon from Cu Chi, we had lunch at Ben Nay Restaurant. The food is delicious and the sights are very nice.

We arrived Saigon at 4:00 PM, a little bit late with the time we had planned before because there was traffic jam after the rain. Any way, this is really interesting trip. Hope you will enjoy this tour with us someday soon! :)

( if you like this trip and wanna join with us, please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or email us at sales@vietnamtraveldepot.com)

Bonus: Our "soldiers" Jeep on the way and parking at Cu Chi.

Ancient tomb dated back 1,800 years unearthed

An ancient tomb with exterior and interior coffins has been unearthed in the northern port city of Hai Phong, according to the city’s museum.

The tomb was found by construction workers who were digging into the Thanh Den Mountain’s side to expand the acreage of the Tan Phu Xuan cement plant.

The exterior coffin is made from large pieces of ironwood while its boat-shaped interior coffin is carved out from a big tree trunk, a style belonging to the Dong Son culture, which existed more than 2,000 years ago.

No vestiges of bones were found except a rush map used to cover the dead.

Archaeologists also found seven large trays, four human statues, plates, bowls and combs, all made from wood, and several terracotta pots, jars and bowls with beehive and line patterns.

According to archaeologists from the Hai Phong Museum , the tomb is believed to date back to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD or 1,800 years ago.

(Source: VNA)

Cultural features of Cu Da ancient village

Cu Da Village is located in Cu Khe Commune, Thanh Oai District, Hanoi. It is considered as one of the two most ancient villages in the former Ha Tay. Its ancient and tranquil beauty attracts many tourists and researchers both in and outside the country. Cu Da Village is really a symbol of Vietnamese ancient villages in the northern delta areas and it also hides cultural sediments of great values that have still been kept intact today.

Cu Da ancient village, an attractive tourist destination in Hanoi
Cu Da Village is located on the bank of the Nhue River, about 15 kilometres from center of Hanoi, bearing characters of a Vietnamese village with hundred-year-old banian-trees, rivers, ponds, village wells and ancient mossy walls.

Cu Da villagers still keep traditional and neighbourly lifestyle which has been maintained from generation to generation. So, once visitors coming Cu Da, they will find it easy to inquire the way to some family in the village. This is really a respectfully cultural feature of Cu Da people.

In the 1920s, 1930s, thanks to the favourable location ‘close to the market and the river’, Cu Da was a very busy place for traders to do business all day and night. As a result, Cu Da village’s economy was developed rapidly and the living standard of villagers was improved considerably compared to other regions. Cu Da villagers moved to all regions in the country to do business and settle down there. Some people who were better off had come back to the home village and brought along with them the cultural characters from the city. Houses with the western architectural style mixed with traditional art were built. These were communal houses built under the French-style so that villagers could gather together and make decisions on things of common concern. Each house was numbered like in a big city. Cu Da is among a few Vietnamese villages whose houses were numbered. This has made it so unique, rarely seen in any village in the northern delta area.

The cultural features of Cu Da have been preserved intact which serve as an evidence of a flourishing development period. The most remarkable relics in Cu Da are 50 French-style villas. Partly damaged by time and historical changes as they were, these houses are still kept intact with typical French style. These are two-storey villas with balcony, archway, enamel tile-paved pillars, porcelain-paved walls and so on. Tiles to pave and decorate houses were all made in France in 1910 – 1920 and imported to Vietnam. Architectural patterns and designs of these houses remain, showing the harmony between eastern and western architecture in the early years of the 20th century.

Not only bearing European-style architecture, Cu Da is also imbued with traditional values of a riverside village in the northern delta area.

These were ancient Vietnamese houses and houses of worship built one century ago. These iron wood houses with delicate carvings still stand there to the test of time. The most remarkable house is the ancient house of Trinh The Sung built in 1874 under the Tu Duc’s reign. The house features the typical architectural art of the Nguyen Dynasty as it was made entirely from timber with sophisticated patterns on its doors.

The cultural characters of Cu Da ancient village are also showed through other constructions like temples, pagodas and shrines. Cu Da temple is one of two relics of Cu Da Village recognised as the nation’s historical site. Xa Tac Worship Ritual was set at Cu Da Temple to offer sacrifices and considered as the most beautiful worship place preserved until today. This place of worship dates back to 1921, made from precious stones carved with dragons and symbols of four sacred creatures: dragon, unicorn, tortoise and phoenix. Xa Tac Altar is not only used for the worship of the God of Land and the God of Farming, but it also implies typical features of a historical period in the past.

Cu Da Village is also famous for other ancient communal houses which are used to celebrate common activities and festivals of the whole village.

Such unique relics on a flourishing development period of Cu Da riverside ancient village have made it a ‘must-see’ tourist destination, attracting an increasing number of visitors and researchers in and outside the country.

(Source: Nhan Dan)