Vietnam invests tourism key sector

Vietnam will invest VND1,931 trillion (US$94.2 billion) between 2011 and 2030 in an effort to make tourism the nation’s key sector by 2020.

It is estimated that 8-10 percent of the investment will be allocated from the state budget, while the rest comes from private sector. The plan aims to build a “developed” tourism industry in Vietnam by 2030. Under a tourism development project approved by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Tuesday (January 22), the country will first use the money to upgrade infrastructure, develop competitive tourism products and improve human resources in the industry and protect the environment of the tourist spots. The investment will be put into the countries’ major tourist spots, especially those in rural and border regions and islands. Among eight priority sites is Ban Gioc in the mountainous area in northern Vietnam, over which both Vietnam and China claim sovereignty, and which will receive a total investment of $500 million from the project between 2011 and 2030. Ban Gioc Falls in Cao Bang Province, which the Chinese call Detian Falls, is situated on the border between Vietnam and China. It is one of the world's largest falls lying in the border of the two countries together with Brazil and Argentina’s Iguazu, Zambia and Zimbabwe’s Victoria and Canada and the United States’ Niagara.   Under the 1999 Viet Nam-China Treaty on Land Borderline, Vietnam travel guide has sovereignty over the waterfall’s tributary and the large waterfall is shared by the two countries.  But the sovereignty issues concerning the falls made headlines in the local media reports two years ago after some websites such as Australian news website captioned the waterfall's location with China only, unlike the cases of Iguazu, Victoria and Niagara, which were captioned with the name of both countries they are located in. Vietnam government in 2007 had approved a VND2.4-trillion plan to develop infrastructure at the waterfall site from 2008-2020 in an effort to boost the number of tourists to one million in 2020. According to the latest statistics from Cao Bang Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the site attracts around 30,000 tourists a year. Vietnam’s leading travel agency Saigontourist started construction on a four-star resort near the famous waterfall early last December, with the total investment of VND170 billion. The resort is scheduled to open by the end of this year. Vietnam expects a year-on-year foreign tourist increase of 5.2-8.4 percent by 2030 while domestic tourist arrivals are estimated to surge by a yearly 4.8 percent on average, according to the plans for the recently-approved project. Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said the number of foreign tourists visiting Vietnam last year expanded by 14.2 percent from one year earlier to around 4.17 million, while that of local tourists showed an 8.3 percent increase during the same period to 32.5 million. Revenues in the industry saw a year-on-year growth of nearly a fourth to VND160 trillion (US$7.68 billion) in 2012, the national tourism agency said. Vietnam projects a more-than-double revenue of $18.5 billion in total in 2020, and a 4.5-time rise $35.2 billion in 2030. Travel to Vietnam

An English tradition

Afternoon tea or low tea, typically a small meal eaten between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., began among the wealthy in England in the early 1840. It has since spread to other regions and countries, including Vietnam.

A cup of Passion de Fleurs tea beside the beautifully carved metal teapots

Many Ho Chi Minh City hotels now offer afternoon tea – and also high tea which is usually had a little later in the evening. One of them is the Park Hyatt Saigon Hotel which at its Park Lounge serves afternoon tea every day (VND890,000++ for two persons) from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and a tea buffet on Saturdays (VND570,000, 850,000 and 950,000 for one person, including a glass of Moet Rose or Brut champagne in the latter two).

I went on a Saturday afternoon and discovered that the Park Lounge remains true to the original ritual of serving only tea along with pastries. But the tea is imported from France, and most of the pastries, created by the hotel’s French pastry chef, are French.

Upon arrival, guests are welcomed with mellifluous classical music played on a piano and a violin. There are sofas and chairs around round wooden tables, offering guests comfortable seats. And then came the tea.

It came in intricately carved, bronze-colored metal pots that looked Middle Eastern, reminding me for some reason of the lamp in the Walt Disney cartoon, “Aladdin and the magic lamp.” The brew was served in white porcelain cups.

The tea menu has a selection of 11 white, black, green, and oolong teas, some with herbal infusions. The tea is just warm enough to be drunk right after it is poured, but one can still whiff its aroma. A large pot of hot water allows guests to refresh their pots when their teas get too strong. Two of the specialties on the menu are the Passion de Fleurs and Earl Grey.

Passion de Fleurs, a light colored brew, is slightly bitter, smells subtly of rose and apricot, and has rose petals in it. Its amazing aromas made me wonder if it would be better to keep smelling instead of drinking it.

Earl Grey seemed to be one of the most popular flavored teas at the place. Darker and more bitter than the Passion de Fleurs, it is a combination of tea from rural southern China and bergamot orange, a fragrant fruit the size of an orange and similar to a lemon from Italy. While not smelling of flowers like the Passion de Fleurs, it had a distinct fragrance when mixed with milk.

But the best teas do not an afternoon tea make – it needs pastries.

In the middle of the lounge is a large round table on which an assortment of pastries is laid out. There are French pastries, fruit tarts, finger sandwiches, macaroons, chocolates, and cupcakes in various shapes and colors, making for an appealing and inviting sight.

There is also cinnamon apple tart which is very sour. It is made by laying thin slices of apple on top of each other to create a large round cake. The cake is then baked and served in small slices.

There are traditional English scones, flaky plain cakes with fleshy baked raisins inside. The scones taste best when broken into two, covered with clotted cream and strawberry jam, its two classic accompaniments, and eaten. It then tastes a bit sweet, a bit sour, and greasy.

Bertrand Sommereux, the pastry chef, said he has been trying to infuse Vietnamese ingredients and flavors into his French pastries.

One of his newest innovations for the buffet is an orange tart. It is served in a glass, and is yellow-orange on the surface, orange in the layer below, and white from milk and rice at the bottom. The top is sour, the second level is sweet, and the bottom is a slightly sweet because of the thick milk, vanilla bean, and the rice.

Trying all the pastries along with a pot of tea is almost impossible for any normal person.

A satisfied guest told me if someone does manage to do it, they would be happy to skip dinner.

The Park Lounge 

Park Hyatt Saigon Hotel

2 Lam Son Square , District 1, HCMC

Purple colour in Hanoi

Hanoi is adorned with a carpet of Ban (Bauhinia) flowers in purple colour spreading around Hoan Kiem Lake and along Thanh Nien and Bac Son Roads.

It looks like a corner of the northwestern region.

  

A corner of Hoan Kiem Lake 

 

On Bac Son Road 

  

 

 Romantic wedding photos

 

 

 

Bauhinia variegate 

 

A pay visit to Cao Dai temple

Indigenous to Vietnam, Cao Dai, is in fact a fusion of the teachings from Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, with elements of Christianity and Islam.

Founded in the 1920′s, Cai Dai was seen as the answer to the ideal religion and they also worship western icons with the like of Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare and even Joan of Arc. The religion has about three million followers, all in Southern Vietnam and there are several Cao Dai temples in the Mekong Delta too but none as grand as this. (Built between 1933 and 1955) The structure of the nine-story Cao Dai Temple is part pagoda, part cathedral, part mosque – representing the ideology behind the religion. The exterior – fluorescent shades of pinks and yellows, rococo walls and mosaic-mirrored tiles that glint in the sun seems to find their delicate balance in the chaos. To it top off, the exterior that is already a feast for the eyes, are further ‘accessorized’ with multi-colored dragons of all shapes and sizes. Above the main entrance is the all-seeing Holy Eye, the symbol of the Cao Dai sect. The interior, needless to say, is just as engaging as statues of Jesus Christ, Buddha and the Hindu god, Brahma, stand side by side. The three principal colors of Cao Dai are yellow (for Buddhism), blue (for Taoism), and red (for Christianity), and these appear in worshippers’ robes as well as the temple. The most important symbol is the Divine Eye, representing God, which also appears in followers’ homes. It is a left eye, because God is Yang, and Yang is the left side. It has a ying-yang symbol in the pupil. Within the temple, males must enter on the right and females to the left and shoes have to be removed before entering the massive main hall. Once you step into the temple, you seem to be removed from the hassle and bustle of the outside world and placed into a world of calmness, peace and light. Prayer Session inside Cao Dai Temple Services are held four times a day and visitors are welcomed to watch from the balcony above which runs the entire length of the cathedral. Rows and rows of gracefully attired devotees dressed in white stroll into the hall systematically, accompanied by the sounds of the gong. As if on cue, once inside the hall, the devotees kneel down together before the altar signaling the start of the prayers. The priests are easily identified by their white pointy hats decorated with the holy eye and are dressed in either red, blue or yellow flowing robes. The gongs are now joined in by the string instruments and harmonious chanting of the devotees. Photography is allowed here and is an excellent opportunity not to be missed as you will never find another moment like this anywhere else. Cao Dai Temple Entrance Getting There The Cao Dai Temple is located just outside Tay Ninh, 60 miles northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. The easiest and most popular way to visit the Cao Dai Temple is on an organized tour from Ho Chi Minh city. Most people visit the Cao Dai Temple together with the Cu Chi Tunnels.The bus ride takes about two hours.