Halong bay, Vietnam most beautiful bay of the World

Halong Bay is a beautiful natural wonder in Vietnam,  located in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. One of the great natural wonders of Asia. Ha Long Bay one of Vietnam’s most popular places to visit.. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes.Halong Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2, including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. Ha Long Bay is a limestone area with many wonderful caves, such as Dau Go, Bo Nau, Trong, Trinh Nu and Sung Sot Cave, each with their own fascinating legend.

Halong Bay has twice been recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage Area for its exceptional scenic beauty and outstanding geological and geomorphic values. In 2012, the New 7 Wonders Foundation officially named Halong Bay as one of new seven natural wonders of the world. Hạ Long Bay is also a member of the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World.

Ha Long is considered as the most beautiful scenery in Vietnam in Vietnam.
Visitors have constantly marveled at Halong Bay natural beauty. Swimming, kayaking, hiking and of course photography are favorite pastimes for visitors to Halong Bay.

Photo by: Thomas Schoch

Source: the most beautiful scenery in the world

Ca kho (simmered fish)

As we know, healthy diets almost always contain fish, a protein food with fewer calories than other meat sources. It's also one of nature's most versatile food. We can process fish in different ways such as bake, fry, steam or poach but for simmering fish , it will reduce stinking taste and increase flavour of fish.

Pleiku (Central Highlands - part 3)

Đồng Xanh park, Pleiku city
The conical hat is not mine. I borrowed it
from a gardener in the park for taking photos

6 & 7 December 2009 - Pleiku was our final destination on the 5-day trip. This city is the capital of Gia Lai province. Again we had to go by mini bus, but this time the distance from Kon Tum to Pleiku is only 50km. There were 23 people inside the 16 seater mini bus and it was fully packed. I couldn't move my legs for one and a half hours. At one section the road was under construction, so the mini bus couldn't go too fast. At least we felt safe, even though it was uncomfortable. Ticket is also cheap, only VND 15,000 (80 US cents) for traveling 50km. At 3pm we arrived at the center of Pleiku city.

Next day we rented a taxi and traveled 11km to the Great Lake (Biển Hồ) and Đồng Xanh park. There is a famous song named "Pleiku eyes" composed by a musician from Hanoi. I translate the first paragraph of this song: "You are so beautiful Pleiku. My heart wants to be broken. I don't dare to look into your eyes. The Pleiku eyes full of Great Lake". This lake is a famous place in Pleiku and it's truly beautiful. It was formed by a volcano millions of years ago. At present, the water in this lake is supplied to the residents in Pleiku city, so no tourist boats are allowed to cruise at this place.

Đồng Xanh park
A model of long house of the ethnic
minority people in the Central Highlands.

Đồng Xanh park was another interesting site that we visited. It's located 10km away from the city's center. At this place you can see models of communal house, grave house, long house, gongs and wood carved statues of the Bahnar and Jrai ethnic minority people. Following is some basic information about their culture which I summarize from my collected articles:

The Communal House (Nhà Rông) photo No. 15 - It can only be found in villages north of the Central Highlands, especially in Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces. It is a large, imposing, beautifully decorated stilt house built in the middle of the village. It is where community activities take place, for example, reception of guests, meetings, wedding ceremonies, or praying ceremonies. The Communal House of each ethnic group has its own architectural style, design, and decorations. Yet there are shared features. In the village, it is often the biggest house roofed with yellow-dried Gianh leaves and having 8 big wood columns.

The Custom of Worshipping the Nation’s Ancestors

Many researchers say that there are very few countries in the world that have a worshipping ceremony for their ancestors like Vietnam. The custom of worshipping the Hung Kings has existed for thousands of years and has spread widely. It deserves to become a heritage of mankind. 

Historical books and legend have it that about 2000 BC, Lac Long Quan, a dragon, and his fairy wife, Au Co gave birth to 100 children, 50 of them followed their father to the sea and 50 followed their mother to the mountains. The eldest son, who went with his mother, stayed in Phong Chau (now Phu Tho Province) and founded the country of Van Lang. He took the title of Hung Vuong (Hung King). From then on, all succeeding kings also took this title. The story of the “Dragon-Fairy” race and the history of the beginning of the Vietnamese people and the nation were formed.

On March 10 of the lunar calendar, millions of Vietnamese people both from home and abroad came to the Hung Kings’ Temple in Phu Tho Province to attend the Hung Kings’ Death Anniversary. Photo: Hoang Quang Ha This year’s festival attracted about six million visitors both from home and abroad. Photo: Trinh Van Bo

Vietnamese Corn Pudding (Che Bap)

Glutinous and sweet corn soup as a simple yet delicious dessert

Video by: Helen

Chanel Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HelenRecipes

 

Full recipe http://danangcuisine.com/?p=1273

Ingredients
2 ears glutinous corn on the cob, thinly sliced (sweet corn can be used too)
1 liter (4 cups) water
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp tapioca/corn starch or small tapioca pearls*
8 tbsp (1/2 cup) water
1 pack vanilla sugar/ 1tsp vanilla extract

Coconut sauce video http://youtu.be/3H4hqMl7A30

*You can add glutinous rice (sticky rice) or tapioca pearls to thicken the pudding instead of tapioca starch. In that case, please cook the sticky rice or tapioca pearls until half-cooked before adding the corn. (If the soup is thick enough, just skip the tapioca starch)

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Bao Son Paradise - A perfect choice for relaxation

Bao Son Paradise, about 15km from downtown Hanoi, was funded by the Bao Son Group with an investment of 50 million USD. Although put into operations only recently, the site has become a repeat destination for many people in Hanoi.

Designed to become a high-quality tourist site consisting of several areas of entertainment, Bao Son Paradise is of both traditional and modern architecture. Passing the entrance gate, visitors seem to be lost into a tranquil world that is quite opposite to the crowded, bustling neighbourhood outside. An old quarter with the imprints of Hanoi's 36 ancient streets is re-produced on an area of over 5,000m².

The entrance gate to Bao Son Paradise

Vietnam requests China probe incidents involving sabotage of fishing boats

A representative from the Consular Department of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested that China investigate recent incidents in which several Chinese ships chased and damaged two Vietnamese fishing boats in Vietnam’s waters.

Bui Van Phai, of central Quang Ngai Province's Ly Son District, is seen on his fishing boat
that was seriously damaged by shots fired from a Chinese boat in waters off
Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in March 2013

Kon Tum (Central Highlands - part 2)

Wooden church in Kon Tum city
The mass finished at 9am on Sunday
morning (6/12) and people were
 leaving the church.

During the American War, considerable fighting took place in 3 provinces (Dak Lak, Kon Tum and Gia Lai) which I visited on this trip. In the spring of 1972, the area in and around Kon Tum province was devastated by hundreds of US B-52 raids during the course of a major battle. You may have heard about the Charlie Hill, which was the famous site of the battle in Dak Tô - Tân Cảnh. Kon Tum city is the capital of Kon Tum province. There are more than 10 ethnic minority groups in this province, for example, Bahnar, Jrai, Sedang, Rengao etc.

A few years ago I met an American veteran, who used to work as a helicopter maintenance engineer in Kon Tum during the late 1960s. He shared with me his surprise when he went back to the area in the 1990s, ie 30 years after the war. The area has incredibly changed in comparison with the war time. At that moment I thought I would like to see Kon Tum one day.

Kon Tum city, Kon Tum province - 5 & 6 December 2009

Inside the wooden church

We left Buôn Mê Thuột city at 12:30am and traveled 250km by
mini bus to Kon Tum city. I expected we would go by high quality bus same as in other cities of Vietnam, but I had no choice in this case. It took us 4 and a half hours to travel on this route. This is the trip that I don't think you would like to do. The 16 seater mini bus stopped anytime on the way to pick up more guests and they would allow as many people as they liked. To cover the lost time, the driver often drives very fast. Imagine our mini bus was passing by a big truck, while in front of us another mini bus was coming from opposite direction. Our driver could find his way in the end, but we felt like we were relieved as we still survived. Fortunately, there were not many guests that day, so we still had comfortable seats. Ticket is so cheap, VND 80,000 (US$4.5) per person for traveling 250km. Our mini bus was going up and down many slopes. There were many hills in this region before the Highway No. 14 was built. Along the way we saw rubber, coffee, pepper and tea trees.

Hue Imperial City (The Citadel)

Hue is located in central Vietnam. Complex of Hue Monuments lies along the Perfume River in Hue City. The main enceinte, the Capital City, is square in plan, each side measuring 2,235 m. The Imperial City is surrounded by 4 walls with about 600m long each and 4 gates, one of which is Ngo Mon (Noon Gate), considered the symbol of the Citadel.
That architectural system consists of Kinh Thanh (Capital Citadel), Hoang Thanh (Royal Citadel) and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Citadel). Hoang Thanh wasbuilt in 1804 but until the reign of Minh Mang it wasfinished with more than 100 projects: Therefore, when talking about Hue, people often mention and think of the golden palace, the splendid temples, magnificent tombs, or poetic natural landscapes, etc.

For approximately 400 years, Hue has become a great landscape and architectural site. Thanks to the long precious history, Hue has integrated material and spiritual values, which become its own unique special culture. Hue royal complex has been officially recognized by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Once again, in 2003 Nha Nhac, Vietnames Court Music was recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO.

Should you ever come inside the citadel, taking a look into the special feudal relics of immense architectural and cultural values, you will surely more or less love the traditional and classical side of Vietnam.
 

Image credits: flickr.com

Source: Beautiful Scenery
 

Hue Imperial City (The Citadel)

Thai Hoa Palace

 Noon Gate (Ngo Mon)

Corner Detail of the Ngo Mon Gate

Thai Hoa Palace

Corridor - Imperial Enclosure

The lotus lake in Tu Duc Tomb

The Old Citadel of Hue

Forbidden Purple

Hue Citadel Gazebo - This gazebo like structure is right behind the Thai Hoa palace

Minh Mang Tomb

A Grand Archway

 

Tu Duc Tomb

If you like something mysterious and valuably architectural, you should take a visit to the tombs of ancient Kings. Situated in the middle of the hills on the Southern bank of Perfume River are very beautiful tombs of Nguyen Kings. Among these tombs are the four famous ones with the name and the arrangements of the tomb reflected each Emperor's points of view, personality and tastes.This is majestic Gia Long tomb, imposing Minh Mang tomb, poetic Tu Duc tomb and magnificent Khai Dinh tomb.

Face of Guardian of Tomb of Khai Dinh in Hue

Emperor Khai Dinh Tomb, Hue Vietnam

Thiên Mụ Pagoda

Drying cored stick incense

Girls on bicycles - Cot Co Flag Tower

Hue city A little sailing on a fine day

With the blue water, Huong riverwinding immense moutains, overacross Hue citadel making a chamingscene

Buildings and their reflection along the Perfume river at sunrise in the suburbs of Hue, Vietnam

Lang Co Beach is one of the mostplace beauty scene and best naturalcondition with blue water and the vasttropical forests

Lang Co Beach

Lap An lagoon

Lăng Cô Village Huế

Thanh Toan tile-roofed bridge

Hue by night.

Picture taken from the terrasse (King’s Panorama Bar) of the Imperial Hotel

Trang Tien Bridge

Trang Tien Bridge over Huong river

National high school (Trường Quốc Học Huế) - École primaire supérieur

Besides all these, Hue’s culture is also found in its famous “non la” or conical hats. You can meet a long-haired Hue’s Vietnamese girl in the traditional long dress (Áo dài) and a graceful conical hat.

Vietnamese girls wearing conical hats