Wild Lak Lake

Lak Lake (Lak District, Dak Lak Province) is one of the must-go destinations when one visits Dak Lak Province in particular and the Central Highlands of Vietnam in general. The natural beauty and its fresh atmosphere, elephant riding and dug-out canoe rowing on the lake also attract visitors.

Rowing a dug-out canoe on Lak Lake, one can enjoy its sapphire coloured water, and see fish swimming in the clear water and even hear the sound of a fish catching its prey in a quiet space. The serene ambience and the idyllically glassy water make one forget all the worries of daily life.

Riding an elephant to cross the lake also amazes tourists. Each elephant often carries two tourists and a mahout. On the elephant’s back, it seems like being in the middle of an endless lake. This is also a combination of tourism and wildlife conservation as elephants in the Central Highlands are endangered. 

A dug-out canoe crosses Lak Lake. Photo: Tat Son/VNP

  The pier for dug-out canoes at Lak Lake. Photo: Tat Son/VNP

Tết 2015 in Hanoi (the Year of the Goat)

A good luck wish for
the New Year
New Year decoration at
 a shopping mall in Hanoi

It has been six years since my last Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) celebration in Hanoi as I often traveled in other cities of Vietnam and abroad during the holiday. This year we have a long holiday (9 days) so it is a good chance for our family reunion. I spent the week before Tết learning to drive a car. This was a new experience for me and I really enjoyed learning this new skill. I found a private instructor and he often arranged another learner going with me, so that we could share the cost. Our driving lesson lasted 5 hours every morning and it cost us USD 10 per hour. However, some days I drove by myself under instructor's guidance and we traveled over 130km on different roads. The week before Tết is always the busiest time of the year. The road is very crowded and the traffic is unorganized at times. On the first day of my driving lesson I had to drive on a busy highway. I still remember that day as I drove like a drunk, sometimes moving toward left side, sometimes toward right side. Every day we drove to a driving course outside Hanoi which is quiet comparing with other sites where 20 cars may practise at the same time. However, we only practised there for an hour then back on the road again.

Recipe: Chem chép nướng mỡ hành – Vietnamese grilled mussels

A very quick and easy recipe but the final dish can really impress.

Video by: Helen

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

Ingredients

• 1 kg mussels 2.2 lb (eg. NewZealand Greenshell)
• 3 tbsp butter melted
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup spring onion chopped
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (or 2 tsp fish sauce)
• 1 tsp tapioca/corn starch
• 1 tsp chili sauce
• 1 tbsp ginger julienned
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 4 tbsp crush peanuts
• 4 tbsp cripsy fried shallot
• 1 wedge of lime

Tet dishes offer taste of past New Years

Taste of Tet:A tray of Tet dishes. — VNS Photos Hoang Ha.

Tet dishes have special significance as they reflect the Vietnamese tradition of each family member expressing their personal progress, happiness and professional prosperity through the tray of dishes.
But more importantly, children and grandchildren get a chance to sit with their parents and grandparents, no matter which part of the world they have returned from, and reminisce about old stories from their childhood and greet each other a Happy New Year.

Phong Dien – attractive with natural beauty and cuture

Phong Dien District, considered as the green lung of Can Tho City, is famous for “Gian Gua” (a giant area of gua trees), “Lung Cot Cau” and “Bung Da Noi” monuments. Travel tour to Phong Dien is really attractive for natural and cultural value of it.

Visit Phong Dien with lush garden fulled of fruit

Travel to Phong Dien Districts, visitors only have to drive along the National Road 923 from the city to Phong Dien for around 10 kilometers, where they will have to go on a wharf  across the Can Tho River. This is an ideal tour in Vietnam  for tourists.

Passing through farmlands and  lush gardens, there will appear a giant area of “gua” trees in two sides of the road. Gian gua trees are about six meters high. These trees’ roots and branches knit together so well that people cannot identify which ones are roots and which are branches. And most visitors are amazed at the spectacular scenery of Gian Gua which covers about 3,000 square meters.

Au Tau Gruel - from a Toxic Buld to a Specialty

There is something called Ha Giang interest containing enjoying au tau gruel, contemplating imposing mountains and chatting excitedly with the beautiful Mong girl in the market. The person who has not experienced this interest yet is considered never to visit this mountainous region before.

Ha Giang has a specialty that none of other places can have: au tau (ấu tẩu) gruel. Au tau is a type of wild bulb, looks similar to bulb of caltrop in the delta region that has hard, black, sharp cover.

A Journey to Vi-Giam Folk Singing Region

On November 27, 2014, in Paris (France), Nghe Tinh Vi-Giam folk singing was officially recognised as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. It is Vietnam’s ninth intangible cultural heritage honoured in the international arena.

«          Vi-Giam folk singing is two ways of singing without accompaniment which have been created and handed down by people in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces during their production and daily activities. People sing Vi-Giam songs while they lull their child to sleep, work in the fields, row a boat, weave cloth or husk rice. So the singing is often named after Jobs or activities such as Vi Phuong Vai (fabric guild), Vi Phuong Non (conical hat guild), Vi Phuong Cui (wood guild), Vi Treo Non (climbing the mountain), Vi Do Dua (rowing the boat), Giam Ru (lulling), Giam Ke (reciting) and Giam Khuyen (advising). These two ways of singing are usually performed alternately, hence they have the name Vi-Giam.»

Vi-Giam folk singing has an extremely strong vitality. It not only existed in the past but has constantly developed in the hearts of people in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces (Nghe Tinh). That’s why people in these provinces have a famous saying, “only when people here no longer have their voice will Vi-Giam folk singing be lost.”

Soon after Vi-Giam folk singing was officially honoured by UNESCO, we went to Nghe An Province, a “Vi-Giam singing region” to learn about the special features of this type of folk singing.

At 6am on a very cold winter day, we left Hanoi to begin our journey to the “Vi-Giam region”. Our first destination was Kim Lien Commune in Nam Dan District, Nghe An Province, the native land of our great President Ho Chi Minh. This place is considered one of the areas having the most developed Vi-Giam singing movement and is also the cradle of the Vi Phuong Vai singing, one of the famous tunes of the Nghe Tinh Vi-Giam.

We were received by Trinh Hung Minh, a cultural cadre in Nam Dan District. Being a cultural cadre, Minh composed lyrics of most Vi-Giam songs for Vi-Giam clubs in the region. He led us to a hundred-year-old house in Kim Lien Commune where the commune’s Vi Phuong Vai Club with nearly 30 members have regular activities.

Tran Cong Son and Pham Thi Nha, members of Nam Thanh’s Vi-Giam Club in Nghe An Province sing a Vi-Giam song at an old house in Nam Thanh Commune  where the club’s members have regular activities. Photo: Trong Chinh/VNP

In Northern Vietnam, a Region of Beauty and Ethnic Traditions

MY first glimpse of the place that some call Shangri-La came on a brisk spring afternoon as we were careening along a narrow road hemmed in by sheer limestone walls. Our driver made a hairpin turn and all at once the landscape erupted into a sweep of dazzling slopes, serrated ridges and hanging valleys. In the pocket of a mountain pass called Heaven’s Gate, Hoang Tuan Anh, who also served as our guide, stopped his pickup truck so we could gaze at the vista of radiant sky that had opened up before us. This was only the beginning, Mr. Anh said, as we resumed our upward drive. “We will go as high as the clouds!”

công ty chuyên tư vấn lắp đặt camera quan sat .

Camera Bảo Việt là công ty chuyên tư vấn lắp đặt t camera quan sat uy tín đảm bảo nhất thị trường , sản phẩm camera của chúng tôi luôn được đánh giá là chất lượng cao và giá rẻ nhất thị trường .
CAMERA QUAN SÁT
Hơn 10 năm hoạt đông, chúng tôi đã lắp đặt cho hàng trăm công ty lớn nhỏ khác nhau, chúng tôi luôn chú trọng đến sự uy tín chất lượng chính vì thế chính sách hậu mãi của chúng tôi rất được nhiều khách hàng tin tưởng, ngoài việc bảo hành theo đúng quy định nhà sản xuất camera : 1 năm đến 2 năm, chúng tôi còn trực tiếp bảo trì, thời gian bảo trì camera quan sát lên đến 5 năm.
Hệ thống an ninh của chúng tôi luôn mang đến cho khách hàng sự hài lòng và sự an toàn tuyệt đối, tránh được rủi tro không mong muốn.

Ancient Thay Pagoda proves an inspiration for writers, painters

Summer may be the best season to visit Thay Pagoda in Hanoi. It's the time to admire the flamboyantly red flowers on the large gao trees in front of the 900-year-old building brighten up the blue sky.

Holy complex: Thay Pagoda is situated at the foot of Sai Son Mountain in
Phuong Cach Commune, Ha Tay Province, around 30km southwest of Ha Noi.
— VNA/VNS Photos Phung Trieu

The poetic beauty of the pagoda has inspired many of Vietnam's painters and writers. The best-known images of the pagoda are closely related to those flowers.

Readers may be interested to know that the gao is often planted outside village gates because of the propitious colour of its flowers.

The soft white down in the heart of the huge flowers is often used by villagers to make superb pillows. And juice from the thorn-covered bark can be used as a type of antibiotic on open cuts and small wounds.

Returning to the beautiful Buddhist monument on a recent hot day, my eyes were refreshed by those resplendent flowers, which are closely attached to my childhood in the countryside.

While the pagoda is well-known locally, it's not so popular with foreign tourists and expats. But it truly is a sight worth seeing, especially this time of the year!

Popular: Water puppetry performances are held during the third month of the lunar calendar each year.

The pagoda is situated at the foot of Sai Son Mountain in Phuong Cach Commune, Quoc Oai District in old Ha Tay Province, now part of Hanoi, about 30km southwest of the heart of the capital city.

The pagoda was built in the 11th century during the reign of King Ly Nhan Tong. The abbot was Tu Dao Hanh who was well-known for his humility and generosity towards the poor.

Legend has it that Hanh invented water puppetry to mark the lives of the rural population. Since then, the art from the area has become popular nationwide.

During the pagoda's festival (the third lunar month), performances are held in the middle of the Long Tri pond located in front of the pagoda.

Thay Pagoda consists of three buildings parallel to each other: Ha Pagoda, Trung Pagoda, and Thuong Pagoda. The outer one, Ha Pagoda, is the place for offerings and ceremonies; the middle one, Trung Pagoda, is for worship of the Buddha; and the inner and highest is set aside to worship Tu Dao Hanh.

In Trung Pagoda, there is a sandalwood statue of Tu Dao Hanh sitting on a red lacquered shrine trimmed with gold and covered with a curtain. To explore this section, it's necessary to climb up nearly 100 stone steps.

Worth the effort: Cac Co cave is only accessible via steep rocks that attract sure-footed and enthusiastic visitors. — VNS Photo Bach Lien

The tranquility of the pagoda is a delight for all visitors all year round, but local guide Tran Phuong Nga says during the present lunar March, it can welcome up to 80,000.

"Many Vietnamese believe the pagoda is a sacred site. This makes it one of the most visited in the north," said Nga.

Ceremonies connected with the Thay Pagoda Festival consist of bathing Tu Dao Hanh's statue, burning incense and escorting sacred objects around the temple in procession.

There are also the cheo (popular theatre) plays, chess games - and, of course, the water puppet shows.

Nga said Hanh died sitting in meditation without food and drink for months. His dried body became an object for veneration until the Ming invaders who ruled Vietnam from 1407 to 1427 took it further up the mount and burned it.

The locals collected his ashes, mixed them with earth and made a statue for worship. From then on, the mount was called the Burning Mount.

In the past, during the festival, local young men and girls used to meet and declare love to each other in Cac Co cave inside the pagoda.

Locals still believe that if a single girl or boy enters the cave, he or she can quickly find a soulmate.

There is even a well known Vietnamese folk song that goes: "Single girls long for Cac Co cave; single boys miss Thay pagoda's festival".

However, it is very difficult to enter the cave. It can only be attempted on a dry day, because access is via steep rocks that become treacherous after rain.

The cave holds an astonishing secret. It holds 3,600 skeletons of Vietnamese soldiers who were walled in when fighting against Chinese invaders. It is deep and dark. We hired a flashlight and stepped carefully. After climbing several staircases, we saw a huge stone enclosure full of skeletons. An altar was being installed in front of it.

To get to the famous pagoda,take the bus from Giap Bat station. Or, by road, follow the Thang Long Highway heading out to Hoa Lac (from the centre of Hanoi). The turn off to the pagoda is on the right-hand side close to Quoc Oai District about 20km out of town.

Vietnamnews