Gift giving in Vietnam: FAQ’s with Footprint

Many people have frequently asked us: What should I bring as a gift for the home stay family?

Footprint appreciates your kindness and generosity. Gift giving is not only appropriate all over Vietnam, but also very much appreciated. Good small gifts that are appropriate include: something special from your country (for example: pins, a calendar, small trinket, small t-shirts, a baseball cap, or a picture book); school supplies (for example: notebooks, pens, calculator); something fun for the kids (for example: a kite, a board game, or a soccer ball); or something for the adults (for example: a tea set, tools, a picture frame, or a bottle of special wine).

It is however, best not to bring candies to prevent the common problem of tooth decay.
Footprint Vietnam Travel has a long list of FAQs on their website. Follow this link to find more FAQs and answers so you can best prepare for your Vietnam tour.

Halong Bay in early list of top 10 wonders

Vietnam’s Halong Bay has been named in a temporary list of the world’s 10 new wonders of nature by the New Open World Corporation, an associate of the non-profit New 7 Wonders Foundation.

The others in the list are the Dead Sea in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; the Grand Canyon in the US; the Great Barrier Reef off Australia and Papua New Guinea); Jeita Grotto cave in Lebanon; Jeju Island in South Korea; Komodo Island in Indonesia; Puerto Princesa Underground River in the Philippines; the Sunderbans in Bangladesh and India; and Vesuvius Mountain in Italy.

They have received the most votes so far, according to the New7Wonders, whose president, Bernard Weber, said the list could change in the remaining days of the campaign before the final list was released November 11.

Earlier on September 27 New7Wonders Foundation chairman Bernard Weber announced that Ha Long was among the 28 finalist candidates for the new seven wonders of nature.

To vote for Halong Bay, one has to go to the website http://www.new7wonders.com, dial + 1.869 760.5990 and press 7712, or send a text message (“Halong”) to 147.

Source: dtinews

Expects over 5 million travelers to Vietnam tour in 2011

A total of 4.8 million foreign travelers to Vietnam tour during the first ten months of the year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Although the number of foreign visitors declined by 25 percent in September compared to the same period last year, Vietnam is optimistic of welcoming 5.3-5.5 million foreign visitors in 2011.

This year, the country hosted many political and cultural events such as ‘ASEAN’, ‘1,000th anniversary of Thanh Long’ in Hanoi, which made it interesting for foreign visitors to visit the country.

The number of foreign tourists to Ho Chi Minh City is estimated to reach 2.9 million this year, an increase of 10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Source: Dtinews

Halong – a wonder of the creator

Located in Quang Ninh Province, Halong Bay includes the sea areas of Halong City, Cam Pha Town and a part of Van Don island district. With the admirable natural beauty and multiform, special values, Halong has become famous destination of Vietnam tour for domestic and international visitors.

The legend has it that, once upon a time, soon after the Viet people established their country, invaders came. The Jade Emperor sent Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons down to the earth to help the Viet people fight against their enemy. When the dragons landed down on the earth, invaders’ boats were rushing to the shore. The dragons immediately turned into thousands of stone islands emerging in the sea like great walls challenging the invaders’ boats. The fast boats couldn’t manage to stop and crashed into the islands and broke into pieces. After the victory, Mother Dragon and Child Dragons didn’t return the heaven but stayed on the earth at the place where the battle had occurred. The location Mother Dragon landed is present Halong Bay and Child Dragons landed is present Bai Tu Long Bay. The dragons’ tails waving the water created Bach Long Vi (present Tra Co Peninsula).

Halong Bay covers the area of 1,553km² and encompasses 1,969 islands of various sizes which are mainly limestone islands with tectonic age from 250 million to 280 million years. The process of long geological evolution created the unique Halong Bay in the world with thousands of islands which look like fantastic sculptural and artistic works of various graceful shapes such as Canh Buom (Sail) Islet, Trong Mai (Cock and Hen) Islet, Lu Huong (Incense Burner) Islet… All of them are vivid and soulful.

Inside the stone islands in Halong are various caves considered as magnificent palaces on the earth such as Thien Cung (Heaven Palace), Dau Go (Driftwood), Sung Sot (Surprise), Trinh Nu (Virgin)… Many people from all over the world to Halong have felt puzzled as their vocabulary is not rich enough to depict the splendor of this place.

Halong is also home to great biodiversity with typical eco-systems like mangrove forest, tropical forest, coral… These eco-systems are where thousands of fauna and flora species concentrates. Some species are particularly rare and can’t be found at any where else.

In addition, Halong Bay is also attached to glorious historical pages of Vietnam country with famous sites such as Van Don – the busy trade port in the 12th century, Bai Tho Mountain – where preserve autography of kings and celebrities and Bach Dang River – witness for two famous naval battles of Vietnamese people against invaders. Also, Halong is considered as one of the cradles of human kind with the glorious Halong culture in the late Neolithic age through archeological sites as Dong Mang, Xich Tho, Soi Nhu and Thoi Gieng…

Up to this time, some floating fishing villages have still existed in the sea area of Halong Bay such as Ba Hang, Cua Van, Vong Vieng, Cap La. Many special tangible and intangible culture values of the coastal area have been preserved in these fishing villages, especially Cua Van fishermen’s dual love songs, dum songs, wedding songs … Visiting these fishing villages, visitors will have chance to study the fishermen’s daily activities as well as typical traditional culture in Halong Bay.

In 1994 and 2000, Halong Bay has recognized by UNESCO as world natural heritage for its outstanding aesthetic and geographical, geomorphologic values. The UNESCO-recognized zone has the area of 434km². It looks like a giant triangle with Dau Go Island (in the west), Ba Ham Lake (in the south) and Cong Tay Island (in the east) as its three angle points.

In the global vote for new 7 wonders of nature mobilized by New Open World organization, Halong Bay has been listed in 28 official finalist candidates. Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism; provinces and cities nationwide have carried out many activities to promote Halong Bay, especially voting campaigns which have attracted participations of individuals, organizations as well as international visitors.

The vote for new 7 wonders of nature will last until November 11, 2011 and the New Open World organization will officially announce 7 place-names with the highest number of votes. Hoping that with incessant promotion endeavours and supports of the people nationwide and the international visitors, Halong Bay will be one of new 7 wonders of nature.

Source: TITC

Friendly critters in Cuc Phuong National Park

Beyond the endless trekking and enriching cultural experiences found in the Cuc Phuong National Park, the destination provides ample opportunity to come face to face with some interesting critters. Cuc Phuong is one of the most biologically diverse areas in Vietnam. The landscape is blanketed with dense vegetation and true Vietnamese jungle; the perfect home for a large variety of insects, animals, birds, and the Cuc Phuong Endangered Primate Rescue Centre.

“Dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, breeding, research and conservation of the endangered primates of Vietnam” (Source: http://www.primatecenter.org/), the Rescue Centre is home to over 140 primates from 15 species - some critically endangered. A visit to the centre is an interesting one. Lucky visitors are treated to monkey serenades.

Other chance encounters are with the abundance of insects. Creeping just beyond one’s usual perspective are crawlers of all sorts. As the sun dips beyond the mountains, and night falls, chances of seeing giant moths and huge buzzing beetles increase a thousand fold. Attracted to the light, insect-lovers will be astounded; the rest of us, will be running for cover.

Footprint Vietnam Travel runs a variety of options to trek and home stay within the Cuc Phuong National Park, as well as within the area. Check out their website for more information.

Source: Ocvit-Footprint Travel

Halong Bay’s World Wonder bid receives a boost

Vietnamese people will have the chance to vote for Halong Bay as a new World Wonder through a TV programme to be broadcast live on October 29.

The live programme will be concurrently aired on Vietnam Television’s Channel 1 (VTV1) linking four places: Halong Bay in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh, the capital city of Hanoi, the former imperial city of Hue in the central region and Ho Chi Minh City.

Famous figures, including pop stars, will vote for the bay and deliver messages calling on audiences to take part in the vote.

Halong Bay has been twice recognised as a World Natural Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The programme will help promote the image of the World Heritage site of Halong Bay and Vietnam as well, said Nguyen Van Tinh, head of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) at a press briefing in Hanoi on October 19.

According to MoCST Minister Hoang Tuan Anh, the voting campaign is entering the final stage. New7Wonders will announce the final results of voting around the world on November 11, 2011.

He quoted New7Wonders as saying Halong Bay has received a relatively high number of votes compared to other nominees.

Vietnamese people can vote for Halong Bay by logging on www.new7wonders.com and Facebook and using the SMS service.

The voting will be closed at 11.11am (GMT) on November 11, 2011.

Source: VOV

“Ho Chi Minh City – 100 interesting things”

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism has announced the City People’s Committee implementation of the programme “Ho Chi Minh City – 100 interesting things”.

Accordingly, in 2011, the programme will expand its voting norms to 20 categories but narrow the number of candidates of each category from 10 to 5 in order to improve the quality of the vote.

The programme aims to improve and standardise tourism service quality in Ho Chi Minh City to become more competitive with regional countries, introduce tourists to attractive products and destinations of Vietnam tour and reveal investment opportunities to potential investors.

The 20 categories include:

1. Five most luxury hotels in the City

2. Five best business hotels

3. Five outstanding places to organise meetings and exhibitions

4. Five special restaurants

5. Five restaurants serving the best Vietnamese food

6. Five luxury shopping centres

7. Five typical traditional markets

8. Five typical museums

9. Five typical architectural projects

10. Five typical historical and cultural relics

11. Five ecological tourist sites

12. Five typical places for art performances

13. Five perfect places for night entertainment

14. Five places for health care and spa treatments

15. Five typical souvenir trademarks

16. Five favourite fruits

17. Five favourite Southern dishes

18. Five typical tourism types

19. Five special cultural, sport and tourism events

20. Five special transport trademarks (one airline, one trademark for waterway and three trademarks for road)

The results of the vote will be announced in early 2012.

Source: BTA