Airlines increases flights to Nha Trang during summer

The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines and the low-cost Jestar Pacific airlines will increase flights to Nha Trang City of the central province of Khanh Hoa to meet tourists’ rising demand during the vacation season.

Between June and August, Vietnam Airlines will increase the number of flights on the Hanoi-Nha Trang route to four per day and from Ho Chi Minh City -to Nha Trang to five per day.

Meanwhile Jestar Pacific will reopen the Hanoi-Nha Trang route on June 1 with two flights from each destination per day.

(Source: VNA)

Monuments of the Cham culture still stand

Tucked away just 2km from the center of Nha Trang City, Thap Ba, a Po Nagar Cham Tower, is one of the significant destinations for enthusiasts of culture, old architecture and ethnic Vietnamese peoples.

The Cham towers complex is the only relic of the Cham culture. The towers have a long history of establishment, existence, preservation and development from the eighth century to now. The towers were built when Hinduism prevailed in the land.

The tower is about 23m high and holds statues of goddesses and animals. Striking inside the tower is a giant statue of a goddess sitting on a lotus flower and leaning her back on a large rock in the shape of a bodhi tree leaf.

The outside stone wall of the tower is covered with images of dancers in traditional costumes, sailors, farmers husking rice and hunters with bows and arrows. There is an altar with a statue of Po Nagar with 12 hands, two hands on her knees and five embracing weapons on the right side and five more holding bells, plates, bows and horns on the left side. Scattered around the temple are statues of humans and animals that augment the ancient Cham architecture and décor.

The complex also puts on traditional dance performances by Cham ladies.

(Source: SGT)

Doc Let Beach – primitive beauty beckons

Ninh Hoa, a coastal district in the central province of Khanh Hoa, is well-known for its ocean temperate climate and as a land of sunshine and cool winds. In which, Doc Let Beach is suggested as ideal for summer vacation, especially for Saigonese to flee the heat and the ear-splitting noises of urban life.

After visiting Nha Trang City and other famous destinations such as Hon Tre Islet, Hon Tam Ecotourism Park, Bai Dai Beach and Cham Towers, tourists should take a trip on National Highway 1 to the north to stop by Ninh Hoa which pledges to put a nice impression in tourists’ eyes and memory by its stunning Doc Let Beach.

About 40km from Nha Trang City, passing over Banh It Pass and taking a turn onto Road 635 for just over 10km, Doc Let Beach will appear full of surprises and beauty.

In recent years the beach has gained the attention of many locals and foreigners. Doc Let Tourist Park covers about 14ha, of which five have been developed into resorts under the shade of a eucalyptus forest by Khanh Hoa Tourist Company.

These resorts feature bungalows at three-star standard priced from VND150,000 to VND300,000. The park also serves entertainment and recreational needs with tennis courts, swimming pools, massage rooms, karaoke, underwater games, beach volley ball, boat cruises, surfing and balloon flying.

Some parts of Doc Let are still primitive with endless sand dunes separating the beach and the land. In order to get to the beach you must first drag through the sand dunes which are dozens of meters high, that is why people call the beach Doc Let (Dragging Hill).

After playing with the waves and wallowing in the crystal blue water, swimmers can lie under the shade of green trees along the beach and listen to the whispers of the wind in harmony with the sounds of the waves crashing onto shore. The next must-do thing is to hire a boat for VND50,000 to cruise to Van Phong Bay to discover the daily life of the local offshore fishermen.

Shopping in Doc Let is another fantastic experience of the trip. Sellers stand in lines at the market gate and invite guests. Doc Let’s seafood market is inside Doc Let Tourist Park and sells fresh seafood such as crab for VND90,000 per kilogram, shrimp for VND100,000 per kilogram or snails for VND20,000 per kilogram.

An overnight stay at Doc Let Beach on a clear star-studded night is wonderful. The surface of the sea shimmers with the lights of the fishing boats. Indulging in the vaporous lights of the boats, the twinkling lights of the stars and the soft sounds of the waves and winds, daily stress is swept away. At the park or on the beach, tourists also can enjoy seafood prepared by fishermen.

(Source: SGT)

Ponagar Festival opens in Khanh Hoa

The Goddess Ponagar Festival 2010 opened in Nha Trang City of the central province of Khanh Hoa on May 5 or the 22nd day of the third lunar month, attracting more than 5,000 pilgrims of 100 delegations from surrounding provinces. At the opening ceremony, various traditional dances of Cham people were performed to honour the beauty of the Cham culture.

According to the province’s relic and landscape management centre, the Goddess Ponagar Festival is the biggest religious festival held from the 21st to 25th day of the third lunar month every year to commemorate the Goddess Thien Y A Na – Holy Mother of the Cham community in the central region.

Earlier, the night of May 3, more than 7,000 flower garlands and coloured lanterns carried on 22 boats were released to the Cai River near the foot of the Ponagar Tower to pray for people and soldiers who laid down for the cause of national construction and defence.

(Source: VNA)

Wild features of sea, islands and specialties of Tri Nguyen fishing village

Relaxing in cool and pure sea water is a favorite activity of both adults and children on these summer days to escape the heat and noise of bustling cities. Tri Nguyen fishing village in Nha Trang City is an ideal location this summer with its attractive seascapes, islands and cuisine in new and special cooking methods of the local fishermen.

Tri Nguyen fishing village is a small village consisting of about 50 households hidden behind a mountain in the Tri Nguyen cluster of islands in Vinh Nguyen Ward, Nha Trang City. Old people say that a long time ago the Tri Nguyen cluster of islands had no residents. Then strong storms brought fishermen’s boats from the central provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Quang Nam to hide in this place. After that, these fishermen chose the Tri Nguyen cluster of islands to settle down and lived by fishing in the sea.

In between the immense sea wind and endless ocean, the village looks tiny and scintillating in the sunlight with many boat houses to feed shrimps and fishes. In the village, there are some restaurants serving local specialties but tourists can challenge themselves by fishing for their meals and letting the fishermen do the cooking. Especially, there’s a kind of good-tasting wine made from noni fruit being soaked under the sea that goes well with seafood.

After a meal, tourists can enjoy the ocean in a coracle (small round boat). Tourists will find it hard to control these coracles because they will spin around and do not follow a straight line. Or tourists can take a boat trip to visit floating houses to try various kinds of fishes, shrimp and cuttlefish. Each floating house is more than 150m in width and is divided into different cells to feed different kinds of creatures including white bass, shellfish and cuttlefish among others. Some tourists find it an interesting method for relaxation looking at these creatures of the ocean swimming around.

Sitting in one of Tri Nguyen fishing village’s floating houses overlooking the sea when the sun goes down and the sea changes color and savoring steamed and grilled shellfish could be an unforgettable experience for tourists. In the shade of sunset, this village looks seductive and shy with its gentle waves, with boats bobbing on the sea and voices and laughter of friendly fishermen and tourists.

(Source: SGT)

Mountain church in a coastal city

Nestled on the peak of a small hill in the center of the central coast city of Nha Trang, Chanh Toa Church, or Nui (Mountain) Church, is an imposing architecture, standing superbly under the endless sky and above the ocean.

The church attracts tourists not only by its elegant architecture but also by its poetic surroundings.

The church started construction in 1928 and was completed in 1933 by a French Catholic priest named Louis Vallet (1846-1945). At that time, the priest used 500 bombs to level the mountain. The church boasts elegant Western décor and its architecture is a combination of ancient and modern styles. All walls, roofs and pillars are cement.

The church also arouses curiosity by its bronze bell that was cast in France and the bell-tower which is 32 meters high and striking with a large watch which has four faces toward the four directions.

There are two paths leading to the church. The first one in front of the church has 53 stone steps, starting from Thai Nguyen Street, and the second is a stone path from the city square to the yard behind the church. In front of the church is a cave with a statute of Mother Maria where a lot of Catholic followers and visitors come to pray.

The church motif makes people think about a citadel with ramparts or a castle in ancient Roman times with naked stone walls, arches along the corridor and glass windows decorated with Western style patterns.

Seen from afar, most people think the church was built entirely of stone called da che, a kind of solid stone available everywhere in Khanh Hoa Province. That’s why the church is also called Stone Church. This kind of stone is often used to pave roads and yards.

The church is a familiar destination for tourists to the city, especially photographers and film makers.

(Source: SGT)

Air with oxygen at Yang Bay

Yang Bay Tourist Area in Y Bay Tribe, Khanh Vinh District, Khanh Hoa Province, is suggested as an ideal site for tourists to celebrate the Tet holiday and discover this area that is endowed with magnificent waterfalls, blue lakes and splendid scenery.

A view of Yang Bay Waterfall

To reach the site from Nha Trang City, tourists must pass through Dien Khanh Old Town and 40 kilometers more through deserted villages. The way to Yang Bay is rather complicated, so tourists should stop frequently to ask locals the right way if traveling independently.

Yang Bay Tourist Area is located on an area of 570 hectares of primeval forest and three waterfalls, namely Yang Bay, Yang Khang and Ho Cho. Yang Bay in the local ethnic language is Raglay, which means Heaven Waterfall. Entrance tickets are VND30,000 per adult and VND30,000 per two children. English speaking tour guides cost VND100,000 per hour and Vietnamese language conducted tours are VND50,000 per hour.

The 800 meter path to the center of the site is shaded by seasoned trees and is lovely with its flowers and creepers. However, anyone too lazy to walk the 800 meters can catch the electric bus for VND10,000.

On the stone steps of the gentle slope, tourists can start the journey to Yang Bay Waterfall with fresh air in the lungs and the relaxing feeling of cool water under the feet. The silence of the site is broken by the roaring of the waterfall spilling onto the giant rocks below. The stream from a height of hundreds of meters looks like a silver carpet under the glistening rays of the sun.

Tourists have fun in a cool stream in Yang Bay Tourism Area in Khanh Hoa Province

The waterfall sustains several small lakes below, of which the deepest is 16 meters.

The nearby Yang Khang Waterfall offers swimming or bathing in clear water. Bathing suits and buoys are available for rent, VND60,000 to VND70,000 for swim suits and VND5,000 for buoys.

After working up a hunger from the hiking and swimming, tourists can stop at Yang Khang Restaurant or Yang Bay Restaurant which was built in the traditional architecture of the highlands. While enjoying some food, locals will perform on ethnic musical instruments.

In the distance is a colorful orchid garden with many kinds of orchids brought from southern provinces. Tourists can also hire a horse-drawn carriage to enjoy the flower garden as well as the site.

Less than a thousand meters away is the pristine Ho Cho Waterfall with its wonderful surrounding landscapes.

An overnight stay ensures tourists a chance to enjoy a stone musical instrument performance and an old fashioned campfire in the great outdoors.

(Source: SGT)