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Dien Bien Phu - where Vietnam won its decisive victory to end the French occupation in 1954. According to legend, the Thai people, who account for 40 percent of the population of modern-day Dien Bien Province originally named the valley surrounding Dien Bien Phu as Muong Then. The Thai people linked the land with spirituality, and spoke of Muong Con (the land of the living), Muong Phi (the land of the dead) and Muong Then (the land of God). The Thai people believe that Then...

VietNamNet Bridge – The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has finished checking the application for the establishment of Mekong Aviation, which has the planned chartered capital of VND200bil, meeting the requirements set by the Aviation Law. Mekong Aviation is scheduled to become operational in 2010 and will consider Noi Bai Airport as its base airport. The airline plans to have a fleet of 10 aircrafts to carry passengers on domestic routes,...

Many foreign tourists have cancelled their tours of Vietnam as these tours cost 20-30 percent more than earlier this year. VietNamNet Bridge – Over the past nine months, Hanoi received 960,512 international arrivals, a rise of 5 percent over the same period last year, accounting for one third of the country’s total international tourists, according to the municipal department of Culture, Information and Tourism. However, the Department says the number of tourists to...

VietNamNet Bridge – Windsor Plaza Hotel, in collaboration with the German Business Association, will organize a traditional beer festival called Oktoberfest 2008, which will run from October 8 to 12. Like in previous years, German ambassador Rolf Schulze will join the festival to perform the “O’zapft is”, the traditional tapping of the first beer barrel, signaling the opening of the festivity. During the festival, a modern, young and dynamic German music band...

VietNamNet Bridge – Cottages have been built in Cao Banh Hamlet, Phuong Do Village, Ha Giang Town, to lure more tourists with community-based tours. The village, situated at the foot of the Con Linh mountain range in the northeast province of Ha Giang near Sa Pa, is home to 400 ethnic Dao people who earn a living through agriculture and forestry. Cao Banh is poor with a per capita income of only VND6 million (US$360) per year, the village isn’t connected to the national...

VN tourism eyes pulling in more Japanese, Korean visitors Journalists, travel agents and tour operators from Japan and South Korea will participate in a familiarisation trip organised by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to attract more visitors from these countries. Vu The Binh, head of VNAT’s Travel Department, said 70 people from Japan would visit Nha Trang next Friday and 30 Koreans will visit the next day. The fam trip, the largest to Viet Nam, is a joint...

Hundreds are flocking to the Chi Day caves in Yen Son Commune, Yen Chau District in the northern province of Son La. VietNamNet Bridge - A complex of caves has started attracting hundreds of tourists daily to the northern province of Son La, as word of mouth is spreading about its unimaginable beauty. Amongst endless fields of maize and beaming sunlight lies an entrance to a mysterious set of caves with a rich past and soaked in legend that has just recently been tapped for...

VietNamNet Bridge – When I was a child my world was the homeland around Cau Ke Market in Tra Vinh Province, green or yellow paddy fields waiting for the harvest season. It was not until my father took me to Ba Mi or Huu Thanh Commune in Vinh Long Province that I had the chance to see the ancient charnel house of Huynh Ky, one of ten notorious landlords of the Mekong Delta region a long time ago. For many years this beautiful relic has remained in my mind as the wonder of my home...