Vietnam is 2012’s hottest destination

International visitors to Vietnam were up 24.8% in January compared to the same time last year, according to the Vietnam Tourist Board. Over 630,000 tourists visited the country, attracted by the cities of Saigon and Hanoi, the Mekong Delta, and luxury cruises of the Halong Bay.
But Vietnam can be a confusing place to visit because of the language barrier, the need for visas, and having to choose between all the different locations and activities on offer. That’s why many travelers are turning to specialist services online which can advise on what to do and make all the necessary arrangements.
“In Vietnam, only tour guides who are licensed with the authorities can legally escort tourists, so it’s a good idea to make arrangements with a guide before you travel,” said Nguyen Khoa, founder of Vktour.com, an online travel company specializing in Vietnam. “Vietnam can be a truly unforgettable holiday destination, and by partnering with local experts you can ensure to get the most out of your trip.”
Vktour can arrange visas and travel arrangements, then assists travelers 24/7 on arrival. By having close links with hotels and local businesses, they can offer highly competitive prices.
Vietnam is a country which is only recently embracing the tourist industry, giving visitors an insight into this historically rich and resilient country. It’s a country of contrasts, from mountains to lakes and deltas, and from bustling historic cities to sleepy villages and rice fields. The contrasts extend to the activities on offer, which suit all types of traveler.
Vktour offers adventure tours of up to six days of Vietnam’s most remote and beautiful landscapes, but can also arrange tours of the country’s World Heritage Sites. With scuba diving, trekking and bird watching too, with the right planning Vietnam really can offer something to everyone.
Vktour.com is an online travel company, founded in 2008 and specializing in travel in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. It provides tour guide services, as well as arranging great deals on inbound travel, accommodation and activities.
For more information, contact Nguyen Khoa vie Email: nguyenkhoa@vktour.com or mobile phone: +84.912122005 or visit http://www.vktour.com

Tourists flock to Sa Pa villages

Visitors to Sa Pa are enjoying adventure tours in the villages of Ta Giang Phinh in Sa Pa township and Nam Tam in neighbouring Lai Chau Province, where the local people fiercely cling to their traditions.

The tours have become particularly popular in spring, the best season to visit the mountainous area. But Sa Pa is popular from August to April, with foreign tourists flocking to the region.

Ta Giang Phinh is 25km from Sa Pa and is home to the Mong and Dao people. The 3,000m-tall Mt Ngu Chi Son is nearby and the second highest peak in the area, after famed Mt Fansipan.

The village connects with Sa Pa on a narrow road which snakes through the mountains, past native chayote. The mountains and valley of maize and terraced rice fields are seen on sunny days when the clouds clear.

“The village is a very new site that we included among our destinations last year,” said Green Sa Pa Tour Co director Dao Van Phong. “We want to introduce an isolated village where the lifestyle has yet to change. People living in the village are always hospitable, and visitors can take break at any house during the two-hour walk around the village.”

Phong said his company brought 500 visitors to the village last year.

As the village is nudged in the large Sin Chai Valley , 500m above sea level, tourists can easily find the local Mong people farming the terraced fields or trek through forests of cardamon. Locals often invite visitors with maize and perform the khen (bamboo pan-pipes) dance as they express their hospitality.

The women often stay at home to weave brocade for clothing. With families scattered in isolated spots around the valley and no means of transportation, the only way to get visitors to explore the village is by walking.

“We set up the village to represent the typical lifestyle of the Mong and Dao people,” said Green Sa Pa product manager Phung Gia Cao. “Tourists can explore the interesting culture of the Mong and Dao themselves.”

Nam Tam Village , in Lai Chau’s Binh Lu District, is another hour’s drive from Ta Giang Phinh and is in the heart of one of the largest granaries in the northwest of Vietnam . The village of ethnic Lao, Thai and Lu people, with a population of 2,600, sits on a bank of the Nam Mu River on low terrain and amid fertile paddies.

The scenery along the 45km route from Sa Pa to Nam Tam fascinates tourists. On sunny days, clouds dot the blue sky over the mountain ranges.

“Our van often takes many stops along the roadside for tourists to grab a quiet moment on sunny days,” said Phong.

As Nam Tam lies along a 20km stretch of the Nam Mu River, rafts are the most popular vehicle for locals to fish or transport rice during the harvest.

“You can easily find a raft on the river as the locals often fish in the daytime,” said Phong. “We have already set up a local service, so tourists can board a raft as soon as they arrive in the village. They can paddle themselves along the river and stop at any village along the bank.”

Phong said his agency can also arrange rubber rafts instead of bamboo.

After a short stop on the river bank, visitors can mount bicycles for a 20km ride around the area.

“The cycling is a change after a few hours of rafting,” said Nguyen Anh Manh, a guide from a Hanoi-based travel agency. “Tourists can stop at several points in the village. They can even leave their bikes and keep walking if they want.”

“I’ve been assigned to take tourists to Sa Pa town for years,” Manh added. “Nam Tam and Ta Giang Phinh are actually the best places to stay the night.”

Nam Tam Village , which includes three hamlets, is a recognised place to make a homestay. Tourists can spend the night in a hamlet of the Thai ethnic group and view traditional folk dances around a campfire at night. The Thai people hosting the visitors offer grilled fish and meat as the tourists relax after a hard day of rafting and cycling.

“Travellers can dance with the locals, and roast fish over a wood fire for dinner,” said Manh. “A night in a stilt house will refresh you for your next day’s journey.”

Many tourists making a homestay in the village during the Lunar New Year when Thai people flock in with food and wine to celebrate the new year festival.

Int’l celebrities and opportunity for advertising Vietnam’s tourism

Last year Vietnam’s famous tourist destinations like Sapa, Ha Long Bay, Con Dao Island welcomed world stars. The chance to lure international VIPs to Vietnam is open.

In mid-November 2011, the big family of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie chose Con Dao Island in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau for their four-day vacation. The star couple and their children stayed at the five-star Six Senses, walked on the beach, swam in the blue sea and enjoyed Vietnamese cuisines.

The couple also paid a visit to the Con Dao prison, one of a famous relic of the war. Before leaving Con Dao, Jolie said: “Con Dao is very beautiful. My kids like the island very much. We hope to return here in the future.”

The two Hollywood stars and their Vietnamese origin adopted child tasted Vietnamese folk cuisines like cua lot (soft-shelled crab), Vietnamese salad, braised pork and bun thit nuong (vermicelli with roast pork), etc. at a restaurant in HCM City.

It was a big surprise that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent his Christmas holiday in Vietnam. The young billionaire and his girlfriend visited the Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi and welcomed Christmas on a cruise ship on Ha Long Bay, a world natural heritage. The Facebook CEO and his friends rowed kayak boats to discover the famous bay and Sung Sot cave.

Why did Zuckerberg select Ha Long Bay for the Christmas Day? “Just because Ha Long Bay is very beautiful. I, my girlfriend and my group had a very interesting night on the bay. I will return there if I have a chance,” he said.

The Facebook CEO and his friend also had interesting experience in Sapa, Lao Cai province when they visited villages of ethnic minority groups in the northwestern region of Vietnam. They walked and pedaled through the villages of Dao, Tay and Xa Pho groups. They played folk games like nem con, blind man buff, etc.

At the hotel, American visitors enjoyed traditional songs and dances performed by Mong children and tasted Vietnamese dishes like rice, Pho, spring roll, fried vegetable, roasted fish, roasted pork with Sapa mushroom.

“Mark Zuckerberg and his friends praised our cuisines. His girlfriend Priscilla Chan asked us about recipes,” an employee of Topas Ecolodge Resort in Sapa said.

The visits by Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and the Facebook CEO to Vietnam shows that Vietnam is more appealing to international visitors. These are also rare chances to advertise Vietnam’s tourism to the world.

Many foreign newspapers published articles and photo stories about Zuckerberg’s tour in Vietnam, especially the pictures featuring the billionaire on a buffalo.

From a unfamiliar resort, the four-star resort named Topas Ecolodge in Sapa has been known widely after Facebook CEO’s tour.

The resort’s deputy director Le Phuc Thien said that visitors to resort’s website has risen by 6-7 times after Zuckerberg’s trip.

“Previously our major visitors were European but I believe that the number of local tourists will strongly increase in the coming time,” Thien said.

Nguyen Van Tuan, chief of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that world celebrities’ visits to Vietnam are very good opportunities for advertising Vietnamese tourism to the world.

“We are working on a PR plan through foreign news agencies whenever world VIPs visit Vietnam. This is a new method so we need to think how to make it works,” Tuan said.

Top things to do when touring Vietnam

- Cruising along Halong bay in Quang Ninh province. This is one of Vietnam’s most beautiful areas, Halong bay has fascinating limestone formations, coves for night-time excursions, sheer cliffs, grottoes, arches and scores of small islets. There are plenty of activities such as Kayaking that are well worth taking time out for as this is one way to really appreciate the beauty of the area as well as a good way to see the fauna and flora without disturbing the nature.

- Hanoi city tour. If you are in Hanoi you can’t afford to miss some of the the most popular spots such as Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the surrounds area, Temple of Literature, West lake, The Old Quarter,the museum of Army, History and especially the museum of Ethnology.

- Boating along the canals of the Mekong delta. This will take you across the water or through the local canals on many interesting sightseeing excursions that definitely require a camera. Larger boats venture up the Mekong River and this is a definite MUST DO if you are in the area of Can Tho or one of the other cities or villages that rely on this massive source of water for both transport and food. Climb Sam Mountain near Chau Doc if you want to see dozens of temples, pagodas and the like as it is well worth visiting. Located about 6 km from the city, temples abound and the trek to the top of the mountain is also popular…though one can go by motorized vehicle if you so desire.

- Crawl through the Cu Chi tunnels. This extensive network of nearly 500 km of Viet Cong tunnels used in the French Indochina and American wars. The tunnels have complete facilities, from kitchens to printing presses and even street signs, all of which were used to aid the NLF (National Liberation Front) military. Tours involve a description of the tunnels, after which tourists are allowed to crawl about the maze. It is about 50km north-west of central Ho Chi Minh city.

- Hoi An is a must-see place for travelers to Vietnam. There is plenty to do in and around Hoi An. You can get measured up for a suit, or pedal about town on a rented pushbike. You could also cycle past the paddy fields to the sandy beach. Choose a spot under a thatched parasol with a book and some freshly sliced pineapple. At sunset, the local people flock to the beach to cool off and play some football after a long day at work.

- Dalat is the place to be if you want to visit interesting tribal villages. Although most are located further out of town, you can visit the villages of some of the hill tribes, such as Lat Village and the Chicken Village (with a huge statue of a chicken) close to Dalat itself. Don’t forget your camera as the photo opportunities are endless!

- Trekking through Cuc Phuong national park.This national park is one of the last tropical primeval forest reserves on Earth. There are 64 species of fauna and thousands of species of flora, many of which are extinct everywhere else in the world. Bizarre and fascinating species of animals from flying lizards to monkeys dwell within the park’s 61,000 acres. Caves and grottoes, where various artifacts have been discovered, can be located in the mountains within. It is located approximately 120km south-west of Hanoi, in Ninh Binh province.

- Sapa trekking. For adventure lovers, a trip to Sapa and surrounds area is always satisfied. Walking down through the villages surrounds Sapa offers you some challenge as you balance on the rice terraces and a small trail on the steep mountainside. To understand more about the culture and the daily life of the hill tribes people, a homestay is very highly recommended.

- Visit Phu Quoc island, the largest island in Vietnam that lies in the Gulf of Thailand, 45 km from Ha Tien and 15 km south of the coast of Cambodia. Phu Quoc island, part of Kien Giang province, is also part of an archipelago consisting of 22 islands of all sizes. The island covers an area of 585 km2 and is 50 km long. It is also called the Emerald Island because of its natural treasures and infinite tourism potential.

Create your unforgettable Vietnam holidays

Vietnam is one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the world located in the southeast of the peninsula of Indochina. World renowned as the best in the Red River delta and Mekong delta, the fate of the country’s natural beauty. Needless to say, travel in Vietnam will delight travelers and thrill in the world. Yes, yes, Vietnam is most preferred by tourists from all over the world for its scenic beauty. Throughout the year, the country has one of the thousands of travelers. Attractions to keep the mesmerized and also provide a way to feel beautiful in the lap of Mother Nature.

Pacific coast, stunning landscapes, the vibrant green rice fields, a huge mountain big mountains, deep mysterious forests, rivers deep, vibrant city, but traditional cuisine and vibrant history and culture of all these attractions to draw people’s attention to travel in Vietnam. In short, Vietnam is a wonderful blend of picturesque coastline, lush hinterland. A very short period of time, a unique culture and rich, breathtaking natural scenery, friendly people, delicious food and comfortable accommodation, and many other things have changed in the country’s most popular tourist destination in the world. Now, tourists from all over the world, to travel to Vietnam to live and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.

In addition to the coasts, the rice paddies, forests and mountains, visitors can enjoy a peaceful visit traditional villages, temples and the Grand, above all, sun, beautiful beaches, luxury beach resorts. In addition, the economic capital and industrial center of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City to keep the tourists spellbound. Many attractions such as Ben Thanh Market, War Remnants Museum, Giac Lam Pagoda, the unification of the temple, numerous attractions and entertainment including a tour in a land full of memorable and enjoy life.

When it comes to travel in Vietnam, there are many online travel companies offer attractive and affordable packages with detailed travel in Vietnam. Online travel agencies help make your holiday a memorable experience in Vietnam and transparent. For the services of attractive travel packages and travel in Vietnam, please visit: http://www.vktour.com