Coconut palms, the symbol of Ben Tre

Travelling by boats along rivers and canals intertwined under the shade of coconut trees in Ben Tre Province, you can enjoy traditional special dishes in its orchards and coconut gardens.
Coconut garden in Ben Tre
Ben Tre is a province that lies in the lowest part of the Mekong River Basin, some 85 km south of Ho Chi Minh City. Ben Tre Province is made up of three main islands wedged between the Tien Giang River to the north and to Co Chien River to the south with the Ham Luong River running straight down the centre. All are effectively offshoots of the Mekong River as it splits out into many fingers before spilling out into the South China Sea.
Verdant and flat, the province is mostly given over to rice and fruit cultivation. Traditional Mekong life is the norm here and it's a very unadulterated scene -- wandering the market, sipping the coffee, doing a boat trip and skipping through the local museum are the main pastimes.
Coconut palms has been seen as the symbol of Ben Tre ever since the early days of land opening in the Southern part. Famous for its coconut desserts, Ben Tre is suitably covered in coconut trees. During the war, these coconut trees were used to make coconut oil which was then used as a valuable substitute for kerosene. The province now has nearly 36,000 hectares of coconut woods. Even through years of fierce wars, coconut survived and stayed as close as a dear flesh-and-blood friend of the Ben Tre people. There was a time, many people in Ben Tre felled the tree for economic reasons, but have later been back with it because they realized it was with the coconut tree that their livelihood could be sustained for quite a long time. Today, Ben Tre's coconut area is approximately 36,000 hectares, yielding around 242 million nuts per year.
In Ben Tre, you have a chance to look at fine handicraft items made from coconut materials such as sandals, dolls, small baskets, bed lamps and vases. You can also watch how candy is made and taste it right at the workshops. If you take one of the tourist tours, you will be brought to some of the local shops. The most typical shop you will visit is coconut candy
Coconut tree
shop, a worker will explain you the process of making this product. At the end of the presentation, you can taste and buy the coconut candy.
Besides cononuts, Ben Tre is also the royal of others special fruits. Its area of orchards is around 41,000 ha, annually yielding 375,000 tonnes of fruits. The province also has a large number of famous speciality fruit trees, such as the milk yellow-meat and no-stone durian, the green-skin pomelo, the Cai Mon mangosteen, the high-yield Four Season mango, the special orange of Mo Cay, and tens of other specialities imported from other region or abroad.
Visiting Ben Tre, you can enjoy not only coconut candy and special fruits but also traditional crafts and folk culture, which are all the region's specific identity...

Yok Don National Park

Yok Don National park borders with four communes in Dak Lak province: Ea Bung and Chu M'Lanh communes- Ea Sup district, Krong Na commune- Buon Don district, and Ea Po commune, Cu Jut district. The park covers a flat plain that extends from eastern Cambodia into northern Dak Lak and southern Gia Lai provinces in Vietnam.

The topography of the site is flat, at an elevation of 200m with lowland landscape dominated by dry forest studded with seasonal pools. Semi-evergreen forest can also be found, along watercourses. There are, however, several ranges of low hills within the national park; the highest is the eponymous Mount Yok Don at 482 m in the south-eastern range. Yok Don is bisected by the Srepok River- a major tributary of the Mekong River. During the dry season, the two largest streams at the site, the Dak Ken and Dak Na, are ramified to a series of interrupted pools.
Biodiversity values.
The vegetation at Yok Don National Park is dominated by deciduous forest and semi-evergreen (mixed deciduous) forest, with smaller areas of evergreen forest, particularly on hills and along watercourses.
The deciduous forest contains members of the Dipterocarpaceae family, including Dipterocarpus tuberculatus, D. obtusifolius and Shorea obtusa. However, the Anacardiaceae, Combretaceae, Fabaceae and Myrtaceae families are also well represented. The canopy of this forest type is open and most trees have thick, fire-resistant bark.
Unlike the deciduous forest, the semi-evergreen forest at the site has a closed canopy and is stratified into five layers. This forest type is characterized by the presence of Lagerstroemia calyculata, Shorea cochinchinensis and Anisoptera scaphula. Evergreen forest has a limited distribution in the national park, being confined to higher elevations on the range of hills in the south-east of the site. This forest type is denser and is dominated by members of the Fagaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Sapindaceae, Ebenaceae and Meliaceae families.
Because deciduous forest generally supports a lower floral diversity than evergreen forest, the diversity of plant species at Yok Don is lower than that at other national parks in Vietnam. According to Anon (1998), 474 vascular plant species have been recorded at the national park, of which 28 are listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam. Yok Don is considered to be one of seven internationally important Centres of Plant Diversity in Vietnam.
Yok Don National Park has a reputation as an important site for the conservation of large mammals. Indeed, scientists consider the continued occurrence of asian elephant elephas maximus, gaur bos gaurus, banteng B. javanicus and tiger panthera tigris at Yok Don to be confirmed. In addition, evidence from recent trophies and first-hand reports indicates that the national park may support small numbers of the globally vulnerable eld's deer cervus eldii. Furthermore, two globally threatened primate species also occur at the national park: black-shanked douc pygathrix nigripes and yellow-cheeked crested gibbon hylobates gabriellae.
Yok Don is the only known site for the critically endangered giant ibis in Vietnam and supports the last known breeding sarus cranes in the country. Yok Don supports a globally significant population of green peafowl, estimated to number at least 400 individuals. Larger permanent waterways support small but nationally important populations of white-winged duck, masked fin foot, lesser and grey-headed fish eagles. Yok Don is also one of a handful of sites in Vietnam with recent records of white-rumped and red-headed vultures. However, most of these records have been from the western part of the park, close to the Cambodian border, which is closed to visitors.
Tourism activities
Buon Don district is famous as a centre for elephant riding which is considered as a long tradition of several ethnic groups in the Central Highlands. Elephant riding is now growing in popularity as a tourist attraction, bringing increasing numbers of visitors and revenue to the area. Visiting to Yok Don, you will be able to take elephant rides into the national park.
Central highland location does not mean that Yok Don National park has the transportation limitation. From the headquarters which is about 40 km from the Buon Ma Thuot airport, you can hire elephants or enter the park on foot.

Binh Ta Archaeological Vestiges

If travelling to Long An Province, you are advised to visit Binh Ta Archaeological Vestiges. Then, you have a chance to view remnants of the Oc Eo-Phu Nam culture from the first to seventh centuries.
The vestiges are situated in Binh Ta Hamlet, Duc Hoa Ha Commune, Duc Hoa District, Long An Province. Binh Ta’s architectural and archaeological vestiges including Go Xoai, Go Don and Go Nam Tuoc can be found 40km north-east of the town of Tan An in Long An Province.
Go Xoai Temple at a depth of 1.7 to 1.9m is considered a one-time celebration place of the Phu Nam people. On a collection of 26 gold objects discovered in Go Xoai, there are thin gold leaves with sentences of Buddhist sutra written in the ancient Sanskrit language.
Objects on display in Go Xoai
Other valuable objects were also excavated here. There are pieces of Oc Eo pottery, metal, precious stones, sandstone and a series of other relics from primitive man discovered around the temple.
Architectural works discovered in Binh Ta’s vestiges are a temple dedicating to the Siva deity of Brahmanism which appeared in India around the first century BC and was introduced to southern Indochina at the beginning of the Christian era. Most of the works were constructed for religious purposes, but at the same time played a role as a cultural and political centre of the ancient state.
It can be said that Binh Ta Vestages are the large-scale site of archaeological remnants in the Oc Eo culture. Let’s come to the site and explore...

Ben Tre – huge potential of ecological tourism in Vietnam

A pristine hick area with pure ecological environment created partly by the green of coconut tree lines and large fruits gardens has made Ben Tre a nation’s precious green ecological complex in southern Vietnam
"Who’s standing there looking like a coconut shadow, with long hair gone in the wind? .. That is Ben Tre’s girl...” is the famous song about Ben Tre, a green land with coconut trees, fruits gardens, rivers and canals...
Ben Tre province (a delta province) is located at the end of the Cuu Long River Delta. It has borders with the East Sea to the east, with 60 kilometer-long coastline. The province is 2,322 sq. km2, around 85 kilometers far from Hochiminh City.
Ben Tre is featured with a plain geography, which is scattered around by sand dunes and adorned by rice fields, fruit plant gardens, and numerous rivers and streams, canals and arroyos. The four Tien Giang river branches, including My Tho, Ba Lai, Ham Luong and Co Chieu rivers, split Ben Tre into 3 islands of Minh, Bao, and An Hoa. All contribute to an ecological system of rivers, canals, arroyos and green trees, facilitating transportation, hydro-electricity, and more importantly, ecological tourism potential.
Climate
As a typical tropical area, Ben Tre lies in the monsoon tropical climate with two seasons: rainy season from May till October, and dry season from November till April. The annual average temperature is 26oC-27oC. The average rainfall is 1,250-1,500mm/year. It is the favorable natural conditions that help Ben Tre gain such a pure and green ecological environment.
Formation
Ben Tre used to be part of Hoang Tran palace, in Hoang Tran town, southern Vietnam, which was set up in 1803, and renamed into Vinh Tran in the following year. In 1832, King Minh Mang enlarged and split the town into two provinces, An Giang and Vinh Long. The latter comprised 3 districts Hoang An (or Hoang Tri) (today’s Ben Tre), Dinh Vien (today’s Vinh Long), and Lac Hoa (today’s Tra Vinh). Ben Tre was then the “arrondissement administratif” (important administrative county) of Vinh Long province. During the French occupying period, the districts (counties) were to be turned into provinces according to the Decree No. 20/12/1899 by the Governor-General of Indochina. A part of Vinh Long, particularly Hoang An District, became the naturally favored Ben Tre Province of today.
What is it famous for?
Historical value
One of the attractive points to tourists is Ben Tre’s historical values. During the severe wars against foreign invaders, Ben Tre was regarded as the “General Uprising Land”, which initialized the armed patriotic struggle high tide against Ngo Dinh Diem puppet regime by Southern Vietnam’s Liberation Front. The war became most fierce in 1960. Regardless of genders, ages, and occupations, thousands of Ben Tre people arose, fight and heroically died for their homeland liberation. Drawn by Ben Tre locals, people in Sa Dec, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh and elsewhere together violently arose. Thanks to the very Vietnamese heroic spirit like in Ben Tre, finally we have a peaceful Vietnam of today. A heroic and historical Ben Tre is actually worth a visit by both inbound and outbound tourists.
The green ecological complex
If you could look through your airplane’s window down to Ben Tre, you would feel like it were some heaven’s green land! Covering the whole land is the color of green, green, and green trees adorned with pure rivers meaderring in between rows of trees. When seen from above, these rivers look like huge tortuous gentle snakes, which probably stimulates your curiosity For concrete understanding, Ben Tre is the convergence of three huge islands, An Hoa, Bao, and Minh, who owed their division from the four significant rivers: Tien Giang, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, and Co Chien. Besides so many rivers & canals, the province is favored by nature in terms of a plentiful fauna-flora system, and a pristine series of all-the-year-round green tropical fruits gardens (hick towns). All these excellent natural elements lead to a fresh-aired environment of large green coconut & fruits gardens, and an ecological system, enchanting a huge number of tourists, especially foreign ones.
Tropical Fruits & Food
The extremely tasty tropical fruits and local delicacies are desired by all visitors. Tropical fruits are available at all fruits gardens during the year, for instance, sweet mango, custard-apple, mangosteen, durian, longan, rambuton, and other kinds of fruits with segments. You can also easily find typical southern specialties here, for example, salted fish (incld. small fish paste or “mắm tép”, “còng”, “nêm”, “ruốc” or salted shredded meat, field fish, etc.), sour-tasted soup (such as fish soup cooked with carambola, tamarine, “chùm ruột”, “bần”, and fresh herbs like peppermint, beansprouts, banana flowers), bitter-tasted soup (such as bitter-melon and centella soup), braised fish (such as anabas, ball fish, “kèo” fish, “lóc” fish, and so on), kinds of shrimp, crabs, eel, frog, and so forth.
Particularly, Ben Tre boasts a unique specialty, coconut products which are available at coconut gardens. Examples are coconut candies, coconut oil, coconut quintessence, etc, from which about 50 dishes can be made. Theses days, this special kind of delicacy is sold to many areas nationwide. Besides, some other delicacies of Ben Tre are also well known, such as My Long girdle cake, Son Doc “phồng tôm” (rice chupatty with powdered shrimp), Phu Le rice alcohol, and so forth. Should you have a chance to trip around, tasting those specialties, I can assure that you will never forget such a marvelous feeling!
Religious life
As in other areas of Vietnam, Ben Tre’s Buddhism has also much improved. Famous pagodas in the region are Hoi Ton, Tuyen Linh, and Vien Minh. All of those have a long history of around 3 centuries, and are amongst the worthy destinations for those who are interested in religion, besides ecological tours.
Festivals
Festivals in Ben Tre contain all the seaside villages’ festive features. The two most important ones are Phu Le and Nghinh Ong festivals. Phu Le is a temple in Ba Tri district, organizing festivals twice per year to pray for favorable weather and fruitful crops. Wheareas the latter is held annually for fishermen to gather and amuse themselves through a series of ceremonies, entertainment, and feats activities. If luckily arrived on these occasions, you would be enchanted by the cosy world of people in waterway & riverside area.
How to get there?
Ben Tre is only 14 and 85 kilometers far from My Tho and Ho Chi Minh City respectively. What make most tourists feel excited is that they can take a ferry-boat from My Tho to Ben Tre. For a local journey, you may hire a high-speed ship at a very reasonable price.
Tourist activities
• Phung Islet or Ong Dao Dua Islet (Cồn Phụng or Cồn Ông Đạo Dừa): numerous original architectural works, and craft villages (producing coconut products and honey
• Snail Islet or Hung Phong Islet (Cồn Ốc or Cồn Hưng Phong): a lot of coconut and fruits gardens
• Fairy Islet (Cồn Tiên): a beautiful sand bank, the ideal annual recreation place of many locals
• Vam Ho Bird ground (Sân chim Vàm Hồ): shelter of nearly half a million sorks and night herons, and other wild species, date-palm jungle, and a plentiful flora (incld. water coconut, custard-apple, guava, French beans, date-palm, sea water morning glory, etc.)
• Cai Mon Fruits Garden (Vườn cây ăn trái Cái Mơn): the cradle of Southern fruits, containing a number of tropical fruit kinds (sweet mango, durian, rambuton, longan, mangosteen, etc.), and many animal-shaped plants
• Dai Dien ancient House (Nhà cổ Đại Điền): a famous beautiful old house of the Huynh, remaining in its origin

Beautiful sceneries in the Central Highlands

The Central Highlands of Vietnam (Tây Nguyên) is one of the most fascinating areas in the country. Covering provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong, the Central Highlands is an area of stunning natural beauty...

An overview

Vietnam's Central Highlands region has slowly opened up to tourists over the past decade after years of government enforced travel restrictions and today foreigners can explore the main centres of this region with relative ease. Occasionally regulations will require you to use a guide when visiting the hinterland but for most places you will be fine just on your own.

Travelling through Vietnam via the magnificent Central Highlands is a fabulous alternative to the much trodden coastal route. The Central Highlands boast beautiful natural features such as relatively untouched forests, waterfalls and spectacular scenery, which contrast with areas still bearing the savage scars of war. A large number of ethnic minority groups still live traditionally in the highlands, particularly around Kon Tum, Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot and Da Lat. During the summer season, Da Lat becomes a popular destination as its high altitude offers a slightly cooler temperature than the almost unbearable heat of the southern plains. This, combined with its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City and some great animal-shaped paddle boats plying its main lake, has made it the epicentre of domestic tourism.

For those who enjoy getting off the common tourist trail, the highlands are a great destination. It is quite easy to include a detour to this historically significant region as a circuit from the coast, leaving and returning from either Qui Nhon or Nha Trang, with a separate excursion required to reach Da Lat from Phan Rang or Ho Chi Minh City. Two weeks would allow ample time to explore, while in one week you would see the basics.

Geography

The Central Highlands is a plateau bordering the lower part of Laos and northeastern Cambodia. Kon Tum Province shares a border with both Laos and Cambodia but Gia Lai Province and Dak Lak Province only share borders with Laos. Lam Dong Province is landlocked, and thus has no international border with any other nation.

Actually, the Central Highlands is not situated on a unique plateau, instead it lays on series of contiguous plateaus, namely Kon Tum at the height of 500 m, Kon Plong Plateau, Kon Ha Nung Plateau, Pleiku with the height of around 800m, Mdrak Plateau of approximately 500 m, Dak Lak of around 800m, Mơo Nong with the height of about 800–1000 m, Lam Vien Plateau of approximately 1500 m and Di Linh Plateau of about 900–1000 m. All of these plateau are surrounded by the high mountain ranges and mounts (South Anamite Range).

The Central Highlands can be divided into 3 subregions according to its deviation in topography and climate, namely: North Central Highlands (Bắc Tây Nguyên) (inclusive of Kon Tum and Gia Lai Provinces), Middle Central Highlands (Trung Tây Nguyên) (including provinces of Dak Lak and Dak Nong), South Central Highlands (Nam Tây Nguyên) (covering Lam Dong Province). Middle Central Highlands has lower altitude and therefore has a higher temperature from other two subregions.

The Central Highlands has an average altitude of 500–600 m with basalt soil, suitable for planting coffee tree, cacao, pepper, and white mulberry. Cashew and rubber plants are also planted here. Coffee is the most important product of the Central Highlands. It contains in it many primitive forests and is protected in its national parks, such as Cat Tien National Park, Yok Don National Park, Kon Ka Kinh National Park.

Weather

Vietnam's Central Highlands are a distinct contrast from the tropical south, with an arid climate, rolling hills, and blue skies. The cool season in the Highlands runs between November and January, with temperatures averaging around 12 to 15 degress Celsius. In February, March and April the mercury surges into the 30s. Come late April, early May, the rains begin and the temperatures begin to drop a little, with the monsoon ending in October. July and August are the wettest months.

Due to the Highland's elevated altitude, year-round the weather is cooler than on Vietnam's coast. Even in the hot season, mornings and evenings can be chilly and downright cold late at night. If you are planning on travelling by motorbike, keep these conditions in mind when packing as those morning chills will slice through a T-shirt with ease at 60km/h. The best time of year to visit the Highlands is between November and January, when the landscape is lush, the rain minimal and the weather temperate.

During the warming, dry months of February through April, the area can be parched and not particularly pleasant to travel in. By April, dust and haze are major issues, as can be bushfires (both intentional and natural). The rivers are low and the scenery is not as scenic, as the remainder of the year.

Across wet season, torrential rains can cause flash flooding. The dust turns to mud and getting around, particularly on the minor roads, slows down considerably. Through July and early August the rain can seem to be almost continual. If the rain and mud do not deter you, this is a good time of year to see the region at its lushest.

Favourite places to go...

Da Lat is the most popular centre in the Highlands, followed by Buon Ma Thuot, Kon Tum and Pleiku. Most travellers, especially those on the Open Tour system, visit just Da Lat, but some opt for all four of the main destinations - Da Lat, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku and Kon Tum. The scenery is stunning. Forests, waterfalls, lakes and rivers are accessible for hiking and trekking, and there is plenty to see. To the south, Nam Cat Tien National Park is one of the most biologically diverse locations in Indochina. With two weeks in the Highlands, you could take in much of what it has to offer. Anything less than a week to take in all four provincial capitals would be too rushed.

Wedged towards the southern end of the Central Highlands, the rolling hills and lush landscape of Lam Dong province have attracted domestic and international visitors ever since the founding of the provincial capital, Da Lat, in 1897. Da Lat is one of Vietnam's premiere destinations for kitsch-hardened domestic tourists. If you are planning on just visiting Da Lat, two to three days should be plenty of time to take in all the province has to offer. Add another day if you want to overnight in Cat Tien National Park. The province boasts a comfortably temperate climate and tremendously fertile soil -- both of which have helped it develop as a tourist retreat (the original intention) and as an agricultural centre producing some of the finest fresh produce in the region. Taking in the sights and scenery surrounding Da Lat, with the longer trips heading out to Cat Tien National Park, many people opt to pick up a trip with the Easy Riders, an informal motorcycle tour group. The province of Lam Dong was once rich in wildlife and Da Lat was for a while the epicentre of Vietnam's hunting "scene". Unabashedly kitsch, Da Lat tends to either charm or repulse. The town's penchant for Disneylandesque attractions leaves many scratching their head. For others however, the stunning rural scenery, cool climate and somewhat avant-garde student scene more than compensate for the undeniably appalling taste displayed across Da Lat.

Buon Ma Thuot is the second most popular centre in the Highlands and the trips here tend to be done by pre-organised groups and are focused on city tours, some villages in the immediate surrounds and Yok Don National Park.

In Pleiku, you can visit Banhar and Jarai minority villages, including a day-long trek that takes you through four Banhar villages. We found the city tour over-hyped and the veteran tours would really only be of interest to those with an active interest in the war. Tours into the surrounds take in waterfalls, elephant rides and folk-shows, but it is suggested that Buon Ma Thuot being a better base for this type of trip.

Kon Tum offers the best potential as a true trekking destination, with a selection of possibilities including multi-day trips involving sleeping rough and visiting very remote villages. The per-person price for groups drops, so try to rustle up more people to lower the cost. You would be well advised to find like-minded travellers on Vietnam's coast and then head to Kon Tum together, as the chances of just showing up in Kon Tum and joining a group about to go trekking are as good as finding a hamburger with the works there.

Vietnam's Central Highlands really attracts tourists for its cool climate, mountain scenery, numerous of stream, lakes and water falls, the pine-forest hills, cultivated vegetable, flower valleys and many other sites. Visitors will be able to experience adventure in natural surroundings and many well-known sightseeing spots...

Dau Tieng Lake

Located on the way to Tay Ninh, Cao Dai Great Temple, and Ba Den Mountain, Dau Tieng Lake with beautiful landscape of mountains, its mysterious islets, and its fresh and pure atmosphere give visitors an agreeable feeling...

The lake is the largest irrigation reservoir in Vietnam with a capacity of 1.6 billion cubic meters, supplying sufficient water for crops in Tay Ninh as well neighbouring provinces. Especially, Dau Tieng Lake is also a frequent place for sightseeing. Being far away from the residential area, the lake has crystal like, clean water and on sunny days, the water reflects the blue color of the sky.
Stretching along the lake is the Cau Mountain and a valley next to a primeval forest close to its bank, and scattered here and there in the lake are small islets. The lake's bank with its green grass coverage could be an ideal place for camping and visitors coming there could go fishing or watching the locals catch fish in the lake.
Cau Mountain has a height of 198 meters with a diverse floristic composition and protective forest extending to 1,600 hectares. At the top of the mountain is Thai Son Pagoda, which attracts many pilgrims in the 15th day of the first lunar month. Next to Cau Mountain in the rubber plantation is Cau Nom Lake, which also has very pure and clean water with fresh air and tranquilizing atmosphere. There is also Tha La peninsula with an area of 57 hectares next to the lake. On the peninsula, locals grow many tropical fruit trees such as mango and longan. Visitors will surely appreciate the food specialties of the locality.
To reach the lake, you can follow the National Highway No.13 to Thu Dau Mot Town in Binh Duong Province. When reaching the second highway toll station on Binh Duong Boulevard, tourists turn right Nguyen Chi Thanh Street (744 Street) and run through this street for about 30 kilometers and turn right at the T-junction of Thanh Tuyen Commune in Ben Cat District. You then come to the center of Dau Tieng Town of Dau Tieng District and follow this street to Dau Tieng Lake.

Mui Ke Ga, unforgettable experience...

Clean and primitive, Mui Ke Ga (Ke Ga Cape) is the most favourite destination for visitors to Binh Thuan Province. From the top of the lighthouse built on the island, visitors can enjoy a fabulous view of the open sea...


Clean sand beach
From the beach...

Twenty-five kilometers from the city of Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province, tourists can travel by bus or motorbike along the coastline to Ke Ga Island. At Ke Ga Cape, visitors are able to wander around and clamber over cliffs and boulders piled up all over the place.

There are many international and domestic ships and fishing boats coming and going in the area. As there are reefs in the area, French and local people decided to erect Ke Ga lighthouse to warn ships of the danger.

Visitors can also stay on the island overnight to go fishing. Fishing during the full moon is another unforgettable experience. People can taste the baked sea fish they have caught by themselves and then stay up to see the first sunlight.

... to the famous lighthouse

At Ke Ga Cape stands a lighthouse, built in 1899, considered as the tallest and oldest existing lighthouse in Vietnam.

The lighthouse is called Ke Ga by local people. Ke Ga Lighthouse was built on Ke Ga Island top whose total area is about 5 ha in the coastal area of Tan Thanh Ward, Ham Thuan Nam District, about 30km away from Phan Thiet City to the South East. This lighthouse was designed by a French architect named Chnavat to guide ships to go back and forth. The construction started in February
[Ke Ga Lighthouse]

Ke Ga Lighthouse
1897 and was completed by the end of 1898, and the lighthouse was put in operation in 1900. To mark the construction period, local people put a big granite panel carved the number 1899 at the lighthouse entry gate. The lighthouse has now been operating for 108 years.

The light house with its unique architecture is about 60m tall. From that height, visitors are able to see a vast expanse of sea and sky, as well as enjoy cool ocean winds. The most beautiful moment to visit the lighthouse is at sunset. People can see a fantastic sight with splendid colours. Sometimes they can not distinguish the boundary of the sky and sea. Only 500m from the coast, people can walk to the island when the tide is out.

Ke Ga Lighthouse was built grandiosely, which can be classified as Vietnam’s tallest lighthouse, built of granite stones brought from France. A unique character of this lighthouse is that the granite stones were carved out of different cells, shapes, sides that are well-fit. So in building, they were put together and stuck by mortar. On the lighthouse, there is a big light of 2000W, which was brought from France and used to give signals ships back and forth. Presently, Ke Ga Lighthouse has become a tourist attraction, not only about art and architecture, but also a beautiful natural landscape.

Up to now, the tour to Ke Ga Cape has been always drawing much attention from international and domestic visitors.

Son Dong, the world's largest cave

Son Dong, a cave belongs to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang grotto system in central Quang Binh Province, has been discovered to be the biggest in the world.


Son Doong cave, discovered by a local 18 years ago, is more than 200 meters wide, 150 meters high, and at least 6.5 kilometers long, though the explorers said they were unable to explore it fully. Bristish explorers have recently discovered that So Dong is much larger than the world’s biggest known cave. The biggest section of Son Dong is five kilometers in length, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide, said Howard Limbirt of the British Cave Research Association team searching the area April 10-14, 2009. Son Dong is much larger than Deer Cave in Malaysia, currently considered the world’s largest, an explorer said (Deer is 90 meters wide, 100 meters high and 2 kilometers long). The Son Doong cave has replaced to take pole position as the world’s largest cave.

The Son Dong is situated below another cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang, though its entry passage is very difficult to traverse. The exploration team said they had set foot on just 6.5 kilometers along the cave, as there is a large amount of fast flowing water inside Son Dong. It takes explorers six hours of walking through a 10 kilometer long forest path from Truong Son Highway to reach the mouth of Son Dong cave. The explorer added that the Quang Binh cave has beautiful stalactites and stalagmites that are not seen anywhere else.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang grotto system belongs to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. It is a limestone region of 2,000 square kilometers in Vietnam and borders another limestone area in Hin Nammo in Laos. When describing the newly-discovered cave, the team’s spokesman, Haward Limbirt, said that it was a thing of overwhelming beauty and grandeur. He added that each grotto has its own beauty, but he is impressed by Ca Xai. This cave is near the Vietnam-Laos border. It is very deep and has a big lake inside. Explorers measured the depth of this lake, but they had only 200m of rope and the end didn’t reach the lake bed.

The British team suggested to the local authorities not to develop Son Doong Cave as a tourism site immediately to preserve its natural beauty.

Son Tra Peninsula

Quite pretty and with a good bit of naturalness, Son Tra Peninsula is a good place for visitors to Da Nang and get away for the day.



Son Tra Peninsula is 10km from the center of Da Nang City to the North-east and is 693m high above sea level. Son Tra Mountain can be seen from every places of the city. Son Tra looks like a mushroom of which cap is Son Tra Mountain and stalk is a beautiful sandy beach that affords an ideal area for bathing, playing sports, fishing and swimming.

With its sea-oriented appearance, Son Tra acts as a giant screen protecting Da Nang from storms and cyclones coming from the sea. Son Tra is put under the national protected forest regulation since it is a natural preservation area. The Peninsula is famous for its plentiful plants and fauna as well as the attractive scenery. It is said that fairies used to come here for singing, dancing and playing chess so Son Tra is also called Tien Sa (Fairies’ landing place). On this mountain, there still remain more than 30km² of natural forests, nearly 300 types of plants and several hundred kinds of fauna, including rare animal. From the top of the mountain, you can see the overall view of Da Nang City, Marble Mountains, Ba Na – Mount Chua, so interesting!

Suoi Da (Stone Stream) lies by the side of the foot of the mountain, fine sandy surfaces run round the peninsula, several breaks of waves are running steadily up and down and washing up on the stones heaped up around the seaside. All are attractive spots for tourists. It is so majestic and it is so romantic, it is so wide and it is really beautiful. In one-day stay at Son Tra, visitors can enjoy living in the resplendent flow of dawn and the quietness of twilight on this fascinating landscape. And that is a time for them to realize the value of each and every moment and the true calling of the hearts. You can also swim in the cool sea and enjoy the fine view of the sandy banks run round the peninsula. The quiet Bai But offers you relaxing times sitting in small nice houses to hear the sound of waves and look swallows fly to the mount cliffs. The colorful coral reefs at the foot of the mountain are an ideal condition for the development of diving tourism.

Son Tra is a special gift of the god to Danang. It can be seen from every places of the city. And from the top of the mountain, the vista is so enjoyable and peaceful...

Da Lat flowers

Known as the city of love and romance, Da Lat has often been compared to a graceful girl of the Highlands. The city is most impressive for many kinds of beautiful flowers...


Da Lat rose is much favored not only in Da Lat itself, but also nationwide. Da Lat sells lots of its roses to the bigger cities, such as Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. You can find many Da Lat roses in Da Lat markets. The flower comes in all sorts of colors and shades, such as red, pink, velvet and yellow. The yellow roses, which bears the name of Josephine, wife of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, are much valued in Europe. They are also quite abundant in Da Lat. Da Lat brides love to decorate their weddings with the local white roses. Some other roses bear the names of movie stars, such as Princess Grace of Monacc (Actress Grace Kelly) because they have the colors of the dresses worn by these personalities. Some of Da Lat's roses can last from seven to 15 days in vases.

The peach blossom is a sentimental symbol of Da Lat. It reminds many natives of springtime in northern Viet Nam. Though
slender, the peach blossom branch also exudes the solemnity and determination of the Vietnamese people. Flower connoisseurs often prefer peach blossoms that are bright red as rubies. Years ago, Da Lat used to have an entire forest of peach trees. Up until the 1970's, one could walk along Cam Ly Springs. It flowed slowly from Xuan Huong Lake in the west to a cliff and dropped abruptly to make a majestic waterfall. Tourists could then see the brilliantly red shawl of peach blossoms up on the Da Cat Hill each spring. That forest now only remains in the memory of Da Lat elders and older tourists, as deforestation has nearly wiped it out completely. Fortunately, there are still quite a few peach trees grown near Xuan Huong Lake. They blossom during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (January-February).

Mimosa is popular in Da Lat not only because it appears in many places in town, but also because it has found itself into the hearts of locals and visitors through the lyrics of songwriter Tran Kiet Tuong: "Dear Darling Mimosa, where do you come from? Da Lat's mountains and hills wave majestically... Da Lat with immense sky and water..."

The mimosa, which originally came from Australia, is three to six meters tall. It has bright yellow flowers and leaves that are green with a silvery luster. The tree blossoms two or three times each year and flourishes during the sunny seasons. Da Lat has two types of mimosa trees: long and short-leafed. Its scientific name is Acacia Podaly-riaefolia Cunn, Mimosaceae. According to folklore, Da Lat girls often like to place the mimosa between the pages of a book, then send it to their boyfriends. The flower retains its sweet scent, which is a reminder of her affection.

Jacaranda Acutifolia, also known as purple flamboyant or flame tree, is another special feature of Da Lat, because its flowers are purple instead of the characteristic red color of its brother in northern Viet Nam. The tree's scientific name is Jacaranda
Acutifolia. belonging to the Bignoniaceae family. Since its leaves are very similar to those of the mimosa, the purple flame tree is also called J. Mimosaefolia. Moreover, as its leaves bear the shape of an egg, the tree is also called J. Ovalifolia. The purple flame trees in Oa Lat blossom toward the end of winter and through spring. In the past, the entire town had only four purple flame trees, including three in the town's flower park and one on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street leading to Da Lat Market (in front of Thuy Ta Restaurant).

The purple flame tree came from Brazil. It is widely grown for ornamental purposes on roadsides and in parks in South America, Africa and Oceania. Vietnamese engineer Luong Van Sau was the first person to bring the purple flame tree to -Da Lat and grew it here. Mr. Luong Van Sau was also a member of the Societe Francaise des Roses. After him, other growers multiplied the purple flame tree in Da Lat.

Hydrangea is grown in many places in Da Lat, especially in private gardens, at offices and in parks. The flower has been associated with an old Roman story. According to legend, in southern Europe, a beautiful Roman princess had reached marital age. But she rejected all the proposals from the most noble and wealthy men. One day, while she was making an excursion outside the town, she saw a general being cheered by a crowd. She threw the flower she was holding in her hand, and it landed on the general. That's how she selected her husband. The flower is shaped like a ball. Its four colors change with each cycle of growth. When it first appears, the flower is white. Then it changes into light green, then dark green and finally purple.

Orchid is another Da Lat attraction. Named "queen of the world of flowers," the orchid is a common sight wherever you go in Da Lat. Among the world's 100,000 species of orchids, Viet Nam already has many of which grow in Da Lat. Da Lat grows all four types of orchids found worldwide, including those on other plants and trees as parasites, those on high rocks and cliffs. Those in leaves and mud. Those on other kinds of vegetation.

Lang Biang and Da Lat have a very interesting kind of orchid, Ian hai. In Vietnamese, “hai” is a beautifully embroidered shoe that used to be worn by noble ladies. The flower is so named as it has the shape of a “hai”. It originates from the species P. Delnatii. The flower received attention and praise at an international orchid exhibition in 1995 in Tokyo, Japan.

Gladiolus is very popular among growers in Da Lat because it is easy to grow and yields high returns. As legend has it, a Roman general captured two young prisoners and kept them in his house. His two daughters fell in love with the two prisoners. When the general discovered this situation, he became angry and made the two prisoners fight each other in a duel. However, the two young men refused to fight and fixed their swords into the ground. The general ordered them beheaded. Strangely enough, as soon as their heads touched the ground, the two swords turned into flowers the shape of a sword. In Latin, "gladiolus" means a short sword. Da Lat's gladiolus has several colors ranging from white, yellow, to purple. However, the most abundant is red and the most valued is the same red as Bordeaux wine. Da Lat sells its gladioli throughout the entire country, especially during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (January-February). The Vietnamese believe it symbolizes promise and love.

Pansy is popular in Da Lat not only because it adapts well to the local climate, but it adds to the romanticism that locals hold dear to their hearts. The flower has been grown in Da Lat since the French colonial days. Young sweethearts give each other the flower to express their warm feelings, just as its French name "pensee" suggests. The pansies are grown widely, especially around villas which bear its name such as Pensee 1, Pensee 2 and Pensee 6.

Wild sunflowers grow abundantly along Road No. 20, the passes of Bao Loc and Prenn and in valleys around the town of Da Lat. The
flowers also grow plentifully in other provinces of the Central Highlands on the western side of the Truong Son Range, such as Kontum, Gia Lai and Daklak. They are thus considered the typical wild flower of the Highlands of southern central Viet Nam. The wild sunflower tree is one to two meters tall. Its flower is bright yellow and has a diameter of 10 centimeters. The tree begins to flower toward the end of the rainy season and blossoms profusely in the dry season. One can say the dry season has begun in the Highlands when you see lots of wild sunflowers outside.

Do Quyen flower is grown in gardens or pots. It doesn't shed its leaves. Its flower grows at the far end of the branch and has 3-cm long petals. Da Lat has four varieties of Do quyen: white, pink, red and orange. The most numerous are pink. Most of the do quyen varieties sold at the market are imported from overseas. However, the red one is native to Lang Biang Mountains.

Nature has granted Da Lat a graceful beauty making it an ideal tourist destination, of which land scape exudes a sweet fragrance and shows off var colors all year round.

Bac Ha Market, feast for the eyes!

Being a minority ethnic people market, the town of Bac Ha is famous for its Sunday market which is a trading centre and meeting place for couples, friends, and relatives every Sunday.

Every Sunday, Bac Ha hosts the biggest fair near the mountainous highlands and the Chinese border. It is the largest and most colourful market in the area and attracts throngs of villagers from the surrounding hill tribes. Some walk several hours for the weekly opportunity to trade and barter food, animals, clothes and household goods. 80km from Sapa, Bac Ha Market is not only the place for buying and selling, but also a place for cultural and sentiment exchanging. On the market days, right from the early morning, all paths and mountain roads are full of people and horses pouring to the market. People usually sit in groups around a soup pan ("thang co") eating and chatting.

Many different ethnic groups such as Flower H'mong, Phu La, Black Dao, Tay and Nung minorities gather to buy and sell local products that cannot be found elsewhere. The market
was very crowded, local products for sale or barter are carried on horseback. Besides the usual items like pigs, cows, chickens, and ducks, Bac Ha Market sold dogs. As dogs were available as cuts of meat, they were also available live, right next to the live pigs, chickens, and other livestock. There was a brisk trade at the market for everything from hand-embroidered skirts to all manner of 4-legged animals. The “fresh” meat section is not for the faint of heart and might steer more than a few visitors in the direction of strict vegetarianism.

Though tourists were not in short supply, they were not the focus. Most locals paid little attention to them, rather choosing to focus on their business and the short Sunday-sized window of opportunity. Rounding the corner and pungent fumes of alcohol accosted your senses of smell, from corn whiskey, a Bac Ha specialty. The potent moonshine is decanted by vendors from large white plastic jugs to used bottled water containers. If you doubt the ability of a vendor's hooch to peel paint or light your senses on fire, you can try a shot for free.

At the fair, adventurous gastronomes can try “thang co” blood porridge, a popular dish of the H’Mong and other local people. The Flower H’mong minority is the most common here, and their colourful dresses makes is a beautiful sight.

In conclusion, I would like to mention here the comment by Mr. Ikuyo, a tourist from Tokyo (Japan): “The trip to Bac Ha Market was amazing! On the way, the scenery was beautiful and the local people were so friendly. I will come back again!”. Let’s once visit Bac Ha Market and you will be able to experience a wide range of different colorful ethnic minorities and more interesting things of life in the mountains...