Festival marks Da Lat anniversary; City festival to celebrate New Year; Travel firms offer Tet revelry; Hoi An prepares for New Year’s bash; Foreign tourists unaware of road trip; Discover Indochina in luxury

Da Lat began to celebrate its 115th birthday on Wednesday with a cultural festival featuring exhibitions, art performances, and sports events.

Opening on the same day was an exhibition titled Da Lat Now and Then along the iconic Xuan Huong Lake. It features pictures, relics, and documents on the history of the resort town since being founded by Russian bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin in 1893.

Another exhibition, which opened last Tuesday, features 60 photos depicting the town’s immense beauty and history as well as its growth. It will be open until December 21 at the Sammy Da Lat Hotel.

City festival to celebrate New Year

A festival titled HCM City welcomes New Year 2009 will take place at the September 23 Park in District 1 from December 26 to January 1. The festival, organised by the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Saigontourist Holding Co., will feature a series of cultural and cooking programmes and exhibitions. Saigontourist will be in charge of the food programme at the B Zone.

Travel firms offer Tet revelry

The Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays will come earlier than usual this year, between January 23 and 31, and offer a chance for a journey around the country.

Fiditour offers a series of tours it calls Enjoy Springtime in Viet Nam’s Homeland. They include three-day/ four-night trips to Con Dao, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, and Da Lat that combine relaxation and entertainment.

The tours offer mud baths, steam baths and massages, and activities like fishing in Phu Quoc, coral reef diving in Nha Trang, and hiking up Langbian peak in Da Lat.

Vietravel offers a new mud bath service in Phan Thiet and new tours to Nha Trang – Da Lat, Nha Trang – Phan Thiet and Nha Trang – Ninh Chu by express train. For those favouring traditional festivals, the company offers Springtime Festivals in the North, which will provide guests a chance to participate in traditional festivals like Dong Da, Co Loa, Giong in Ha Noi and Lim in Bac Ninh.

Hoi An prepares for New Year’s bash

Hoi An is preparing for a series of cultural and art performances to celebrate New Year. Starting at 10.30pm next Tuesday at the Hoai River Square there will be traditional music, folk games and lucky draws.

Along both riverbanks flower garlands and coloured lanterns will be released, followed by singing and dancing on the street.

Hoi An leaders will hold a get-together with foreigners and offer them a banquet of Asian and Western dishes.

Foreign tourists unaware of road trip

Nearly half the international travellers coming to Viet Nam and tour operators have not heard of a tour along the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) that stretches 1,450 km from central Viet Nam to Laos and Thailand, a recent survey has found.

Tour guides and travel agents interviewed for the survey too professed ignorance while nearly 65 per cent of travellers said they wanted to explore it.

Most taking the route are older Thai people who travel in groups of 30 people, with 2 per cent of themare returning to Viet Nam for a second time.

The survey, tabled at a seminar held in Hue city last week to promote the EWEC, also found that over half choosing budget hotels costing around $20.

Discover Indochina in luxury

Ha Noi-based tourism company Luxury Travel is offering tours through Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.

The Cuisine, Culture and World Heritage Discovery of Indochina tour will take travellers on a 16-day trip across Indochina.

The trip starts in Luang Prabang. From there, tourists are flown to Viet Nam before ending the trip in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Travellers will ramble around Hue, Hoi An, My Son in Viet Nam, and will take a cruise in the stunning Ha Long Bay. They will also be treated to peaks at other UNESCO World Heritage sites like Luang Prabang Town in Laos and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Trips depart daily and can be tailored to individual requirements.

More information about the trip is available at www.LuxuryTravelVietnam.com.

(Source: Viet Nam News)