Off to the fireworks competition

Local travel companies are offering three-to-four-day tours to Da Nang and Hoi An from Ha Noi and HCM City ahead of the international fireworks competition to take place in Da Nang in late April.

A three-day tour to Da Nang with Lien Bang Travelink takes in such destinations as Ba Na Hill, Son Tra Peninsula, Linh Ung Pagoda, Non Nuoc Stone-carving village, and Hoi An. Departures from HCM City cost VND7.75 million.

Saigontourist has six package tours to Da Nang, inclusive of tickets to the fireworks contest. They take in Hue, Hoi An, and other popular destinations like Ba Na Hills and Cham Islet off Hoi An.

Lao carrier to fly to central VN

Illustrative image.

A 65-seat ATR-72 aircraft will leave Pakse at 9.30am, touch down at Savannakhet at 10.10am before arriving in Da Nang at 11.40am on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

The return flights will leave for Savannakhet at 2.10pm on the same days.

The Lao carrier will first bring a delegation of tour operators, hoteliers and journalists on a trip to Da Nang and other localities next week to explore tourism products.

Northern mountain hiking tour

Topas Ecolodge, a tour operator based 18km from Sa Pa, takes customers on a hike through the entire Muong Hoa Valley (in the northern highlands), which is home to many ethnic minority communities.

Customers take a night train from Ha Noi to Lao Cai and then a Topas bus to Sa Pa for breakfast before a full-day walk through the town and along a dirt trail through vegetable fields, paddy terraces, and along a river at the bottom of the valley.

They have dinner and spend the night at Topas's bungalows overlooking the valley. The next day, they spend some time in an ethnic village to experience daily life there.

Korean island pays for tours

At a tourism programme in HCM City on Tuesday, authorities from Jeju Island in South Korea said they would pay city-based travel firms US$3,500 for each tour they arrange to the island by chartered flight.

Hundreds of Vietnamese travelled to Jeju, which is promoting itself as one of the world's new seven wonders, between October and December last year. Vietnamese can enter the island under a visa-free travel scheme.

The number of Vietnamese visitors to South Korea shot up from 46,000 in 2006 to 106,000 last year. In early February, the tourism authorities of Jeju and HCM City signed a memorandum of understanding for joint tourism promotion.

Tour to HCM City eco-tourism park

Saigontourist is offering package tours to the Vam Sat Eco-Tourist Park in HCM City's coastal Can Gio District, recognised as a World Nature Reserve and a popular destination for tourists to discover water life, bio-diversity and local culture.

Tourists depart from HCM City by bus or boat from Bach Dang Wharf in District 1, and are picked up by boat at Dau Day Wharf to cruise around the mangrove forest, exploring the fauna and flora and seeing locals do a spot of fishing.

They then take a boat to trap crabs in Vam Sat and later eat themfor lunch. They then stop at an oyster farming village to see how farmers raise and catch them. Tourists are also asked to put on the costumes of southern farmers, carry a fish trap and wade into a canal or pond to catch fish.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News