Ke Go Lake: An extremely attractive eco-tourism site

The weather is always cool all year- round in Ke Go area. Tourists rowing on boats could observe water flows pouring down the lake from the mountain. At night, the space becomes mysterious because of the wave sound, wind from forests and voice of animals mingled together.

An artificial lake has 29 km long with its bed area of 30 sq.m and water holding capacity of 345 million cu.m. The lake is 8 m high above and its water level is 37 m. The water from the lake travels on 1,000 km trenches into ten thousands of fields in districts of Thach Ha, Cam Xuyen. OVer 11,000ha of natural forests and 261 ha of cultivated forests surround the lake. 

                                                                         A corner of Ke Go Lake

The forests involved in over 40 families, 300 arbour species and various scare species such as pheasants, black lemurs, and horn pheasants, especially pheasants with black crest. 

The weather is always cool all year- round in Ke Go area. Tourists rowing on boats could observe water flows pouring down the lake from the mountain. At night, the space becomes mysterious because of the wave sound, wind from forests and voice of animals mingled together, etc.

The aforementioned place-names are among the famous tourists sites in Ha Tinh. However, it is possible to say that they are the representatives for the local land. Several of them came into existence and became famous hundreds years ago such as Tien Dien, Huong Tich pagoda.

However, there are also revolutionary relics, artificial works such as commemorated area of Tran Phu, Dong Loc Road Junction, Ke Go Lake and the international border gate economic zone of hanging bridge (Cau Treo), which have been recently became famous. All the traditional and modern, sophisticated and majestic, material and spiritual features, etc. are mutually mingled and interacted then result in enormous potentials in local tourism. 

Moreover, the name “Nuoc Sot-Kim Son” has been well-known for a long time. “Nuoc Sot” means hot water. Studies on Nuoc Sot-Son Kim mineral water have come to conclusions: The quality of the mineral water in Son Kim is stable. It has effects of prevention and cure for some diseases, gynecological diseases, etc. In addition, it also has the effects of recovery for patients after treatments, sickness and hard working’s refreshments.

Extracted from the depth of 100m, Nuoc Sot-Kim Son mineral water is very hot.The water contains a variety of mineral ingredients and factors, which are very good for health. Those ingredients help speed up the metabolising progress, wakeup “sleeping” cells and drive away all the tiredness of the day.

Besides, the tourist area also has various services of restaurant, motels, picnics along Truong Son mountains and shopping in our neighbour country Laos.

Three wildest places in Vietnam

Three nation parks of Phu Quoc, Tam Dao and Bach Ma are listed as the wildest places in Vietnam

1.Phu Quoc National Park

Phu Quoc National park covers more than 50% of the island so it is definitely worth considering a visit. Particularly if you would like to escape the heat of the daytime sun, a walk along a park trail or motorbike ride on one of roads in the north will give you a taste of this natural environment on Phu Quoc...Reading more here.

2.Bach Ma National Park

A French-era hill station, Bach Ma National Park reaches a peak of 1450m at Bach Ma mountain, only 18km from the coast. The cooler climate attracted the French, who started building villas here in 1930; by 1937 the number of holiday homes had reached 139 and it became known as the ‘Dalat of central Vietnam’.

Bach Ma is the wettest place in Vietnam, with the heaviest of the rain falling in October and November. With the wet weather come plenty of leeches. Still, even these months are not out of the question for visiting. The best time to visit Bach Ma is from February to September, particularly between March and June, for what’s likely to be the best weather...Reading more here.

3.Tam Dao National Park

Tam Dao supports 21,982ha of natural forest and 1,351ha of plantation forest. The natural forest is of two main types: lowland evergreen forest and lower montane evergreen forest. Lowland evergreen forest is distributed at elevations between 700 and 800m, and is heavily degraded. The diversity of tree species in this forest type is high, with the Fabaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Meliaceae, Burseraceae, Myrtaceae and Anacardiaceae families being well represented. Lower montane evergreen forest is distributed above 800m. Members of the Dipterocarpaceae family are almost entirely absent from this forest type, which is dominated by species in the Fagaceae, Lauraceae, Magnoliaceae, Aceraceae, Theaceae, Hamamelidaceae, Sapotaceae and Ericaceae families. Also in this forest type, a number of conifer species are present, such as Decussocarpus fleuryi...Reading more here.

Prenn Waterfall- A Popular Sight in Dalat

Dalat is a rich land of beautiful and famous lakes and waterfalls, one of which is Prenn Waterfall. It takes tourists in Vietnam travel 15 minutes to ride a taxi from the city center. The waterfall looks like a water-curtain pouring from 10 meters high down to a small valley which is surrounded by lots of flowers and pine hill.

Prenn Waterfall is situated right at the foot of Prenn Pass, 10 kilometers from the center of Dalat city,Lam Dong province. According to the language of Cham people, Prenn means “the land of invasion”. From Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat, tourists in Vietnam travel must go through Prenn Pass which is 10 kilometers long. This waterfall looks like a water-curtain pouring from 10 meters high down to a small valley which is surrounded by lots of flowers and pine hill.

Prenn Waterfall- Dalat City- Lam Dong Province

Prenn was the border after these fights (from Prenn to Don Duong, Phan Rang it was the land of the K’Ho and the Ma). The waterfall is 8m high, it falls from the high rock above. So, if you stand at the bottom of the waterfall and look up, it is like the waterfall down from the sky and Saigon people call it Tien Sa (rain drops from the sky).

From 1998 till now, Prenn Waterfall has been strongly interesting so it has been popular sight in Dalat. In the waterfall surrounding, there is a traditional bridge, a pool for crocodiles, and some wildlife such as bears, crocodiles and rubber dinghies. Prenn waterfall sight has a well-known food that is fish soup. The fish is boneless, cooked with rice, served with mustard which makes an unforgettable taste for visitors in Vietnam travel. Just with a small amount of money, 4 to 6 people can enjoy a fish soup course beside the waterfall.

Spirit Of The Sea

Located on the Thanh Da Peninsula along Ho Chi Minh City’s romantic riverside, the Binh Quoi 2 Tourist Area boasts a miniature fishing village within the busy city where couples and families enjoy weekend gatherings.

The area is among the most popular tourist destinations in the southern Vietnam thanks to its scenic atmosphere of the river, green lawns, lily ponds and coconut trees.

Binh Quoi 2’s offers specialized services for entertainment, sports, quaint bungalows and first class restaurants, which attract locals and foreigners eager to temporarily escape their busy lives wandering on well kept lawns, taking photos, enjoying quiet moments and eating elegant meals.

The tourist village cuisine features a host of delicacies from northern, central and southern Vietnam.

The “Tasty Dishes of the Sea” buffet, which is available only on weekends, is exceedingly popular among tourists. The chefs follow the time honored recipes from the fishing villages of Vietnam’s central coast to prepare squid, prawns, fish, crab, flower crab and snails.

The buffet includes seafood soup, green papaya salad with shrimp, kohlrabi salad, grilled ark shell with green onion oil, ark shell with hot and sour sauce, sea snails stir-fried in coconut milk and apple snails grilled with pepper.

For dessert, the buffet has sweet soup with coconut milk or agar-agar Jelly and pomegranate seeds, taro, cassava, green bean and sweet potato, sweet green bean soup and fresh fruit.

In addition to all the great food, customers rave about the restaurant’s relaxing ambiance, rural and peaceful, decorated with fishnets, fishing rods and boats.

Customers can also enjoy the sumptuous buffet outdoors amid the cool breezes coming off the Saigon River or even have their meal onboard a tourist boat floating on the water.

The Binh Quoi 2 Tourist Area also features tennis courts, a swimming pool, as well as concerts featuring traditional folk music and other entertainment.

The buffet costs VND210,000 adults and VND120,000 for children under 1.2 meters tall.

To enjoy the flavors of seafood delicacies and begin accumulating your own warm memories, visit Binh Quoi 2 Tourist Area at the end of Binh Quoi Street, Ward 28, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City.

For more information, call (08) 3 556 5470.

A Touch Vietnam

Three Vietnamese men in their sixties were walking down the sidewalk abreast hand-in-hand-in-hand. They looked cheerful with an eye-wrinkling grin at me, but I was not much surprised as the first time in Hanoi.

Almost everyday since then I have been greeted by similar examples of physical contact. Students walking arm in arm on the way to or back from school. Adults talking on the sidewalk. Passengers sitting on a bus…

In my opinion this different concept of personal space is just lovely. Where westerners have strict physical boundaries with strangers and even with friends, the Vietnamese welcome contact with open arms, literally.

For westerners, this contact forward culture can be difficult to adjust to but once you are able to moderate your culturally ingrained stigmas accordingly then it is truly liberating.

Other than observing examples on the street, I am inundated with this reality every time I teach a class of young students. Like any young students they will hug my legs and try and jump on me but they will also try to touch my beard and hair and pull my leg and arm hair. I also notice their subconscious neglect for personal space when I get on a busy bus, Vietnam travel news.

Recently, I was standing on the number thirty-one bus, holding onto a hand rung when the bus began to seriously fill up. People crammed in from all directions and a little old white haired lady found it perfectly normal to nuzzle into my side and depend on me to hold her up, as any Vietnamese would do for an older citizen.

Another great example is what I like to call, “the ol’ knee touch”. You know when you are sitting in a crowded area and someone sits down next to you and accidentally touches your knee with theirs? Yeah, we all know that one.

Well, when you brush knees with someone here there is no jumpy appendage retraction, rather the other party just hunkers their knee in there in an unconscious display of personal comfort, Vietnam travel news.

Those devoted to the social sciences claim that Vietnamese social cohesion was shaped in the village where the production of rice demanded an extensive collective effort.

The strong collaborative family unit, an ever-present cornerstone of Vietnamese culture, was a necessity when it came to the overall survival of the village. Large families traditionally live and work together in the same house, making the western ideal of personal space an impossibility.

Whether or not this socio-historical analysis of Vietnamese culture accurately decodes the actions of those three delightful men walking down the street in a heterosexual display of masculine friendship may never be known.

However, the relaxed and self-confident physical expressions of friendship and love are, from an outsider’s perspective, delightful to observe and act as unbridled enlightening moments.