Stork island in Hai Duong - Vietnam

Photo: Đức Linh

 Located in the middle of vast lake, the stork island emerges as a pearl endowed by the nature for Chi Lăng Nam. The local residents still tell each other the legend for this land. It is said that at the beginning of the 15^th century, deluges broke the large dyke along the Red River for three consecutive times. At the second breakage, an island emerged in the middle of the lake. Then, "birds perch good land", each herd of storks, herons and water birds come here from everywhere.

With the time, storks and herons residing in the island are more and more crowded in the quantity and diversified in species. From September to April every year, most storks can be seen with up to ten thousands of storks and thousands of herons perching in close proximity to one another on the bamboo tops and tree branches like flowers filled with white cotton from a remote view.

They get together to nest, lay eggs and nurse their babies. The tourists are more excited to see young storks with immature legs on soft bamboo branches. When the sunset is let down, the storks return home. They fly into herds, each herd including 50 to 70 storks, even hundreds of storks creating true white curtains on the trees in the island.

 

After flying for many times covering the whole lake space, they land safely on the green clump of trees in the middle of vast sea in the glow of sunset. It is followed by spans of the herons pending search for food at night. The tourists will witness an interesting "chorus" of families of storks and herons. The stork island is excited with sound like a natural chorus tearing a quite atmosphere of a Vietnamese village.

Tourists who come to the stork island in the season need only one day to visit the whole island. A small boat that is arranged so as not to disturb living environment of the storks will slowly take the tourists around the lake and see the life of storks. However, if the tourists expect to watch the live of storks more carefully, please stay overnight on the stork island. From 9.00 to 10.00, the storks come back most. The family reunion also starts from this time to the next morning. At that time, the tourists will have more time to study the life of storks on the island.

The harmonious intercalation between trees, birds and lake together with fresh, ventilated tropical weather as well as such historical and cultural monuments as temples, pagodas and traditional trade villages such as fish nursery, rice pancake, decorative plant, Chi Lăng Nam has full factors to become a typical ecological tourist area for the North Vietnam village. Hải Dương Tourism has made the tour on Chi LăngNam stork island a new tourist product of the province.

If you are interested in exploring Vietnam travel, you can visit Vietnam travel guide, Vietnam travel company, Halong cruise, Halong Bay, Halong tours site to know further attractive places. 

 

Source: VTR

My Son - A unique beautiful sanctuary

My Son Holy land (Thánh địa Mỹ Sơn) - a unique beautiful sanctuary world of the ancient Chăm religion, is day by day attracting thousands of tourists elsewhere.

Situated inside the 2-kilometer wide valley in Quang Nam province, the My Son Sanctuary temple complex was ever the central praying and worship ceremony place of Cham Pa reigns. My Son is also a tool to assist the reigns to contact with God and Saints. The land accordingly become the significant religious and cultural center of Cham Pa reigns.

The Chăm people (người Chăm or người Chàm in Vietnamese) belong to an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. They formed the core of the Muslim communities in both Cambodia and Vietnam. Chăm is remnant of the Chăm Pa Kingdom (7th to 15th centuries), closely related to the Malay race.

All of the Chăm towers were built on a quadrate foundations and each comprises three parts: a solid tower base, representing the world of human beings, the mysterious and sacred tower body, representing the world of spirits, and the tower top built in the shape of a man offering flowers and fruits or of trees, birds, animals, etc., representing things that are close to the spirits and human beings.

According to many researchers of the ancient Chăm towers, the architectural art of the Chăm towers at Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary is the convergence of different styles, including the continuity of the ancient style in the 7^th-8^th centuries, the Hoa Lai style of the 8^th-9^th centuries, the Dong Duong style from the mid-9^th century, the Mỹ Sơn and Mỹ Sơn-Binh Dinh styles, etc. Among the remnants of many architectural sites excavated in 1898, a 24 metres high tower was found in the Thap Chua area and coded AI by archaeologists and researchers on Mỹ Sơn. This tower is a masterpiece of ancient Chăm architecture. It has two doors, one in the east and the other in the west. The tower body is high and delicate with a system of paved pillars; six sub-towers surrounding the tower. This two-storey tower looks like a lotus flower. The top of the upper layer is made of sandstone and carved with elephant and I ion designs. In the lower layer, the walls are carved with fairies, water evils and men riding elephants. Unfortunately, the tower was destroyed by US bombs in 1969.

My Son Holy Lan

The sanctuary comprises more than 70 architectural works. They include temples and towers that connect to each other with complicated red brick designs. The main component of the Chăm architectural design is the tower, built to reflect the divinity of the king. Bricks are main material for the construction of the Cham Towers. However, it has yet been unable to figure out the reasonable explanation for the linking material, brick baking method, and construction method of the Cham Pa. Even these days, this still remains as an attractive secret to contemporary people.

Although there are not many remnants left, those that remain display the typical sculptural works of cultural value of the Chăm nationality.They are also vivid proof, confirming the history of a nationality living within the Vietnamese community boasting of a rich cultural tradition.

Honorably recognized as a World Heritage in 1999, My Son Holy Land is captivating in various cultural values. Therefore, it is extremely useful and meaningful for those interested in Southeast Ahsian culture, which owes its core to ancient Cham culture, to drop off the land. Although time and the wars have destroyed some towers, the remaining sculptural and architectural remnants still reflect the style and history of the art of the Chăm people.

Their masterpieces mark a glorious time for the architecture and culture of the Chăm, as well as of Southeast Asia. If  tourists like untouched nature and pre-touristic surrounding, don't hesitate traveling to My Son holly!

If you are interested in exploring Vietnam travel, you can visit Vietnam travel guide, Vietnam travel company, Halong cruise, Halong Bay, Halong tours site to know further attractive places. 

 

Cua Tung – Queen of beaches

The beach is surrounded by a belt of basalt and stone mountains that resemble a huge comb passing through the hair of the waves. 

Located in the coastal district of Vinh Linh in the central province of Quang Tri, Cua Tung Beach is the nation's "Queen of Beaches", arousing the curiosity of many tourists to come and experience its beauty.

The one kilometre-long beach is not particularly long or wide, but the water is gentle and clear. Two underground rock formations, Mui Si and Mui Lai, encroach on the sea, creating a small bay that shelters the beach from strong waves and tides.

The beach is surrounded by a belt of basalt and stone mountains that resemble a huge comb passing through the hair of the waves. On the hill grow green orchards of jackfruit, pineapple, banana and custard-apple.

While the central region is known for its harsh weather, with dry winds from the southwest and major storms from the sea, Cua Tung Beach is protected by Mother Nature, out of the wind on most days, and the bay offers safe harbour for fishing boats.

The first foreigner to set foot here during the time of French colonialism saw the area’s potential for developing resorts. At that time, Vietnam was divided into three regions and the central region was known as Annam. Ernest Albert Briere, the governor of Annam from 1891-97, was one of those who fell in love with the place, and he built a palace here in 1896 to spend his holidays on the beautiful beach.

The palace was transferred to King Duy Tan (1900-45), the 11th king of the Nguyen Dynasty, who ascended the throne at age 7 and bridled at living in confinement in palaces under the control of the French. He travelled extensively around the country, and Cua Tung was one of his stops.

King Bao Dai (1913-97), the 13th and final Vietnamese feudal king, often traveled from his capital in Hue to Cua Tung to enjoy this amazing beach.

The Frenchman Andre de Laborde, who had a deep understanding of this land, described Cua Tung as a gentle sloping beach which is part of the green highland 20m above sea level. From the slope, people can see the changes in the colour of the sea and sky. Shades of blue change hourly under the sunshine, surprising anyone who has the chance to witness it.

The sea here is so shallow that a person can run about half a kilometre from the shore and the water will only be up to their chest.

Nearby Cat Son village is a short stroll along the beach. It has been famous for hundreds of years for its fish, drum-making, carpentry and mother-of-pearl inlay. Here, you can dine on cuttlefish, prawns, lobster, butterfish, mackerel, Chinese herring, and other kinds of seafood cooked in the local way.

To the south of the beach is the estuary of the Ben Hai River with Hien Luong Bridge just 10km from Cua Tung Beach. The bridge lies on the 17th parallel and formed the border between North and South Vietnam between 1954 and 1975.

 

This symbol of separation and loss in wartime is now one of the links between Vinh Linh and Vinh Gio districts in the province. Boarding a boat at the base of the bridge, travellers can see lush rice paddies, bamboo and casuarinas trees along the river banks. The slow rhythm of life, the whisper of the wind and the rippling of the water, all bring a feeling of peace.

About 30km offshore from the beach is Con Co Island, a 4- sq. km island with a coastline of about 8km and an average elevation of 5-30m above sea level. At the centre of the island is a 63m-high mountain which was a strategic position during the time the country was divided. Though it is isolated from the mainland by heavy winds, soldiers braved the strong waves and enemy attacks to carry food and weapons to the island.

Lush forests and fruit trees cover the island, including hardwoods with resin as red as blood. In autumn, the bang (Malabar almond) trees also turn red, making the island even more picturesque.

Since 1989, 4,000 coconut trees, symbolising the 4,000-year history of Vietnam, have been cultivated on the island. It is also the home of a small rattlesnake that is used to steep in rice wine to make medicine for treating backache and other ailments. Black and white sea cucumbers as big as a toe are found in the surrounding waters and make a good dish that also has medicinal properties.

Tours to the battlefields in the province and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) allow visitors experience the Vinh Moc Tunnels – a 2km-long network of tunnels up to 23m underground that were used to shelter residents during wartime – as well as the Old Citadel of Quang Tri, the Ta Con airstrip, the Khe Sanh – Road 9 Battlefield, and the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail.

If you are interested in exploring Vietnam tourism you can visit Vietnam travel agency, Halong cruises, Halong Bay, Halong travel site to know further attractive places.   

 

Dong Chau Beach - A wild beauty!

Visiting Dong Chau Beach, you will immediately realized that the beach has reserved much of a wild beauty...

The Beach is located in Dong Minh Commune, Tien Hai District, 30km far from Thai Binh City along National Road 39B, and some 145km from Hanoi. The total area of this tourist spot is about ten thousand km². The centre of this tourist spot is Dong Chau Beach with the length of 5 km, green pine forests and small clear beach.

 

Several hotels and guest houses are available for visitors to stay in when they come here to relax. The hotels and guesthouses have been built in coconut groves and huge gardens, you will surely feel that they are so pleasant!

Crossing the sea, about 7 km off land, is Con Thu (Thu Hillock) and Con Vanh (Vanh Hillock) with the white sandy beaches, you can enjoy the fresh and cheap seafood here. Although Dong Chau is not ideal for bathing in the sea, it is so interesting for tourists to visit the hillocks by ships or motor-boats from Dong Chau Beach. They look like two blue waves in the sea, emerging from a 5 ha islet, which lures people for its lush forest, green casuarinas-trees, small but picturesque and quiet beaches.

Thu Hillock which has an area of 19 km² with finely white sand, green pine forest, and the small beach is an ideal place for visitors to go on holiday, have a picnic and relax. Coming here, the tourists can enjoy themselves with such activities as fishing, windsurfing, beach volleyball, etc.

Vanh Hillock has an area of 15 km² with salt flooded forest which is the place for many species of rare birds to come such as storks, pelicans, teals, etc. Therefore, it is an attractive place for many reseachers to visit this islet every year.

The best of Dong Chau Beach is pure air, soft winds and good climate, which are good conditions for relaxation and convalescing. Seafood is good to taste and reasonably price. Coming to Dong Chau tourist spot, you can enjoy the fresh air filled with wind from the sea. Moreover, you also have chance to visit some historical place such as Nha Ba Temple, and an Action Unit of Northern Committee before the August Revolution.

Let’s once pay a visit to Thai Binh Province, you will be able to not only sun-bathe in Dong Chau Beach, but attend Keo Pagoda Festival and visit Dong Xam Silver Village as well.

If you are interested in exploring Vietnam travel, you can visit Vietnam travel company, Halong cruise, Halong Bay, Halong tours site to know further information.