Travellers Notes (16-12-2006) Hoi An resort ranks with world's best The Trade Leaders' Club of Spain has voted the Hoi An Riverside Resort and Spa one of the world's most outstanding tourist establishments. The club selected the resort in Viet Nam's ancient town of Hoi An under the hotel, restaurant and catering industry category during the 32nd International Award Ceremony 2007. The awards are based on the properties' unique architecture, location, services and food. Five-star train begins to roll The private 5-Star Express company test-ran its new HCM City-Nha Trang train on Thursday to ensure that the country's first five-star rail service would commence today without a hitch. The company has received many bookings through the Tet Lunar New Year festival which falls in mid-February. The train departs from HCM City at 6.15am and arrives in Nha Trang at 1.33pm. The return ticket starts from Nha Trang at 2.55pm and arrives in HCM City at 11.18m. Passengers can look for further … [Read more...] about Hoi An resort ranks with world’s best
Best mekong delta cruise
Sheraton Ha Noi among Asia’s best
Travellers' Notes (25-09-2009) Sheraton Ha Noi among Asia's best Sheraton Ha Noi Hotel has been named one of the Top 10 Best Conference Hotels for Asia in The Best in Travel Poll 2009, the fourth consecutive year the hotel has achieved this status. The Best in Travel Poll 2009 was voted on by international readers of SmartTravelAsia.com, a regional online travel magazine, from May through July of this year. Sheraton has also received the World Travel Award as Viet Nam's Leading Business Hotel for two years running in 2007-08 and has been nominated for the honour in 2009. Hoi An to build terracotta park The city authority of Hoi An has appointed the HCM City-based Nha Viet Corp to develop a terracotta park in the centre of Thanh Ha Pottery Village. Covering 6,500sq.m, the park, which will preserve and develop cultural values and activities of the craft village, is expected to host traditional craft festivals and become a new attraction for tourists to the historic city. Construction … [Read more...] about Sheraton Ha Noi among Asia’s best
Exploring the Mekong Delta in style
Hanoi Times - VictoriaHotels and Resorts recently launched a three-day travel package for guests to explore the Mekong Delta aboard multiple ships. Le Jarai boat docks at the Victoria Chau Doc Hotel. In addition to seeing the region's natural beauty, guests will also experience the impeccable services and facilities of Victoria's four-star resorts in the area. As part of the "Jewels of the Mekong Package," guests will travel aboard Victoria's two converted traditional rice barges, Le Jarai and Lady Hau. The ships will cruise along the canals and rivers that crisscross the region. The adventure begins with a morning car transfer from HCMC to Long Xuyen, where guests board Le Jarai for a six-hour river cruise. From the boat's deck, guests will see floating markets, fish farms and locals going about their daily lives. After an onboard lunch, guests will take part in a cooking class featuring an introduction to Vietnamese spices and herbs. Afterwards, guests can enjoy a massage … [Read more...] about Exploring the Mekong Delta in style
Tourists see Mekong Delta in a day, by water and land
Hanoi Times - Children swam in the river. People bathed in the river. Men sat drinking on the terrace of their stilt houses near the riverbank. Women washed clothes in the river. A big stuffed bear was hanging to dry with some clothes on a fence. When our boat passed by, children and teenagers on the riverbank jumped and waved their arms at us. As we travelled along the MekongRiver in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, the scenes of people's lives at different spots were all quite similar. The sinuous 4,184km MekongRiver runs from Tibet, China, through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia before it merges with the EastSea on the southeastern shores of Vietnam. The boat ride from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Vietnam's Vinh Xuyen border gate took around three hours. The wind blew strong. We were so overwhelmed by what we saw along the river - the scenes of people's everyday activities - that some of us flocked to the back of the boat to take photos. Immigration … [Read more...] about Tourists see Mekong Delta in a day, by water and land
Cruising the Mekong by local boat
For travelers who want to explore the sprawling Cuu Long (Mekong Delta) by boat, Cai Be Town in Tien Giang Province, some 100km south of Ho Chi Minh City, is one of the best launching points - and here you can also travel the delta's seemingly endless waterways on a sampan. Traditional sampans are small Asian flat-bottomed boats, propelled by oars or a rear-mounted oar. The sampans used for the new Mekong tours are larger, luxury versions of the smaller traditional vessels. These 22m-long and 4m-wide wooden boats, with two bedrooms and a living room, offer a relaxing way to cruise the waters.Sampans used to be the vehicle of choice for locals on the Mekong Delta, which is filled with wide waterways and meandering rivers and canals. Now the sampan has proved to be suitable for tourists, with many visitors from Europe taking the sampan tours since they were launched in June. Each boat carries a maximum of four tourists along with the crew. The sampan also tows a smaller junk, which is … [Read more...] about Cruising the Mekong by local boat