Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh has thousands of islands and many beautiful areas.

For nearly a decade, the nominee for a Natural Wonder of the World title has attracted more tourists since the bridge linking Bai Chay (Chay Beach) and Hon Gai (Gai Islet) was built.

In the bay area, there are many caves, beaches, restaurants, hotels and entertainment sites. Among its well-known scenic spots and tourist sites are Thien Cung, Dau Go and Trinh Nu caves, and Ti Top, Tuan Chau and Ba Trai Dao beaches.

At hotels on Bai Chay, visitors can ask at reception desks to hire tourist ships to visit the bay. You can choose which ship from photos and decide beforehand how long the tour should be and which places to visit or if you will have lunch on board.

The ships usually have sofas on the top deck for tourists to sit and watch the seascape. The deck below has tables and chairs made from precious woods worth billions of dong. Some cruises from big travel agencies also have karaoke rooms and bars.

According to Ha, who is a helmsman, tourist ships have to compete with one another because hundreds of them operate in the bay. A ship is considered successful if it is recommended by its customers. For this reason, tourist ships strictly observe the itinerary and respect customers.

Tourist ships usually take people to see Bai Chay Suspension Bridge first and then take them to visit Thien Cung Cave, one of the biggest and most beautiful caves in the bay. If there is time, they will stop at other caves and Ti Top Beach, a beautiful coral beach.

The ships also go past Ga Choi Islet, two rocks which look like roosters fighting each other.

The crew normally brings along fresh seafood for customers’ lunch. During the boat tour, you can see small boats selling fish, crabs and shrimp that you can buy and grill them to eat on board.n (MONRE)

Along the coastline of central Vietnam there are many cliff areas, but the one which is the most outstanding and beautiful could very well be the Da Dia Cliffs in Phu Yen province. It is really a masterpiece of nature.

Heres how to get to the Da Dia Cliffs from the city of Tuy Hoa: Go north on National Highway 1A about 31 kilometers. Look for the Ngan Son bridge in hamlet 6, An Ninh Dong commune, Tuy An district – stop to ask. There you will see a straight asphalt road and you take that about 12km to the Da Dia Cliffs. The Da Dia Cliffs are 50m wide and more than 2,000m long. It is listed as a national tourist site.

Geology team 703 said that the stone of the Da Dia Cliffs is basalt and that the cliffs were formed by volcanic eruption in the Van Hoa (Son Hoa) Plateau about 200 million years ago. When the molten rock spewed out into the sea, it hardened and cracked both vertically and horizontally, creating the layers of rock that we see at Da Dia Cliffs today.

The Da Dia Cliffs from a distance look like a huge beehive. It is a huge pile of hexagonal and pentagonal shaped basaltic rocks. A part of the cliffs is under the sea water while most of it is above the sea surface. The sea crashes onto the cliffs all year round and the black and yellow rocks look very smooth and shiny. In the center of the cliffs is a depression filled with still water.

Beyond the cliffs is a 3-km long sickle-shaped sandbank called Bai Bang on which there are yellow rocks lying on smooth, white sand in the shade of tropical almond trees. The seawater here is said to be very clean making it an ideal beach for both domestic and foreign tourists.

One can sit on the rocks at Da Dia Cliffs and contemplate the beauty of the sky and the sea, melt into the sun and rhythm of the sea and feel the unique beauty of these amazing cliffs. (MONRE)

Washington, July 27 : A new survey has lead to the discovery of a massive cave in a remote Vietnamese jungle, which is the largest single cave passage yet found.

According to a report in National Geographic News, at 262-by-262 feet (80-by-80 meters) in most places, the Son Doong cave beats out the previous world-record holder, Deer Cave in the Malaysian section of the island of Borneo.

Deer Cave is no less than 300-by-300 feet (91-by-91 meters), but it’s only about a mile (1.6 kilometers) long.

By contrast, explorers walked 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) into Son Doong, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, before being blocked by seasonal floodwaters-and they think that the passage is even longer.

In addition, for a couple of miles, Son Doong reaches more than 460-by-460 feet (140-by-140 meters), according to Adam Spillane, a member of the British Cave Research Association expedition that explored the massive cavern.

Spillane was in the first of two groups to enter the cave. His team followed the passage as far as a 46-foot-high (14-meter-high) wall.

“The second team that went in got flooded out. We’re going back next year to climb that wall and explore the cave further,” he said.

A local farmer, who had found the entrance to the Son Doong cave several years ago, led the joint British-Vietnamese expedition team to the cavern in April.

The team found an underground river running through the first 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) of the limestone cavern, as well as giant stalagmites more than 230 feet (70 meters) high.

The explorers surveyed Son Doong’s size using laser-based measuring devices.

Such modern technology allows caves to be measured to the nearest millimeter, according to Andy Eavis, president of the International Union of Speleology, the world caving authority, based in France.

“With these laser-measuring devices, the cave sizes are dead accurate,” he said. “It tends to make the caves smaller, because years ago we were estimating, and we tended to overestimate,” he added.

Eavis agreed that the new findings confirm Son Doong’s record status-despite the fact that he had discovered Borneo’s now demoted Deer Cave.

“This one in Vietnam is bigger,” he conceded.

A biologist will accompany the team on its return visit next year to survey the cave’s subterranean wildlife.

Eavis added that there are almost certainly bigger cave passages awaiting discovery around the world.

“That’s the fantastic thing about caving,” he said. (Cambodian Times, Malaysia Sun))

The developers of an ecotourism project in northern Ninh Binh Province have been accused of damaging 32 million-year-old limestone caves.

The Trang An Ecotourism Complex, which partially opened to tourists last year, is planned to become a major tourist drawcard in Vietnam’s north.

The 2,168 hectare complex, being developed by Xuan Truong Co., includes a series of limestone caves and grottos, Vietnam’s largest pagoda and the site of Hoa Lu, the capital of the nation of Dai Co Viet from 968 to 1010.

The area is known as an “outdoor geological museum.”

Tourist facilities, including an information center, are also being built and the developer plans to offer a range of tours, including ecotours, kayaking tours and cultural tours.

But 11 of the caves in the grotto system appear to have been altered to allow tourist boats to pass through.

The grotto area covers about 1,566 hectare with some 100 grottoes, 48 of which are connected by a waterway through the limestone mountain range.

“Trang An is a `Ha Long Bay on the mainland’ because of its geographical resemblances to Ha Long and the similar landscapes,” said Dr. Tran Nghi, former director of the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, who has researched the area extensively.

Nghi said the caves could have been in existence for 32 million years.

Local authorities are planning to seek World Heritage listing for the Trang An complex, where construction work has been underway for eight years.

But the chance of Trang An receiving World’s Heritage status gets slimmer if the natural scenery is destroyed.

The roof of the 30 million-year-old cave in the Trang An Ecotourism Complex has been raised to create more space for tourist boats TUOI TRE

Xuan Truong Co. has denied widening the caves.

“We didn’t make any adjustments to the 11 caves, the only work we have done since 2000 was to clean out the mud in the river,” company director Nguyen Van Truong said.

Truong said any damage to the natural features of the caves was done in the past when feudal kings used the caves as naval training facilities.

A deputy director of the province’s Department of Culture, Spots and Tourism, who did not wish to be named, said some alterations had been made to the caves to ease the traffic flow at the complex.

After inspecting the 11 caves already open to tourists, Nghi demanded local authorities step in and prevent any further damage.

“Tourism investment activities on the site shouldn’t be conducted on large scale or it will distort the natural features of the area,” he said. “Only after receiving UNESCO recognition can we determine which sites can be changed and which sites must be preserved in their original state.”

Historian Le Van Lan also voiced concerns about the site. He said the grotto system was a natural barrier that protected the southern side of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu.

Lan said construction work, such as widening caves, tunneling through mountains and flooding some areas, was posing a grave threat to the historically significant site.

“They need to protect the unexcavated areas as soon as possible to preserve the area for historical research,” Lan said.

Scientists are worried about what may happen to the other river and lake caves at Trang An and have called on local authorities to act fast to stop any further destruction. (tuoitre)

The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai has proposed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ask for UNESCO’s recognition of Sapa’s terraced fields as a world heritage.

(live-PR.com) – The terraced field is a form of cultivation in the mountainous topographies of many ethnic groups in the world, such as the Inca people in Peru, in Yunnan, China, and in Banaue, the Philippines, which was recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage.

Seven most magnificent terraced fields in the world as voted by Travel & Leisure: Banaue (Philippines), Yuangyang (Yunnan, China), Ubud (Bali, Indonesia), Annapurna (Nepal), Mae Rim (Chiang Mai, Thailand), Sapa (Lao Cai, Vietnam), and Long Ji (Kuei Lin, China).

Sapa’s terraced fields were recently recognised as one of the world’s seven most beautiful and magnificent terraced fields in the world by US-based Travel & Leisure magazine. This was only a vote of readers of a tourism magazine but it is good news for Vietnam.

Dr. Tran Huu Son, Lao Cai provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s chief, said that the department proposed that provincial authorities and the culture ministry make a survey and compile files on Sapa’s terraced fields, Hoang Lien national park and the ancient rock bank in Sapa to submit to UNESCO for recognition as world cultural heritages.

“This is a difficult task but we are trying to turn Sapa’s terraced fields into a world heritage for the many foreign travellers who love Sapa and Vietnam,” Son said.

The Thao & Van Hoa talked with Son about Sapa’s terraced fields:

Do you think that it is good luck Sapa’s terraced fields were voted one of the seven most magnificent terraced fields in the world by Travel and Leisure?

I think that with the natural beauty of that landscape, it is not at all surprising they were recognised as one of the seven most magnificent terraced fields in Asia and the world by Travel and Leisure.

There are some terraced field tours in Sapa, including two major tours: From Sapa town to Ly Lao Chai – Ta Van and Sapa town – Ly Lao Chai – Ta Van – Ban Ho – Thanh Phu – Suoi Thau.

Terraced fields in Sapa are a product of H’Mong and Dao people. This kind of terraced field is different from the fields of Ha Nhi people in Yunnan (China) or in the Philippines because each ethnic group has its own cultivation techniques.

The owners of terraced fields in Sapa have abundant folk knowledge. Their fields are as beautiful as terraced fields in Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai, Vietnam) or in the Philippines.

Could you tell us more about terraced fields in Sapa and in your opinion, what aspects of Sapa’s terraced fields can be considered outstanding in the world?

Terraced fields are the most popular in the following areas: on abrupt mountain slopes along roads in Trung Chai commune, along the road from Lao Cai city to Sapa town. These are terraced fields of H’Mong people.

Terraced fields owned by H’Mong, Dao and Giay people are located in Muong Hoa valley. This is the combination between cultivation of wet rice in narrow valleys of Giay people and cultivation on high mountains of H’Mong and Dao people.

In Muong Hoa valley, Lao Chai district, visitors can observe a complex of terraced fields from Muong Hoa stream to the middle of the mountain, totalling around 10sq.km. In this area, the beauty of terraced fields is outstanding thanks to the vast space. Another beautiful terraced field area is Suoi Thau, which was created by Dao people.

Terraced fields appear in many provinces in Vietnam. The field in Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai province was recognized as a national relic in 2007. How about the fields in Sapa?

Terraced fields in Sapa are very beautiful. We are making surveys and preparing documents to ask for recognition as a national heritage. We also proposed that competent agencies ask for UNESCO’s recognition of the complex of the terraced fields, the ancient stone bank and Hoang Lien national park as world heritages.

What is the role of terraced fields in today’s farming?

Terraced fields are H’Mong, Dao and Giay people’s farming techniques for sloping topography. It is an achievement in terms of culture and folk knowledge. Terraced fields help maintain food stability in mountainous areas.

VietNamNet/TT-VH

Recommended Itineraries:
- Sapa trekking tours: www.activetravelvietnam.com/tour.php?op=listByCa ..
- Sapa tours & excursions: www.activetravelshop.com/?name=product&op=listPr ..
- Fansipan trekking tours, Sapa: www.trekfansipan.com

(PR-Inside) – We arrived at the train station in the city of Lao Cai and boarded a bus to Sapa. An hour later, the landscape changed from flat to mountainous and the views became dramatic, with terraced rice paddies trickling water from one to another and colorful hill tribe people on the side of the road, carrying baskets of leaves on their backs or selling veggies and fruit from roadside stalls.
Sapa, located in the western highlands of North Vietnam, was originally built by the French in 1922 as a hill station to escape the heat of Vietnam climes. Today, it sees a steady stream of tourists who come for its scenic landscape and to visit with the Black Hmong and Zao minority groups that live here. The journey to Sapa is an overnight train ride from Hanoi, approximately 10 hours if there aren’t mud slides clogging the tracks (which turned our train trip into a 20-hour voyage).

We arrived much later than expected and the mist and fog of the mountains had already settled over the town. We were reminded of Darjeeling in India, another hill station town nestled in the mountains and within the embrace of clouds. We took a cheap room, US$4 a night, one without views. We figured we’d be out in the scenery, not inside our hotel looking at it. And besides, with the fog, there were no views anyway. Everything looked as if it had a piece of white tissue paper laid over it.

We were in Sapa to trek and stay overnight in a village. There are many tour operators in Hanoi offering 2-3 day treks with homestays, but we’d left Hanoi intent on doing the trek on our own. However, once in Sapa, we signed up with a group at our hotel. Trekking with a local guide would be much better than going it alone. Plus there are permits to be had, inclement weather, and zillions of trails.

The trek takes us up and down steep rocky trails, over streams and rivers, through mud and fields and rice paddies. Children ride on the backs of water buffalo; clouds of dragon flies linger languidly in the sky; small red bridges like mini “Golden Gates” hang over rushing rivers; women’s hands stained blue from dye proffer local handicrafts; water falls stream over mountainsides; giant bamboo trees rustle in the breeze; white, blue, and gray fills the sky; terrace fields resemble topo maps, the lines of elevation in an architectural model, layered cake; soundless lightening fills the night sky.

It was the wet season in Sapa, with heavy rains in the forecast for our two days. When it rained, the water dumped down, swelling rivers and making dirt trails slick mud obstacles. We passed through several villages along the hike and stopped to stay the night in a rustic home located next to a river and fields of corn. In the distance water spilled over the mountain against a wall of rock. Our home for the night was simple — a construction of concrete, wooden boards, and corrugated metal. After a powerful evening rain storm, the river swelled and raged, making a thunderous noise. The WC, in a precarious position along the riverbank, became too dangerous to use… a shack of woven bamboo, it looked like it could be swept away at any minute, even in the best of weather.

It’s always a desire to pass through such places as if invisible, to see people living their lives as if there was no tourist trail. But it’s not so. Hill tribe women and young girls crowd around to sell souvenirs throughout the day. Along the path and at the homestay, there was a constant group of Hmong and Zao women and girls selling their wares. The Montagnards (the French name for the hill tribe people) used to grow opium, but a crackdown by the government has put a stop to this — many sell souvenirs instead. The tourist dollar is important to these people — and as we come there, invading their villages and homes, gawking (politely or impolitely), it is insensitive to complain about it. And besides, they are friendly people, so the sales pitch was tolerable… and creative.

“You buy from me,” they’d say, all 20 of them gathered ’round with fists full of handicrafts for sale. Embroidered pillowcases and blankets, hats, purses, tin earrings, bracelets, necklaces, musical instruments, toy tops. The little girls put bracelets on our wrists, declaring us to be friends. “We are friends,” they’d say with a smile. A little while later, they’d say, “We are friends, so you buy from me.”

Source: Cheryn Flanagan – viator blog

Recommended Itineraries:
- Sapa trekking tours: www.activetravelvietnam.com/tour.php?op=listByCategoryId&catId=9
- Sapa tours & excursions: www.activetravelshop.com/?name=product&op=listProducts&subcat=Sa ..
- Fansipan trekking tours, Sapa: www.trekfansipan.com

The world’s longest and highest non-stop cable car on Ba Na Mountain provides a panoramic view of Danang City and nearby mountain ranges TUOI TR

Near the sun and sea of Danang lies a cool mountain retreat with unspoiled forests and the world’s longest and highest non-stop cable car.

More than 100 years ago, the French first identified Ba Na Mountain in central Vietnam as an ideal holiday retreat. Now it’s more popular than ever.

Ba Na Mountain is 1,487 meters above sea level, providing a bird’s eye view of Danang, just 40 kilometers away, the coastline and nearby mountain ranges.

Locals say the mountain experiences four seasons in one day – spring in the morning, summer at noon, autumn in the afternoon and winter at night. The region has an average temperature of between 17 and 25 degrees Celsius.

The cooler weather on the mountain is especially attractive for tourists from May to August when temperatures in lowland areas reach a humid 35 degrees.

The pine-covered mountain is criss-crossed by streams and rivers, including the Mo Stream and the mystical nine-level Toc Tien Waterfall, said to cascade like a fairy’s hair.

Often blanketed by mist, Ba Na Mountain is also known for its fresh air, which can soothe the mind and the body.

Ba Na is a nature reserve that shelters more than 554 species of plants and 256 animals, including 50 endangered plants and animal species.

The origins of the name Ba Na is murky. Some say the French bestowed the name, a derivative of banane (banana), for the plentiful banana trees in the area. Others say the name means “my mountain” in the language of the local Kotu ethnic minority people.

The mountain’s tourism potential was first noted in 1901 by Paul Doumer, Governor General of French Indochina and later the French president. Doumer was searching for a resort area for French citizens in central Vietnam.

By 1930, dozens of bungalows, villas and lodging houses had been built, turning Ba Na into a retreat for French officials posted in Indochina. It was as popular with the French as the famed vacation hubs of Vung Tau in Vietnam’s south and the northern mountain resort town of Sapa.

But many of Ba Na’s colonial buildings were damaged between 1946 and 1975 during Vietnam’s wars with the French and the Americans and the mountain’s tourism appeal fell into obscurity for half a century.

In 1998, Danang’s authorities began working on creating an ecological tourism zone and a nature reserve on the mountain.

The local tourism industry received another boost earlier this year with the opening of a 5,042-meter-long cable car ride linking the foot of Ba Na Mountain with the peak of neighboring Vong Nguyet Mountain in the Ba Na-Suoi Mo Tourism Area.

The cable car earned Ba Na a Guinness World Record as the home of the world’s longest and highest non-stop cable car.

Before the cable car started operating, tourists had to endure a dangerous journey on a winding 16 kilometer road up the mountain to reach Ba Na-Suoi Mo Tourism Area.

Tourists can now zip up the mountain in just 15 minutes on the cable car. The cable cars often pass through the clouds that gather halfway up the mountain.

The cable car station is near the Linh Ung Pagoda, built in 2004, and well-known for its 30-meter outdoor Buddha statue, which is visible on a clear day from Danang. (vietnewsonline)

The country’s leading tour operator Saigontourist Travel Service Co. has announced that it will reopen its regular tours to the autonomous region of Tibet in China instead of just arranging tours upon requests of travelers.

Doan Thi Thanh Tra, manager of the marketing department of Saigontourist, said that the first tour would start this August 17. Unlike tours to Tibet launched in 2006, the new tour not only takes tourists to attractions in Tibet as the rooftop of the world, but also expands visit routes to attractions in China’s Sichuan province of China.

“We hope to arrange this regular tour twice a month,” she said, explaining that eight tourists have registered for the tour after three days of launching.

Saigontourist has launched the eight-day tour to the Tibet highland for the first time in July, 2006 on the occasion of the China government inaugurating its first rail service between Beijing and Tibet capital of Lhasa.

However, the number of visitors joining the tour did not strongly increased because of unrests there that prompted the Chinese government sometimes to stop issuing traveling permission to tourists to the autonomous region.

“Now, all of Vietnamese tourists can get the permission as normal,” said Lam Tu Khoi, deputy head of Saigontourist’s outbound department.

In 2006, the eight-day tour to Tibet cost US$1,295 per person. Visitors will arrive there from Beijing by train.

Tra said that the new seven-day tour to Tibet and Sichuan province is slightly cheaper than the previous tour, at US$1,249 per tourists only. Visitors will arrive in the highland by air from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province.

“Chinese tourism service suppliers have offered good prices and that’s why we can have a good price for local travelers,” she said.

According to Tra, outbound tours to China are attracting many Vietnamese tourists.

“Revenue from outbound tours to China is contributing about 35% to the total revenue of Saigontourist’s outbound sector,” she said.

The company has arranged outbound tours for more than 16,700 tourists in the seven months of this year, up nearly 7% year-on-year. (SGT)

Are three months enough to understand and enjoy a new country? Certainly not… but that didn’t stop me from trying. Vietnam, with some of Asia’s most killer coastlines, dense jungles, rugged mountain ranges and colourful urban foliage, has somehow never got around to welcoming travellers in hordes, like it should have. It had other things to keep it ‘occupied;’ like the century-long French colonial rule, followed by three decades of being held hostage by the Japanese and countless years of war (French, American and Chinese).

My home for the next few weeks was to be the centre of it all – District 1, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) a.k.a. Saigon. Its population of seven million and counting remain brasher, more outgoing, more energetic and more relaxed in comparison to their more ‘correct’ northern cousins in Hanoi. So don’t be surprised if you can’t shake off young Viet girls who just want to practice their English with you.

Café Central
To understand the full extent of Saigon’s mayhem I recommend you sit at one of its million cafes. Saigon’s streets are perennially packed with 100 cc Hondas hauling tourists, housewives, school kids and expats from cafes to market to school to bar. The noise and activity, plus hard-to-identify smells (pork chops? durian? fish sauce? diesel fumes?), are often enough to overwhelm even a local like my landlady.

But the city offers visitors a chance to let loose in the moto-madness only to emerge, armed with your own guidebook of the best, back-alley banh mi sandwiches (French-styled baguettes layered with Laughing Cow cheese, pickled veggies, and pork pate), street-side duck embryo stalls (served with salt, pepper and lime), the most secluded rooftop bars with a view and the perfect glass of iced coffee or ca phe sau da. But this in no way means that you won’t still catch a peep of postcard Vietnam, conical hats et al.

Going local
For some time now, HCMC has been popular with backpackers for its cheap eats, budget bedding and shops that count on travellers to bargain for souvenirs. Tourists can leave with bags of local treasures: straw hats, lacquer work, porcelain elephants, inlaid chopstick sets, Ho Chi Minh and Good Morning Vietnam T-shirts. Also van Goghs. Or Rembrandts, da Vincis, Picassos, Warhols, Monets… you name it. I have never been to such a reproduction-obsessed place before.

Food (and drink) is everywhere in Saigon, and the street is the place to eat (and drink) well and cheap. On any given day you can find anything from pho bo (beef and rice-noodle soup) to banh xeo (a rice-flour crepe stuffed with pork, bean sprouts and shrimp meant to be rolled in fresh lettuce and had dipped in nuoc mam; fish sauce) stalls lining up on the pavement. The most exquisite meal in town can be found at Le Bordeaux, a decade-old temple of French gastronomy that remains the best bet for scallops, foie gras, sea bass and salmon.

Day trippin’
If you ever find yourself stranded in Saigon with a day or two to spare, take a boat ride the Mekong Delta or dig in deep to find the survival stories from the Cu Chi Tunnels.

A 90-minute bus ride will transport you to the tunnel network and town of Cu Chi, which became renowned during the 1960s for its role in abetting the Viet Cong. Today, the once ‘tunnel rats’ have turned guides and opened up their, largely, 1.2m high and 80 cm across tunnel network – this subterranean network stretches from HCMC to the Cambodian border; over 250 km – for the world to take a peek. The underground labyrinth creations include hospitals, storage facilities, living areas, kitchens, weapons factories, command centres and umpteen untold and barely detectable trap doors and booby-traps, mostly made with recycled American war supplies.

Vietnam’s rice basket region or the Mekong Delta is much like our watery southern landscape. So, daytrippers can expect green paddy fields, sudden downpours and rowboat rides through small crowded canals and creeks. The floating market of Cai Be makes for a perfect watery-pit stop, where you can squabble with vendors over the price of sugarcane, rice, coconut and shrimp.

These day-trips are flogged by travel agencies around Pham Ngu Lao – the most popular being Sinh Café– and should set you back by 200,000 VND (around Rs 500). (Hindustan Times)

The provincial People’s Committee of the Southern province An Giang has approved a project to build an eco-tourism site in the My Duc commune, Chau Phu district.

Since the beginning of this year, the province has attracted more than 4 million tourists. The amount of tourists that stayed for more than one day was around 180,000, a year on year decrease of 3 percent.  80 percent of the tourists did not stay long in the province. This shows that the quality and range of tourism services in the province are very limited.

An Giang has introduced 10 projects to draw attention from investors with priority given developing eco-tourism in a number of mountain areas to make them become national tourist sites. (VOV)