Let the time go slowly in quaint Hoi An

On a tour to Hoi An Ancient Town in Quang Nam Province, after walking around old streets and craft villages, tourists should take a short tour to tramp around villages, cycle on winding trails, ride buffaloes or try to be a fisherman for the day to learn more about local life.

Images of buffaloes are very familiar to locals but are a bit strange to foreigners, so this Canadian tourist stopped for a while to take photos of the buffaloes

The tour just takes travelers a few hours but promises to bring amazing experiences. Tourists will have a great time strolling around countryside roads as they can appreciate the rustic nature of farmlife.

Foreigners use nets to catch fi sh as they learn about the lives of local fi shermen. To book the tour, tourists can contact Hoi An Eco-Tour via www.hoianecotour.com.vn. - Photos: Minh Duy

Here are some snapshots taken by The Saigon Times Daily journalist Minh Duy.

 

A brave tourist tries to ride a buffalo through the river

 

Buffaloes are a bit strange to foreigners

Using nets

Coconut palms - symbol of Ben Tre

Visitors to the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre now have the chance to enjoy its famous fruit, traditional craft products and folk culture.

 

They can travel in a small along the rivers or canals in the shade of coconut trees and stop on the way to relax in fruit orchards and coconut gardens.

Ben Tre is located in the lowest part of the Mekong River basin, some 85km south of Ho Chi Minh City. It has three main islands wedged between the Tien Giang River to the north and the Co Chien River to the south, with the Ham Luong River running straight down the middle. All of these rivers are offshoots of the Mekong as it splits out into many fingers before flowing into the South Asian Sea.

The province is famous for its rice and fruit cultivation, but its traditional life has changed little over time, with tourists wandering through the markets, sipping coffee, taking boat trips and visiting local museums.

Coconut palms have become the symbol of Ben Tre since land was first reclaimed in the southern part of the country. During the war, coconuts were used to make coconut oil, which served as a viable substitute for kerosene. The province now has nearly 36,000 hectares of coconut plantations that have survived through protracted wars and remain dear to the hearts of local people.

There was a time when many people in Ben Tre felled coconut trees for some economic reasons, but now they have replanted them, producing around 242 million coconuts each year.

Many handicrafts are made from coconut materials including sandals, dolls, small baskets, bed lamps and vases. Tourists can visit local coconut candy factories to watch the candy being made and also buy some to take home as special gifts for their family and friends.

In addition to coconuts, Ben Tre is also known as the "king" of specialty fruit, with 41,000 hectares of orchards yielding 375,000 tonnes of fruit a year. Some of the province's unique specialties include milky yellow-fleshed and stoneless durians, green-skinned pomelos, Cai Mon mangosteens, high-yield "Four Season" mangos, and special Mo Cay oranges.

Hung Yen’s unique Ban soy sauce village

The Ban craft village produces arguably the most delicious soy sauce in Ban Township, Yen Nhan District, Hung Yen Province.

 

A woman makes Ban soy sauce in Ban Village, Hung Yen Province 

Ban soy sauce is so popular because it is made from large-grain sticky rice, small-grain soy bean, and in particular dinged-well water. There is only one well in Ban Village to supply the water to make the soy sauce, which is its sole purpose. Therefore, coming to Ban village to witness the sauce’s production in Hung Yen is recommended to tourists as it is a fascinating sight around harvest time.

March to August is that time for the villagers, so expect to see hundreds of jars in diverse sizes filling yards in every household. Making soy sauce is not difficult but making Ban soy sauce is an art-form.

Producers have to wash the rice carefully then soak it in water and cooked into sticky rice, next scatter the sticky rice onto a large bamboo flat basket and dry it in an airy place until the rice turns yellow. Soy beans must be roasted until the bean is brown and then the beans are soaked in a clean jar for one week. After the beans have fermented, producers will add a little salt and more soy beans into the water and stir regularly. The sauce must be fermented on sunny days.

Coming to Hung Yen, tourists will also be suggested to visit the Pho Hien relic complex, of which Mau Temple is a highlight and a mystery. Once stepping into the temple, travelers will be amazed by the huge seven-hundred-year-old tree which makes a domed gate for the temple. Another attraction tourists should not miss is the huge longan tree, called Nhan To, in front of Hien Pagoda. Around 300 years old, the tree is a sacred place for locals as they believe the tree brings prosperity to the land.

Another relic of the Pho Hien relic complex worth visiting is Thien Hau Temple, Dong Do-Quang Hoi Temple and Chuong (Bell) Pagoda which is endowed with poetic scenery and boasts a stone bridge spanning a lotus pond and 18 statues of Arhats. Hung Yen Literature Temple holds a collection of ancient steles.

Pho Hien also has stunning Vietnamese architecture, which is decorated with the colors of folk belief and religion, and some are considered high in artistic value. Along with their architectural features, these relics have preserved utensils for religious offerings, palanquins, hammocks, horizontal lacquered boards and many pairs of wood panels with skillfully-inscribed parallel sentences.

More importantly, the relics of Pho Hien preserve their innate ancient beauty. With the wet rice civilization and culture, we catch the colors of bronze, stone, wood, tile and soil on each roof, door and path, which create a sense of immortality of each relic.

With its role as a key link from the traffic artery of the Red River, Pho Hien was once a frontal port of Thang Long Citadel that opened to the sea, ranking second in importance to Hanoi, as goes an old Vietnamese saying. Today, Pho Hien residents are embracing an ambition to revive its glorious past.

Ha Noi aims to craft better image for villages

 The capital city's tourism authorities have unveiled a plan to make numerous craft villages in the city more attractive to tourists, building on successes like the Van Phuc Silk Village.

Deputy Director of the Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mai Tien Dung, said the city has more than 1,000 traditional craft villages, but has not yet developed craft village tours.

Dung blamed this on poorly developed infrastructure and tourist services at the craft villages and the lack of the awareness among local people about tourism development and its potential to boost their living standards.

He said the department would support travel firms and craft villages in attracting more tourists by promoting a model where visitors can learn more about the production processes, place orders and buy readymade products.

In related news, Thua Thien-Hue Province has announced that it would host a national handicraft festival in 2013, aiming to strengthen the role of craft villages in tourism development.

Source: VNS