TOUCHING INDOCHINA - VIETNAM TRAVEL

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Cat Ba Island is the largest island in Halong Bay. While the vast majority of Halong Bay's island are uninhabited vertical rocks, Cat Ba actually has a few tiny fishing villages. The terrain is too rocky for agriculture and most residents earn their living from the sea. Life has always been hard here and, not surprisingly, many Cat Ba residents joined the exodus of Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s and 1980s.

Although the island lost much of its fishing fleet this way, the overseas Vietnamese have sent back large amounts of money to relatives on the island, thus financing the new hotels and restaurants that you'll see.

There is very little motorized traffic and, indeed, very few roads. Compared with the tourist carnival at Bai Chay, Cat Ba is still very laid back, despite about a ten fold increase in hotel rooms since 2006.

About half of Cat Ba Island which has a total area of 354 sq km and 90 sq km of the adjacent inshore waters were declared a national park in 1986 in order to protect the islands divers ecosystems.
These include subtropical evergreen forests on the hills, freshwater swamp forests at the base of the hills, coastal mangrove forests, small freshwater lakes and offshore coral reefs. Most of the coastline consists of rocky cliffs, but there are a few sandy beaches tucked into small coves. The main beaches in Cat Ba Island are Cai Vieng, Hong Xoai Be and Hong Xoai Lon.

There are also numerous lakes, waterfalls and grottoes in the spectacular limestone hills, the highest of which rises 331 m above sea level. The growth of the vegetation is stunted near the summits because of high winds. The largest permanent body of water on the island is Ech lake, which covers an area of three hectares. Almost all of the surface streams are seasonal; most of the Cat Ba's rainwater flows into caves, and follows underground streams to the sea, creating a shortage of fresh water during the dry season. Although parts of the interior of the island are below sea level, most of the island is between 50 and 200 m in elevation.

The waters off Cat Ba Island are home to 200 species of fish, 500 species of molluscs and 400 species of arthropods. Larger marine animals in the area include seals and three species of dolphins.

Stone tools and bones left by humans who lived between 6000 and 7000 years ago have been found at 17 sites on the islands. The most thoroughly studies site is Cat Beo Cave, discovered by French archaeologist in 1938. which is 1.5 km from Cat Ba Village.

Getting there and away to Cat Ba Island

Cat Ba Island is 40 km east of Haiphong and 20 km south of Halong City. A great innovation for getting there are 108 seat russian built hydrofoils. the air-conditioned water rockets reduce the Haiphong - Cat Hai- Cat Ba Journey to just 2 hours. Vietnamese Package Tours can arrange 2 day 1 night trip to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi.
An Alternative way to reach Cat Ba Island via the island of Cat Hai, which is closer to Haiphong. A boat depart Haiphong and makes a brief stop in Cat Hai Island, before continuing to the port of Phu Long on Cat Ba Island.

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Visit Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue, Vietnam

The Thien Mu Pagoda just outside Hue was a hotbed of anti-government protest during the early 1960's. The Thien Mu Pagoda is one of the must see Tourist sight in Hue and is home to the Austin motorcar made famous by Thich Quang Duc's self immolation in 1963.

Surprisingly, it also became a focus of protest in the 1980s when someone was murdered near the Pagoda and anti-communist demonstration was started right here in Thien Mu Pagoda , closing traffic around Phu Xuan Bridge. Monks were arrested and accused of disturbing the traffic and public order. Things have calmed down and a small group of monks, novices and nuns now live at Pagoda.

Behind the main sanctuary of the Thien Mu Pagoda is the Austin Motorcar which transported the Monk Thich Quang Duc to the site of his 1963 self immolation.

Self immolation of monk Thich Quang Duc

Thich Quang Duc travelled to Ho Chi Minh City and publicly burned himself to death to protest the polocies of President Ngo Dinh Diem. A famous photograph of his act was printed on the front page of newspapers all around the world. Thich Quang Duc's death soon inspired a numbers of others self-immolation.

Photo by Wikipedia

Many westerners were shocked less by the suicides than by reaction of Tran Le Xuan, known as Madame Nhu, the President's notorious sister in law, who happily proclaimed the self-immolations a 'barbecue party' and have said, Let them burn and we shall clap our hands. Her statements greatly added to the already substantial public disgust with Diem's regim; the US press labelled Madame Nhu the ' Iron Butterfly ' and ' Dragon Lady ' . In November, both President Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu (Madame Nhu's husband) were assassinated by Diem's own military. Madame Nhu was out side the Vietnam at the time.

A memorial to Monk Thich Quang Duc can be found at the intersection of D Nguyen Dinh Chieu and D Cach Mang Thang Tam, around the corner from the Xa Loi Pagoda, in Ho Chi Minh City, South Vietnam. many Vietnam Tours providers have include visiting Xa Loi Pagoda. travelers, also, planning a trip ( Visa to vietnam, flight etc) Vietnam, for vacation or tourism purpose will visit many places , we encourage them to visit the memorial as well.

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Holders of passports of the Liechtenstein willing to visit Vietnam either for tourist or business purpose can easily obtain for a Visa on Arrival, regardless of traditional way that applicants should refer to the embassy and submit passport and other documents and waiting for 5 days to get a visa to Vietnam, then Visa on Arrival is the most simple way to get your Visa done, please follow the simple steps as following in order to apply online for a Visa to Vietnam.

How is the process of Vietnam Visa on Arrival from the Liechtenstein?

Applicants must follow the three simple steps to submit their request in order to apply for an Approval letter; here is the process one-by-one:

Browse through Tonkin Visa official and recognized Visa website (VisaVietnam.Pro) Fill in the Visa application form using the correct information as shown on your passport, applicants are required to submit the accurate information in order to get the approval letter approved by the Vietnam Immigration department.
Please kindly make sure about information you've been submitted, then, move to the second step to submit the Visa services fee, this process can be done using your credit card through the online form in our website.
We review your submission and start the process to get your Vietnam Visa Approval letter, the visa processing is depend on your selected options out of 3 options ( Normal for 2 days , Urgent for 1 day, Express for 4 working hours)

How About the Cost of a Vietnam Visa on Arrival for Liechtenstein Passport holders? (Apply with Tonkin Visa)

• One Month Single Entry Tourist Visa: 16 US$

• Three Month Single Entry Visa: 25 US$

• One Month Multiple Entry Tourist Visa: 18 US$

• Three Month Multiple Entry Visa: 32 US$

What to do after i got the Visa Approval letter?

Once we sent you the approval letter, then simply print it out and present it for boarding the flight (need it), then upon arrival at Vietnam’s International Airports, you should present the visa approval letter with 1 passport sized photo and filling a visa form and present it to the Visa officers, you should pay the Stamping fee as 45 US$ for one month and 95 $ for 3 month Visa directly to the immigration officers. And wait for few minutes to get your Vietnam visa stamped into your passport. That’s it and welcome to Vietnam.

Free Visa to Vietnam

We at Touching Indochina Travel (Tonkin Visa), offers Free Vietnam Visa for applicants who takes 4 days and more Tours with us, please check our Vietnam Package Tours and feel free to ask away your related questions.

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Off the beaten tracks of Vietnam are beautiful and worth to visit, here is Guide on How to Visit Suoi Voi Spering. About 15 KM north of Lang Co is the inland turn off to Elephant springs, Suoi Voi, a secluded recreation area where one could easily spend a day traipsing through the forest and swimming in cool, crystal-clear streams. It's a pleasant detour and highly recommended for bikers and cyclist who are braving their way along the Highway 1.

The main springs, a short walk from the parking area about 1 KM from the entry gate, feauters huge boulders, one in the shape of an elephant's head and the stunning back drop of Bach Ma mountain Range in the distance. Time permitting, further exploration will lead to less populated swimming holes including Vung Do Pool, about 200m beyond the main area.

Foreign visitors here are scarce and most seem to be rushing in one direction or another along the coast, and on weekdays you may find you've got the whole place to yourself, Sundays, however are jam-packed with young Vietnamese lovers seeking a bit of privacy.

Getting to the Spring from Highway # 1?

for getting to the spring from highway 1, look for the large faded sign reading 'Suoi Voi' . you will see the 19th century Thua Lau Church just a head of you after making the turn off. From here follow the dirt road for a few Kilometers to the entry gate

You'll need to buy an entry ticket here and also pay for the parking. Hold onto your ticket as you may be asked to show it more than once, there are some basic food stalls near the springs, but you're best off bringing a picnic lunch, otherwise if you are on Vietnam Tours then your tour might get lunch included.

Tonkin Visa Agency organize weekly tours to Suoi Voi Springs, about another 15 KM north of this turn off if the village of Cau Hai, and the turn off to reach Bach Ma National Park.

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Getting a Vietnam Visa on Arrival from Australia

Australian passport holders willing to visit Vietnam either for tourist or business purpose can easily obtain for a Visa on Arrival, regardless of traditional way that applicants should refer to the embassy and submit passport and other documents and waiting for 5 days to get a visa to Vietnam, then Visa on Arrival is the most simple way to get your Visa to Vietnam done, please follow the simple steps as following in order to apply online for a Visa to Vietnam.

How is the process of Vietnam Visa on Arrival?

Applicants must follow the three simple steps to submit their request in order to apply for an Approval letter; here is the process one-by-one:

Browse through Tonkin Visa official and recognized Visa website (VisaVietnam.Pro) Fill in the Visa application form using the correct information as shown on your passport, applicants are required to submit the accurate information in order to get the approval letter approved by the Vietnam Immigration department.
Please kindly make sure about information you’ve been submitted, afterward, move to the second step to submit the Visa services fee, this process can be done using your credit card through the online form in our website.
We review your submission and start the process to get your Vietnam Visa Approval letter, the visa processing is depend on your selected options out of 3 options ( Normal for 2 days , Urgent for 1 day, Express for 4 working hours)

How About the Cost of a Vietnam Visa on Arrival for Australian? ( Apply with Tonkin Visa)

• One Month Single Entry Tourist Visa: 16 US$

• Three Month Single Entry Visa: 25 US$

• One Month Multiple Entry Tourist Visa: 18 US$

• Three Month Multiple Entry Visa: 32 US$

We at Tonkin Visa, have special prices for Our Visa services fee for group travelers

I got the Approval letter, what’s next?

Free of charge Visa to Vietnam

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Ho Chi Minh is the best knows of some 50 aliases assumed over the course of his long career by Nguyen Tat Thanh (1890 - 1969 ), founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party and president of the democratic republic of Vietnam from 1946 until his death. Born the son of a fiercely nationalistic scholar-official of humble means. he was educated in the Quon Hoc secondary School in Hue City in central Vietnam, before he work briefly as a teacher in Phan Thiet. in 1911, he signed on as a cook's apprentice on a French Ship, sailing to North America, Africa and Europe. He then remained in Europe, where, while working as a gardener, snow sweeper, waiter, photo retoucher and stoker, his political consciousness began to develop.

After living briefly in London, Ho Chi Minh moved to Paris, where he adopted the name Nguyen Ai Quoc ( Nguyen the patriot). During this period of time, he mastered a number of languages including English, French, German and Mandarin Chinese and began to write about and debate the issue of Indochinese independence. During the 1919 Versailles peace conference , he tried to present an independence plan for Vietnam to US president Woodrow Wilson. Ho Chi Minh was a founding member of the French Communist Party, which was established in 1920. in 1923, he was summoned to Moscow for training the Communist International, which latter sent him to Guangzhou, China, where he founded the Revolutionary youth league of Vietnam, a precursor to the Indochinese Communist Party and the Vietnamese Communist Party.

After spending time in Hong Kong jail in early 1930s and more time in the USSR and the China, Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in 1941 for the first time in 3 years. That same year - at the age of 51 - he helped found the Viet Minh Front, the goal of which was the Independence of Vietnam from French colonial rule and Japanese occupation. in 1942, he was arrested and held for a year by the Nationalist Chinese. As Japan prepared to surrender in August 1945, Ho Chi Minh led the August Revolution which took control of the much of the Country; and it was Ho Chi Minh who composed Vietnam's Declaration of Independence that was modeled in part on the American Declaration of Independence and read it publicly very near the site of his mausoleum in Hanoi which today many Vietnam Tours have part to visit.

The return of the French shortly thereafter forced Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh to flee Hanoi and take up armed resistance. Ho Chi Minh then spent 8 years conducting a guerilla war until the Viet Minh's Victory against the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Ho Chi Minh then led to North of Vietnam until his death in September of 1969 - he never lived to see the North's victory over the South. Ho Chi Minh is affectionately referred to as " Uncle Ho" ( Bac Ho in Vietnamese) bu his admirers.

Uncle Ho may have been the father of Vietnam, but he wasnt the father of any Children, at least none that are known, Like his erstwhile nemesis, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, Ho Chi Minh Never married.

Vietnam Visa on Arrival

Tonkin Visa is a fully licensed non-government organization, is one of Vietnam’s leading Travel Agencies based in Hanoi, Vietnam, we are specializing in entry Visa to Vietnam. We submit applicants documents and profiles to the Immigration department and provide you with Vietnam Visa Approval letter, check the cheapest fee for Visa to Vietnam and contact Tonkin Visa today!

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Cham Museum in Danang, Vietnam

The best Danang tourist Attraction probably has to be the Cham Museum ( Bao Tang Cham). Founded in 1915 by the Ecole Francise d’Extreme Orient, the open air collection of Cham Sculpture is the finest in the world. Many of the sandstone carvings like altars, lingas, garudas, ganeshas and images of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu are breathtaking; making this a museum you can visit again and again.

A trilingual guidebook, Museum of Cham Sculpture – Danang on the museum written by its director, Tran Ky Phuong, Vietnam’s most eminent scholar of Cham Civilization, provides excellent background on the art of Champa; it also includes some details on the museum’s exhibits, the book is usually on sale at the entrance.

It is well worth finding a knowledgeable guide to show you around and let you experience how great the history of Cham was, Vietnamese PackageTours offers daily tours and guide to visit Cham Museum.

The artifacts of the Danang’s Cham Museum, which date from the 7th to 15th centuries, were discovered at Dong Duong (Indrapura), Khuong My, My Son, Tra Kieu (Simhapura), Thap Mam (Binh Dinh) and others sites, mostly in Quang Nam and Danang Provinces. The museum’s rooms are named after the localities in which the objects displayed in them were found.

The four scenes carved around the base of the 7th century Tra Kieu Altar tell part of the Ramayana epic and are influenced by the Amaravati style of south India.

Scene A (16 Characters)
Tells the story of price Rama, who broke the sacred bow (Rudra) at the citadel of Videha thus winning the right to wed King Janak’s daughter, Princess Sita.

Scene B (16 Characters)

Shows the ambassadors send by King Janak to Prince Rama’s father, King Dasaratha, at Ayodhaya. The emissaries inform king Dasaratha of the exploits of his son, present him with gifts and invite him to Videha to celebrate his son’s wedding.

Scene C (18 Characters)
Shows the royal wedding ceremony including three of prince Rama's brothers, who are marrying three of Princess Siat's Cousins.

Scene D
11 apsaras heavenly maidens dance and present flowers to the newlyweds under the guidance of the two gandhara musicians who appear at the beginning of Scene A.

Getting to Cham Sculpture Museum

The museum, near the corner of D Nu Vuong and D Bach Dang, is open daily from 8 to 11 am and 1 to 5 pm. Admission fee is US$2.

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Traveling to Vietnam is a journey full of memory experience seeing new things from Vietnamese peoples. Make sure you have a Visa to Vietnam beforehand. however, here in this Article i am going to write About the life of Cyclo drivers in Vietnam.
Through the smoke and pollution, groups of battered old men lean against their Cyclos - Three wheeled rickshaw, operated by pedal power, with a seat attached to the front. Win, a veteran Cyclo driver recently explained, It's hard to earn one's living. You have to bend in order to pedal and earn a little money.

Before the American war many Cyclo drivers were doctors, teachers or Journalists, but like many of their friends they were punished for siding with the Americans. After the cease-fire, tens of thousands of them were stripped of their citizenship and sent to re-education camps for seven years or even more. Over 20 years later, it is still impossible for them to return to the jobs they are qualified to do and, as most do not have an official residence permit which means they can not own property or business, it's technically illegal for them to be in the city. Many of Cyclo drivers have never had families because they could not afford a home to live in.

Around the restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and Karaoke bars of central Ho Chi Minh City , It;s hard to miss miss them in their work clothes and tar-stained sandals, victim from years of being caught in the jagged chains of the cyclos. The coming and goings are a constant form of entertainment and business for the Ho Chi Minh City's Cyclo drivers. Nothing misses their sharp eyes. Their courteous propositions hide their desires to stablish your first name and claim you as 'Their property' while you're in Ho Chi Minh City, Once known, cries of your name across crowded streets will hound you as the determined drivers compete for your business.

Cyclo drivers are, however, excellent city guides - these days Vietnam Package Tours Organizers are using Cyclo to just maximize the local culture combine on their tours as Cyclo drivers know every corner of the city and can give you a potted history of the key sites, Also, the front seat of a cyclo really is one of the best ways to see Ho Chi Minh City - but it does take some getting used to. In heavy traffic it's like riding a roller-coaster at a fairground; the traffic races towards you at starting speeds from into a gap that magically appears in the traffic, while you thank the gods that you are still in one piece.

Tourists love to reverse roles and have a go in the saddle, mistakenly thinking that it is easy to spend one's day cycling from place to place, but their opinions quickly change. Inmost cases they find the cyclos too hard to peddle and, if they advance at all, they don't get vary far on the uneven, potholed roads.

The Cyclo driver's home is usually a street corner, which is made colorful and interesting by using wooden tables and small, multicolored, plastic footstools which support them only inches off the ground. Their floor is broken up bits of pavements slabs and the Cyclo drivers drinks cabinet's nestles just behind them.

After a day Sightseeing, they might invite you to join then for either a whisky in a Coke bottle or the local beer Ba, Ba, (Ba Pronounced it 'baa-baa-baa'slowly because in Vietnamese it can also sound like you are saying'three old women'!!). An evening with these guys in always worthwhile, but remember it's not always tobacco being smoked in those wooden pipes.

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