Vietnam Heritage August-September 2017

4:7 AUG-SEP 2017

Age-old trade village on top of a web of tunnels

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On the occasion of the 12th Vietnam National Heritage Day (23rd November 2017), the Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards 2017 is launched.

The competition seeks out photos about the natural and cultural heritage of Vietnam in general, and stories and images about ‘Markets’ in particular, for publication in Vietnam Heritage magazine and on the website www.vietnamheritage.com.vn, exhibitions of selected works from the contest will be held in Vietnam.

The Panel of Judges: Photographer Hoang TrungThuy; Photographer Doan ThiTho – EVAPA, FIPAP; Film Director Nguyen Quoc Hung – Film Master, Deputy Director of TV studios TFS – HCMC Television

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There will be 16 prizes 03 First prizes: 1 Canon EOS 700D kit 18-55mm and printer Canon PIXMA TS8070/ each prize 03 Second prizes: 1 Canon EOS 700D kit 18-55mm/ each prize 03 Third prizes: 1 Canon PIXMA IX6770/ each prize 07 Runners-up prizes: 1 Canon PIXMA IP2770 or voucher of tour and resort/ each prize Entries must be in digital format, either coloured or black and white, 5MB or smaller, 300DPI. Entries close on 24h00 15th September, 2017.

Please find Rules of the Contest and Registration Form at www.vietnamheritage.com.vn

The Awards Ceremonies will be held in November 2017.

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CONTENT No 4, VOL.7, AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2017

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INTERVIEW

Human need art to be humans again ARCHITECTURE

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12

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26

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30

34

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Northern village temples MUSIC

The joy of fertility and continuity CUSTOMS

To catch a groom PEOPLE

Chef Luke Nguyen is bringing it all back to Vietnam

Getting his sea legs CLOTHING

The loom of life CULTURE

Days of wine & rites GAMES

The sounds of liberty NATURE

Legendary waters TRAVEL

Tam Coc - Bich Dong CRAFTS

The beating of the drum is the heart of Vietnam

Age-old trade village on top of a web of tunnels ART

Artist Tran Minh Tam pays homage to ancient

Imperial Hue EVENTS

Cover photograph: Weaving bamboo basket at a workshop in Thai My Trade Village, Cu Chi District.

Photo byNguyen Minh Tan Published by the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam

Publication licence No: 1648/GP-BTTTT from the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the English-language edition of The Gioi Di San (The World of Heritage) magazine Editor-in-Chief: Le Thanh Hai; Public Relations Director: Bui Thi Hang Managing Editor: Kha Tu Anh; Sub-editing: Erik Johnson; Assistant: Van Thanh Nga, Nguyen Dang Khoa; Designer: Thanh Mai; Contributing Photographers: Nguyen Ba Han, Hoang Quoc Tuan, Hoang The Nhiem, Huynh Van Nam, Le Hoai Phuong, Nguyen Anh Tuan; Ngo Nguyen Huynh Trung Tin; Nguyen Ba Ngoc Correspondent: Pip de Rouvray; Advertising and Circulation: Green Viet Advertising JSC Email: tapchidisanvietnam@gmail.com & vnheritagemagazine@gmail.com; Thuy Phuong 0969 47 3579 Hanoi Advertising and Subscription: The He Moi MHN Viet Nam Co.Ltd, Mr Song Hao: 0903 476 999 Nha Trang Advertising and Subscription: Bach Cat Co. Ltd,; 22/6A Bach Dang Str. Nha Trang City Tel: (58) 360 7070 Fax (58) 387 0099, Email: bachcatprco.ltd@gmail.com Contact in the US for subscription and advertising: 2628 Sturla dr. San Jose, CA 95148

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Vietnam Heritage is published monthly, produced in Vietnam and printed at Army Printing House No 2. © All rights reserved.

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017 I

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Pak Ta Mountain, Na Hang District, Tuyen Quang Province Photo: Tran Binh An

“There is something so close, so intimate and so untouchable in Nguyen Trung’s soft, light gray clouds.

So real, so beautiful, they are also so fragile and can vaporize and vanish anytime. Those clouds are illusions accompanying symbolic images, much like meditative visions. Sensations of pain, horror, war, love, joy, and innocence of youth, buried beneath the mundane, forgotten and lost under hardened numbness, subtly resurface again. Time, now, indifferent now sensitive, like thin strokes of white paint on a wall, one on top of another, disappears under colorless mould and dirt, just to one day ooze out layer by layer, clearing the gray area between the subconscious and reality. Nothing was erased, things just get richer, more alluring. Clumsy strokes, innocent letters, circles hitched to one another etc. are like riddles, taking us to a new adventure, and another and another to find our own self. Life reincarnates in a new, more significant form.

There is a set of stormy scenes. Pure and immense forces of the supernatural, rage and subsidence come and go in successions, rendering words meaningless and unable to stand between us and the grandeur and magnificence of nothingness. It’s unreachable and untouchable, as if seen beyond the screen separating us and other worlds, beyond the material reality. Curiosity, and the urge of unveiling what is hidden behind that delicate whiteness transport us to indefinite domains that even the artist himself cannot predict...

I have never, perhaps, seen anything so down-toearth, so dusty and sensual in Nguyen Trung’s paintings. He lulls us to sleep with luxurious beauty and salvation no more. Here is a set of paintings that are so rousing. One is pulled into a back point amid an eye-blindingly white entirety, hypnotized, swept away by imagination. It’s a white valley of loneliness where black spots overflow and emit light, the down pouring light of desire which comes from the voluptuous beauty of a woman just ecstatically fulfilled. A very mundane, very sensual kind of fulfillment...

Flowing with time and growing older, Nguyen Trung accumulates more and more feelings and energy to dedicate to art. His freedom, self-reliance and rediscovered inner resources made his 19 showcased abstract paintings a peculiar beauty of an otherworldly, sensual and at the same time innocent reality. May be that is the way he sees and lives life” Huong Xuan Impression of the writer about the Shades of Gray Exhibition by Nguyen Trung at Quynh Gallery (65 De Tham) from Dec 9 2010 to Dec 1 2011 (-Ed) 8•

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Artist Nguyen Trung Portrait by Hoang Tuong Charcoal

For a long time, artist Nguyen Trung dove into silence and lived a hermetic life.

Rumors and speculations surrounding this phenomenon of Vietnamese art made him an enigmatic figure.

Thanks to writer Huong Xuan, who has been a keen admirer and follower of the artist for many years, Vietnam Heritage is proud to share some insights from her latest interview with the artist.

INTERVIEW

Humans need art to be humans again With a warm smile in his flickering eyes, his youth and passion is obvious when it comes to beauty and his many other pursuits.

- Contemplating your works the last few days, I feel much comforted, as if having found lost dreams and visions again. How did you find such a way to reach one’s most pristine and vulnerable recesses of the soul?

That is hard to explain, just like the subconscious itself.

Art is a process of awakening and blossoming of the subconscious, not something outside. Nostalgic memories fall deep into the past, smouldering, fermenting and one day it becomes wine. It takes nothing to paint a portrait of the woman you love, and such a portrait has no value. Art is not an immediate surge of inspiration like an unripe fruit.

Let it take time, slowly. When the subconscious awakens, take your hand to guide your brush strokes without you knowing it, that’s art.

How do you remain yourself and live by your talent and dignity in this rapidly changing world?

I don’t resist or hold defence lines, but only go with the flow, preserving inner comfort. How can one resist a colossal wheel? Dramatic things happen, but I don’t use force, nor do I become fierce. Just like when you are meditating. Resistance is violence too, and violence never brings tranquility. The idea of defence only comes when you are weak. Only the weak look for a fight. Those who can control themselves don’t need to ponder on countermeasures and can keep cool.

What touches you the most in a woman ? How to protect the material and spiritual purity of beauty and love in such a time when the world is getting more and more crude?

I value purity of the heart, sincerity, and then the appearance. The female portraits I paint are usually

idealized, with a religious touch. I often contemplate religious paintings and sculptures in the temples, with a sorrowful light cast on their gestures, with lively, breathing lines on their necks. I am greatly influenced by religions. I also owe the beauty of my female portraits to Kim Zung, partly. The women he described were all perfect and transparent. Another reason is that I love their beauty, I know how to cherish and preserve it. I never forget a beautiful female face I have once seen. I keep those images, let them ferment, and they one day come out in my paintings.

It seems, in your eyes life is very beautiful ?

It’s beautiful at times, and sometimes ugly too. But if you love and cherish it, you will be able to see beauty in that ugliness.

Where are the noble souls, like the ones Kim Zung described in his martial art novels? What saddens you the most, when the values you cherish diminish in today’s society?

Noble souls are always few. I see people rolling downhill, losing everything on the way from kindness to humanity. They only rush to grab wealth for themselves, and they even violate the deities to force out their granting of quick bucks. That’s why I live in loneliness and have few friends. I break up with the non-like-minded. That may be a little too stringent. A gentleman shouldn’t be too stringent, but I’m not that good. I am very categorical.

People fake too much already. Vietnamese art is « heroically in peril » also because the mountains of fake and forgery are burying real values. Most people only look for material gain, disregarding feelings, emotions and love. Material pursuits also kills sincerity in people. They become so easygoing. Wealth devalues humans, and they belittle themselves and those around them.

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INTERVIEW consistent, inside and out. What we need the most now is a healthy education system to make people come back to the true beauty.

Famous and respected by peers at the age of 19, but you dropped out of the School of Arts. Why? My youth was full of fun. I lived free and did what I wanted. But the teaching methods at the School of Arts were never smart! It’s my fate to be bullied everywhere I go. In my neighborhood, at school or in the streets... People took my respect for fear. I knew I did well, but the teachers always denied it. Maybe I was subjective, but it was depressing to feel bullied. When I failed the sophomore year exams and had to stay one more year, the first day at school was so sad. I didn’t think I was a genius, nor did I hold grudge on my teachers. I just disliked their way of teaching. I had a constant impression that I was too incompetent. Finally I decided to learn by myself. Art to me means to be alone, independent.

To make your own marks requires a great determination. How did you self-study for such a long time when information was so scarce and hard to access?

Passion, and self-confidence gives you the strength to pursue and follow up. Some books can change your life. At that time, art literature was scarce, but I was lucky to find some that enlightened me, such as those of French philosophers Bergson and Alain. I learned something about modern trends of art through the book The Birth of A New Art of Michel Ragon, a writer, art historian, critic, a man who was dedicated to modern art, especially abstract art. Tagor’s essays also showed me the purposes of art… I read and discovered many things for myself.

And then I stopped and forgot all.

What pivoting moments have changed your personal perception of art?

Hard to tell the clear time period. It was a natural shift.

I moved back and forth between realism the abstractionism all the time. But I abandoned neither, and never threw away everything I had. In art I am a dangerous man (smiling humorously), always torn into halves, because I always pursue immediately whomever I found good, and quit right away to pursue another when I found it hard. Perhaps that’s my way, just to avoid being too stretched. But I always kept abstract art in mind, because to the best of my knowledge, abstractionism originated in the Orient. Michel Ragon wrote, « There is always an element of Zen in abstract paintings. » In 1990, seeing first hand abstract paintings in France, I thought that was fit for my Oriental nature, compatible with what I have lived and experienced. It was more inspiring to me.

I never predetermine what a good painting should be like.

Finishing a painting, I am most happy when I feel satisfied and glad. Only then I sign to complete it. There are paintings

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I finished long ago, but have not signed because they were incomplete. Being true also means troubling oneself. Don’t ask yourself what beautiful means because there is no answer.

Principles will become rigid, outdated, unfit for our persona, because we are different from what we were yesterday, and we will never stop changing. Don’t talk about this school or that trend either. To me, art has to be very spontaneous. The artist has to listen to the voice deep inside himself, calmly and slowly contemplate… in order to be able to change constantly and not to repeat yesterday, not to become boring. A psychoanalyst who collected my works and whom I highly regarded said something I liked very much, « I didn’t like it at all when you moved to abstractionism. But that means you are changing, which means you are alive, and I am glad about that. » Seeing clearly societal movements, sensing deeply the gains and losses of the whole nation and each human life, what torments you the most that enables you to express in such a heartfelt way human suffering, setting new milestones in abstract art?

The most tormenting thing to me is the perpetual gnawing question of history, which is how to stop wars. Art has to have enough power to help people understand and love each other better.

Looking at today’s artistic life, what worries you most about the young generation?

Vietnamese art is becoming more and more diversified.

Having access to European and American art, the young artists tend to follow many different modern trends. But one should not just learn a little here, a little there. Things have to be taken seriously, studied in depth, distilled and combined with one’s own talent and wisdom. Vietnamese art community is very small, and it’s easy for an artist to become well-known. The media tend to rush to create early fame immaturely by pouring out loud words of praise arbitrarily, implanting wrong illusions in young people. But to what end? … the lack of keen and seasoned art critics?

Yes. We don’t have a culture of art critique for the sake of the arts yet. There are only a few learned writers who care to update themselves about some issues of the world such as Nguyen Quan, Bui Nhu Huong…

Do you think Vietnam has developed a proper art market?

Vietnam art market has been formed, but it is very fragile.

We don’t have knowledgeable professional art dealers who are well-versed in art. An art collector has to really love and be able to enjoy the paintings, not just for the sole purpose of commercial benefit, It’s easy to deceive oneself if one only runs after big names without true love for art.

Going through Saigon’s upheavals within the ups and downs of history, what do you think when you look at the city now?

I have a strong nomadic nature. Back in my childhood, living near the sixth train station gate, I constantly felt the urge to follow the trains’ whistle. But away from Saigon, I always missed the city. Nothing in particular, I just wanted to be back.

It hurts to see the familiar street corners unrecognizably change… Saigon is being treated so badly…

Having been teaching, writing papers and practicing many professions, being an intrepid person in life, why do you often time choose to be silent? Are you running away from something?

Silent doesn’t mean dead. Sometimes that’s when one is most rebellious. Silence is good for contemplation, growing up, thinking things through. Sometimes I want to make a big picture, but it has to wait. There must be ideas, which must be arranged… at those times, silence is like planning a city.

Sometimes the plan is horrible, and has to be redone from the scratch. But in life, silence is reconciliation, integration and going with the flow.

Do you fear anything?

Not right now, but I did. The most haunting was the fear of being called up to the blackboard by a teacher. I was a lazy student, only good at the subjects I liked, such as literature and languages. My math was a total zero. The year 2004 with my exhibition Blackboard was my important transition period, full of unconscious undercurrents. A collector commented, « the paintings remind me of the times in the classroom, just as the teacher turns his back, kites started flying in all directions… » The Blackboard series was about nostalgic recollections of childhood.

At the most mature stage of life, what is the dearest to you? Which is the way for you to come back to love ?

It’s time. I have wasted too much of it and now there is just a little left. I need quiet and health to keep my creativity vibrant. Nobody can give me that; I have to secure it for myself.

As for time, it’s given by heaven and can be taken away by heaven. It’s none of my business.

You ask me about love? To me love is art. I never quit, so why talk about coming back? We humans are very much in need of art to regain our humanity. n

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Bang Temple at the Dinh Bang Village, Bac Ninh Province. Photo: Le Huu Truc

NORTHERN

VILLAGE TEMPLES

BY LE HUU TRUC*

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illage temples, an expression of harmonious blending with nature, reflect the fact of Vietnamese life that gods are actively engaged in our world, and farming means cooperating with heaven and earth. Traditional folk architecture of Viet people expands horizontally and has a broad base, balanced and stable. Village temples are no exception. They demonstrate our ancestors’ wise attitude toward the living environment, taking control of and constraining nature’s harshness, and being flexible in taking advantage of favorable elements at the same time.

The temple location is chosen following strictly the principles of feng-shui because it is vital to the village’s existence. Big and impressive, the temple should not be heavy or depressing. It should have both gracefulness and solemnity.

The temple size must be proportionated to the ambient scenery because it is the face of the village. Double roof tiles make the roof thicker and heavier to withstand strong gusting winds, and at the same time keep it cooler inside. The roofs are expanded to lower the edges, preventing rain water from wetting those inside; thus there is no need for a surrounding wall. The stilted house motifs, and curved, lifted roof corners are typical for the temples of the northern delta region. It helps distinguish this architecture from that of other regions of Vietnam and beyond.

ARCHITECTURE

Inside the Bang Temple. Photo from the archive of Le Huu Truc

Simple and elegant, unassuming but delicate, village temples feature all that is best in the traditional architecture of Vietnam. They showcase the purest Vietnamese architecture and fine art, which are rooted in and have always been a faithful continuation of Dong Son culture. They are a truthful and lively symbol, the quintessence of thousands of years of Vietnamese art.

The roofs are the most interesting part of a temple. The corner ridges are curved like boat prows, making the whole structure look graceful and much lighter, as if flying. The horizontal roof and floor tiling of a temple makes it a part of the surrounding scenery. The overall structure is sophisticated while, wherever possible, the details such as beams and pillars are left in natural simplicity. Under expanded roofs the temple looks inclusive, protecting and comforting.

Village temple aesthetical motives carry unique and distinct traditional cultural values. They are taken intuitively by simplehearted folk artisans from their everyday peasant life. In their creation, the artist-peasants are not constrained by any academic rules or standards. They use their skillful hands and freedom of imagination and expression to reflect and describe reality, bringing community comfort.

Many carving and relief techniques are employed to express their vision, which is direct, simple, humorous, at times

spontaneous and immediate like that of children. The peasant-artist loves curves, and symmetry, with slow and soft variations. The ideas come from nature. Symmetry is present in lay-outs and designs, while carvings and reliefs are always crowded, as farmers love fertility, reproduction and growth.

An interesting fact is that some village temple wood carvings bear very modern features, usually seen only in western contemporary sculpture. The chess game relief at Ngoc Canh Temple reverses the far-near order, as if seen from above, from inside, and each character conforms to its own space and time limits.

The fish-catching cat at Binh Luc Temple is chiseled with rude, harsh strokes like in expressionism. A large number of reliefs put in big strong frames are used to fill architectural blanks. Sculpture does not override, but rather, enhances architecture, making the temples all the more picturesque and spiritual. n *Le Huu Truc is an architect AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

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The joy

MUSIC

of fertility and continuity

BY HOA KHANH

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A performance of khắc luống in the Hang Bua Festival, Quy Chau Dist., Nghe An Province. Photo: Nguyen Quoc Hoang

ounding rice in a wooden gutter with pestles has been a practice by people of Thai ethnicity in Nghe An Province since the beginning of time. When the work is finished, they continue pounding to make joyful sounds. Due to the pleasing musical quality of the pastime, the ancient Thais gave shows or held contests on the occasions of New Year, festivities, weddings and religious ceremonies. This practice continues today.

Thai people in Nghe An Province have a unique culture with a lot of peculiarities. With a population of 265,591, this is the largest among five minorities scattered in nine mountainous districts of the province.

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Occupying nearly 16,500 km2, most of it forests and mountains in the north of Mid-Vietnam, Nghe An is the country’s largest province. The population is about 3 million.

Today, these typically Thai sounds and rhythms continue to echo around the mountains of Nghe An Province.

The art may look elementary, but in fact, it requires a lot of skills. A closer look reveals sophisticated and deep meanings of the show (called khắc luống) that carries features of culture and routine life of the Thai people of Nghe An Province.

Khắc luống is an all female performance. A number (normally 8) Thai women in traditional dress hold pestles and stand on both

MUSIC sides of a 2.5m long, 45cm wide wooden gutter.

As a roll of drums announces the beginning of the concert, the players strike both the inside and outside of the gutter with their pestles to make different sounds.

The gutter represents female genitalia and pestles represent male ones. Rice pounding is an imitation of intercourse, according to fertility cults which worship human genitalia. For that reason, culture experts say that khắc luống is very typical for peoples of this faith, such as Thai.

There are three khắc luống styles. In ‘gut bouncing’, the players beat the inside walls of the gutter to make deep, resounding notes.

‘Weaving’ style imitates weaving movements and the rapidly repeating sounds strained threads make on a loom. The ‘cock fight’ style combines both of the above styles with the two sides knocking together the other end of their pestles to imitate the lively moves and sounds of a cock fight.

Thai people consider the ‘cock fight’ style the pinnacle of the art of khắc luống, which can be done only by highly skilled performers.

From far away, the echoes of khắc luống rhythms urge party goers to hasten their pace to join the fun. n

Hanoi

Nghe An

Thai people in Nghe An have many unique festivities that feature the khắc luống performance such as:

w Hang Bua Festival from 20th HCM City

to 22nd of the first lunar month at Pha En Hill, Hong Tien 2 Village, Chau Tien Commune, Quy Chau District.

w Den Van – Cua Rao Festival from 20th to 23rd of the first lunar month at Xa Luong Commune, Tuong Duong District.

w Nine Compartment Temple Festival on the 15th of the 2nd lunar month at Chau Kim Commune, Que Phong District.

w Pu Nha Thau Festival during 24-25th of the first

lunar month at Na Luong village, Huu Kiem Commune, Ky Son District.

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CUSTOMS

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To catch a groom

Hanoi

BY HONG THUY TIEN

The K’Ho custom of bridgegroom snatching

he western highlands of Tay Nguyen are full of mysteries.

Small, stilted houses loom behind massive successions of mountains and heavenly gates, on windy slopes, amidst wild flowers and rumbling water falls. Taking a Zen moment in this deepest seclusion, one senses fully the primeval virginity of local life, a world away from city hustle and industrial clock.

Highland life means bright, black smiling eyes of kids shyly looking out from behind bamboo screens, yellow corn hung above the fireplace, gourds filled with water, jars and gongs of various sizes, and back baskets full of forest veggies and stream fish.

Lam Dong HCM City

People here are a tiny inherent part of the colossal natural elements, which define and compose their ethnic nature. Their self-sufficient lifestyle irresistibly allures and mesmerizes those who want to explore, blend in with and melt into the customs, rituals and ceremonies passed down through time and history from the days the world was born.

One of the customs well preserved until today, one which is the purest symbol and freshest expression of matriarchy, is that of the bridegroom snatch.

In North Tay Nguyen, as Po Lang flowers bloom, Je-Trieng young girls go into the forest to collect firewood and to snatch their A wedding of K’Ho people Photo provided by Hong Thuy Tien

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CUSTOMS

Top: K’Ho children, Lac Duong District, Dalat Below: A K’Ho family on the road, Lac Duong District, Dalat Photos: MPK

grooms. But in South Tay Nguyen, living on higher mountains in seclusion, the ancient K’Ho ethnic people manage to preserve the custom of snatching the grooms at midnight. In the matriarchal society, women play a higher role, and so they are supposed to take initiative in love, choosing life partners, inciting marriage and beginning family life.

Tay Nguyen people’s bridegroom snatch custom is somewhat similar to the bride snatch custom of the North Vietnam highlanders, although the sexes here exchange their roles. This unique feature leaves a deep impression and sympathy in anyone who has once visited this land in spring.

The K’Ho have chosen to settle on the Langbiang plateau (Lam Dong Province), were the climate is moderate, since time immemorial. From a tribe with slash-and-burn culture they gradually divided into local settlements such as K'Ho Sr, K'Ho Lach, K'Ho Chil, K'Ho Nop (Tu Nop), and K'Ho Zon. K’Ho language belongs to Bahnaric group of the South Asian family.

Recently K’Ho people began to use Latin writing. By tradition, they lived by hunting, gathering, planting and raising domestic animals. Later, they developed crafts such as blacksmithing and weaving.

In K’Ho social hierarchy, women have higher positions and more power than men. K’Ho women are the pillars of the family and decide everything. As in other purely matriarchal systems, K’Ho children bear the mother’s family name and daughters are the heirs.

From the 1st to 4th lunar month when crops have been harvested, 16-17 year old K’Ho girls dress up and make up to go out with mates about their age. After a few dates, if a girl ‘feels the heart’ of a young man, she will ask her parents to come to his house to discuss matters of ‘groom snatch’. A strong young man with skills is usually very highly priced.

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CUSTOMS The engagement and wedding ceremonies are conducted after the sun is already behind the mountains, because K’Ho people believe darkness can protect the young couples from unkind or unnecessary rumors.

As the custom dictates, the bride’s family must pay a dowry and all expenses of the wedding. It has been always so and it still is so today. When proposed by a girl’s family, if the party is good, the man’s family would set a price. Ms K’Lieng K’Jat from Lat Commune, Lac Duong District of Lam Dong Province relates, ‘Nowadays they rarely ask for buffalos, pigs or chickens. Instead, gold or money in the order of VND30-50 million seals the transaction. Without a dowry, a girl cannot get married.’ This is a necessary requirement which is not affordable to daughters of poor families. Those families have to make a choice, whether to let their daughter remain celibate all her life or put themselves under the suffocating burden of debt in order to give their daughter a decent marriage. To poor girls in this majestic land, the dowry has been a gnawing ghost.

Today, the groom snatch custom in K’Ho communities has undergone some changes. Influenced by interaction with other cultures and ethnic customs, the K’Ho notions of the financial and procedural aspects of marriage has become more open, focusing more on future happiness of the couple involved.

In the past K’Ho people had another custom, called ‘extending the line’, which was considered inviolable. When one spouse dies, the widowed one must marry one of the dead person’s siblings in order to continue the blood line and avoid asset disputes. Today, marriage has broken the barriers of clan, village and even ethnicity. Young people are free to choose their life partner based on their personal preference. Unnecessary formalities are gradually being dropped.

Young K’Ho people, especially women, consider these changes positive.

Mr Cil Ha Tu, a judicial officer of Ta Nung Commune, Dalat compares, ‘If in the past, the minimal dowry included a 1-2 buffalo worth gong, bead strings and pottery... then today, the bride’s family still has to pay a dowry, but that is up to their financial capacity. The payment may be postponed, but the wedding feast still has to be presentable.’

It is easy to notice that the customs and formalities of K’Ho people are no more rigid but they are very well alive.

As the study of ethnic cultures advances into the rich multilayered realm of Tay Nguyen spiritual life, which is expressed in nightly told sagas under the music of gongs and stone instruments, which tells the story of living amidst untamed mountains and forests, it is clear that the lives of generations of K’Ho people, soaked in the soul of heaven and earth, are connected from the deep past till today by matriarchy, whereby women are respected and empowered.

The spiritual life of Tay Nguyen highlanders, full of myths and mysteries, remains a long story. And the story of K’Ho young girls on Langbiang plateau snatching their bridegrooms will always evoke interest, being told by village elders by the flickering fire in community long houses, under the nostalgic aroma of burning firewood. n

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Top and bottom: K’Ho people, Lac Duong District, Dalat Photos: MPK

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PEOPLE

Chef Luke Nguyen is bringing it all back to Vietnam

BY PIP DE ROUVRAY

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n my daily perambulations of downtown Saigon, I have noticed refurbishment activity at ‘Vietnam House’, that quaint colonial villa on Dong Khoi Street that houses a traditional Vietnamese restaurant famed for introducing so many foreign visitors to the infinite variety and delight of Vietnamese cuisine. I also noticed a poster featuring the image of a fresh-faced middle-aged chef announcing that the traditional food would continue, but ‘with a modern twist’.

His name is Luke Nguyen and he is world-famous. He has written a number of cook books and had his own shows on Australian television that have been syndicated to a hundred and sixty countries around the world. I, who lead a sheltered life,had never heard of him. As a restaurateur, Vietnam House will be his first venture in the land of his ancestors.

And so, I found myself in the upper air-conditioned floor of The Long Bar on Dong Khoi, sitting down to a scrumptious lunch with Luke. This was an appropriate place to meet, as Luke has partnered with the Windsor Management Group to acquire Vietnam House and this is another one of their businesses.

Luke proceeded to explain what is behind the phrase ‘with a new twist’. Firstly, there will be quality assurance for the ingredients; organically grown fruit and vegetables from Da Lat, for example. Luke has noticed that the Vietnamese are now demanding safer and more natural foods.

Furthermore, to enhance taste, Luke will source far and wide to get the world's best. An example he gave was that his ‘banh xeo’, the Vietnamese pancake, will include ‘Iberico’

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pork from the free-roaming acorn-eating pigs of Southern Portugal and crab meat from Alaska. Another innovation will be the use of the Josper charcoal grill oven which not only halves cooking time, but increases flavour, catching all the juices perfectly every time.

Luke will further enhance flavour through a cooking method not traditionally used in Vietnam. This is the ‘sous vide’ way, whereby food is cooked vacuum-sealed in a plastic bag and then placed in a bath at an regulated temperature much lower than normally used for meat and higher than for vegetables. This ensures that the inside is cooked well without overcooking the outside.

We got on to the subject of wine pairing with Vietnamese food. We both agreed that you easily enjoy your Chardonnay or Pinot Noir with food in Vietnam. We have none of the problems here with the spiciness of Thai or Indian cuisine, for example. With all the great seafood in Vietnam, what could be better accompaniment than a bottle of Portuguese Vinho Verde, which, sadly, is not yet easy to find locally.

I asked Luke which foreign cuisine he enjoyed the most.

‘Japanese’ he answered. He likes it for its freshness and simplicity. It is all about looking for the right cut. I added that Japanese food tends to linger long on the palate than most. Luke stresses that it is his mission to let the wider world know that Vietnam has world-class cuisine and can be easily be adapted to fine dining status by applying recent developments.

I asked Luke about the staffing of his new restaurant.

Vietnam House Restaurant under new management at 117-123 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, tel: (028) 3822-2226.

Of course, his team will comprise highly experienced cooks.

‘But what I look for most is passion,’ he says, ‘people who look at cooking not just as a job but something they thoroughly enjoy and in which they take great pride.’

One final question I put to Luke was just how easy it was to reproduce the authentic flavours of Vietnam abroad. ‘Oh!’ he responded. ‘Possibly the best Pho in the world is made in Australia.’ Of course, Oz is a huge country with all the climates and ecosystems of Vietnam and the Vietnamese have been there long enough to produce all they need. ‘The only thing lacking,’ Luke says, ‘is the fish sauce, but that is easily imported.’

When Luke's family was forced to flee the motherland, he was still in his mother’s womb. With cooking in the family blood, a lot has gestated over his thirty-nine years. He has learned to enhance and elevate what is already an outstanding and varied cuisine. Luke is bringing everything back home to one of the most historic and atmospheric of Saigon’s villas. By the time this gets into print, everything should be up and running and dear reader, you will be able to test the proof of the pudding!

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PEOPLE

Getting his Mr Ken Preston

sea legs

An American’s lifelong passion for Vietnamese boats

TEXT BY TU ANH AND PHOTOS BY

KEN PRESTON

ast month, I received a call to introduce me to an American man, Ken Preston. His passion is Vietnamese fishing boats. A publishing house is currently translating his book to Vietnamese. The book is the result of 12 years in Vietnam taking photos and carefully recording the building technique of the wooden fishing boats.

Boats reminded me of my childhood when my family was living on the Tau Hu Channel in Saigon in the 1990s. In those days, the channel was crowded with a lot of boats transporting goods from other provinces to Saigon for trading. I loved to watch the boats and listen to the sound of waves every time a boat passed by on the water. The sound of waves hitting the river’s sides was so nice and relaxing. And I remembered the voice of peddlers rowing small boats full of fruits and vegetables. Now, the channel is so different and those images can be found only in my mind. Overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia, I contacted Ken Preston to find out more information about his story.

Born in 1946, the oldest of four children of an American Air Force officer, he had an admiration of boats as a youngster. He joined in the US Army early in 1969 and was sent to Vietnam in 1971. Here, he made a great many Vietnamese friends, learned to speak a little of the language and love Vietnamese food. At that time, he saw Vietnamese wooden fishing boats on weekend vacations in Vung Tau and Can Tho, but did not know much about them. Returing home in 1972, he became a fisherman and then a worker constructing bridges for many years. Always, working on the waterfront, he saw his favourite thing – boats.

In 2004, he saw a travel poster advertising vacations in Nha Trang, which showed a blue sea and white sandy beach in the background with two bright blue Vietnamese fishing boats. Knowing the fate of American wooden fishing boats and fearing that a similar fate awaited the Vietnamese fleet, he was determined to document those boats before they too disappeared. ‘In America, the wooden boats have largely disappeared and been replaced by steel, aluminium or fiberglass boats. Some of those modern boats are fine working vessels, but they are usually quite "industrial" and lack the grace and beauty of many traditional wooden working boats’, he said.

He added ‘Today, the Vietnamese fishing boat is larger, much more powerful, (is) designed to use larger engines and stay at sea longer. Vietnamese boats come in a wide variety of sizes and design types from province to province. Especially, the unique traditional wooden boats without engines are found in Vietnam.

They are graceful and well-shaped for the work. It is easy to fall in love with them.’

In 2005, he made the first visit to Vietnam to photograph the boats. He thought at the time that a single trip of perhaps two months would be sufficient to travel the coast and the Mekong Delta regions to take photographs he needed.

However, he has made repeat trips every year for the past twelve years and taken over 1,000 photos. And the trips have not ended. He has travelled on his motorbike a total of about 70,000 kilometres all along the coast line of the country on National Highway 1A and any other roads that take him closer to the sea and follow the boats. Also, he has travelled many of the inland highways in

A fishing boat on the beach of Sam Son City, Thanh Hoa Province, 2010

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PEOPLE Vietnam through the Central Highlands and the western mountains, and all along the Laos, Cambodia and Chinese borders.

Ken said ‘I've had all sorts of adventures on the road. I had some motorbike crashes and I had to deal with floods and typhoon weather on the way and terrible trails. But, it is a fabulous time that makes life worth living when finding a new species of fishing boat I hadn't seen before, meeting interesting people, admiring the beautiful landscape and tasting new dishes.’

Ken mentioned that there are few good detaied records about Vietnamese boats, including ‘Voiliers d’Indochine’ or ‘The Sailboats of Indochina’ published in Saigon in 1943 by a French technocrat, Mr J.B. Pietri, the Commissioner of Fisheries for the Indochinese government and ‘The Blue Book of Junks’ published in the early 1960’s by the United States Government. So, he is planning on many boat books with the hope that it will be a useful data source of Vietnamese wooden fishing boats in the first years of the 21st century.

He recently has finished a book in English which will be published in early 2018. The book is the result of his trips in Vietnam taking photos and researching the technique of building boats. It includes 289 photographs and captions or short essays placing the boats in time and location, with short chapters describing the designs, boat-building techniques, fishing gear and the use of woven basketry in boat construction. The book is being translated to Vietnamese by the Women’s Publishing House and will come out next year.

This foreign man is at home with many fishermen and boat building workers in the coastal villages where he went many times to take photos, learn the way to row the coracle and study the technique of building boats.

This man also is known by many Vietnamese boat enthusiasts and researchers for sharing his love, his knowledge of Vietnamese traditional wooden boats, and his dreams of a maritime museum in Vietnam.

In fact, our country has many museums displaying ancient objects from shipwrecks or the occasional old boat but not yet a truly maritime one. I used to go to a maritime museum in Malacca, Malaysia. It is so interesting with a wide range of lively boat models, ancient maritime objects, and its full maritime history information.

According to many researchers, maritime history is a science which was started in European and American countries. Such countries as Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia also started the science years ago.

However, in Vietnam, the concept of ‘maritime history’ is rather strange.

Hopefully, we will see Mr Ken’s book next year and behold his artwork on every page. n

Vietnam is a coastal country with its coastline over 3,260 km, excluding large and small islands, spreading from north to south. 28 of its 63 provinces and cities are by the sea. Vietnam has a dense river system with 2,360 rivers and channels.

Many American European maritime researchers have agreed with the viewpoint of Clinton R. Edwards that Vietnam’s coastline is the place that has more different types of boats than any place in the world. Vietnamese people’s boat building techniques were very special and reached high levels of skill since ancient times.

A big ‘Thailand boat’, a seiner working anchovies on overnight trips, Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, 2013

A boat on Xuan Hai Beach, near Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province, 2013

A sailing boat on Halong Bay, effectively extinct in the 1990s because of the appearance of modern motor fishing boats

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CLOTHING

The loom of life

Making embroidery. Photos: Nguyen Thien Hung

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BY KHANH LE

With the H’mong, colorful dresses are interwoven with the threads of heritage ’Mong women are famous for the colorful dress they wear when going out, attending festivities, or even when working their fields. To tourists, the dress is an inseparable feature of the Sapa district, Lao Cai

Province.

The H’Mong make up 53 per cent of the population of 54,000 people from five ethnic groups that live in this 700km2 district.

Since time immemorial, H’Mong women have been wearing these dresses, which they make by themselves. In H’Mong villages, every household has a loom.

After being collected, flax plants are sundried for 10 days and dampened in mist for four nights. The plant’s bark peels off by itself and curls, soft but tough. It is shredded, crushed and spun into threads, and then boiled and soaked in a solution of kitchen ash before getting washed, dried and pressed. White, strong and soft, it is spooled and ready for use.

With spools of threads plugged onto a loom, the weaving begins.

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The soft hands and fingers of H’Mong women performing magic on a loom have seduced many tourists.

Woven fabric will be dyed, soaked and boiled in ash water for about 30 minutes. This process is repeated at least 12 times to achieve the desirable color and softness of the fabric. Then it is the time to apply bee sap on the fabric and roll a stone cylinder on it to make it slick.

Highland women use these final pieces to make dresses, shawls, bags and souvenirs. Each item is a testimony of their diligence, patience, care and dexterity.

The dresses are special. Each dress is intended for a specific use such as going out, attending a joyful event, or for relaxing at home in comfort. The intention is kept in mind during the making.

A lot of research has been spent to study the sophisticated dress of the H’Mong at Sapa and elsewhere. ‘The linen dress is very important to the H’Mong because they believe a dying person not dressed in linen will not be recognized and accepted by their ancestors,’ according to Dr Tran Huu Son from Theoretical and

CLOTHING

Clockwise from top, left: Drying; making thread; dyeing; and weaving. Photos: Nguyen Thien Hung

Applied Culture Research Center of the Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Humanitarian Sciences.

The colorful, intricate and mythical patterns on H’Mong dresses also attract historians, culture experts, fashion designers and film directors.

They classify these patterns into four main groups: geometrical, reality, human figure and flower patterns.

‘These patterns reflect typical lifestyle, sense of community, cultural interconnections and history of the H’Mong as an ethnicity,’ as Ms Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc from the Central Pedagogic Institute of Arts argued.

Regarding how the ‘sense of community’ is reflected in the patterns on their dress, Ms Ngoc added that the snail pattern symbolizes deep affection and family prosperity. Two snails stand for long-term agreeable relationships between two clans. A square diamond symbolizes an altar and expresses a wish HANOI for ancestral protection.

And a fish hook pattern is intended to wish a young girl a happy marriage.

For decades, the

H’Mong at Sapa made linen products to sell to tourists. But in recent years, they are challenged by all sorts of cheap industrial-made fake brocades.

This fact has worried the Sapa district government because if the traditional trade of linen brocade weaving is lost, cultural life of the H’Mong and local tourism business will be severely affected.

They have come up with some initiatives to overcome the difficult situation.

One of the practical initiatives was to encourage H’Mong families engage in the home-stay model of business. Tourists now not only enjoy reasonable prices for hospitality, but can also follow almost every stage of traditional linen making, from flax bark processing to weaving, dyeing, and dressmaking..n

H’Mong is one of the minorities with the most impressive cultural traditions among the 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam. With total population of 1,100,000 people living in the highland areas of 800 to 1500m above sea level, they are distributed mostly in Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Son La provinces of Northern Vietnam.

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CULTURE

Days of

wine & rites

BY KHANH LE

A 600-YEAR OLD PROCESSION MARCHES ON

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huon Village, also called An Truyen, stands between paddy fields and the vast Chuon Lagoon. Just about 10km from the royal palaces of past Nguyen Kings, it belongs to Phu An Commune, Phu Vang District of Thua Thien Province.

During the Nguyen Dynasty, Chuon Village was famous for having many wise scholars working in the court. The villagers were also famous for civil disobedience and having rebelled against King Tu Duc’s court. At that time, rice wine made in Chuon Village was well-known for its unique, distinct flavour that mesmerized the Royal family and courtiers at the Capital Citadel.

Chuon has changed though, because many villagers became wealthy, and the village continues to attract visitors. The first thing they come for is the old temple called An Truyen. Some say, ‘Not having seen An Truyen Temple means not knowing Chuon.’

An Truyen was so impressive during the Nguyen Dynasty because many high- ranking, wealthy courtiers lived in Chuon.

The website of the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Province says An Truyen Temple was built in the 14th century and has been a national cultural relic since 1994. It stands at the center of the village, with a lotus pond and breezy Chuon Lagoon in front of it. Built on an area of 420m2, consisting of three structures - the Front Edifice, the Frontal Consecration Hall, and the Rear Edifice - the temple is

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Left and right: At An Truyen Temple, at the Autumn Consecration Festival, Chuon Village, Thua Thien Hue Province. The elders preparing the offerings worshipping the gods. Photos: Canh Tang

dedicated to the seven ancestors of the seven clans of Chuon Village.

Wooden items inside are expertly carved, most notably the altars decorated with dragons, phoenixes, kylins and flowers.

But visitors are also drawn to the rice wine that had the power to lift the spirit of kings. Today, there are about 100 distileries that spread the aroma around the village of over 1,000 households, 60 per cent of which live by farming and fishing in Chuon Lagoon.

Visitors can also learn about the trade of making dumplings and

Photo: Canh Tang

CULTURE

A procession in the early morning of the Autumn Consecration Festival, Chuon Village, Thua Thien Hue Province Photo: Nguyen Dang Hanh

glutinous rice cakes.

The best time to visit Chuon Village is during the 15-17th of the 7th lunar month. This is the time Chuon villagers conduct their Autumn Consecration.

Culture experts find this ceremony unique to Chuon compared to the consecration rituals elsewhere. Autumn Consecration is when Chuon villagers pay respect to the first men of the Nguyen, Ho and Dam families, founders and Guardian Lords of the village.

On the 15th they have the Full Moon Prayer ceremony at An Truyen Temple. Early on the morning of the 16th, villagers headed by their elders, have a procession to receive the Guardian Lords’ votive

tablets from their shrine in the paddy field Hanoi to the temple. Here the chief priest Thua Thien conducts sacred rituals dedicated to the ancestors and deities and prays for good weather, good crops, good health, peace and happiness for everybody.

HCM City From 4 to 5 a.m. on the 17th, they have another procession to see the Guardian Lords back to their shrine. This is the most interesting part of the three-day ceremony.

Leading the procession are three intricately carved wooden palanquins, flags and parasols with an ancient design, followed by an assembly of traditional musical instruments playing melodic traditional thai tunes. Everybody is dressed in an ancient style according to their assigned role.

The procession moves slowly, step by step, on the 1km road from the temple to the shrine.

A tourist named Thuy recounted, ‘The palanquins, accompanied by old-fashioned music, move on the dyke under the parasols, casting colorful shades on the sky, followed by the villagers. The whole procession is reflected in the lagoon in the early morning. A very picturesque scene indeed!’ n AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

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GAMES

THE SOUNDS OF LIBERTY

BY LE KHANH HOA

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Villagers recreate the noises made by mortars that aided their ancestors

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egend has it that in 1288, during a battle between the Tran Kings’ army and the Yuan invaders, the elephant of Lord Tran Hung Dao got bogged down in the mud of Bach Dang River. Local people cast big, dry earth chunks in the river to help it escape. Since then, in their leisure time, people have re-enacted the elephant rescue scene, which gradually transformed into the Clay Mortar Contest.

Yet another legend says, as the Trung Ladies waged war against the Eastern Han occupiers in the 1st Century, they invented ‘mortars’ to create loud explosions to divert the enemy and to dilute the negative qi that caused illnesses. Since then, the armed forces and the civilians have held contests of making and throwing mortars, which over time became festivities.

Those are versions of the origins of the Clay Mortar Contests, which are still being conducted annually in many villages of Thai Binh, Hai Phong, Hai Duong provinces.

One of the most popular contests takes place on the 3rd of the 8th lunar month (22 September this year) in Tan Hung, Tam Da and Tan Lien Communes, Vinh Bao District of Hai Phong.

Photos are taken by Pham Van Lu at the Clay Mortar Contest, Vinh Bao District, Hai Phong Province

Hanoi

Hai Phong

HCM City

On the festive day, when everybody has gathered in a village square or a clearing, the contestants are divided into three or fourperson teams. Each team receives about 30kg of clay taken from the riverbed.

The contestants make all possible efforts with their hands, feet or other tools to knead the clay.

The finished ‘mortar’, made in a few minutes, is just a tray-like disk of clay, rimmed by a clay ‘rope’. The thickness of the mortar disk must be proportionated to its diameter. The common feature is that they are all thick near the rim and thinner toward the centre.

At the drum roll, the teams take turns bringing their mortar disk into the stage to loud cheering. Each team has their strongest man lift the mortar with one hand while propping it at the centre. The mortar disk curves like a pan. The mortar man holds it at chest level and throws it forcefully forward. The rims land first, and the air inside the ‘pan’ explodes loudly, breaking the clay membrane and rims into flying pieces.

The loudest explosion and the furthest flying debris identify the winning team that has the highest skill of mortar making and throwing, and the strongest arm. n AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

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NATURE

Legendary waters

BY NGUYEN QUOC

Hanoi may boast of a sword from a lake, but only An Phu can boast of a lake from a sword

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Cham people, one of ethnic groups living around Bung Binh Thien. Photo: Hong Be

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ung Binh Thien is a huge fresh water body next to Binh Di river (a branch of Hau river) between Khanh Binh, Khanh An and Nhon Hoi communes of An Phu District, An Giang Province.

‘Búng’ in local dialect means a lake or swamp. ‘Bình’ means calm because the water in the lake is very calm. ‘Thiên’ means heaven. The name means ‘a peaceful lake given by heaven’ and takes roots from a legend about its origin.

As the legends go, late in 18th century, general Vo Van Vuong of the house of Tay Son moved to An Giang and chose this area to form a base camp and to accumulate provisions. In dry season the land was barren while the army needed water. The general set up an altar and conducted a ritual begging heaven and earth for water. Then he thrust his sword into the ground. A geyser of clear water jetted high. Soon it filled the lakes as we see today. Vo Van Vuong named the place Bung Binh Thien.

Actually there are two Binh Thien lakes which the locals call the Big One and the Small One. They both lie between Binh Di and Hau rivers, surrounded by 3-4m high mounds. The two rivers supply water for the lakes

NATURE Hanoi

HCM City

An Giang

From Chau Doc township center, cross Con Tien Bridge and follow Provincial Road no. 956 through An Phu town in Khanh Binh border gate direction to km23+100 which is Quoc Thai crossroad, turn left and go 2.5km further, and you see Bung Binh Thien.

A performance at the Bung Binh Thien Festival, An Phu Dist., An Giang Province, 2015 Photo: Nguyen Thanh Liem

through natural gates. The lakes in turn supply an enormous amount of water to the local communities. They never run dry, even in dry arid season. The lakes are also the habitat for fresh water fish and aquatic plants such as lotus, water lily, nenuphar and algae.

About 800ha around the lakes are covered by pristine forests. In dry season the Big One is about 6m deep on average and 193ha in area, and the Small One is 5m deep, 10 ha in area.

In the rainy season, the two lakes swell to become a single vast expanse of water covered with lotus, nenuphar and other kinds of flowers. A strange thing never explained by science is that the silt-rich, turbid river water coming in to the lakes never disturbs the limpidity inside. Stranger yet, the lake water is seen to rise and recede but it never runs.

There is a clear cut line separating the muddy and clear waters, which is the C3 bridge in Nhon Hoi village. The waters on its sides,

though connected, look completely different.

Cham people who have lived here the longest say that the algae in the lake bed cause this abrupt change in water quality. That makes Bung Binh Thien the largest fresh water body in the Southwest that features one of the most intriguing natural phenomena in the world.

At Bung Binh Thien, especially in the big water season from 7th to 10th lunar month, when river bean flowers dye yellow the earth, visitors can cruise the lake surface to enjoy the charms of nature, listen to heart-rocking, nostalgic old folk songs, and taste the best food southern common people have to offer such as field rats grilled with soya cheese, snakehead fish baked in embers, pickled fish soup with river bean flowers, tiny shrimps fried with river bean flowers, Siamese mud carp fried in flour coat and Siamese mud carp brined with tamarind. And leo, a black fish from the paddies, coming out to the lake with

the rising waters, is a must. It is about 1m long in average, weighing 10-20kg, extremely strong, so much so it can break fishing nets.

The fish is tasty and has high export value, worth about VND100,000/kg depending on the month.

Yearly in September, An Phu District, celebrates the Bung Binh Thien Festival, also to commemorate the district establishment.

During the day visitors can take part in fun and folk game activities typical of the ‘big water season’ such as boat race, swimming conpetitions, raft race, fish-tackling and frog catching. At night they can watch a show on the water. There is no arena, no bright spotlights, just a huge expanse of water lined with millions of river bean flowers, and some water hyacinth floating amid the show numbers. The folk artists move on their triple board boats to perform, expressing love of the land and the people. At Bung Binh Thien, tourists can visit villages of Cham people who live by fishing and weaving traditional fabrics.

Among the four ethnic groups living around Bung Binh Thien (Viet, Chinese, Cham and Khmer,) the Cham communities are the most unique and distinct because they have preserved most of their traditional lifestyle.

Dense stilted houses surround a spacious Mas Jid Khoi Ri Yah mosque, where one can encounter old men coming to pray, beautiful Cham girls in traditional dress, or children playing happily on the streets. n *The article was printed on Sai Gon Giai Phong

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TRAVEL

A cruise on Ngo Dong River leading to Tam Coc - Bich Dong, Ninh Binh Province. Photo: Dinh Huu Ngot

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TAM COC - BICH DONG

TRAVEL

BY LE HOA KHANH

After about 45 minutes, you arrive at Tam pending over a week wandering Hanoi Ninh Coc landing in order to visit Thai Vi Temple, tortuous paths of the northwest Binh to see how inseparable history and nature can mountains, I thought I had seen be. Built in 1258, Thai Vi Temple is dedicated all the mind-blowing beauty of to the heroes that were stationed at the Vu Vietnamese paddies. And yet, I was Lam military base; Kings Tran Thai Tong, astonished again at the sight of successive HCM City Tran Nhan Tong and their top military leaders limestone lining up on an endless rice field.

Tran Hung Dao, and Tran Quang Khai.

A thousand years ago, this place was the Tam Coc means three caves because it capital of three dynasties that have left has First Cave, Second Cave and Third Cave. marks on the face of the earth.’

That is the impression of Ewen Bel, a British news Leaving Thai Vi Temple, you hike a short distance to see reporter, about the rice fields in the 350ha Tam Coc – Bich the caves, which are all carved out by the water of Ngo Dong tourist zone of Ninh Binh Province. The fields are Dong River over millennia. 127m long, First Cave, with a located at the heart of the 12,000 ha Trang An 20m wide entrance and a lot of stalagmites, pierces a big conglomerate of famous landscapes, a ‘world’s cultural rock. About 1km away, the 60m long Second Cave exhibits milky stalactites. Nearby, the Third Cave is only and natural heritage site’.

Besides sculpture like rocks standing on a plain field, 50m long, with a lower ceiling.

After having local delicacies at lunch in Tam Coc and resembling Ha Long Bay, a World’s Wonder of Nature, the Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist zone also has Restaurant, you get moving again to get to Bich Dong, many historical vestiges related to the Vu Lam royal just 2km away. The name Bich Dong, given by the Royal step-over site of the Tran Dynasty almost 800 years ago. Executive Nguyen Nghiem, father of the great poet This area is located just 2km from 1A national Nguyen Du in 1773, means ‘Blue Cave’. In the old time, highway, 7km from Ninh Binh and 9km from Tam Diep, people said that Blue Cave was the second most beautiful place in the country. which are about 100-110 km from Hanoi.

The Bich Dong area includes a small cave halfway up According to the Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist zone management, it is connected to the Trang An World’s a mountain, three pagodas built in the era of Late Le Cultural and Natural Heritage Conglomeration by nearly Dynasty (1427-1789), and most notably, a creek running 20 tourists’ routes for bikes, woven bamboo boats or by in a cave through a mountain base, thus called Xuyen Thuy Dong (Water Pierced Cave). hiking.

Xuyen Thuy Dong is like a half-pipe, 350m long, Worthy of the name ‘Ha Long Bay on land’, Tam Coc – Bich Dong is scenic, poetic and deeply miraculous at all zigzagging through from the East Side to the West Side times and in all weather. But it is the most fabulous of Bich Dong Mount. The pipe is 6m in diameter on average, and 15m in the widest place. The walls are quite during the harvest season from late May to mid- June.

From 8-9 am, with a ticket bought at Dinh Cac smooth, and the ceiling is beautifully curved and landing, you are seated in a local traditional woven decorated with rocks of different shapes. n bamboo boat. The boat leisurely carries you along the Ngo Dong River, endlessly meandering amidst a boundless field of ripening rice and sculpture like high rocks which tower above everything.

It often rains suddenly in the afternoon at Tam Coc- Bich Cool breezes make the rice ripple and you feel as if Dong, so don’t forget to bring a raincoat or an umbrella. you are cruising in a Ha Long Bay where seawater has Ticket price: VND120,000 for adults, and VND60,000 for turned golden. Every now and then, you come close to children below 1.4m sheer rock faces and enigmatic-looking caverns.

Boat hire: VND150,000 for a two-seat boat.

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CRAFTS

DRUM THE BEATING OF THE

IS THE HEART OF VIETNAM

BY TRAN DANG KIM TRANG*

Photos by Nguyen Huu Tuan at a workshop making drum in the Binh An Trade Village, Long An Province

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A brief history of buffalo-skin drums

he drum trade at Binh An Village, Binh Lang Commune, in the Tan Tru District, Long An Province, took form nearly 200 years ago.

According to artisan Nguyen Van Men, his great grand father Mr Nguyen Van Ty was the founder of the Binh An drum trade. About 200 years ago, Mr Nguyen Van Ty used a big boat to take fish sauce to sell at Rach Gam-Xoai Mut market in Tien Giang Province. Once, paddling on a canal and seeing buffalo skin trashed by a slaughterhouse floating on the water, he took it home and sundried it. After many experiments, he succeeded in making his first drums.

At first, due to his lack of skills, the drum shape was husky and the sound was rough. Yet somehow he managed to sell a few of his drums to some temples and pagodas.

Since then, as the fish sauce trade was not profitable, he gradually changed to making drums for sale, and founded the drum trade of Nguyen family of Binh An. For years, the techniques remained almost the same, without any big progress. Decades later, Mr Men’s father, Mr Nguyen Van Tinh made some significant breakthroughs. Mr Tinh found a technique of using frames to shape the barrel and buffalo skin cords to reinforce it, making well-formed, wellstretched drums which emit much better sounds. Since then, the family trade began to attract many orders from pagodas, temples, schools, music orchestras, etc. Today, the fifth generation of this family has turned Binh An into a drum-making trade village.

Binh An drum making consists of many steps. First, one needs to make the barrel. In the past Binh An folks used to

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buy a whole log, cut it into sections, bore out the inner part, and then cover the faces with buffalo skin.

Nowadays, as big logs are harder and harder to find, only small-diameter drums such as bowl drums, battle drums, rice drums, command drums and hip drums are made by gutted small wooden logs. To make big drums for temples, pagoda and big shows, today’s artisans joint thingan wood planks into barrels which can produce as high quality sound as the monolithic ones. They buy thingan wood, cut it into planks, heat them above fire and bend them. They whittle the two ends of each bent plank to make them narrower, joint them around rattan or steel frames and then fix them from outside to make a barrel. The form of the barrel depends on the sound requirements and the later use of the drum. Used in a school, the drum sound should be softer, so

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the planks are bent less and the barrels are more elongated.

The drums used in temples, on the other hand, must produce thunderous, far-reaching sound, and so the barrels must be shorter, with a fatter belly.

The next step is to process the skin. They begin with fresh whole buffalo skin, never ox skin or salted skin. Although easy to preserve, dry salted skin tears and breaks more easily. Worse yet, drum faces made of salted skin sounds stiff in dry weather and stifled when humid. Before buying skin, the head master must make sure there will be plenty of sunny days ahead. Then somebody would be sent to buffalo slaughter houses in Ho Chi Minh City at 1-2 a.m. to buy fresh skin and bring it back home before sunrise. They clean the hair on the outside and the fat on the inside of the skin with razor-sharp knives. Then the skin is sundried for a week to ten days.

After that, the drum maker cuts Hanoi a round piece of dry skin, a few inches wider than the face of the drum being made, and uses a sharp knife to adjust the thickness of different areas. This is the most HCM City difficult part of the job, one which Long An requires great skill and care. The bigger the drum face, the thicker the skin should be. In an orchestra with ‘literary’ and ‘martial’ drums, a literary drum face should be thinner than that of the martial ones. The harder barrels are covered with thicker face skin, while thinner, not-so-tough barrels come with a thinner skin face. Also, the centre part where drumsticks strike must be thicker than the rims.

The well-formed piece of the drum face is sundried a few more days. Then it is soaked in water to become pliant. Holes are made along its rim. The skin is then put on to cover the barrel face. The maker uses cords, also cut from buffalo skin, to thread through the holes and pulls to stretch the drum face. According to Master Nguyen Van Men, buffalo skin strings are the best material for this purpose.

Then the barrel is cleaned, sanded, and coated with a mixture of sulphur and starch to fill up the slits, making the barrel surface smooth and able to absorb paint better.

As the coat dries, the barrel is painted. Traditionally, only red and black paints are used. However, Binh An artisans break the rule to bring drums a new modern face.

The last step is to decorate the drum. Binh An artisans usually paint the symbol of Yin and Yang on the drum face with red and black paint. It is a beautiful symbol, and it also guides the drummer where to strike to get the best sound.

On the barrel of drums used for lion dances and that of tambourines, they may paint colourful dragons and clouds as ordered.

In the course of five consecutive generations, Binh An drum makers made many advancements in the techniques.

Today, Binh An trade village is making all sorts of drums for all kinds of purposes, applications and clienteles. From religious sanctuaries to community centres, from schools to theatres, from music bands to liondance groups, from military signal drums to those used in superstitions practices, from drums of different regions of Vietnam (Can Tho, My Tho and Ben Tre) to those of different Chinese tribes (Trieu Chau, Quang Dong) the masters of Binh An know how to fine tune their drums to satisfy the choosiest of clients. As the good fame of Binh An trade village spreads, so does the product. The drums have found the way to all corners of Vietnam and further abroad, and their admirers have found a way to Binh An. *The author is a lecturer of College of Culture and Art of Ho Chi Minh City AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

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AGE-OLD TRADE VILLAGE ON TOP OF A WEB OF TUNNELS

BY DUC CHANH

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D

Drying bamboo

uring the Vietnam War, the Cu Chi District, just 60km from Saigon, was notorious as a ‘steel frontier’ of the communist warriors. Today, this land constantly attracts tourists with its 250kmlong underground tunnel system.

But some tourists visit the ‘steel frontier’ not only to see the underground tunnels, a special national heritage, but also to learn about the district’s weaving trade, famous all over the South for its beautiful and durable products.

The local elders say that people here have professed this trade for over a century. They also say that just about 30 years ago, almost 50 per cent of households in Cu Chi were involved in the bamboo weaving trade.

In recent decades, the trade villages of Cu Chi have seen many leave the trade because of low wages. The reason is that

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Hanoi

HCM City

Bamboo baskets in the warehouse

Weaving bamboo basket Photos by Nguyen Minh Tan at a workshop in Thai My Trade Village, Cu Chi District

Cu Chi is a 435km2 suburb district northwest of Saigon with a population of 360,000, one township (Cu Chi) and two communes. You can combine touring trade villages of Thai My with exploring Cu Chi tunnel system that includes clinics, living quarters, kitchens, warehouses and office areas; dug by the Communist warriors during the Indo-China War (1946-1954) and the Vietnam War. bamboo products woven by hand could not compete with plastic and metallic products with the same functionality.

Cu Chi bamboo weaving trade villages shrank continuously.

Nowadays, only Thai My Commune, (just 300 of Cu Chi’s 3300 households), follow the trade, according to Mr Nguyen Van Hung, chairman of the Thai My commune farmer association. Most of Thai My households that weave to earn a living are in My Khanh, Binh Ha and Cay Tram Villages.

Worrying that the trade might go extinct, Thai My Commune leadership has helped the households to borrow money to buy materials, and encouraged villagers to grow bamboo. The preservation and development of weaving trade in Thai My, however, still remains a tough problem.

About 10km to the southwest of the district center, Thai My is like a bamboo grove. Green and yellow bamboos fence household

premises, shade the gardens, line the village alleys and even grow in the fields.

It takes an average of five years before the plants are ready to harvest. Bamboo sections are split into laths of suitable size to be used for weaving, a time-consuming and meticulous work. The products are mostly containers of different sizes and shapes for various purposes, such as preserving, sun-drying, carrying, and winnowing. The larger the intended product, the more dexterity it requires. On average, a skillful worker can finish a pair of big baskets in a week, while an average worker can make dozens of smaller items a day. Workers’ average income is VND3-3.5 million a month.

Bamboo products of Thai My are sold to tourists, exported to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and transported a mass to the western regions of South Vietnam where bamboo is rare. n AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

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ART

King Thanh Thai Oil and lacquer on wood 122 x 122 cm

A Queen’s Portrait Oil and lacquer on wood 122 x 122 cm

Artist Tran Minh Tam pays homage to ancient Imperial Hue

T

BY PIP DE ROUVRAY

he exhibition currently showing at the Craig Thomas Gallery in HCMC is inspired by Vietnamese history and by the rich and colourful royal costume and architecture of Imperial times.

It is a perfect fit for a periodical that calls itself ‘Vietnam Heritage Magazine’. As one of my fellow viewers remarked, ‘It is bold for a contemporary artist to paint in a mainly realistic way’ and Tran Minh Tam does so breathtakingly, portraying royals in painstaking and meticulous detail.

Here, the paintings clearly show an artist enamoured of his country’s history and heritage, but Minh Tam is no traditionalist. The last time I reviewed an exhibition of his was way back in 2012 and I saw him from a completely different angle then. His works then featured transparent plastic bags filled with water. He opened up my eyes to the wonderful play that light shone on plastic and water can have. Honestly, I have never looked at a plastic bag in the same light since. People in the arts, once they have found a winning formula, are often content to repeat it over and over

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again albeit maybe with variations on a theme. You can not blame them. It is usually hard to make a living in the arts.

Tran Minh Tam, I have learned, is a man not content to stand still.

There is a story behind this exhibition and, as the artist was in attendance, I got it from the horse’s mouth. Some while ago, Minh Tam witnessed the sad demolition of an old French colonial villa. He took his inspiration for his latest exhibition from seeing some discarded, broken-up pictures of the old days in Hue, the ancient capital. He was able to salvage some of the wooden furniture and frames, which he has actually used for some of these paintings. So you can say this artist not only depicts his own land’s heritage, but he actually recycles it!

My family’s home sits on historic Chi Lang Street in Hue, so I am familiar with many of the palace buildings and rooms together with glimpses of Hue landscape and the Perfume River, which Minh Tam uses to frame these portraits of notable figures from the dying days of Vietnam’s era of Emperors. I am told he made numerous visits to Hue

ART

Empress Nam Phuong Oil and lacquer on wood 155 x 122 cm

in order to get the architecture right. As with so many contemporary artists, this one is a colourist with vivid hues of gold and red dominant. So well are you taken back into time that another habitué of the gallery’s premieres, a Frenchman called Jerome was heard to remark, ‘It is if you were actually there in the pagoda!’

Perhaps part of the success is due to the innovative use of materials. With wood as a base and for framing, there is a unique use of oil and lacquer to project the glory and splendour of these personages and the apparel they wore, now lost in the mists of time.

Several pictures depart from the norm of strict adherence to reality and they provide a new angle on the artist’s work and view. How you interpret this is entirely up to the beholder. One stout fellow seems to have clouds above his head forming a halo. (A reflection of the belief that royalty gained its power from the mandate of Heaven?) Another example seems to be dragging the past into the present as a royal lady sits in the Hue landscape in a modern wheelchair

King Gia Long Oil and lacquer on wood 155 x 122 cm

with black toxic cloud behind her head.

Hopefully, I shall have whetted your appetite for a trip to see this free show. You may even, if you have the available funds, wish to take a piece home with you. The paintings are modestly priced from $2,500 to $10,000. Given that the artist is still fairly young and his reputation is likely to grow and grow, it is probably worth the purchase from the investment angle alone. I, for one, certainly would like to have one in my work or home. It would be a constant feast for the eye and transport me away from my daily reality of noise and motorbikes to a not-too-distant Vietnam that was once tranquil, beautiful and graceful. n The exhibition ‘The House of Nguyen 11’ (Nha Nguyen 11) by Tran Minh Tam is on display at the Craig Thomas Gallery from 28 July until 26 August, 2017 at 27I Tran NhatDuat Street, Tan Dinh Ward, District One, HCMC. AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

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EVENTS

EXHIBITIONS In real life Till 27 August

HANOI

Réhahn met 45 of the 54 tribes and took portraits of those who carry century-old traditions that compose the rich diversity of Vietnam ethnic culture.

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Nguyen Van Huyen St, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi Ticket: VND40,000. Open: 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 pm, closed Mondays.

Computer games are not only for entertainment, but also an art, which transport real-world references, meanings and ideologies and can therefore be political and social media, in a positive, educational or ensnaring, propaganda manner. So, from 2016 to 2019, the GoetheInstitut presents the exhibition ‘Games and Realities’ in 49 cities around the world to exam how computer games unfold their political potential.

Games and Realities presents 18 playable games that cover a wide range of social and political topics. In addition to trying out the games, visitors can view a short introductory film about the exhibition and minidocumentaries about the games.

The exhibition is on till 27 August at the Goethe Institut, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi. Open: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Ethnic photos Till 1 October

VIETNAM HERITAGE

MUSIC Music of the night 18 August

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, music nights tribute to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber will be held at 8 p.m. on 18 August at the Vui Studio, 3C Tong Duy Tan St, Hanoi.

Free entry.

Retrace Réhahn Croquevielle ‘s steps in remote villages, to discover the fascinating diversity of Vietnam’s tribes through his selection of 35 photographs, which is displayed at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology till 1 October.

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The art of kings Till 30 November Nearly 100 documents and objects dating from the Le and Nguyen dynasties (from 17th to the early of 20th century), the development stage of lacquering and gilding industry, are displayed at the Vietnam National Museum of History till 30 November. The objects selected for display are quite rich and varied with unique decorative patterns.

Vietnam National Museum of History, 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi.

Ticket: VND40,000. Open: 8 a.m. to noon and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on every first Monday of the month.

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Hear a tree falling in the forest 13 August A music night ‘Hidden Beat’ Vol. 02 by the multi-talented artist Stanford Reid from New York, will be on at 8 p.m. 13 August at Heritage Space, Dolphin Plaza, 6 Nguyen Hoang St, My Dinh 2 District, Hanoi.

Ticket: VND80,000 to VND120,000

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

Nuit de musique 19 August French classical symphonies will be performed by French pianist Jean-Louis Haguenauer and international and Vietnamese artists at 8 p.m. 19 August at L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi. The show includes pieces music of Ernest Chausson, Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy.

Ticket: VND250,000 Inside Out 19, 22, 24, 29 and 31 August ‘Iohna’ is an entertainment show featuring a perfect balance of dance, circus, music and theatrical arts. Each character in the show has an unique portrayal and sophisticated costume which causes a memorable visual impression associating with light effects and movements.

The show is on at 8 p.m. 19, 22, 24, 29 and 31 August at Star Galaxy Theatre, 87 Lang Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi.

Ticket: VND750,000 to VND950,000 Oh, what a feeling!

25 and 26 August ‘Toyota Concert Tour 2017’ will be staged at 8 p.m. 25 and 26 August at the Hanoi Opera House, 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi. The show has the participation of conductor HonnaTetsuji, pianist Nguyen Viet Trung and artists from the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets: From VND300,000 to VND700,000, available at Hanoi Opera House or book online at ticketvn.com Kid guitar hero 26 August Sungha Jung, a master guitar since the age of 5, will perform ‘fingerstyle guitar’ at 8 p.m.

26 August at the Youth Theatre of Vietnam in Hanoi. Sungha Jung was known as a ‘Korean guitar prodigy’ and became very famous, especially on Youtube with over 991 million views and over 3 million subscribers in 2015.

Youth Theatre of Vietnam, 11 Ngo Thi Nham St, Hanoi Ticket: VND600,000 to VND1,600,000

EVENTS OTHERS Storytelling contest 16 August Hanoi Slam is a story-telling contest involving contestants telling true stories relating to a set theme in a competitive format. The stories must be told live, without notes over a six-minute period. The topic is ‘Family Stories’ can be about any family members, however, somehow also relate to the story teller.

The event is on 7.30 p.m. 16 August at Den Café, 49 Yen Phu Village, Hanoi.

Ticket: VND100,000 with all proceeds going to the Blossom House for girls at Humanitarian Services for Children of Vietnam.

HO CHI MINH CITY

EXHIBITIONS Trippy art Till 15 August Salon Saigon is running an exhibition ‘Then I can turn the world upside down’ till 15 August. It brings together the artworks of five Vietnam-based contemporary artists, including Le Hoang Bich Phuong, Mai Hoang, Nguyen Manh Hung, Florian Nguyen and Hoang Nam Viet. With their ink and paper, the artists create visions of hidden beauty and reinterpretations of the world, revealing quasi-hallucinatory perspectives on an otherwise too familiar landscape.

Salon Saigon, 6D Ngo Thoi Nhiem St, Ward 7, Dist.3, HCM. Open every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and other days by appointment.

A picture is forever Till 22 August ‘The Picture Will Still Exist’ is displaying photographs, paintings and video by eight established and emerging Vietnamese artists till 22 August at the Dia Projects. The exhibition shows that how diversely artists can treat photography – metaphorically and physically. It hopes to bring the viewers distinct and poetic worldviews from limitless extension of photography in particular and visual arts in general.

Dia Projects, 2rd Floor, 103 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, HCMC. Open: Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

exhibition features video, installations and performances by three artists from Japan including Off-Nibroll, Fuyuki Yamakawa and Atsuhiro Ito. Salon Saigon, 6D Ngo ThoiNhiem St, Ward 7, Dist.3, HCM. Open every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and other days by appointment.

MUSIC The Sound of Fall 19 August to 27 August Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera will hold the ‘Autumn Melodies 2017’ from 19 to 27 August at the HCMC Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, Dist.1, HCMC. Kid guitar hero 27 August

Transhumanism From 26 August to 9 September

A group exhibition ‘Future Bodies of Asia’ will be organized from 26 August to 9 September at the Salon Saigon. The

VALUE FOR MONEY Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon 253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3844-9222. www.eastingrandsaigon.com Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon is running a promotion, ‘King of Seafood Feast’ from 15 August to 30 September.

Guests will get 50 per cent off on lobster with 2 choices, including deep-fried with minced garlic and baked with cheese.

The hotel will also prepare fine mooncakes for the MidAutumn Festival with four flavours, including midnight jewel, pandan lotus, mixed nuts and red bean. The prices start from VND499,000+ to VND2,250,000+ per box.

Sungha Jung, a master guitar since the age of 5, will perform ‘fingerstyle guitar’ at 8 p.m.

27 August at the HCMC Conservatory of Music in HCMC, 112 Nguyen Du St, Dist.1, HCMC. Ticket: VND600,000 to VND1,600,000

Saigon Prince Hotel 63 Nguyen Hue St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3822-2999 . www.saigonprincehotel.com To celebrate its first birthday, Saigon Prince Hotel has a promotion: ‘Special Birthday Week’ from 7 to 13 August.

The Grill Restaurant, at the Saigon Prince Hotel, will serve a ‘BBQ Seafood Buffet Dinner’ with a variety of fresh seafood, including snail dishes cooked in the Vietnamese style. Besides this, diners can enjoy sushi, soup, grilled meats, salad, and cheese. VND549,000đ++ for adults and VND279,000++ for children. Lobster dishes are only VND120,000++ per person. Don't forget to drop your business card in the jar to get a chance to win lucky draw prizes at the restaurant.

Also, The Bar, at the Saigon Prince Hotel, has a piano performance from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and offers a special ‘Buy one beer, get one free’.

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DIRECTIONS

HALONG

(TELEPHONE CODE: 033)

Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence in September 1945, is a complex of historic sites.

Syrena Cruises

Hung Thang new urban area, Bai Chay, Halong. Tel: (033) 3847-043 Hanoi Sales Office: Syrena Tower, 3th Floor, 51 Xuan Dieu St, Hanoi Tel: (04) 3719-7214 Email: se@syrenacruises.com www.syrenacruises.com

Lapaz Hotel & Resort

Tuan Chau Island, Halong Tel: (033) 3842-999 www.holidayvillahalongbay.com

Vinpearl Halong

Cot Co Tower

28 Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist, Hanoi Cot Co Tower, the so-called Flag Tower, is now part of the Vietnam Military History Museum complex. The Tower was built in 1950, under the Nguyen Dynasty, with the help of French engineers. The tower has 36 flower-shaped windows. At the top of the tower flies the flag of Vietnam.

66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3733-2131 www.vnfineartsmuseum.org.vn Open 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entry fee VND20,000 ($0.95)

Hanoi Opera House

Vietnam Military History

1 Trang Tien St, Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi Designed by a French architect along the lines of the Paris Opera House, it is embellished with wonderful Gothic statuary. For many decades, Hanoi Opera House has been a centre for theatre, traditional music and dance, symphonies, traditional and classical music. This, the largest theatre in Vietnam, was completed in 1911.

Hoa Lo Prison

‘La Maison Centrale’, the prison on Hoa Lo Street in Hanoi, was built by the French in 1896 and became the place where generations of Vietnamese freedom fighters were held.

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St Joseph’s Cathedral

Reu Island, Bai Chay, Ha Long, Viet Nam. Tel: (033) 3556-868 www.vinpearl.com

HAI PHONG CITY Avani Hai Phong Harbour View 12 Tran Phu St, Ngo Quyen Dist., Hai Phong.

Tel: (031) 3827-827 www.avanihotels.com

Hanoi Museum

2 Pham Hung (next to Vietnam National Convention Centre), Me Tri Commune, Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 6287-06 04 Opening hour: 8 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Free entrance

TRAVEL

Emeraude Classic Cruises

46 Le Thai To St, Hanoi Tel: (024) 3935-1888 www.emeraude-cruises.com

19 Ngoc Ha St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3846-3752 www.baotanghochiminh.vn Open: 8 a.m. to noon (Monday and Friday), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (other days) Entry fee: VND25,000

3rd Floor, 66A Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3828-2150 www.exotissimo.com

Imperial Citadel of Thang Long

Topas Travel

12 Nguyen Tri Phuong St/ 9 Hoang Dieu St, Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 37345427 www.hoangthanhthanhlong.vn Open: 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays) Entry fee: VND30,000

52 To Ngoc Van St, Hanoi Tel: (024) 3715-1005 www.topastravel.vn SIGHTSEEINGS

Ba Dinh Square

36A Dien Bien Phu St, Ba Dinh Dist, Hanoi.

Ba Dinh Square, where President Ho HERITAGE

Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

Museum 28A Dien Bien Phu St, Hanoi www.btlsqsvn.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

Nguyen Van Huyen St, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi Tel: (024) 3756-2193, www.vme.org.vn Open 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND40,000 ($2)

Women’s Museum

36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi Tel: (024) 3825-9936 www.womenmuseum.org.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

Closed on Mondays Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43) TRAVEL

Vietnam National Museum

of History 1 Trang Tien St, Hanoi. 25 Tong Dan St, Hanoi.

I AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

Hue Riverside Boutique

Resort & Spa 588 Bui Thi Xuan St, Thuy Bieu Dist., Hue. Tel: (0234) 3978-484 www.hueriversideresort.com

Imperial Hotel

8 Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3882-222 www.imperial-hotel.com.vn

Indochine Palace Hotel

105A Hung Vuong St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3936-666 www.indochinepalace.com The hotel is surrounded by lush green gardens that make it an outstanding landmark in Hue and give the city the feel of a resort. This luxurious, international standard hotel is created to appeal to Vietnamese and international visitors to Hue.

La Residence Hotel & Spa

5 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3837-475 Email: resa@la-residence-hue.com www.la-residence-hue.com Step back in time to Art Deco's golden age with a stay at La Residence Hue Hotel & Spa, MGallery by Sofitel. Nestled along the fabled Perfume River overlooking the former Imperial Citadel, La Residence is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece with luxurious cultural and culinary experiences. This former governor's residence with 122 guestrooms and suites offers visitors a warm hospitality and a chance to relive the pleasures of a bygone era.

Lang Co Beach Resort

Oxalis Adventure Tours

Phong Nha Commune, Son Trach Village, Bo Trach Dist., Quang Binh Province. Tel: (0232)3677-678 www.oxalis.com.vn

HUE

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0234) HOTELS, RESORTS

Century Riverside Hotel Hue

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Exotissmo

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40 Nha Chung St, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi Fresh missionaries built this cathedral in the late 19th century. The small but beautiful panes of stained glass were created in Paris in 1906. Also of note is the ornate altar, with its high gilded sidewalls.

MUSEUMS

HANOI

Tel: (024) 3824-1384 www.baotanglichsu.vn Open 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

Closed every first Monday of months. Entry fee VND40,000 ($1.82) for adults and VND10,000 ($0.48) for children

463 Lac Long Quan St., Lang Co Town, Phu Loc Dist, Thua Thien Hue Province Tel: (0234) 3873-555 www.langcobeachresort.com.vn

Hotel Saigon Morin

30 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (0234)3823-526 www.morinhotel.com.vn

DANANG

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0236) 49 Le Loi St, Hue Tel: (0234) 3823-390 Email: res@centuryriversidehue.com www.centuryriversidehue.com Century Riverside Hotel Hue, with its 135 rooms, is located in a vast area of 20,000 square meters. It is surrounded by a garden full of fruit trees, various kinds of flowers and a green pasture.

Hue Century Riverside Hotel lies by the side of Truong Tien Bridge and the bank of the romantic Huong River.

Vinpearl Luxury Danang Truong Sa St, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son Dist., Danang. Tel: (0236) 3968-888 www.vinpearl.com

Danang Museum of Cham

Sculpture 2, 2 Thang 9 St, Danang Tel: (0236) 3572-935 www.chammuseum.danang.vn Open 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entry fee VND30,000 ($1.43)

HOI AN

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0235) HOTELS, RESORTS

Anantara Hoi An Resort

1 Pham Hong Thai St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province. Tel: (0235) 3914-555 www.hoi-an.anantara.com

Aurora Riverside Hotel & Villas

NHA TRANG

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0258) HOTELS, RESORTS

Champa Island Nha Trang

Resort & Spa 304, 2/4 St, Vinh Phuoc, Nha Trang Tel: (0258) 3568-888 Email: sales@champaislandresort.vn www.champaisandresort.vn With architecture reflecting nearby Po Nagar temple, Champa Island Nha Trang offers exquisite cuisine and many entertainment services that promise a memorable stay in Nha Trang

Cam Ranh Riviera Beach Resort & Spa 242 Cua Dai St, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province. Tel: (0235) 3924-111 www.aurorahoian.com

Hotel Royal Hoi An, Mgallery Collection 39 Dao Duy Tu St, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province. Tel: (0235) 3950-777 www.mgallery.com Palm Garden Beach Resort and Spa

Hoi An Centre for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation 10B Tran Hung Dao St, Hoi An Tel: (0235) 3862-367 www.hoianheritage.net Open daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

QUY NHON

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0256) AVANI Quy Nhon Resort & Spa Ghenh Rang, Bai Dai Beach, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province Tel: (0256) 3840-132 www.avanihotels.com/quynhon MUSEUM

Quang Trung Museum

Block 1, Phu Phong town, Tay Son Dist., Binh Dinh Province.

Tel: (056) 3580-320 Open 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Entry fee VND10,500 ($0.50).

Free for children under six

Bamboo Village Beach Resort & Spa

Seahorse Resort & Spa

Km 11 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province.

Tel: (0252) 3847-507 reservation@seahorseresortvn.com www.seahorseresortvn.com

Sea Links City Resort & Golf

38 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3847-007 www.bamboovillageresortvn.com

Km 9, Nguyen Thong St, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 2220-088 www.sealinksbeachhotel.com MUSEUM

Cham Culture Exhibition Centre

Song Mao intersection, Phan Hiep Commune, Bac Binh Dist., Binh Thuan Province; Tel: (0252) 3641-456.

Open: 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Free entrance

Northern Peninsula Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3989-898 Email: info@rivieraresortspa.com www.rivieraresortspa.com 32-34 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang Tel: (0258) 3887-777 www.intercontinental.com

MUSEUM

Quater 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 3828-288 www.aromabeachresort.com With 52 authentic Vietnamese rooms and bungalows, the hotel offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the blue sea

Blue Bay Muine Resort & Spa

InterContinental Nha Trang Hotel

Lac Long Quan St, Cua Dai Beach, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province Tel: (0235) 3927-927 Email: info@pgr.com.vn www.palmgardenresort.com.vn

DIRECTIONS

Mường Thanh Grand Nha Trang Hotel

6 Duong Hien Quyen St, Vinh Hoa Ward, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3552-468 www.nhatrang.muongthanh.vn

DALAT

Suoi Nuoc, Muine, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 3836-888 Email: info@bluebaymuineresort.com www.bluebaymuineresort.com

Hoang Ngoc (Oriental Pearl) Beach Resort & Spa

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0263) HOTELS

Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa

Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang

Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3598-188 Email: info@vinpearlresort-nhatrang.com www.vinpearl.com MUSEUM

Alexandre Yersin Museum

Pasteur Institute, 10 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province Tel: (0258) 3822-406

PHAN THIET

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0252) HOTELS, RESORTS

Aroma Beach Resort & Spa

152 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3847-858 Email: info@hoangngoc-resort.com www.hoangngoc-resort.com

Muine Mud Bath & Spa

133A Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. Tel: (0252) 3743-481 Email: sales1@bunkhoangmuine.com www.bunkhoangmuine.com

Le Lai St, Dalat, Lam Dong Province Tel: (0263) 3555-888 reservation-dalat@anamandara-resort.com www.anamandara-resort.com From VND3,150,000 ($150)

Monet Garden Villa

Muine Ocean Resort & Spa

10 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 3741-616 www.muineoceanresort.com

Muine Bay Resort

Quarter 14, Mui Ne Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province Tel: (0252) 2220-222 Email: info@muinebayresort.com www.muinebayresort.com

3 Nguyen Du St., Dalat City, Lam Dong Province Tel: (0263) 3810-826 www.monetgarden.com.vn

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

I

VIETNAM HERITAGE

• 45

A 1. B aD inh S quare Ba Dinh Square

D1

rison 2. H oa L oP Hoa Lo Prison

E3

Stt Joseph Joseph’s Cathedral 3. S ’s C athedral

E2

ouse Opera House 4. Hanoi O pera H

F3

Cot Co Tower 5. C ot C oT ower

D2

Women’s 6. W omen’s Museum

E3

7. H oC hi M inh Museum Ho Chi Minh

D2

8. IImperial mperial C itadel of T Citadel Thang Long hang L ong

D1

CENTRE OF

B

C

1

9. V ietnam National National Museum of History Vietnam History F3 10. V ietnam M ilitary H istory Museum D2 Vietnam Military History illar 11. O ne P One Pillar

C2

ausoleum 12. H oC hi M inh M Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

D1

13. Ngo on T emple Ngocc S Son Temple

E2

14. Dong Da H ill Hill

C4

15. Dong X uan M arket Xuan Market

E1

2

3

An entry in the Directions section is either editorial or advertising To advertise, and be certain that your entry appears, please contact

14 1 4

4

Ms. Thuy Phuong Mobile: 0969 47 3579

STREET GUIDE

Ba Trieu...................E3, E4 Bac Son.........................D1 Bach Dang.....................F2 Bach Mai........................E4 Bat Dan..........................E2 Bich Cau........................C2 Buoi................................A1 Cat Linh..........................C2 Cha Ca....................E1, E2 Cua Bac.........................D1 Cua Dong.......................D2

Da Tuong.......................E3 Dang Tat.........................D1 Dao Duy Anh.................D4 Dao Duy Tu.............E1, E2 Dien Bien Phu................D2 Doc Ngu.........................A1 Doi Can.............A1, B2, C2 Duong Thanh.................E2 Gam Cau........................E1 Giai Phong.....................D4 Giang Vo.....A3 ,B3 ,B2,C2

Hai Ba Trung.....E2, E3, F3 Ham Long......................E3 Han Thuyen....................F3 Hang Bac.......................E2 Hang Bo.........................E2 Hang Bong.....................E2 Hang Buom....................E2 Hang Can.......................E2 Hang Chuoi....................F3 Hang Cot........................E1 Hang Da.........................E2 Hang Dao.......................E2

Hang Dau.......................E1 Hang Ga.........................E2 Hang Gai........................E2 Hang Khay.....................E2 Hang Khoai....................E1 Hang Ma.........................E1 Hang Quat......................E2 Hang Trong....................E2 Hang Chieu....................E1 Hang Luoc......................E1 Hao Nam........................C2 Hoa Ma...........................F3

Hoang Dieu.............D1, D2 Hoang Hoa Tham............... ....................A1, B1, C1, D1 Hoang Van Thu..............D1 Hoe Nhai........................E1 Hung Vuong............D1, D2 Huynh Thuc Khang........A3 Kham Thien.............C3, D3 Kim Ma..............A2, B2, C2 La Thanh.................B3, C3 Lang Ha..........................B3 Nguyen Chi Thanh.........A3

Le Dai Hanh...................E4 Le Duan............D2, D3, D4 Le Hong Phong.............D2 Le Lai..............................F2 Le Thai To.......................E2 Le Thanh Tong...............F3 Le Van Huu....................E3 Lieu Giai........................A2 Lo Duc......................F3, F4 Lo Su..............................F2 Luong Ngoc Quyen.......E2 Luong Van Can..............E2

L L L L M N N N N N N N

OF HA NOI

4 4 2 2 2 3 3 2 4 2 2 2

D

E

F

12 1 11

15 8

7 5 10 13 3

2

Ly Nam De..............E1, E2 Ly Quoc Su....................E2 Ly Thai To.......................F2 Ly Thuong Kiet........E3, F3 Mai Hac De..............E3, E4 Ngo Quyen.....................F3 Ngo Si Lien....................D2 Ngo Thi Nham................E3 Ngoc Ha.........................C1 Ngoc Khanh...................B2 Nguyen Canh Chan......D1 Nguyen Cong Hoa.........B2

Nguyen Dinh Chieu............ .................................E3, E4 Nguyen Du..............D3, E3 Nguyen Huu Huan........ F2 Nguyen Khuyen.............D2 Nguyen Luong Bang.....C3 Nguyen Thai Hoc....C2, D2 Nguyen Thuong Hien......... ........................................D3 Nguyen Van To..............E2 Nha Chung.....................E2 Nha Tho.........................E2

Nui Truc..........................B2 Pham Dinh Ho................F3 Pham Ngu Lao...............F3 Phan Boi Chau.......D2, D3 Phan Chu Trinh..............F3 Phan Dinh Phung..........D1 Phan Huy Chu................F3 Pho Duc Chinh...............F3 Pho Hue...................E3, E4 Phu Doan.......................E2 Phung Hung............E1, E2 Quan Su..................E2, E3

6

Quan Thanh...................D1 Quang Trung...........E2, E3 Quoc Tu Giam...............D2 Son Tay..........................C2 Thai Phien......................E4 Thanh Cong...................B3 Thanh Nien....................D1 Tho Nhuom.............E2, E3 Thuy Khue.......................... ....................A1, B1, C1, D1 To Hien Thanh...............E4 Tong Dan........................F2

4

Ton Duc Thang..............C3 Tran Hung Dao................... ...........................D3, E3, F3 Tran Huy Lieu................B2 Tran Khanh Du...............F3 Tran Khat Chan..............F4 Tran Nguyen Han..........F2 Tran Nhan Tong......D3, E3 Tran Nhat Duat..............E1 Tran Phu........................D2 Tran Quang Khai............F2 Tran Qui Cap.................D2

9

Tran Quoc Toan......D3, E3 Tran Thanh Tong............F3 Tran Xuan Soan................. .................................E3, E4 Trang Thi........................E2 Trang Tien................E2, F3 Trieu Viet Vuong......E3, E4 Trinh Hoai Duc...............C2 Tue Tinh.........................E3 Yen Phu..........................E1 Yersin..............................F4 Yet Kieu..........................D3

CENTRE OF HO C

Palace 1. IIndependence ndependence P alace

D3

Notre Cathedral 2. N otre Dame C athedral

E2

Vietnam History 3. V ietnam H istory Museum

F2

Fine Arts Museum 4. F ine A rts M useum of of Ho Ho Chi Chi Minh Minh City City E4 E4 Ho Chi Minh City 5. H oC hi M inh C ity Museum

E3

6. Southern Southern Women Women Museum

C1

7. War War Remnants Remnants Museum

D2

8. Ben Ben Thanh Thanh Market Market

E3

9. T Tao Park ao Dan P ark

D3

Post Office 10. P ost O ffice

E2

Zoo oo 11. Z

F2

12. Nha Nha Rong Wharf Wharf

F4

An entry in the Directions section is either editorial or advertising

A

B

C

1

6

2

3

To advertise, and be certain that your entry appears, please contact

Ms. Thuy Phuong

4

Mobile: 0969 47 3579

STREET GUIDE

3 Thang 2..........A2, A3, B2 Alexandre De Rhodes........ ........................................E2 An Duong Vuong....A4, B4 Ba Le Chan....................D1 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan...... ........................................C2 Ban Co...........................B3 Ben Chuong Duong........... .................................D4, E4 Ben Van Don...........D4, E4

Bui Thi Xuan..................C3 Bui Vien...................C4, D4 Cach Mang Thang Tam..... ......A1, B1, B2, C2, C3, D3 Calmette.........................E4 Cao Thang.....................B3 Chu Manh Trinh.............F2 Co Bac.....................C4, D4 Co Giang............. ...C4, D4 Cong Quynh............C3, C4 De Tham........................D4

Dien Bien Phu.....................

A3, B2, C2, D1, D2, E1, F1 Dinh Tien Hoang............E1 Do Quang Dau...............C4 Do Thanh.......................B3 Doan Cong Buu.............C1 Doan Nhu Hai..........E4, F4 Dong Du.........................F3 Dong Khoi................E3, F3 Hai Ba Trung....................... ...........................D1, E2, F3 Hai Trieu.........................F4

Ham Nghi.................E4, F4 Han Thuyen....................E2 Ho Hao Hon...................C4 Ho Tung Mau...........E3, E4 Ho Xuan Huong.............C2 Hoa Hung.......................A2 Hung Vuong...................A4 Huyen Tran Cong Chua..... ........................................D3 Huynh Thuc Khang........E3 Huynh Tinh Cua.............D1 Ky Con.....................D4, E4

Ky Dong...................B2, C1 Le Duan...................E2, F2 Le Hong Phong.................. ...........................A2, A3, A4 Le Lai.......................C3, D3 Le Loi..............................E3 Le Quy Don....................D2 Le Thanh Ton...................... ...........................D3, E3, F2 Le Thi Hong Gam............... .................................D4, E4 Le Thi Rieng............C3, D3

Le Van Sy.......................B1 Luong Huu Khanh.........C3 Ly Chinh Thang.......C1, C2 Ly Thai To......................A3 Ly Tu Trong......................... ...........................D3, E3, F2 Ly Van Phuc...................E1 Mac Dinh Chi...........E1, E2 Mac Thi Buoi..................F3 Mai Thi Luu..............E1, F1 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia............ ...................C1, D1, D2, D3

N N N N ..

N N ..

N ..

N N

1 3 2 3 ..

2 1 2 3 1 ..

3

CHI MINH CITY D

E

F

6 4 11 11

7 2

10 10

1

5

4

9 8

4

1 2 12

Ngo Duc Ke....................F3 Ngo Thoi Nhiem ....C2, D2 Ngo Van Nam.................F2 Nguyen Binh Khiem.............. .....................................F1, F2 Nguyen Cau...................D1 Nguyen Cong Tru............... .................................D4, E4 Nguyen Dinh Chieu............ ......B3, C2, C3, D2, E1, F1 Nguyen Du..............D3, E3 Nguyen Hue.............E3, F3

Nguyen Khac Nhu.............. .................................C4, D4 Nam Quoc Cang.....C3, C4 Nguyen Phi Khanh.........E1 Nguyen Sieu...................F3 Nguyen Son Tra................. .................................B3, C3 Nguyen Tat Thanh..........F4 Nguyen Thai Binh............... .................................D4, E4 Nguyen Thai Hoc....D3, D4 Nguyen Thanh Y............E1

Nguyen Thi Dieu............C2 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai........ .................................B3, C3 Nguyen Thien Thuat........... .................................A3, B3 Nguyen Thong........B2, C2 Nguyen Thuong Hien........ .................................B2, C3 Nguyen Trai.............B4, C4 Nguyen Trung Ngan......F2 Nguyen Trung Truc........E3 Nguyen Truong To.........E4

Nguyen Van Cu..............B4 Nguyen Van Thu......E1, F1 Pasteur................................ ...............D1, D2, E2, E3,E4 Pham Ngoc Thach.........D1 Pham Ngu Lao........C4, D4 Pham Viet Chanh...........B3 Phan Ke Binh..........E1, E2 Pho Duc Chinh...............E4 Phung Khac Khoan.......E2 Suong Nguyet Anh........C3 Thach Thi Thanh.....D1, E1

Thai Van Lung................F3 Thi Sach.........................F3 Thu Khoa Huan.......D3, E3 To Hien Thanh................A1 Ton That Dam..........E3, E4 Ton Duc Thang..............C3 Tran Binh Trong......A3, A4 Tran Cao Van.................E2 Tran Dinh Xu...........B4, C4 Tran Hung Dao.......C4, D4 Tran Minh Quyen...........A3 Tran Nhan Tong.......A3, A4

Tran Phu.........................A4 Tran Quang Dieu...........B1 Tran Quang Khai.....D1, E1 Tran Quoc Thao......C1, D2 Tran Quoc Toan......C1, D1 Truong Dinh............C1, C2 Tu Xuong.......................C2 Vinh Vien........................A3 Vo Thi Sau........C2, D1, E1 Vo Van Tan..............C3, B3 Vuon Chuoi..............B2, B3 Yersin..............................D4

DIRECTIONS

HO CHI MINH CITY (TELEPHONE CODE: 028) TRAVEL

Windsor Plaza Hotel

18 An Duong Vuong, Dist.5, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3833-6688 www.windsorplazahotel.com GALLERIES

Asiana Travel Mate

113C Bui Vien St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3838-6678 www.atravelmate.com

Buffalo Tours

81 Mac Thi Buoi, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3827-9168 Email: travelagency@buffalotours.com www.buffalotours.com.vn

Exotissimo

261/26 Phan Xich Long St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3995-9898 www.exotravel.com

Apricot Gallery

50 Mac Thi Buoi St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3822-7962

Craig Thomas Gallery

27i Tran Nhat Duat St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Mobile: 0903 888 431 Email: cthomasgallery@gmail.com www.cthomasgallery.com Open: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Closed Mondays and Sundays

Galerie Quynh

Saigon Tourist

45 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3827-9279 www.saigon-tourist.net

Level 2, 151/3 Dong Khoi St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3824-8284 www.galeriequynh.com Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sàn Art

Trails of Indochina

10/8 Phan Dinh Giot St, Tan Binh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City; Tel: (028) 3844-1005 Email: dosm@trailsofindochina.com www.trailsofindochina.com HOTELS

48/7 Me Linh St, Ward 19, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 6294-7059 www.san-art.org SIGHTSEEINGS

Notre Dame Cathedral

Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon

Cong Xa Paris Square, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Built in 1877, and the Cathedral opened to the public in 1880. The bricks used to build this marvellous structure were shipped from Marseilles.

Ben Thanh Market

253 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3844-9222 Email: Info@eastingrandSaigon.com www.eastingrandsaigon.com

Park Hyatt Saigon

2 Lam Son Square, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3824-1234 www.saigon.park.hyatt.com

Rex Hotel

141 Nguyen Hue St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-2185 www.rexhotelvietnm.com

Sofitel Saigon Plaza

Le Lai St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Ben Thanh market is a trade centre and a favourite tourist destination, offering a wide range of Vietnamese handicraft, fresh fruits and local specialities.

Chinatown – Cho Lon

It was set up at the end of the 18th century when the Minh Dynasty in China was overthrown. Chinatown has many shops and private workshops. The most interesting places are Binh Tay market, Soai Kinh Lam fabric whole-sales market, the street of herbal medicine located on Hai Thuong Lan Ong and Thien Hau Temple on Nguyen Trai Street.

Ticket: VND50,000 The first museum of traditional Vietnamese medicine

The Coast Hotel

Ho Chi Minh City Museum

65 Ly Tu Trong St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-9741 www.hcmc-museum.edu.vn Open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Independence Palace

135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St, Ben Thanh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3822-3652 www.dinhdoclap.gov.vn Open daily, 7.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Southern Women Museum

202 Vo Thi Sau St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3932-7130

The History Museum

2 Nguyen Binh Khiem St, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-8146 www.baotanglichsuvn.com 8 a.m. - 11.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m.

- 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

Closed on Monday

War Remnants Museum

28 Vo Van Tan St, Ward 6, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh City. Tel: (028) 3930-5587 Email: warrmhcm@gmail.com Open daily 7.30 a.m. to midday and 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

VUNG TAU

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0254) HOTELS, RESORTS

Palace Hotel

1 Nguyen Trai St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel: (0254) 3856-411 www.palacehotel.com.vn

Petrosetco Hotel

12 Truong Cong Dinh St, Ward 2, Vung Tau. Tel: (0254) 3624-748 www.petrosetcohotel.vn

Petro House Hotel 63 Tran Hung Dao St, Ward 1, Vung Tau Tel : (0254) 3852-014 Hotline: 0961.085.869 Email: info@petrohousehotel.vn www.petrohousehotel.vn

300A Phan Chu Trinh St, Ward 2, Vung Tau City Tel: (0254) 3627-777 Email: info@thecoasthotelvungtau.com www.thecoasthotelvungtau.com MUSEUM

White Palace

6 Tran Phu St, Ward.1, Vung Tau City Tel: (0254) 3852-605 Open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

CAN THO

(TELEPHONE CODE: 0710)

Can Tho Museum

1 Hoa Binh St, Tan An Ward, Can Tho Tel: (0710) 3820-955 Open: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday (8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.).

Closed on Friday. Free admission

PHU QUOC

(TELEPHONE CODE: 077) Eden Resort Phu Quoc Cua Lap Hamlet, Duong To Ward, Phu Quoc District, Kien Giang Province Tel: (077) 3985-598 www.edenresort.com.vn MUSEUMS Coi Nguon Museum 149 Tran Hung Dao St, Duong dong Town, Phu Quoc, Kien Giang Province Tel: (077) 3980-206 www.coinguonphuquoc.com

MUSEUMS

Fine Arts Museum of

Ho Chi Minh City 97A Pho Duc Chinh St, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3829-4441 www.baotangmythuattphcm.com Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays

Fito Museum

17 Le Duan St, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3824-1555 Email: h2077@sofitel.com www.sofitel.com

50 • V I E T N A M

HERITAGE

41 Hoang Du Khuong S, Ward 12, Dist. 10, Ho Chi Minh City Tel: (028) 3864-2430 www.fitomuseum.com.vn Open daily from 8.30 a.m. till 5.30 p.m.

I AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017

For Subscription

please call Phuong: 0969473579 or email: subs.vietnamheritage@gmail.com www.vietnamheritage.com.vn Six issues Vietnam: VND294,000. Asia & Europe: $42. America & Africa: $48 .