Posts Tagged Quang Nam
Alleys form soul of old Hoi An
Posted by Huyen Tran in Travel Blog on January 3, 2010
Falling in love with Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam is to fall in love with its wonderful alleyways, which for locals are the soul of their home town.
According to the town’s documents, major roads in Hoi An, such as Tran Phu, Nguyen Thai Hoc and Bach Dang were formed in the 17th century along the Hoai River. A system of alleyways then gradually evolved to link those roads.
Many alley names remind locals and visitors of historic and folk legends. Sica Alley once had the French Sica alcohol stores, and Ba Le Alley had the Ba Le well with water that was sweetest and coolest in Hoi An.
There are other wells believed to be blessed by beneficent genii, the ancient spirits that were part of the seventh century Champa Kingdom, a Hindu-Buddhist culture with trading routes around Southeast Asia.
My Son Sanctuary
Posted by Huyen Tran in Destinations, Travel Blog on December 30, 2009
Around 70km from the central city of Da Nang, the world cultural heritage My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam province, is located in a valley. My Son is one of the significant holy lands of the ancient Cham dynasty, between the 4th and 12th centuries.
My Son Sanctuary is a large complex of religious relics that comprises more than 70 architectural works. They include temples and towers that connect to each other with complicated red brick designs. The main component of the Cham architectural design is the tower, built to reflect the divinity of the king.
According to records on the stone stele, the prime foundation of the ancient My Son architectural complex was a wooden temple to worship the Siva Bhadresvera genie. In the late 16th century, a big fire destroyed the temple.
Cua Dai Beach – the charm of central region
Posted by Huyen Tran in Travel Blog on December 30, 2009
With 125km of seashore from Dien Ngoc to Dung Quat Bay, the beaches in Quang Nam province have kept their character, maintaining their rustic nature, fresh air and sunlight.
Cua Dai Beach, about 4km from Hoi An ancient town in Quang Nam, is considered one of the most beautiful beaches not only in the central region but also in Vietnam. It is over 3km in length and up to 300m in width. The beach boasts fine white sand, clear and blue water, moderate slopes and small waves, which make it ideal for recreational activities like swimming and other sea sports. This special beach stands out with restaurants, hotels and newly-built modern resorts. Roads are lined with colourful clusters of wild flowers planted to relax visitors.
After checking in the hotel in the centre of Hoi An city, tourists often decide to head to Cua Dai Beach immediately in a bid to steer clear of the scorching heat of the centre. However, some others, after visiting the relics in the old town, they go to Cua Dai Beach to enjoy sea food specialities in an ideal environment of immense sky and sunshine.
Lake of unforgettable impression
Posted by Huyen Tran in Travel Blog on December 29, 2009
The central province of Quang Nam is full of charm. It boasts the ancient town of Hoi An, the My Son Towers which is a remnant of the Champa Kingdom, and the vast Phu Ninh Lake.
Up to now, there are 48 vestiges which have been recognized as national vestiges in Quang Nam. However, only Phu Ninh Lake, placed in districts of Phu Ninh and Nui Thanh, is classified as National Landscape Vestige.
Phu Ninh is the name of a small village on the Que River. In 1927, the French colonial government had plans to dam the river and create a lake.
Cham Island’s seductive charms
Posted by Huyen Tran in Travel Blog on December 25, 2009
The most beautiful postcards and landscape paintings or photo-graphs come to life with just one glimpse of Cham Island (commonly known in Vietnamese as Cu Lao Cham). Strung along in the shape of mermaid, the eight islets that form the island are lush green paradises fringed by pristine white-sand beaches and blue waters.
Individually, they are known as Lao (Pear), Dai (Long), La (Leaf), Kho Me (Large Rocky Islet), Kho Con (Small Rocky Islet), Tai (Ear), Mo (Tomb) and Ong (Grandfather). Together, they present 40,000ha of extraordinary beauty and vast ecological diversity.
Cham Island also presents a pristine lifestyle with most residents living on fishing off the Lang and Huong beaches. A small portion is engaged in agriculture, making handicrafts or hiring out their labour.
Read the rest of this entry »
Beautiful Hoi An
Posted by Thanh Vu in Travel Blog on December 23, 2009
Hoi An definatly has charm about it, as soon as I got here I fell in Love with the historical old town. Hoi An is a beautiful small town with so, so many tailors and a French look about it.
We have also noticed more of a Chinese influence now were heading further North. We have enjoyed walking around the small town, especially in the old town as motorbikes are banned, so it’s relaxing walking around knowing you’re not going to be run over. We were going to hire bikes for a day but out of the old town we witnessed a bike crash and decided not to risk it.
I have been really impressed with all the art galleries around the old town and I can’t help but think it would be nice to own one of the works. Instead I have settled on another dress!
My Son Ruins
Posted by Thanh Vu in Destinations, Travel Blog on December 22, 2009
This morning we got up early for the drive to My Son (pron. me son), ruins from the Cham empire 45 km south of Hoi An. The drive down was fascinating. School starts at seven (we left at 6:30) so everyone was out and about and we got to see the country “wake up.” Children and parents sped around on scooters, beautiful ao dai clad girls rode to school on bicycles. White ao dais are the uniform of all secondary school girls in the country and apparently children are not allowed to ride scooters until sixteen, and most families cannot afford scooters for their children anyway, so they ride bicycles. I’m sure it takes some practice to keep one’s ao dai out of the bicycle spokes, but all the girls we’ve seen have looked quite graceful.
We arrived at the site around 7:30 and began the trek in. First stop is the ticket booth, excercising local and foreigner prices, like most other sites in the country. Our tickets were the standard 50,000 VND, approximately $2.50 US. Following ticket purchase, you take a jeep in the first part of the way to the ruins. The driver of our old US military jeep drove along quite happily singing Ho Chi Minh propaganda songs to himself.
My Son tourism to drive socio-economic progress
Posted by Huyen Tran in Travel Tips on December 20, 2009
The development of tourism at My Son heritage site will be a major motivation for socio-economic progress in Duy Xuyen district in the central province of Quang Nam in the coming years.
Duy Xuyen People’s Committee vice chairman Le Trung Hoa made the announcement on Dec. 2, as the district celebrated the tenth year since My Son was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a World Culture Heritage site.
Hoa said that over the next five years, the district will concentrate on protecting and restoring My Son relics and developing infrastructure as well as human resources to promote tourist potential, in a bid to generate more jobs, reduce hunger and erase poverty.
My Son
Posted by Huyen Tran in Destinations on December 10, 2009
My Son, located 69 km southwest of Da Nang, was an imperial city during the Cham dynasty, between the 4th and 12th centuries. My Son Sanctuary is a large complex of religious relics that comprises more than 70 architectural works.
My Son, located 69 km southwest of Danang, was an imperial city during the Cham dynasty, between the 4th and 12th centuries. My Son Sanctuary is a large complex of religious relics that comprises more than 70 architectural works.
They include temples and towers that connect to each other with complicated red brick designs. The main component of the Cham architectural design is the tower, built to reflect the divinity of the king. Read the rest of this entry »
Hoi An
Posted by Huyen Tran in Destinations on December 10, 2009
The ancient town of Hoi An, 30 km south of Danang, lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Occupied by early western traders, Hoi An was one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century.
Location:
Hoi An, a city of Quang Nam province, is nestled along the coast of the East Sea within the region of central Vietnam. Hoi An was primitively acknowledged as a harbor town of the Champa community along the Thu Bon river that was soon considered as an important trading zone in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today Hoi An is one of the most popular destinations in Vietnam, just 55 km from My Son sanctuary, 30 km towards the southern end of Da Nang and 130 km toward Hue City. Read the rest of this entry »
Vietnam Charm
Vietnam Travel Blog
Recent Comments