Colourful, traditional Hue festival on the go

Hue Festival 2010 kicked off in the central city of Hue on June 5 with a grand, colourful ceremony at Ngo Mon Square and an artistic performance rich of traditional musical genres.

A perfomance at the ceremony Photo by Dai Duong - DTiNews

Fireworks at the ceremony Photo by Dai Duong - DTiNews

The festival began with a dance with flags by more than 100 children and artists, featuring impressively the voyage of the transfer of the capital city from Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) to Thang Long (now Hanoi ). It was a celebration of the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the 50th anniversary of the sister cities of Hanoi – Hue - Saigon .

The opening ceremony, which saw the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, included performances by artists from France , Japan , China , the Republic of Korea , Russia and Belgium .

With the theme “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development”, the Hue Festival this year, from June 5-13, will have a wide range of large-scale, impressive cultural shows.

It will see re-enactments reviving royal rituals such as the Nam Giao Offering Ritual, Dem Hoang Cung – the Royal Place by Night—a colourful blend of food and wine served at a royal banquet and a spectacular lights show.

Highlights of the festival will include the Kham Pha Huyen Thoai Song Huong programme, which offers snapshots of the river’s history, legends and beauty, and “Hanh Trinh Mo Coi” which presents the nation’s journey to reclaim the lands in the south of the country from the 10 th century to 1945.

The Naval manoeuvres of Lord Nguyen Phuc Lan, will also be re-enacted on the Huong River to celebrate the 375 years since Lord Lan chose Kim Long as the capital city. Close to 1,000 people and 72 warships are expected to take part in the event.

In particular, the three forms of traditional Vietnamese arts that have been recognised by UNESCO as world cultural heritages – Nha Nhac (royal music), Ca Tru (ceremonial singing) and Quan Ho (love duets ) and other traditional types of music like Cheo (traditional opera) and folk songs will be performed together in a programme called “The Breath of Water.”

Dem Phuong Dong (Oriental night) will spotlight the charming and unique beauty of several Asian costumes, including the Vietnamese Ao Dai (traditional long dress).

According to the organisers, the festival will see the participation of over 1,500 artists and performers from 48 foreign troupes from 28 countries around the world, and 17 local troupes.

First held in 2000, the biennial Hue Festival has been a tremendous success. In 2008, the festival attracted nearly 2,000 domestic and foreign artists and 180,000 visitors, including 30,000 from overseas.

Tourists flocking to Sapa for Tet

Hotels in Sapa cannot meet the demands of the large number of tourists which is increasing significantly during the Tet holidays, said Nguyen Dinh Dzung, Deputy Director of Lao Cai Province’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism.

According to Mr Dzung, thanks to 9 days off for Tet, many office workers have chosen Sapa as the destination for their whole family to relax and celebrate Tet. Therefore, hotels in Sapa now are almost fully booked. It is forecasted that Sapa will welcome the massive amount of tourists from the 2nd to 8th (based on the lunar calendar). Many will also desire to visit other nearby attractions such as Ha Khau province or Bac Ha spring market.

Nguyen Trong Dam, Director of the Sapa Trade Union Hotel, showed that his hotel is fully booked until the 6th (lunar calendar), including 30 tourists who will celebrate the whole Lunar New Year Eve and holiday in Sapa. Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Tung, the reception supervisor of the Victoria Sapa Hotel said that on this festival, his 4-star hotel will be very crowded with tourists, mainly foreigners.

The Binh Minh tourism agency is greeting 1,000 Chinese tourists through the Lao Cai border. Among them, 400 will visit Ha Noi capital, 100 will head to Ho Chi Minh City, another 400 will explore Ha Long Bay and 500 will relax in Sapa.

In spite being fully booked, all hotels, hostels and cheap accommodations in Sapa still promise to keep their usual rate.

The biggest difficulty for tourists now is booking a roundtrip train ticket from Ha Noi to Lao Cai which were booked by tourism agencies months ago.

Shopping for love in Vietnam's mountains

Once a year, with his wife's blessing, Lau Minh Pao gets to have a guilt-free tryst with his ex.

Ethnic San Chi girls giggle while attending the "love market" in Khau Vai village in Vietnam's northern Ha Giang province, 500 km (310 miles) north of Hanoi May 9, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/Kham

The love market village of Khau Vai is seen from the top of a mountain in Vietnam's northern Ha Giang province. Credit: REUTERS/Kham

Their rendezvous' have played out more like strolls down memory lane than salacious flings, but they are part of a treasured tradition in this mountainous corner of northern Vietnam that may challenge some more linear concepts of love.

"In the past, we were lovers, but we couldn't get married because we were far apart," Pao said simply as he waited for his date on a dark night in the village of Khau Vai in Ha Giang province.

Now when they meet, he said, "we pour our hearts out about the time when we were in love."

They are not alone.

For two days each year, on the 26th and 27th of the third month of the lunar calendar, the tiny village of Khau Vai, strung along a saddle in the lush hills near China, is transformed into a "love market."

Hundreds of members of Giay, Nung, Tay, Dzao, San Chi, Lo Lo and Hmong hill tribes, among others, trek in from across the mountainous districts nearby to attend.

Pao's wife was there, too, meeting her old flame.

Some travel for days, even from neighboring provinces.

This year, local artists in colorful clothing performed the local myth telling the story of the origin of the Khau Vai love market.

Legend has it an ethnic Giay girl from Ha Giang province fell in love with an ethnic Nung boy from the neighboring province of Cao Bang.

The girl was so beautiful that her tribe did not want to let her marry a man from another tribe and a bloody conflict ensued between the two tribes.

Watching tragedy unfold before them, the two lovers sorrowfully decided to part ways to avoid further bloodshed and to restore peace.

But to keep their love alive they made a secret pact to meet once a year on the 27th day of the third lunar month in Khau Vai. Thereafter, the hill village became known as a meeting place for all of those in love.

These days, the tradition is carried on, albeit with a modern edge.

Giggling girls in native headdresses make dates by text message on their cell phones, and hold them up to snap digital photos of performances.

New roads have made the village that lies some 500 km (310 miles) north of Hanoi more accessible. In the Nung language, Khau Vai means 'clouds among the mountains'.

"The young generation now go out together, and find each other, and it is more modern, freer and clearer. Back in the old days, our grandparents had to pursue love in secret, not like today," 23-year-old Hua Thi Nghi an ethnic Giay.

Under the dark sky, as other couples cavorted nearby, Pao was looking forward to seeing his old girlfriend.

"We've arranged to meet and she'll be here a little bit, around 10 pm. We meet together to re-tell the tale of how it was when we were in love back then," he said.

The next day, however, he said their meeting had been cut short by a downpour.

But there's always next year.

Portland restaurateurs lead two-week culinary adventure around Vietnam

Heading into Halong Bay on a 30-foot junk boat for a lunch of freshly caught seafood. The first bite was wonderfully crunchy and just a little salty.

In fact, if you didn't mind the skinny legs, you might not even have noticed that you were eating grasshoppers. After the grasshopper appetizer, there were choices of grilled goat teat or raw cobra heart.

This was just another typical meal in Vietnam, especially when you're traveling with Portland restaurateurs Lam Van and Elizabeth Nguyen, owners of Portland's Pho Van and Silk restaurants.

Last March, they led a group of seven couples, along with their favorite wine distributor, Holly Wing, on a two-week culinary adventure through Vietnam.

Starting in the French-influenced capital of Hanoi, we stopped in Halong Bay to the north; Hue and Ho An in central Vietnam; and finished in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. Along the way, Lam and Elizabeth made sure that the meals were a constant -- and sometimes startling -- highlight.

Northern Vietnam

Rooftop restaurant Highway 4 was our first foray into full-contact adventure eating. With crunchy grasshoppers, fried softshell crabs, spicy squid, baby fish and seasoned mountain vegetables, our first meal in Hanoi was one of our best.

Along with dinner, we sampled a variety of Vietnamese snake wines, which have the smoky taste of a weak Scotch and are essentially the same as Japanese Habu Sake -- with the addition of a fermented snake in the bottle. We also tried scorpion and cobra wine.

Seated on the floor under a teak trellis, with a Buddhist altar behind us and piles of Vietnamese delicacies in front of us, we felt alone in the mountains of northern Vietnam. But the snake wine can make it tough to get off the floor. (5 Hang Tre St., 84 43 926 0639, http://highway4.com)

After a day spent touring the Perfume Pagoda outside Hanoi, our second dinner was far more traditional, and one that Lam and Elizabeth were particularly excited about. We enjoyed a late-night dinner at Le Verticale, where we took over the entire third floor of an elegantly restored four-story French colonial villa. With wide plank floors, gentle candlelight and ultramodern dinnerware, the room could have just as easily been in a townhouse in Ile Saint-Louis in Paris as Hanoi.

Brittany native Didier Corlu started Le Verticale two years ago after several years as the executive chef at Hanoi's Sofitel Metropole. He has artistically melded his native French cooking with the rich flavors and ingredients of Vietnam to produce one of Hanoi's top restaurants. In fact, the first floor of the villa is an elaborate spice shop.

Our six-course tasting menu included wild prawns with spring roll and sweet and sour apple, Corlu's signature ocean escabeche, pan-fried duck liver foie gras with Daikon turnip and tamarind juice, red tuna with citronella and passion fruit, Didier's own "le Corlu" cheese and soft cake of chocolate and cinnamon. Each course was as artistically presented as it was exquisitely prepared. While we just enjoyed Didier's handiwork, he also offers cooking classes every Sunday. (19 Ngo Van So St., 84 43 944 6317, http://verticale-hanoi.com)

Central Vietnam

From Hanoi, we headed to Hue, where we toured the remains of the old Imperial Citadel. The palace, being restored, was badly damaged during the Vietnam War, and bullet marks scar much of the stonework.

At a Royal Hue dinner at Restaurant Royal Park, our entire group dressed in Vietnamese imperial costumes. Peter Bishop and Janet Williamson presided as the Emperor and Empress of the Court. While the "ancient banquet" was not the culinary highlight of our adventures, traditional song, dance and instruments, as well as the elaborate decorative presentation of the dishes, provided a glimpse of Vietnamese royal life 100 years ago. (38-43 Nguyen Sinh Sac St., Vi Da, 84 54 389 7202)

From Hue, we headed to the resort town of Hoi An, almost as famous for its tailors, who can produce virtually anything overnight, as it is for its beaches. Our group spent several hours at the Yaly tailor (47 Nguyen Thai Hoc, 84 510 391 4995), having suits, saris and caftans custom-made. Hoi An was the perfect place to relax before the excitement awaiting us in Saigon.

Southern Vietnam

On our first night there, we went to rooftop restaurant 3T Vietnamese Barbecue, which was teeming with young Vietnamese, occasional expatriates and a few other tourists. The roof deck has a retractable roof, and every table has its own small propane-operated grill.

For the first course, we grilled seasoned boar, venison and goat breast to our liking, and then finished our skewers with fermented tofu dipping sauces. While the goat was a little chewy, the venison was absolutely delicious. Charred fresh okra made for a crispy side dish. Smoke engulfed the open-air restaurant, adding further ambience, and heat, to Saigon's tropical humidity. The meat course was followed by shrimp, which were brought out skewered alive, wiggling and ready to grill. With plenty of ice-cold Vietnamese beer, we spent hours enjoying the smoky rooftop. (29 Ton That Thiep, District 1, 84 83 821 1631)

We also spent a day on the famous Mekong Delta, which has been the scene of so many American movies about the Vietnam War. Today, it is a busy commercial waterway and site of fish farming. We toured several of the smaller islands in the delta and sampled the local coconut candy and rice wine.

Returning from the delta, we had our final dinner in Ho Chi Minh City at the Quan An Bistro, which offered a more traditional colonial Vietnam setting, in stark contrast to most of the city's sleek modern restaurants. But the food offered the same rich diversity of tastes and textures that are one of the hallmarks of Vietnam.

Phu Quoc Island becomes world-famous tourist destination

Vietnamese Prime Minister recently released Decision 633/QD-TTg stating that Phu Quoc would become a special economic and administrative center for Vietnam.

Making fish sauce on Phu Quoc Island ( Photo: SGGP)

Following the prime minister-approved adjusted master plan to develop Phu Quoc Island through 2030, the island would also become the home for domestic and international resorts, urban development, as well as a forest and marine preservation center.

The Phu Quoc Island, also known as Dao Ngoc ( Pearl Island ), for its famous pearls, has the potential to become a major tourist centre within the country. Located in southwestern Kien Giang Province, 45km from the mainland, the 565sq.km island owns 32,000 hectares of pristine forests, beautiful and clean beaches, and undamaged coral reefs. ABC News selected Bai Dai Beach (Long Beach) as one of the five most beautiful and clean beaches in the world, though it is not well known outside Vietnam.

District Phu Quoc party committee secretary Van Ha Phong said the Kien Giang People’s Committee 52 domestic and foreign-invested projects have been licensed so far, with a total capital of VND43 trillion. Seven of these, including Berjaya, Long Beach, Veranda and Miramar have become operational.

Along with appealing to investors to build tourism facilities, the development of Phu Quoc into a financial and banking center for the region, and an international trading hub, district leaders have concentrated on preserving the island’s specialties.

The planting of sim fruit (tomentose rose /myrle), which historically grows naturally on Phu Quoc, is one such preservation project. Sim Son tomentose rose myrtle wine, tea and syrup, invented by Trinh Cong Phat, the director of the Son Phat Co. in Duong To Commune, has become another speciality of the region, attracting tourist interest. Mr. Phat said the arable land for growing sim fruit has shrunk; it needs therefore to expand for tourism, which will raise income for residents.

It is understandable that over 80% tourists decided to visit the Coi Nguon (Root) Museum- a 40,000sq.m outdoor exhibition where curator and owner Huynh Phuoc Hue displays around 2,000 ancient artifacts including a 3,500-year-old stone axe, a flock of over 60 rare sea eagles and a 500kg dugong bone.

One of Hue’s hardest won artifacts was a part of a boat used by national hero Nguyen Trung Truc.

One of Phu Quoc District’s strengths is the production of traditional fish sauce. However, most of fishing boats have small capacity which can work onshore.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Truc, Head of Phu Quoc District’s Office of Economy, said the district would support local fishermen who can catch fish offshore. Vietnamese-made fish sauce has become world famous with over 100 producers making more than 10 million liters a year.

In the future, the district will reserve two areas for producing the special sauce: Ben Tram and Sau Bridge. In addition, the district is determined to spend budget funds to grow pepper.

Many construction projects have been undertaken on the island, such as a 900-hectare International Airport, a roundabout road for sightseeing tours and the An Thoi International Wharf. Pham Vu Hong, chairman of the Phu Quoc district People’s Committee, said many more important projects will be operating by June.

Good morning Vietnam

As Hanoi celebrates its 1,000th birthday, Clifford Coonan visits a city that offers an appealing mixture of gritty Vietnamese street life and relaxed post-colonial ease.

Turning a corner in Hanoi, you come across a crowd of lively old men sitting outside the cafe, a small basket of brioches and a plate of stringy cheese in front of them as they discuss the latest developments in the capital over cafés au lait , their conversation punctuated by the parps and beeps of cyclos – or cycle rickshaws – and Hondas zipping by.

You have to check your watch to make sure you’re in the right time zone, the right continent or even the right point in history. The coffee they drink is Vietnamese – brewed French style, of course – but the jackfruit and mango they chew on set this scene apart from anything you will see in France. This is definitely Asia.

It’s an arresting moment, typical in the Vietnamese capital, which is celebrating its 1,000th birthday this year and manages to retain its old-style appeal despite the passing years and the pressure to modernise.

It has all the dirt and traffic of a developing world city but combines bustle and calm in a way similar to that of a working French town in a wine region. Hanoi offers an appealing combination of gritty Vietnamese street life and relaxed postcolonial ease.

Sitting on the veranda outside the Metropole hotel, one of Asia’s most famous addresses, you can check out a vintage Citroën from the 1930s and a rickshaw. Four years of renovation of this hotel, now operated by Sofitel, have sharpened its appeal but left its heritage intact. For a few delicious seconds you can imagine Graham Greene witnessing a continent in transformation, soon to re-create this vision in an enduring work of art like The Quiet American .

The writer stayed at the Metropole – which occupies the same space in the city’s mental landscape that the Shelbourne Hotel does in Dublin – Charlie Chaplin had his honeymoon here, and more recent arrivals include Robert McNamara, John F Kennedy’s secretary of defence and the architect of the Vietnam War, whose relentless bombing campaigns brought sorrow, and a steely resolve, to the hearts of the citizens of what was then the North Vietnamese capital. Many of the legendary Vietnam War correspondents filed their stories from here.

For the first eight centuries of its existence Hanoi was a Chinese city, and you can still sense the Chinese business ethic in the way people hustle here. This is also evident in its focus on education – the first Vietnamese universities were founded here.

Originally called Thang Long, it was renamed Hanoi in 1831, and after it became a French protectorate, in the 1880s, Hanoi was transformed into a French city, capital of the French Indo-Chinese empire. Army officers from Paris left an enduring bootprint in the solid, elegant edifices and sweeping boulevards that make Hanoi a refuge for those seeking a sense of Montpellier and Lyons to match the fascination of southeast Asia.

There are lots of ways to get around Hanoi, and motorbike drivers offering you a route through the city’s sclerotic traffic channels regularly approach you. Many are simply keen to practise their English and are not on the make, but it’s sometimes hard to tell when you are being hustled.

At an intersection near the Hoan Kiem Lake, in the Old Quarter, the sound of motorbikes idling is like the anticipatory moments before a Grand Prix. Tensions are high, and a motorbike bumps into a scooter, toppling a row of five bikes. There are no outraged recriminations, however, or even an exchange of telephone numbers. A young woman on the pillion of the aggrieved party’s scooter is concerned about her heels, but that’s about the extent of it. Road rage is not a big thing in Vietnam.

Taxis and cyclos abound, but to get a sense of Vietnam’s capital and second-largest city it’s probably best to walk. This is not always easy to do, as this is still very much a city in the developing world, and pavements tend to trail off into gutters or, increasingly, building sites.

Along the roads of the Old Quarter, bars selling bia hoi – or light, fresh beer – jostle with new art galleries for space, each building’s address marked out on small plates with white numbers on a background left by the French.

Here you can find pretty much anything you would ever need, from knock-off luggage to high-end designer clobber. The Hanoi Gallery offers reprints of stirring, beautifully worked propaganda posters, which help tourists understand how Vietnam, despite its southeast Asian tranquillity and poise, is underpinned by a toughness that has never been tamed, despite military efforts by France, Australia, the US and China in living memory.

You will still hear bitterness about the decision of Richard Nixon’s government to give the go-ahead to the “Christmas bombing” of Hanoi. From December 18th to 30th, 1972, waves of American B-52s dropped 40,000 tons of bombs on the mostly evacuated city. Although Washington DC said it had to be done, the world’s reaction did a lot to turn public opinion against the Vietnam War.

It’s wrong to dwell on the Vietnam conflict when in Hanoi, however, because people are keen to move on and focus on the way the city is turning into an Asian destination to compete with Thailand and Malaysia.

At the same time there are plenty of places to visit if you want to see the Vietnamese side of the conflict. Hoa Lo prison, infamous as the “Hanoi Hilton”, is still there, although much of the jail has been knocked down in recent years.

The “Maison Centrale” sign over the door has struck fear into the hearts of generations of prisoners. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, spent some of his five and a half years as a prisoner of war there, and his flight suit is still on display. The Hanoi Hilton is so infamous that the current Hanoi Hilton is called the Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel, to make sure there is no mix-up.

The best time to come to Hanoi is in the autumn, when the cay hoa sua trees blossom. The winter is cold and humid, the summer hot and damp.

For a southeast Asian city it’s remarkably low-rise, but there are plans afoot to dramatically expand its financial sector, and this will lead to skyscrapers. This is a good time to go to Hanoi before it catches up with the rest of the world – and loses a lot of charm in the process.

Go there Where to stay, where to eat and where to go in Hanoi city

5 places to stay

Sofitel Legend Metropole.

15 Ngo Quyen Street, 00-84-4- 38266919, sofitel.com/asia.

Since its refurbishment this colonial-style landmark hotel boasts 364 rooms, three restaurants, three bars, a swimming pool and a high-end spa, among other attractions. Visitors as diverse as Fidel Castro, Angelina Jolie and Colin Farrell have enjoyed its charms over the years.

Mövenpick Hotel. 83a Ly Thuong Kiet Street, 00-84-4-38222800, moevenpick-hotels.com. A very swish hotel at the upper end of Hanoi’s offerings, recently refurbished and located on one of the loveliest streets in the city’s French Quarter.

Maison d’Hanoi. 35 -37 Hang Trong Street, 00-84-4-39380999, hanovahotel.com. Chic boutique hotel that blends French colonial and Asian art-deco designs. Located in the heart of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake and other historic attractions.

Joseph’s. 5 Au Trieu Street, 00-84-4-39381048. josephshotel.com.This small, deeply trendy hotel has just nine rooms. Backing on to St Joseph’s Church, it remains an excellent low-budget option. Run by an Australian expat, it serves an excellent breakfast and garners consistently favourable reviews.

Gia Bao Grand Hotel.

38 Losu Street, 00-84-4-39351494. giabaohotels.com. Another elegant new midrange boutique hotel that has opened in Hanoi in the past few years. Features 22 rooms with wall-to-wall black-and-white photographs of the city’s monuments. Stylish and central at a good price.

5 places to eat

Madame Hiên.


15 Chan Cam, 00-84-4-39446317, verticale-hanoi.com. Labelled a culinary and authentic journey through Vietnam, Madame Hiên is the latest restaurant sensation from Mai and Didier Corlou, located between Silk Street (Hang Gai), Hoan Kiem Lake and Nha Tho Lon (St Joseph’s Cathedral) in a stunning traditional Vietnamese villa.

Tadioto.


113 Trieu Viet Vuong, 00-84-4-22187200, tadioto.com. This is actually a gallery, or an alternative space for the arts, but is also one of the hippest places in Hanoi. Run by American journalist, writer and translator Nguyen Quy Duc, this is a truly original venue.

Quan An Ngon.

18 Phan Boi Chau, 00-84-4-39428162. The concept at Quan An Ngon is to serve the best of the capital’s street food in a more comfortable setting. Food vendors serve an astounding variety of Vietnamese food from rustic stalls around the perimeter of a large courtyard; guests dine among potted trees under a large canvas marquee, or in one of the dining rooms in the spacious adjoining villa.

Highway 4.

5 Hang Tre Street, 00-84-4-39260639, highway4.com. Located in the heart of the Old Quarter, this restaurant, which is well frequented by locals, offers authentic Vietnamese cuisine and a range of Vietnamese traditional liquors, including fruit wines, as well as more daring options, such as gecko and bee.

Madam Tuyet.

25 Ma May Street, 00-84-4-38258705. A true Hanoian, Le Anh Tuyet learned her culinary skills from her grandmother, who used to cook for the French elite in the 1930s. Situated in the heart of the Old Quarter, it serves northern Vietnamese dishes in a simple yet charming setting. Cookery classes are also available; bookings must be made in advance. The US chef and author Anthony Bourdain is a fan.

5 places to go

Koto. 59 Van Mieu Street, 00-84-4-37470337, customerkoto.com.au.

This could be listed in the places-to-eat section, but it is worth mentioning as a place to go in itself. You can dine for a cause at Koto, which is no ordinary restaurant. Koto, or Know One Teach One, is supported by Street Voices, an NGO set up by Jimmy Pham to try to offer a brighter future to street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam. In a concept similar to that behind Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Foundation, the youths in the Koto training programme study hospitality, English and life skills and gain essential experience working at Koto restaurant.

Halong Bay. A scenic three-hour drive through the Red River Delta leads you from Hanoi to the sublime beauty of magnificent limestone formations rising dramatically from the waters. The views are best experienced on a boat cruise.

Sapa. Vietnam’s northern mountain ranges are breathtakingly beautiful, with fresh air and cool temperatures. Home to a diverse group of ethnic groups such as Tay, Red Dao and Black Hmong, Sapa boasts of ample hill-tribe trekking and home-stay opportunities, as well as a good choice of hotels.

Tam Coc. With its series of limestone rock formations jutting from a sea of rice paddies, this is a scenic and surreal place to visit. Nearby Hoa Lu offers similar landscapes of outcrops – no less spectacular when compared to Tam Coc – as well as 10th-century relics from when the area was the country’s capital.

Duong Lam. A tour through Duong Lam, northwest of Hanoi, is a great way to explore the area’s 1,200-year history. Visit houses more than 400 years old, wander the villages narrow alleyways, see local temples and, most interesting of all, chat with friendly locals.

Hot spot

Nha Tho Street.

This is the epitome of the Old Quarter experience, blending boutique shopping, fabulous restaurants and sidewalk cafes. At the end of the street is St Joseph’s Cathedral which was modelled after Paris’s Notre Dame back in 1886.

Shop spot

Tan My. 61 Hang Trong Street, 00-84-4-8288848, tanmyembroidery.com. A must-see to check out the work of local designers, Tan My – situated in a converted French villa – has an eclectic collection of clothing with a great coffee shop thrown into the middle. Frequented by the who’s who of Hanoi society.

Go there:

Air France (airfrance.com) flies to Hanoi from Dublin via Paris Charles de Gaulle. Vietnam Airlines (vietnam airlines.com.vn) also flies from Charles de Gaulle. Cathay Pacific (cathay pacific.com) and Thai Airways (thaiairways.com) fly from London Heathrow.

Hanoi hot spots

Sofitel Legend Metropole

Mövenpick Hotel

Maison d’Hanoi

Joseph’s

Gia Bao Grand Hotel

Nha Tho Street

Madame Hien

Tadioto

Quan An Ngon

Highway 4

Madam Tuyet

Tan My Design Caf

Koto

Halong Bay

Sapa

Tam Coc

Duong Lam

Vietnam: the purple marks of belonging

Cao gio is an indelible part of local medicine. It might be a placebo, but it is also a social bond and a link with the past.

Farmers move rice in boats along flooded paddy fields in Vietnam. Photograph: Ngoc Ha/EPA

My girlfriend, Thuy, is lying face down on the floor, naked from the waist up, her head resting on a pillow. An old woman straddles her and, with rhythmic sweeping motions, rubs a silver coin into the exposed flesh. Thuy's back is covered in bruises – vivid purple stripes extending symmetrically outwards from her spine. On a nearby bed two children are playing cards. In a hammock an old man is snoring. Nobody seems interested in the torture scene being enacted under their noses.

Actually, this is not torture but an everyday slice of life. When I first arrived I was bewildered by the number of people walking around with grotesque markings on their skin – women with purple bruises running down their necks; shirtless men flaunting the tracery of welt marks across their backs.

Enlightenment came abruptly and comically. I arranged to meet a pretty Vietnamese girl in a restaurant. In I walked, and there she sat, smiling sweetly, apparently oblivious to the purple blemishes all over her neck. My first thought was: "Lovebites!" I didn't tell her this, instead gently broaching the subject of her neck ... er … injuries. Whereupon she burst out laughing and initiated me into the world of cao gio.

In England, if you have a headache or a pain, you take aspirin. In Vietnam you allow your body to be scraped with a coin, or spoon or similar object. The skin is first lubricated with a balm or oil and the coin is rubbed firmly and repeatedly in a linear pattern until blood appears under the skin. This is cao gio (pronounced "cow yaw"), which literally means "catch the wind". Illnesses are believed to be caused by an excess of wind and cao gio is believed to release the excess wind and restore balance.

Does it work? The Vietnamese seem to think so, but, to my sceptical Western mind, it is the patient's belief in the efficacy of cao gio, plus the therapeutic effect of massaging that are responsible for any cure.

Cao gio – along with herbalists, acupuncturists, sorcerers, fortune-tellers and priests – is an indelible part of Vietnamese medicine. More than anything, cao gio is a social bond, a link with the past and with your neighbours – a highly visible sign that you are part of tradition and truly Vietnamese. One of these days, I might try it myself.

Vietnamese food: Lively, lighthearted, lovely

Last fall, I was in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia, but my heart belonged to Vietnam, especially its food. (Hong Kong’s food is pretty well represented in Vancouver and as for Cambodia ... well, it’s not known for its gustatory delights.)

Inflated rice balls make a big impression.

A market in Hanoi.

Vietnam’s Can Tho market offers an amazing array of fruits and vegetables.

A woman in Hanoi hawks pho from gigantic cooking pots.

I’ve always yearned for more exciting Vietnamese food in Vancouver, but knew I’d have to follow it to its source for the thrills.

Vietnam confirmed my belief that Vietnamese food is a lot like its people — lively, light-hearted, lovely. And good-humoured. (How else would you describe a giant, golden, inflated rice balloon with a rice pattycake hiding inside?) Somehow, that buoyant nature has survived in the people and the food through the bloodiest of wars. A grandmother toothily laughs. A translator tells us she’s asking if we understand her babbling baby grandson in English because he’s sure not speaking Vietnamese.

I was smitten. Even the city traffic, which seems more like a national suicide pact (motorbikes, bicycles, cars, people, tuk-tuks darting in every conceivable direction without the logic of lanes, traffic lights, or rules of the road) won’t deter me from going back.

Going from Hanoi in the north to Central Vietnam and down to Ho Chi Minh City (still referred to as Saigon by most locals) and the Mekong Delta, the food changed with the geography and climate which morphs from temperate to tropical.

Vancouver’s Vietnamese restaurants only skim the surface of regional variations of food in that country. We don’t see the amazing produce or taste the intensity of herbs or variations of the nuoc nam , the fermented fish sauce, a signature taste in so many Vietnamese dishes.

In Hanoi, we had to try the one-dish restaurant, Cha Cha La Vong. The dish? It’s called cha cha — monkfish fried with dill, turmeric, rice noodles and peanuts. They bring a charcoal hibachi to the table and you cook the fish and a pile o’ greens yourself. The restaurant has been there for several generations and the staff is said to be gruff (unusual in Vietnam, but the matriarch took a shine to us and came and cooked ours for us in between counting out dongs (Vietnamese currency) at the next table, their evening’s take. It’s grungy (Molly Maids would have heart attacks), but it’s so famous that copycat restaurants have sprung up, messing with your mind. The cha cha was delicious.

It would be unforgivable to wimp out on trying street food for fear of gut-wrenching illness. We searched for ones that came recommended (my neighbour, who’d been to Vietnam a year earlier, recommended a pho seller, for instance).

One night, we went to a place that sold great pork patties and shrimp spring rolls. Gratefully, we sat at a table, not on the plastic toddler stools that Westerners look ridiculous on, at some of these places. The food was good and my stomach inflated like that rice balloon.

My husband, however, didn’t want to miss out one chance to try the street pho that our neighbour, Karen, had recommended. I watched in amazement as he went in search of it, sat down with the locals and slurped back a heaping bowl of pho. Mom and son threw enormous cuts of meat to each other, sliced off thin slices and threw slices into steaming bowls. Locals looked astonished when they thought a stranger reached out for my husband’s pho (it was me) and took a big, noisy slurp. It was, despite the optics, delicious.

Wild Lotus, in Hanoi, is in a gorgeous French colonial building. (The French left behind beautiful buildings and A something of their food culture, unlike the Americans, who left bomb craters.) We followed a marble staircase and passed by a fountain en route to the second-floor restaurant with a modern tropical feel. Slender female servers (they’re all small and pretty) wore ao dai (those silky, side-slit tops) and males wore suits. Astonishingly, main dishes were an average $6 Cdn. Deep-fried prawns bundled in vermicelli, served with plum sauce; grilled sea bass; morning glory leaves, sauteed in garlic; pork loin with cashews, mushrooms, dried chili, spring rolls in shredded rice noodles — and the bill came to about $60 with wine.

You should use a guidebook because you’ll run into horrid food just like anywhere. We ducked into a nice-looking place for breakfast one morning and “shirred eggs” turned out to be an eggy sauce with a lid of goopy cheese and bits of ham. Yech!

In Central Vietnam, at Hoi An (where my husband had the equivalent of a Zegna suit tailored for $350), we ate at a string of food stalls along the Thu Bon River, returning to “Mr. Dong’s” a few times for the “white rose,” a regional specialty of shrimp dumplings in clear rice dough. But the banana pancakes and noodles were just as good. (Dong is also the word for Vietnamese currency, a challenge to say for an inhibited North American.) Breakfast was included at the hotels we stayed in and at Hoi An, we could have had a sumptuous Vietnamese buffet every morning with dim sum-like dishes that changed daily.

Cafe des Amis came recommended in guide books and was a heck of a deal with seven courses for about $12, but it was most memorable for the owner, a Mr. Kim, decked out in black leather pants and jacket, a smoking bon vivant, strutting among guests, telling stories he must have told a thousand times.

A young couple we met from London led us through the dark alleys of Hoi An and to their discovery, a restaurant called Secret Garden, not in guide books. We ended up taking group photos with the friendly staff after a meal of star anise soup, pork and fish tamarind hotpot and pork skewers.

In Ho Chi Minh City, I’d stand, each morning, at the fourth-floor window of our hotel, looking down at a woman who made rounds on her bicycle, draped with bags and bags of produce, eggs, fish, meat. Women from shops would saunter out, leisurely check out the fare and buy a little bit of this and a little bit of that. (And no, it wasn’t refrigerated.) Then she’d move on, plastic bags rustling.

Vietnamese supermarkets don’t exist. Food is bought at markets or vendors on the street. The floating markets are very cool. We put-put-putted around the boats early one morning before taking off down the Mekong on a “Heart of Darkness” journey to an eco-lodge.

At Ho Chi Minh City, my all-time favourite spot was Quan An Ng, a brilliant idea. Cooking stations circle the perimeter of an elegant French colonial-style restaurant; each one is a stall with cooks making street foods from all over Vietnam. You can walk around, check out all the regional specialties at the stations and point and order or order off the menu. Can they please open one in Vancouver?

The most modern Vietnamese meal was at the sleekly modern Xu restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. A four-course tasting menu was about $27; an eight-course went for $44. The menu features dishes like tuna spring roll and black sesame seared tuna; steamed rice flour roll with fish, bean shoots and roasted shallots; tamarind-braised beef cheeks with pumpkin mash and pumpkin flower; crab soup with boiled quail egg, peanut and chili; scallops with green mango noodle salad and lemongrass dressing. Desserts? Durian cream puff and chocolate caramel tart.

I had a dramatically memorable dish from along the Mekong Delta. On a bike trip, we had a lunch of elephant ear fish which was deep-fried whole and mounted like a trophy on a wooden stand, dramatic as heck.

What I won’t dwell on here is the part of Vietnamese cuisine I can’t bear. Even the thought of a snake farm at one of the towns we biked was enough to send me on a detour. At an outdoor coconut candy factory, I bought some of the taffy-like confections, trying not to look into the eyes of the coiled vipers, trapped in bottles of rice wine, said to invigourate libidos.

In the same shop, lots of alligator purses, perhaps siblings of the ones we saw in a muddy pond?

But getting back to the good stuff, another unforgettable Vietnamese culinary tradition is their insanely good coffee. It’s intense and delicious, dripped slowly into condensed milk if you don’t want it neat. We brought a few bags home, but I think you have to be Vietnamese to make it so good.

And dare I say, I think that to be true of the food, too.

Green fingers raise living standards

For centuries, Tra Que village has made a name for itself through its greenery. Lan Hieu finds out more.

A small lane leading to Tra Que

Chairs for visitors to relax with herb spa after a hard working time on the field

Farmers fertilize soil with algae taken from a nearby lagoon

Foreign tourists at Tra Que

The sweet aroma of Tra Que vegetables and herbs has spiced up the everyday meals of people in Hoi An since a very long time ago with Special dishes like Cao Lau, My Quang, Banh Xeo, and more.

Located near the banks of the De Vong River, the village is now home to nearly 200 households who engage in cultivating vegetables on a total area of 40 hectares.

According to old farmers, Tra Que has been famous for its vast vegetable plantations for about 400 years. The first villagers here were all fishermen but they soon discovered that the land here was very suitable for growing vegetable. With skills and experience, farmers here have been producing some of the country’s most celebrated greens, which have been become a trademark.

A walk around the village reveals small, green, edible plants spread out in all directions, giving off a natural aromatic fragrance.

Talking with the farmers here, we learn that it takes a lot of hard work to have such green fingers.

“We have to learn how to till the land, sow the seeds and then how to nurture the plants,” Manh Hung, an old farmer while wiping his sweaty face, “This work may be easy for farmers in other places but extremely difficult for us here because we do not use chemical boosters and fertilizers."

This is also one reason why Tra Que vegetables are being chosen by not only Hoi An’s locals, but also families and supermarkets from neighbouring areas like Danang City, Duy Xuyen and Hoa Vang Districts. They are healthier than those grown using chemicals and provide a distinctive flavor that has earned a loyal following.

“Our land here is enriched by the alluvium of the De Vong River,” said Tran Minh Nhu, a local guide who has a large onion plantation. “We fertilize it with algae from a nearby lagoon. That may be the reason why our herbs are so green and tasty.”

Among the more than 20 kinds of vegetables and herbs grown here are cabbage, colza or rape, celery, kohlrabi, and perhaps the most famous, savoury. Similar to basil and mint, Tra Que savoury is very popular in many restaurants and hotels in Hoi An for its special fragrance.

In recognition of the local farmers skills, people here all refer to them as “artistes”. Thanks to their special products, the village has become an attractive destination for tourists. It has been a highlight for visitors to Hoi An since the first tour to the village was opened in 2004.

From Hoi An’s centre, Hoi An Travel Company takes visitors on one-day or half-day tours to Tra Que, which gives them a chance to discover the daily life of farmers and try their hands out at actual farming. Visitors can participate in such activities like tilling the land, sowing the seeds, watering, fertilizing, harvesting and so on.

This tour is attracting a lot of people, especially foreign tourists. In recent years, Hoi An Travel has been taking more than 1,000 tourists to visit Tra Que Village annually, gaining hundreds of million of Dong.

Visitors to the village will be welcomed at two guest-houses before being taken to the plantation by a local farmer to see and join his work. If they stay for a whole day, lunch will be served at the guest house with Hoi An’s special dishes. After that, visitors can relax with a foot massage using medical herbs before saying goodbye to the farmers.

"I really enjoy the work as I never have worked on a farm before," shared on Irish visitor joining in a full-day tour with us. “Besides learning the work of farmers in Vietnam, I can relax and do exercise at the same time.”

With a steady income from both farming and tourism, living standards for residents has improved significantly, all thanks to the humble herb.

A verdant rooftop

Beyond the well-known and colourful markets of Sapa, Bac Ha and Can Cau, the northwest mountainous area of Vietnam is bewitched with the wild town and market of Sin Ho, the roof of Lai Chau province.

My friend said that it would be a pity if you travelled to the northwest mountains of Vietnam without stopping off at Sin Ho market. I didn’t give his claim much credence at first, until I stepped foot into the market—known as Cho huyen Sin Ho, and open every Sunday.

Situated imposingly on the Sin Ho plateau of Lai Chau province, Sin Ho town is located on the highest peak, over 2,000 metres above sea level and surrounded by verdant mountain ranges and clouds.

Locals call it: The Roof of Lai Chau province. The small town is also well-known as the second Sapa of the northwest area. But the climate in Sin Ho is even more sour and scornful than that of Sapa. Suddenly, you can be standing in a sea of white clouds, then, just several minutes later, the rain will rumble down like a waterfall. But right after the last rain drop falls, the sun will rise brilliantly and a cool wind will blow over the small town.

It takes me four hours to drive up the zigzagging road from Phong Tho town, at the junction between National Road No. 4D from Sapa and National Road No.12 towards Muong Lay town. The mountain road has been smoothly paved over, but it’s still a slow and winding drive. Therefore, I decide to spend a night at Sin Ho town and wait for the market until the next morning.

In the late afternoon, Sin Ho town looks small, deserted and gloomy, with simple and sparse wooden houses roofed with dark grey cement tiles and only a few shops and restaurants. It’s lucky that there are several modern guesthouses and mini hotels with reasonable prices. For only VND250, 000 per twin room, I check into the Thanh Binh guesthouse. It’s not an overstatement to say that at such a cost, this is the best hotel outside of Sapa in the northwestern area. It has spacious rooms, good facilities and a friendly staff.

On Sunday morning, the sleepy town comes alive. From all paths up and down leading to the town centre, waves of tribes people walk or ride horses and motorbikes, all loaded with many kinds of farm products, toward the market. These tribes come from many distant villages up and down the mountains. They are Flower Hmong, Blue Hmong, Black Hmong, Lu, Black Dao and Red Dao, among others.

After a morning at the market, I take a trekking tour to Pha Xo Lin II village, just three kilometres from the town centre. The village is home to the Dao Khau tribe, also known as the Sewing Dao, or the Black Dao, who wear black trousers richly embroidered with signature flower, tree and star patterns seen on many Dao costumes. They also wear a front hanging black apron with a wide, plain blue band around its outside, together with a plain black turban.

The village is very beautiful and poetic, with dark wooden houses roofed with black stone tiles and fenced in with stone hedges. This season, the peach and mango orchards are ripening in a riot of red and yellow. It’s mouthwatering to walk in the village, where you can take a seat under the fruit trees to enjoy lovely lanterns swinging in the cool winds and their fresh and sweet tastes. Pha Xo Lin village is very famous for its special golden red mangoes, with their sweet taste and jackfruit-like flavour.

Besides its delicious fruits, Pha Xo Lin village is a shopping paradise of brocades and embroidery products. It’s common to see Dao women sitting at their thresholds in their front yards or under the fruit trees sewing passionately. While you’re there, don’t miss out on buying some clothes, scarves or other decorous things from the tribes people. Their products are very sophisticated and beautiful, as befitting of their name—the Sewing Dao tribe.