Value for Money July - August 2015

No 3, Vol.8 ,July – August 2015

HOTELS
Baoson International Hotel
50 Nguyen Chi Thanh St, Dong Da Dist, Hanoi
Tel: (04) 3835-3536
www.baosonhotels.com
Baoson International Hotel, a four-star hotel, located in the centre of Hanoi, has a promotion from 15 July to 15 August. The prices start from VND1,480,000 per room per night including welcome drink and a 10 per cent discount on food and beverage at Rose Restaurant. Those who book at least seven nights will get free laundry service of 3 items or a massage voucher.

Möôøng Thanh Hoi An Hotel
Block 9, Phuoc Trach – Phuoc Hai New Urban Area, Au Co St, Cua Dai Ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam Province
Tel: (0510) 3666-999
www.hoian.muongthanh.vn
Mường Thanh Hoi An Hotel has a promotion at VND4,089,000 per room for two nights in a Deluxe Room with a 60-minute foot massage at White Sand Spa &Massage, lunch or dinner at Tra Que Restaurant and shuttle bus to Hoi An.

Green World Hotel Nha Trang
44 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, Loc Tho Ward, Nha Trang
Tel: (058) 3528-666
www.greeenworldhotelnhatrang.com
Green World Hotel Nha Trang is running a summer promotion till 30 August. It offers a 35 per cent discount on published room rates, which start from VND2,200,000 per room per night.

Liberty Central Nha Trang Hotel
7-9 Biet Thu St, Loc Tho Ward, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province
Tel: (058) 3529-555
www.libertycentralhotel.com

LibertyCentral Nha Trang Hotel is offering a special rate at VND2,950,000 per room for two nights in a Premier Ocean View Room including breakfast, an egg tub at 100 Eggs Mud Bath, shuttle bus to 100 Eggs Mud Bath, and a 10 per cent discount on food and beverage. The offer is till 31 December and applicable to weekdays.
Möôøng Thanh Dalat Hotel
No 04, Phan Boi Chau St, Dalat,
Lam Dong Province
Tel: (063) 3578-888
www.dalat.muongthanh.vn
Mường Thanh Dalat Hotel has a ‘Summer Promotion’ at VND2,290,000 per room for two nights with a complimentary meal and a 10 per cent discount on city tour and food and beverage at the restaurant.

An Lam Saigon River
21/4 Trung St, Vinh Phu Ward, Thuan An Dist., Binh Duong Province
Tel: (0650) 3785-555

An Lam Saigon River is offering a ‘Summer Promotion 2015’, with prices starting from VND6,000,000 per An Lam Suite per night to VND15,910,000 per Riverfront Pool Villa 2 Bedrooms per night. The prices include breakfast, lunch and shuttle boat transfers to city. The promotion is valid till 30 September.

Alcove Library Hotel
133A Nguyen Dinh Chinh St, Ward 8,
Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 6256-9966
www.alcovehotel.com.vn
The Alcove Library Hotel offers a promotion till the end of July. Starting from VND1,200,000 per room per night in a Standard Room including a voucher for a 10 per cent discount at Bookmark Restaurant.

The Island Lodge
390 Ap Thoi Bình, Thoi Son Ward,
My Tho City
Tel:(073) 6519-000
www.theislandlodge.com.vn

The Island Lodge is offering a 50 per cent discount on the second night for those who book two nights. Those who book three nights get a 100 per cent discount on the third night. The offers are valid till 31 October. It costs VND3,150,000 per room per night including breakfast, service charge and VAT.

RESORTS AND SPAS
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
15 Ngo Quyen St, Hanoi
Tel: (04) 3826-6919
www.sofitel-legend.com
Le Spa du Metropole, at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, has a 105-minute spa treatment, including a 60-minute Vietnamese-inspired treatment and a 45-minute Clarins customized facial massage. It costs VND2,355,000

AVANI Quy Nhon
Resort & Spa
Ghenh Rang, Bai Dai Beach,
Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province
Tel: (056) 3840-132
www.avanihotels.com/quynhon
AVANI Quy Nhon Resort & Spa is offering a special promotion for those who book four nights. It costs from VND4,100,000 per room per night in a AVANI Deluxe Studio Room or AVANI Junior Ocean Suite with breakfast, two dinners, one kayak tour with picnic lunch, one mountain biking excursion with picnic lunch and roundtrip airport transfers. The promotion runs till 31 May, 2016.

La Residence Hotel & Spa
5 Le Loi St, Hue
Tel: (054) 3837-475
www.la-residence-hue.com
La Residence Hotel & Spa has a ‘Summer Getaway’ at VND4,200,000 per room per night in a Superior Room with a welcome Shirley Temple mock-tail and a dinner. The promotion is valid till 31 October.

Poshanu Resort
Quarter 5, Phu Hai Ward,
Phan Thiet City,
Binh Thuan Province
Tel: (062)3812-233
www.poshanuresort.com
Poshanu Resort is offering a special at VND1,850,000 per room per night for weekday (Sunday to Thursday) and VND2,050,000 per room per night (Friday and Saturday). The special includes breakfast, lunch or dinner, a 20 per cent discount on food at Champa Restaurant, a 10 per cent discount on beverage at Champa Restaurant, a 20 per cent discount on laundry service and a 20 per cent discount on spa treatment. It is valid till 30 September and is not applicable to holidays. The price includes service charge and VAT.
The Cliff Resort & Residences
Zone 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet,
Binh Thuan Province
Tel: (062) 3719-111
www.thecliffresort.com.vn
The Cliff Resort & Residences is offering a ‘Hello Sunny Package’ at VND3,890,000 for two nights’ stay in an Azul Sea View Room for whole family, including parents and 2 children under 12 years old. It includes breakfast, indoor and outdoor activities for kids and a voucher valued at VND200,000 for using in the resort. Those who book on weekday from Sunday to Thursday will get a 5 per cent discount on the rate. The package runs till 31 August. The price includes service charge and VAT.

Sandunes Beach Resort & Spa
5 Quarter, Mui Ne Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province
Tel: (062) 3748-868
www.sandunesbeach.com

Sandunes Beach Resort & Spa has a ‘Summer Promotion’ at VND1,399,000 per room per night in a Deluxe Ocean View Room with breakfast, lunch or dinner, a 10 per cent discount on beverage at the restaurant and a 10 per cent discount on a Mui Ne tour. The offer is valid till 31 October.

Seahorse Resort & Spa
Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien Ward, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province
Tel: (062) 3847-507
www.seahorseresortvn.com

SeahorseResort & Spa is offering vouchers valued at VND1,899,000. The voucher includes a one-night stay in a Deluxe Room with breakfast, lunch, free sauna from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., free tennis court from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a 30 per cent discount on spa services, a 10 per cent discount at Hippocampe Restaurant and Non La Pool Bar, a 5 per cent discount at Seahorse Bistro Restaurant and shuttle bus from Phan Thiet Railway Station to resort. Those who buy 10 vouchers get free one voucher applying to weekend. Those who buy 5 vouchers get free one voucher applying to weekday (Thursday to Sunday) till 30 August or weekend from 3 September to 31 October. The vouchers are not applicable to public holidays and runs till 31 October. The price includes service charge and VAT. Guests can combine more vouchers for a long stay.
Also the resort has a two-night package at VND3,699,000 per room in a Deluxe Room with breakfast, lunch, dinner, shuttle bus from Phan Thiet Railway Station to resort, a 5 per cent discount on the price for those who book from Thursday to Sunday till 30 August and a 5 per cent discount for those who book from Monday to Sunday from 3 September to 31 October. The promotion is not applicable to public holidays.

Ana Mandara Villas Dalat
Resort & Spa
Le Lai St, Dalat, Lam Dong Province
Tel: (063) 3555-888
www.anamandara-resort.com

AnaMandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa is running a ‘Le Petit Summer Package’ for those who book at least two nights. It costs VND2,420,000 per room per night in a Le Petit Room with breakfast, a credit of VND840,000 for food and beverage or spa treatments, a 20 per cent discount on spa, a 10 per cent discount on food and beverage and a 10 per cent discount on tours. The package is till 30 September. Surcharge VND630,000 per room on weekend (Friday to Sunday) and holidays. The price includes service charge and VAT.

Binh An Village Resort
Tuyen Lam Lake, Ward 4, Dalat,
Lam Dong Province
Tel: (063) 3800-999
www.binhanvillage.com
Binh An Village Resort is offering a ‘Summer Package 2015’ for those who book at least two nights. It costs VND2,519,000 per room per night in a Suite Room for two with breakfast, lunch or dinner, shuttle bus to Dalat centre, biking, fishing and kayaking on the Tuyen Lam lake. The promotion is valid till 30 September.

Dalat Edensee Resort
Tuyen Lam Lake, Zone VII.2,
Dalat, Lam Dong Province
Tel: (063) 3831-515
www.dalatedensee.com

DalatEdensee Resort has a ‘Summer Revival Package’ till 31 October. It costs VND5,880,000 per room for two nights for two in a Mimosa Superior Room with breakfast, a dinner, two vouchers for a 60-minute treatment at La Roseraie Spa, sports and entertainment activities, round-trip airport transfers and a shuttle bus to Dalat City. An extra night is VND2,100,000 per room. The prices include service charge and VAT.

Six Senses Con Dao
Dat Doc Site, Con Dao Dist,
Ba Ria Vung Tau Province
Tel: (064) 3831-222
www.sixsenses.com/resorts/con-dao/
destination
Six Senses Con Dao is offering a special promotion with the price starting from VND7,500,000 per villa per night including breakfast, roundtrip airport transfers, free access to the children’s club and activity program. The offer is applied for Vietnamese residents and expatriates. It is valid till 31 October.

InterContinental Asiana Saigon
Corner Hai Trung St & Le Duan Blvd,
Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3520-9999
www.intercontinental.com/Saigon
Spa InterContinental, at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon, has a 90-minute spa package ‘Cooling Treatment’ at VND1,420,000 , including cucumber body wrapping, a choice of an aroma therapy massage for body or Essential Mineral and Vitamin remedy to nourish the face.

Mango Bay Resort
Ong Lang beach, Phu Quoc Island
Tel: (077) 3981-693
www.mangobayphuquoc.com
Mango Bay Resort has a package ‘Stay 3 Pay 2’ till 31 October. The prices start from VND1,320,000 ($60) per room per night for two with breakfast and round-trip airport transfers.

OTHERS
Vietjet

17 June, 2015, at The Paris Air Show 2015, Vietjet President & CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and President and CEO of Airbus Fabrice Brégier both signed the contract to purchase six more A321 jets worth a total of $682 million for responding to the airline’s rapid growth. Airbus’ A320 and A321 have become the world’s best-selling and most modern single-aisle products.

FOOD PROMOTIONS
Hanoi Daewoo Hotel
360 Kim Ma St, Hanoi
Tel: (04) 3831-5000
www.daewoohotel.com
Edo Restaurant, at the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel, serves Unagi (eel) dishes including Unagi Kamameshi, Unagi Kabayaki - grilled eel in Teriyaki from VND150,000 to VND1,200000 . Unagi Special Set Menu is at VND1,200,000 including a carafe of Japanese Sake imported from Japan.

Movenpick Hotel Hanoi
83A Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hanoi
Tel: (04) 3822-2800
Lounge 83, at the Movenpick Hotel Hanoi, serves an eclectic selection of cocktails and snack menu every Friday, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. VND 180,000 including free flow of house wine, beer and soft drinks.

Novotel Ha Long Bay
160 Halong Road,
Bai Chay Ward,
Halong, Quang Ninh Province
Tel: (033) 3848-108
Square Restaurant at the Novotel Ha Long Bay is serving ‘Taste of Asia Buffet’ with over 70 dishes every Saturday, 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. VND525,000 for adults and VND262,500 for children. Accor Plus members will get a 10 per cent discount on the price.
Novotel Danang Premier Han River
36 Bach Dang St, Hai Chau Dist., Danang
Tel: (0511) 3929-999
www.novotel-danang-premier.com
Pier 36 Terrace Restaurant, at the Novotel Danang Premier Han River, serves BBQ buffet every Saturday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a selection of grilled meat and seafood. It costs VND560,000 .

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa
Truong Sa Street,
Hoa Hai Ward,
Ngu Hanh Son Dist, Danang
Tel: (0511) 3981-234
www.danang.regency.hyatt.com
Korean guest chefs from Grand Hyatt Incheon will cook at Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa till 19 July. Chef Kim and Chef Um will prepare Korean dishes, including Haemul jab chae, tofu kimchi and Bulgogi. VND720,000 including two bottles of Bière Larue.

Palm Garden Beach Resort & Spa
Lac Long Quan St, Cua Dai Beach,
Hoi An, Quang Nam Province
Tel: (0510) 3927-927
www.palmgardenresort.com.vn
Palm Garden Beach Resort & Spa Hoi An is serving Quang Nam-style meals in Central Vietnam prepared by local chefs including boiled pork rolls in rice papers, fried Quang Nam spring rolls, Quang noodle, fish soup with star fruit, fish cooked with soy sauce. The price is VND300,000 per person.

Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa
26-28 Tran Phu St, Nha Trang,
Khanh Hoa Province
Tel: (058) 3880-000
www.sheratonnhatrang.com
Feast Restaurant, at the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa, has ‘Spice Market Buffet’ every Saturday. The buffet features Indian, Thai, Middle East, western and international cuisines. VND639,000 including free flow beers and soft drinks.

Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon
253 Nguyen Van Troi St,
Phu Nhuan Dist., Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3844-9222
www.eastingrandsaigon.com

Eastin Grand Hotel Saigon has ‘Saigon’s Best Dining Offer’ – ‘4 dine pay 2, 8 dine pay 4 and 12 dine pay 6’, till the end of August, for those who eat Thai-style buffet at Café Saigon, ‘All you can eat’ Dim Sum at Lotus Court Restaurant and ‘All you can eat’ sushi, sashimi at IKI Restaurant.
Café Saigon:
Lunch, Monday – Friday, VND399,000
Dinner, Friday – Sunday, VND799,000
Children below 16 enjoy half price
Lotus Court and IKI Restaurant:
Lunch and dinner, Monday to Sunday,
adults: VND399,000 . Children below 16 enjoy half price

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers
88 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, HCMC
Tel: (08) 3827-2828
www.sheratonsaigon.com
Saigon Café, at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, serves a selection of hot pot every Friday night, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., in July. Guests can enjoy various kinds of broth including spicy tom yam goong, shabushabu ‘Japanese kale’ stock, double boiled vegetable broth and rich chicken broth with truffle oil served with thin sliced US beef strip loin, chicken thin sliced, beef and pork balls, octopus, salmon, alive scampi, alive flower crabs and king crab legs. There are also wide choices of noodle such as fresh rice vermicelli, egg noodle, rice vermicelli, glass noodle and udon served with different kinds of vegetable and mushroom. VND 1,100,000 including free flowing sparkling wine, house wine, coffee and tea

Tandoor Indian Restaurant
39A - 39B Ngo Duc Ke St,
Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3930-4839
www.tandoorvietnam.com

TandoorIndian Restaurant, established since 1997, has moved to a new location on Ngo Duc Ke St., Dist.1, Ho Chi Minh City. This new location, which is just off Nguyen Hue Street, has a large dining area. Its architecture is plush and chic, giving a warm Indian dining experience.

Rates may be subject to 5-per-cent service charge and 10-per-cent VAT if there is no statement to the contrary.

The house of ‘Chu Hoa’ became the city art museum

-- At the Ho Chi Minh Fine Art Museum, my friend bombarded the iron fence with camera shots. He said, ‘Only the iron fences of some big villas built during the French colonial period can compare with this.’ He pointed to lithe designs and sturdy and artfully welded knots, which, he said, had not changed since 1925 [when the house was built]. Detail of the front gate The letters H, B, H were interlaced and set in an oval, as the symbol of the building and its original owner, Mr Hua Bon Hoa, who was called ‘Chu Hoa’. He began as a poor seller of thrown-away bottles and eventually built such landmarks as the Hotel Majestic, Tu Du Hospital, Emergency Centre of Saigon, Town Hall and Ky Vien Temple, as well as apartment buildings for rent all over Saigon. When we visited recently, a hall displayed paintings and statues of different styles and schools. An exhibition of mainly cubists was on its way. On either side of the hall, along corridors and on the second and third floors were exhibits by theme and era. There were ancient objects from the south, including Buddhist statues, and religious objects of terracotta and bronze. Then, much more recent mother-of-pearl-inlaid wooden objects, lacquered wooden objects and painted enamels. Vernacular works of highland ethnic peoples had their own hall and included funerary statues, farming and household implements and musical instruments, including gongs. The lift well and staircase and a walkway between exhibitions Off the main rooms on the second and third floors were oil paintings, lacquer pictures, silk pictures and watercolours from a period following 1925, when the Indochinese College of Arts was founded in Hanoi and Vietnamese modern art began. In the South, from the beginning of the 20th century, the French were interested in training in manufacture and decoration, including woodwork, bronze-casting, stone-engraving, pottery, rattanwork and bamboowork. They founded the Thu Dau Mot Art School in 1901 and the Professional School of Bien Hoa in 1903. The latter was upgraded to the School of Indigenous Arts of Bien Hoa in 1913. In 1922 came the School of Drawing and in 1940 the School of Applied Arts of Gia Dinh, in present-day Ho Chi Minh City. Pottery, sculpture, paintings, bronze-casting and handicraft from Saigon and neighbouring provinces were shown at the latter school. In the next gallery were statues in sandstone and wood from the Oc Eo culture. In a wooden Sakyamuni Buddha from the 5th century, myriad weathered furrows followed the grain. The statue was excavated from silty soil in the southwest. A wedding shoot in a cloister The back gate, opened to Le thi Hong Gam Street. It was documented that the land consisted of three blocks and a surrounding large park and was nearly 9,500 sq. m. The building itself Fine Art Museum, with the address 97 Pho Duc Chinh Street, was one of the three blocks and had an area of 3,716 sq. m. The basement had private art galleries. All windows had three horizontally swinging sashes, the inner glass with flower designs, middle wooden louvres and outer iron. My friend turned the cast-iron handle of a glass window with flower designs, making iron rods enter holes top and bottom of the frame. The ventilation provided by the sophisticated windows was supplemented with numerous vents with iron bars. Air-conditioning was avoided. The outside I said, ‘This building was built in the Baroque style – the architectural school of Europe in the 16th century that inclined to decoration and curvature.’ My friend said it was only ‘the air of the Baroque’. Temples, pagodas and traditional royal palaces, had also [possibly autonomously] reflected the importance of curvature and used roof-top statues and reliefs with flowers and leaves, dragons, unicorns, tortoises and phoenixes, inlaid and employing porcelain. Perhaps the palaces, temples and pagodas, as well as the royal tombs in the old capital, Hue, could be called the ‘Viet-Baroque’, part-Baroque, part-Renaissance and part-Asian. The more I looked at details, the more I thought the building represented the original owner, an Asian. The roof had tiles with indigo edges and was decorated with yellowish brown tree branches, leaves and gourds. From the iron entrance gate, the stairs to the front door were an imposing block, balanced and charming, rare in the city. The roof of the stairs was supported by Roman pillars with an Asian indigo glaze. At the foot of the stairs was a semicircular aquarium on geomantic principles.

Text: Pho Dao; Photo: Ba Han

The lonely sands

No 3, Vol.8 ,July – August 2015 Once, during our visit to Mui Ne of Phan Thiet City, a local friend told us, ‘If you want to sleep in a desert, you can go to Hoa Thang Commune, about 30 kilometres from here. They have a few very cheap inns near the White Sand Hill tourist area.’ We departed at once, anticipating a story worthy of Scheherazade’s Arabian Nights. Leaving Mui Ne, our road was lined with the vast blue sea on the right and endless heaves of sand dunes on the left. Occasional gusts of wind from the sea stirred up whirls of sand. We came to a small fishing village, but saw no inn at all. The road looked like a grey trike of brush over a pale pink sand canvas. Red sunset added a touch of myth and loneliness to the whole picture. Some chopped trees on the way to Bau Trang The view was panoramic, like in a Western cowboy movie. Finally, we found a ‘room for rent’ sign. The host, a grocer named Chau said, ‘This is Hong Lam village of Hoa Thang Commune, Bac Binh District, Binh Thuan Province. A double room here costs VND120,000/night. The 60-year-old man told us, ‘I lived my whole life here. This place used to be completely desolate. Since this road was asphalted and the tourist area nearby was opened, people began to come this way. I built these six rooms for hire five years ago. From time to time, I have a Vietnamese guest. Foreigners are very rare, all seem cautious, some even scared. Perhaps being in a desolate place abroad is quite uncomfortable, but the reality is that the folks here are absolutely harmless.’ White Sand Hill. Photo: Dang Khoa 8 p.m. We took a walk outside. It was pitch dark. ‘It’s so quite. So great! Truly an oasis in a desert,’ my companion exclaimed. In the morning, we went to the only place in the village that served breakfast, just a few houses down the road. The fish noodles were exactly like those made in an oasis. Surprisingly, it cost only VND10,000. We approached old people we found here and there to learn more about Hong Lam village. It had about 500 households that dwell on the south of the fresh water White Lake, which is 150 m wide and about 2 km long. The villagers earn mostly by planting lotus, beans, and rice and fruit trees. The lush green around the lake was so bright on the dry, sandy background. An old man told us that Bau Trang (White Lake) was about 20m deep in the rainy season. A long time ago, it was divided into two; the bigger half was named the Grandma Lake, and the smaller, the Grandpa Lake. In summer, it’s so beautiful with lotuses that they call it the Lotus Lake. On the dam separating the lakes there is a temple, named the Temple of Hong Lam Lady. The temple keeper, an 81-year-old man named Mr Sau who spent his whole life in the village, told us many tales about the temple. The most interesting was as follows: ‘Over 200 years ago, there was a princess named Lu Phung Cong, beautiful as a fairy, who possessed the power of commanding heaven’s forces. Once, as she and her entourage journeyed past Hong Lam, a big storm raised a cloud of sand and hid the sun. To protect the village and her followers, she used her power to quiet the storm. After she died, the villagers deified her and built the temple to worship her. The temple was almost in ruins, but the worship never ceased. In 2010, people contributed to rebuild it.’ Water lily bloomed on Bau Trang At 11 a.m., the innkeeper served our ordered lunch, which included rice, fish-and-sour soup, at VND25,000 per ration. Filled, we took a siesta. Outside, Hong Lam was baked in a gigantic sand oven. Learning that we would go see the White Sand Hill in the afternoon before leaving, Mr Chau said, ‘Nobody can bear the heat of the hill in the afternoon. It’s best to go there at sunrise, when it’s beautiful and cool. People come here from far away only to see the sunrise.’ At 4.30 a.m., we rode about two kilometres to the White Sand Hill, a 100 ha desert within the desert, also called the White Lake Hill because it was on a bank of the other White Lake. On the lake bank, there were three food shops that also lent off-road vehicles and boats. A boat on Bau Trang There were hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists. The moment the rim of the sun came over the horizon behind the sea, all eyes and cameras turned eastward. Seen from a high dune top, the White Sand Hill stood out amongst colourful surroundings; blue sea in the east, peaceful Hong Lam village in the south-south west, reflected in the dark blue water of the lake, and pale pink sand dunes spotted with dwarfish dry bushes in the north. Some people hired cars and off-road vehicles to roar up the dunes; some others hired little boards to slide down 20 metres high dunes. Only then I understood why the White Lake was not only a tourist attraction, but also a source of inspiration for artists and photographers.n In Phan Thiet City many hotels, inns and cafés have motorbikes for rent at VND150,000 -VND180,000/day. Many hotels in Mui Ne have Jeep transport service to White Sand Hills at VND400,000/Jeep (3-4 persons). At White Lake the off-road vehicle rent is VND450,000/30 minutes.

Text by Dang Khoa; photos by Nguyen Dinh Thanh

Faces of Vietnam

No 3, Vol.8 ,July – August 2015 A woman wearing heavy clothing to protect herself from the hot sun, carries buckets of salt mined from salt-water ponds north of Nha Trang. 40 years after the conclusion of the Vietnam War, a book titled: Vietnam, 40 Years Later by Robert Dodge, a photographer and former reporter now living in Washington, DC, has been released. The book conveys much meaning about the land and people of Vietnam. What led him to dedicate so much effort to making the book was that the war was fought against a backdrop of fierce, contentious disputes in America. Periodicals, radio broadcasts, and television were inundated with news about the war, bringing it right into the living rooms of each household every day. That is also the very reason that, since his youth, Robert was interested in Vietnam and took up journalism. Robert Dodge, the photographer and author of Vietnam 40 Years Later, sits with a group of school children in Yen Bai Province. Photo: Ly Hoang Long The cover of the book is an image of a middle-aged Northern woman sitting and selling bread on the roadside. Robert selected the photograph because he felt it spoke a great deal about Vietnam’s history. She wears a traditional conical hat, but dons a Western jacket. Her feet are clad in sandals and her shoulders bear a purse, also of Western make. Although she has already aged to maturity, the woman strove to reach out to the world beyond in order to connect with the global economy. The baguette loaves bring to mind the French colonialization. Behind her are youths speeding by on motorcycles. In Robert’s eyes, Vietnam remains a country that lies deep in Asian antiquity, a feeling which is profoundly felt once one leaves the big cities and goes out to the fields, where the people still labour arduously to produce agricultural products. But in other respects, Vietnam is also a country that is reaching out to the wider world. People can clearly recognize this everyday in Vietnam’s large cities. Robert shared, ‘Vietnam today is a country of two faces that’s at once primitive, ancient, and somewhat reticent, but also a country that is open-minded and strong, reaching out to receive new things from the world. Vietnam is an amazingly beautiful country, from her mountain and forest landscapes in the northern highlands to the beaches that run along the seacoast. I find Vietnamese people very amicable and open-minded. In the capacity of a photographer, I am extremely fascinated by every place I pass through and I always come across people who are willing to let me take pictures of them. That doesn’t happen in America or Europe, where people display more suspicion and often avoid photographers.’ A string of billboards line the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City awaiting commercial advertisers Robert related that, when he came to Vietnam for the first time, he brought a digital camera with him. When he arrived in Hanoi, as he waited for a train to go to Sapa (in Lao Cai Province), he wandered around the city to take photographs. Looking at the colours that revealed themselves through his camera, he told himself that it wouldn’t do to just take black-and-white photographs, since Vietnam is so full of colour. Most of the photographs Robert took on that first journey were of landscapes. Afterwards, Robert felt that he needed to take more photographs and started to take photos of people. To Robert, the most fascinating thing was to explore the lives of the Vietnamese people. From trades and customs to the culture of the country and the people of Vietnam - Robert captured them all through his lens.n For more information about the book please see www.vietnam40yearslater.com

Text by Nguyen Quoc and photos by Robert Dodge