Costumes of Mong women

There are a number of Mong ethnic groups, White Mong, Black Mong, Flowery Mong, and Green Mong, living in Vietnam’s northwestern mountain provinces. Their costumes are colorful. The women make the clothes for all the family members. Although they are starting to modern social values, Mong people still wear their traditional colorful costumes, which are now made of more modern materials. 

The Mong women wear colorful costumes. A women’s suit includes a skirt, shirt, belt, headscarf, and a pair of leggings. The upper part of the skirt hugs the hips while the lower part spreads out in wide pleats. The shirt is fastened on the left front by a single button. The sleeves, collar, and edges are embroidered. Mong women’s costumes stand out colorfully against the green forests and grey mountains.

Mua A Tru, a Flowery Mong man who lives in Son La says he has watched his mother and sisters make clothes since he was small and now watches his wife. Tru says every single item is unique. “It takes a long time to make a garment. There are many decoration patterns and my mother and sisters have told me about them since I was small. Clever girls attract many suitors. At festivals, it’s fun to watch Mong people in colorful embroidered clothes throwing a Pao ball. In the spring, flowers blossom and Mong girls wear colorful embroidered dresses to match the atmosphere.” 

The skirts of the Flower Mong women are for sale at Bac Ha Market (Lao Cai Province)

The Mong people decorate their clothes with colored pieces of cloth. They embroider geometric patterns such as diamonds, crosses, triangles, squares, curves, and spirals. The Mong people say these patterns represent the sun, the moon, the weather, time, and space. The main colors are red, green, and yellow. Tru again: “Making skirts is one of our customs. We use many colors of thread to embroider things we like. The design is in our heads. We use many embroidery patterns on one skirt. Mong people like red, green, and yellow which represent flowers and leaves.” 

Flower Mong girls in their linen skirts on festival days

A Green Mong girl is making her skirt

The Mong women spend their leisure time making skirts. Their rough hands are clever and quick in needle-work. Without any fixed design, they create harmonious embroidery patterns from their imagination. Hang Thi Nghenh, a Flowery Mong living in Son La province, says they are free to embroider any shapes or patterns they enjoy. “We teach our older daughters needle-work, progressing from simple to more sophisticated techniques. Once we could only make 1 or 2 skirts a year. Now we use sewing machines and can complete a skirt in a month.”

The skirt she wears characterizes a Mong girl, Nghenh told us: “Our skirt expresses our patience or liveliness. A wife or mother shows her positive attitude in the skirts she makes. At a wedding or funeral, we are criticized if we wear too simple a dress. We’ll be praised as resourceful and dexterous women if we wear nice skirts.”

Tru talks about the custom of wearing leggings: “Mong people often go to the forest and we have to wear leggings to protect against insect bites or sharp brush scratching our legs. The leggings also protect our skin against cold and sunburn.”

Despite their evolving lifestyle, young and old Mong people still wear their traditional hand-made clothes for daily work as well as festivals.

Pao ball

Lan Anh - VOVworld

Read More

9 Awesome Things To Do on Country Borders

From playing volleyball between countries to ringing a doorbell in one country and running to the other, check out list of nine fun things to do at a country's border that don't involve high security measures and endless paperwork. 

1. Play volleyball at the U.S./Mexico border

The U.S. is on the left, Mexico on the right. Taken on April 14, 2007.

Residents of Naco, Arizona join residents of Naco, Mexico for a volleyball match every year during the fourth "Fiesta Bi-Nacional" at the fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico. 

The two communities used to be one with people passing freely across the road, but that all changed years ago when a 13-foot-high border fence formally split Naco's US and Mexican sides. (Source)

2. Ride snowmobiles between Norway, where it's illegal, and Sweden, where it's not

Riding Snowmobiles for fun is illegal to the right, legal to the left.

A spectacular snowy route marks the border between Sweden and Norway, and is a perfect challenge for adventure-loving snowmobilers. To one side is Norway, where riding a snowmobile for fun is illegal, while to the other side is Sweden, where it is allowed. (Source)

3. Switch from a left-Hand road to a right-hand road at a bridge between Macau and China

What happens when left-hand roads meet right-hand roads? Like Hong Kong, Macau still drives on the left under Chinese rule, which means travelers between Macau and other parts of China must switch sides of the road without even leaving the country. At the Lotus Bridge between Macau and Hengqin Island (Mainland China), cars on the Chinese side loop under the bridge on a weirdly asymmetric partial cloverleaf in order to switch lanes. (Source)

4. Play golf on the border of Sweden and Finland, where half the holes are in one country and half in the other

The Green Zone Or Tornio Golf Club is a unique golf course with 9 holes in one country (Finland), and the remaining 9 in another (Sweden). The border follows the Tornio River, which runs through the course. Due to its location, it is possible to play golf at any time of the day or night in full sunshine during golfing season. If that isn't a unique golfing experience, I don't know what is. (Source)

5. Hit a home run over the U.S. border to Canada or Mexico

Craig Robinson – author of the popular blog "Flip Flop Fly Ball" and a book of baseball infographics – found all the baseball fields in Canada and Mexico where one could conceivably hit a home run into the United States, or vice-versa.

From Canada into the U.S. you have two places to do it, one from the U.S. into Mexico and six from Mexico into the U.S. (Source)

6. See three Countries in one boat trip, and visit the Iguazu Falls

A two-hour tour navigates the Iguazu River on a boat around the Three Borders Landmark where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. On your way back, you can catch another boat trip that goes right under the Iguazu Falls, one of the world's largest. (Source | Photo)

7. Catch two dinosaurs kissing at the border of China and Mongolia

In the far north of China, on the border with Mongolia, you'll find the statues of two towering brontosauruses on either side of the main highway, with their long necks stretching until their mouths meet as if to share a kiss.

Called "The Dinosaur City," nearby Erenhot was once the home of dinosaurs. Many fossils have been discovered in the area, including the biggest and best-preserved dinosaur fossil in Asia. Besides the scenic boulevard, the city also has a dinosaur museum and a theme park called “Dinosaur Fairyland." The arch of the kissing dinosaurs was built in 2007 to showcase the region's reputation as a fossil hot-spot. (Source)

8. Draw a crop circle at the border between Poland and Ukraine

It's not like anyone can do it, but artist Jaroslaw Koziara grew this gigantic "crop circle" fish in a field between Horodyszcze (Poland) and Warez (Ukraine) for the Land Art Festival of 2011. He wanted to symbolize the history of unity and trade along the border between the two nations, showing that nature and culture exist beyond the geopolitical borders laid down by humans. The artist grew the installation by sowing 23 kinds of plants along the border in the shape of two fish. (Source)

9. Ring two different doorbells of a house on the border of Belgium and The Netherlands

There's a house on the border of the Belgian town of Baarle-Nassau and the Dutch town of Baarle-Hertog. It has two addresses and two doorbells. Let the 5-year-old in you ring them both, then run away to either country. (Source)

10. BONUS #1: Place a foot in each hemisphere of the equator

Granted, it's not a country border, but it's still worth mentioning. 

Although the equator runs through hundreds of places, one country that takes particular pride in its unique geographical location is Ecuador. There's a monument in a park named "Mitad del Mundo" or "Middle of the World" with a thick yellow line that supposedly marks the precise position of the equator.

It should be pointed out, however, that the actual equator lies about 240 meters to the north of the indicated line. The land where the Equator actually runs is traversed by a ravine and its ground was not suitable to hold a monument, so the government chose a different location. (Just don't tell the half million tourists that.) 

11. BONUS #2: Dive into the tectonic boundary between North America and Eurasia near Iceland

In 2011, Alex Mustard dived 80ft into the crevice between the North American and Eurasian plates near Iceland to capture some spectacular photos. The area is riddled with faults, valleys, volcanoes and hot springs, which are caused by the plates pulling apart at about one inch per year.

It should be pointed out, however, that tectonics are more of a zonal thing. You can't necessarily say that the rocks on the left belong to the North American plate, while the rocks on the right belong to the Eurasian plate. The geologic processes that are occurring in the area are creating these valleys and canyons, but it is more of a fuzzy divide instead of a sharp, clear one that the pictures make it out to be. (Source)

By Oddee

Read More

Vietnam’s Ho Coc honored as cheap paradise on earth

Thrillist website has listed Ho Coc Beach in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, southern Vietnam, among the top 12 most unbelievably cheap paradises on earth.

Ho Coc, Vung Tau

Ranked in 8th place, the area is a very small beach community with tight-knit locals.

“You could guide tours through its 11,000-hectare tropical forest or go snorkeling in its tropical reefs or just enjoy being on a beach that's nearly deserted on weekdays and pay rent that's US$6 a day,” says the magazine.

Thrillist also suggested that tourists should check out the Binh Chau Hot Springs, where several lakes and a mineral-rich aquifer converge into a swim treat that stays near 80 degrees year round.

Rounding the list of top 12 include Avarua of Cook Islands, Český Krumlov of the Czech Republic, Koh Tonsay of Cambodia, Guanajuato of Mexico, Pearl Islands of Panama, Agonda Beach in Goa of India, Veliko Tarnovo of Bulgaria, Hainan Island of China, Ksamil Beach of Albania, Iquitos of Peru, and Las Trancas of Chile.

Long Beach on Phu Quoc Island is also in the list of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world, ranked sixth out of 13 beaches.

According to the description of Thrillist, this is an unpolished and undeveloped beach. “This beach falls into the 1970s amateur category, but there's still a surprisingly large audience for that. If your fetish is white-sand beach surrounded by a full jungle, this is your jam,” it wrote.

The site suggested tourists try backroads for motorbiking, kayaking and beachside massage.

Pha Le - VietNamNet Bridge 

Let's discover  Vietnam with us!

Read More

A sophisticated cuisine, simply served

Reasonable prices, tasty dishes, good service and a prime location accounts for the rapid rise in popularity of the newly opened Bun Bo Ganh restaurant in HCM City list, reports Xuan Hiep

The former royal city of Hue in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue is noted for its rich cultural traditions, serene landscape and charming people, but few people outside Viet Nam are aware of its distinctive cuisine, considered by some to be one of the most sophisticated in the country.

Bun bo Hue (beef-rice vermicelli soup Hue style) is undoubtedly the most well-known local product and is served not only in the central region but also in every corner of the country. But, many other Hue dishes, like banh beo chen (steamed rice cakes in small cups) and banh bot loc nhan tom thit (shrimp and pork rice dumplings), are also regularly featured on menus that specialise in the city's highly respected cuisine.

Opened only a few weeks ago, the Bun Bo Ganh restaurant in downtown HCM City has already lured a regular clientele, especially from 11:30am to 1:30pm when staff from office buildings nearby come for lunch.

Generous serving: A server prepares a hot bowl of bun bo Hue, a specialty of Hue and the main dish of the restaurant

Located on a prime location on Ho Tung Mau Street in District 1, only a few minutes walk from the 68-storey Bitexco Financial Tower, the city's tallest building, the two-storey restaurant is easy to find.

When my friend and I entered the restaurant last week, we discovered an old French colonial building that had once housed nearly 50 families.

The ground floor had been partitioned into three spaces, one of which housed the restaurant's downstairs area. Upstairs, where we decided to dine, was an airy, large al fresco area covering the entire first floor, surrounded by leafy trees and potted plants.

On the walls were photos of Sai Gon and Hue in the old days, inspiring diners, both local and foreign, to learn more about the country's history and people.

The dark bamboo tables and chairs were simply designed, which added to the cosy, comfortable atmosphere.

Nguyen Vu Quynh Anh, 29, the restaurant's owner, told me that she and her husband have a great passion for food and hospitality.

From 2002 to 2006, when they were students, they worked at the famous Nha Hang Ngon (Delicious Restaurant) and learned a great deal about gastronomy and customer services.

Then in 2012, they opened their first restaurant on Ly Chinh Thang Street in District 3.

Accompaniments: Bun bo Hue is served with sides like bean sprouts, shredded banana flowers, chilli, limes and basil leaves. — VNS Photos Xuan Hiep

Anh, who is also the chef, said that bun bo Hue is the restaurant's main dish. Though famous as a specialty of Hue, it is popular throughout the country.

"Of course, we need to adjust the taste so that it can satisfy the taste of people in the south and north," Anh said.

Ingredients for the dish are imported from the central region to ensure authenticity.

Unlike the traditional and more famous pho soup from Ha Noi, bun bo Hue is more pungent, with lemongrass and a bit of shrimp paste.

My foreign friends, especially Westerners, dislike the smell of shrimp paste, but only a tiny amount of shrimp paste is needed to enhance the dish.

The Hue style beef vermicelli soup is served with sides like bean sprouts, shredded banana flower, chilli, line and basil.

To make the broth, cooks use pork or beef, and lemongrass is crushed and put into boiling water, which enhances the flavour and aroma.

The menu, in Vietnamese and English, includes a variety of Hue traditional cakes, each of which costs VND22,000 (US$1). To sample a variety of these small dishes, I recommend a mixed plate for only VND36,000 ($1.5).

The restaurant also offers sweet Hue soups, served either hot or cold, for only VND13,000.

For our lunch, we ordered a bowl of bun bo Hue for VND39,000 and che suong sa hat luu (agar-agar with pomegranate seeds) for VND13,000 each.

There were other sweet soups we would have loved to try, but because we were already full, we decided to save it for our next visit.

Instead, we ended on a refreshing note, with iced green tea, spiced with fresh ginger.

A staff of 15, many of whom can speak English, offered excellent customer service, which nicely complemented what was an already highly satisfying afternoon. 

Bun Bo Ganh Restaurant

Add: 88 Ho Tung Mau, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCM City

Tel: 08 - 66844446

Opening hours: 6:30am-10pm

Price range: VND22,000 - 39,000 (US$1-2)

Comment: tasty Hue cuisine in an old French colonial building in downtown HCM City. Attentive staff, affordable prices.

Source: VNS

Read More

Hai Au Aviation offers promotional fares

The Hai Au Aviation Joint Stock Company (JSC) has launched a special promotion offering ‘zero fare’ airfares, as part of activities to welcome the Lunar New Year and on the occasion of the Ho Chi Minh City – Phan Thiet route is being opened. 

The special promotion is offering passengers, who book return tickets on the Ho Chi Minh City – Phan Thiet seaplane tour departing in February, 2015, a standard one-way ticket with a ‘zero fare’ return ticket.

One-way trips from Phan Thiet to Ho Chi Minh during Tet holiday are also offered at 20% discount.

Passengers should contact the hotline 0962 069 689 or email rsvn.hcm@haiauaviation.com to reserve limited seats.

Additionally, the Hai Au Aviation JSC has co-ordinated with Victoria Phan Thiet Resort & Spa to provide all-inclusive deluxe fly-and-stay packages to discerning holidaymakers including couples, family and golfers.

The passengers will enjoy a three-day Beachside Getaway Package at Victoria Phan Thiet Resort & Spa for only VND 11 million per person until 30 June 2015 (subject to availability). For enquires and reservations, call hotline 0962 069 689 or email rsvn.hcm@haiauaviation.com.

Hai Au Aviation offers the first ever seaplane adventures in Viet Nam and Indochina, with the intention of offering the thrill of flying from low altitude, showcasing the beauty of the region from a bird’s eye view, whisking guests to exotic destinations in the blink of an eye.

Hanoi very difference and beauty - see from airplane Hai Au

Hai Au Aviation offers daily scheduled seaplane adventures to Ha Noi – Ha Long Bay and HCMC – Phan Thiet. Both routes include scenic sights of the spectacular natural beauty of Halong Bay and Mui Ne, as well as the exhilaration of landing on water.

Source: Nhandan

Read More