Third Ben Tre Coconut Festival to be held in April
The third Ben Tre Coconut Festival, themed “Ben Tre on the way of integration and development” will be held from April 4th to 9th, 2012.
The festival aims to offer opportunities for the southern province of Ben Tre and other coconut growing provinces to promote their trademark, introduce products and gradually improve coconut processing capacity.
The event is expected to attract over 200 businesses, with more than 500 kiosks displaying coconut products.
There will be various programs during the third Ben Tre Coconut Festival, including an exhibition of coconut products with the participation of provinces developing the coconut industry and foreign companies in the Asia Pacific region, a street carnival and a workshop themed “enhancing the value chain of coconut.” Moreover, the festival will highlight tourism activities and tours to coconut gardens, the 10th Beauty Contest of the Land of Coconuts, a southern food festival and a week of culture and entertainment activities.
Ben Tre’s coconut products have been exported to more than 50 countries and territories, contributing 25 percent to total provincial industrial production value. Currently, the coconut industry plays a significant role in provincial socio-economic development.
(Source: CPV)
Australia helps protect Ba Be National Park
The Australian Embassy in Hanoi has provided VND205 million (around AUD10,000) for a waste management project to support environmental conservation and eco-tourism development in Ba Be National Park in northern Bac Kan province.
This project is currently managed by the Bac Kan Pro-Poor Partnership for Agro-forestry Development (3PAD).
Ba Be National Park, situated in Bac Kan Province, is an area of national significance in terms of both forest and biodiversity protection. The Park’s forests are an important source of income for local ethnic minority groups. Three ethnic Tay villages – Coc Toc, Bo Lu and Pac Ngoi of Nam Mau commune – have been chosen for the project due to the high rate of household poverty (52 percent); high dependency on forest resources; and potential for forestry, livestock and ecotourism development.
The project will be administered through local schools and will mainly be run by women and children. It will provide infrastructure needed to establish the safe collection and sale or disposal of waste in Ba Be District. Recyclable waste will become a source of income for the people involved. An environmental education campaign will also be organized to increase understanding of the negative impacts of litter on the environment and on eco-tourism opportunities.
Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Allaster Cox, said, “marginalized women will have access to income-generating opportunities through the sale of recyclable waste and will receive training in relevant small-business skills. This makes it easy to encourage more people to join such a project as while helping protect the environment, they are helping themselves with more income.”
“This project also helps promote ‘Clean Up the World’ concepts in Vietnam’s famous and beautiful Ba Be National Park,” he added.
Hoang Van Giap, Director of 3PAD Project Management, appreciated the great support from the Australian Embassy, saying this model will be documented to enable expansion of the project to other villages and areas of the Park and Bac Kan province.
A lack of environmental awareness (on the part of visitors and locals) and inadequate waste management processes and infrastructure have meant that litter has posed a significant threat to the Park environment, the natural beauty of the area and the further development of eco-tourism opportunities.
Ba Be National Park has been recognized as a Natural Preserve Zone since 1977 and is listed as one of twelve priority sites for biodiversity conservation in Vietnam. The park covers an area of 7611 hectares, and includes the largest natural lake in Vietnam. A network of rivers and streams connect the lake to evergreen forests that cover adjacent ranges of limestone mountains.
(Source: VOV)
Bien Ho – precious pearl of Central Highland
In the middle of the immense Central Highland, where there is full of red basalt soil, Bien Ho (Ocean Lake) is just like a transparent sapphire that brings cool fresh air for the sunny mountain city.
From Pleiku city, go along highway 14 toward Kon Tum county town for a few kilometers, a mountain covered with fog will appear.
Out of the highway, go over some canyons, there will be a beautiful road with bitumen. The scene around is so impressive that can even help travelers to wear away all tiredness and be more eager to reach Bien Ho.
When the road becomes more sloping, it is suddenly stopped by a three steps staircase that leads to a small watching tower on the top of the hill that juts out into Bien Ho.
From that tower, Bien Ho appears so impressively. All scenes around are just like mixing in a beautiful deep blue color, so peaceful and imposing.
Bien Ho, in fact, is a crater of a large volcano, which has been passive for hundreds of millions of years. It is located in Bien Ho commune, at a distance of about 7 kilometers from Pleiku city (in Gia Lai province).
With an area of 230 hectares, Bien Ho is always full of water all year round. Its surface is placid and its water is very clear.
Bien Ho not only provides water for the whole region but also helps local people with hundreds of tons of fishes each year.
It is such a miracle when this beautiful large lake with over 30 million cubic meters hangs in the middle of Central Highland. Tenderly, Bien Ho nestles against imposing mountains and reflects the cloud shadows.
Opposite to Bien Ho for a few kilometers toward the South is Hàm Rồng (Dragon’s Jaw) mountaintop, which is also a crater of a passive volcano.
In the distance are the hills of red basalt soil that are full of tea and coffee trees, along with immense forests and the Pleiku mountain city.
When the sunset fall downs, the surface of the lake looks like being turned into golden. The scene is more peaceful and dreamlike with the image of birds coming back to their nests.
Bien Ho is most beautiful in the flowering season, when there are various kinds of flower blossom. Chrythansemum flower dyes all forest’s cover with its splendid yellow color.
“Êpang” flower (a typical flower in Central Highland) spreads out its special green from the lake’s surface to the mountain slopes above. The impressive red of rice flower, along with violet flowers covers all the edge of the lake.
Leaving Bien Ho, any travellers would longingly miss its impressive and peaceful beauty. Bien Ho is such a precious gift that the Central Highland has been given.
(Source: SGGP)
Prehistoric remains found in Ba Be Lake
Traces of prehistoric man have been found near Ba Be Lake, in the northern province of Bac Can.
Members of the Vietnam Archaeological Institute and the Bac Can Museum have been excavating the area for possible prehistoric remains since June.
Numerous artefacts, dating from 20,000BC to 10,000BC, have been found in Tham Hau, Tham Coc Nghiu and Tham Mya villages in the Nang River valley.
Trinh Nang Chung, from the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, said Stone Age people inhabited the area for many thousands of years and were responsible for what has become known as the Hoa Binh culture (10,000 BC).
(Source: VNA)
Jetstar to open new route between Singapore and Hanoi
A low-cost flight route between Hanoi and Singapore will blanched by discount airline Jetstar from December 15, 2011 with four flights a week.
Jetstar will also add more flights on the Singapore – Ho Chi Minh City route from August 18, 2011, raising daily flights between the two cites to three, said the carrier.
The increasing flights will speed up air connection frequency of Jetstar from Singapore to Vietnam, supplying more than 468,000 seats on flights between Singapore and HCMC by the end of this year.
Jetstar fares from Hanoi to Singapore will cost more than VND 1.8 million for a one-way flight, including value added tax and additional fees.
(Source: CPV)
Other airlines: Vietnam Airlines, Air Mekong
Developing cultural industries in Vietnam
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) in coordination with the Danish Embassy and the British Council held a seminar in Hanoi on July 13 to devise a development strategy for the cultural industries in Vietnam.
Present at the seminar were representatives from the cultural organizations and arts and communication associations, cultural researchers and businesses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
MCST Deputy Minister Ho Anh Tuan said the seminar helps managers and law makers at both local and central levels to discuss practical and theoretical issues of the cultural industries, especially cinematography, performing arts, fine arts and photography in Vietnam as well as devising measures to support these sectors.
During the two-day seminar, delegates heard reports on the condition of the cinematography, performing arts, fine arts and photography sectors and discussed other issues related to intellectual property rights and the creative industry.
(Source: VOV)
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Pros And Cons Of Wind Driven Turbine Projects
In case you haven’t read about wind energy created via turbines, here is a brief description. A traditional wind turbine is a large tower that has blades hooked up to a rotor. Whenever the wind blows the wind turbine the blades make the rotor whirl and the movement of the rotor makes the generator within the turbine crank out power. The generator is really nothing more than a large motor-like device composed of magnets and copper cables; the blades catch the wind, turn the rotor and generated electricity, pretty simple actually.
There needs to be sufficient wind to rotate the blades for these turbines to generate electricity. Wind speed is much greater higher up in the sky, which is definitely why wind turbines are rather tall, often reaching up to 30 meters in height. The main objective of capturing more of the wind power is to create more electricity by turning the rotor faster and with higher consistency. Of course it’s understandable that without adequate wind, no power will be generated. Just before an installation of turbines is engineered, comprehensive analysis of wind patterns for the planned site is reviewed. Many coastal locations are ideal thanks to steady high winds.
While wind speed is the most vital variable to measure, wind direction may also have an impact on the performance of the installation. However the engineered design is extremely clever. Most modern wind turbines are constructed so that the rotor turns in the direction of the wind, enabling them to snag the wind from any direction. Enough electricity to meet the large needs of an entire household or even a city can be produced from a solitary turbine or more complex wind farms.
Unlike other green energy methods, wind turbines will continue to work 24/7, providing there is wind. Solar panels cannot operate in the dark while wind turbines can. With so much fear about pollution today, turbines are a great solution because they are so clean. This suggests that wind turbines do not contribute towards the effects of global warming because there are no fuels actually burned and no emissions being discharged into the atmosphere. Another advantage is that turbines are harvesting energy from a regularly renewing source. Thus there is always going to be energy generated by the turbines.
Though there are many advantages, there are a few drawbacks to wind power projects. When there’s no wind, backup systems are used to satisfy electrical needs. Another concern is the number of years needed for the installation expenses to be recovered in power savings. Many men and women don’t want to be observing a tall tower with a propeller at the top outside their window. Many governments choose to put wind turbines on coastal areas and out to sea due to the large amounts of wind in these particular areas, but many people complain saying that they tarnish the surroundings. They are also fairly noisy due to the rotor generating sound as it spins round and round.
While wind farms have great potential for humans, they can be dangerous to birds and bats. The reason stated for bats flying into wind turbines is that the movement in the air disrupts their capability to detect obstacles with their internal sonar systems. While these occurrences are rarely reported they do happen.
Despite the cons, however, wind turbines certainly seem to be a great source of energy when deployed in the right areas. Of course there are downsides as there is with anything but with appropriate planning they can be particularly useful and beneficial to us and the environment.
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Visiting New York City
When visiting New York City helpful tips for things like transport, hotels, attractions and sightseeing will be very useful. No doubt everyone will have different needs, but some of these suggestions are pretty basic and useful for all visitors. This would include things like the most famous attractions worth a visit, and how to quickly and easily from one place to another.
Local Transport: Most people take cabs from the airport to their hotel, and many complain about being ripped off. There are so many other options, including the New York Airport Service between Manhattan and JFK and LaGuardia airports. Go Airlink shuttles take passengers from Newark to Midtown hotels.
As for moving around within the city, the best choice is to use the subway or take a bus. The same MTA passes can be used on both, and subway maps are easily available everywhere. Of course, it’s easier if the hotel is close to a subway station, but it’s not essential that it has to be so.
Hotels: Searching for the right hotel out of the tens of thousands available is no easy task, and it depends a lot on what the traveler is looking for. But on a general note, it’s not really required that every tourist has to stay in the middle of Times Square, or in Manhattan. These days, a lot of smart travelers are saving big bucks by finding better hotels on the other side of the Hudson, in New Jersey.
It only takes abut 5 to 10 minutes in a ferry to get from there to the tourist attractions in Manhattan. But the hotel rooms in NJ are much cheaper and a lot bigger too. To be noted that some savvy travelers can also use online booking sites and tools to find decent hotels at shockingly low rates in good locations in Broadway and near Central Park.
Meals: This is also something that depends on individual preferences. The problem is that NYC has such a wide variety of local and ethnic dining options and food outlets. Fast food can be found everywhere, and cheap eats can be had in Chinatown and Brooklyn. The tourist-trap restaurants in places like Times Square should be avoided, but don’t forget to sample the offerings of some of the famed Little Italy Pizzerias.
Attractions & Tours: With so much to see and do, there’s no way to take it all in. The best way to cut through the decision making is to get on a tourist double-decker bus or a sightseeing bus. A Circle Line cruise is a good idea, and so is a free ride on the Staten Island ferry.
The cruise/ferry will include a look-see of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Most people will also want to visit attractions like the Empire State Building, Central Park, MET Museum, Times Square and Broadway. This covers visiting New York City helpful tips in a very basic fashion, and should be adequate for most visitors. It’s a big place with a lot to see and do, so plan for it properly before landing up here.
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Villas And Residences From Sublime Resorts
Sophisticated Resorts latest Villas and places leaflet has just been released, introducing an entire cluster of new villas and, for the very first time, places have also been included – to provision a way broader choice and rather more flexibility. This leaflet offers a good range of properties to suit all – couples, tiny or giant groups, families and even groups who might be celebrating a special day and need their own island complete together with home gymnasium and private theater.
Other facilities that could be enjoyed include : gourmand cooks or cooks on site, servant and girl service, laundress, non-public pools and jacuzzis, designer interiors, in-villa spas, games rooms, tennis courts, totally captained boats with water-sports, motor cruiser and captain, water ski boats, personal automobiles and chauffeurs – the list grows. Villas with home theaters include, Cove Spring House, Villa Maco Lodge, Casa Loniceria, Villa al Boschiglia and Boy Salas. Tranquil gardens, wonderful points of view and sublime beaches complete the nirvana. A selection of cooking fave meals ( or having them prepared for you by a private cook ) is commonly part of a great vacation, and may also be a blessing to families with youngsters – otherwise why don’t you utilize the opportunity to explore local restaurants . The portfolio spans not only the Caribbean : Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia, St Barths, Mustique, Anguilla and the Brit Virgin Islands, but also Orlando and the Gulf Coast of Florida in Northern America, and Europe : Portugal, Mallorca, Italy and Greece.
Styles are also varied – the Tuscan-style Villa al Boschiglia in Italy, shoeless casual in Captiva or Naples in Florida, the standard comfort of Royal Westmoreland in Barbados, the pointed edge latest feel of Cerulean Villa in Anguilla or Kid Salas in Mallorca, a 17th century Mallorquin estate encircled by fifty acres of olive, orange and lemon groves.
Families and more active groups can enjoy the Orlando luxury villas, providing a refined experience, but with all of the attractions of Disney and other theme parks close by – as well as a variety of championship golf courses on the step. Personal Jets can also be simply prepared to make the exceptionally the bulk of time and to make that simply trendy vacation to each unique villa or flat. Exclusive Special Offer Classy Resorts are also offering clients an exclusive special offer at The Old Sugar House in Barbados. Guests who book seven nights will get another 7 nights free from 321;640 per head – save up to 321;435 per head.
Price is set up on 10 adults sharing this 5 bedroom property and includes fourteen nights accommodation and return private vehicle transfers. This offer is valid from one August – fifteen December 2007 & one May – thirty Sep 2008 inclusive.
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The right way to find a Good Inexpensive Hotel
So here’s a guide to assist in finding a neat place cheap, so you do not have to fret about where you may stay.
In my life I have done heaps of traveling, and I have many awful stories about the things which have taken place to me in some of the budget hotels I have stayed in. I can remember after I was ok a ski trip and half of the floor in my room fundamentally dropped about 6 inches. Fortunate for me the room was on the 1st floor. On another trip, the police raided the hotel attempting to find illegal aliens, and there had been noise all through the night. It was possibly quiet the following night, but I didn’t stick around to see. Finding a good cheap hotel should not be a bet. The quickest methodology to discover a good hotel is to go to a place you have been before, but supposing that is not a choice the second best thing is from somebody that has been there.
But what if nobody you know has ever been to where you’ll be? Unless you would like to bet, you can not just make reservations anywhere, if you happen to be looking to speculate on something play blackjack or poker in a casino, but don’t throw the dice with the place you’re going to use as your house base for your holiday. Use the web to look for hotel reviews. There are plenty of Internet sites that have reviews from people who’ve stayed in the hotel. Now one mans hell could be another mans heaven, but at least this way you can see that five folk stayed there and stated that it was fine and two said it was not good maybe these 2 folks were the exception.
Or maybe the two that did not like the hotel were in the city for business in an area well-liked by visitors. This could be an irritating situation when everybody around you is raving and you are endeavoring to sleep, this is among the rationale explaining precisely why no business is done in Daytona Beech during the spring Break.
Talking with a trip booker is always a brilliant way to assure your happiness with your lodgings, helping keep the gambling in the casinos and out of your room. A nice course of action is to be certain to ask masses of question on the telephone with any hostels you are considering staying in.