Category: Travel News

  • Flight Auckland to Vietnam on NZ269

    The plane: The Boeing 767-300 is a trusted Air New Zealand workhorse and this one was slightly older than most I’ve been on recently. That said, everything worked beautifully and it had the feel of a reliable old friend.

    Class: Economy, but being the inaugural flight we were treated as though we were flying Premium Economy -\- lots of champagne and very attentive flight attendants.

    Price: Air New Zealand’s seasonal non-stop service from Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City runs three times a week from June to October. Economy one way starts at $764.

    On time: We left bang on time and despite hitting a spectacular thunderstorm as we approached Vietnam, we still landed right on time after a 12.5-hour trip.

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    Fellow passengers: An excited mix of media, politicians, airline management and lucky, cheap-fare recipients.

    How full: When you’re on the inaugural flight and have only paid $599, you make sure you don’t miss the flight – every seat was full.

    Entertainment: I did my usual trick of spending every minute catching up on movies I’ve missed at the cinema. Watched Mahana (excellent), Spotlight (brilliant), Point Break (awful) and The Revenant (much better than expected).

    The service: Extremely friendly and efficient – more business class than cattle. Kudos to the attendant who always gave me two of every drink I ordered.

    Food and drink: I went for the Vietnamese-style chicken for the first meal, followed by the Vietnamese-style beef for the second – both were delicious. The cheese after the meal was tasty but slightly melted. The Kapiti icecream halfway through was a nice touch.

    Luggage: There was plenty of room overhead for carry-on luggage and our checked bags were already there when we arrived at the carousel – surely the holy grail of luggage handling.

    The airport experience: Exceptional. As this was the inaugural flight there was a specially cordoned off area for our flight in the Air New Zealand Lounge with champagne and delicious Vietnamese-style spring rolls and duck in mini-hamburgers. For our arrival in Ho Chi Minh City there was a Maori powhiri, which certainly went down well with the locals.

    Source: NZ Herald

  • Ninth Hue Festival to offer 53 events, dozens of sidelines activities

    Everything has been ready for the opening of the 2016 Hue Festival slated for April 29, which promises to offer sumptuous entertainments through the course of one week with 53 events of all kinds and nearly 50 sidelines activities, the organising board said on April 28.

    According to head of the organising board – Vice Chairman of Thua Thien-Hue province’s People’s Committee Nguyen Dung, more than 2,200 Vietnamese and foreign artists will perform at the Festival.

    France will continue to be a main partner in the upcoming Hue Festival as it has been in the previous eight events. Five French art troupes are expected to make their appearance, while photographer Sébastien Laval will display his work of Ha Noi and Hue at night.

    Besides the traditional stages in the Inner Citadel, An Dinh Palace, the Bia Quoc Hoc Squarer and the Central Cultural House, 11 new stages have been set up for large-scale art performances.

    The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Ngo Mon (Noon Gate), while a spectacular Ao dai show will be held at Bia Quoc Hoc Square instead of Trang Tien Bridge as in previous events.

    Along with artistic programmes featuring the characteristics of cultures worldwide and the quintessence of Viet Nam’s arts and culture, Hue’s folklore arts and street arts will be given a chance to shine.

    In addition, diverse cultural activities offer plenty of choices for visitors, ranging from exhibitions of photos and calligraphy, cuisine demo, to kite flying, sports contests, scientific workshops and trade fairs.

    With the theme “Cultural heritage with integration and development,” the festival aims to honour the 710th anniversary of the region, Thua Thien-Hue (formerly known as Thuan Hoa, and then Phu Xuan).

  • Cù Lao Chàm to offer sea-walk service for first time

    Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee has allowed Cham Island Tourist Company Limited to launch a new and fascinating tour to explore the undersea world: walking tour under the sea.

    Accordingly, visitors taking part in this tour will have to wear a special helmet with oxygen supply and follow a tour guide.

    During a walking tour under the sea within 15 to 20 meters on the seabed, visitors have a fascinating experience when watching the corals and other sea creatures.

    As scheduled, the tour will open to public on May 1.

    Located 15 kilometres east of Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An city, Cu Lao Cham consists of eight islets and a UNESCO-recognised Biosphere Reserve.

    Nearly 2,550 islanders live in four villages and make their living by aquatic farming and tourism.

    The island welcomes over 50,000 tourist arrivals every year.

  • Hung Kings Temple Festival 2016

    Hung Kings Temple Festival 2016

    The Hung Kings Temple Festival 2016 will take place from April 12th to 16th (from the 6th to the 10th day of the third lunar month) at Hung Kings Temple relics, communes and precincts in the northern province of Phu Tho.

    Diverse activities will be held during the festival, including banh chung (square glutinous rice cake) and banh day (round glutinous rice cake) making contests, a table tennis competition, a folk song festival, and a street carnival introducing visitors to the diversity of the province’s folk culture. Notably, a special art performance will take place at 20h00 pm on April 12th and incense offering to the Hung Kings will take place on the morning of April 16th at Hung Kings Temple relics. The festival is a chance for Vietnamese people to pay tribute to the ancestors of the nation. It also contributes to raising public awareness of preservation and promotion of the Hung Kings worship ritual and Xoan singing, as well as promoting the tourism development of Phu Tho province.
  • Direct flight connects Da Nang, Bangkok

    Bangkok Airways will launch its new route between the central city of Da Nang and Bangkok from May 25, the Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited told Bizhub.vn in an email on March 8.

    It said the first flight will take off from Bangkok at 11am on May 25 and land at Da Nang International Airport around 12.35pm.

    The return flight will leave from Da Nang at 13.35pm and arrive in Bangkok at 15.15pm.

    As scheduled, the flight will be operated on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with 144 Economy class seats on an Airbus 319.

    The direct flight route operation from Bangkok to Da Nang was a result of the co-operation and investment in tourism and trade between the city and Thai General Consul in HCM City from 2012.

    In February, travel firm Viettravel also offered direct charter flights between the city and Bangkok on Thai Vietjet in order to boost tourism between the central region of Viet Nam and Thai destinations.

    According to the city, import-export turnover between Thailand and Da Nang reached 30.2 million USD, of which 28.5 million USD were exports from Thailand.

    Thailand has only had one investment project in Da Nang so far with total value of 10,000 USD.

    The central city attracts around 700 tourists from Thailand annually.

    Da Nang has hosted the annual East – West Corridor Trade Fair since 2007, which attracted businesses from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Viet Nam.

    Da Nang, which is situated at the end of the East – West Economic Corridor – linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam, is connected by 19 international routes with over 4 million tourists in 2015.

  • Hot Air Balloon Festival 2016 in Thua Thien Hue

    The International Hot Air Balloon Festival 2016 will be organized in Thua Thien Hue with the participant of pilots and balloonists from Thailand, Netherlands, Malaysia, Swiss, Republic of Korea, the United States and the Philippines on May 04-05.

    Deputy Chairman of People’s Committee in Thua Thien Hue province Nguyen Dung – Head of the organization board of the 2016 Hue Festival agreed to launch the 2016 international hot air balloon festival.

    The festival will be an international sport event, aiming to promote the provincial’s tourism and culture to international visitors

    Besides, over 20 art performances from countries and territories worldwide have registered to take part in the 2016 Hue Festival including Amurshie Zori (Russian), Michael Milczarek (Poland), Della Mae from the U.S and Germein Sisters (Australia).

    It is a good chance for Vietnamese tourism sector to advertise beautiful landscapes of Viet Nam in general and Thua Thien Hue province in particular to international friends.