Vietnam Tourism

Con Dao Islands: Discover the island - the mysterious island in the...

2012-02-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

Con Dao Islands: Discover the island - the mysterious island in the...: Renowned travel magazine Travel And Leisure has announced the list of Top 20 islands contain many mysteries in the world. Unexpectedly w...

Con Dao Islands: Con Dao in me

2012-02-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

Con Dao Islands: Con Dao in me: A protected Marine Nature Reserve, the Con Dao Islands (of which Con Son is the largest and where you are likely to be staying) can be d...

Mui Ne Beach: Introducing Mui Ne Beach

2012-02-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

Mui Ne Beach: Introducing Mui Ne Beach: Mui Ne has quickly been transformed from an isolated stretch of beautiful white sand to one long row of resorts. While there’s still a f...

Mui Ne Beach: Phan Thiet Mui Ne Beach Vacation

2012-02-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Mui Ne Beach: Phan Thiet Mui Ne Beach Vacation: Phan Thiet Mui Ne is a sleepy finishing town 200 km from Ho Chi Minh City with white sand beaches and clear water. The area offers excep...

Ba Na Beach: Your Journey To Heavenly Scenery - Bana Mountains

2012-02-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Ba Na Beach: Your Journey To Heavenly Scenery - Bana Mountains:

7h30 – 8h30: Pick up at hotel lobby or anywhere in Da Nang City. 8h30: Departure to Bà Nà Hills, pass the sea-shore on Nguyen Tat Than...

Radioactive Waste May Pose Public Health Emergency in Vietnam Tourism Spot

2012-02-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Black sand mining near the White Sand Dunes

27.11.11 In July of this year, while visiting the White Sand Dunes, I decided to go off-road and explore. I drive up through the dunes and headed toward the beach—the stretch that the Vietnam Embassy to the United States issued a press release about in 2004; declaring that Disney and MGM were building a new resort theme park there.

Instead of being greeted by Mickey Mouse in a conical hat or Daisy Duck in an ao dai (I guessed Mickey would have ended up on the grill, and Daisy in a nice soup anyway), I found a vast mining field hidden in a dune sea, worthy of a Frank Herbert novel.

I approached one of the enormous mining craters cautiously, and picked out one of the workers to inquire about what was going on. What he told me made me uneasy.

"Since you are a tourist, it's OK for you to have a look," winked the man. "The government is just afraid of journalists. The military patrols the area. The military makes sure journalists don't see this mining operation because of the dangerous pollution. Its very controversial. There's strong radiation and all the wells in this area have also been poisoned."

Click here to continue reading about the dangerous radiation from local black-sand mining.

Phu Quoc Island: Haven of pearls

2011-12-30T19:56:00.002-08:00

Phu Quoc Island: Phu Quoc: Haven of pearls: The Phu Quoc Pearl farm was established in 1998 under the Foreign Investment Law of Vietnam to cultivate South Sea Pearls for the local and ...

Welcome to Vung Tau

2011-12-30T19:56:00.001-08:00

VungTau Beach: Welcome to Vung Tau: Welcome to the Vung Tau online presentation. On the following pages I will show you what this resort town 80 miles (125 km) from Saigon has ...

Hoi An: My Son

2011-12-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

Pho Co Hoi An: Hoi An: My Son: Although the area was heavily bombed by the Americans during the war, 20 monuments escaped destruction. Currently the Vietnamese government ...

Welcome to the Hue Virtual Tour Part 01

2011-12-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Hue Virtual Tour: Welcome to the Hue Virtual Tour Part 01: Welcome to the Hue, Central Vietnam, virtual presentation. The ancient city of Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty at t...

Phong Nha Cave: Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park – The World Heri...

2011-12-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park – The World Heri...: The forerunner of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was the Phong Nha Natural Reserve formed in 1992. The Phong Nha Natural Reserve was one ...

Halong Bay is one of seven nature wonders in the w...

2011-12-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

Halong Bay: Halong Bay is one of seven nature wonders in the w...: The first count of the global vote to elect the New7Wonders of Nature has been announced. In alphabetical order, they are: Amazon, Halong Ba...

Sapa: Hmong girls

2011-12-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Sapa Virtual Tour: Sapa: Hmong girls: In this picture you can see a group of local girls trying to sell something to a tourist. When I saw these young girls harassing the visitor...

Hanoicapital: Places you should visit when arrive in Hanoi

2011-12-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

Places you should visit when arrive in Hanoi: The Huc Bridge

About Vietnam

2011-12-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

Flag of Vietnam

Vietnam is one of Asia 's leading developing nations, as such the country is seeing an economic and social boom never before experienced in the area.

Official Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam, abbreviated to SRV and more commonly known simply as Vietnam.

Capital: The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi.

Location : Vietnam is located is South East Asia and shares land borders with Laos, Cambodia and China. The country is situated alongside the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and the South China Sea.

Size: Vietnam occupies a total area of 329,560 square kilometers. In comparative land area the country is slightly larger than the American state of New Mexico.

Climate: Vietnam experiences tropical weather in the south and a sub tropical monsoon climate in the north. The northern highland areas are much cooler than the south and will often experience freezing temperatures in the winter. The wet season occurs in the south of the country from May until November and it is typical to see rain in the central regions of the country from December until February. There is a strong possibility of typhoons between July and October, and these will normally impact only the Northern and Central areas of the country.

Population: Vietnam has a total population of approximately 85.26 million people.

Life expectancy at birth: The total life expectancy at birth in the country is 71.07 years of age, however the average life expectancy for males is lower at 68.27 years, and females higher at 74.08.

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS: Roughly 0.4% of the country's total population has HIV/AIDS this is equal to approximately 340,000 people.

Major illnesses: There are a number of high disease risks throughout the country these risks include food and waterborne illnesses such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever. Vector borne illness risks throughout the country include, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, malaria, and even plague in certain locations. In addition to this rabies, leptospirosis and H5N1 (bird flu) have all been identified in the country, and as such all due care should be taking during any trip to Vietnam.

Ethnic Groups: There are a number of ethnic groups located throughout Vietnam in order of population percentage these are; Viet 82.6%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.7%, Muong 1.5%, Khome 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nun 1.1%, Hmong 1%, Miscellaneous others 4.1%.

Languages: The official language of the country is Vietnamese, traditionally French was the favored second language for the majority of the population, however, English is increasingly replacing it in this role. Chinese and Khmer are spoken throughout the north.

Religion: Vietnam is a communist state and as such there is no official state religion. There are a number of religions that are observed by the local population and in order of precedence these are; none 80.8%, Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hao 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, and 0.1% of the total population observes Islam.

Government: Vietnam is a communist state. As such there is strong government influence in throughout the country with special attention being paid to the Vietnamese economy and industry.

Head of State: President Truong Tan Sang.

Head of Government: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Military: Vietnam commits a large percentage of its GDP towards military spending. There is compulsory military service for any male over the age of 18, and males are required to spend a minimum of two years serving in one of the country's armed forces. At present there are approximately 16 million males fit for military service.

Economy : Vietnam is one of the fastest developing economies in South East Asia. In the years from 1986 -1997 the country took significant steps towards reducing the poverty line and achieving substantial economic growth. Through high levels of government regulation, Vietnam has been able to stabilize its stock market and compete with nations throughout the region that have already established themselves as economic powerhouses. By maintaining focused commitment on export driven trade, the country has virtually eliminated “deep poverty” (individuals earning less than US$1 a day) and now has a smaller portion of its population living in poverty than China, India and the Philippines