Cha Ca La Vong is a restaurant in Hanoi famous for its grilled fish (Cha Ca) dish which was created some 130 years ago. The restaurant/dish is so famous that the street is named after it, and it’s featured in almost every single Hanoi’s travel guide.
There’s one problem though, as some other restaurants are riding on its fame with similar name and menu to take advantage of naive foreign travellers, and I was one of the fallen prey of the conspiracy during my Hanoi trip in July 2008…
Sung Sot Cave (Cave of Surprises) is the largest and arguably the most beautiful cave in Halong Bay, Vietnam. The cave is located at the Bo Hon Island and got its name (grotte des surprises) from a French admiral who was surprised at how huge and majestic the cave was when he discovered it.
The limestone cave is now heavily developed for tourism, with granite pavements and coloured-lighting beautifying the cave. The nature elements of the cave seems pretty well preserved though, hopefully the in-flock of tourists won’t cause too much harm.
Photos from my July 2008 visit, including an aerial view of the iconic Bo Hon Bay which often featured on travel magazines and postcards…
Random photos of Halong Bay, Vietnam; taken during my trip in July 2008…
Vietnam is planning to set up an official matchmaking agency to arrange marriages between Vietnamese women and foreign men [via BBC]
Cross country arranged marriages are not uncommon in Asia, and its popularity is ever increasing for the past two decades. Women often see it as a route out of chaos and poverty, while men seeking foreign companions for various reasons.
Chinese women used to be the wife-in-demand, but Thai and Vietnamese are catching up in recent years. Their husband-to-be are usually from relatively well being places like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan etc.
The boom however opens loopholes for illegal syndicates to cheat ladies into prostitutions or other illegal activities; and it’s also quite common that the men they finally met are not fitting to the descriptions provided by the agencies.
The Vietnamese government says it hopes the plan will help prevent the abuse of Vietnamese women by criminal organisations or by their new husbands.
Photos of some outdoor exhibits of various Vietnam’s ethnic tribes at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, taken during my Hanoi visit in July 2008…
Some interesting tomb design of the Giarai (or Jarai) tribe, an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam’s Central Highlands…
The floating village is a cultural heritage and tourist attraction in Halong Bay, Vietnam. People have been living in these houses for hundred of years with fishing as the main income activity. Some photos below, taken during my trip in July 2008…
