Vietnam attracts nearly 3 million foreign tourists in six months

Nearly 3  million foreign tourist arrivals visited Vietnam in the first six months of 2011, a year-on-year increase of 18.1 percent, reported the Vietnam General Statistics Office.

Over the past six months, tourists visiting Vietnam for travel and recreation reached more than 1.77 million, a year-on-year increase of 11.2 percent, while more than 493,000 arrivals came to Vietnam for business purposes, a decrease of 1.7 percent and nearly 513,000 arrivals arrived in Vietnam to visit relatives, a rise of 77.6 percent. For other purposes, the figure was about 186,000 arrivals, a surge of 49.7 percent. On the whole, 2.97 million tourists entered Vietnam for the first 6 months.

 Huong Hai Junk on Halong Bay - a favorite spot for foreign visitors

Most tourists came to Vietnam by air, with nearly 2.5 million arrivals, making up 83 percent and a year-on-year increase of 23.8 percent.

China still led among markets seeing increasing number of foreign tourists to Vietnam with 662,500 arrivals, up 51.5 percent, followed by the Republic of Korea with nearly 262,000 arrivals, up 3.7 percent, the US with nearly 239,000 arrivals, up 3.4 percent and Japan with 235,000 arrivals, up 11.7 percent.

Over the past six months, Cambodia saw the highest rise in the number of tourists to Vietnam with 77.4 percent compared to the same period last year. 

Source VNA - Translated by Dan Tri

Spend summer days on the bay

 Halong in Sunset

Our first day was primarily spent getting to Halong Bay - we took a bus to the coast, which took about 4 hours, got on a boat where we ate lunch and spent the night, and checked our the most touristy cave I've ever seen. It's called "surprise cave" because it has a formation in the third chamber that catches many unknowing visitors by surprise because of its resemblance to a certain male body part. We also went swimming in the bay and I joined several of the more daring members of our tour group and jumped off the top of the boat, which was probably about 20 feet above the water. We had dinner on the boat and then just hung out and chatted with the other people on the cruise for the rest of the evening.

On Saturday we ate breakfast on the boat and then took the boat to Cat Ba island. After departing the boat we bussed from the port to the entrance to the park, where we split up and I went with the group that trekked to the top of the tallest mountain on the island. It was difficult and muddy and I slipped a bit and I was worried about my ankle for a bit, but all is fine. The views from the top were spectacular, though. The rest of the group went cycling to hospital cave, which was used during the war...

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From Jennifer's Blog

In the itinerary (part 10)

But Islet

Taking around 30 minutes to boat away from the Con Coc Islet, on the way to the Ba Trai Dao (Three Peaches) Islet, visitors see a pen bobbing (But Islet) in the waters. This constitutes a monument of knowledge Mother Dragon wanted to pass down to the present-day generations.

Lying adjacent to the Pen Islet is a small attractive beach, a nice place for tourists to anchor and take a bath.

Ministry: Students, pupils should vote for Halong Bay

The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has urged schools nationwide to call upon students and pupils to vote for Halong Bay as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. 

(Photo by Andrew Crump)

The promotional campaign is part of the summer activities for pupils and students in the country.
According to information on the website www.new7wonders.com, the Seven Natural Wonders of the World will be announced on November 11.


Halong Bay is the only heritage site in Vietnam to be short listed from 28 other wonders and recommended for the 7 natural wonders of the world.


People can call phone number 033.3847481 or http://www.halongbay.com.vn for further information.
Vietnamese people and foreign visitors can also go to www.natural7wonders.com to vote for Halong Bay.


Source: saigon-gpdaily.com.vn

In the itinerary (part 9)

Dinh Huong Islet or Lu Huong (Incense Burner Islet)


In the itinerary of Thien Cung - Dau Go - Titov, one finds Dinh Huong Islet or Lu Huong (Incense Burner Islet) to the southwest of Dau Go Island. Passing the Cho Da (Dog Rock) Islet, you could see an imposing stone slab resting on two other small stones stands blocked the way. The stone slab resembles a huge incense burner, which lies in the middle of the sea as a holy object to worship the Sky and Earth.

Dinh Huong Islet vs. Incense Burner