First Buddhism pagodas built in the land Sai Gon

The land of Sai Gon - Gia Dinh has been over 300 years, most of the pagodas in Sai Gon were built under Nguyen dynasty, in this story we would like to introduce 5 oldest pagodas in Sai Gon, all of them are more than 200 years and are attached to the establishment and development of Sai Gon - Gia Dinh region.

1 - Hue Nghiem pagoda

Ancient pagoda in Sai Gon

Hue Nghiem pagoda is located in Dang Van Bi street, Thu Duc district. Today, the temple is often called the Hue Nghiem Pagoda 1 to distinguish from Hue Nghiem 2 in District 2. The pagoda was started by Buddhist Monk Thiet Thuy (168 -1757) in 18th century. According to some documentation it was built in 1721. Hue Nghiem is the oldest pagoda in Sai Gon

Hue Nghiem pagoda was initially built in the low land, about 100 meters from the current building. Then Ms Nguyen Thi Hien (1763-1821) religious name Lieu Dao, also known as Thanh Tam, donated the land to rebuild it. The pagoda was restored many times, major restoration was in the late nineteenth century by Master Dat Ly.

Its architecture is changed in the restoration in 1960, 1969, 1990 and 2003 with tile curved knife blade shaped roof, decorated with stylized lotus flower. The precinct is pretty large, there are many ancient towers. The three way entrance and Quan Am tower in the font yard was built in 1990.

2 - Giac Lam pagoda (To Dinh Giac Lam)

Giac Lam pagoda is also known as Cam Son pagoda, it is located in Lac Long Quan road of Tan Binh district, the pagoda was built in 1744 under Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat, this is home to the Zen Te Tong in south Vietnam with an architecture of Tam letter including 3 interconnecting horizontal blocks: ceremonial hall, chanting hall and the refectory.

The pagoda's campus is rather large with big shady trees although it is still very crowded on weekdays. Famous literate Trinh Hoai Duc described the pagoda in the book Gia Dinh citadel as "Giac Lam pagoda is situated on Cam Son mound, 3 miles from Ban Bich rampart...dense trees as forest, blossoming like brocade", clouds of smoke floating by all day, the place is small but elegant"

In front of the pagoda is a hexagonal stupa, the 7th floor is used to host Buddha relics, the pagoda courtyard is a statue of Bodhisattava in the shadow of a snowbell tree grown by Venerable Narada bought from Srilanka in 1953.

Today Giac Lam pagoda has a small museum preserving many sculptures with skillful carvings, there are 113 ancient statues, mostly of wood, the main pillars in the temple are carved with parallel sentences, elaborately trimmed with gold.

3 - Giac Vien pagoda

Also located in Lac Long Quan road but in district 11, the history of Giac Vien pagoda is associated with Giac Lam pagoda as the location of Giac Vien pagoda was the warehouse while Giac Lam pagoda was rebuilt in 1798. It was originally a small shrine, a few years later it was built as a pagoda.

Giac Vien pagoda has been through some major restoration in 1899, 1908 and most recently was in 1991. Giac Vien pagoda's architecture consists of two combined four-pillar houses, the front house is ceremonial hall, dedicated to Buddha, the back room as chanting hall and lounge, the two sides have two corridors East and West connected to the main corridor.

Giac Vien pagoda has 153 big and small statues, mostly made of wood, 57 fresco doors, 60 reliefs with many characteristics of belief, religion, contaning the values of culture, arts of Vietnam in late 18th and early 19th ceturries.

Deserted town Tinh Tuc in Cao Bang

Lying quietly in the northeast region, the old town with a variegated wall seems to have nothing to do with the surrounding mountain and forest of Nguyen Binh district (Cao Bang province).

Tinh Tuc town in Cao Bang

Tinh Tuc townlet was formed with 2 rows of flats built in the 1970s, it was used as a living and working place of miners and foreign experts who worked in the Tinh Tuc tin mine. The workers came from different provinces along with a few locals were the first residents of this town.

The bustling prosperity of the town was associated with mining workforce. During the period around 1965 - 1973, the number of miners were up to 4,000 people, marking the height of the town.

Nearly 40 years of existence, the tin reserves declined, the workers left, Tinh Tuc townlet went against the trend and became deserted. There is no significant change from the past except the aging of the mine workers who are living inside the old blocks of difficult times - northwest Vietnam tours

Tinh Tuc town was formed in 1976 by the tenement houses for tin mining workers located along the National Highway 34. This is the tin mine that has been exploited for a long time, until 1956 the former Soviet Union helped build and equipped with machinery in large scale. The sign expressing the Vietnam- Soviet friendship by the road leading into town.

The 2-storey tenement houses built simply from 1976 until now nearly intact. A plaque still reads: “Cong Trinh Dang Dang” meaning “An offer to Communist party”. The common feature of these blocks is the stairs going up from the rear and common water tank. This small town is only about 800m along Highway 34.

Now, as the tin reserves have fallen, many of the workers and young people have left to work elsewhere leaving many apartments deserted, uninhabited. The workers in the tin mine said the workload is declining, the average monthly wage is only about 2 million vnd (90 usd).

A family with two generations working in the mine now lives in the house built 40 years ago, the two sons of the family still work in the mine. A man who worked at the mine since 1984 now has retired, his children have moved out instead of succeeding his job. The houses were later sold to the workers, each household were allotted one apartment, there was previously a 3 story building for the singles.

Tinh Tuc townlet are deserted all day, only a few times in the day when at the end of the shifts workers go home there are voices in the quiet space.

Tranquil beauty of Con Co island in Quang Tri

The wild and beautiful destinations without mass tourism is always the choice for travelers, one of those places is Con Co island in Quang Tri, the holy eye in the middle of the northern sea. Visitors who have been to Con Co island say it is the wild life, tranquility of the island itself has made it an ideal travel destinations in Vietnam for those who want to escape from the noisy, chaotic and crowded cities in Vietnam.

Best time to visit Con Co island.

Con Co island

From our experience, best time to visit Con Co island is from April to June. This time the weather is beautiful, sun shines, the sea is blue and calm, very favorable for the plan to visit and explore Con Co island.

If you want to make the trip to Con Co island in other times, the most important thing you need to do is weather forecast on the island and contact the ships to see if they are running or not. Con Co island is about 2 hours from mainland and if the weather is bad the ships will not operate.

Transport to and from Con Co island:

Con Co island is about 30km from Cua Tung beach in Quang Tri province, then the first destination you need to reach is Quang Tri town, you can go by train, car or plane from Hanoi or Sai Gon, arriving in Dong Ha town you need to catch a taxi to the Cua Tung sea port for the ship to Con Co island. One thing you need to remember when you catch a taxi to the port is agree on the price first or pay by meter, it costs around 140.000 vnd (6$) by motorbike from Dong Ha town to Cua Tung and 300.000 vnd (13$) by taxi. If you go in big group and want to visit some places in Quang Tri you are recommended to book private transfers just for your group, cost for private transfer in Dong Ha is pretty high and you can contact transport company Linh Linh 0942 083 739 to rent one.

Currently the high speed boat from mainland to Con Co island is not in operation so you have 2 ways:

- Rent a fishing boat from local people in order to control your itinerary by yourself, if your group is less than 10 people cost is about 3.000.000 vnd (130 $) for a return trip, you can keep the cost down by asking for a ride from officials, business people or navy ships, it saves you a lot of money however you can’t take initiative in timing and may thus affect your plan.

- Book a tour from a travel agency in Quang Tri, the tours run almost every week however price is high as the tour company has to hire a private boat for passengers.

Accommodation on Con Co island

Con Co island can even be more pristine and wild than Co To or Ly Son island, there is no hotel or resort and the only choice is Nha Khach Huyen Uy (Guesthouse of People’s Committee). Our tips for you travelers if the guesthouse is full is to ask for a stay at a local family, the lighthouse or police station and one more choice is to set up a tent at a convenient and safe place

Ta Nang Phan Dung trekking in central highlands of Vietnam

Those who make a trekking trip from Ta Nang to Phan Dung through 3 provinces Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan in central Vietnam would not hesitate to say: no more beautiful trekking route anywhere else.

Total length of the journey is 55 km stretch of road through the jungle, streams, moving from a height of 1,100 m by 500 m above sea level. This is the transition land from highland to central coastal plateau.

The moment you walk in the first golden sunlight spread over the grass and the thin mist hanging over the hillside makes travelers feel like you are lost in paradise on earth.

A little green grass, a little golden sunshine through thin mist that one can touch the purity of nature.

Between the deep forest and mountains, everything seems to slow down. Only trees, flowers, birds in the harmony of earth and sky, time and space completely separate from the everyday hustle. In this region, mobile phone coverage is something luxury.

New day, we were woken by birds singing melodious songs. Outside the tent door wide opened, the green grass hill one after another like an eternity.

Sometimes we were overwhelmed by the grandeur of the rolling hills. The natural scene here is really different from other places in the central Highlands.

The trail leads to a high hill with a few scattered pine trees standing alone and thin mist makes the space more mysterious, adventurous.

Trekking the route Ta Nang - Phan Dung, you can go up 3 hills to watch the sunset, sunrise or the basaltic soil trails like a ribbon winding between hillsides.

A point not to be missed in the journey is a triangle milestone, the intersection of three provinces of Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan.

When the legs were tired, the sweat was beading on faces, the white water waterfall Yaly appear before our eyes, dispel the fatigue of the long journey. The imposing waterfall in the green of jungle. This is an ideal route for those who love trekking, looking for peaceful place, harmony with nature.

The trekking route Ta Nang - Phan Dung through 3 provinces Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan. Starting point is Ta Nang commune, Duc Trong district, Lam Dong, about 60km south of Da Lat city. Finish point is the mountainous commune of Phan Dung in Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan.

What to bring:

- Weather, clothes: This season, after 14.00 it usually rains, so be prepared for rain with poncho and backpack. It is sunny at midday. It is rather cold at night about 2-3.00 am. So you should wear long-sleeved jacket, scarf.

- Food and drinks: For this 3 day trip you need to prepare enough food and water but lightweight. The 2nd day trekking on the bare hills without stream, you need to have adequate drinking water, at least 3 liters of water.

- Tents: camping area is strong wind, prepare to set up tents

- Medical bags: Dense forests have many reptiles such as snakes and scorpions; many insects - especially bumblebees, very poisonous

This stretch of road is very difficult and requires travel experience, strength and careful preparation. You should contact the Forest rangers in the region Ta Nang, Phan Dung for information and documents needed before the trip.

Source: http://www.privatetourvietnam.com/travel-stories/travel-stories/trekking-ta-nang-phan-dung.php