Friday, November 16, 2012

Enjoy a bowl of subtle "Cao lau" in Hoi An


"Cao lau" was considered by the Quang Nam people as a special symbol representing Hoi An.

Tourists in Vietnam travel who visit to Hoi An always remember Cao Lau, the foremost traditional food here. Cao Lau -  a special food that only appears in the ancient town of Hoi An- does not taste like any other Vietnamese dish. It  has something in common with Japanese and Chinese noodles, though more refined.
Unlike the flat, white, ivory noodles of "phở", Vietnam’s most popular noodle dish, Cao Lau noodles are much thicker and a bit raw. The noodles will therefore be soft, enduring and flavored with special sweet-smelling additives.
The secret of Cao Lau lies in the water; authentic Cao Lau is prepared only with water drawn from ancient Cham wells hidden around Hoi An and Quang Nam Province. Noodles are pre-soaked in well water and lye made from wood ash brought from one of the eight Cham Islands around 10 miles outside of Hoi An. The combination may seem esoteric, but local foodies can tell a difference in the taste and texture. So, Cao Lau be made anywhere else in Vietnam.
In addition, the meat used to prepare the Cao Lau must be pork loin or trotter.  The pork is fried in a marinade and then roasted for 1 hour.
It's served in a steaming bowl of flat, yellow rice noodles in a broth flavored with lemon, ginger, anise, basil and mint. It is basically a rice noodle, herb, and meat dish. The dish is eaten with crisp bean sprouts, fried onions and slices of pork topping it. Cao Lau is always hot and very delicious. It is very flavorful.  Its flavors have distinctions, making visitors ate once, that want to eat forever.
Also an interesting thing, when eating at Cao Lau Hoi An, tourists must climb up to high floor. They can enjoy delicious dishes and has just see beautiful scenery,  just as the traders did hundreds of years ago. At any time during the day, tourists in Vietnam can enjoy Cao Lau.
People said, Cao Lau just likes a shy, discreet girl who hides herself in a simple dress and shuns expensive perfume. It’s might not be as vibrant, colorful and eye-catching as Ho Chi Minh City’s cuisine, or as tempting in appearance as Hanoi’s, but it doesn’t matter as the food of Hoi An is all about taste, taste and taste. 

Buon Don village, Daklak - A mysterious legend


Don Village has the long-standing fame for elephant hunters and trainers. All Vietnamese children remember their heart a song about the elephants at this village.

Don Village is located northwest of Buon Ma Thuot in Krong Na Commune, Buon Don District, Dak Lak Province close to the Cambodian border, approximately 42km from Buon Ma Thuot. It is built on the Island inside Serepok Rive, home of many ethnic minority groups like: Ede, M’nong, G’rai, Lao, Thai, etc. 
There is Yok Don National Park here - one of the most famous National Park in Vietnam.
 It has been famous for its Kru  -powerful elephant tribe leaders, for a long time, and is well known in India and France for its elephant. Y Pui, a 102-year-old man (1883-1985) who tamed over 450 elephants, spent part of his life as King Bao Dai’s Mahout. Elephant training and hunting has been passed down through generations. It takes 67 months to domesticate a wild elephant.
Elephant riding is a experience that toursits in Vietnam travel will never forget. Include fording across the Serepok River, which is pretty cool. The elephants can hold two to three people, depending on their girth (the passengers, not the elephants). 
It's a pleasant enough spot - there's  The raditional long house full of souvenirs to buy, and the tribespeople that work there spend the day putting on musical shows using traditional instruments for group after group of tourists.
There are an annual traditional festival of the Don Village, which will also show visitors performances of gongs, UNESCO’s oral and intangible heritage of humanity.
This is an opportunity for Vietnamese and foreign tourists to come and learn about the Don Village and York Don National Park of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Don Village becomes the “can-not-be-missed” destination in Vietnam travel.

Unforgettable experience in Mui Ke Ga

Clean and primitive, Mui Ke Ga (Ke Ga Cape) is the most favourite destination for visitors to Binh Thuan Province. From the top of the lighthouse built on the island, visitors can enjoy a fabulous view of the open sea...





From the beach...
Twenty-five kilometers from the city of Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan Province, tourists can travel by bus or motorbike along the coastline to Ke Ga Island. At Ke Ga Cape, visitors are able to wander around and clamber over cliffs and boulders piled up all over the place.
There are many international and domestic ships and fishing boats coming and going in the area. As there are reefs in the area, French and local people decided to erect Ke Ga lighthouse to warn ships of the danger. 

Visitors can also stay on the island overnight to go fishing. Fishing during the full moon is another unforgettable experience. People can taste the baked sea fish they have caught by themselves and then stay up to see the first sunlight. 

... to the famous lighthouse
At Ke Ga Cape stands a lighthouse, built in 1899, considered as the tallest and oldest existing lighthouse in Vietnam.
The lighthouse is called Ke Ga by local people. Ke Ga Lighthouse was built on Ke Ga Island top whose total area is about 5 ha in the coastal area of Tan Thanh Ward, Ham Thuan Nam District, about 30km away from Phan Thiet City to the South East. This lighthouse was designed by a French architect named Chnavat to guide ships to go back and forth.

 



The construction started in February 1897 and was completed by the end of 1898, and the lighthouse was put in operation in 1900. To mark the construction period, local people put a big granite panel carved the number 1899 at the lighthouse entry gate. The lighthouse has now been operating for 108 years.

The light house with its unique architecture is about 60m tall. From that height, visitors are able to see a vast expanse of sea and sky, as well as enjoy cool ocean winds. The most beautiful moment to visit the lighthouse is at sunset. People can see a fantastic sight with splendid colours. 

Sometimes they can not distinguish the boundary of the sky and sea. Only 500m from the coast, people can walk to the island when the tide is out.

Ke Ga Lighthouse was built grandiosely, which can be classified as Vietnam’s tallest lighthouse, built of granite stones brought from France. A unique character of this lighthouse is that the granite stones were carved out of different cells, shapes, sides that are well-fit. So in building, they were put together and stuck by mortar. On the lighthouse, there is a big light of 2000W, which was brought from France and used to give signals ships back and forth. Presently, Ke Ga Lighthouse has become a tourist attraction, not only about art and architecture, but also a beautiful natural landscape.

Up to now, the tour to Ke Ga Cape has been always drawing much attention from international and domestic visitors.