>> Five Places to go on 30 April and May 1

Ho Chi Minh City will have two spectacular firework displays in celebration of the National Reunification Day. The fireworks will be set off at Thu Thiem tunnel in District 2 and at Dam Sen Cultural Park in District 11 and last from 9:00 – 9:15 pm on 30 April ...




Fireworks in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City will have two spectacular firework displays in celebration of the National Reunification Day. The fireworks will be set off at Thu Thiem tunnel in District 2 and at Dam Sen Cultural Park in District 11 and last from 9:00 – 9:15 pm on 30 April. Visitors can gather at Bach Dang quay to enjoy the fireworks at Thu Thiem, while entrance fee to Dam Sen Park is charged at VND 180,000 per adult and VND 120,000 per child. Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTC) will also air the firework displays live.

Da Nang International Fireworks Competition

The central city of Da Nang will host the highly-anticipated 2012 International Fireworks Competition on 29 and 30 April along Han river. This year the four former winners, namely team Canada, team China, tem France and team Italy will compete with team Vietnam. 30,000 tickets for the spectacular event are now on sale in Da Nang, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. Prices are fixed at VND 200,000, VND 250,000 and VND 300,000 per night. Tickets can be bought at many travel agencies in those cities.
Film and photography installation Jo Ha Kyu

A film and photography installation “Jo Ha Kyu” by Nguyen Trinh Thi and Jamie Maxtone-Graham is opening from 25 April to 24 May, 9:30 am to 6:00 pm at Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange , 27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi. Jo Ha Kyu is a concept of modulation and movement applied in a wide variety of traditional Japanese arts, which essentially means that all actions or efforts should begin slowly, speed up, and then end swiftly. Visitors to the exhibition will get to see abstract moving images of Tokyo directed by Trinh Thi and LED lighted-up photography of common people framed by Jamie. Even those who have lived in Tokyo for a long time could also experience the new angle of Tokyo recreated beautifully by the two artists. Admission is free.

Exhibition ‘Riverscapes in Flux’

Treat yourself this weekend with an excellent multimedia art exhibition entitled “Riverscapes in Flux”. It’s a marvelous visual venture conceived and organized by Goethe Institute in Ha Noi and involves young and competent artists from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia who all seek to reflect on the ecological, socio-economic and cultural changes that riverscapes in their countries are experiencing. The exhibition is opening from 13 to 29 April at Goethe Institute and Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ha Noi. Admission is free.

Vietnam International Balloon Fiesta

The first balloon festival in Vietnam is set to take place from April 26 to May 1 at the Hoa Thang sand dune, 10km away from the tourist city of Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan province. This spectacular event will be attended by 50 pilots from Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Belgium and France who will operate 20-30 colorful balloons with the height from 20 to 25 meters and diameters from 16 to 18 meters. The balloons will fly from 6:00 to 10:00 am and 4:00 to 7:00 pm. Admission is free.

>> Vietnam’s Cyclos

The cyclo is a three-wheel bicycle taxi that appeared in Vietnam during the French colonial period after a failed attempt to introduce rickshaws. A double seat (for Vietnamese – an average foreigner would find riding with a companion a bit of a squeeze) is supported by the two front wheels, with the driver sitting behind. The design in Ho Chi Minh City differs from the Hanoi variety in that the driver sits much higher (as do the prices!)




The cyclo is a three-wheel bicycle taxi that appeared in Vietnam during the French colonial period after a failed attempt to introduce rickshaws. A double seat (for Vietnamese – an average foreigner would find riding with a companion a bit of a squeeze) is supported by the two front wheels, with the driver sitting behind. The design in Ho Chi Minh City differs from the Hanoi variety in that the driver sits much higher (as do the prices!).

In the big cities, their use as a means of passenger transport has all but vanished over the last two or three years. Taxi fares have dropped, and fleets of buses with low fixed fares have greatly undercut the market - a journey from one side of either of the major cities to the other cost less than half a kilometre in a cyclo.

Nevertheless, they remain as a popular tourism attraction, but are not generally useful for city tours because they are banned from many major roads as traffic hazards.

They still reign supreme in carrying awkward loads along city roads, sometimes much to the annoyance of other road users. For visitors, it’s a good idea to have a camera to hand to snap the unlikely loads they carry – complete bedroom suites, live pigs, ten-metre scaffold poles and much more.

If you want to hire a cyclo, always negotiate the fare in advance. If you fail to do so, the driver will often ask for an exorbitant price and then blackmail you into paying it by making a major fuss in the street that will immediately attract a crowd. This is particularly so in Ho Chi Minh City.




Generally speaking, you should offer about a third of the sum quoted, and haggle up to no more than a half. Walking away will often turn an unacceptable price into an agreed sum.

However, it’s likely that the driver will not drop to the Vietnamese price, though – dual pricing has only recently been phased out, and cyclo drivers still stick to their belief that all foreigners are rich and can therefore afford to be more generous. Mostly, they’re right!

If you're planning a trip to Vietnam and need an expedited Vietnam visa, look into making arrangements for a visa on arrival. It's easier and quicker than other options for a travel visa for Vietnam.

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