Thanh created
Nha Nhac meaning “elegant music” refers to a broad range of musical and
dance styles performed at the Vietnamese royal court from the fifteenth
to the mid-twentieth century. Nha Nhac was generally featured at the
opening and closing of ceremonies associated with anniversaries,
celebrations, religious holidays, coronations, funerals and official
receptions. In Vietnamese traditional music heritage, Nha nhac plays an
important role and is the core of the court affairs. Also, it serves the
entertainment demand of the King, royal family and the court
professional, classical and scholarly music. Nha nhac was considered as
the official music of the country, of the authority and performed in the
royal life, including the court and royal family. Therefore, it
reflects the spirit and the will of the royal dynasty, such as culture,
art, law, power, even the ideology, aesthetics and regional trend, etc. 15,0 SGD
Most of the bases and bunkers have long vanished, but this 5km strip of land on either side of the Ben Hai River
is still known by its American War moniker: the DMZ. From 1954 to 1975
it acted as a buffer between the North and the South. Ironically, the
DMZ became one of the most militarised areas in the world, forming what Time magazine called ‘a running sore’. The area just south of the DMZ was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles in America’s first TV war, turning Quang Tri, The Rockpile, Khe Sanh, Lang Vay and Hamburger Hill into household names.
Fast forward several decades and there’s not
much left to see. Most sites have been cleared, the land reforested or
planted with rubber and coffee. Only Ben Hai, Vinh Moc and Khe Sanh have
small museums. Unless you’re an American veteran or military buff, you
might find it a little hard to appreciate the place – which is all the
more reason to hire a knowledgeable guide.
25,0+ SGD
Designated a Unesco World Heritage site in
2003, the remarkable Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park contains the oldest
karst mountains in Asia,
formed approximately 400 million years ago. Riddled with hundreds of
cave systems – many of extraordinary scale and length – and spectacular
underground rivers, Phong Nha is a speleologists’ heaven on earth. Serious
exploration only began in the 1990s, lead by the British Cave Research
Association and Hanoi University. Cavers first penetrated deep into
Phong Nha Cave, one of the world’s longest systems. In 2005 Paradise
Cave was discovered, and in 2009 a team found the world’s largest cave –
Son Doong. In 2015 public access to two more cave systems was approved.
Above the ground, most of the mountainous 885
sq km of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is near-pristine tropical
evergreen jungle, more than 90% of which is primary forest. It borders
the biodiverse Hin Namno reserve in Laos
to form an impressive, continuous slab of protected habitat. More than
100 types of mammal (including 10 species of primate, tigers, elephants,
and the saola, a rare Asian antelope), 81 types of reptile and
amphibian, and more than 300 varieties of bird have been logged in Phong
Nha.
In the past, access to the national park was
limited and strictly controlled by the Vietnamese military. Access is
still quite tightly controlled for good reason (the park is still
riddled with unexploded ordnance). Officially you are not allowed to
hike here without a licensed tour operator. You can, however, travel
independently (on a motorbike or car) on the Ho Chi Minh Hwy or Hwy 20
that cut through the park.
The Phong Nha region is changing fast. Son
Trach village (population 3000) is the main centre, with an ATM, a
growing range of accommodation and eating options, and improving
transport links with other parts of central Vietnam.
The caves are the region's absolute highlights,
but the above-ground attractions of forest trekking, the area's war
history, and rural mountain biking means it deserves a stay of around
three days.
65,0+ SGD