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2004
Perfume Pagoda Festival
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| Perfume
Pagoda |
This
year, the annual Perfume Pagoda Festival, held at the Perfume
Pagoda (Chua Huong) in Huong Son Commune in the province of Ha Tay,
began on 27th February and will last until 17th
May. The Perfume Pagoda region, which stretches over 30 square
kilometres and is considered by many to be 'Buddha’s
Heaven,' will be busiest in March when most visitors make
pilgrimages to worship Bodhisattva Kwan Yin and the Buddha. The
hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who journey here for the
festival enjoy cultural and art performances, folk games,
magnificent views of ancient temples and images, and natural
surroundings, including grottos and rivers. To help accommodate
the large number of visitors, officials in the area have widened
and upgraded the main roads, improved guest facilities, such as
waiting rooms and bathrooms, and are working to finish the cable
car system.
EXO
PICKS: Koto Restaurant, Hanoi
With
so many disadvantaged street children roaming the city of Hanoi,
it is easy to become overwhelmed and think that the problem is
just too big to solve. Jimmy Pham decided that the problem was
just too big to ignore and created a hopitality training project
for nine kids at a small café and sandwich shop 1999. A year
later, a formalised vocational training centre and the KOTO
Restaurant were established . KOTO, an acronym for ‘Know One
Teach One,’ expresses Jimmy’s hope that his students will
become future leaders and teachers. The restaurant serves a
variety of multi-cultural dishes, from pasta to rice, and drinks
from the bar, including cocktails, cappuccinos and lattes. KOKO
Restaurant also offers catering services for corporate and private
functions.
Clear
skies ahead for Vietnam Airlines
At
its ten year anniversary celebration, Vietnam Airlines announced
that it would add 36 more aircraft to its fleet of 34 by the year
2010. This will help the airline compete globally with
international airlines and accommodate its growing list of
passengers. The airline has already ordered five more Airbus
aircraft; three to be delivered in July, one in October and the
fifth in early 2005.
In
January, the airline began flying to and from Ho Chi Minh City and
Moscow again once a week. Flights to and from Hanoi and Moscow are
also available twice weekly. A new route to and from Ho Chi Minh
City and Ca Mau Province was added in March. In April, the airline
will begin services to and from Hanoi and Osaka. Flights to and
from Hanoi and Nagoya will be offered as soon as the airport in
Nagoya has opened. Starting 5th April, Vietnam
Airlines, Japan Airlines and American Airlines will begin offering
new services from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi through Tokyo to
destinations in the US, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, San
Diego and Las Vegas. By the end of this year, Vietnam Airlines
expects to being operating direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City
and Hanoi to Frankfurt, Germany, and vice versa. Also this year,
Vietnam Airlines hopes to launch services to Hanoi and Danang from
Can Tho and vice versa.
The
Vietnam Aviation Service Company (VASCO), a member of Vietnam
Airlines, starts flying three new domestic flights in May. The
airline’s new routes will travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Ca
Mau, Con Dao and Can Tho, and vice versa.
In
related news, Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Administration plans to
upgrade and build 25 more commercial airports within the next 20
years, to add to the country’s 16 functional commercial
airports. The most expensive project will be the construction of
an international airport in Dong Nai Province’s Long Thanh
District, which will cost around 4 billion USD. If the plan is
approved by the government, construction will begin in 2007 and
the airport’s first of four runways and terminals will be ready
by 2011.
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