Xin chao!

TuoiTreNews.vn - When their rooms have been fully booked during the ongoing days-long holiday, the response of eight hotels in Vietnam’s heavily touristed town of Sa Pa was exceptional. The facilities, all classified as three-star hotels, quoted their room rates on popular online hotel service websites agoda.com and booking.com at dozens of millions of dong per night only to “discourage booking,” they told local authorities after receiving fines for the sky-high price quotes. The highest price to spend a night at one of these hotels is reportedly VND46 million (US$2,144), while the average rate is well above VND10 million ($466).

Photo credit: TuoiTre.vn TuoiTrenews.vn - The Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, the city’s first of its kind, is open to the public on Wednesday, just in time for the Reunification Day, April 30. Work on the long-awaited pedestrian street, located in District 1, has finally been complete, according to Nguyen Vinh Ninh, director of the HCMC Urban Traffic Management Zone No. 1 under the municipal Department of Transport.

23USD for a room in a 3-star hotel with buffet breakfast, swimming pool!

TuoiTreNews.vn - Editor’s note :  Tuoi Tre News  is encouraging our readers to  share their stories  about their trips to Vietnam, or give comments on or offer insights into the current downfall of the country’s tourism. An expat preferring to be known as A.H., who runs a real estate business in the central city of Hoi An, is among the very first readers to answer our call. In the following story, H., who said he has resided in Vietnam for six years, gives comments on why tourists do not come back to the country. This article exclusively reflects the author's personal views and experience.

TuoiTreNews.vn - Editor’s note :  In a recent op-ed sent to  Tuoi Tre News , A.H., an expat, argued that the reasons why tourists do not return to Vietnam are  costly visas, dual pricing, and scammers , issues that Anh Tuan Huynh believes are not necessarily exclusive to the Southeast Asian country. Huynh, who introduced himself as having lived and worked in Canada for 36 years, offers his opinions on the issues in the following story, promising to present the reasons that he thinks are more important in another piece later. He said he had visited Vietnam twice. The opinions expressed below are the author’s own. Although some of the issues raised by A.H. are true, I share neither the implications nor the importance of such factors in affecting Vietnam’s tourism. First, talking of  visa procedures/processes , countries have their own ways and formalities. 

TuoiTreNews.vn - If you have experienced slow connectivity while surfing the Internet today, here is the reason: the international Internet cable system linking Vietnam and the U.S. has broken for the second time this year. The rapture is possibly located somewhere on the section between Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong in the AAG (Asia America Gateway) submarine system, the center that operates the cable said early Thursday. The incident affects Internet connection to overseas servers of all service providers in Vietnam. The AAG operator said it is working with relevant units to identify the exact position of the break.

National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow shares some of her favorite photographs from a recent assignment in Vietnam. Read more in "The Glow of Vietnam" in the April 2015 issue of  National Geographic Traveler Luxury Meets Natural Beauty Luxury and taste come to Vietnam. The Amanoi resort, on an unspoiled part of the coast just south of Nha Trang, offers private villas with individual swimming pools. Traditional Vietnam

ThanhNienNews.vn - The largest lava cave system ever explored in Southeast Asia in Vietnam's Central Highlands province of Dak Nong is now open to tourists, with a Ho Chi Minh-based company organizing tours to the place. Sun shines through a hole into a cave of the Chu Bluk lava cave system in Dak Nong Province. Photo credit: Tuoi Tre He Tre travel company organizes visits to a tube-shaped cave 594.4 meters long and another cave with beautiful old trees and a natural hole that allows the sun to shine through.

TuoiTreNews.vn - A diving firm in Nha Trang City in central Vietnam has piloted a new service which allows tourists to walk on the seabed and explore the rich marine life at the same time.

TuoiTreNews.vn - Vietnam has just left the poor-country group but national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) is planning to build the world’s highest TV tower, a reader said in a letter to  Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.   A project by VTV to build a TV tower that will be the tallest in the world has drawn great attention from people working in the television sector, the reader, who signed as Phuong Nguyen and said he/she works in TV, said in opening the letter.