2005

Compared to other historical and renowned places and provinces _ Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Dien Bien Phu _ the central province of Nghe An remains little-known to conventional tourists visiting Vietnam.

The province never much marketed its historical and natural sites to foreign visitors, even though it is well known to Vietnamese as the home of several national heroes from different eras _ including the most celebrated and best-known of them all, Ho Chi Minh.

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The 16,480 sq km mountainous province, home to three million Vietnamese, has recently taken a small but ambitious step to put its name and that of its capital city, Vinh, on the maps of both domestic and foreign tourists, at least from China, Laos and Thailand.

With a budget of two million dollars, half from the central government in Hanoi, Nghe An, still one of the most destitute provinces of the 82-million-population country, has planned a number of activities for 2005, including a celebration of 975 years since the establishment of Nghe An.

Several activities would be celebrated in key other provinces as well, and even nationwide, including the 115th birthday anniversary of the founding father of the Socialist Republic, Ho Chi Minh on May 19 and the 60th anniversary of the Vietnamese declaration of independence on September 2.

The celebrations began recently, in effect, with a modest ceremony that announced Nghe An Tourism Year. Still, 15,000 people attended, and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan and former deputy premier Nguyen Manh Cam attended.

The ceremony was at the provincial capital stadium, where Thai footballers Kiatisak Senamuang and Dusit Chalermsaen played to a packed audience during last year's SeaGames.

Nghe An and its capital of Vinh are the alternative port of entry for people who want to visit Vietnam's central region. That said, if Vinh were not situated on the national north-south Highway 1, it probably would have been abandoned by now.

"There seems to be a misconception [among investors] that as a home-grown base of communists, we will scare off businessmen," lamented Mr Hoang Xuang Luong, head of the powerful propaganda and education committee of Nghe An. "There are also other difficulties including the natural calamities like flood and typhoons which devastate us from time to time."

Mr Luong has called for external investment to improve the quality of life of Nghe An people, who currently have a median annual income of $480 _ about 18,350 baht.

Tourism and hotel services are key areas to develop, while fisheries and marble-grinding are also lucrative fields, he said. Nghe An ranks 12th among the 64 provinces in Vietnam in attracting foreign investment from Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Ho Chi Minh City is also a market mover in many businesses here, particularly hotel and tourism. Business people from the southern economic power have taken over a few hotels and tour operators, and renovated them to better standard. These include Saigon Kim Liem Hotel, one of the three-star hotels in the province. The other two are Phuong Dong in downtown Vinh and Xanh (Green) hotel in Cua Lo beach city.

Ironically, the province seems to focus on hardware infrastructure like hotel buildings _ it now has 134 hotels with 8,000 rooms _ rather than improving services to meet the different needs of domestic, Asian and European travellers.

Mr Luong boasted of the province's safety and security standards and, for now at least, its bird flu-free environment, "There is not a single case of robbery or theft from foreign tourists."

Nghe An is likely to attract two million visitors this year, about 800,000 more than 2004. Most will be Chinese, followed by those from Asean countries. The number of visitors from Thailand is likely to increase from 2,000 to 10,000, he said.

Overland travel to Vinh links to Xiangkhoang, 100km away in Laos. But the more beaten track is along Route 8 for 120km from Vinh down to Ha Tinh, and then into Laos at the Ban Nam Prao crossing in Bolikhamxai province, continuing for another 230km to Lak Sao and at Tha Khaek, finally crossing the Mekong at Nakhon Phnom.

Another route goes from Lak Sao to Vientiane and the Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai, but that's 100km.

After all, Vietnam's Highway 8 and Laos's Route 13 have been used for logging exports for years.

Now Vietnam has been courting Thailand to try to open air links between Vinh and Nakhon Phanom, after the prime ministers of the two countries inaugurated the Ban Nachok memorial to Ho Chi Minh in Nakhon Phnom province, at their joint cabinet meeting last year.

Ho Chi Minh fled to Thailand in 1927 and spent some of his revolutionary days growing trees and gardening in Thailand during his quest for independence from the French colonial regime.

If you visit both Ban Nachok and his real home town at Kim Lien district in Nam Dan city, 14km northwest of Vinh, you will see the idealisation of Ho Chi Minh for tourists.

The seasoned revolutionary and passionate nationalist has been perceived as the humble "Uncle Ho", his image always a slightly emaciated, goateed figure in a threadbare bush jacket and frayed rubber sandals.

Visiting the army and history museums in Vinh reveals much more of the history of Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) AKA Nguyen Van Ba, Nguyen Ai Quoc, etc, and how he led or encouraged guerrilla wars against the French. The museum in Vinh also dwells on his predecessor Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) and other patriots who fought the French and then the US.

Visitors can explore the abundant flora and fauna at Pu Mat National Park and the handicraft villages at Luc Da and Chau Tien. The Museum of Ethnic Groups in Quy Chau city and waterfalls at Kem waterfall or Xao Va are popular.

All can be done in the company of guides fluent in Thai, French, Chinese or English. One last hint: Just go along with the Vietnamese way of organisation and you'll enjoy most of the trip.