Joomla! site syndication http://www.lukewood.co.uk 2008-05-13T15:40:00+01:00 http://www.lukewood.co.uk http://www.lukewood.co.uk/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2006-11-15T12:00:00+01:00 http://www.lukewood.co.uk http://www.lukewood.co.uk/travel-guide-information/vietnam/hanoi-2.html Hanoi (which means River Interior) is the capital of Vietnam with has an estimated population of more than 3 million. The city is located on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is considered to be the cultural centre of Vietnam.Hanoi is a city of lakes and Hoan Kiem Lake is in the heart of the city. According to legend, heaven gave Emperor Ly Thai To a magical sword which he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. After the war, a giant golden tortoise snatched the sword from him while he was out fishing and took it to the depths of the beautiful lake. Since then, the lake has been known as Ho Hoan Lien (Lake of the Restored Sword) as the tortoise restored the sword to its divine owners. Thap Rua or the Tortoise Tower lies scenically on a centre island of the lake, making for more reflection photos. text/html 2006-11-15T12:00:00+01:00 http://www.lukewood.co.uk http://www.lukewood.co.uk/travel-guide-information/vietnam/halong-bay-2.html Halong Bay is situated in the Gulf of Tonkin and includes over 3000 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. The area, covering over 1500 square kilometres, is mostly uninhabited and unaffected by a human presence. Halong Bay’s outstanding natural beauty is complemented by its great biological interest. In 1994 Halong Bay was designated as Vietnam’s second Unesco World Heritage site. text/html 2006-11-15T12:00:00+01:00 http://www.lukewood.co.uk http://www.lukewood.co.uk/travel-guide-information/vietnam/sapa-2.html Sapa is a picturesque town and district in the Lào Cai province in North West Vietnam. The town of Sa Pa lies at about 1600 meters of altitude and lies in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range near the Chinese border. These mountains are often referred to as the Tonkinese Alps . To view these photos, please click here (photo-gallery/index.php) and select ‘Hills and Mountains’. There are eight ethnic groups which inhabit the Lao Cai provice: Dao, White Thai, Hmongm Hao, Xa Pho, Tay, Giay and Muong. The most prominent groups in Sa Pa and the Dao (pronounced Zao) and Hmong.