Vietnam to test reopening starting with Phu Quoc Island

Vietnam was one of the earliest countries to lockdown due to Covid-19, a strategy that had done it well until a massive outbreak in April, just like Thailand. And now, also like Thailand, they are looking to relaunch their tourism industry after close to two years of closures. Vietnam is now looking to reopen in late November, starting with the popular resort island of Phu Quoc.

The island aims to reopen to inoculated foreign tourists starting November 20 with charter flights bringing fully vaccinated international travelers to the tropical paradise. Phu Quoc is known for beautiful white sand beaches and clear blue waters on the coast with jungles and mountains inland.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese government was angling to turn the island in the Gulf of Thailand about 10 km off the coast of Cambodia into a beach-going tourist hot spot along the lines of Bali and Phuket. Phu Quoc had already been drawing massive crowds with figures from 2019 reporting US $18 billion generated by approximately 670,000 international travellers.

Like Thailand’s reopening, Vietnamese authorities hope to attract travellers from countries that are low risk for Covid-19 infections, citing parts of Europe, the Middle East, Northeast and Southeast Asia, North America, and Australia as their target market.

The reopening was originally planned for October, then postponed due to low local vaccination rates, with only about 20% of Vietnam’s 100 million people having received the full inoculation. But the Vietnam economy is suffering after closed borders and some of the strictest lockdowns in the world, with almost no commercial flights being allowed to land in Vietnam since the beginning months of last year.

So Vietnam is dipping its toe in the water with Phu Quoc, hoping to bring in a few vaccinated tourists next month and, if successful, slowly trickle in another 5,000 foreigners on charter flights between December and the end of March.

Vietnamese authorities hope that the experimental reopening of Phu Quoc Island will pave the way to reopening other popular tourist destinations like Ha Long Bay and Hoi An in the near future, but no timeline or details have been set yet.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World / The Thaiger

VISA AGENT

#Switzerland is the safest country for travelers

Collating data on the frequency of natural disasters, the quality of healthcare systems and levels of violent crime and terrorist threat, the travel insurance comparison website Insurly has established a ranking of the safest countries for travelers.

According to the methodology developed by Insurly for its "2020 Ranking of the World's Safest Countries", Switzerland is the world's safest travel destination with an overall score of 93.4 out of 100. In particular, travelers will be reassured by the country's excellent score for transport risks (98 out of 100), one of the four criteria evaluated by the study, which takes into account the annual number of tourists killed or injured on roads as well as the prevalence of airlines on the European Commission's blacklist.

Placed second, Singapore scored 92.7 out of 100, making it the safest Asian country. The risk of natural disasters on the island city state was estimated at 93 out of 100. For this criterion, the study drew on data from the the United Nations University risk report, which also takes into account measures established to cope with such events.

Ranked third, Norway was rewarded with an overall score of 91.1 out of 100. It is worth noting that the Scandinavian country would have come first were it not for its score for risks of violence (75 out of 100, as opposed to 98 for 100 transport risks, and 95 out of 100 for health care). The violence criterion took into account figures for the number of murders relative to the size of populations, and also for the prevalence of acts of terrorism. 

For its part, France was ranked 32nd in the list of 180 destinations. The country scored well for transport risks (88 out of 100) and risks of natural disasters (89 out of 100).

Finally, the three riskiest destinations for travelers were South Sudan (14.8), the Democratic Republic of Congo (15.4) and the Central African Republic (21) 

The list of the top-10 safest countries for travelers:

1. Switzerland

2. Singapore

3. Norway

4. Luxembourg

5. Cyprus

6. Iceland

7. Denmark

8. Portugal

9. Finland

10. Japan

#Vietnam - On cloud nine in the Tà Xùa mountains

Tà Xùa, a high mountain range locating in the natural border between northern provinces of Sơn La and Yên Bái, has been known as "Paradise in the Clouds", which hosts forests of ancient Shan Tuyết tea trees, some several hundred years old. 

The range consists of three peaks - according to the map by the People’s Army, the highest peak is 2,879m, the second is 2800, the lowest named Dinosaur Backbone is 2,582m.

Photographers and backpackers who’ve been to Tà Xùa always talk about hunting moving clouds on the dangerous routes.

The mountains covered with clouds create a mysterious beauty, which is more alluring when viewed from Sống Khủng Long (Dinosaur’s Backbone), which located in Bắc Yên District of Sơn La Province.

The Dinosaur’s Backbone, seems to lie in the middle of the sky.

The path to its peak is dangerous. In some places, there is only one small path with deep abysses on both sides.

When stepping on that path, strong winds can shake travelers’ bodies, forcing them to double over or be blown off.

A sign erected on the top of the peak says: “Tà Xùa Paradise of Clouds” - an official acknowledgement of the nickname.

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   People talk a lot about the beauty of the clouds. If lucky, tourists will see a sea of clouds nestled below them in the centre of the huge mountain range. They often come in all shapes and colours. It’s a fairy land.

Yet getting to this heaven is not simple. We reached Tà Xùa on a rainy day. The zig-zag roads were steep, muddy and covered with humid grey clouds.

Phạm Vũ Khánh, a low-land man, who has settled down in the locality for dozens of years, received us.

He said many people climbed up to Tà Xùa, but few were lucky enough to see the legendary "cloud land" appear.

He wished us good luck. That night, Khánh invited us to have Tuyết Shan tea, Hang Chú rice wine and some dishes made from a local species of black pig.

We enjoyed the local delicacies, which kept us warm, but worried a lot because it was raining cats and dogs. 

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   Most of us went to sleep wondering if we would be able to see the magic clouds in the morning.

Before dawn next day, we were awakened. Khánh urged us to get in a car to the Dinosaur Backbone peak without delay.

Because he has lived there for a long time, he senses when and where beautiful clouds will appear. It seems to depend on the seasons and time of day.

It was still raining, but much less than before. Khánh was correct. White clouds were flying up from the valleys. We had to reach Dinosaur Backbone as soon as possible to catch the beautiful images.

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Lake of clouds: Standing on top of Dinosaur Backbone Peak, one can see terraced fields and a valley filled with clouds. VNS Photo Trần Mai Hưởng

Three kilometres from the peak, our car could go no further as there was a landslide. We all continued by catching motorbike taxis servicing the remote area. My driver was fairly agile. He was only 16.

The last trek was only 2km, but extremely hard. From a distance, the path curving along the side of the mountain looked fairly romantic, but we slipped and fell when we took our first steps.

We had to overcome high slippery slopes in the rain. We pushed forward, pressing down with our toes on the path as there was nothing to hold on. We were lucky to reach Dinosaur Backbone peak together with many other young people hunting for clouds.

Then the sun started to shine. From the furthest edge of Dinosaur Backbone, we could see clouds hanging here and there.

The feeling of travelling on top of clouds, above the clouds, flying between land and sky was so special.

We took great photos of clouds of unforgettable scenes before it rained again.

Everything was then submerged in a huge grey blanket of fog. We returned to the small path with abysses on both sides.

The wind blew strong as if it would lift us off. What an experience!

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