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Da Lat in a foggy morning. Photo from VnExpress Photo Contest/Duong Kim Khang
The
highland towns are loved for their cool weather, green scenes and ethnic
culture.
Still
don’t know where your next vacation should be?
Vietnam’s
charming towns Da Lat and Sa Pa have entered a new list of the top 10 rising
destinations in Asia by popular travel booking site TripAdvisor, which said the
places should be best vacation choices for 2017.
The
Travelers’ Choice awards for Destinations on the Rise, released on Wednesday,
recognized 43 destinations around the world selected based on travelers’ review
ratings for accommodations, restaurants and attractions, and increase in
booking interest.
Da
Lat, situated 1,500 meters above sea level in the Central Highlands, came at
number four in the top 10 list of rising destinations in Asia and Sa Pa in the
northern highlands at number six.
Given
various nicknames such as the city of eternal spring, the city of flowers and
the city of love, Da Lat is recommended for providing a cool respite from
Vietnam’s year-round hot weather. The former colonial resort town is full of
beautiful French-era buildings and surrounded by pine trees, flowers and
vegetables farms.
A vegetables farm in Da Lat. Photo from VnExpress Photo Contest/Pham Phuoc
In
January, the New
York Times also recommended Da Lat among 52 places to
go in 2016, describing it as “an agricultural El Dorado” with unique scenes of
pine forests, locally grown avocados, and artichoke tea.Tourists are
recommended to visit Linh Phuoc Pagoda, an intricate structure built in 1950
with ceilings, walls and installations made from millions of pieces of broken
glass, terracotta and beer bottles, Truc Lam Zen Buddhist temple, and the
roaring Elephant Falls, where they can take adventures with rafting, mountain
biking and canyoning.
Rice terraces around Sa Pa. Photo
from VnExpress Photo Contest/Ta Viet Hai
Favorite
places among tourists are Muong Hoa Valley, which offers spectacular views of
cascading rice terraces, peaks and forests, the Indochina’s peak Fansipan, and
local terraced rice fields, which have been considered one of the most
magnificent scenes on earth.
Around
2,000 kilometers to the north is Sa Pa, known for its trekking trails. The colorful
town is recognized as a perfect oasis for travelers in strenuous mountain trek
or rice paddy tour. Tourists can visit the Saturday night “love market,” the
Gothic stone church at the town center which is the reminder of the French
missionary influence, and many downtown Vietnamese and European restaurants.
Other
favorite destinations in Asia are in Malaysia, which have three entries,
Azerbaijan, India, Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. Visitors can also
learn about interesting culture by traveling through hill tribe villages.
“These
destinations are fast gaining interest and popularity amongst our community of
travelers all over the world,” Janice Lee Fang, communications director for
TripAdvisor, Asia Pacific, said as cited by the Pacific Asia Travel
Association.
“We
hope these winning lists will inspire those planning trips in 2017 to consider
booking their holidays with some of these rising destinations, be it Baku, Da
Lat or Kuching.”
Foreign
tourists to Vietnam hit a record high of nine million in the first 11 months
this year, up 25.4 percent from a year ago
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