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Situated roughly eight km away from Cat Ba town, it takes about 30 minutes to travel to the Hospital Cave by motorbike. The cave can easily be found by following the signs along the road. The three-metre wide entrance is located halfway up the mountain, meaning visitors must climb up a wooden staircase. Previously, the cave was named after Hung Son, a military general who served during the era of the Tran Dynasty. He is said to have been the first person to have discovered this cave in the 13th century. From 1963 to 1965, as the American War escalated, a field hospital was established in order to treat wounded soldiers and shelter them from attacks. Following this, local people started to refer to it as the ‘Hospital Cave’. This hospital has about 17 rooms for patients along with a number of other rooms for doctors. It also has a physical recovery room, meeting room, a kitchen room, a medicine room, and a weapons r...

The uniqueness of the ancient brick village lies in its kilns, with each of them having a height of 5-12 meters and a round tower shape, creating a distinctive architectural complex. Mang Thit is also regarded as a village of traditional craftsmanship and tourism. Such a perfect combination drives up the village’s economic growth. Blocks molded in clay are sunbathed before being put into a kiln for burning in the Mang Thit brick village in Mang Thit District, Vinh Long Province, Vietnam.   Vinh Long Province offers supportive policies to local craftsmen and gives special mechanisms to turn the brick hub into the ‘Mang Thit contemporary cultural heritage’ to further boost socio-economic development. Nam Lon, whose real name is Le Van Lon, a 72-year-old resident of Nhon Phu Commune, Mang Thit District, has over 40 years of brick-making experience. In boom times, the village had over 2,800 kilns, but it is now home to only 1,000 furnaces, w...

Former French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean-Noël Poirier and former New Zealand Ambassador Haike Manning both served in Vietnam from 2012 to 2016 – a tenure which left such an impression on each of them that they both chose to stay in the country following their ambassadorships. Ex-ambassador’s laundromat service   Former French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean-Noël Poirier left diplomatic service following his term in Vietnam, but he didn’t choose to leave the country.   Instead, he opened three laundromats in Hanoi, one of which managed to stay open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic while the other two only recently reopened following financial hardship brought about by the coronavirus. But laundromats are just a side hustle for Porier. When he’s not busy making sure Hanoians have clean clothes, he manages a foreign investment consulting business in the Southeast Asian country. While the pandemic essentially put a hold on foreign investment in Vietnam, the country’s rapid ...