HÀ NỘI — The Friends of Vietnam Heritage (FVH) will organise two interesting activities this weekend.

The first one is a two-day excursion to a hot spring resort in Phú Thọ Province on Friday and Saturday. Inside the rejuvenating resort, set on an island in the river, are a number of hot spring baths including some filled with with lemon, tea, and herbs. 

This is a local non-tourist experience and the group members will have exclusive use of the resort on Friday while Saturday will be busy as more people come to spend the weekend at the there.

Donation: around VNĐ700,000-850,000/person (includes transport, accommodation). Registration: John at john@fvheritage.org

The second activity is a day trip to Hạ Mỗ historic village and Bá Dương Nội kite-making village on Sunday.

In the morning, after arriving Hạ Mỗ village in Đan Phượng District, representatives from the local People’s Committee will show the group around their historic village.

After a picnic lunch in the village, the group will continue their excursion in afternoon in Bá Dương Nội Village – a 1,000 year-old kite making village. The kites are made in the shapes of crescent moons or boats, attached to wooden flutes. The wind passes through the flutes and the sounds of soft melodies can be heard. Bá Dương Nội has a reputation as one of Việt Nam’s major kite flying centres. 

President of the Hồng Hà Kite Club Nguyễn Hữu Kiêm will take time out of his busy schedule to host the visit of FVH members to his house. He will also conduct a workshop on how to make a small kite. Attendees will learn about the history and traditions of the village, information on the village’s annual kite festival. If the weather is windy enough, the workshop attendees can fly the kites they make.

Donation:  VNĐ350,000/adults and VNĐ175,000/children, including kite-making workshop. Excludes refreshments/lunch. Limit:  20 people. Registration: Stella Ciorra at stella@fvheritage.org (01662 979 605). — VNS