TRAVEL IN BRIEF 9/10

Binh Thuan prepares for Cham festival
Binh Thuan Province is preparing hard for the Kate festival of the Cham people which will be held at Po Sah Inu Tower in Phan Thiet City next weekend.
The festival will feature a procession of palanquins and costumes of Po Sah Inu Goddess, a cake-making contest and an exhibition of brocades and ceramics where visitors can witness the Cham people making them. The festival will also have a series of music and dance performances as well as folk games that tourists can participate in.
Caravelle publishes 50th anniversary book
The Caravelle Hotel in HCM City has published a book covering the space it has occupied over a half-century of war and peace in Viet Nam.
Built to be the country’s most luxurious hotel when opened in 1959, the five-star Caravelle became the offices and homes of journalistic luminaries who covered the Viet Nam War as well as the embassies of Australia and New Zealand.
As Sai Gon’s unofficial press club, the Caravelle was frequented by policy makers and media icons like Peter Arnett, Neil Sheehan, David Halberstam and Walter Cronkite. It also housed the offices of a number of international press organisations during the war period, like the CBS News, the ABC News and The New York Times.
HCMC to host Taste of the World festival
The fourth "Taste of the World Festival 2009" will be organised at the September 23 Park in HCM City’s District 1 from December 3 to 6 with the participation of 24 countries.
Some 80,000 people are expected to enjoy the four-day festival which will focus on increasing awareness of environment protection and hygiene and highlight environmentally friendly items to hold take-away food, according to La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
‘Taste of the World Festival 2009’ will open with a parade through Le Lai, Nguyen Thi Nghia and Pham Ngu Lao streets on the night of December 3. A rock show promoting beverages will be staged on the night of December 4.