Northern province to launch spiritual tours from August
Update: Jul 11, 2014
The northern province of Lao Cai will offer a tour of Mother Goddess worshipping sites along the Red River from August 10, hoping to draw more visitors to the border locality.

Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Huu Son on July 10 said the tour will go through six temples in Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces, four of the destinations are located in Lao Cai.

More sections of the Noi Bai – Lao Cai Highway will be open to traffic in this August, shortening the travel time between capital Hanoi and the province, Son said, adding that he hopes more than 10,000 visitors will take this tour.

The worship of Mother Goddess is a folk belief that addresses the concerns believers have in their daily and a way to express their desires for good fortune.

Apart from the spiritual tour, Lao Cai also plans to organise lantern and street festivals in its resort city of Sapa in October.

An international marathon tournament will be held in Sapa on September 20 – 21 with the participation of some 450 athletes from 43 countries and territories.

In early September, the province will launch eight new tours and offer promotion packages such as discounts in ticket and service prices, the official announced.

Lao Cai is one of the tourism hot spots in Viet Nam’s north-western region, and its Sapa is a must-see place of interest.

In 2012, Sapa was among the five most favourite destinations of Viet Nam. Its terraced rice fields were also selected as one of the seven terrace wonders of Southeast Asia.

VNA