Tran Thi Tuyet Nga first arrived in Cu Chi in 1961 when the area was peacefuland plentiful. When she went back 10 years later, Cu Chi was a desolatebattlefield during the American War, where nothing could survive above ground.Nga lived in a tunnel, fought and witnessed thousands of comrades sacrificetheir lives.
Her memories of those times inspired her. She had a dreamto build something wonderful there and in 1991 the first bricks were transportedto Bo Cap (Scorpion) pier, Phu Binh hamlet, An Phu commune, Cu Chi district.
It has taken 18 years of hard work, determination and sacrifice andnearly 100 billion VND (around 7 million USD) for Nga and her partners toconvert the swampy, crater-filled battleground into the attractive "A Glance ofViet Nam" tourism park.
Covering 22.5ha, the park contains 53 houses,8km of road and 2.3km of irrigation canal. The designers had to use 700,000cu.mof fill and 4,000 cajuput piles to reclaim it from the swamp. Nga’s vision wasto make a place that celebrated everything that Viet Nam had to offer.
The temple for country is the most exciting place. The mortar used tobuild the altar contains soil and water taken from famous landmarks of Viet Nam,including the country’s most northern part of Lung Cu Mountain in Ha Giang; DienBien Phu where the army was victorious against the French; Co Loa ancientcitadel – the legendary capital of ancient Viet Nam; and Truong Son NationalCemetery, where 10,000 War martyrs are laid to rest.
"The temple forcountry is the place where we pray for a strong and wealthy Viet Nam," Nga,chairwoman of the park, said.
Outside the temple, three ironwood pilesfrom the Bach Dang River in the northern port city of Hai Phong are on display.
They were used by General Ngo Quyen to defeat the Chinese navy’sinvasion in 938.
An exhibition has displays of artifacts from the Dinh,Le, Ly and Tran dynasties, and various wars over the past several thousandyears.
There is a 55m long map of Viet Nam with surrounds designed likea Vietnamese bronze drum.
One of the park’s great achievements is theselection of traditional houses from different parts of the country – a typicalnorthern house, a traditional southern residence, a mud house from the centralprovince of Binh Dinh, a ruong wooden dwelling from Hue, a rong long house fromthe central highlands, and a long house of the E De ethnic people.
Allhouses here were made of local materials using workers from the area.
"We want everything to be as real as possible. I hope the collectionwill be meaningful for visitors," Nga said.
The park is also set up likea craft village featuring craftspeople doing rattan and silk weaving, woodcarving, aquaculture rice cultivation, ornamental planting, embroidery andconical hat making. The craftspeople have been brought from their villages andare happy to talk about how they do it. "I’ve lived and worked here for eightyears. My job is much more stable than if I worked outside," wood craftsmanNguyen Thanh Trung said.
The park also has a collection of 500 differenttypes of trees, including 50 kinds of bamboo.
"Viet Nam is the home ofbamboo and we aim to make more products from it," Nga added.
Restaurantsserve food from the three regions.
Recently the park has included musicand dance performances by young Thai ethnic women from the northern province ofYen Bai.
A traditional playground lets children see the games theirancestors played when they were kids.
"The park is good for families todiscover their culture and history," Nguyen Van My, director of Lua Viet Tourcompany, said.
"We would like to do something for the land. It is a wayfor us to promote our culture in a unique way," Nga said.
The tourismpark is 60km from downtown HCM City./.
Her memories of those times inspired her. She had a dreamto build something wonderful there and in 1991 the first bricks were transportedto Bo Cap (Scorpion) pier, Phu Binh hamlet, An Phu commune, Cu Chi district.
It has taken 18 years of hard work, determination and sacrifice andnearly 100 billion VND (around 7 million USD) for Nga and her partners toconvert the swampy, crater-filled battleground into the attractive "A Glance ofViet Nam" tourism park.
Covering 22.5ha, the park contains 53 houses,8km of road and 2.3km of irrigation canal. The designers had to use 700,000cu.mof fill and 4,000 cajuput piles to reclaim it from the swamp. Nga’s vision wasto make a place that celebrated everything that Viet Nam had to offer.
The temple for country is the most exciting place. The mortar used tobuild the altar contains soil and water taken from famous landmarks of Viet Nam,including the country’s most northern part of Lung Cu Mountain in Ha Giang; DienBien Phu where the army was victorious against the French; Co Loa ancientcitadel – the legendary capital of ancient Viet Nam; and Truong Son NationalCemetery, where 10,000 War martyrs are laid to rest.
"The temple forcountry is the place where we pray for a strong and wealthy Viet Nam," Nga,chairwoman of the park, said.
Outside the temple, three ironwood pilesfrom the Bach Dang River in the northern port city of Hai Phong are on display.
They were used by General Ngo Quyen to defeat the Chinese navy’sinvasion in 938.
An exhibition has displays of artifacts from the Dinh,Le, Ly and Tran dynasties, and various wars over the past several thousandyears.
There is a 55m long map of Viet Nam with surrounds designed likea Vietnamese bronze drum.
One of the park’s great achievements is theselection of traditional houses from different parts of the country – a typicalnorthern house, a traditional southern residence, a mud house from the centralprovince of Binh Dinh, a ruong wooden dwelling from Hue, a rong long house fromthe central highlands, and a long house of the E De ethnic people.
Allhouses here were made of local materials using workers from the area.
"We want everything to be as real as possible. I hope the collectionwill be meaningful for visitors," Nga said.
The park is also set up likea craft village featuring craftspeople doing rattan and silk weaving, woodcarving, aquaculture rice cultivation, ornamental planting, embroidery andconical hat making. The craftspeople have been brought from their villages andare happy to talk about how they do it. "I’ve lived and worked here for eightyears. My job is much more stable than if I worked outside," wood craftsmanNguyen Thanh Trung said.
The park also has a collection of 500 differenttypes of trees, including 50 kinds of bamboo.
"Viet Nam is the home ofbamboo and we aim to make more products from it," Nga added.
Restaurantsserve food from the three regions.
Recently the park has included musicand dance performances by young Thai ethnic women from the northern province ofYen Bai.
A traditional playground lets children see the games theirancestors played when they were kids.
"The park is good for families todiscover their culture and history," Nguyen Van My, director of Lua Viet Tourcompany, said.
"We would like to do something for the land. It is a wayfor us to promote our culture in a unique way," Nga said.
The tourismpark is 60km from downtown HCM City./.
