Nha Trang is the provincial capital of Khanh Hoa . One of its most valuable specialities is salangan). Of course, a salangane is not a swift or swallow. It builds its nest with its saliva while a swift does it with dried blades of grass. While the swift symbolizes spring-time, a salangane is more often associated with royal banquets. In Vietnamese, salangane nest banquet is synonymous with prolonged feasting and entertainment. Salangane nests in Vietnam are found mostly on the cliffs of lime-stone islands off the coast of Central Vietnam, more particularly Khanh Hoa province. The salanganes build their nests on 12 islets stretching nearly 120 kilometres along the coast. In the first harvest of 1992, Kha¡nh Hoa Salangane Nest Company collected almost one and a half tonnes of nests. At the rate of about 15 million Vietnam dong per kilogram, you can see how important this commodity is for the economy of Khanh Hoa province. However, twenty years or so ago, Khanh Hoa yielded only two hundred to three hundred kilos of nests a year. There may be many reasons for the quick increase of the salangane nest harvest in Khanh Hoa , but it is undeniable that the birds are better protected in their habitats and their flocks have steadily grown since the company began systematic control and explotation of the nests on all offshore islands. Only when you talk with a nest collector or watch him climb the cliff can you see the great risk involved in this job. The trade seems almost hereditary, everyone in a family of nest collectors can be called a circus artist in his own right. The team leader is the commander and the soul of the team. During the harvest season, they will spend whole weeks on uninhabited islands wearing only a loin cloth and exposing themselves all day to the scorching sun or the lashing of rainstorms. Since each nest weighs on the average only ten grams, they have to collect several days just for one kilo of nests. Hence the salangane nest is highly valued not as much by its legendary nutritious content as the risk involved in collecting it. How long have they been collecting these nests in Khanh Hoa ? About 600 years according to the book "Geography of Bich Dam Hamlet" which also says that the founder of this trade is LĂª Van Ă?t, a high mandarin of the court of King Tran Minh Tan (1327). History relates that together with Huynh Van Thang, another high mandarin, La Van At was assigned by the king to escort Princess Thanh Chau to Trao Qua (Indonesia) to become the wife of that country''s monarch. On their way back, their boat was sunk by a storm and they drifted to the coast of Khanh Hoa and settled in this coastal area. A native of Chau Hoan Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces also abundant in salanganes, La Van At did not lose any time ordering his soldiers to collect the nests on the offshore islands of Khanh Hoa. The ruins of the temple dedicated to him and historical documents relating to this mandarin are still kept at Bach ?m hamlet. Since salagane nests are a high-priced product, LA Van At's undertaking was not long to draw the attention of the pirates who had always roamed the South China Sea. The need arose for La Van At's men to also increase their combat skills. One of the most famous figures in those days whose name is mentioned in history books is Lady La Thi Huynh Tran, a descendant of La Van At. She was one of the most talented women generals of the Tay Son King entrusted with the defence of the coastal area. She made salangane nests a major source of income to feed her army in the fight against frequent inroads by troops of Nguyen Anh (future King Gia Long and founder of Nha Nguyen. She was killed during a naval battle near Hon Ngoai island. She was later worshipped as "Salangane Island Goddess", Temples in her memory are still seen on many islets near the shore of Khanh Hoa . If you chance to come to the seaside resort of Nha Trang, don''t miss the salangane islets of Khanh Hoa which offer an ideal place for mountaineers, ornithologists as well as archaeologists. PONAGA FRAGRANCE OF A FESTIVE TIME Ponaga festival is one of the strangest festivals found in Vietnam. Held in the third lunar month on its 22nd, 23rd and 24th days, the festival attracts thousands of people from all corners of the country to the area of Thap Ba ( Nha Trang). The festival starts on the 20th of the month by a ceremony to ''change the clothes''. This is in fact a prayer session beginning from 12 noon till 13h00 to give the ''Ba'' or the Goddess new clothes. After the ceremony, people would rush inside the stupa to pray and offer flowers and incense. The festival is organized in 3 days, but the pilgrims usually arrive here one day in advance. At the stupa, there might be some 7-8 thousand people at a time. In 1995, the Ponaga Stupa Conservation Board has spent VND 40 million for the preparational works including the meals for the pilgrims. The board even takes care of the pilgrims'' dormitories, so that none is not properly given food and accommodation during the three days of festivity. Maybe there is no festival in Vietnam that gives free food and lodging to the participants like this one. When the main festival starts, the prayer session to seek the Goddess'' blessings for a prosperous peaceful country goes first. Then comes the dragon dance and the pilgrims would offer their devotion in groups. At the same time, various art troupes would also perform outside the stupa. The centre-point of these performances is always those by the Ninh Thuan Cham Performing Group who would appear in their colourful ethnic dresses, carrying flowers or five-colour lanterns on their heads. Floating along the rhythm of the drums, they skillfully show the Cham Pa-inspired traditional dances. On another stage, the Khanh Hoa tung Theatre (traditional drama) would give the people its best plays like '' Fairy Offers Five Magic Flags'' etc. These types of entertainment held during the festival make it much aspired. Pilgrims would burn the incense and offer flowers to commemorate Goddess Ponaga who had given her people the skills to produce rice, cloth and other things. They would ask the Mother Goddess to grant them with ''talent, prosperity and name in society'' as well as thousands of other unnamed things a human being would like to ask. They show their respects and faith without any distinction of social classes, gender or incomes. In front of the stupa, there are 2 donation boxes for people to secretly offer to the Goddess. Each in turn would receive back some betel-nuts, sweets etc. The Ponaga Festival usually ends with another prayer session as thanksgiving and rice presented to the homeless. The fragrance and memories of the festival would follow them back, encouraging them to materialize the good deeds they committed to do till the next one. (VNS) A SENSORY DELIGHT IN THE PAGODA GARDEN Until recently, visitors to Nha Trang and the Long Son pagoda were only greeted by a white smiling Buddha in meditation at the top of a hill amongst pure winds and a blue sky. But now visitors to this serene place are surprised and startled when they come across the indescribable beauty of a unique garden. This carefully planned oasis stands as a veritable paradise amidst the material world. The pagoda garden has become one of Nha Trang's most famous beauty spots. Occupying around two acres, the garden has taken seven years to establish. It is located to the right of the pagoda entrance and when visitors enter it, they are struck by how calm the atmosphere is. It''s a calmness that soothes away the troubles and worries of modern life. Each leisurely step into this ever changing world draws the visitor into an extraordinary visual and olfactory experience. Trees and flowers are in exquisite patterns reflecting the heavy influence of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Nothing in the garden seems to follow any particular order, sights simply appear for a brief instant and then disappear to be replaced by another equally delightful. One seems to be in the midst of a Tai Chi matrix. The more of the garden you discover, the more your interest is kindled to continue along the path. Step after step, you are drawn onwards into an ever changing gamut of olfactory and sensory pleasure. Cottages made in the style of Japanese temples emerge from a large lotus pond. A peaceful thatched house is home to a display of statues carefully crafted from tree roots. Another cottage with a curved roof and wooden sides contains statues of the Arhats and Buddhas. It is surrounded by yet another lotus pond which you cross by means of beautiful wooden bridges which span the pond like small rainbows. As you move around the garden, the cocktail of tropical fruits and flowers are vibrant. There is even a Sala tree from India, the same kind of tree which marks the spot where Sakyamuni Buddha entered Mahaparinirvana. Scattered among the strange trees and flowers are slabs of stone upon which simple and sublime sentences from Buddhist sutras are carved for all to read. And of course to think about. "Do good, avoid evil", "A victory upon thousands of enemies is not a victory, but a victory upon oneself is indeed the most glorious one", "To do a thing, one should think of its consequences". Most worthy of admiration is a two-metre high dark brown Sakymuni Buddha sitting under the cool shadow of a bodhi tree. Opposite is a rich green lawn with a pure white Kwan Yin, one hand in dharma mudra, the other holding the elixir, receiving stories from Thien Tai Dong Tu (a pair of virgin gods and goddess). In two large ponds, one in the shape of an oval, the other of a mango, are home to fish released by followers of Buddhism at times of festival. In the ponds are ornamental mountain scenes with temples, caves and trees making them a sight to behold. In the background is golden bamboo, the perfect backdrop to the colourful plants and bonzai decorations around the ponds. The gardens are not simply the result of a great deal of sweat and tears, but quite obviously, they are the result of years of love and affection on the part of their creators. They are quite simply a masterpiece and one which cannot be overlooked by anybody with an eye for aesthetic quality.
