Puerto princesa palawan

The list was compiled by the U.S. magazine based on its survey of 133 million tourists who visited the region in 2019 before the Covid-19 crisis broke out, resulting in border closures and travel restrictions.

“For those wishing to immerse themselves in the stunning terraced hills that Vietnam is renowned for, few destinations can compare to Lao Cai Province, a hilly region in the northernmost of the country,” Forbes wrote.

Lao Cai is famous for the popular highlands resort town Sa Pa that boasts a cool climate and green scenery, and is home to ethnic minority groups like the Hmong, Red Dao and Tay who started carving rice terraces into the mountains centuries ago and still use them today.

Rice terraces are at their beautiful best during harvest season from September to November each year, with parts of the town dyed golden yellow.

One of the famed tourist destinations in Lao Cai is Mount Fansipan at 3,145 meters (10,311 feet), nicknamed ‘the roof of Indochina’ and a Mecca for Vietnamese trekkers.

“For a truly memorable vacation, tourists can follow their visit with a trek across the Chinese border to Kunming, a verdant destination often called the “City of Eternal Spring,” the magazine said.

Other natural wonders it recommended in Southeast Asia are Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines, Thailand’s Red Lotus Lake, Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia and Indonesia’s Komodo Archipelago.

Vietnamese bread, known locally as Banh Mi, worn by H’Hen Nie at Miss Universe 2018 is named among the ten most unexpected national costumes in the pageant’s history.

According to Spot.ph based in Manila, the Philippines, the national costume segment is widely considered to be the most anticipated part of the Miss Universe pageant. Most notably, it is usually the segment which receives the most attention as women from all over the world represent their countries by taking to the stage in the most elaborate of ensembles.

The website has recently listed the 10 most unexpected national costumes worn by Miss Universe candidates throughout the past decade, with the bread outfit worn by Vietnamese representative H’Hen Nie in the 2018 contest making the list.

“Vietnam’s candidates sure know how to steal the show. In 2021, their candidate “hatched” on stage in an elaborate white outfit that resembled an egg; in 2019, their candidate wore a huge version of their instantly recognisable coffee filter as a headpiece, but before all that, H’Hen Nie slayed the stage in a banh mi dress,” as described by the website.

The Vietnamese outfit finished among the Top 12 of the best national costumes featured in Miss Universe 2018, marking the nation’s highest achievement in the segment to date.

H’Hen Nie, Miss Universe Vietnam 2017, represented the country in the world beauty contest and secured a Top 5 finish, the best result ever achieved by a Vietnamese contestant in the Miss Universe pageant.

Also among the list selected by the website are the national costumes worn by Miss Bahamas Shauntae Miller in 2020, Miss Malaysia Shweta Sekhon in 2019, Miss Laos On-anong Homsombath in 2018, Miss Singapore Zahra Khanum in 2018, and Miss Puerto Rico Kiara Ortega in 2018.

The finale of Miss Universe 2020 pageant took place on the morning of May 17 (Vietnam time) in Florida, USA with the participation of 73 beauty queens.

The newly crowned Miss Universe Andrea Meza is 1.82 m tall. She was Miss World 2017 runner-up. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th runner-up were the representatives of Brazil, Peru, India and the Dominican Republic, respectively.

India was the only Asian representative in the top 5. The remaining four contestants were from the Americas.

After the swimsuit competition, the top 10 contestants were from Jamaica, Dominican Republic, India, Peru, Australia, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

Earlier, the top 21 contestants were named, including Vietnam’s Khanh Van. Other contestants were representatives of Colombia, Peru, Australia, France, Myanmar, Jamaica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, USA, Indonesia, Argentina, India, Curacao, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Myanmar…

The Ho Chi Minh City-born girl donned a red swimsuit on stage during the pageant’s grand final fulling the announcement of the competition’s Top 21 finalists.

Khanh Van, 26, stands at 1.76 metres tall and measures 83-61-95. She was previously crowned as Miss Universe Vietnam 2019, thereby winning the right to represent the country at the Miss Universe 2020 pageant.

She had arrived in the US on May 2 and competed alongside 73 contestants from around the world over a two-week period in several different events as part of the pageant, including the national costume, evening gown, and swimsuit sub-contests, in addition to the semi-final night.

The Miss Universe 2020 pageant had initially been delayed by six months due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The 69th version of the global beauty contest saw the participation of 74 entrants, 16 less compared to the 60th version held in 2019.

The majority of countries to withdraw their contestants from the pageant are from Africa and Europe, although Cameroon chose to send a representative for the first time, whilst Germany has not taken part in the contest since 1952.

Giai Tri