http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/travel/070706/travel_tr.htm



The Central Acupuncture Institute and Phuong Bac Travel Company
have started a tour in combination with treating diseases by using
acupuncture. The tour includes two key forms: convalescent travelling
and disease treatment tourism at the institute.

There will two doctors and four professional convalesce experts joining
a tour with about 20 tourists to give acupuncture healthcare to tourists,
said professor Nguyen Tai Thu, head of the programme.

At present, the Central Acupuncture Institute has made a detailed
programme for treating 56 normal diseases such as backache, vestibule
disorders, sleeplessness and headache.

The tour has kicked off with a group tourists from Australia and "we will
receive the second group of tourists from Sweden," said Nguyen Viet
Thai, deputy head of the tour programme.

The Australian tourists called at the Acupuncture Institute, received
overall medicinal checks-up and have a medicinal herb bath in
combination with sauna and massage, Mr Thai added.

Swedish tourists will ask doctors and point acupuncture experts to travel
along with them to different places of interest in Vietnam, said Mr Thai.

Those who want to book the tour can dial 0903209151 at Phuong Bac
Tourism Company or dial 04.5632.577 at the Central Acupuncture
Institute.

One of the interesting things of the tour is "having medicinal herb bath,
eating medicinal herb soup and medicinal herb sauna and massage,"
according to the institute. Tourists bathe in a wooden bucket with water
cooked from medicinal herbs. This service package costs VND 120,000
(US $8) a tourist.

At present, the Central Acupuncture Institute has 30 bathrooms, being
able to serve 50 tourists at the same time.

"With the current number of staff members, apart from serving tourists
at the institute, we can send doctors and acupuncture experts to meet
the need of only one or two groups of tourists. But, with the tendency,
the tour will develop rapidly in the future," said Mr Thai.