B: Gerry Neumann of England told us: “Last week I received a VOV pennant and a verification card for my reception report dated 11th March. Thank you for this. Unfortunately, it reminded me that I haven’t been in touch since March, and I’m sorry about that, although I’ve been listening regularly as before.”
A: Gerry Neumann often visits Vietnam in the summer. But we had no communication from him until his email arrived on Monday. It’s great to hear from you again, Gerry, and that you still listen to our programs regularly.
B: Gerry said: “Reception on shortwave in the south of England is virtually impossible, so my listening is always via the Internet. For example, reception on July 22nd at 16UTC on 7280 KHz SINPO 15441 and on 9730 KHz SINPO 11451.”
A: It’s a pity that you can’t receive our shortwave channel. Thank you, Gerry, for your report. We’ll forward your remarks to our technical staff to pinpoint the problem. Fortunately, our programs are available on the Internet and you didn’t miss them.
A: Gerry said: “After the news there was a song about ‘Honouring the beauty of street vendors’. The Sunday Show featured 2 individuals who shared their great love for antiques. The first one, a 58-year-old teacher, has collected around 4,000 old coins and notes. He keeps them in glass show cases and has been collecting for 20 years. The second man is a painter from Ho Chi Minh City. He owns more than 1,700 old clocks that are displayed on walls, tables, and on and under chairs. Some of his clocks are as small as the palm of a hand, others reach from the floor to the ceiling, and they date from the 18th, 19th and 20th century.”
 Teach Pham Van Thanh and his treasure of and cash collection.
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B: There are a lot of fun things to collect in this world. On VOV’s programs, we have featured collectors of stamps, hand-written letters, old books, musical instruments of ethnic groups, paintings, old radios, cassettes, gramophones, bonsai trees, and much more.
A: I think a person is more interesting if they have a hobby, and one of the most popular hobbies is collecting. Whether you collect something odd, unique, funny, or rare, it tells others what you care about.
 Part of Thanh's collection
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B: Many of our listeners are collectors of stamps, postcards, QSL cards, and pennants of radio stations. We’d love to hear about your hobby and collections.
A: Richard Nowak of the US also listened to the Sunday Show about the two collectors. He told us: “The great Sunday Show featured collectors of antiquities. A coin and note collector who sold some of his other antiquities to collect old money was interviewed. I enjoyed tonight’s show. The Vietnamese news was detailed and gives us great insight into happenings in Vietnam. The World News covered important international topics of the day. The Sunday Show was educational and fun. Voice of Vietnam is a radio gem. Thanks for the show and your support of shortwave!”
 Part of Thanh's collection |
B: Thank you very much for your regular feedback on our program, Richard. Its great to know that the signal on 7315 kHz from 1:00 to 1:27 UTC was heard perfectly with SINPO rating at all 5s. We’ve checked your reception report and will send you a QSL card soon.
A: Siddhartha Bhattacharjee, President of the Chaitak Listeners Club in India wants to know about Vietnam’s highest mountain. Without a doubt, Vietnam’s most significant peak is Fansipan.
B: Located in the northwest region of Vietnam and standing at over 3,000m, Fansipan is the highest mountain in Vietnam. It is often referred to as the "roof of Indochina", including Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
A: It usually takes two or three days to complete a trek to the top of Fansipan and return. There is a small village and camp ground on the mountain in which to shelter. The mountain is a great source of pride for northerners and many travellers fall in love with adventure tourism when they climb this peak.
B: Fansipan is well known for having very diverse flora and fauna, with over 2,000 floral varieties and 300 species of animals living on this impressive mountain. In 2016 a cable car was constructed which takes visitors most of the way up Fansipan in a 20-minute ascent through the clouds.
A: The cable car was an ambitious project. It's the longest three-rope cable car in the world at just over 6km, with a vertical ascent of more than 1,500 metres. Vietnam’s northern mountain region is famous for adventure tours and hiking. It boasts the 10 highest mountains in Vietnam. Pu Ta Leng, the second highest mountain in Indochina, dubbed “the Second Roof of Indochina”, is also located in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.
B: Others peaks are popular destinations for adventure travelers. Mountain trekking has certain risks but is worth to people who love exploring and observing the nature. Without a local guide, you could get lost.
A: Now let’s continue reading letters from listeners. Pravotorov Kostiantyn of Ukraine listened to our program on July 18 on the frequency of 9730 khz. He rated SINPO 35343. Dilipkumar Sarkar, a doctor and radio listener in India, listened to VOV’s broadcasts on July 23. He sent us a recording of our radio programme so we could check the transmission quality in his location.
B: Didarul Iqbal of Bangladesh listened to VOV’s Vietnam’s English program on June 25 on 7220 khz. Using a Grundig receiver with a telescopic rod and data cable antenna, Iqbal listened to our program in good conditions. The overall quality was 4, he said.
A: Deekay Dimple of India listened to our broadcast on July 16 on 7280 khz. He said “I listened to “Colorful Vietnam – Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups” about the culture of the Dao ethnic group. The Dao song you played was really wonderful. I found today's program informative and entertaining.”
B: Christopher Brunstrom of Sweden sent a reception report for a program on July 17 on 9730 khz. He told us about the weather in his country: “We are currently experiencing a heat wave here in Sweden, with lots of bad forest fires. Last night we had rain in Halmstad for the first time in two months. Climate change is upon us.”
A: It’s good news that it finally rained and lessened the risk of more wildfires. Here in Vietnam we’re experiencing unusual weather, such as intense typhoons, heavy floods, and prolonged droughts. Many casualties were reported in the last storm, which caused heavy flooding. Climate change is taking a toll on all of us around the world and Vietnam is among the hardest hit countries.
B: Before we end today’s program, let us remind you of our address: English Section, VOVWorld, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Thank you for listening and we look forward to your regular feedback. Please join us again next Wednesday for another edition of the Letter Box. Goodbye.