‘A Journey Through Culture and Cuisine’: Alma Unveils Cultural Immersion Experience 

CAM RANH, Vietnam – With Vietnamese food popular the world over, a resort on Vietnam’s southern coastline has cooked up a culinary journey that delves into centuries-long traditions, bringing new meaning to the humble bowl of phở.

Alma Resort on Vietnam’s Cam Ranh peninsula has joined forces with boutique travel agency Zazen Travel to launch ‘A Journey Through Culture and Cuisine’, a cultural immersion experience anchored by an interactive cooking class.

The adventure begins with participants rummaging through colourful and lively Cam Duc Market to experience the local way of life, and learn about fresh, local ingredients to be used in the cooking class.

The small, intimate group then visits a unique cobblestone temple in Cam Lam, the only one of its kind in Vietnam and possibly the world. Through perseverance and faith, the temple has taken monk Thich Tam Phuoc 24 years to build and counting.

The journey also entails a stop at a mango garden to learn about the importance of mango cultivation and harvesting to the area, accompanied by a cup of mango tea.

The budding chefs then return to Alma to learn recipes that have been handed down the generations. Together they cook quintessential Vietnamese dishes including bò lá lốt (ground beef wrapped in betel leaves), chả giò tươi (fresh spring rolls) and phở (Vietnamese soup with bone broth, rice noodles and meat).

Guests then indulge their creations together for lunch and take home a recipe book and an apron, along with new memories.

“As they say: ‘You have to taste a culture to understand it’. You can’t get a much more authentic experience in Vietnam than sharing a meal, cooked from scratch,” said Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler. “We hope our guests will return home with not only a remarkable repertoire of authentic dishes with which to impress their dinner guests but also new friends for life.”

For more information, visit alma-resort.com. To make a booking, email info@alma-resort.com

About Alma 

Situated on Vietnam’s emerging Cam Ranh peninsula fronting Long Beach, Alma resort commands some 30 hectares of inspiring ground. Emblematic of Vietnam’s maturation as a destination, the bold and spacious integrated resort offers 580 oversized suites and pavilions that all afford sweeping vistas of the ocean, including contemporary three bedroom oceanfront pavilions each totalling 224sqm with a living room, four bathrooms and a private pool. Alma features a broad spectrum of restaurants helmed by top chefs, a food court with an array of local and international cuisine, as well as a sports bar, pool bar and beach bar. Other highlights include 12 swimming pools cascading down to the beach, a waterpark, 13-treatment room spa, 75-seat cinema, convention centre, amphitheater, science museum, gymnasium and yoga room, 18-hole mini golf course, a youth centre with virtual reality games, a kid’s club, water sports centre, a sustainable organic farm and even an ‘Alma Mart’ mini supermarket.

Alma Resort’s New Street-Style Venue Pays Tribute to Vietnam’s Vibrant Sidewalk Culture

In Vietnam the sidewalk is used for much more than walking. The curb comes to life with coffee and street food vendors, barbers, exercise groups, mobile masseuses, shoe shiners, street performers and then some.

To pay homage to the quintessential Vietnamese pastime of spending hours sipping brews on the pavement with friends, 30-hectare beachfront resort Alma, a Preferred Hotels & Resorts member, has launched Cam Ranh’s most hip and happening venue, Chill’s Snack & Bar.

Open from 5pm-10pm daily, the street-style venue is anchored by two American-style food trucks to a backdrop of the resort’s vast Alma Amphitheater. Plenty of plastic tables and chairs are assembled on and alongside the tarmac of one of the resort’s onsite service roads. Twilight lights strung between palm trees create a warm ambiance as the afternoon morphs into the evening.

Chill’s menu features a selection of popular street beverages such as Vietnamese coffees, fresh fruit juices, milk teas including bubble milk teas, iced teas and soft drinks. The venue’s signature coffees are coconut coffee and coffee with fresh milk and tapioca pearls. In addition to Saigon, Tiger and Heineken beers, Chill’s also serves cocktails such as ‘Amphitheater Sunset’ with tequila, orange, grenadine, crème de cassis and lime.

The likes of seafood pizza, fruit, fried fish balls, shrimp salad, meat sandwiches, cheese sticks, lemongrass chicken feet, and popcorn are written up on Chill’s menu board daily.

Entertainment ranges from nightly movies screened under the stars at the amphitheater to live music by performers such as the resort’s resident singer Engie to fire twirlers and flair tenders. Competitions such as high walking competitions are staged for national and global holidays as well as other special occasions.

Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler said the resort’s temporary eight-month closure, due to a flare-up of COVID-19 in Vietnam before Alma’s reopening on January 15, “was a prime opportunity for our team to get creative, spawning the concept for Chill’s as a street-style venue that welcomes locals and tourists alike”.

“Everyone who has been to Vietnam knows that everyone is welcome to join the community on the pavement; it is part and parcel of experiencing Vietnam’s culture and its culinary delights famous the world over,” said Laubichler-Pichler.

“We are the only resort in our location that doesn’t have a wall around us. I genuinely believe Chill’s is an open house; like on Vietnam’s ubiquitous sidewalks, everyone is welcome to chill out here and relish life’s simple pleasures.”

For more information, or to make a booking, visit alma-resort.com, call +84 258 399 1666 or email reservation@alma-resort.com