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Vietnam cultural tour

COUNTRY:
Vietnam
LOCATION:
Mekong Delta, North Vietnam, South Vietnam
DEPARTURES:
Departs most Sundays throughout the year
PRICE:
From £1365 - £1885 (14 days) including domestic flights only
MORE INFO:
Based on twin share. Price includes all breakfasts Western tour leader (7 or more passengers booked onto the tour). Hotels (13 nts). Breakfast daily, 3 lunches, all sightseeing as specified including entrance fees, tour arrival & departure transfers. We can arrange flights from the UK from £750pp.
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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Vietnam cultural tour

Vietnam cultural tour

Small group adventure holiday
These small group journeys have a maximum of 16 like-minded travellers which ensures that all travellers have an amazing overall experience with the destination and that they enjoy the flexibility that comes with the small group dynamic. On this trip you will stay at boutique accommodation with character. Our numbers are discreet enough for us to interact with local families in their homes and meet people in markets, bazaars and temples – something that’s just not possible when you arrive as part of a large tour group. Along with our unique combination of Western tour leader and local English-speaking guide this will ensure an unforgettable travel experience.

How this holiday makes a difference

We believe that travel should entail an exchange of knowledge and perspectives, a sharing of wealth, and a genuine appreciation of Vietnam’s beautiful natural environments. This philosophy underpins the heart and soul of our style of travel. We recognise that poorly planned itineraries or poorly informed tourists contribute less to cross-cultural understanding and less to the livelihoods of local people.

Experience the incredible diversity of Vietnam from industrial Saigon to beautiful Hanoi. At the latter there is the opportunity to visit Koto’s (know one, teach one) – a not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training centre staffed by disadvantaged young people – to try their infamous Koto smoothie. Our offices also finance the Loretto Foundation in Saigon (which assists disadvantaged, poor and disabled children through education), and The Fred Hollows Foundation (which provides ophthalmologic services to underprivileged Vietnamese).

On this journey our local guides are trained to share their knowledge of cultural and other local issues in a balanced, informative way; in this journey alone you are likely to meet several local guides from different provinces in Vietnam. They share real experiences from their own lives and insights into their family life, influences and beliefs, thus providing our travellers with a deeper understanding of the places they visit. This is what motivates our guides, not shopping commissions.

Our offices in Saigon, Danang and Hanoi are staffed with local people wherever possible and we have a long term aim of filling management roles with competent local staff. This presence in Vietnam means we are much better able to control the content, the actions of our suppliers, and the style of our small group journey.

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Vietnam cultural tour

Reviewed 31 Dec 2006 by David Brody3 star rating

My family of four and a friend travelled to Vietnam with this operator via Responsible Travel. Our 2-week trip began on 12/17/06. We found the trip to be very well organized. Our tour leader Tim was fun-loving and well versed in leading small groups as well as with Vietnam, in general. Our group, which totalled 14, put Tim to the test as two of the group were clearly inexperienced travellers who felt as though the leader was their personal property. Tim did more than one could expect to satisfy these 2 but they expected more. Beyond that, we enjoyed Vietnam very much.

The land was beautiful, the people friendly, and the prices exceptional. The operator’s selection of hotels was very good, especially the luxurious Hilton Hanoi Opera, where we spent the final 4 nights. The highlight of our trip was a place we found on our own, but suggest becomes included on the regular itinerary; the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi. It was one of the best museums I have ever visited! The least impressive part of our trip was the time spent in Dalat. The 2 days we took to get there, stay in the city, and move on could have been spent elsewhere and we would have gained more. I did not get the sense that "locals" derived much from our presence, other than the general expenditure of funds in their region.

It should be noted that this was an "overview" trip and there were few opportunities to engage rural populations. Were we to return to Vietnam we would prefer to spend time north of Hanoi in the region known for the minority hill tribes. Perhaps that sort of tourism would lead more directly to aiding local people. In closing, I have referred others to the Responsible Travel website as I believe you are making it easy to access operators who show special concern for the people of the regions they serve. We will certainly return to the website when researching our next trip.
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