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We believe that travel should entail an exchange of knowledge and perspectives, a sharing of wealth, and a genuine appreciation of both Cambodia and 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.
In Cambodia we have facilitated a very significant donation to the World Monument Fund, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the maintenance of archaeologically precious temples in Angkor. We actively encourage our travellers to patronise or financially assist numerous not-for-profit organisations in Cambodia including Lotus Blanc in Phnom Penh (a restaurant which teaches skills to young people recruited from a rubbish tip), Made in Cambodia in Siem Reap (which sells items made by underprivileged Cambodians) and the Sunrise Orphanages in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Our offices also finance the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, which provides health care services to poor Cambodians and through which we sponsor the training of a Cambodian nurse
This small group tour to Vietnam include visits to the Streets International in Hoi An and the Spiral Foundation in Hue. Both of which are not for profit organisations that aim to help Vietnamese form a grass-roots level.
Often from significantly disadvantaged backgrounds Streets provides young Vietnamese with skills, from front of house to qualified chef’s, in the hospitality industry that will last them a lifetime. Based from the streets Cafe and Restaurant ,we have arranged for some of the students at Streets to give members of our groups a walking tour of one of one of Hoi An’s rarely visited markets as well as a walking tour of some of Hoi An’s back-streets that are rarely seen by tourists. In a group of two or three, and with a supervisor from the organisation present, these tours will help the students earn valuable credits towards their qualifications and give our travellers a truly unique insight into everyday life in Hoi An. Upon returning to Streets Cafe and Restaurant you can relax with a cold drink and sample some of the cafe’s and students incredible food.
The Spiral foundation aims to help deaf and mute Vietnamese become self-sufficient and fully independent members of Vietnamese society. As artisans the employees of Spiral make jewellery and personal souvenirs with all profits going to various medical causes around Vietnam. As part of a small group you will see how they do this first hand and have a go at making your own souvenir to take away with you. We also make a donation for every client that visits the center that will hope will fund 15 open heart surgeries over the course of the year.
In Cambodia we take in riverside Phnom Penh before moving on to the monumental temples of Angkor. Here we have facilitated a very significant donation to the World Monument Fund in Cambodia, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the maintenance of a select number of archaeologically precious temples in Angkor. During this journey we actively encourage our travellers to patronise or financially assist numerous not-for-profit organisations in Cambodia including Friends Restaurant in Phnom Penh (which trains and is staffed by disadvantaged young people), Made in Cambodia in Siem Reap (which sells items made by underprivileged Cambodians) and the Sunrise Orphanages in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Our offices also finance the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, which provides health care services to poor Cambodians and through which we sponsor the training of a Cambodian nurse.
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 and areas in Cambodia. 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 Vietnam (Saigon, Danang and Hanoi) and in Cambodia (Phnom Penh and Siem Reap) 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 and Cambodia means we are much better able to control the content, the actions of our suppliers, and the style of our small group journey.
The love affair with Asia started in 1993 when our co-founder, Paul, ran our first small group tour to Vietnam. With Paul still heading up the company, we’ve now grown to offer quality holidays to 11 destinations across Asia. Starting with a small and start-up office in Saigon we now have offices in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, as well as reservation teams in the UK, the United States and Australia. Having one foot in Asia really helps us create truly authentic and responsible journeys that focus on the people, culture and cuisine, all delivered at a truly fair price.
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