Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Environment
Halong Bay: The junks we use in Halong Bay actively fund & implement environmental initiatives with a specific local floating fishing village in Bai Tu Long Bay that you will visit and learn more about on your tour.
The Halong Bay project takes place in Vung Vieng fishing village, where many families live. The campaign is to encourage local people and nearby businesses to collect litter and protect the appearance and ecology of Ha Long Bay at the community level. On the day the campaign was launched, 50 rubbish bins were given to families living in this village. More importantly, the project focuses on education and communication in hopes that all the locals will soon realize the benefit of conservation.
In addition to the environmental issues, they are working hard in seeking support to help build schools and create job opportunities for the local people here. A community house in Vung Vieng fishing village was built in order to accommodate tourists and provide local people with jobs.
Community
Mai Chau Lodge involved the local community in its initial planning stages, and hires only from the hill tribes of this region, providing them with language, hospitality training & opportunity. Mai Chau Lodge was built with local materials and its restaurant serves food that is grown in the local region. Traditional dance performances by the locals help to provide employment and preserve their cultural heritage.
This is a private tour so group size is kept to a small number so as not to be too intrusive on the local villages. We provide income to local families and villages by using their homes for accommodation, and all our guides are locals.
All guests are emailed our Responsible Travel guidelines policy prior to travel and guides are also fully trained in this. We donate to many local charities, such as funding a nutrition program at Binh Luc Orphanage and sponsoring an annual trip to Halong Bay for underprivileged disabled children & their families from ‘Blue Dragon’. We hold an annual medical trek with local & international doctors and medical students into the hill tribes of Northern Vietnam, and organise many volunteer projects such as building wells & housing in Agent Orange affected communities and teaching English.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
