Vietnam Travel & Tourism

Due to bad weather, the expedition might not succeed as planned but everyone was all happy with what they experienced. Son Doong – We will come back soon.

Clip about the first expedition to Son Doong Cave

Having read the news about tourist boat sunk in Halong Bay, Vietnam some days ago, killing 12 tourists from 9 countries, ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to give out some advices about how to travel safely and enjoyably in Halong Bay. There are some something you should concern about as you plan your trip there.

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Modern Vietnam has many attractions, says Tim Jepson, but one event from its recent past still looms above all others.

Don’t mention the war. This, more or less, is the gist of my Rough Guide to Vietnam. Or, more accurately – and I’m paraphrasing here – don’t become obsessed by the war. But it’s hard when visiting a country where the association, for me at least, is immediate and inescapable: Vietnam – war.

Countryside in Dalat, Vietnam – Photo by Getty

The closeness of the real world must have been the strangest thing, I think, as I sit reading the guide and looking down on miles of jungle during my flight from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City, better known by its former name, Saigon. It’s just an hour from the Thai capital to a city synonymous with war: just an hour for all those GIs between fighting and the various pleasures afforded by a few days’ leave in Bangkok. [...Read more]

What could be a great option for someone have retired like you, who’d like to try something different, something more fun and exciting maybe? How about going for an active travel experience?

“Boy, when I retire, all I’m going to do is lie around in a hammock all day” – this is probably what you have said and thought about all these years while working your way through life, but now that you have retired or planning to retire, do you really find the concept that satisfying? The answer could be no.

So what could be a great option for someone like you, who’d like to try something different, something more fun and exciting maybe? How about going for an active travel experience?

Traveling in Twilight

Whoever said you need to be an on-the-go person to sign up for an active vacation after retirement could not have been more mistaken. From adventurous kayaking in Halong Bay or historical trips on Ho Chi Minh Trail and Angkor Wat explorer- there is something for everyone out there.

Just that you may need to hit your nearby gym at least twice a week, or ask your yoga teacher for classes immediately.

Here are some more options to help you plan a perfect active travel vacation:

Fitness boot camps in Luang prabang, Lao or Ha Giang, Vietnam
- Golf vacations in Vietnam & Cambodia
- Kayaking in World Heritage sites such as Halong and Nha Trang bay, Vietnam
- Cycling trips through the countryside in Mekong Delta or Hoi An of Vietnam, Luang Prabang of Laos or Angkor Wat of Cambodia
- Hiking vacations on the top of Fanispan Mountain, Vietnam
- Walking tours of various World Heritage or historic sites of the world like Angkor Wat of Cambodia
- Museum trips in Hanoi, Capital of Vietnamand especially in Phnom Penh of Cambodia

Travel Agencies

Travel experts prefer classifying adventure tourism in two categories- “soft” or “hard” (also called “gentle” or “demanding”); but don’t get caught up in these jargons. Make up your mind as to whether you would like to go kayaking, mountain climbing, biking, motorcycling or would you prefer enjoying the blue ocean in an obscure island in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.

Once you’ve made your choice, you can begin your research by browsing through websites and on-line travel agencies that will help you pick the right tour package.
Here are some of the names you might find handy

ActiveTravel Asia ( http://www.activetravel.asia )
Walking the World
50plus Expeditions
SeniorsSearch
Seniors Go Travel
Forty Plus Adventure
ActiveTravel Asia is one of names that has been organized more adventure trips for American Veterans travel to Vietnam war in the past from 2006. From motorcycling tours on Ho Chi Minh Trail to trekking trips in some ethnic villages of Sapa, Vietnam, they offer tour packages in Indochina.

Ready to Leave?

Here are some tips to help you organize your trip:
Confirm the legitimacy of your travel agency with associations like-American Society Of Travel Agents (ASTA) and United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA)
Check if they can customize your tour per your requirements
Find out whether your budget covers all the expenses
Remember to carry your travel and health insurance papers with the other entire document

A Few Words on Outdoor Safety

Find out as much as you can about the place you are traveling to Carry things like waterproof reflective survival blanket, Global Positioning System (GPS) units and mobile phones Check if your medical kit is well stocked with all the necessary drugs and first-aid supplies
For more tips on how to stay fit on the move, you can browse through the TravMed website

Be a Fit and Healthy Globe Trotter

There is nothing like traveling with an agile body and mind. To ensure this:
Eat healthy and drink plenty of water
Carry ginger pills to abate motion sickness
Stop and stretch every alternative hour while driving for long hours

If any city in the world has had a crowded 1000 years of history, it is Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. This place is an intense collision of crumbling French facades, communist bunker-style concrete edifices and ancient temples and pagodas, woven together by leafy boulevards, lakes and over three million industrious locals. Chinese, French and American history has clashed here in a big way over the last millennium, each era leaving its indelible mark on the city.

Whether it’s the rusty remains of a B-52 bomber jutting out of a small lake on the city’s fringe, the brutal Hon Lo gaol constructed by the French in the late 19th century, the vibrant Old Quarter with its myriad of shopping streets and cafes, or the ancient Ngoc Son Temple that sits peacefully on an island in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi engulfs an incredible cross section of human history.
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1. We’re already out of date.

After more than a week in $5-a-night hostels in Peru, Caitlin Childs was looking forward to a hot shower and a comfortable bed. But when she got to the Hotel Paracas, there was no hot shower, no bed – and no hotel. “It had been leveled in an earthquake the year before,” says Childs, a graphic designer and frequent traveler. It turned out her Footprint Peru Handbook – the latest edition – had been published a year and a half before her July 2008 trip.

Even without earthquakes, much of the information covered by guidebooks changes too fast for book publishers to keep up. Restaurants close, quaint markets lose their cachet, and trains change their schedules. If it’s essential to your trip, make a phone call before you go, says Peggy Goldman, the president of Friendly Planet Travel, a tour operator. Never rely on a guidebook for key information like whether you’ll need a visa to enter a country and how much it will cost, or what vaccinations you might need, Goldman says, because those facts can change rapidly. Although the guidebook’s web site may have more up-to-date information, travelers should still check with the consulate and look for CDC alerts for the latest information.

2. No news is bad news.

There’s simply not space in most guidebooks to include negative reviews – so a hotel or restaurant that isn’t in the book might not have made the cut for a reason, says Thomas Kohnstamm, a former Lonely Planet guidebook writer and the author of the memoir, “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” Guidebooks are also trying not just to inform but to sell potential travelers on the idea of a particular destination, he says. The end result: Every beach is beautiful, and the people of every country are “some of the nicest people in the world.” “It’s supposed to be an unvarnished take on places but you have to be pretty PC about everything,” Kohnstamm says. [...Read more]

It is HCMC or Ho Chi Minh City now, but the Vietnamese still call it Saigon and call themselves Saigonese.

Saigon has been one of the places in my must-visit list and it was surprising that not too many people share that sentiment about this country made famous by a war. It took a year to gather friends who would be willing to go to an adventure, as most friends would rather spend on a trip of pleasure.

Saigon didn’t disappoint us, and even surprised us with sights and insights you do not find anywhere else.

Cao Dai Temple, Tay Ninh, Vietnam

Cao Dai Temple
About three hours from Saigon is the Tay Ninh Holy See, or Cao Dai Temple, the center of the Cao Dai Religion. This religion was established in Vietnam in 1926 and now counts two to three million followers scattered in Vietnam, Cambodia, France, and US.

The Temple has nine levels, representing the nine steps to heaven. Black, scaly dragons wrap the pink columns supporting the ceiling painted like a summer sky. These columns mark the beginning and end of each level, and served as the boundary for how far the tourists could go.

At the end of the hall is the altar which looks like a globe with an eye. Elders offered incense here. Tourists are not allowed to walk or even stand, much less shoot a picture, at the middle section of the hall, even outside worship hours.

Cu Chi Tunnel
The Cu Chi Tunnel was Vietnam’s secret weapon against the Americans. It was a 250- kilometer underground tunnel network that stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border. The Cu Chi tunnels served as hospitals, command centers, living areas, kitchen, and supplies storage during the Vietnam War. [...Read more]

Imagine a city where the exotic chic of old Asia blends with the dynamic face of new Asia. Where the medieval and modern co-exist. A city with a blend of Parisian grace and Asian pace, an architectural museum piece evolving in harmony with its history, rather than bulldozing through like many of the region’s capitals. Hanoi is where imagination becomes reality.

A mass of motorbikes swarms through the tangled web of streets that is the Old Quarter, a cauldron of commerce for almost 1000 years and still the best place to check the pulse of this resurgent city. Hawkers in conical hats ply their wares, locals sip coffee and bia hoi (beer) watching life (and plenty of tourists) pass them by.

Witness synchronised t’ai chi at dawn on the shores of Hoan Kiem Lake while goateed grandfathers tug at their wisps over the next chess move. See the bold and beautiful dine at designer restaurants and cut the latest moves on the dance floor. [...Read more]

By JARED GETTLER

Since my second backpacking trip through Europe, I wanted to journey to Southeast Asia.

I chose to visit Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and developed a loose itinerary, starting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Bangkok was everything I expected. The number of people everywhere was staggering, but before long I got used to the crowds, the heat and the food.

I visited many temples and shops, including the Grand Palace and the famed Khao San Road. The Grand Palace was amazing. Inside there were countless statues of Buddha. To my disappointment, Khao San was the typical tourist trap, with vendors selling T-shirts and bootlegged CDs. [...Read more]

Once synonymous with war and genocide, Vietnam and Cambodia are coming into the second decade of the 21st Century as one of the world’s premier honeymoon hot spots.

Hoi An Beach, Quang Nam – Vietnam
Virtuoso, a leading luxury travel network in the U.S., recently unveiled the 30 Top Honeymoons chosen by some of its most experienced honeymoon specialists. And Vietnam and Cambodia were prominent on the list. [...Read more]