Vietnam Family Vacations

Culture shock when you do a family tour in Vietnam?
Please be advised that from very first minute you arrive, deferent sights, smell and sound assault your senses. There are deferent customs, new food, noisy, crowded city and less personal space. People may want to touch and play with western children just because they are curious and your children look so cute. This culture shock can be daunting for adult, and even more for children. And in some occasion it make you furious and even ruin your over all enjoyment of the trip if you are not aware of that

Different standards
Vietnam is a developing country and standard of hygiene can be considerably lower than your country or from where you are living. Especially when you travel off the tourist path or go to the remote area. Children can be more prone to sickness than adult and standards of medical care can be very variable. Similar standards of transportations and accommodation may be lower than you are used to. Even when we mention that is three, four or five stars hotels but can be different from western standards.

Degree of physically difficulty
Our family adventure trips are designed more demanding the mainstream travel and includes a reasonable amount of walking- be sightseeing, day walk or full-scale trekking. Whilst your children could be fitter than you. A period of time in tropical heat with unfamiliar food could affect them adversely. Generally we advise if you and your children have not had some similar out door and other travel experience you should contact us for a customized trip and you will get special advise from our travel expert. We will design a private trip which is especially meet you need.

Responsibility
If you decide to travel with us your children won’t be pampered but treated as a small adult by our tour guide/s. Please be advised that our tour leader/s or tour guide/s are not babysitter. If you wish to opt your children in some activities or part of the trip it is your responsibility to make alternative arrangement. However we deeply understand that travel with kids` is not easy and we always try our best to help under any circumstance.

Conclusion
This may seem a little negative but we must point out the potential lows as well as highs. On the positive side you are likely to find that children have wonderful way of opening doors and brake down the culture barriers. Children are more curious and inhibited with foreigners than adults are, you will be amaze how quickly the friend ships built between your kids and local children despite the language barrier.

Recommended reading:
Your child Heath Abroad – By Mathew Ellis and Jane Wilson-Haworth Travel with children – Maureen Wheeler (Lonely Planet)

Responsible travel
We are local tour operator, it means we operate tours our selves we can guarantee to provide the best service not to send you to another travel company as many travel agents do. We use all the local services, eating in local restaurant. Our head office team as well as our tour guides are experience in serving Western tourists and understand Western culture. While we are local and we speak local language and deeply understand the local people and culture. So when you book through us you can cut off the middle men. Most of the travel agent in your countries do not operate the tour but book though a local agent. In that case you have to pay double for a travel agent as well as the local tour operators.

Additional information
Climate: The climate varies from north to south, so there’s good weather somewhere at most time of year. The North: winter from November to April with temperatures averaging 16oC (cool for South East Asia) and relatively little rainfall. Summer from May to October with average temperatures up to 30oC and heavy rainfall. The South: temperatures are fairly constant throughout the year in this tropical climate, 25-30 oC, the seasons are determined by the rains. The dry season is from December to April, and the wet season May to November. Hottest season is March/April before the rains break.
BAGGAGE: For your comfort we recommend you travel as light as possible; many airlines impose a maximum weight limit of 20 kg – we advise you to take 10 kg as you will be on the move at good deal!
- One Main piece (a soft bag or rucksack or a hard suitcase).
- For town use or general sightseeing, a small daypack (15-25 liters capacity) is quite adequate.

CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
Although western standards of dress are becoming more accepted, the Vietnamese, Laos Cambodian people remain very traditional in what they wear. Out of respect (even though you may see traveler dressed otherwise) both men and women should dress conservatively – no sleeveless/ halter – necked tops please. Whilst shorts are acceptable they should be modest and reach to just above the knee. Below is a suggestion of what you might find useful to take on tour. It is not an exhaustive packing list. If you need further advice, please call us or consult your nearest specialist outdoor clothing and equipment store.
- Warm clothes for the North in the winter months ( Nov to Feb). i.e. a warm sweater and trousers, and a jacket if you feel the cold.
- At other times lightweight clothing ( cotton) is most appropriate
- Lightweight waterproof jacket or umbrella in wet season ( May to Nov)
- Sun – hat and swimwear
- Waterproof/ plastic bags
Trainers/ sandals for relaxing

Responsible travel
We are local tour operator, it means we operate tours our selves we can guarantee to provide the best service not to send you to another travel company as many travel agents do. We use all the local services, eating in local restaurant. Our head office team as well as our tour guides are experience in serving Western tourists and understand Western culture. While we are local and we speak local language and deeply understand the local people and culture. So when you book through us you can cut off the middle men. Most of the travel agent in your countries do not operate the tour but book though a local agent. In that case you have to pay double for a travel agent as well as the local tour operators.

Equipment
- Torch
- Insect repellent
- Sunglasses
- Sleeping sheet ( available cheaply in Hanoi)
- Ear plugs and a sleep mask can be useful if you are a light sleeper
- Non-polluting biodegradable soap
- Personal first aid kit
- Sunscreen and lip salve
- A laundry service is available in some hotels, but we recommended you take biodegradable detergent so you can wash clothes as you choose.

Visas and permits:
Vietnam: A Vietnamese entry visa is required for all foreigners wishing to visit Vietnam except for citizens of countries having bilateral agreements on visa exemption with Vietnam.
Please be advised that you should have enough empty pages for visa stamp on your passport/s
Only citizens of certain countries can visit Vietnam without an entry visa (valid for visit within 30 days). Those countries include most Asian countries, Korea, Japan & Scandinavians (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland)

Cambodia: Cambodia entry visa is required for all foreigners wishing to visit the country .Cambodian visa can be obtain on arrival in Siem Reap ( current cost US$22 per person). Please note, two passport – sized photographs are required. Passport should have three - month validity beyond intended length of stay This information is given in good faith at the time of reading, but may be subject to change without warning. Please note that, where appropriate, obtaining a valid visa is ultimately your responsibility. Please consult a visa agency or the consular authorities 4-6 weeks before departure for the most up – to – date information. We can also do help you to obtain your visa with our visa upon arrival service please contact us for more details .

Vaccinations:
The following are recommended
Hepatitis
Polio
Typhoid
Tetanus
Malaria
NB: Yellow Fever vaccination is compulsory if traveling via an infected country. Vaccination requirements change periodically so we advise that you check with your nearest specialist travel clinic 4-6 weeks before departure to get – up- date information

Local cost:
Our trip cost covers not all the meals as we always encourage you to tried deferent cuisines in deferent places. In that case you must pay for all of those meals yourself, and may vary according to location and type of establishment. Our guide/s should be able to suggest good restaurants for you.
Suggestion price in reasonable mid – range tourist class restaurant/s
Coffee/tea....................... US$ 0.7
Soft drink ......................US$ 1 to 1.5
Medium beer.................US$ 1.00 to 1.5
Local snack lunch..........US$ 4 to 5
3- Course dinner*........... US$ 7 to 10

Optional excursions:
Some excursions may be available during your free time. Please feel free to contact our head office or simply ask our tour guide for extra arrangement for your vacations during your free time. Our team should be able to help you arrange them.

Currency Vietnam:
Vietnamese dong (VND). You should change about two hundred US$ or more in to Vietnam Dong when arrive, the rest you should keep in US$ and change later when needed. In Vietnam it is advisable to take your money in US dollars as well as local currency ( clean, unmarked notes). US$ is widely accepted in most of the shops or stores in the major cities, however you normally not get very good exchange rate when you use US$. Black markets do exist in Vietnam, however we discourage their use. Visa, MasterCard and Amex are now could be useful in the major cities like: Hanoi, Saigon, Hue, Hoian, Nhatrang... however 3 % charged when use those cards . ATM’s now can be found and quite reliable in most of the cities in Vietnam

Cambodia:
Cambodian riel. Again, it is advisable to take most of your money in US dollars. Credit cards are accepted at a limited number of hotels and restaurant in Phnom Penh and larger cities. Travelers’ cheques can only be cashed at a limited number of bank and larger hotels. Some ATM’s can be found in Cambodia, but can cannot necessarily be relied on.

Local payment? NO!
For all of our trip you don’t have to pay for local payment, which is applied by many travel companies. In fact this is a the way they act in order to make your trip sounds cheaper at the time of the booking and then the rest you have to pay upon arrival. Let consider about the total amount you need to pay!

Another reason that many travel agents or travel companies apply the Local payment policy is to avoid paying tax. When you take your money to pay ( For your local payment) in the countries that you travel to. It means the money will go to the local travel agent/s without going though the bank transfer system. In that case the Travel agent that you book with can avoid tax while still can pay the local travel company for your trip.

They always explain to customer that is the amount you pay for the local supplier or paying for local services and they have no interest on that?
Our trip cost quoted with good faith in US$ with NET NET price without local payment TIPPING: In Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia tipping is not compulsory and it is also not included in your trip cost.

Tipping is an accepted part of every day life, and – although it is always at your discretion – you will be expected to tip to reward service.

Climate chart

Hanoi (16m)

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Temperature: average high/low oC

20/13

21/14

23/17

28/20

32/23

33/26

33/26

32/26

31/24

29/22

26/18

22/15

Rain: average monthly – mm

18

28

38

81

196

239

323

343

254

99

43

20

Saigon (9m)

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Temperature: average high/low oC

32/21

33/22

34/23

35/24

33/24

32/24

31/24

31/24

31/23

31/23

31/23

31/22

Rains: average monthly – mm

15

3

13

43

221

330

315

269

335

269

114

56

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