I often tell myself that if in a given day I don’t learn anything new or do something useful, then I have wasted that day.
Before going on a trip with Peace Trees Vietnam (PTVN), I didn’t think that it was possible to have so many different experiences while I was on vacation. I was able to relax, travel, and chat with the locals, while also working to help people who are in need and learn from them.
PTVN is not a Vietnam travel company. It’s a non-profit organisation. Through their Vietnam tour packages, the company allows Vietnamese and foreign travellers to learn more about Vietnam and work with social programmes.
The tour company allows travellers to assist in the removal of land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in central Vietnam. Tourists will also be able to work alongside locals to help create an infrastructure that will create a safe and healthy future for residents of the central province of Quang Tri.
During my trip, I visited the Truong Son Cemetery in Gio Linh District that is home to 15,000 graves of soldiers and civilians who died while fighting against the US. After that we went to Vinh Moc tunnels in Vinh Linh District, which housed an underground village built in the demilitarised zone dividing north and south Viet Nam. Later, we went to Quang Tri Citadel where Vietnamese soldiers fought a bloody 81-day battle. Finally we arrived at the historic Hien Luong Bridge over the Ben Hai River, which served as the border between the two regions between 1954 and 1975.
After visiting these destinations, I felt that I had learned a lot about the bravery of the Vietnamese people and the soldiers who fought during the war. However, I also felt that I understood the true cost of the war, which still affects people today.
After the inspiring tour, the group visited and worked at a friendship village that PTVN built for UXO and Agent Orange victims and impoverished poor children.
I will never forget playing with the children. The children at the centre were overcome with joy as they played with the balloons and stickers that tourists bought for them. While the children that live in the city where I am from may not be that impressed with such gifts, the poor children here thoroughly enjoyed them.
Nguyen Thi Cuc lost her legs in an accident caused by a UXO. Now unable to work, Cuc continues to live an active lifestyle and even won several medals during the province’s special olympics.
She has had a hard life, but now she looks relaxed and is able to teach courses on how to properly prepare sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Interesting
“Vietnamese people love these snacks, especially during Tet (lunar new year) or when they are receiving guests,” she says. “I don’t know why they are so popular, perhaps because they are delicious and they make interesting noises when you bite into their shells.”
This type of trip is known as responsible travel, which encourages travellers to participated in tour packages that are designed by companies to form responsible relationships with local communities. This new approach to tourism can help improve businesses incomes and create more jobs for people. The concept is new to Vietnam.
Le Nguyen Travel is one the first companies that has implemented this new paradigm into their Vietnam travel packages. The company works with its Canadian counterpart, Cegep Marie Victoria Company, to recruit Canadian tourists to travel to Hoian. Participating travellers can stay up to one month in the area, where they will live together with the locals and volunteer in social programmes.
The tourists are able to help with household chores, study Vietnamese, and learn how to cook Vietnamese food. They can also help village elders and disabled residents and teach English to orphans.
With this package, travellers can visit Tra Que Village, which is famous for its vegetables, and Thanh Ha pottery village where they can learn how to make pottery.
“I stayed at a house in Hoian and I shared warm moments with the family when we cooked, ate and did house chores together,” says K Paul, who went on the package. “We really understood each other.”
“We didn’t use the air conditioner in order to save electricity and protect the environment,” Paul says. “Hoian people are so nice and friendly and the life here is peaceful.”
According to the director of one Vietnam travel company, the three key components that play a central role in responsible travel are the local people, the tour operator and the travellers.
There are two essential aspects that responsible tourism utilises – environmental protection and socio-economic development. Both aspects are crucial to creating responsible and sustainable services that will employ large numbers of people without harming the environment.
A pilot project Responsible Travel in Vietnam has been launched in co-operation with the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and will last until December 2010.
“Visitors are now becoming more aware and concerned about other matters relating to tourism such as littering in public places and water and noise pollution,” says Phil Harman, senior advisor of SNV in Vietnam. “About 97 per cent of tourists, when interviewed, said that they were willing to pay more for a responsible travel holiday that is environmentally conscious and brings about more benefits for needy local people.”
Someone may think travelling is all about enjoying yourself, but for me its about making a difference.
Before leaving Quang Tri, we spent the morning planting trees. Looking at the saplings, I felt satisfied with my trip and I hope one day to come back and see how much growth has taken place in the area.
Vietnam Travel News
My Son Sanctuary is one of the must-see destinations in the Central part of Vietnam where tourists travel to Vietnam can admire old Cham temples and enjoy Apsara dance. About 69 kilometers from Danang City, My Son Sanctuary is located in Duy Phu Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province.
Based Daily Telegraph has announced the list of world’s top-ten surreal landscapes, including Vietnam’s Halong Bay, a world natural heritage recognized by the UNESCO, the National Administration of Tourism said on its website July 28.
Halong Bay features 3,000 limestone pillars rising out of the emerald waters on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Tonkin. Local legend has it that the islands were created by giant dragons, summoned by the gods to fight foreign invaders.
Accommodation providers in the dark as customers see red amid surprise blackouts
Blackouts have cut Vietnam hotel business in the middle of peak travel season as customers caught in stopped elevators flee and others just stay away all together.
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Footprint Vietnam travel at ITB Singapore 2009
Footprint Travel again stands at WTM 2010 with Vietnam Tourism at AS 770, where we will be;
- Updating you with the latest Vietnam destinations information
- Showing you our new and exiting products
- And explaining to you our True Value in Travel.
Last week, Vietnam News asked its readers about their experiences with Vietnam travel firms The Government is planning to conduct regular checks on Vietnam tour operators to ensure they are registered and meet acceptable standards. Will this move improve the situation? We asked tourists visiting the country just that question.
Anyone that’s visited Vietnam will know how long it takes to travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City or vice-versa, especially when traveling by road or rail. A journey that currently takes 3 days by rail is to be slashed to just six hours with the introduction of a new Japanese-style bullet train.
The high speed rail link will be great for those in a hurry, but for tourists visiting Vietnam, making the slow and winding journey between the capital of Hanoi and the commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City is a cultural experience in itself.
Around 1,560 km (970 miles) of track will be constructed at a cost of 56 billion US dollars and is awaiting approval by the Vietnam government.
It will be interesting to see how the new train system, which will travel at 300km (186 miles) an hour, will affect tourism and indeed everyday life in Vietnam.
A private war museum in Nghia Ninh Village, 7km west of Dong Hoi city in the central province of Quang Binh, was the 
second stop on Canadian writer Susan M Smith’s trans-Vietnam tour after Hanoi.
By: Jose Maurette Garces
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Can Tho City, commonly referred to as the “western capital” is the MRD’s economic, and cultural centre. 169 km from Ho 
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