Traffic flows in a kind of organized chaos around
pedestrians and street vendors near Hoan Kiem Lake
in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Instead,

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I envisioned hiking to remote villages to find mountain hill tribes; people living in indigenous villages, untouched by outside influences.

Traffic flows in a kind of organized chaos around
pedestrians and street vendors near Hoan Kiem Lake
in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Instead, as we pulled into Sapa, in the northern part of Vietnam, a group of Black Hmong women gathered on the side of the road as our shuttle pulled into the center of town. A welcoming committee, perhaps?

As the van came to a stop, my jaw dropped as the entire group charged at our vehicle screaming “You buy from me!”

This was not the authentic Vietnamese experience I had in mind.

Returning to Southeast Asia was a dream of mine since my last trip to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia eight years ago. So when the time finally came for my boyfriend and I to head out for a three-week romp around Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia this past September, I went with a backpack full of expectations, hoping to get off the beaten path and discover the “authentic” cultures of Southeast Asia.

Expectations and reality are hardly ever one in the same, as I was soon reminded. As a tourist, I had as much to do with the cultural changes taking place in the places I visited as the people who live there. The fact is that with tourism spreading rapidly throughout Third World countries, “off the beaten path” is now the most-sought after destination.

East meets West

We began our trip with two days in Hanoi, a city well known for its organized chaos. Hanoi is a perfect blend of Eastern mystery and Western old world charm dating back to the early French colonialists.

The narrow streets were choked with a million scooters driving alongside street-hawkers selling their wares. All the while, the constant smell of delicious Vietnamese food wafted out from the thousands of restaurants and sidewalk food stands. Vietnamese women wearing traditional woven cone hats sold everything from T-shirts and balloons to exotic fruits and chickens (both living and dead) from their yoke-slung baskets. Spend a morning sipping Vietnamese coffee and eating tiramisu at a cafe on the banks of Hoan Kiem Lake and watch the world go by and you could be in an Asian-style Paris.

To dive into Hanoi’s culture headfirst is to master the art of crossing the road and bartering. It’s also a commitment to eating anything and everything cooked on the street, in spite of any Western health warnings. So this is what we did.

In a city where traffic lights mean nothing and the only road rule seems to be to keep moving, we began our road-crossing lesson by subtly tagging along with locals as they crossed. The key is to cross slowly and steadily and trust that the one million scooters, cyclists, cars and other pedestrians that share the road will flow around you — a belief that contradicts all western road-crossing training.

The art of bartering was our next cultural lesson and my boyfriend approached it with game and gusto while I, recognizing his strength and my relative weakness, timidly left all negotiations to him. He proved his mastery after intense, extensive negotiations for a .25 cent Zippo lighter. Eventually, the sales person shoved the lighter in his hands, refused his money and said “go away.”

While haggling was his fortay, eating was my greatest strength. I attacked the street cuisine, inhaling delicious pho noodle soups, rich French pastries and baguettes, and any street-side delicacy set in front of me. I was never disappointed. Hanoi proved to be a foodies paradise, not just for the amazing flavors, but for the whole experience. Eating on the street is a must as, for one, it is usually the cheapest option and two, it will give you the most authentic Vietnamese food experience.

Our last day in Hanoi, we were enticed away from shopping to a street cafe where we were the only non-Asian diners. We sat on plastic child-sized chairs and watched as eight small dishes of food, some recognizable, most not, were immediately placed in front of us in dim sum style. Delicious! Next to us a family of servers/cooks rushed around, dishing up trays of food for our fellow enthusiastic diners as they loudly slurped and chatted.

Ha Long Bay-Sapa-Hanoi

From Hanoi we headed east for a two night stay on a traditional junk boat in Ha Long Bay. This UNESCO World Heritage site on the Northeastern coast covers an area of 1,553 km (965 miles) and is made up of almost 2,000 stunning, mainly limestone islets rising from the Tonkin Gulf. Scattered throughout the islets are small floating fishing villages whose inhabitants farm oysters, mussels and fish for food and trade.

It is possible at times to be distracted from the allure of the area by the amount and effects of tourism there. The 450 boats anchored in the crowded bay host thousands of tourists a day. The amount of trash floating in the otherwise emerald waters is a sad reminder of how the desire for tourist dollars can become more important than protecting tourist destinations. However as the sun sets on the limestone karst and the last of the water traders ply their goods to colorful tourist filled junk boats, of which you are a part of, it is impossible not to appreciate the obvious beauty and cultural significance of Ha Long Bay.

Next stop, Sapa, a small French colonial town in the misty northern mountains of the Lao Cai provence. Located near the Chinese boarder, it is home to several different ethnic minority groups whose villages are scattered among the rice terrace-covered mountains and valleys. We took a night train to get from Hanoi to Sapa, sleeping in quaint bunk beds that conjured up historic images of an Orient Express experience, to Lao Cai and from there, took a shuttle to Sapa.

Our initial surprise and fear of the welcoming committee was replaced with curiosity on our hikes to nearby Black Hmong villages with our guide, Quong. Traditionally dressed Black Hmong ladies casually followed along, asking a series of basic questions over and over again: “What’s your name?” “Where you from?” “How many children you have?” and inevitably “You my friend?… You buy from me?” as they dug into their woven baskets for both handmade, and Chinese-made goods. The question of why we were hiking to meet the Black H’mong when they had already made the hike to meet us was ever present. Ever the entertainer and salesman himself, my boyfriend asked them to buy his handmade fly fishing flies and individual pieces of chewing gum. He did eventually manage a trade, a piece of gum for a hand-made bracelet, much to the frustration of the Hmong lady who soon realized she didn’t like the taste of the gum.

Despite the never-ending sales pitch, it was impossible to ignore the magnificent scenery surrounding us: waterfalls, rivers and terraced rice paddies in mist-covered mountains.

Our home-stay was a fun-filled night of amazing food and home-brewed “happy water,” which broke down all cultural and social walls and had us convinced we were fluent in local dialects. Our morning headaches reminded us otherwise. Waking before the rest of our group, my boyfriend and I spent the morning with our host, who spoke no English, and her outgoing five-year-old grandson. We got a glimpse into their everyday life, as our host’s son and daughter-in-law puttered around doing morning chores.

We returned to Hanoi from Sapa the same way we arrived, by sleeper train, and spent one more night in the energetic city, surprised to see capitalism thriving so well in this still communist country. The next morning we headed off to our next stop, a whirlwind two days in Bangkok.

Source: vaildaily

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First word Active Travel Asia sent to you to joint our competition “Indochina in yours eyes” most sincere thanks!

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“Indochina in yours eyes” contest lasted over 2 months (1st Sep 2011 to 20th Nov 2011) and ends on 20 Nov 2011. Organizing Committee has received many entries with unique ideas, deeply felt and very sincere, especially from customers love traveling and traveled to Indochina in a lifetime.



Now is the time to honor the winner. The winner is the person who has the amount of LIKE ranked highest on our facebook page plus 2 travel news sites. It meant that many people had read and liked your story.



The highest prize of the contest “Indochina in your eyes” is Yasmine Khater with entry “South to North Vietnam : An Unforgettable Experience”.



The prize is a 3 day 2 night tour costing from 700$ – 1000$ for 2 persons. The winner can choose one of out door activities including Trekking, Cycling, Motorcycling, and Kayaking in wide areas of Indochina plus interesting gifts.



• Kayaking Halong Bay

• Trekking Sapa and homestay

• Mai Chau Trekking

• Motorcycling the Ho Chi Minh Trail

• Biking Angkor Wat



Besides the highest prize, to encourage the writers ATA awards 3 incentive prizes for the entry which had the amount of “Like” followed by the highest:



• Andrew Faulks with entry “Pol Pot’s Clipper”

• Raelene Kwong with entry “An expedition to Vietnam’s Son Doong Cave – what could go wrong?”

• Manasi Subramaniam with entry “How Saigon Feels”



The incentive prize is a full day city tour for 2 persons. Besides, you will get some extra values as below:



• a couple of sleeping bags by fabric filter.

• a couple of T-shirts with ATA logo.

• 2 water puppet tickets

• lunch included

• 1 hour Cyclo (Xich Lo) around old quarter.



All the prizes will be available in 2 years from the day of award announcement (Nov 30th, 2011.)



Active Travel Asia thank all of your contest whether your felt and shared were not high rank but your sharing for ATA is the most precious. All good thoughts of you for Indochina and ATA will be the core values which always lead to ATA.



Please thank most respectfully to you, wish you good luck and congratulations again!



Please refer any questions about the award to us at: event@activetravel.asia.



 

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The survey trip will be held in middle of December, 2011 by ATA team

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ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA and GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit in Vietnam) working together in a survey of responsible tourism project in Pu Hu Nature Reserve, Thanh hoa province, Vietnam.

 



 

The survey trip will be held in middle of December, 2011 by ATA team with support of GIZ Vietnam. ATA inspection team will spend about 3 days to scan this area, evaluating the suitable activities for a tourist site. This activity is a part of project “Protection of the forest and wildlife” implemented by GIZ Vietnam, under the management of Forest Protection Department of Thanh Hoa Province. Pu Hu Nature Reserve is situated in the North-West of Thanh Hoa Province. It has a big diversity of plants and animals with 508 plant species and 266 animals species. It also has a role in protecting the catchment of the Ma river. The inhabitants of the nature reserve and buffer zone belong to the Thai, Hmong, Dao and Kinh ethnic groups. The tourist will discover illegal cutting of trees, hunting and other illegal activities in the forest. Their movement in the forest will help to keep these illegal activities under control and is therefore very important! As Mr. Georg Kloeble, Senior Advisor Natural Recource Management of GIZ said “Pu Hu is very rugged and mountainous and might be demanding on the fitness of the participants! Rainforest, it might be misty and wet. I myself was only one time in there, hiking for one day! It was fantastic!” After the trip, ATA inspection team is going to propose interesting activities, suitable routes which would make Pu Hu nature reserve to be a tourist site. ATA also works with GIZ Vietnam to run and manage the potential trip tours here to complete one of the most important parts of project.


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Forested hills and the glorious clear, blue sea

Cham Islet, 20 kilometres offshore of Hoi An, has been named a global biosphere reserve by UNESCO’s International Coordination Council of Man and the Biosphere Program.
It takes about twenty minutes by boat or canoe but it is worth the short wait as you drift amidst the sky and sea and then as if by magic the islets appear in all their glory.
Cham Islands consists of eight islets with a total surface area of 40,000 hectares. Lao, Dai, Mo, Kho Me, Kho Con, La, Tai and Ong islets are home to only about 3,000 residents leaving the landscapes largely in pristine condition. The islet has 1,549 hectares of tropical forest and nearly 1,000 species of marine life. The islets are cool and fresh all-year round, so tourists can come there anytime. The immense green of the forests harmonize with the blue of the sea to create an endless green airspace. White sand beaches and peaceful fishing villages make the islet more poetic and fanciful.
Cham Islet’s Huong and Ong beaches are popular options for tourists because of the smooth sand and the small waves. Cham Islet is also home to diverse flora and fauna, especially abalone and sanglaganes, birds which have long been considered a delicacy by aristocrats and the wealthy. The islet also boasts 135 species of coral which are exciting discoveries for tourists.
However, the islet is especially impressive with vertical mountain walls covered by rocks in varied and weird shapes. Small and large waves crash on them and toss white sponges and create interesting sounds. Rocky mounts change their shapes as you travel on your cruising boat. Sometimes the water is clear, sometimes vaporous as it lets travelers indulge into the vastness of this beautiful location.
Source: SGT

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Cat Cat village rice fields
We cross into the country with Mirko, an Italian cyclist who is also headed up to Vietnam’s premier hill top town. He (perhaps wisely) opts for the bus, leaving us to conquer the 28km climb alone. Pedalling away from the river, the border town of Lao Cai passes by in a blur of motorcycles and baguette stalls before the climbing really begins about 5km in. We’re soon in thick jungle interspersed with roadside shacks selling beer and food, following a road which heads relentlessly up. The heat is a new challenge and almost instantly the sweat factor is so high that the water is rolling off my cheeks. Three hours later, just as our legs are threatening to turn to jelly, we hit the outskirts of Sa Pa and our incredibly disproportionate reward of a five day break.A tranquil hill-top village with stunning views of rice terraces and Vietnam’s highest peak, Fansipan, Sa Pa’s stretch of swank hotels and 5-star dining options is about as far from Vietnam-proper as Invercargill is from London. A mist hangs over the valley for much of the week, only occasionally clearing to reveal the rice terraces below. A constant throng of woman from local villages cluster together in small groups along the main street. In a swirl of brightly embroidered garments, they’re in town to sell local handicrafts, but we suspect the bigger business is taking visitors on tours to the villages. Hundreds of camera-toting tourists follow a parade of brightly clad villagers past our hotel pied-piper style every morning, leaving us envisaging their village destination as a vast factory of souvenir manufacturing.We’re up early one morning to take advantage of an “all you can eat” breakfast buffet in town, and burn off the calories by hiking past Cat Cat village, which lies at the other end of Sa Pa. We’re quickly away from the well-maintained paths lined with souvenir stalls and find ourselves on a path which eventually leads to Fansipan peak. Taking a steep off-piste ‘short-cut’ back to the main path, I get a little too close to nature, resulting in three impressive leech bites, though we never saw the little blighters.


Unusual cloud halo
Arriving in Dien Bien Phu after a few days where our diet has been dominated by rice based products, we enjoy its slightly bigger town feel, staying for a couple of nights and stocking up on Vietnamese coffee.

Justin is cleaning bicycles in the courtyard when a couple of Austrian cycle tourists check in. Philipp and Valeska are also heading home after a long period away and we had a lot to talk about in our last evening in Vietnam. With a big climb ahead of us to the border it made sense to team up to cross into Laos.Source: http://www.rolling-tales.com


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