Wanderlust Tips Team, Author at WANDERLUST TIPS • Page 130 of 197

Responsible tourism: Significant numbers of tourism industry

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] The tourism industry is growing strongly and playing an important role in the economic and social development of Vietnam, and responsible tourism should be considered as a top priority.

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More than 4/10 say the industry performs better than average on greenhouse gas.
75% of the industry & 1/3 of UK holidaymakers say sustainability has improved over the last decade.
7/10 say sustainability is important to their organization.
More than 7 in 10 see sustainability as important when choosing a holiday.
3/4 holidaymakers do not offset carbon emissions when they fly.
31% of companies have a carbon emissions reduction policy…only a quarter implement it.

Wanderlust Tips

Share the love: Responsible tourism

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] The four travellers will share about the exciting community-based travel experiences and unforgettable voluntary journeys.

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NGUYEN DAC HOA, TOUR GUIDE – EXPERIENCE THE UNIQUE CULTURE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

In many places I have travelled to, northern mountainous provinces such as Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Hoa Binh, Son La have their community-based tourism performed very well by ethnic minority people. One of my most memorable experiences is the trip to Doi Village (Tan Lap, Moc Chau) of Dao people. This is an interesting destination which is less known to Vietnamese but has attracted many foreign visitors.

Doi Village has clean and tidy houses in the midst of its charming natural scenery, and people here are very hospitable. There are also villages of the Tai Dam people, Tai Dón people and H’Mong nearby, so visitors can learn about the culture and the differences between these ethnic groups. If you are looking for adventures, you can explore Hang Ma (Ghost Cave), which is associated with the story of territorial disputes of ancient people, the birth of boat graves, along with the unique ancient burial custom in caves in this area.

Another interesting experience is naked bathing in Tu Le. It may sound weird, but some ethnic groups actually practice this custom and find it normal as it is passed down from their grandparents and their parents. Travelling to Tu Le and Yen Bai of Tai Dam people, visitors can enjoy bathing with ethnic people without any hesitation. At night, by the fire, people can eat together and enjoy the stem wine and local dances.

NGUYEN THI PHU, RETIREE – LOCAL PEOPLE HAVE MADE ME FALL IN LOVE AND WANT TO BACK

As a travel enthusiast, I often spend time exploring new places with my family and friends. Being middle aged, my friends and I all prefer natural and quiet places for relaxation or spirituality rather than crowded and noisy cities. Therefore, in recent years, I have often chosen destinations like Ha Giang, Mai Chau (Hoa Binh), Sa Pa (Lao Cai), Lang Son, Quang Tri, and my most recent trip is to the Central Highlands to visit Dak Lak, Kon Tum and Gia Lai.

On those trips, besides admiring the majestic nature, visiting the temples, pagodas, and famous relics, I also had a chance to explore the lives of local people. In Sa Pa, I visited ethnic people’s houses to enjoy the specialties cooked by them. In Ha Giang, I sat on the motorbike of local people to visit places; although the road was quite sloping and scary, they still could handle it skillyfully.

In the Central Highlands, I followed the tourist guide to visit communal houses,attended a very impressive and special campfire night, experienced gong arts, and cultural exchanges with the Central Highlands. Local people also left me with good impressions, which has made me fall in love and desire to return to this land.I think that if local people are guided with the right tourism orientation, they will not only attract and get the tourists to return but also improve their living standard.

VU DUC CUONG, PROGRAMMER – AN UNFORGETTABLE MEMORY FROM A VOLUNTEER TRIP WITH FRIENDS

Referring to Ha Giang, people may immediately think about some famous tourist sites such as Dong Van Stone Plateau, Lung Cu Flag Tower, and Ma Phi Leng Pass. However, I came to a little-known place which is less than 10 kilometers from Ha Giang City (Ha Giang province).

It was Ha Thanh village – a village of Tay people. My volunteer group had more than 10 people from 3 regions: the North, Central, and South of Vietnam. We did not know each other, but the trip miraculously brought us together. And we all had a common goal, not to live on the Internet or to experience adventure, but to experience the lives of indigenous people and help them with our own effort.

During those days, our team had countless wonderful memories such as looking at majestic mountain ranges and natural scenery, admiring the impressive panoramic view of Ha Giang city, playing and singing together, having the opportunity to grow closer to the indigenous people, better understanding their cultural beauty, and doing volunteering for the village (unblocking the stream, organizing a Christmas program for the children in the village). Goodbye Ha Thanh, goodbye friendly people. See you again one day!

LE THI TRA LY, STUDENT – EMOTIONAL VOLUNTEER TRAVEL

At the end of January this year, I had the opportunity to participate in a volunteer trip organized by The Dreamers fund. The journey to Xe Dang village in EaKuêh commune, CưMgar district, Dak Lak province was filled with the sunshine and the wind of Central Highlands.

We passed through gardens of white coffee flowers, hundreds of strong pepper pillars amidst rolling hills and mountains, clear streams of water, the basalt soil becoming shinier in the sunshine. All of them marked a typical majestic and enchanting beauty of the Central Highlands. Xie Dang is a destitute village, so the children here lack many things. Our team spent time giving presents to students at local elementary schools and then visited some poor children’s homes. The talk was really harmonious; we were welcomed by everyone.

And we appreciated that despite the difficult circumstances, the students here did not stop going to school and still pursued their learning path. In the idyllic house, it was so touching when listening to people telling their stories, looking at the optimistic eyes on the face of the parents as well as the innocent and happy smiles of the children when they received gifts. Beautiful mountains of Dak Lak and hospitable people have brought precious memories that I will never forget.

Van Ly | Wanderlust Tips

4 prominent businesses for responsible tourism

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] 2017 is chosen as the year of sustainable tourism. A series of tourism projects around the world have turned toward the standards of environmental friendliness and social responsiblity. Wanderlust Tips introduces a number of prominent business models for responsible tourism in Vietnam and the world that bring economic benefits for the local communities and protect natural resources and the environment.

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SONEVA FUSHI, MALDIVES GOLD AWARD OF BEACH TOURISM AWARD – WORLD RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AWARDS 2015

When nearly seventy people from the tiny island communities around Soneva Fushi’s Kunfunadhoo island resort are taught to swim, it has a perfect ripple effect. Because teaching local people to swim is just a tiny part of Soneva Fushi’s, in the Maldives, vision. Helping people, living like a local, and understanding the value of their natural heritage is a fundamental part of Soneva’s raison d’etre.

Built in 1995 by Soneva founders Sonu Shivdasani, on the deserted island of Kunfunadhoo in the Maldives, Soneva Fushi was the first in a collection of environmentally friendly, luxury hotels, resorts and spas, all with the back to nature ethos. Connecting people with water while also preventing people’s abuse water is always an issue for them, but something they embrace all the time. The environmental impacts of the BAARU organization, for example, a collaborative platform between the Baa Atoll resorts which was founded by Soneva, are far reaching.

Such as lobbying to have the atoll protected as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2011 and also to ban shark fishing throughout the Maldives, with an ensuing law being passed in 2010. Waste is always a pertinent issue on an island too, and Soneva Fushi recycles over 80% of waste through their state-of-the-art Eco Centro Waste-to-Wealth programme. In addition, 100% of food waste is composted and used on their vegetable gardens.

Soneva Fushi also imposes a 2% environmental levy on each room, which goes directly to carbon reduction programmes managed by Soneva›s own SLOW LIFE Foundation. And with 80% of staff coming from local islands, and all being educated in the ‹slow› ethos, they are gaining a much deeper understanding of how they can sustain these island idylls.

ULLSWATER STEAMERS UNITED KINGDOM GOLD AWARD OF BEST SEA OR RIVER CRUISE AWARDS – WORLD RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AWARDS 2015

When you want to get your head around sustainability or ethical practices, it is sometimes best to talk to people who have been around for a long time. Because they often have a greater understanding of a need to protect the environment. And Ullswater Steamers is one of those oldies, a business that dates as far back as 1859, the current owners taking it over in the early 1950’s leading cruises in the Lake District›s Ullswater Valley.

Ullswater Steamers take 280,000 visitors per annum up and down the eponymous valley. As well as protecting one of the largest heritage passenger vessel fleets in the UK, including the oldest working passenger vessel in the world, Lady of the Lake, originally commissioned in 1877, it protects Ullswater and the surrounding national park environs.

Consequently, they were highly commended for Responsible Tourism Awards in 2008 and 2011. But they keep striving to do more, never shutting the door on sustainability, such as linking with some of the most popular hiking trails, thus providing a viable sustainable transport link in the park. They also play an important role in the national parks, such as investing in bridge and pier infrastructure. They monitor their reduction in carbon footprint and recyclable waste, and share their environmental impact in a transparent manner.

Ullswater Steamers also keeps carbon consumption to a minimum, with a minibus to transport staff and a sustainable refit of their Glenridding Pier House. But it is work within the community, sourcing produce locally, creating job oppertunities and also as an influential voice within the local environmental network, that Ullswater Steamers excels at.

SAM VEASNA (SVC), CAMPUCHIAGOLD AWARD OF WILDLIFE CONVERSATION AWARDS – WORLD RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AWARDS 2016

One of the most highly respected wildlife watching tour operators in Cambodia, bird lovers flock to SVC to be taken on ornithological odysseys of a lifetime. Many of these are birders who may be au fait with every exquisite detail of an endemic living in this area and yet not know anything about the colourful and extraordinary journey of this company.

Regarding the history of Sam Veasna Centre, it associates with a local naturalist, Sam. He was much celebrated for discovering and mapping the country’s most important sites in terms of conservation and particularly bird protection. He died of malaria aged just 33 during an expedition to the Northern Plains to seek out the wild ox, known as a kouvray, now thought to be extinct. Sam’s legacy lives on, however, through this centre, a non profit organisation founded in Siem Riep in his memory, which not only takes visitors into the wild, but also trains local people as expert naturalist guides.

Founded in 2006, it has spent over 10 years bringing guests into remote rural communities which have slowly but now ever so surely come on board to a sustainable wildlife watching approach to tourism. Starting off with one village at Tmatboey, the model has now been replicated at seven other sites. In these communities, wildlife sightings are consistently high and critically endangered bird populations are seeing higher numbers again.

This is thanks to the fact that participating communities are asked to sign a’no hunting and land use agreement’, monitored by Ministries of Environment and Forestry patrol teams. In return, village development funds receive money tied to the number of sightings. And these holidays also provide vital stream of income to local communities as well as an ever flowing stream of inspiring wildlife guides and naturalists, all following in Mr Veasna’s footsteps.

SENS ASIA TRAVEL VIETNAM DOING BUSINESS ON A FOUNDATION OF PEOPLE, CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

Sens Asia Travel is a young enterprise set up in Hanoi and a member of HG Holdings. It is not only one of the leading Tour Operators in the region, but also highly appreciated for its social activities, products and business resting on a foundation of the protection of people, culture and environment in Asia.

Sens Asia Travel has worked with the HG Foundation to organize the “planting fruit trees” campaign in remote areas. This is an activity of the program “reduce carbon emissions caused by business activities” to promote sustainable tourism and create a macroeconomic environment in destinations where social and economic development is still limited, with the goal of achievingcarbon equilibrium by 2020 and carrying out community responsibility in 20subregions in Southeast Asia.

Sens Asia Travel introduced visitors to responsible tourism experiences with local communities based on creativity and knowledge about the destination. It has cooperated with Ngoc Son – Ngo Luong Nature Reserve (Hoa Binh) to organize tours in order to develop community-based ecotourism in association with nature conservation. This tour not only brings new experiences to tourists, but also aims to preserve local culture, support natural conservation, improve the lives of poor people and empower the local community.

Wanderlust Tips

3 responsible tourism wildlife tourism attractions visitors should never do

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] It is very important to balance between tourism development and nature conservation. We must raise awareness of visitors, promote sustainable tourism, as well as understand our own responsibilities and the importance of the environment for wild animals. Wanderlust Tips has highlighted 3 wildlife tourism attractions that visitors should think twice before doing.

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We must always remember that wild animals should always be in the wild and not made to do our bidding. It is our responsibility to protect wild animals and the environment even during our journeys.

RIDING ELEPHANTS

Riding elephants, as harmless as it may seem, may probably be the most harmful act you can do to an elephant. Elephants are not meant for riding, so in order to crush an elephant’s spirit, they are tortured until they forget their instinct. This process is referred to as “Phajaan”. Baby elephants are taken away from their mothers, confining them in small spaces with limited ability to move and then beaten into submission. They are also pierced with sharp hooks as well as starved and deprived of sleep for days on end.

The elephant’s plight does not end there. Once its spirit is crushed, it spends its days giving rides to tourist while being prodded with hooks by its handlers as a way to control it. Keeping in mind that elephants have an excellent memory, capable of remembering what happened to them for years, means that this agony is embedded in its memory for a lifetime. Elephant rides are very common in Southeast Asia and particularly in Thailand where captive Asian elephants are trained to carry tourists.

W. TIPS:
Instead of riding elephants, encounter them in the wild on a safari. There, you can witness these gentle giant’s true nature in their habitat. You can find Asian elephants in small elephant sanctuaries in Southeast Asia and African elephants in many parks in Africa. Keep in mind that wild elephants are not meant to be touched either, so keep a proper distance from them and take along a good camera, if you’d like a nice picture.

WATCH DOLPHIN SHOWS

Watching dolphins performing tricks and getting up close and personal with them may be a dream come true for many, but it isn’t for the dolphin. This beautiful large sea creature is not meant to be caged in a tank. Wild dolphins swim up to 100 miles a day, a great distance that cannot be recreated within a small tank. The constant shows and training that these intelligent creatures undergo as well as the stress of living in a small tank have shortened captive dolphin’s life span by half. Remember also that dolphins are social animals with complicated social structure. Reducing them to living in a tank prevents them from communicating and socializing with one another, missing out on important connections that they would have made in the wild.

W. TIPS:
Dolphins are extremely friendly, so chances of encountering them in the wild are high. Instead of paying to watch dolphins perform tricks, invest on a dolphin-watching tour where boats will take you out to the sea in search of dolphins and allow you the chance to watch them swimming with joyfulness in their habitat. If you’re lucky, they might even interact with you!

TAKING TIGER SELFIES

There is no doubt about the attractiveness of a tiger. The beautiful stripes on its back and mesmerizing eyes coupled with its somewhat mysterious presence have long made it a tourist attraction all over the world. So valuable is a tiger that many so-called tiger sanctuaries have popped up where tigers are bred for the purpose of commercial tourism and will never see the wild in their lifetime.

Tigers in tiger sanctuaries are usually sedated to allow tourists to come up close to take a picture with them. For an extra fee, you are even allowed to sit or lie on the tigers while they are chained so close to the ground that they have difficulty standing up. To ensure the safety of tourists, it has been revealed that some operators remove the tiger’s claws and teeth.

W. TIPS:
Instead of visiting questionable tiger sanctuaries, opt to go to reserves and National parks. The Kanha National Park in India is an example of a park that you can visit to potentially get a close encounter with tigers. As tigers are solitary and elusive animals, your trip to the park may not garner you an audience with a tiger, but you may still be able to witness great wildlife.

Wanderlust Tips

The future of the world tourism

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] Tourism is playing a crucial role in the economic and social development of countries around the world. when material needs are satisfied, people then want to fulfill their spiritual needs and one of the most favourite ways is to travel. From the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) data, wanderlust tips summerizes and makes a list of 5 biggest trends that we think will shape the future of tourism.

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1. THE EXPERIENCE – ORIENTED TOURISM

Tourism has changed from being a service industry offering you a flight, a room and some food to offering true experiences. Travel is now more about wellness, adventure, learning new skills and ‘being more of who you are’ than just ticking off places and things and flopping in the sun on the beach as before. This represents a big challenge for legacy tour operators and online travel agents offering flight and hotel packages and all inclusive resorts. Customers now want to experience more like mountain biking or off-shore whale watching.

Journeys help us to explore other country’s cultures, ways of life, food and natural beauty. It is believed that these things are only possible when local people buy into this idea, and benefit fairly from tourism. We believe Responsible travel is more experiential or authentic than other forms of tourism. This trend explains why Airbnb is keen to try to position itself as about ‘belonging’ and experiencing a place ‘like a local’. In the luxury sector we see wealthy people who are more likely to spend money on experiences than objects – jewellery, watches etc. This is a further demonstration of the experience economy and there is a sense that people value memories more than some physical possessions.

2. OVERTOURISM

For decades, most tourism destinations have tried to attract as many tourists as possible, without any thought that there could be limits beyond which local people’s lives and tourists experiences start to suffer. The lesson here is that tourism is no panacea; as many other industries, it always brings negative impacts as well as positive ones. With global tourist numbers set to accelerate at an even faster rate ‘overtourism’ will become a growing issue.
From now on efforts will be made to attract the ‘right type of tourist’ and where necessary numbers controlled through reducing bed night capacity, charging for entry, pre booking with fixed numbers, subsidising less flights, restricting cruise ship numbers and reducing promotion programmes for well known areas. More often than not the ‘right type’ of tourist will be the responsible tourist – creating the maximum benefit to local economies with the least possible social and environmental impact.

3. THE INDUSTRY’S OBSESSION WITH MARKETING ‘PARADISE’ WILL HAVE TO END

One of the great marketing ideas developed and exploited by the tourism industry was to encourage people to think about a ‘paradise’. The classic photo of the deserted white sandy beach, gently lapping waves and solitary palm tree is a representation of paradise. To sustain the myth that paradise exists on earth the industry decided not to reveal the truth about many of these destinations. Although they are stunningly beautiful, and you will have a wonderful time, local people and environments face some serious challenges around tourism development and nature conservation.
The industry felt it was better to hide these issues from tourists, as they might detract from a sale, rather than present environmental problems and social issues which local people are facing. By remaining in denial about this for so many decades the industry both failed to tell tourists the whole truth (which they soon discovered when they arrived anyway) and it limited the tourism industries commitment and ability to do much to help solve these problems. In the future, travel companies have to be more honest with their clients and publish destination guides with sections on local issues and trip by trip responsible tourism information.

4. AIR POLLUTION AND GLOBAL WARMING

Aviation has been hammered in the press for more than a decade for its contribution to global warming – but it will become even more of a pariah unless it starts to do more to address this. We live in a world where the majority of some developed countries’ energy needs come from renewable sources and where it’s thought that in 5-10 years time 80% of the production of the world’s cars will be electric. All of the cars sold in India in 2030 will be electric.And yet we still have no cleaner, greener alternative to aviation fuel – kerosene. Pope Francis – the current Pope of the Catholic Church – has denounced the CO2 compensation for air travel as hypocritical. He said: “The planes pollute the atmosphere, but with a fraction of the sum of the ticket price trees are planted to compensate for the damage inflicted.” If this logic were extended, one day it would come to a point where armaments companies set up hospitals for those children who fell victim to their bombs. Efforts and investments made in seeking renewable aviation fuels are small – certainly compared to what we’ve seen in renewable energy and electric cars. This is even more galling as aviation fuel is heavily subsided – it’s the only untaxed fuel in the world. Experts estimate that the subsidy is as big as EUR10billion. With these heavy subsidies in place the aviation industry must invest more in finding solutions to reduce global warming. If it doesn’t then taxes will inevitably follow.

5. GLOBALIZATION

Perhaps the travel industries greatest achievement over the past 70 years has been about how it brings together strangers – honest local people and travellers from far away – harmoniously.While the UN, Governments and other bodies work hard on policy the tourism industry does something they cannot do – it brings people from different cultures together face to face. However in some parts of the world there seems to be growing fear of people different to ourselves, including people with different religious beliefs. This, and restrictions of freedom of movement of some isolated and secretive countries represents some of the biggest challenges to the tourism industry in accomplishing its mission.

Wanderlust Tips

Saturday sparkling lunch at Hilton Hanoi Opera

The lavish buffet destination every Saturday in town will offer an all-new look and taste, starting from 28th April.

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The new menu features an exciting combination of traditional and modern cuisine, internationally-sourced dishes and local specialties, offering everything from charcuterie, homemade gravlax, French and Vietnamese cheese, Caesar salad, freshly shucked Canadian oysters, grilled Nha Trang lobsters, California temaki, freshly sliced salmon sashimi, lemon and thyme baked Norwegian salmon, slow roasted leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic, slow roasted Australian sirloin of beef, roasted bone marrow, baked ratatouille, pasta, French baguette, crepes to homemade rice spring rolls with minced pork and vegetables, steam sea bass, Vietnamese poached sticky rice balls, myriad pastries, chocolate fountain and the kids’ station.

“The idea is to satisfy each guest’s craving as they go through their gastronomic journey during the Sparkling Lunch. Hence creating stations that are familiar, with a mix of local and international flavors to tickle their senses. We also wanted to give homage to our local cheese artisans, fruit and vegetable growers that as a foreigner is privileged to have access to,” shared executive chef Roxanne Castillo.

While keeping the same wide range of offerings, there will be surprising twists in the menu every Saturday, dedicating a delightful refreshment to the frequent guests. These changes result from the kitchen’s two years of serving while taking the guests’ feedbacks to heart and three months of experimenting different setups and items.

The buffet is available at VND750,000 nett per person. The guests can also indulge in the free flow of sparkling wine, house wine, beer, and soft drinks at an extra of VND250,000 nett per person or go a bit extravagant with a free flow of champagne Marquis de Pomereuil at an extra of VND1,250,000 nett per person. The lunch is free of charge for children under 18 years old. Maximum of two kids accompanied per one paying adult.

HILTON HANOI OPERA

Address: 1 Le Thanh Tong street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tel: +84-24-39330500
Fax: +84-24-39330530

Wanderlust Tips | Cinet

Driving at night safety tips

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] When the night comes down, you do not have to stay indoors and wait until dawn to visit attractions, as this is the perfect time for exciting and unique journeys. In order to have great memories forever, keep in mind the following tips for a safe and relaxing drive through the night.

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1. Keep headlights, taillights, signal lights and windows clean.
2. Check to be sure headlights are properly aimed, even in a new car.
3. Dim instrument panel and dash lights.
4. Turn headlights during early twilight.
5. Keep proper speed and distance with distance from the vehicles
6. Make sure your speed would allow you to come to a complete stop within the distance illuminated by your headlights.
7. Do not use high beams when following or approaching another vehicle.
8. Use the right edge of the road as a visual guide if blinded by oncoming lights.
9. Watch for the flash of headlights; they may indicate approaching hills or hairpin curves.
10. Adjust the rearview mirrior to eliminate bright reflection from following cars.
11. Periodically stop for light snacks, exercise or a nap
12. Wear glasses with anti-reflective lenses, even with perfect vision.
13. Keep your eyes moving rather than focusing on one area.
14. Never drink and drive.

Wanderlust Tips

Tan Thi Su and the dream of Sa Pa O’Chau

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] Tan Thi Su is an H’mong woman who makes everyone fall in love with her bright face, warm smile and sparkling eyes from the first meeting. When you listen about the journey to make the dream of Sapa O’chau come true, your affection will turn into a deep admiration for her sincere heart and the beautiful things Su is trying to do for the poor children in Sa Pa.

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Hi Su, it is known that you were born in a family in difficult circumstances and had to leave school from at a young age. Could you share with us about that time?

As my family was so poor, I stopped going to school since I was in grade 5 and worked as a street vendor to support my family. However, my work was not stable; sometimes, I could not sell anything. And without sales, I could not get enough to eat.

Fortunately, tourists to Sa Pa were very friendly; they were not uncomfortable when being followed by a group of children. They were also willing to teach us some basic English phrases. I have learned from them, built up my vocabulary every day, and then I finally could communicate with foreigners. After that, I started working as a tour guide for visitors to Sa Pa.

Later, when I could afford, I continued my study in secondary and high school education. I finished high school last year.

Could you share with us your treasured memories during the time you worked as a tour guide?

When I went to work, there were a lot of memories, both happy and sad. However, the most memorable moment was the time I met very kind-hearted visitors. At that time when I was only 13-14 years old and new to the town, I met a Dutch couple and led them to visit Sa Pa’s villages. Though I could not speak much English, they did not look down on me and were very kind to invite me for meals. After a week in Sa Pa, they were very sad to leave and also cried when saying goodbye. That was a beautiful memory. Although they were foreign tourists visiting Sa Pa for a while, thanks to the sincerity we gave them, we have become good friends.

Do you think to become a tour guide, we need to have a sincere heart to make good impressions on visitors?

I think whether domestic or foreign tourists, when they travel to Sa Pa, we – as locals – need to treat them sincerely to become friends. In the beginning, they were strangers, but the Vietnamese have the idiom “at first strange, now familiar”. We exchange culture and knowledge with each other to create beautiful memories.

Until now, you and the volunteers have successfully established Sapa O’Chau – a social enterprise with meaningful tourism activities.

What has inspired you to come up with the idea of Sapa O’Chau, and how was the journey to make this dream come true?

Many people have also asked me why I established Sapa O’Chau, and I said that I had sympathy for children in difficult circumstances and I wanted to do something to support them so they could continue going to school.

Therefore in 2010, I opened the first free class for children with the hope that they could learn to read and write English better. I think that they will gradually become more confident in communication, improve their work and daily life, as well as support their families. At first, my class only had a small group of students, but after about 3-4 months, the number increased to more than 100 children.

They introduced the class to each other and more students went to my class.Up to now, Sapa O’Chau has not only opened classes but also helped many children with accommodation. As of this time in 2018, I am helping 30 college and university students, and 57 students aged 16-20 are still attending the class. Some children are from poor families in remote areas, so when coming to the town, they usually do not have a place to live, which affects their learning.

Therefore, Sapa O’Chau support both material conditions and their spiritual life so that they have the opportunity to continue studying. They are taught English and communication, as well as experiences and skills in life.After finishing grade 12, the students can go to college, university or find a job. Or they can choose to stay and work for Sapa O’Chau. Those who major in tourism can come back here to work as an intern.

What are the current main travel services of Sapa O’Chau?

Many people in Sa Pa are illiterate and do not have much experience in tourism, so Sapa O’Chau has connected them together and helped them. Sapa O’Chau organizes tours to visit ethnic minority villages, provides local tour guides who can speak English. Travellers can visit the natural scenery, experience the activities of local people like farming, and then stay at a homestay.

What do you think about Sa Pa’s tourism? What do we need to do to develop tourism in the future?

I think that I cannot do everything by myself and should not judge everything from my own viewpoint. Sa Pa has a beautiful culture and landscape, so it will be better if people can work together and contribute to the long-term tourism development of this land. For me, I am trying to accomplish the best I possibly can.

As Sa Pa is developing and changing, different people will have different opinions about this development, depending on their positive or negative viewpoint. I am a local who was born and raised here, so I always wish that Sa Pa will develop but still keep its treasured and unique features. Its advantages include climate, beautiful landscape and cultural diversity of the 6 ethnic groups living together. In order to keep tourists or develop tourism, it is necessary to preserve the cultural values. Tourists love a land by not only its beautiful wilderness but also the sincerity of the indigenous people.

In the near future, what are you looking forward to and what are your plans to develop Sa Pa O’Chau?

At present, we still have to rent the accommodation for Sa Pa O’Chau’s children, so my current plan is to secure our own accommodation so I will feel more secure and can help more children. In the long run, we hope that we can help children in not only Sa Pa but also other areas so that they will be given the opportunity to go to school and have more stable jobs. And I hope that I am setting an example which will be widely known so people can apply and work together for a better life.

Thank you for sharing this with us, wish you good health and more success for Sapa O’Chau in the future.

Van Ly | Wanderlust Tips

Huyen Phuong: A girl who is dedicated to the voluntourism in Viet Nam

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] At the age of 32, Huyen Phuong has travelled all over Vietnam and has gained all the experiences to understand the difficulties of many ethnic communities in the country. Instead of donating or giving gifts as normal, she has decided to devote all of her time to develop voluntourism which is still relatively new in Vietnam. Phuong wants to assist the sustainable and long-term development of the local community, as well as enable the young generation to build a better life.

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As far as I know, you have travelled a lot and experienced many cultures and lives of the local people. Did those trips inspire you to pursue your current job?

Previously, I travelled very often and one of my most unforgettable trips was to Du Gia – Mau Due in Ha Giang. It was also the first time I went on a trip for both relaxation and charity. The way to Du Gia – Mau Due was full of rocks and extremely difficult and it would be one of the most challenging roads I have ever crossed. Even on the road, we encountered a group who were blasting the mountainside to build a road so we had to stop and wait for 2 hours.

Before departing, our group contacted a school in advance. When arriving, I was really sad seeing the children not wearing clothes or footwear in the cold weather. When going into the kitchen to see the children’s meals, we were even more surprised. The meal consisted of rice, vegetables, and tofu. However, despite living in poverty, the children were very wellbehaved; after finishing the meals, they stood in line to carry the bowls to the regulated place. Those were the images that I will never forget. I realized that the life of local people was so difficult, which motivated me to help them to have a better life.

It is known that V.E.O is building a volunteer tourism model which is still new in Vietnam. Why did you decide to establish V.E.O?

Previously, I worked as a bank auditor and at that time, I often collected items from people, then went on a trip to donate them to those who live in deprived areas. I felt very happy because I could do something good for people while travelling for relaxation. However, when I went back to those places, I found that they were still so poor and my charitable giving did not help the community to develop at all.

Therefore, people can travel for exploration while contributing to the community. I also referred to some travel trends around the world and realized that responsible tourism, more specifically, voluntourism is a great option. That means, on a trip, you would spend half the time doing volunteering and the remaining time for exploration travel.

I participated in V.E.O from January 2016. Before that time, V.E.O already started experimenting and it worked quite well. Then after conducting marketing strategy and completing the personnel structure, in May 2016, V.E.O Training and Travel Joint Stock Company was officially established and put into operation.

What are the objectives of V.E.O?

V.E.O operates based on two main objectives. The first objective is to support people through volunteering activities such as building facilities (electricity, roads, schools, and medical centre), designing community-based tourism products with local people, bringing for the locals, and bring the products to the tourists. In each place, V.E.O will support the local community for 1-2 years, work with them and help them improve their ability to earn a living and get a better life.

The second one is non-government education projects for local children. Currently, V.E.O is implementing the project “Bookcases in V.E.O” with about 20-30 kinds of books suitable for different age groups. Each trip by V.E.O relates to the content of a book in the bookcase, it means that volunteers will organize activities in accordance with the theme of the book. It aims to raise the children’s interest in reading and encourage them to explore the outside world.

For example, when organizing an art competition, children often only draw teachers, farmers, doctors, soldiers, which are basic occupations. They do not know much about astronauts, singers, or models. Thus, the activities help them expand their worldview and gradually explore a wider world. If V.E.O only pursues an educational objective, it is not enough because if you just give the children the dream of changing their lives and the beautiful world while their parents cannot afford, the poverty will stop them from reaching their dream. They cannot go to school and have to stay at home to walk the buffalo or do the farming to help their parents. So although it is a bit greedy, V.E.O still pursues these two goals and in the long run, we will invest in the younger generation. In an effort to enable children to achieve their dreams, we need to help their parents as well.

Could you share with us the difficulties V.E.O had to face and overcome at the beginning?

There were a lot of difficulties because this model was still new to customers, Vietnamese market, and beneficiaries. For example, the products relate to volunteering, so many people ask us on V.E.O’s fan page or hotline:“Why do we have to pay money for volunteering?”, where in Vietnam, people do not need to pay when participating in volunteer activities. For instance, the Youth Union organizes the Green Summer campaign and other programs that are often sponsored by big organizations, so you can take part in activities without fees. However, for V.E.O’s tours, you will register for your favorite tour and pay for it as a travel product. V.E.O’s product is a new one and I have to change users’ mindset that it is considered normal for them to pay for a product they want. So the hardest part to do is the marketing.

The next difficulty we encountered was that the project was carried out at ethnic minority areas, so many people could not speak Vietnamese there. They had the potential to develop tourism but had not been trained to promote it and offer services. They did not believe that tourism activities could bring them money. I had to convince them and always kept my promise, as Vietnamese had a phrase “Fool me twice, shame on me”.

Later on, it was great that we had achieved success at some first destinations, which caught the attention of the media. V.E.O appeared in the newspapers, radio, and television, which allowed us to gain more trust from the communities. We were even invited to some places to do voluntourism.

It is said that you have participated in the Shark Tank Vietnam with the voluntourism model of V.E.O. In the program, you successfully persuaded 3 Sharks and called for an investment of VND 2.7 billion. That is also a confirmation of the potential of V.E.O. Could you share with us the development plan of V.E.O in the future?

Currently, 70%of V.E.O’s customers are from 15-30 years old. Foreign customers account for approximate 5-10%. Previously, most of V.E.O’s foreign customers are those who study and work in Vietnam. However, recently V.E.O has expanded its international market to Singaporean and Brunei students (most are high school students). When visiting Vietnam, they will take part in work camp tours – spending their holidays while doing volunteering work in 5-10 days. In addition to the better budget, targeted customers often have charitable funds ranging between VND 30-40million to support the community to build facilities.

So for me, they are also great potential customers.V.E.O’s current successful destinations include Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Ha Giang, Lang Son, and Cao Bang. 2 days – 1 night trips to the destinations that are 150-180kilometers away from Hanoi will cost VND 800,000- 900,000 per person. Longer trips to destinations that are more than 350kilometres from Hanoi have the price of VND 1.6-1.8million per person.

Although V.E.O focuses on northern mountainous provinces, participants are not only in Northern Vietnam, each trip will have about 10-15% of the visitors from Central and Southern Vietnam. So in 2018, V.E.O will decide to broaden its market to the South and build the first project here.

Thank you for your meaningful sharing, wish you and V.E.O success in future plans to help more local communities.

Van Ly | Wanderlust Tips

The Southern Laos: Unforgettable imprints

[Wanderlust Tips March 2018] Majestic and wild waterfalls, vast green coffee gardens, lovable and sincere smiles are our unforgettable experiences on the journey to Southern Laos.

[rpi]

SUNSET IN PAKSE

From Hue, I took an early morning long – distance bus passing through Lao Bao border checkpoint, then travelled to Pakse town instead of stopping in Savannakhet as planned. The bus was packed with lots of household goods and food from Vietnamese traders. All the time, the bus was filled with laughter and Hue accent, sometimes there were children crying. Travelling on a sleeper bus without any air-conditioner and all windows opened, we had to suffer the intense heat of Central Vietnam.Arriving at Pakse just at mid-night, fortunately, I could still call a tuk-tuk to my hostel when I was completely exhausted and hungry. The hostel is located near the Consulate General of Vietnam.

After checking-in, I walked to a grocery store to buy instant noodles. Suddenly I heard a young couple speaking in a familiar language in front of the store. After a minute, I realized they were teasing each other in Vietnamese. The darkskinned 20-year-old girl wearing shorts jumped to the back seat of her boyfriend’s motorbike. Her mother who was the store owner hastened and shouted behind the motorbike: “Back home early!” I laughed, thinking I was still in my country.

I stayed in Pakse for a day, wandering around quiet streets with low-roof houses featuring colonial French architecture and visiting a magnificent golden curved-roof pagoda. In the courtyard of the pagoda, small towers containing ashes of the dead were aligned and illuminated. Porcelain flowers blossomed with sweet incense, creating a holy atmosphere to the temple by the river. In contrast with the peacefulness here, Dao Huong market in the heart of the town is very busy. This is the largest market in Pakse, built by a successful overseas Vietnamese businessman living in Laos.

The market is quite spacious with all kinds of products, and most of the retail traders here are Vietnamese. Wandering around, you will see it is just like Ben Thanh market. Female traders have their conversations in Vietnamese, display their goods, and invite guests enthusiastically. I bought some cakes to prepare for the Bolaven Plateau tour on a motorcycle the next day.In Pakse, do not forget to enjoy the grilled fish caught from streams along the Mekong River. Fresh fish is caught in the Mekong River in the early morning, then salted and grilled on hot charcoal. Crispy fish skin and hot soft white flesh slices are wrapped with vegetables and rice paper, served with Laos beer featuring rich flavors. All of these made it so easy for us to indulge in the violet color of the sunset. It seems to be a specialty of the town that used to be the capital of the Champasak kingdom.

THE ROCKET FESTIVAL IN NAXONE

The next morning, I and my French friend, Julie met at the motel and went to a motorcycle rental shop on the central road of Pakse to ask for the route to the Bolaven Plateau. The shopkeeper is a 30-year-old French man, married to a Lao woman and has lived here for many years. He gave us a map showing the route to Bolaven by motorbikes and detailed guidelines.

The Bolaven Plateau is located in the northwest of Laos, in Champasak province. This land is relatively flat; its basalt soil is more fertile than in Dak Lak while the cool climate is similar to that of Da Lat. Due to its favorable conditions, Bolaven is also home to the famous Arabica coffee in Laos.

In addition, Bolaven also attracts tourists from all over the world to explore and conquer the majestic waterfalls formed by river branches flowing through the plateau, creating picturesque natural landscapes.

Due to the narrow winding roads, the most convenient means of transportation for exploring is the motorbike. There are two types of vehicles for rent: Thai Wave and Scooter – a popular vehicle in Southeast Asia for those who are not familiar with Thai Wave. We rented a Wave for 50,000Kips per day, with a duration of 5 days to explore 4-5 waterfalls.

However, the previous morning, when we visited Pakse tourist information center by the river, a young female staff invited us to visit her village to participate in the Rocket Festival held once every three years. “It will be fun!” She winked at me. So before travelling to Bolaven, we decided to go in the opposite direction to Naxone, which is 20 kilometres away from Pakse.

Traditionally, the Rocket Festival is held at the end of the dry season. Rockets, made by villagers, in all sizes will be shot in the sky to pray for good weather and abundant harvest. Villagers celebrate the festival for three days with many bustling performances and dances from morning to night.

On the first day, people set up teams for dancing and singing competitions. On the second day, every house will prepare a tray of delicious food, those who pass by, whether they are acquaintances or strangers, are all invited to the house to enjoy the meal.

We arrived on the third day, also the last day and the most bustling day of this unique festival. All villagers went to the field together to plow the ground preparing for the new season. The young gathered with colorful homemade rockets tied to the top of a bamboo pole, they competed to see whose rocket makes the biggest bang and flies furthest. The sky was filled with dark gray smoke lines. The whole vast field became extremely “dangerous” as rockets exploded all over the place, startling us. Ladies fully make-upped grouped together drinking traditional rice wine from early morning. Everyone was drunk; they laughed, sang and danced wildly. We stood nearby and were invited to dance with the locals.

Some women kept holding my hand and smiled, with their faces as red as beetroot. There was a middleaged woman who could not even stand because she was so drunk, but still held the half-full bottle of rice wine and smiled happily. Only her eyes were bleary as if she was getting lost in another dimension.

On the last day of the festival, besides the rockets shooting, it is the mud bath ritual. Villagers will prepare a clean muddy area in the middle of the field so that children or adults can slip into it, cover themselves in the mud and beat drums cheerfully. A 50-year-old man approached and asked me where I came from in English; when I answered him in Vietnamese, he was surprised and greeted me in a special Quang Tri accent. He had come here with his family when he was young, earned a living in farming.

On this occasion, the whole village would relax for 3 days for the celebration. I asked whether the villagers had to work for 3 years to take one break. He laughed and said that, in fact, Lao people had many festivals, and they would take any chance to enjoy their lives.

Before leaving Naxone, I met the staff working at the tourist centre the day before. She invited me to eat vermicelli with spicy sauce and the famous traditional meatball of Laos. The flavour of chili peppers was so spicy but I still felt really happy and lucky at that time. I did not know if I would have the opportunity to participate in such an interesting festival like this again.

Leaving Naxone while still drunk because I could not refuse the glass of rice wine from a Vietnamese man, we went to Pakse, heading toward the Bolaven Plateau.

THE HARMONIOUS LIFEON BOLAVEN PLATEAU

The 5-day expedition to ethnic villages alongside the majestic waterfalls of Southern Laos is an exciting and memorable experience. Besides its pristine beauty, we felt deeply impressed by the warm and sincere hearts of local people, as well as the bright and shiny black eyes of Lao children.

In Lao, Tad means waterfall. The Bolaven Plateau is home to many of the natural and most pristine waterfalls in Laos, which are also among the nicest in the Land of a Million Elephants. In the 3-day trip, we travelled through Tad Pampasak, Tad Lo, Tad Yuang, Tad Champee and Tad Fane. Each waterfall has its own unique feature, but they all have one thing in common: they have not been exploited by the tourism industry, so the scenery is still untouched. The route through Bolaven was beautiful, winding around the vast fields of corn, rolling hills and mountains. Sometimes the roads leading to the waterfalls were too narrow and rough to follow due to mud, but that could not stop us because the more difficult it was, the stronger our enthusiasm became.

From Tad Pamsasak to Tad Lo, we stopped at a homestay in the village of Katu ethnic group. The children gathered at the gate of the village to play soccer, their faces were sunburned, their arms and legs were smudgy. However, their eyes and smiles were so bright when welcoming visitors. The homestay owner is a 60-year old woman called Me living with her daughter. Katu homestay is a large stilt house nestled amidst the lush coffee garden.

The courtyard was filled with baskets of dried Arabica coffee beans. The aroma of roasted brewed coffee in the cold atmosphere has brought us comfort and relaxation. I followed Me into the house to see how she prepared the coffee and was surprised to see large wooden shelves displaying all kinds of Italian coffee pots and machines. I did not think there was such a special café in this remote area. She smiled while looking at my astonished face, I still remembered her black teeth chewing betel and the wrinkles around her eyes. The coffee was light brown and left an amazing sweet flavour in the throat. The coffee here was so delicious, and I could not stop myself from taking the second glass though I would lose sleep that night.

After saying goodbye to Me and the stilt house filled with the aromatic coffee, we continued to drive our motorbike to Tad Lo, one of the most famous waterfalls in Bolaven.

Next to Tad Lo waterfall is a small village with quiet and idyllic stilt houses in somewhat lacking conditions. Besides wandering, visiting the forest and waterfalls, and listening to the sound of water flowing night and day, we had nothing much to do in Tad Lo. The monotony of this place makes people feel lazy, want to relax, and somehow want to stay longer. There were actually many people who decided to stay here after a short visit. There was a beautiful Spanish girl; after a backpacking trip to visit this land 4 years ago, she fell in love with a village man and decided to stay and open a bar.They have lived happily together until now.We also fell in love with the simple and romantic atmosphere here, and after staying for 2 days, we felt really sad when leaving.

During this trip, I also met many fellow countrymen: the hostess named Mai living near Tad Lo waterfall; Thao Trang, the restaurant owner born in Hue who lived with a two-year-old eagle in Paksong town; Ms.Lien selling Pho at the entrance of the market; and Mr. Chieu, the owner of coffee gardens in Paksong. All of them were very enthusiastic when I asked for directions and willing to tell me all kinds of stories. Mr. Chieu said that there were a lot of Vietnamese people who come here to do business, but they were very happy when meeting Vietnamese tourists.

There are a number of beautiful and quiet resorts around the waterfalls, with the rooms built in separate areas where visitors can hear the sound of water flowing all day and night. You can also walk to the waterfall which is just a few steps away from the room. The price is affordable, about USD15 per night, which is ideal for those who love to stay in nature.

We chose the homestay of a young couple with a daughter aged 4-5 years old. It is a simple stilt house with only one bamboo bed and a set of blanket and mattress, shared bathroom with no hot water, and the price was about VND20,000 per night. The host was very kind and enthusiastic; the meals were always filled with laughters. In the morning, I liked to wake up early when the sun had just risen, go to the balcony, smell the smoke in the kitchen with odor scent, watch the husband trying to start the tractor, his wife hanging the clothes while the children were playing in the yard. Also, the herd of swines and chickens running around. It was such a peaceful and happy life, which made me feel homesick.

W. TIPS:

VEHICLES: Vietnamese do not need to apply for a visa to Laos. From Vietnam to Laos, you can travel by plane or train. From Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, you can buy Vietnam Airline and LaoAirline’s tickets to Luang Prabang and Vientiane, then drive to Pakse. From Hue, you can buy a sleeper bus ticket directly to Pakse, passing Lao Bao border checkpoint; this journey will take about 10 hours.

CURRENCY: Laos’s currency is three times as much as Vietnam’s, so you may feel prices in Laos to be more expensive. You should exchange money in Vietnam before travelling to Laos, the fee for withdrawing money at an ATM is quite high. In Pakse, there are branches of Vietinbank.

CLIMATE: The climate in Laos is similar to Vietnam’s; the southern Laos’ climate is similar to that in Central Vietnam with the summer being extremely hot. Remember to bring sunscreen, lotion, and mosquito repellent. When you go to Bolaven, remember to bring your windbreaker to prepare for the cold at night.

DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION:In Laos, there are fewer motorbikes, and people drive really carelessly, so you should be careful if you travel by motorcycle. Prepare necessary medical supplies. In Pakse, the cheapest and most convenient vehicle to get around is a motorbike and you will have to fill up the gas tank. You can rent a motorbike to visit Wat Phou Temple, a Khmer temple relic in Southern Laos. Wat Phou is located at the foot of Phu Cao Mountain, Champasak Province, 6 kilometres from the Mekong river, 50 kilometres from Pakse, and 670 kilometres to the south of Vientiane. This place will remind you of the Angkor Wat in Cambodia; however, the area of Wat Phou is smaller.

ACCOMMODATION: In Pakse, there are many cheap hotels, but it is rare to find one equipped with air conditioners, so you should consult the information carefully before booking. The 3-star Champasak Palace Hotel is right by the river and has a nice buffet. On the Bolaven Plateau, you do not have to book in advance; there are a lot of resorts and homestays here. In the ethnic villages near the waterfalls, there are many homestays featuring stilt houses; they are not really well-equipped but relatively clean and cheap. You will have the experience of staying with local families.

SOUVENIRS: Typical souvenirs in Southern Laos are mainly made of brocade such as bags, purses, and keychains.

Quynh Huong | Wanderlust Tips