What About Vietnam 's Kerry Newsome specialises in informing first-time travelers to Vietnam through podcasts and transcripts. What About Vietnam is your voice of experience. Phone: AUS +614 416 677 793 Meet our Speciality Services Director Travel Companions Travel Companions Travel Companions Travel Companions 1/7 with Kelley McCarthy Request an eMeet Feel the difference a travel companion makes! Welcome to What About Vietnam's Speciality Services - Dental and Cosmetic Surgery My name is Kelley McCarthy and together with Kerry Newsome, we want to open Vietnam to everyone. Even those who think at this stage that is a ‘leap too far”! A little bit about Kelley, that's me. .. I am a happily married woman with 1 child. Up until now, I have been working as the Centre Director of Childcare for the last few years to fund my passion for Travel….. I have travelled extensively in Asia both solo and with my family for the last 17 years and have always wanted to break away from what we used to refer to as the“ 9 to 5 “norm, and follow my love of travel and share my experiences of this region through the eyes of new travellers. Having known Kerry Newsome for over 20 years (and a few more but lets not go there) and working with her as her Personal Assistant many years ago I am extremely excited to collaborate our knowledge and experiences in Dental and Cosmetic surgery to bring you the best of Vietnam! Both is customer service and professionalism. As we have both travelled to Vietnam numerous times per year over the years we have seen many changes, experienced different seasons and spent time in this wonderful country during different cultural celebrations along with navigating mishaps which has allowed us to refine and recommend the best of the best, for an unforgettable experience….. jump aboard and let me work with you to experience the best there is in dental and cosmetic procedures in HCMC.

S5-E24 - Ha Giang: Insider Tips for Adventure S5-E24 - Ha Giang: Insider Tips for Adventure Episode 24 S5-E24 - Ha Giang: Insider Tips for Adventure 00:00 / 47:10 Join me as we uncover Ha Giang, Vietnam’s breathtaking last frontier, with Ying, a local Black H’mong guide, who shares insider tips and cultural insights for an unforgettable adventure! . Key takeaways from this episode:- 1. The Ha Giang Loop time allowance – How long do you need for your adventure through stunning valleys, waterfalls, and cultural sites like Lung Cu and Ma Pi Leng Pass. 2. Best Time to Visit – Times of the year, and days of the week. From September to November, the golden rice terraces are at their most beautiful. Cooler temperatures make this the ideal season for trekking and sightseeing. Find out more. 3. Cultural Immersion – Ying talks us through engagement with ethnic communities; traditional farming practices, and the joy of a communal hotpot meal. 4. Guided vs. Independent Travel – The Pros and cons. The value of a local guide in managing language, safety, navigation, and cultural understanding. Options exist for all fitness levels. 00:00:00 – Where is Ha Giang
00:01:06 - Guest Introduction: Ying
 00:01:26 - Ying's Background and Early Life
 00:12:06 - Common Questions from Tourists
 00:15:24 - Recommended Duration for Ha Giang Loop
 00:16:27 - Modes of Transportation
 00:18:50 - Licensing and Safety for Motorbike Riders
 00:20:00 - Day 1 Itinerary
 00:20:40 - Accommodation Options: Hotel vs. Homestay
 00:22:10 - Day 2/3/4 Itinerary
00:26:18 - Suitable Travelers 00:28:12 - Fitness and Health Considerations 
00:29:17 - Packing Tips
 00:35:06 - Local Cuisine 
00:36:09 - Best Days of the week to Visit & why Reach out to Ying’s at https://dragonmountainfamily.com/ Her WhatsApp number :+84338805995 Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S4-04 Vietnam Wedding Planning What About Vietnam S4-4 Planning a wedding in Vietnam Everything you need to know Kerry Newsome: 00:01 Xin Chào and welcome to "What about Vietnam!” So, I always want to make sure that I deliver something different on this show. One of the things that I feel is really coming up for Vietnam, and that is it becoming a wedding destination. Now, I know not all of us are getting married tomorrow, but sometimes amongst our friends and families, etc. We know people who are thinking of their future wedding. They're in their planning mode, looking for ideas, and something I wanted to share with you is that Vietnam is becoming a very idealistic wedding destination. 00:44 I've asked this lovely girl named Jenny. She is a wedding planner, based in Hà Nội in Vietnam. She has been involved with weddings for over 10 years now. As a wedding planner, she started off her career really behind the camera and putting together some of the photography sessions for the bride and groom to make sure that their albums look absolutely fantastic. So, that was her humble beginnings. That's kind of when she decided that she was good at organization, and she had good event planning skills. So, she would take it to the next level. 01:25 She started her career in beautiful places like Koh Samui, Bali, Jakarta, and other places in Southeast Asia, but came back to really build it in Vietnam. She's going to talk to you very openly and honestly about some of the aspects, some of the crazy things she gets asked. As she says, "The crazier, the better." They are always the most memorable. Managing people's expectations, of course, is a very big part of this role. So having a good team behind her, and a good team that understands some of the nuances of Vietnam and its destinations. The time of year, some of the legalities around that, and then travel arrangements. Obviously, with a wedding party, you've got at least two people coming, possibly more, as in family, and then you may have guests that you want to include, so it can be managing a bigger event. 02:28 She's got some great stories to share, I know you're going to love it. Please share with your friends and family who are thinking about getting married, because I'm sure a wedding in Vietnam would be something super-duper, and something wonderful to remember for the rest of your life. So, please welcome Jenny to the program. 02:49 Whilst I think being a wedding planner must be a super fun thing to do, I can imagine there's a lot to that job, like you have to cover a lot of people. I mean, people are a bit emotional about weddings, and they have very particular ideas in their heads about what they think they want it to be like and there's all of that going on, and you have to manage that. So what got you interested in becoming a wedding planner? Jenny Hoàng: 03:30 I think that it wasn't easy at first. I think it went all the way back to 2010 when I was working part time in a wedding video and photography studio. My job was to take care of the client requests regarding the decoration, the attire, the flower setup, the poses, before and during the shooting day. So, in short, I made sure that everything looked good in the picture. It was this one wedding where the bride specifically asked me to monitor her wedding venue the night before her wedding. 04:15 I feel the need to add in right here that I wasn't a wedding planner. I was a student working part time in the studio and the studio back then did mostly engagement photo shoots. So, my job was very simple. That was the first time ever that I had to take care of a wedding venue. The situation was that her wedding happened the next morning while the venue was fully occupied the night before by another wedding. So, we had to wait for the party to be over. 04:53 Then clean up everything so the decoration team could bring her flowers, and all of this happened after midnight. I think it wasn't a good idea for a bride who came all the way to the wedding venue at midnight, the night before her wedding day to check on it. So, I agreed to do it for her. But by midnight or by 2am she appeared anyway because she couldn't rest her head, she couldn't sleep, she had to come by and see for herself. And because I was just a photograph assistant, she knew that she couldn't just hand over the wedding to me. Remember that it was in 2010, a decade ago right, when wedding planner didn't even exist in Vietnam, event planner or a wedding planner wasn't a popular profession. 05:50 That's the moment when I realized that her nails weren't done, her hair was messy, and her eyes were puffy. It came to my mind that there must be someone who worked through the planning process with them in their shoes, who understands why they do things where they want in a specific way. What needs to be done in what way on time, is like catching sheep. I hadn’t even heard of the word, wedding planner before. And thanks to J Lo. I couldn't say that it was a good movie, but it was the first movie ever talking about the wedding planner. Every wedding planner can relate. Kerry Newsome: 06:48 There's a couple of things that I got out of what you've said in the fact that sometimes your chosen profession, in some ways, chooses you rather than you choosing it. You find yourself having a moment where you go, "Well, I'm good at organizing, I'm good at putting things together, I care about people, and I like to see them have a good experience." So, when people that I've met in the travel industry are event planners, some of those event management companies have then decided to specialize in weddings, because it's a major event. 07:38 What adds an extra level of complexity to being a wedding planner, in Vietnam, when you are selling your skills or offering your skills to foreigners is you are not only planning their wedding. As in the two persons that are key, the groom and bride, but you are also managing the travel aspects of the wedding. And all the people in the wedding party, and sometimes many of the guests. So, it has a couple of extra layers of complexity to it. 08:19 And why I wanted to have you on the show, Jenny is I believe Vietnam is growing in this area of becoming a wedding destination. I think it deserves some exposure to the rest of the world and my audience for this show is global. So, I've got people in my audience that are sitting in Canada, in the US, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam, I might add. But I don't know whether or not they would initially think of Vietnam as a destination for a wedding. 09:00 So, having you on and talking about your experiences, I think is going to give people some extra insight into Vietnam, getting on the radar for people as a destination for a wedding. So, in that vein, why do you think Vietnam is an ideal destination? Now, you and I talked before the show about Bali and Thailand and all those other countries that are possibly 20 years ahead. Why is Vietnam a really great place to come to for a wedding? Jenny Hoàng: 09:42 I will not oversell my country right here. I love Vietnam so much. I'm very proud to be Vietnamese in every way. I have to add it here that I started my career as a destination wedding planner in Thailand, Koh Samui to be exact, and everyone who listens to the podcast knows about Koh Samui that it's a wedding heaven. Where 1000s of couples travel to the island every year to get married, to party, to have the honeymoon. So, I've been in one of the busiest wedding destinations in all of Southeast Asia. I've been to Bali as well, I traveled to Korea to see how the wedding industry is developed, how developed it is over there. Also, Jakarta, where the biggest wedding fair happens every year. I can see there are several elements for couples to choose a destination for their weddings. 10:52 Vietnam has the advantage of having three UNESCO heritage sites. Since we are very long in shape, we have very different landscapes, and we have different climates. Up in the north, you can have mountains with European- like weather, if you don't want to get your guests to sweat over their dress, you can bring them to the north where the mountain is beautiful. If you love the beach, and your spa lovers and all your guests really like to have a warm bath every day, besides the wedding days, you can just travel to the south of Vietnam. One thing about having a very diverse topography is that you have a very diverse cuisine as well. So that's the first thing. 11:48 The second thing is about the flavor climate where you can save and sow, have your wedding out for at least nine months, our 12 months of the year. I think the third element would be availability. So, no matter how beautiful or famous the landscaping is, the lack of services needed for the wedding will be a big obstacle in the organizing process. Vietnam is one of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. So, service availability is guaranteed in this year, or the next 5-10 year. We have connectivity to put on the table as well, it is about how easy you and your loved one can travel to the place. 12:43 Normally in a city wedding, you don't have to figure out how you get there. For destination weddings, I think connectivity is very important. Of course, there will be the popularity of the place. I know that Vietnam is not that popular, like in Thailand or Bali. We couldn't say for now that Vietnam is the top choice of wedding destination. I really wish that I could invite Leonardo DiCaprio to star in the beach remake movie in Vietnam because even though he's old now he's still got his charm. We actually have the King Kong: Skull Island movie shot in the north of Vietnam a few years ago. But compared to 20 years old Leonardo, I think that Thailand has the advantage of 20 years ahead because they have the beach and Leonardo starred in those movies. The Gulf of Thailand was so famous two decades ago. If you can hear me, Leonardo, please come to Vietnam. 13:55 And then, I think the competitive costs in terms of the beneficial rates for foreigners to have their weddings in Vietnam, the stability of the currency, and the average cost of the service will be one very important element for couples to look at when they compare destinations. Kerry Newsome: 14:23 So, Jenny, where do most of your guests come from? Where do your brides and grooms originally come to you? Do they come to you more locally or are they coming from overseas countries? Jenny Hoàng: 14:42 So, before COVID 60% of my clients came from Australia, the US and Russia. Mostly, they are a mixed couple who are Vietnamese married to a foreigner or people with Western background. People who live abroad, or maybe they study abroad, get very close to the Western wedding traditions, and they want to do things differently in Vietnam. That is something about the people who choose to wed the non-traditional way. 15:23 Most of the couples who choose Vietnam, because they have seen their friends posting their wedding or honeymoon pictures in wedding heavens, like Phuket, Samui, Bali before, and they want to keep an eye out for a novel tropical wedding destination. They think that Vietnam is really worth exploring. I want them to know that it should be easy to bring your families and your friends here, from halfway around the world to a tropical country and have your celebration there. Kerry Newsome: 15:59 I think that's a really good thing. When you're talking about a couple and then sitting down together to plan a wedding, obviously, they're going to be tossing around lots of different options. I think, if they are creative people, if they're people that want to do something a little bit different. I know, I have spoken to another wedding planner that was doing some work. This was before COVID, and I think you know her, Nadine. She was saying that people who do decide to have a wedding in another country, are very open to new ideas. They're very creative. They're looking for something special and something unique. They also want to make it very special for their guests. 16:53 Sometimes, families are meeting each other for the first time. Sometimes, the husband's friends don't know all the bride's friends. So, there's a really big coming together. And I think that opens up lots of different experiences to have in Vietnam, as you said, on the beach, in the highlands of North Vietnam, there's just so many different experiences. In my time traveling back and forth to Vietnam, I have very often run into a group of guys that are celebrating the pre-wedding, bachelor party, and they're having a lot of fun. I've caught up with some girls that are over there the week before, and they're getting their dresses finished and being made and tailored in Vietnam, as the bridesmaids. Talk to us a little bit about some of the strange requests that you get from these brides and grooms. If anything stands out like wacky ideas? Jenny Hoàng: 18:05 They'll question, "Are we bringing back good memories?" And since you have mentioned Nadine, I just really missed the time. Nadine was actually one of the first foreign wedding planners in Vietnam, who did weddings for foreigner couples. She's a pioneer in inserting Vietnamese wedding features into foreigner weddings that make it a mixed wedding where your guests travel 1000 miles to the wedding and then see and experience a new culture. So, I think it's very unique. That's the thing that I learned from Nadine as well. That's the philosophy that I try to work with my destination wedding clients too. 19:05 And going back to your questions, do I have any strange requests? I have strange requests all the time. I’ve had couples who paraglide from a cliff to their ceremony. I’ve had a couple who rock climbed to their ceremony on top of a mountain in Bali. And I also just did a cruise wedding in Hạ Long Bay, one of the three UNESCO heritage sites that I mentioned before. I just did a cruise wedding there. And every wedding is uniquely designed for the couples, and I try to guarantee a novel firsthand experience because a wedding is a social event. It's somehow a social event where you still have to impress and take care of your guests. It's so personal on so many levels we make it very distinctive from other types of events. 20:07 I have been doing weddings for 10 years now. And it's safe to say that nothing actually can surprise me anymore unless our beloved audience right here who are listening to these podcasts, and maybe come up with a more wacky, crazy idea. I would love to hear them, because there's so many possibilities that we can do together in Vietnam. Kerry Newsome: 20:29 And I think you're right. I think there are so many different possibilities. When I interviewed Nadine, and this is all early stages of COVID. She was still getting inquiries, because at that stage, we didn't really know what COVID was going to do, or how long it was going to last. If you were to talk about actual destinations, as in, what are some of the best wedding destinations in Vietnam? You mentioned in the highlands, we've talked about Hội An. I've seen people that had weddings in caves in Vietnam, like all sorts of places. What's your thoughts there? Jenny Hoàng: 21:21 I would love to share with you a cave wedding that I did, come by with a cruise wedding. So, they have a cruise wedding, and we have a cave that can be registered and used for weddings during sunset time. So, the idea was to bring the whole family onto a cruise. Then by the sunset time, we have smaller boats, bringing them to this island. So, they walk 500 meters through a beautiful natural cave to a very white powder beach. When the flower art is set up, and the couple is waiting for them it’s very beautiful and emotional for the guests, because even in Vietnam, they don't even know that they can experience something like that. 22:21 So, to say the best places in Vietnam to have the actual wedding, I have so many names in my head right now. It really depends on which elements you prioritize. If you look for something super fun, a beach city that gives you the Thailand vibe, you can go to Phú Quốc Island, the very South Island of Vietnam. Where it is getting promoted to be the tourists’ heaven. And thinking about the Genting Highlands in Malaysia, Phú Quốc is developed in the same way. 23:09 If you look for something more natural, more relaxed and laid back, we have big cities and islands to choose from. If you are very keen on having something unique, there's so many places that we can actually do it. Like Nadine was so smart when she picked Hội An because the lovely old town gives you everything you need, and is just near the beach. It had a very diverse cultural background. Kerry Newsome: 23:43 You're right. I think Hội An, I know from just my limited experience, because you've got the old town. It's just such a beautiful place for your photography. And you've also got the beach at An Bằng, you can do something on the beach there. So, you can really mix it up in your photos. That's where I've actually bumped into most of the pre-wedding or post-wedding celebrations. Do you want to tell your story now about the hangover story? I thought that was hilarious. You should add that now. Jenny Hoàng: 24:27 That's crazy. That's hilarious. So, as a wedding planner, and then a destination wedding planner. I believe that 50% of a destination wedding is the destination where I take care of the travels of the guests, of the accommodation, transportation and all the activity before and after the weddings with families and friends coming together. 25:01 This is one story that I will remember for the rest of my life because reality is stranger than fiction. And I watch movies like Hangover all the time. In the movie, we have bachelor parties that went crazy, someone's missing, lost their tooth, having a baby in the bathroom. We think that it shows movies. But it was from my experience that I have a groom that disappeared the morning before the wedding day, they went to a bachelor party the night before, and got reported that they went back to the hotel by 4am. But by 10am, when the bride came into the room, and looked for the groom, he wasn't there. Nobody knew where he went, the groomsmen confirmed that they all left the bar together, even the bar confirmed through CCTV that they left, and he'd just gone. 26:16 Everyone's just freaked out, we rushed to the beach, we filed a police report, and you can tell that it's chaos. It's not like runaway bride movies, they love each other, and he can't wait to get married to her. So, it couldn't be a chance that he ran away. Then I think just half an hour later when one of the resort's staff found him on the beach, around a few 100 meter away from the resort. In the condition that he was half naked, and he was wearing a tutu, as in a ballet dancer skirt. He was sleeping like a baby and safe and sound next to a beach dock. And nobody had a clue how he got there; he didn't have a clue why he got there. Then he suffers from the heat of the sun. Just like the Hangover movies. 27:24 That's where I got the idea that reality is sometimes stranger than fiction, because it's just out of my mind that a junior wedding planner, like me, would have encountered a situation like that. But every wedding has its grain of craziness in it. If you look at it as memories, it is going to be beautiful, you can laugh about it for the rest of your life. If you look at it as a flaw, or the pressure of perfection, if you think that your wedding is going to be the way you wanted it, I can confirm that you are going to be very shocked, that is not going to happen. Kerry Newsome: 28:14 And you're right, that's just being human. I know some brides turn into bridezillas. I had this conversation with Nadine as well. And I think, there is that level that everybody wants it to be absolutely perfect. Actually, some of the gems to come out of a wedding is when things don't go exactly as they should. They're the memories that everybody can relate to and laughs about, they pick up the photos later. They're the ones that take you into the future, and you'll never get that time back again, and nor should you. So, just in wrapping up, Jenny, do you have any hints or tips or anything you'd like to share with my guests who are thinking about Vietnam as a wedding destination? Do you have anything you'd like to share to them that can help them plan and make this decision? Jenny Hoàng: 29:16 Even if I say to you now that Vietnam is on the rise as a new wedding destination, we still have some disadvantages. I wouldn't say disadvantage, but then compared to other wedding heavens, where you have to do everything very novelly. So, the first thing that you should watch out for is that Vietnam is a very cost-effective destination. But cost effective is not equal to cheap. We have to look at your destination wedding as a travel holiday experience. If you can compare the price to having a holiday in your country and in Vietnam, then it would be more competitive than if you compare the cost in Vietnam to other well established wedding heavens in the same area, then it might not look that inviting to you. I can guarantee you that with the services developing in Vietnam right now, the image of Vietnam will be way promoted into a developing, more modern and well established one with a great sound service in the future. Kerry Newsome: 30:41 I think where we're going with this is that countries like Thailand, and Indonesia and Bali, etc., have been marketing those destinations for many, many years. So, they're way ahead in the marketing of those countries as wedding destinations, they're featured in travel magazines around the world, etc. So, with that comes some knowledge, obviously, that they really know their stuff, they really have set venues, and they really downplay it. That also means that when you're looking at those destinations, you're probably looking at those destinations with thousands of others. So, you've got the disadvantage of, maybe having to book way more in advance, and you've got to queue up. And there's applicable prices, etc. 31:31 What I like about Vietnam, and what I'm delighted to talk to you about is that Vietnam is in the developmental stage of this, so you can get to be a little bit more creative. I think, you're going to get a little bit more originality, maybe there will be some things that are not exactly perfect. Planning for the unexpected, I think should be part of any wedding plan that I've ever been involved in. They are the star moments that you get to hold on and share down the track and have a good laugh about. 32:06 I think cost wise, it's a really good thing to bring up. Sometimes I think Vietnam gets thought about, or there's the perspective that everything's cheap. That everything you buy in Vietnam is cheap, or it's a copy, or it's a fake. This comes up on my podcast a lot. And I really want to try and dispel that everything is cheap. Sure, you get great value, that's a different way of saying cheap, it's not cheap. I'm saying you get really good value for your money. I think it is very competitive. So, in the Southeast Asian region, Vietnam is coming up as a wedding destination, because of all of those factors. You've got 3800 kilometers of beach side; you've got the variance of weather. And see, that's another thing people don't even think about because Vietnam is having cold weather. Let me assure you in the north, it's freezing in January. Jenny Hoàng: 33:10 Yeah, it's freezing. Kerry Newsome: 33:12 Absolutely, January, February, you could be wearing a fur coat to your wedding. So, I think, the variables available make it extremely attractive. I mean, who would have thought that you'd be skydiving or landing on your wedding destination that way? Well, that's where the originality comes in. I think, when you take that care, and I really love hearing that you want to make that experience really special for them. Because I think Vietnamese have a really great way of showing, you know, really good service. 33:51 I can't think of too many places that would be running around beaches, trying to find the guy that was asleep with the dog on the beach. A lot of us would just say, he'll have to just find his way to the wedding where I know that there would be staff at the hotel, you and your staff would be also running around trying to find him to get him back in time for the actual event. Jenny Hoàng: 34:22 Thank you for putting the word in, I really appreciate it. For me, Vietnam is a novel experience and to pay for experience is not cheap. But then due to all the advantages that Vietnam is having, we are a growing economy, we are learning from Thailand and other tourism destinations. We try to promote our country. There are possibilities where you can have your experience here at a very affordable cost. You will be one of the many first ones who see Vietnam and have your wedding in Vietnam, amongst your friends, and have a very novel taste of it. Kerry Newsome: 35:19 Absolutely. Jenny Hoàng: 35:21 Can I add one more option? Kerry Newsome: 35:22 Yes, sure. Jenny Hoàng: 35:23 Since travel to Vietnam is a bit more complex than in Thailand, or in Bali, make sure that if you are planning your wedding in Vietnam, you get in touch with a wedding planner who has experience in travel. Or at least have the experience of marrying couples or foreigner couples in Vietnam, because the transportation will be a little bit more complex than others. So, you want to make sure that you and your guests will be comfortable and relaxed when they come to the wedding. Make sure that you book a wedding planner with experience in this criterion. Or if your wedding planner doesn't have it, then try to find a tour agency that takes care of the travel for you. That way it helps you take the loss of your shoulder, and then 100% just enjoy the wedding in our beautiful country. Kerry Newsome: 36:27 I totally agree with having the travel experience and knowledge, just simple things like meeting the person at the airport for pickups and drop offs at the hotel. Just so that those kinds of things go smoothly because they can easily go off the rails. Okay, Jenny, thank you for being on the program. I'm really glad you're able to come and talk about weddings and hope to be talking again soon. Jenny Hoàng: 36:55 Thank you, Kerry for inviting me and I really hope that we can see more and more couples hearing this podcast. I'm sharing it with their friends and family, since Kerry's podcast channel is very helpful for not people who want to get married in Vietnam, but people who are curious about our country and our culture or planning their holiday here. It also could be very useful for you too. So, thank you Kerry for that as well. Kerry Newsome: 37:26 That's my absolute pleasure. Kerry – Let me help plan your travel arrangements along with Jenny - https://itsvietnam.com/blog/vietnam-perfect-wedding-destination/ We are here to help make this special day one you and your friends will remember forever. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoang-anh-duong-vu Email hatmemwp@gmail.com Other projects that Jenny works on https://www.facebook.com/groups/kinhnghiemweddingplanner https://wsen-vietnam.org/ Press and Media: https://dantri.com.vn/nhip-song-tre/co-dau-chu-re-dap-du-luon-toi-dam-cuoi-tren-canh-dong-ha-noi-20161214073425709.htm https://www.weddingchicks.com/blog/a-gorgeous-styled-wedding-inspiration-in-vietnam-l-17395-l-41.html https://www.weddingchicks.com/blog/how-to-have-the-perfect-beach-wedding-in-vietnam-l-16441-l-43.html https://www.weddingchicks.com/blog/elegant-beachfront-wedding-in-vietnam-l-17588-l-43.html

What About Vietnam 's Kerry Newsome specialises in informing first-time travelers to Vietnam through podcasts and transcripts. We offer Girl's Getaways and other specialised travel. What About Vietnam is your voice of experience. Phone: AUS +614 416 677 793 A Girls Getaway to Vietnam Tour What About Vietnam _ Girls Getaway 2024 What About Vietnam Girls Getaway - 2024 Guys experiences 1 Girls Getaway What About Vietnam _ Girls Getaway 2024 1/12 with Kelley McCarthy Booking Information Request an eMeet Feel the difference a hosted tour with a local Guide can make to your experience of Vietnam A What About Vietnam Girls Getaway Hosted Tour 2 NEW DATES : 14th March - 25th March 17th September - 28th September Introducing the Ultimate Girls Getaway in Vietnam for 2024 We've carefully crafted this experience with the modern female traveller in mind. Whether you're young or young at heart, there's something here for everyone. Get ready to indulge in delectable cuisine, enjoy some retail therapy, immerse yourself in enriching cultural encounters, pamper yourself with luxurious experiences, and explore Vietnam at a pace that truly allows you to savour every moment of your well-deserved holiday. And, of course, it's all about the fun, giggles, and embracing the beautiful Vietnamese culture we adore. Be prepared for 3 different kinds of experiences in Vietnam 1) A major city, 2) An old town, 3) An Island It all starts in Saigon otherwise known as HCMC - The city Let us lead the way through the city's iconic landmarks such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Central Post Office and the War Remnants Museum. We will indulge in some retail therapy including visiting the famous Ben Thanh Markets, along with a few hidden treasures a little bit harder to find. You will then be treated to some of the best coffee in town finishing up with a lazy cruise on the harbour enjoying a delicious buffet dinner. The Old Town Next, it's off to Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its stunning ancient architecture and beautiful lantern-lit streets. This charming town is the perfect place to relax, unwind, and indulge in some pampering. We will explore the local cuisine by taking a cooking class where you will learn how to make traditional Vietnamese dishes, and afterwards we will get local tailors to make us custom-made clothes which will be the envy of all our friends back home. The Island Finally, we finish our journey in the stunning island paradise of Phu Quoc. Surrounded by crystal clear waters and lush tropical forests, Phu Quoc is the perfect place to unwind and soak up the sun. We will explore the island by hopping on a scenic boat ride that’s take us to those beautiful turquoise waters you see in all the photos. What sets us apart? We focus on the little things that matter, ensuring you have an intimate and personalized journey. Unlike larger tour companies, we keep our groups small, allowing us to visit places that can cater to our needs and desires. Boutique luxury is our motto, and we want you to feel completely taken care of from the moment you sign up. No stress, no hassle – just pure enjoyment. For first-time solo travelers, we highly recommend bringing along a girlfriend, mother, daughter, or sister to join you. Not only will it enhance the experience, but you'll also save on room rates – it's a win-win! What's different in our tours in 2024 ? We're thrilled to announce that we now offer the flexibility to join part of the tour if you're visiting Vietnam with family or a group but still want to experience the magic of our Girls Getaway. Whether it's exploring the island paradise or embracing the vibrant city; or following your host and local guide as they share their knowledge and expertise to take you through the alleys of HOI AN. It’s just one sneaky away to have a bit of girl time that YOU didn’t have to plan. You just get to join in the fun and meet a great bunch of girls there for the same reasons. Guys, we aren’t leaving you out this year! We have got something for you too! The feedback from 2023, was you were feeling a tad left out. So as ‘Trip Planning ‘ is Kerry’s speciality, we have created some discerning options tailored to your interests, from golf and adventure, to caving, wellness, trekking, and the opportunity to compete in marathons; or maybe a bucket list thing like obtaining your Padi diving certificate. All these fantastic experiences can be individually designed just for you and we have the best operators in Vietnam to make it happen. Value for money, along with flexibility in a small group ( shorter versions of the whole tour): Plus something for the guys, is what is going to make our tours stand out! So, if you're ready to embark on a journey filled with joy, laughter, and lifelong memories, head over to our website to check out the new tour dates and descriptions. Get in touch with us via email, and we'll gladly provide pricing and further options to ensure you have the best experience imaginable. Join us on this unforgettable Girls Getaway tour to Vietnam, and let's create memories that will last a lifetime! See you in Vietnam! What does the ‘overall’ tour include: (Check with us directly on the sectioned tours) All pricing includes: A fully hosted tour with Kelley McCarthy and Kerry Newsome managing the tour experiences Pick up from Airport on day of arrival at HCMC (International Airport) 3 Domestic airfares – HCMC to Danang, Danang to Phu Quoc, Phu Quoc to HCMC Buffet Breakfast daily, 5 x Lunches + 4 Dinners All entrance fees to activities mentioned in the program An English Speaking Guide supporting the tour hosts in each location All transportation and Airport pick ups provided in private air conditioned vehicles 4* Boutique Accommodation in all locations 2.5 hour face/body pampering Experience A Dinner cruise on Saigon River (Excluding alcohol) A cooking class in Hoi An where by you get to enjoy your prepared meals for Lunch Show in Hoi An Boat and day Tour Phu Quoc Dinner last night Phu Quoc (Excluding alcohol) Plus many optionals to choose from to enhance your trip as you wish. PLEASE NOTE: THE TOUR WILL NOT GO AHEAD IF THE GROUP SIZE NOT REACH 8 PERSONS. MAXIMUM GROUP SIZE 10 PERSONS. Check with us directly for pricing of Men’s options for a full tour or for a sectioned tour to marry up with the Girls sectioned tour. Don't miss out on the ultimate girls getaway – Get in touch with us now and treat yourself to an unforgettable experience! Email us whataboutvietnamTCservices@gmail.com for pricing. Full Itinerary

S4-11 Revisiting Vietnam What About Vietnam – S4- E11 Revisiting Vietnam post Covid – First Impressions Introduction: [00:00:02] What about Vietnam? A podcast with Kerry Newsome, the series where Kerry talks with travelers about their experiences and adventures. Find out more about Vietnam from the people who have actually been there. What about Vietnam? Whether it's an adventure, exploring the culture and cuisine, shopping or just soaking up the sun, let Kerry and her travelers pave the way for a magical holiday in Vietnam. Kerry Newsome: [00:00:38] Xin chao and welcome to What About Vietnam? I'm delighted to be recording this show from Vietnam. I'm sitting in Hoi An and I've been one week in the country. Boy, oh, boy. Have things changed! I feel like I'm almost in a little bit of a time warp, as in it feels like about 2016. I just wanted to do this very short episode as a bit of a revisit to help you with your trip planning. With thinking about Vietnam, post-COVID because, you know, there's so much in the media and it's very hard to get a really good fix on what it's like to travel here again. I'm happy to say it's easy. There's just a lot of things that have happened to make it more seamless, certainly in the months since May of this year. So let's start right at the very beginning and we talk about the visa situation. So where it was in 2019, two types of main visas in the sense that there are a list of countries that are visa free and you could go to the website. There's actually a blog on my What about Vietnam website , and you can go there and you'll see the list of countries. So you may fit into that category where you can stay visa free, stay for 15 days. Then there is the opportunity for those countries that are requiring a visa and I'm sitting in Australia, of course, I do have to have a visa. I get up to 30 days with that visa and the fee for that is 25 USD. You should allow about 2 to 3 business days for processing. Kerry Newsome: [00:02:43] Once you get that letter, which I suggest, you really do need to print that off, take that with your passport and your ticket. It's a very simple process now to check in. You don't need to or I haven't been asked anywhere during my travels in Vietnam for my status, for vaccination or anything like that. So that's all pretty much put to bed. Nor did I get asked anywhere about my status with travel insurance. Now, even though that wasn't asked, I would still suggest there are still serious numbers of COVID in Vietnam. While it's pretty much the same in Australia, everybody is looking forward and not looking backward. I would still suggest that you check with your travel insurance company to make sure that you have got coverage, which includes anything to do with COVID. Just, to make sure, I'm just the kind of girl that wants to make sure you tick all the boxes. When you're looking to plan your trip and certainly if you're a long haul traveler, you want to have a look now at airlines that are offering you direct flights from Australia. You can fly direct into Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi with Vietnam Airlines, but also you might want to check Bamboo Airways as they are also offering you direct flights. Kerry Newsome: [00:04:24] So, you know, it's a nice easy eight hour flight. I did a daytime flight, so I left Australia at 10 a.m. and I got into Vietnam at 4:00 in the afternoon, which was just “easy peasy”. I think the most staggering difference for me on coming back into Vietnam was getting out of my country and getting into Vietnam, just the absolute contrast. Getting out of Australia there's been lots in the news about staff shortages in the travel industry that certainly seemed reflected in Sydney Airport in Australia. The queues to get through, check in the queues to get through immigration and then the queues to get through security took at least 3 hours. Maybe just check depending on the country that you are departing that things have caught up, they've got the right staff technologies in place and saving time, etc. At least allow your 3 hours to get through the queues because I was marching pretty sprightly to my gate in the end to get there on time. Allowing about three and a half hours to do that and then getting into Vietnam. Similarly there used to be long queues, but I looked over at immigration and there were six or seven people ahead of me in each queue. It was super, super quick and I was just staggered, having left my country with those long queues and then coming into Vietnam where I was kind of thinking I'd be up against the same thing, that just wasn't the case. Kerry Newsome: [00:06:17] Now when you start to move around the country and you're going into domestic airports, one thing you are really going to notice is a difference in the amount of domestic tourism. That's probably been the most staggering change I've seen. There definitely is a growing upper middle class in Vietnam, a more educated, more business, more enterprising Vietnam. Uh, industry growth! So you're seeing a lot more well-heeled travelers, I guess, travelers that are traveling for specific regions that they've never been to. I was talking to some people the other day, and Vietnam is really opening up in the sense that their own countrymen are wanting to discover more about their country. I mean, there's some people that have lived all their life in Saigon but never ventured any further than Saigon. Those people are now changing up and going to Dalat or going to Mui Ne or going to the northern regions. It's quite staggering. When you're standing in the queues where, you know, 2019, I'd be standing in a queue with a lot of Westerners standing with me. I'm now standing abreast with a lot of Vietnamese. That was just an observation, I guess I made very, very quickly that there was certainly less of me and much more of them. Now coming into Vietnam, your main ports are going to be one of three. Kerry Newsome: [00:08:03] Ho Chi Minh City, Danang or Hanoi. For me, it was coming into Ho Chi Minh City. Now, Ho Chi Minh City has been traditionally, for me, a leapfrog city. I would come in and I would just think, oh no, I don't want to be here for too long because of the chaos. It's just the buzz of a city, but it's certainly one for me, traditionally just too busy because I'm here for a holiday. I want to relax. Well, I decided to take a longer period of time in Ho Chi Minh City this time, because I really wanted to experience it. Post-covid, I mean, in 2021, there were some serious lockdowns here in Ho Chi Minh City. I wanted to see what were the signs post that era, what had changed? The last time I'd been there was a lot of construction and there still is. There's definitely been some upgrades and just a few different things that I wanted to share with you that may influence you to maybe stay a little bit longer and discover the city. Some of the things for me that really hit home was the easier way to get around. Now, traditionally walking around and, you know, you've probably also heard that getting around crossing roads and the amount of bikes was really quite difficult and people got quite overwhelmed with it. Well, for me this time I found it quite easy. Kerry Newsome: [00:09:52] On a lot of the tourist kind of streets, etc. they've made walkways. They've added one way streets. So where there was that crazy mix where people were on bikes and kind of converging and you were trying to walk through those. There's not as many of those anymore. There's a lot more one-way streets. So at least you're only having to look either left or right to cross the road if it's a wide road. That's just one of the things. The other thing is the amount of traffic lights. There's many, many more traffic lights, and I think Vietnamese are getting used to that. That's also helping guide the whole traffic scene and making it easier for us to maneuver the city and get around. Then thirdly, the difference is there's many more cars now. That's both good and bad, certainly. You know, cars have the ability to transport more than one person. If you're in a small group or you've got a family or you'd like to travel together, you know, the four seater, six seater, that car, there's definitely more of those on the road. I'm a bit of a fan of the GRAB App (Download to your phone) and while you can order a grab car or a grab bike if you're going a longer distance and obviously the weather plays a role in this as well. You might want to do the car, but if you've got to be there at a specific time, allow more time for the car. Kerry Newsome: [00:11:41] The car obviously doesn't have quite the same maneuverability as the bike. Just getting around the traffic is going to take longer. Like every country in the world, every city has their peak hours and Ho Chi Minh City is no different. So definitely with a Grab bike and a Grab car, the car will get to you quicker. I was able to because I was going kind of short distances and mainly moving within District one, District two, District five and District three, etc.. I was using the bike and I found the bike very effective, very quick and with the app. The thing I love about the app is that with the cash situation, you are able to know up front how much money it's going to cost. You never at any point or any time had the feeling that you're going to get ripped off or anything like that. You've got easy identification. They can see your name on their app, on their phone, you can see it on the map, and you've got a registration that you can match up. It gives you, I think, another layer of confidence to get around the city and discover it because it's also changing. I found some fascinating places. I really want you to stay tuned to Ho Chi Minh City and the show, because I am putting together some interesting tours within that city, and I'll be telling you more about those in the coming months. Kerry Newsome: [00:13:27] I think Saigon is a city where you're definitely going to get your fix of street food, but then you're going to also experience some fabulous coffee shops on all levels. You can eat good quality food, get great coffee. I don't know whether you follow me on my Instagram , but my new favorite coffee is an iced coke Vietnamese coconut coffee . My God, it is just to die for and certainly on a warm day, it is the perfect refreshment. You're also paying a very small amount for a very luscious drink. Just in these really natty interesting coffee shops and they're everywhere all over Saigon. I think the other thing is dining out has changed. Where before, Ho Chi Minh City in particular, was really just about street food and experiencing the markets and doing that kind of thing. It is now evolving into a very sophisticated city, and it's been doing that just by osmosis, really just organically in the last few years. I got to experience Tung Restaurant , which is the flagship restaurant for Chef Tung. I did an episode on Fine Dining with Raj Taneja , and we hooked up on this trip to go and experience it. Oh, my God, 19 Courses of a Degustation menu - it was just amazing! Kerry Newsome: [00:15:22] I just don't know whether I'm going to do it justice here in this show, but I'll definitely put a link to it in the show notes . So think about Ho Chi Minh City as an experience that you might want to spend a few more days and discover it from a different angle and from the level. I can confidently say that you can get around more one way straight streets, easy walking paths, or more so than there used to be anyway. Some of that construction is now converting itself into some really lovely districts, and beautiful bars overlooking the river. I got to have a look at the deck, which is an absolutely gorgeous place. Then there are a couple of others, which I'll let you know in due course. Coming into Danang and now arriving in Hoi An, that's been crazy for me as well because it's quiet, and I feel like I'm in a bit of a time warp here. I was saying to someone this morning, I feel like I'm in 2016 when Vietnam was really wanting to grow its tourism market. The city of Hoi An, in particular being a UNESCO World Heritage site, was really targeted as the city that would bring the foreign tourists to it. At the moment, I'm definitely in the minority, I think Vietnamese and certainly there's a high percentage of Koreans here at the moment. You know, tourism is here, but it's not to the extent that it was when I left in 2019, 2020, actually, just as COVID was hitting. It's still a beautiful city! Kerry Newsome: [00:17:33] It's got that lovely Thu Bon river, the lanterns are still there, and beautiful cafes. They're starting to open up again, the shops, etc. My beautiful tailor, she's back working. She hadn't been working for two years, and it's just remarkable how they've survived and how well they've survived just attitudinally. How beautiful and how gracious they are about welcoming everybody back. It's just fabulous to be back and experience the Vietnam that I love! I'm going to keep this episode pretty short because I'm going to be moving on to some other places in Vietnam during my stay. I want to try and cram in as much as I can in my 30 day visa and have as much as I can to share with you as I go. The show notes will include as much as I can and have been covered in today's show. Bear with me! I've got a fantastic episode coming up next on Art in Vietnam and we're going to focus on that in Hanoi. So stay tuned for that and always feel like you can go to the website, search for a subject, search for a destination, and if I haven't got it, I haven't covered, please reach out to me directly at whataboutvietnam@gmail.com . Thanks for staying with me. Stay tuned for more stories and more shows on the What About Vietnam podcast? Outtro: [00:19:21] Thank you for listening. Check out the episode notes for more information. Love What about Vietnam? Don't forget to subscribe, write and review and stay tuned for more fun adventures in Vietnam. Time stamps to help guide you through the episode:- 00.38 The Visa process in action 04.24 Arriving into Vietnam – what to expect 06.17 The domestic travel experience 08.03 HCMC – most significant changes 09.52 Getting around HCMC 13.27 Dining out and the coffee scene Saigon 17.32 Hoi An – Welcoming me back Please rate, review and send us your comments. Follow us on facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/whataboutvietnam Follow us on Insta here - https://www.instagram.com/whataboutvietnampodcast/ Follow us on LinkedIN here - https://www.linkedin.com/company/what-about-vietnam/ YOU TUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavCC1--oE5rUhO_SlENmqw

< Back 5 Days 4 nights Immersive Wellness package Hue – Vietnam At Alba Wellness Valley by Fusion Experience Highlights A 5 day/ 4 night nurturing wellness package at Alba Wellness Valley by Fusion is carefully crafted:- For people who are looking for a relaxing and healing retreat. For people seeking a tranquil atmosphere and the chance to spend time to indulge in many spa treatments, meditations and soaking in hotsprings For people who want to travel differently and avoid the crowds but still enjoy locally grown food and a heightened experience of Vietnamese culture For those wishing to explore HUE local culture and cuisine in a relaxed and mindful way This joyful experience will bring harmony and balance to your body – mind and well-being , This retreat at Alba Wellness Valley by Fusion has been designed and crafted by Kerry Newsome the Host of the "What About Vietnam Podcast and the Alba Wellness team. The aim of the retreat is to bring a meaningful journey back to your true self, without the pressures of time or decision making. This joyful experience will bring harmony and balance on 3 key components: body – mind – soulful well-being, especially focusing on mental health . What to expect during your stay Body treatments Cleansing your physical body through juicing and other healthy drinks (kombucha – fermented probiotic tea) along with vegetarian or healthy meals Indulge and pamper yourself through our exceptional spa treatments and authentic Japanese onsen . Boost your immune system by soaking in mineral rich outdoor hot springs Challenging yourself with our exciting outdoor experiences which include zipline and adventurous highwire circuits or hiking in the forest Organic cooking class at the farm with fresh picked vegetable and herbs Yoga classes and meditations taking advantage of the local springs and mindfulness spaces Mindfulness Observe your breath and stay mindful with our wide range of meditation classes : water meditation, forest meditation barefoot, chakra healing meditation with candles, Rainbow shower meditation, qigong and yoga. Learn something : A new way to cleansing, farming or creative crafts to help explore a new-you that you might have forgotten for a long time. Get quality sleep , thanks to all these activities as well as tranquil and beautiful nature and fresh air Soulful wellbeing Even if you prefer to remain secluded and not follow any specific spiritual activity, you still will release your stress or burn-out and discover relief in in your body and your soul. Spend time in nature : forest hiking, forest bathing and meditation to connect your inner emotions and feelings Take time to give gratitude to nature earth, your friends and all the people surrounding you to make this a meaningful experience. Be compassionate to yourself and others, by observing your breathing pattern, looking deep inside yourself, appreciating how lucky you are and discover caring for yourself before helping someone else, is a great way to discover true happiness. For more information or to book click here DAILY SCHEDULE - Activities DAY 1: ARRIVAL, RELAXATION, PAMPERING & CALM IN MIND 14:00 Arrival, check in, healthy welcome drink with homemade kombucha 15:00 Resort Tour, Welcome & Hot Spring Knowledge 16:20 Onsen 17:00 Yin & Yang spa treatment 18:30 Healthy welcome dinner (Healthy Balance Dinner) with 01 non-alcohol drink 20:00 Chakra Healing Meditation Wellness Turndown (Detox Tea) DAY 2: BALANCING DAY: YOGA, SPA, ONSEN & MEDITATION 5:30 Hiking (optional to join)- Take the opportunity to start the day in our lush forest 7:00 Celery juice experience at Mori 8:00 Daily Yoga class 9:00 Breakfast anytime anywhere Free time, High Wire (optional to join) – Feeling energized – why not try the high wire zip lining and take a bicycle ride around the resort. Or simply take it easy and lie by the pool. 13:20 Onsen 14:00 Natural Living Eucalyptus treatment 16:00 Optional Late healthy lunch/ early healthy dinner if choosing upgrade to intermittent fasting method – be sure to discuss your preferences with staff so they can prepare your meal preferences. 18:00 Water meditation 20:00 Rainbow Shower meditation Wellness Turndown (Detox Tea) DAY 3: MINDFULLNESS, ENERGY HEALING AND PAMPERING 5:30 Meditation by the stream 7:00 Celery juice experience at Mori 8:00 Daily Yoga 9:00 Breakfast Hue - Half Day city tour (optional) 9.30 – 1.30pm Following breakfast you will be collected at the resort and taken for a “Discovery half day tour” of Hue. Our knowledgeable English speaking tour your guide will assist you to understand the history of Hue as the Imperial capital of Vietnam. You will be guided through the Citadel and you will visit many places of historic significance including one new place of startling beauty - Lebadang Memory Space - https://lebadangmemoryspace.com/ Return to Resort for Prana treatment at 2.00pm and relaxation. Lunch will be at own expense during tour. Your guide will advise best place to enjoy local cuisine. 14:10 Prana Vital Energy treatment 16:00 Optional Late healthy lunch/ early healthy dinner if choosing upgrade to intermittent fasting method - be sure to discuss your preferences with staff so they can prepare your meal preferences. 20:00 Breathing Class Wellness Turndown (Detox Tea) DAY 4: HEALTHY & HEALING DAY 6:30 Celery Juice experience 7:00 Biking 8:30 Healthy Breakfast anywhere Free time to relax by the pool, take a leisurely walk, or go for a swim or bike ride. 12:30 A Cooking class by the farm 15:20 Onsen 16:00 Siamese Healing treatment 18:00 Early healthy dinner - optional if you choose intermittent fasting method - be sure to discuss your preferences with staff so they can prepare your meal preferences. 20:00 Chakra healing meditation Wellness Turndown (Detox Tea) DAY 5: PURIFYING YOURS AND CHECK OUT 6:30 Celery Juice experience 7:00 – 7:30 Water Purifications 8:00 Breakfast anytime anywhere then check out at 10.00am PRICE - INCLUDED SERVICES: Accommodation at Alba Wellness Resort by fusion Breakfast anytime anywhere Morning juices on day 2,3,4,5,6 1- Healthy dinner on day 1 with a healthy drink (non-alcohol) 50 min Spa treatment/person/night as per schedule 30 min Onsen session/person/night as per schedule Unlimited outdoor hotspring bathing/ soaking Daily Wellbeing follow up with staff Daily Wellness activity classes including yoga, meditation, breath, biking, hiking to revitalize and reinvigorate, reducing stress and resetting inner balance. (Complimentary) Daily herbal tea turndown service Water purification ritual on day 6 1 – Cooking class

WhatAboutVietnam.com specialises in first-time travelers to Vietnam. Subscribe to our brief regular newsletter featuring 5 gold nuggets from the current podcast episode and latest Vietnam news. What About Vietnam is your voice of experience. Phone: AUS +614 416 677 793 Stay up to date in 2023 Subscribe to receive our monthly update Subscribe to receive our latest podcast info, blog and special offers to help make your visit to Vietnam a fantastic experience. Receive Kerry's email update. Yes - I wish to subscribe and I accept the privacy statement. My details are below. Be part of WAV...hihi!

237094e6-207c-48f9-8161-68f4458ddf60In this session, I talk about food, people and experiences. What About Vietnam - Series 1- 1 Vietnam Travel planning Hello and Welcome to What About Vietnam. Xian Chau which means ...hello … My name is Kerry Newsome and I am your host. This is the very first episode, ….. I am truly excited to be bringing you this series. It’s been a long time in the baking. I fell in love with Vietnam a long time ago, and now through this podcast I get to share some of my learnings as a travel blogger and regular traveller over the last 14 years. I continue to work with travelers to Vietnam, and inspired by them, I feel confident I can bring you the information I know I have found hard to find about Vietnam before you actually book. I hope to answer all those burning questions you have about Vietnam. Like:- When to go? Do you need a Visa’s? Is it safe? Where are the hot spots and what are the “must do” things? I hope to bring this information to you in such a way you feel like you are there already !! So, stick around I have lots of information coming your way. In this session, I’d like to get your taste buds salivating about the food. I’d like to share with you my experiences with the people and maybe give you some insights into the kinds of experiences you can choose to have,.......... and where to find them. I want to invite you…. to the Vietnam I know and love. So lets dive in, When I think of Vietnamese food, I think about fresh seafood, ….fresh vegetable salads, …...juices, …..noodle soups with amazing broths,..... Baguets that are filled with varieties of pork, called Banh Mi, and colour. Aromas that draw you in from the street.But to silo Vietamese food into one strand of flavours marked as traditional,...... you would be missing out on the fusion of Asian flavours it offers. To get the full frontal of the basics at a street level, I urge new travellers to do a street food tour in one,... or all of the main cities. I have always believed that you never know a country…. or its people until you immerse yourself in its food. So, if your palette and digestive system allows, try and be open to exploration. Check out local markets, and while the smells and views of food vagrantly sitting out on benches may be overwhelming at first, ...Put your “when in Rome, do as the Roman do hat” and try some of the traditional dishes at least. A little tip here, so your tummy doesn’t know what hit it with the flavours about to come its way, I strongly suggest maybe starting a probiotic, a week before you leave, and bringing with you some anti diareahea medication. The food, while fresh is grown in different soils to possibly our country of origins and often this can bring about a digestive upset for the first few days as it settles down. So precautionary only as not a biggy. Those who cannot eat peanuts, or chilli, may want to ask a lot more questions about the way it was cooked. I hate to bring this up now, but I’d be remiss if I didnt mention as I have seen to many cases, including my own, in a bit of shock when the rumbling starts….Okay enough of that, lets get stuck into those 5 delicious dishes that Vietnam is world renowned for:- Five main foods Vietnam is known for:- No 1 - Banh Mi - No 2 - Pho - explain No 3 - Banx Xeo pancake - No 4 - Cau Lau - No 5 - Ban cha - Bun Cha is a traditional Vietnamese pork dish that's a speciality of Hanoi. Seasoned pork patties (I call them squished meatballs) and caramelised pork belly slices are served in a broth alongside rice noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs. And try if you can….. try not to get caught up in all the taunts about eating strange animals as it is NOT common practice, and in fact I have not gone down those streets so I can’t even tell you exactly where they cook dog, which does occur in the north, or pigeon, rat, or snake. So as Im not an authority after 14 years of travelling to Vietnam, I’ll leave it there. I will tell you that there is definitely a difference in flavours and cooking between the North and the south. Even their spring rolls are different. And distinct to some regions will be dishes like White rose dumplings - famous in Hoi An, as is Cau Lau. Crazy as it sounds it is hard to find Cau Lau out of Hoi An. Despite its simplicity of being a noodle dish with crunchy pork crackling bits, and a broth that is to die for. It’s everywhere in Hoi An. But you will search high and dry for it in HCMC.As a rule of thumb, with very blurred lines in the centre, The north tends to be more meaty and the south sweeter and seafood orientated. A word of warning, if you think your kids are a bit hyper and you don’t know why…….Mind the sugar, as you will find they put sugar in almost everything, even fruit juices like Pineapple, watermelon, etc But you can say NO Sugar. Obviously beach locations like Nha TRang, Danang, Hoi An, Halong Bay, and the Mekong Delta are rich in seafood which they regularly sell the days catch to local restaurants who will offer it to customers in buckets that are displayed at the front of their restaurants …...so you can pick what you want to have cooked in whatever way you wish. While it may look cheap and chearful you will usually be surprised at how good it tastes. And you can’t beat that freshness. And while you have seen plenty of those Vietnam tourist photos with little red chairs. They are standard seating in very local places. They are also part of what a “pop up” restaurant is all about. You can be walking along a street in Hoi An, and before you know it, the chairs come out and all of a sudden you will see set them set up…... grilling tasty sticks of pork or skewered prawns and you can just grab one and sit on one of those chairs for less than a couple dollars. It’s the aromas, and relaxed state of being that draws you in. No fuss, no parking to organise, no booking to be made. On the other hand you can walk further down the street and see restaurants side by side touting their daily specials. Like any other country Vietnam has morphed into a multicultural society, and amongst the craziness is some amazing chefs emerging with new restaurants and bringing their culture to the table, in Australian, Japanese, Korean BBQ and Asian Fusion. I can honestly say, I dont think I have had a bad meal in Vietnam. Sure Ive had those that have not been to my liking, But for the most I am with people that guess me well or I am on a food tour and learning new tastes and dishes. I still do food tours as i love learning more about Vietnam through its food. For #Vegetarians ...you will love it, as #Vietnam has you covered well with their juices and fresh vegetables and noodles. #Coffee is a culture all of its own. Its an outing. Its not just a drink, its a way to say hello and make a new friend. Along with their teas, you will want to find any excuse to have a coffee or a tea possibly in a old shophouse that has been converted to a Tea House. A very beautiful ornamental shop house in Hoi An, is also known as the Quiet American as it was featured in the film and the house is still owned by the family. I got to visit the upstairs bedrooms one time to see old family photos on the walls dating back centuries. Just amazing to see. Every frequent visitor has their favourites. A place called Cocobana in Hoi An is one of mine for tea. It offers foot baths while you enjoy your cup of something specially grown for them, with lots of herbs and stuff. Your feet and your senses always feel fabulous when you walk out. a great respite from the heat. And so with things like #Eggcoffee, it is not found everywhere. Mostly in the north and central districts.and not one of my fav things, but maybe if it’s on the menu you should try.Vietnamese are not well known for drinking alcahol. While people love their beer, they are not traditionally big drinkers. Of course with influence from other cultures that is changing. The best thing to try in the drinking department is #BaiHoi. This is A beer they brew mostly in Hanoi, on the day, and you drink it as it comes ( not necessarily cold) until its gone. There is a kind of ceremony thing that goes with it , with cheers and more cheers. The alcohol is said to be less alcohol (40% less) so that you can sit with the locals and drink with them all day. Easily done at around 5,000 - 10,000 Dong a glass. 0.45 cUSD there is actually a corner in the old town called bai Hoi corner, ask any guide they will show you where it is. By the end of your drinking session, I guarantee you will have made new friends despite the fact you won’t understand a word they are saying. Its all got to go... in the day, and usually is, so make sure you get there early if you happen to stumble on a stall in the Old Quarter. They are easy to spot as the barrell comes out and the plastic glasses are handed out. The party has begun.10am to 10 pm most days. If I move on now to describe to you something about the people, you will need to be aware I am speaking from my experiences…. and from those shared with me from some of my travellers and the suppliers I deal with. For a country that has experienced so much hardship I am still amazed at how gracious, kind and generous the Vietnamese are. I work with Vietnamese people and I have travelled with Vietnamese, and for the most part they are kind, caring and always willing to help where they can. They do have a bit of a fascination with us. They would like to understand us, but as we, the collective force of tourists cannot understandably all be clumped together. It makes it difficult. I get the Aussie Aussie c’mon often or Gidday mate… and thats about it! One example... I have dropped my hotel door key card, in the middle of a market place and had the person who found it chase me to give it to me. Another ….I have been staying in a hotel in Hoi An for a long stay and before I knew it after many conversations was offered a job. I have met a lady who gave a cooking class and has since become one of my best friends who I continue to travel around Vietnam with. Vietnamese are open, warm and slightly conservative in my experience. They aren’t flashy or whimsical. They mostly follow Buddhist traditions and favour anyone who does also. Family is everything and so is looking after their older generations which is why they may have done so well with Covid as they generally don’t tend to house the old in old peoples homes. In fact there are not many of these types of places in Vietnam. Mostly someone will be looking after that older person, be it some…... better than others. History Vietnam - They are a war ravaged country and there are distinct differences between the north and the south, but for many years the voices of unrest are quietening and as the young replace the old, the dissent is almost gone, as far as how they feel about the Vietnam war, likewise the generation x don’t really understand it as they don’t get taught too much about their own country’s political history… I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. So as a traveller and like in any city, keeping your wits about you for the those criminals you will find anywhere;- typically ...that “pick pocketer” lives everywhere unfortunately,...if you stick to common sense rules you should feel very confident travelling solo as I do often…. or if you bring children and the elderly,.... other than dealing with the motorbike traffic in the main cities that will be the biggest things you will need to contend with. While I am recording this in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic, it will be interesting to see how the country moves forward as there were reported cases in the country areas of locals being aggressive to foreigners, which is what we are called, specially us white ones, if I can say that… there were cases of aggression as they blamed us for bringing the virus to their country. Of course that is only partly true as it did come from other countries but to bundle every foreign traveler as a potential risk, was not warranted. So...I will be keen to see how that relaxes once the pandemic is under control or we have a vaccine. As I was in Vietnam right in the middle of March, I was temperature checked and at all times I felt safe amongst the Vietnamese but I did conform to wearing a mask and social distancing. As the people differ by regions, so do the experiences you can expect to find. For simplicity I have broken experiences into 4 main categories. I am only only going to dust the surface on experiences as my next series- A TRAVELLERS GUIDE TO EXPEREINCES, will feature first hand accounts with interviews with people who have had their own experiences such as these,.... and many others and they will give you their version. Much more fun, and nothing you will find in a travel book.But as the purpose of this series is to get you set for a trip to Vietnam, the least I can do is get you excited as Vietnam, has so much to offer. So here goes - Water - Vietnam offers so much to experience in the way of water. Beaches - there is 3200 kms of coastline for starters. Your hot spots being Danang, Hoi An, Nha Trang and if an island is your thing, then Phu Quoc is the go and Visa free. Just transit through HCMC. The north features some of the most staggering waterfalls near the China border, and lets not forget the beautiful Phung Nha underwater caves, ... which seems to be opening up before our eyes with 12 new caves discovered only last month. My all time favourite for off the beaten track in water, is Be be Lake, so pristine and unspoilt, mix it with the White Thai people and Hmong tribes, you will get a feeling you are lost in time. Visit magical caves by boat and take in a world of stalik mights and staliktights. And of course you must veer south if you want a taste of the Mighty Mekong: enjoy a trip up through to Phnom Penh or visit its Delta region at Can Tho where you still can see family sellers selling their wares on the waterways. Don’t forget to take your mosquito repellant. Lets get Historical and explore the culture of the country for an expereince. If you are a history or war buff, this country can take you across many countries of domination including Chinese, French, Portugese, Dutch and Japanese. If you start your historical adventure in Hanoi that will kick you off well. Divided into 12 districts, Hanoi can offer you a deep view into history through its museums and places of history, with a Woemns Museum being one of my favouirte due its amazing story telling of how women supported the country with NO glass ceiling it seems. If they could don a uniform and fight …..they have just as many rights as anyone else. And you will see that many women hold roles of importance in the country and in family businesses they tend to be the entrepreneurs. Still in a culture mindset you can travel to Hue to enjoy a treasure trove of Imperial history. Then on the Hoi An where you can stay in a 16th century old town, visit shop houses and pagodas; see live art perfromances telling you stories of love and loss over the spice trail period of time. A great place to mix up the old and new with fantastic short wave beaches, ideal for families, you can’t go past Hoi An as a multi faceted stay as many of my guests in the next series will test. Adventure seekers - you need to pick your time of year if you want to avoid disabling heat exhaustion. Head to the north of Vietnam in the months between Feb and May, rug up and you will expereince some amazing vistas either visiting tea plantations, climbing mountains in Sapa, kayaking in Ninh Binh or crawling through caves in Cat be National Park: Exploring the national parks could consume your old stay, while enjoying local homestays, with families taking care of you with home cooked meals. Or maybe you’d like the on road expereince of a bike, then get the right advise from people lile Mark Bowyer at Rusty Compass and others who have made alife doing just that. I hope to have on my show in the next series so he can tell us first hand what its like. Now for those who are looking for: Shopping - eating - luxury - pampering - relaxing - golf You might like to check out a shopping and appearing tour I happen to be co hosting next year, 2021 - www.shopeatloveourvietnam.com (This is currently on hold post the pandemic) Designer shopping is now a thing in Vietnam all you need is to know where to go… I may be able to give you a steer there as I am co hosting a pamper shopping tour next year. Hanoi has the joy factor there and likewise in HCMC with the up and coming designers wanting to make their mark in clothing, gifts and sustainable wares. Eating - Oh god don’t get me started on food again, but if I want to relax,..... I am always going to get out of the main cities and head to Danang as the busiest of cities and then to Hoi An for food. However, in saying that:- Hanoi and HCMC have some sensational places to eat, from street food to rooftop bars, you can get it all. Or you might like to explore the city in HCMC on a dinner cruise, looking back over the city. If you are prepared to pay what you would back home then the food on these dinner cruises is sensational. See my notes for a recommendation. Pampering is in abundance, 350,000 dong can get you a very nice massage and with a spa centre every 5 metres in Hoi An, it would be my recommendation….to stay…. for a flop and drop stay either, ….before or after…. some other adventure. At this price, you can afford to have more than one during your stay. Be like me, have one every second day, which is why in another episode I have suggested to stay 5 days in Hoi AN….go home feeling like you have had a holiday. I mention golf in here, as there is a new trend of golfers coming in small groups and with partners. 5 courses in easy drive from Hoi An. I brought a group over last year, they tell me the courses are first class and as you can add in the culture and food to the trip, it makes for a great round trip of enjoyment for the golfer and non golfers alike. So in wrapping up this episode,... Please check with the Episode notes for any links mentioned and feel free to contact me anytime. I look forward to paving the way for you to have a magical time in Vietnam as I share more trip planning tips over future episodes ... Thanks for listening. Bye for now... Kerry Newsome

S6-E1 Is it safe to travel to Vietnam as a solo traveller < Back S6-E1 Is it safe to travel to Vietnam as a solo traveller S6-E1 Is it safe to travel to Vietnam as a solo traveller 00:00 / 22:47 Series 6 Episode 1 Question: Is it safe to travel to Vietnam as a solo traveller? In this opening episode, I get up front and personal, Practical advice, and sensible strategies that get to heart of this question Safety is often the first — and loudest — question solo travellers ask, especially first-timers. From personal experience travelling solo across Vietnam, to what visitors commonly misunderstand, this episode breaks down what “safe” really means on the ground, how Vietnam compares to expectations, and what solo travellers should know before they arrive. No scare tactics. No sugar-coating. Just perspective, nuance, and the kind of insight that helps you decide with confidence. If Vietnam is on your radar — or already in your plans — this series is designed to meet you exactly where you are. One question at a time. Do you have a travel question or wish to give some feedback? You have 90 seconds. Click to read the voicemail recording policy Previous Next

What About Vietnam 's Kerry Newsome specialises in informing first-time travelers to Vietnam through podcasts and transcripts. What About Vietnam is your voice of experience. Phone: AUS +614 416 677 793 Trip planning & Design Services What About Vietnam Travel Services _ Home Page share Trip planning Trip planning What About Vietnam Travel Services _ Home Page share 1/15 with Kerry Newsome Request a Quote Request an eMeet Trip planning and itinerary design services provided by What About Vietnam Travel Expert - Kerry Newsome The best travel plans need to be well thought out and NOT one size fits all. If you are starting to feel a bit overwhelmed and confused by so many websites and tours out there, stop here and consider designing your own tour with my help. At What About Vietnam we recognize the importance of trip planning and design. You will have heard from Kerry many times during her shows, talking about managing expectations, planning and being clear about what is most important about your trip to Vietnam. How to arrange a trip plan, click below Request a Trip Plan - Click here To that end, we want to become your specialist in this area. If you are being overwhelmed with the internet flooded with pages and pages of Tour Operators, Tour Companies, Tourism Boards, Facebook post and Travel groups, you may like to hand the job of designing your trip over to us and let us do the work of designing the best trip according to your interests, budget and objective. Your trip planning and itinerary design - isn't one out of the brochure, it's your OWN by design Trip planning and itinerary design for travel to Vietnam requires careful consideration of several factors to ensure an enjoyable and memorable trip. We ask a lot of questions. The process should be tailored and include key elements such as:- Research - Research is crucial when planning a trip to Vietnam. This includes researching the best time to visit, visas and entry requirements, cultural customs and norms, as well as top attractions, cities, and activities. This information will help determine the itinerary and ensure that the trip is planned efficiently and effectively. Budgeting - Budgeting is a key consideration when planning a trip to Vietnam. It is important to determine how much money will be available for travel expenses and allocate it appropriately for accommodation, transportation, food, and activities. This will help ensure that the trip is both affordable and enjoyable. Itinerary Design - Once the research and budgeting have been completed, the itinerary design can begin. This should take into account the traveler's interests, “preferred pace” of travel, travel fitness and budget. The itinerary should include a balance of sightseeing, cultural experiences, and relaxation, and should allow for some flexibility to make adjustments if needed. Accommodation - Accommodation should be a priority in the itinerary design. This includes choosing the right type of accommodation, such as hotels, guesthouses, or homestays, and determining the best location based on the traveler's preferences and budget. Do you prefer budget, boutique or do you want to stick to your favourite brands at every possible point? Transportation - Transportation is another key factor in itinerary design. This includes choosing the right mode of transportation, such as flights, trains, or buses, and determining the best route to take to get from one location to another. A well-planned transportation itinerary will help make the trip more efficient and save time, duress on your body and senses, and money. Sometimes spending a few dollars more for a speedy flight in comfort can make all the difference at the other end. Food and Dining - Food and dining should also be considered in the itinerary design. Vietnam is known for its delicious and diverse cuisine, and the traveler should make an effort to try as many local dishes as possible. We plan to make it our mission through locals and using favourites of our guests on the Podcast to make sure you have plenty of food experiences to excite any interested palate. Culture and Activities - Culture and activities should be a priority in the itinerary design, as they provide an opportunity to immerse oneself in the local culture and experience the local way of life. This can include visiting local markets, temples, and historical sites, as well as participating in local festivals and events. In conclusion , In the end the decision is yours. Ultimately we want you to have a great trip that is value money. If we don't provide that, then you have a design to shop around other vendors.

S4-10 Hanoi A Foodies Paradise P2 What About Vietnam - S4-10 A Foodie’s Paradise - Part Two SPEAKERS: Kerry Newsome, Corrin Carlson Kerry Newsome: 00:18 Xin Chào and welcome to “ What About Vietnam .” Sometimes when you travel light with an open mind, and you're not tied down with any commitments that can't be changed, the world can truly open up as your oyster. Let me begin today's program with some background to my guest. It started with a working holiday, I'm told, starting in New Zealand, moved on to Asia, then to Hanoi for a month, then that led to three months and ultimately would you believe to three years. As you will soon find out, this is only the tip of the iceberg for my delightful foodie guest on today's show, Corrin Carlson, who found her heart and passion for food in Hanoi. 01:26 Corrin is a delightful American girl, who is using her acting and education to share her travel journey throughout Asia with her next stop being Europe in September 22, one to definitely watch out for. You may have seen Korean on her very popular "The Fat Passport" TikTok and Instagram pages. As she shares her "Plates of Hanoi" with her followers. Her personality and knowledge really shine through in her posts. And I think she does the same in this show. You tell me. While Corrin was visiting her friends and family in the US just recently, I was able to hook up with her to record the show. Being such a wealth of information about the food localities in Hanoi, and some really great experiences, I just knew one episode wasn't going to cut it. So, I've expanded it into a two-part series. That way you get the full picture of some of her great finds, and she certainly got some super-duper tips via stay in Hanoi. Without further ado, let's welcome Corrin to the program. 02:47 This is part two of the series talking with Corrin Carlson, please welcome her back to the program. So, Corrin, maybe for everybody. Let's talk about some of those most asked questions. We discussed the question of dog meat before, maybe you could address some of the questions you've been asked about food in Vietnam that just can give everybody some peace of mind. Corrin Carlson: 03:17 Yeah, absolutely. Something else that I'm frequently asked about is people ask me all the time: ● Have I had food poisoning? ● What's the water like? ● What is safe to eat and what isn't? I'm really happy to say that pretty much anything that you are going to find is served to you is going to be completely safe to eat. And I understand I might have a stomach of steel at this point. But I have only gotten food poisoning in Vietnam one time, and I have had food poisoning in the US way more than that. So overall food you're going to find is very, very fresh. People go to the market every day to buy their ingredients, both at home and for restaurants. And then also, people are very curious about water and the drinking water in all over Vietnam, but especially in Hanoi. 04:09 So, what you're going to find is that no one drinks tap water. So Vietnamese people and foreigners are all going to drink bottled water. And so, when you're out at the restaurants, when you're in someone's home, even if it's just a little street food restaurant, you'll often find a big tub of bottled water and the dispenser, like you would find in an office in the US or in Australia. And this water dispenser is what everyone drinks out of, and this water is actually quite cheap in comparison to what we think of a bottle of water costing, definitely less than 50 cents for a small bottle and for a big one, maybe $2. So, it's not expensive to drink good water. 04:53 Sometimes when you're at restaurants, the water that will be in broth or maybe even in tea, sometimes that comes from a tap every once in a while. But we're not really worried about drinking water that's been boiled or consuming broth because it's been boiled and cooked. Typically, there's nothing bad in this anyway, it's just you don't really want to drink it too much, because there might be some metals or calcium in it. It's not that drinking a glass is immediately going to make you sick. For example, we brush our teeth with tap water, that's absolutely not a problem. If you're showering and get a little bit in your mouth, that's absolutely not a problem. Also, then any fresh fruit and vegetables. I don't worry about it so much being peeled or unpeeled, boiled or unspoiled. If it's washed in a sink, it's going to be okay for me to eat. Kerry Newsome: 05:44 Really good point. I got really close with a chef in Vietnam. One of the things that she pointed out to me was that even when they do cook, they have on standby, in their kitchens, bottled water. So, on most occasions, they are pouring that bottle of water into whatever they're cooking, if they need to add it to a source or they need to add it to make the broths and things like that. So, they are very cognizant of the water situation, but they will use it to wash their dishes. But as she said, likewise, they're very particular about using the sun sometimes to dry the dishes. And of course, anything that has heat to it, that cooks out or burns out any kind of bacteria, or things like that, that people are concerned about. 06:42 I'm the same as you Corrin, I have never got food poisoning. I have had a little bit of an upset tummy when I first arrived. But that's more about the flavors. And I think some of the herbs are much richer than what we would buy in a supermarket. I don't know whether you're the same. But I think that's just the richness out of the food because it is so flavorsome and it hasn't been through all the processes, or whatever that you would find in your typical supermarket in Western countries. So, I just want to warn people out that may be taking something for an upset tummy, diarrhea, tablets, or things like that. It's just handy to have. And if you need it, you need it. If you don't, and you have a cast iron stomach like Corrin does, or seems to have, then you're going to be absolutely fine. Because I don't want people to be put off. I want people to go with the open mind and try things because there's just so much there to try. You be crazy not to, don't you think? Corrin Carlson: 07:50 Absolutely, I agree. And what you're saying is so right. Sometimes when I go to a place new that I haven't been before with flavors or ingredients I'm not used to, I will bring calcium tablets or like Pepto-Bismol tablets. And I'll take one to two before each meal, at least for the first couple of days when I'm in that transition mode. And then I'm fine after that. Kerry Newsome: 08:12 Yeah, and I sometimes take a probiotic before I go, just to get all those things right in my tummy because I want to be able to eat everything when I get there. Corrin Carlson: 08:22 yeah, absolutely. I would love to talk about some of the more sit-down restaurants and higher-end places so that people can have a whole idea of what they can eat when they're there. Kerry Newsome: 08:39 Yes, please. Corrin Carlson: 08:40 Awesome. So, a couple places that I really love. I'll put up some options that are both in the Hoàn Kiếm area, and they're also in the Tây Hồ area. Even if you're staying in Hoan Kiem, it is so easy to get a grab or a taxi and take it over to Tây Hồ, it will cost you three to five US dollars for your trips. So, I don't want you to think that you're in one area and you can only eat there. Starting at the Hoàn Kiếm area. Some places that I really like would be, there's this lovely French restaurant owned by a couple. The husband is French, and the wife is Vietnamese, and they have this restaurant called Fabrik. F, A, B, R, I, K, and it's right on the cusp of Hồ Tây and Hoàn Kiếm. Absolutely lovely French food. 09:24 It's not super high-end, but you can certainly walk in there in your street clothes after a day of walking around, but you'll be treated to a wonderful meal for lunch or for dinner, steaks, burgers and typical French cuisine as well as those things. Highly recommend it. Another great spot in Hoàn Kiếm area that I like, it is called The Hanoi Social Club. Again, not high ends and they serve meals from breakfast all the way till the evening, they have a great bar as well, kind of Australian-American food. The owner is Australian. And it's actually in an old villa. So, it's about three or four storeys with these beautiful rooms, lots of antiques. It just looks like quintessential old Hanoi. So, the menu- the owner has traveled a lot. So, he has lots of dishes from around Southeast Asia. And then a couple, like I said, American and Australian style dishes as well, especially for the French foods. So that's a great place to go and just hang out, even if it's just for a drink or for coffee. 10:39 If you like afternoon tea, which is something that I'm such a fan of, you find a couple spots that in Hanoi that do it but the one that is quintessential Hanoi, is that you can go to the Hotel Metropole, the old French hotel that's right in the middle of Hoàn Kiếm, and is a stunning place. I'm not going to compare the afternoon tea to something that you would find per se in England or in France, because the flavors are not quite as perfect as they are there. But the presentation is lovely. And you're out in the pool house, which is covered in palm fronds and it's just a like a slice of history. So that's such a joy to get to do and one I would certainly recommend if that's up your alley. Kerry Newsome: 11:24 Wow, I've added it to my list but yeah, keep going. Corrin Carlson: 11:28 Excellent, and as we're moving over to towards the Hồ Tây, the Tây Hồ area, I have a couple of recommendations as well just depending on your vibe. There's this lovely little Vietnamese restaurant called Chào Bạn, and the owner is Vietnamese French and he recently moved back to Vietnam and opens this adorable French bistro style restaurant but with a Vietnamese menu. So, you're going to find lots of typical Vietnamese dishes but done in an elevated way. And everything is done to perfection. I'm getting chills just thinking about it right now. [laughter] Kerry Newsome: 11:32 The food is so good. Corrin Carlson: 12:07 It's a great date spot. It's great with a small group of friends. For dessert they have an AMAZING banana cake that is the owner’s mother's recipe that you cannot go without getting you have to have that banana cake. Another place I really like in Hồ Tây is Pépé La Poule, another French name, but it's actually going to be a French Japanese fusion restaurant, and they have actually a really nice tapas menu as well. This restaurant is actually about like five storeys and at the very top, they have an open rooftop bar area with tables that you can make a reservation for. And they have a great Happy Hour with two for one drink and it's right on the lake. And this is a place you can dress up for a little bit if you want. They have Prosecco and they have these great sharing tapas. I think it's a wonderful place to start out you’re evening before dinner, or you know what, sometimes I go there and then I just end up spending my whole evening there because it's lovely. Kerry Newsome: 13:12 Oh, that sounds wonderful. Corrin Carlson: 13:13 Yes, super good. My last one that I'm going to recommend in the Tây Hồ area is called KOTO Villa . And this is actually a partnership with an Australian organization. And KOTO means 'Know one, Train one'. So, it's actually a training restaurant. Kerry Newsome: 13:30 Oh, this is Jimmy Pham. Yeah, I've had Jimmy on the program. [crosstalk] Corrin Carlson: 13:34 Amazing, okay, so you've heard about this restaurant? Kerry Newsome: 13:38 I go every time. Yes, it's fabulous. Corrin Carlson: 13:41 Great food. They just moved this past spring to a new Villa location. So again, you have that historic, beautiful house with beautiful high ceilings and great artwork. The servers are very endearing, often very shy, but it's such a lovely meal. It's great to hear about their stories, too. Kerry Newsome: 14:03 Yes, it's a social enterprise. So, the staff are actually kids that have had hard lives and opportunities haven't fallen their way. And under the KOTO scheme, they learn to become chefs, and the hospitality industry training gives them new opportunities out there. So, it's a wonderful organization. It has been going on for a very long time. Jimmy Pham has done a wonderful job to steer that for these kids. The restaurant is just a lovely experience always. Corrin Carlson: 14:40 Yeah. Kerry Newsome: 14:47 Maybe at this juncture, to maybe just talk about the evening, and rooftop bars now. It is a thing, isn't it? In Hanoi and there are some really lovely ones. Do you have any favorites? Corrin Carlson: 15:02 Yeah, it definitely is a thing. My favorite is Pépé La Poule, the one that I mentioned, though, that's like a little bit more high-end, though their happy hour is a very good deal. If you walk over, if you're in the Hoàn Kiếm area, there is a street, you can Google it on Google Maps, called Beer Street. It's a street full of basically beer shops with snacks. And often those restaurants, the ones that are tucked back behind the street level, will have rooftop bars. A lot of the hotels around Hoàn Kiếm will have rooftop bars as well. So often when I've had friends come to stay, I've met them at their hotel, and we'll go up to the bar and have a great view and great drinks. Kerry Newsome: 15:47 Yes, yeah. Sometimes it's worth when you are Googling your accommodation, check out to see whether they have some gallery images, which show and depict the rooftop bars, because sometimes, the stairs, to climb up the top, but they just give you such wonderful views of the lake area and the Old Quarter. So, they are definitely handy if they are in your own hotel, so to speak. Corrin Carlson: 16:18 Yeah. Kerry Newsome: 16:19 Do we talk here about Bia Hơi, or we can't not? Corrin Carlson: 16:30 Yes, we have to. Yes. So, while you are in Hanoi, you are going to see these big signs that say Bia Hơi across them, usually they're red, or they will be yellow, with basically a back of background that looks like beer. And this is something that's really common in Vietnam, but mostly common in the north, it's a big part of the culture there. Beer is a huge part of the drinking culture. In Vietnam, the secondary one would probably be rice wine. So, if you're seeing people around you, taking shots, that's what it's going to be. You can walk into one of these Bia Hơis, and you can get a pitcher of beer, or you can get bottles of beer, and you can just have that. But also, these places will have full menus, like in the States, you go to a bar and there's a bar menu, and it's like burgers and fries and this and that. When you go to a Bia Hơi, they have all of their typical dishes as well, usually fried tofu, maybe fried chicken, steamed vegetables, sometimes you'll find hotpot at these places. 17:34 What you were saying before is, when you were looking at places and seeing large menus, how that kind of helps you understand the place. Actually, when you go to be Bia Hơi street, you will see huge menus, they will be very, very large. And often these places are very busy so that they can keep most of these items in stock. But when they're not, I don't even worry about it too much. Because there's been times when I've gone to a Bia Hơi, and I've been like, "Okay, I would like to have this, this and this", and the waiter will say, "Well, we're out of that, that, that, but I can give you these instead." So sometimes you'll see a big menu, you'll be excited about it, and then you have to change your idea about what to order. But you're going to find a lot of things on there that maybe you wouldn't have eaten before, like frogs’ legs, snails, it can be a little bit daunting. A lot of the organs that are eaten, you'll find that on these Bia Hơi menus. So, if you have questions, I always ask the waiter for something safe. Kerry Newsome: 18:32 Yes, you're right. There's a myriad of different Bia Hơi places, isn't there? Because there's the original Bia Hơi place where they make the brew for the day. And literally, once it's gone, it's gone. It's in plastic, some very small cups, and it's not necessarily cold. They will sometimes give you ice to put in it if you want to. But it's as cheap as chips, isn't it? Corrin Carlson: 18:33 Yeah, it's like tops 50 cents US a glass. It is very cheap. Kerry Newsome: 19:10 Yeah, preservative free. It is made with natural ingredients. You drink it pretty much on the day that it's made. So, it's super fresh. But yes, and I'm not sure about the alcohol content. Do you know? Corrin Carlson: 19:26 It's pretty low. Yeah, it's going to be lighter beer, certainly. And it's not free hoppy at all. I would compare it to whatever standard cheap light beer you have in your own country or your own hometown. That's the equivalent of it, but it does end up kind of adding up, if you're not eating with it. Kerry Newsome: 19:46 Yeah. Did you come across any craft breweries, craft beer? Corrin Carlson: 19:53 Yeah, actually, craft breweries are growing right now in Vietnam. Last year, I went, and I visited one of the breweries in Hanoi that makes some of the craft breweries, they come in and make their brews in these breweries and ship them out around the country. So, a couple good ones, you're going to find more in the Tây Hồ area, near West Lake. Two, I can recommend would be 7 Bridges . So, there's a pizza place on Xuan Dieu, it is great New York style pizza. And then the beer is not brewed there. It's brewed elsewhere. But they have all of their own beers on tap, and then a wide selection of other craft beers as well. If you want to go to a brewery, also in Tây Hồ, right on the lake, you can go to Turtle Lake Brewery, they have a great food menu as well. And you'll also see the huge casks where they're brewing, and you'll find a number of their own beers on the menu. It's a great place to hang out, and they have wing nights once a week. And they have that information on their Facebook and Instagram . Kerry Newsome: 20:53 I just did a show on craft brews and taprooms and things, only published last week, and the 7 Bridges is originally from Da Nang. They have a taproom and bar in Da Nang. I'm glad you mentioned the Turtle Lake, because it's another one that we talked about. And there's a blog on the website for everybody, you can go and check and get a list of the craft breweries and places to visit across all of Vietnam. So, Saigon, Hanoi and Da Nang and Nha Trang. So, it's good that you mentioned that Corrin, terrific. Now, can we move into fine dining? Its just that the restaurants that we've covered here, or is there another set above these? Because I've been to some really quite fancy places in Hanoi, that I would say were a real cut above. Corrin Carlson: 22:01 I would say, you can find some really nice steak restaurants. And some of those I've been to around Hanoi, but I personally haven't been to the super classy, fine dining restaurants myself. Kerry Newsome: 22:15 Okay, we had a special show that we dedicated to 'Fine Dining'. I was quite surprised at some of the really outstanding chefs that are coming through Vietnam and bringing new flavors, that really beautiful Asian fusion, to fine dining in Vietnam. So, I'll make sure that I reference that also in the show notes. I got some serious show notes to do here Corrin, you're really giving me a lot of content. 22:51 All right. Now, can we talk a little bit about cooking classes? Did you go down that route in Hanoi? Corrin Carlson: 22:58 Yes. And I personally did not take any cooking classes. But I would be happy to talk about a coffee class that I did take. Kerry Newsome: 23:05 Yeah? Wow! Corrin Carlson: 23:05 I think it's a really great idea. I love cooking classes, and I love getting to go to them. And no matter what country I'm in, it gives me a greater understanding of the food. But what I find is that, especially when I'm in Asia, taking a cooking class, when I come back to the States, and I'm trying to cook for my family, it does not go well. The ingredients just don't transfer so well. But coffee is something that travels well and is also pretty easy once you know how to make it. It's like a great bang for your buck. And it's also very impressive. 23:37 So, I took a coffee class, and I can send you the name of the woman who runs it. But if you're looking on Hanoi Beautiful , which is a group on Facebook, I definitely recommend for recommendations around Hanoi, things to do, things to eat. If you search in that group 'Coffee Class', you'll find this ad for this coffee making class where they can host it or they can come to you with all of the ingredients. So, this was super fun because Vietnamese coffee is a quintessential part of Vietnamese cuisine. And it's so much fun to learn about. So Vietnamese coffee beans are roasted often with butter, or with some other flavorings that give the richness that you taste in it and made with very, very little water. So, the coffee is much thicker than what we're used to in the States or in Australia. 24:27 Then with that, you could have your classic Vietnamese coffee served on ice, served with condensed milk, but something else I really love is coconut coffee. And this is a fabulous drink that you're going to find in Vietnam. Coconut cream is blended with ice and sweetened condensed milk and then a shot of Vietnamese coffee is poured on top of that. So, a coffee making class is a quick class. It doesn't take up your whole day especially if you're just traveling around Hanoi for a day or two. But it gives you a really good idea about the culture and a good idea about the coffee side of the country because coffee houses and cafes are our meeting places. They're places where people hang out, they are places where families go, we're friends go. So, it will have this class, it will give you a better understanding when you're checking out cafes around the city. Kerry Newsome: 25:25 Yes. Did you try egg coffee? Corrin Carlson: 25:28 Yes, of course, you have to go to that, it's quintessential, the original, egg coffee spots in Hoàn Kiếm. It's so famous. And the story is that when the French were in Vietnam, there was a milk shortage. And so, there was a chef in a hotel. And he was trying to figure out what to mix into the coffee for his French customers when he was out of milk, and he didn't really know what to do. So instead, he whipped up eggs with sweetened condensed milk, and he whipped it and whipped it until it created this frothy cream. And he topped the coffee with that. And now it's a very famous part of Hanoi coffee culture. And it's also something that you can make in these coffee courses as well. Kerry Newsome: 26:15 Gee, I've never heard that explanation. That's a really good story. Corrin Carlson: 26:21 Yeah, and when you go into the original spots, in Hoàn Kiếm, they have pictures of the guy who started it, up on the wall, and they have some of his story there too. So that's a great place to check out. Kerry Newsome: 26:39 Lastly, one of the other things that I found fascinating in my trips to Hanoi, was shopping, and just different kinds of shopping for me and a little bit more boutique. A lot of Korean, a lot of Asian designers and designer boutique shops, etc., especially around the Old Quarter. But just keen to know your experience of shopping, be it that, you're a tourist and then you got to live there. So yeah, any point is on shopping for Hanoi. Corrin Carlson: 27:17 Yeah, certainly, if you're starting in Hoàn Kiếm, and the touristy areas, as you're circling the lake, that's where you're going to find most of the souvenir shops. You'll also find art shops, clothing stores, a lot of silk shops where you can buy silk items or have things made. And that's all really fun to do. But, again, a little bit more touristy. If you're going to travel over to the West Lake area, if you're going to be in Tây Hồ, you can go down Xuan Dieu where there's lots of restaurants and things, but you'll find lots of boutiques on that area as well. Personally, I like shopping for locally made clothes in that area because they are often tailored to fit Western body frames, rather than sometimes walking around Hoàn Kiếm, trying to find clothes that fit is a little bit difficult. Kerry Newsome: 28:06 Challenging. Corrin Carlson: 28:06 Yes, I would definitely recommend looking around there. And especially recently, there's lots of very cute boutiques popping up that will be owned by Vietnamese people or by foreigners, with locally made clothes and household items, like makeup and fun haircare and skincare products and jewelry as well. Kerry Newsome: 28:29 Yes, and I've been to some of those boutiques. There's a famous one. Have you been to Chula ? Corrin Carlson: 28:36 No, I haven't been there. Kerry Newsome: 28:38 Yeah, it's a beautiful store. And I think she's got a couple of- but she originally came to Vietnam and started up this design, but they employ local Vietnamese people who are part of the design process, and these people might have some handicap of some degree. I think 75% of their staff are, but their designs, literally feature on some of the famous catwalks around the world. So, her brand is quite strong. So maybe that's one I can share with you for your next visit. So, Chula, C, H, U, L, A. I'll put the links to their stores. Beautiful silk dresses, stunning designs quite famous. And their store is- I think their main one is near West Lake, that's where I saw it. 29:44 Just wanting to finish off with 'best time of the year to visit'. I mean you mentioned and you're right, that they do have four seasons in the north. So, very clear Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring. But when would you say is that a really good time of year to visit Hanoi so that you can visit a lot of places and do a lot of things? Corrin Carlson: 30:07 Yes, whenever anyone asked me this, I say November, hands down, that is the best. Kerry Newsome: 30:11 November. Interesting, okay. Corrin Carlson: 30:14 So, in the north, and really in the whole country, monsoon season, rainy season is late summer, early fall. So, it starts sometime in August, and then it extends to sometime in October, and it stops in October, then you have beautiful weather, but this past October, it rains literally every single day in Hanoi. So, I don't recommend risking October, instead, November is very, very pleasant. Temperature is going to be still warm. Like as a tourist, you'll probably be walking around in shorts, but everyone else will probably be walking around in pants, because it's a little bit cooler for them. But nice and dry, and also not so sticky. So, it's a great time of year if you want to be walking around and seeing a lot of temples, and a lot of the street life of Hanoi. Kerry Newsome: 31:06 I didn't think about November as a best time. But now, the way you speak about it, it is a very good time. I have been in the winter. And it's been freezing. And that was a bit of a shock to my system. I thought, hang on a minute here. I mean, Vietnam is not supposed to be cold, is it? But guess what? In the north, it's definitely cold. So, something to be aware of for everyone, that there are months of the year where it does get very cold. And if you go up into the mountain areas in particular, you can get- over January. You can get snow in Sapa. Corrin Carlson: 31:42 Of course. Kerry Newsome: 31:43 Crazy. Hey, look, Corrin, really grateful to have you on the show. You've given everybody some great tips, great food. Just a big thank you for being on the show. Corrin Carlson: 31:56 Yeah, it's my pleasure. I'm so happy to talk about this city that I love. And I hope I inspire people to go and also to eat some great food when they're there. Kerry Newsome: 32:05 Absolutely. All right. Thanks again. Corrin Carlson: 32:08 Yeah, have a great day. Kerry Newsome: 32:10 Before we let you go, I thought I would introduce you to a new Cooking Class and Market Tour that's now featuring on the WhatAboutVietnam.com website. It's based in Hanoi. So, after we've been chatting about Hanoi and some of the great foodie experiences, I thought this was a great one to remind you about. What's wonderful about this is, the class is with Chef Duyen. I've done the class with her she's absolutely fabulous, great personality, what she doesn't know about cooking our food, the markets will just blow you away. What's exceptional about this tour and the opportunity to learn from her is that she brings her class now into her own home. So, you get to meet her family. You get to just hear about how food is a big part of Vietnamese culture, their family life and social upbringing. You should try all kinds of cooking classes in Vietnam, but I hope you're going to enjoy this one in Hanoi with the Chef Duyen. Please check it out in WhatAboutVietnam.com , on the Offers page . Until next time, I wish you happy travels in Vietnam.

S4-08 Travel Addict podswap Sorry no transcript for this episode

S5- E11 - Out and About in Hồ Tràm Vietnam S5- E11 - Out and About in Hồ Tràm Vietnam Episode 11 S5- E11 - Out and About in Hồ Tràm Vietnam 00:00 / 17:46 The “Out & About in Vietnam” series continues with Kelley McCarthy and I deciding to go in search of a beach escape from Saigon for chilling out and pure relaxation. In this latest instalment we're exploring a different kind of vacation experience—one where the hotel itself is the main destination. It's been an idea of mine for a while to explore this kind of getaway, focusing on a pure relaxation destination within close reach of Saigon. Our destination is Hồ Tràm, located about 125 kilometres from Saigon. Just a 2-hour shuttle bus trip away. Our home away from home for this trip is the stunning Melia Ho Tram Beach Resort. ( Please note this is an unpaid review) While Hồ Tràm is known for its golf course, namely The Bluffs Ho Tram, Kelley and I are here to indulge in the luxuries of a resort vacation. We're faced with the delightful dilemma of choosing between lounging by the infinity pool overlooking the beach, pampering ourselves with day spa treatments, or simply enjoying cocktails by the shore. Throughout the episode, we highlight the romantic ambiance of the resort, perfect for couples seeking a getaway or even a picturesque spot for a proposal. From intimate dining experiences to leisurely walks on the beach, the Melia Ho Tram offers a serene setting for quality time together. But we don't forget about families either. We discuss the amenities available for kids, including the kids' club, and how the resort's accessibility features make it suitable for all guests, including those with mobility impairments. One of the standout features we touch upon is the affordability of the resort, especially when opting for mid-week packages that include meals. By choosing a half-board package, guests can enjoy breakfast and dinner at the resort, making it a cost-effective yet luxurious experience. In essence, this episode showcases the beauty of a vacation where the focus is solely on relaxation and unwinding, without the need for additional excursions or activities. So, grab your favorite drink and join us as we escape to Ho Tram.

 [00:06:29] The importance of relaxation. [00:09:32] The best day spa experience. [00:14:37] Affordable dining options and packages [00:25:14] Exploring the culture and cuisine.

 Check out a previous show talking with Alexandra Hepworth about other luxury brand stays in Vietnam Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S6-E3 Do I need a Visa to enter Vietnam < Back S6-E3 Do I need a Visa to enter Vietnam S6-E3 Do I need a Visa to enter Vietnam 00:00 / 22:41 Series 6 Episode 3 Do I need a Visa to enter Vietnam Let’s start with one of the most important questions you need to answer before you get too far into booking or planning your trip to Vietnam. Why? Because this one question quietly underpins everything else. It sounds simple — but this is where so many people come unstuck. I can’t stress this enough: if you don’t ask yourself this question early , you can end up choosing the wrong visa, applying for something you didn’t need, or realising far too late that one small decision here has shaped your whole trip. And what is an eVisa? In this episode of What About Vietnam – One Question at a Time , I break down the “Visa Entry question” into clear, bite-size pieces . I’ll explain who actually needs a visa, who doesn’t, and I’ll walk you through how to apply for a Vietnam eVisa properly and what to double-check so it doesn’t derail your trip. If you’re coming from the UK, Europe, the US, Australia or elsewhere, the answer to the ultimate question here is: it depends ! Some passports qualify for Vietnam’s 45-day visa-free entry, others don’t. Some trips work perfectly on visa-free. Others absolutely don’t. And then there’s the eVisa — which is simple, but also incredibly easy to mess up if you don’t pay attention to the details. In this episode, I walk you through: The most common eVisa mistakes I see: Wrong dates Wrongly spelling, middle name missing on EVisa but is in Passport Passport details don’t match Wrong entry point Applying too late (and panic-fixing it) This episode will help you: ✅ Choose the right entry option for your trip ✅ Avoid last-minute stress and costly mistakes ✅ Start your Vietnam journey calm, confident, and prepared So this is “cautious Kerry”, signing off on One Question at a time Series 6-Ep3 Please take the time to explore other episodes, stories, and resources at whataboutvietnam.com there’s lots there to help you think things through. Please take the time to explore the link to more information - https://www.whataboutvietnam.com/visa-info and for the direct link to the official Immigration site go Here - https://evisa.gov.vn/ Do you have a travel question or wish to give some feedback? You have 90 seconds. Click to read the voicemail recording policy Previous Next

S4-19 Vietnam wins the heart of the daring What About Vietnam – S4- E19 Why Vietnam wins the hearts of the daring! SPEAKERS : Kerry Newsome, Alvaro Moreno Kerry Newsome: 00:35 Just before we jump into the show, I have some great news to share. Starting first of March, What About Vietnam is offering up three new travel service products, which I hope you'll take advantage of. Just a very quick mention here: 1. The first one is Trip Planning and Design . So that's creating the perfect itinerary and tour plan just for you as a private program. 2. Secondly, we are offering Travel Companion Services , which is a very unique service into Vietnam, where you will have Kelley McCarthy as your travel companion to support you through your stay, should you require that service. 3. Lastly, I'm very excited about the Girls Getaway for 11 days in September, that's 11 days where we get to take you to a major city, an old town and an island. So I'm expecting lots of fun shopping, pampering food and some rich culture there. Trip Planning and Design 01:37 Firstly, I'd just like to tell you a little bit about the Trip Planning and Design. Because I hear from you, where a lot of people are struggling with so much information on the internet, where it's just so hard to make a decision. There's tour companies out there's Facebook pages, there's Facebook groups, and I just see you all kind of struggling to make decisions and relying on some people and feedback. Everyone's got something different to say, and some of you have reached out to me independently. I hope I've been of service there. But that's what Trip Planning & Design is about. It's a service that I'm hoping to provide you with that's tailored to you, customized to what you and I decide is important for you, and your travel companion or your family or your small group, whatever that may be. 02:32 So, check that out on our website. If you go to WhatAboutVietnam.com, click on the Travel Services tab. You'll see all of the services listed there, including the Trip Planning and Design. There is a small fee. If you decide to proceed with us for the tour that we will actually deliver the tour to you, then we actually deduct that original Trip Planning and Design fee from the overall tour price. So, check it out. As I said on the website, send me a message we've got this new message system on the website so you can actually leave me a voice message if you wish, or just reach out to me directly through email. WhatAboutVietnam@gmail.com . Anyway, without further ado, let's get on with the show. 03:31 Xin Chào and welcome to What About Vietnam . As a follow up from the previous episode talking about luxury travel. We’re in good stead as we've got Alvaro Moreno on the show today. He's General Manager of the Fusion Original Saigon Centre . A little bit about our Alvaro: Originally from Barcelona, he decided to take off from his hotel management job back in 2011, and go exploring in the Southeast Asia region, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, and even across to Nepal and India. He believes this trip had a big impact on him, becoming a better leader and mentor to his staff, along with his external studies at Cornell University. He's worked on the preopening phase of three hotels, and one rebrand in Vietnam. He's quite well known for his creative process, which is very hands on. He certainly excels in project management. 04:37 I know from talking to others, he's very highly regarded in the industry. For some people adapting to working in an unfamiliar culture can be difficult, but for Alvaro, he says his travel experiences contributed hugely to his own personal growth and that of his profession. The opportunity to speak with you him came up during my last visit to Vietnam, I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to indulge with him in some retrospection, really, as he speaks to us as both a previous traveler and now General Manager of this very upmarket luxury hotel right in the heart of Saigon Central, that operates with a tagline, I think I've said before that I just truly love: "The Home of the Daring ". At the heart of our conversation are some insights on what travelers should consider when planning a trip to Vietnam, like duration and budget. 05:36 However, he adds to that some inspiration as he describes Vietnam, as a country where a traveler can challenge themselves in relative safety. He goes on to talk about Vietnam in terms of its network of connectivity, digitally so, to the scope and broad range of transport easily accessible to the tourist, and normally at fairly reasonable prices. Right through of course, to hotel accommodation, offering 'good value for money' stays. We drill down a bit further to, to really delve into: "What is making Vietnam so attractive as a tourist destination in the region." Tipping the scales in favor of Vietnam, are things like its expansiveness, and experiences, the competition in the marketplace, in particular with international brands making a bigger footprint and offering up stays that are almost becoming a destination in themselves, but developing the regions that they sit in, as a kind of default really. 06:42 We touched on the culinary experiences available in Vietnam. And I took note of what Alvaro describes is the culture of Vietnam as being one of celebration. It's true. Vietnamese love to celebrate and are always looking for reasons to do so. He also spoke of the skills of new chefs stepping out in Vietnam and taking really big risks in developing new menus and experiences. This can be particularly seen in the big cities like Saigon, Hanoi and Danang. It was great to hear this because it kind of supports what I felt for a long time that we're really only on the cusp of what Vietnam is becoming. I'm sure you're going to love the show. He's a lovely guest. I think we're going to learn lots more about Vietnam and what it holds for us in the future. Let's welcome Alvaro to the show. 07:48 Welcome to the What About Vietnam podcast. It's really lovely to have you on the show. Alvaro Moreno: 07:52 Good afternoon, Kerry. Thanks for inviting me. Pleasure to be here with you. Kerry Newsome: 07:57 It was really lovely to meet you in Saigon and have a chat with you over dinner. I certainly love your hotel. I love the experience of your hotel and I love your tagline, "The Home of the Daring ". I think that's fabulous. Alvaro Moreno: 08:15 That's who we are. We wanted to be very, very long these new proposal of hotel that we just opened. So yeah, I'm glad that you like it. Kerry Newsome: 08:26 Okay, so, my audience, people that are listening to this program are thinking about coming to Vietnam. Of course, there's a lot of hotels in Vietnam, there's a lot of things to do in Vietnam. It's a big country. So, you were once a traveler, back in 2011, when you decided to come to explore Southeast Asia and you arrived in Vietnam. What would you put your hat on for now, versus that guy back in 2011? What would be some of the things that you would advise people? Like if you talk to your friends, and they say, "Oh, I don't know about coming to Vietnam, Alvaro." Tell me what's so great about Vietnam? What are some of the things you say? Alvaro Moreno: 09:18 Well, it's a very good question because my first experience in the country was as a tourist. I was traveling for a month way before deciding that I was gonna move to live here. Over the years, I had already been eight years in the country, a little bit more than that, eight and a half. I see now things from the perspective of our resident, being here part of the community already, rooted, having lots of friends, career established. I see things with a different perspective. But I always come back to the origins of what brought me to travel, and what are the things that I have enjoyed over the years. So, I have decided to stay here living in the country. For the new travelers, I think that what's your question. right? Like, what will be my advice for the travelers? 10:15 I think it will depend on- if the traveler is accustomed to traveling in Asia or not. That will be my first question. Are they familiar with the cultural aspects, specialty in Southeast Asia? Are they familiar with overall- the type of food that they are going to find? Do they know or can they guess how interactions with people are going to be? So, what will be important for the first traveler is to know first: How many days they have? The duration of their trip. I think that's key to understand what can you do, and how much you can maximize your trip to Vietnam? Another important one, and I think this is probably the most is: What's your budget? How much are you expecting to spend, and depending on the duration of your trip is, what are the options that will accommodate your pocket? Once you have defined that I think the most important will be to choose destination within Vietnam. I think that's probably the most difficult part because of course, we all want to see everything as much as we can. Depending on whether we have a month or a week, we will then need to look at what are transportation and accommodation within the country. But it will be necessary to define what are the destinations to discover. Kerry Newsome: 11:52 I take your point on all of those things. When I put together a trip planning podcast, which is series one in this format. One of the things that I stress in that is how much time you have. Because there is a perception that people can traverse the whole country in eight days and say that they've seen Vietnam. Of course, you and I both have a bit of a giggle about that. Because we understand that that's a blink. That's a quick wink of Vietnam, that is nowhere near saying that you've been able to see all of it now. I challenge people to even see whether they've really enjoyed that trip because it's moving so fast that you don't get time to breathe it in. I do advocate that people possibly see Vietnam more than a 'Once only' trip that they see it more to come back, and maybe use the first trip as, what some people would call like 'A reconnaissance trip' to maybe, check out and say, "Oh, I'd like to come back there and spend more time." That kind of thing. But I think how many days you have and how many days you should have. That will depend on the kind of experiences that you want. So, I agree with you totally. Then you to your point on budget. I think budget is a new word that's coming up in Vietnam, because before it was all- it was just everything in Vietnam was cheap. You could do absolutely everything and it was cheap. Where now I think there are some levels that you can still do cheaply. But there is more for the luxury traveler. There's more for the wellness traveler, there's more. So, these other areas, and all of those have a different dollar value attached to them. Then choosing the destination. Now most people come into Vietnam in three main ports, don't they? So, it's Ho Chi Minh, in Hanoi or De Nang's port. They are your main points. Now, because you're sitting in Ho Chi Minh City, how would you rate Ho Chi Minh versus Hanoi versus Da Nang for that first experience? Alvaro Moreno: 14:28 It's very attractive to say that you are moving from the north to south, or the other way around, because the country is very linear. It's a long stretch of almost 2000 kilometers. What happens there is that the trend that I have seen over the years is that people arriving Saigon and then they could finish their journey in Hanoi or the other way around. It could happen also from Da Nang to Saigon or Saigon to Da Nang. I think it all depends on the time that you have, and then how you want to divide your travel experience, because there is obviously a big difference between what you're gonna encounter in the north of the country, in central Vietnam, and then in the south. So, I could say already that you can split your journey in three times, to understand Vietnam, and to enjoy the best of it. But of course, if you are ready to go from one place to another, over your holiday or over your trip, I think you're going to have very different experiences. Kerry Newsome: 15:44 When you're talking to your friends, or people are asking you about, what is it like to have a holiday in Vietnam? Do you have like a short description that you have, that you can just pull out of your back pocket and explain it, because I find it very hard to explain, because I have so many different kinds of experiences. So, if you've got one that just encapsulates it, that would be wonderful. If you could just share that, before we move on. Alvaro Moreno: 16:17 I have had friends and family visit over and over the years, I kind of myself became a tour guide for all my- Kerry Newsome: 16:28 I'm sure that's why I am asking. Alvaro Moreno: 16:30 There is some topics in the country that people are interested in, but something very good that is a Evisa traveler, I don't say these are representing the country of Vietnam is a place where you can challenge yourself. Firstly, is a very welcoming society, very welcoming people, and very approachable, that's something that makes the tourists feel extremely comfortable when they come. Another one is that is a very safe country. Very, very safe. One of the safest indoors, yes, there are always small things you have to be mindful of, what you do and how you do it. But this is a country that is going to allow you to explore without having the fear in the back of your mind. 17:20 It's a country that is very well connected. Kerry Newsome: 17:30 Very well connected. Alvaro Moreno: 17:32 From a digital standpoint, Wi-Fi, networks, 4G works extremely well, pretty much everywhere you are in the country, even when you are in the middle of the mountains, you are going to have connection. Kerry Newsome: 17:45 Correct. Alvaro Moreno: 17:46 This is something that I find, sometimes when I go back to Spain, that's my origin country. I'm surprised that they don't have the same connectivity. They're here in some places. So, then I see that Vietnam made an effort on expanding their networks. So, it works really well. Another thing is, within that connectivity is mobility. How easy it is to move inside the country. How easy it is to take a taxi, to take a bus, to take a train and how easy is to take a plane, and how affordable are they? Kerry Newsome: 18:19 Yes. One of the things that I fell in love with in the very early days of my travel was that connectivity, when the hotel industry was going through that phase where they were deciding whether or not they were going to charge people for Wi-Fi in their room, you might remember those years. Then the customer, I think, drove the change in that too, that know you have to offer that free to the customer. Otherwise, your country or your facility is just not going to be at the same level as everybody else. So, you're right. And you can sit down at a restaurant or a cafe or whatever. And the first thing you're going to get is a menu with a Wi Fi password. So, connectivity, you're right. Then the thing I loved was that I could also sit there, and if I wanted to get a massage, or if I wanted to get my hair done, I could literally go to the Facebook page of the place I saw around the corner, send them a message, and lo and behold within minutes they have messaged me back and say, yes, there is availability at the time I want. And do I want to get a pickup? So that they're going to come and pick me up on the scooter because they're only three kilometers or five kilometers away. No mention of charging for that or anything like that. They'll bring a helmet. They'll pick me and I went, "Oh my God, I'm in heaven." 19:59 Wherein I country and I think similarly in your original country, you've got two weeks ahead, you've got to do it either online or via phone call, nobody's going to pick you up, you've got to find yourself there. So, it's just very, very small, incremental connectivity, that I think people get blown away. Because I travel quite a bit in Vietnam on my own, I find that not so challenging in the sense that I can just connect up with people. If I'm not sure about anything, I've found somebody, who, through some page or some social medium, can get me to where I want to go and Grab , for instance, the app. How fantastic is that? I have a favoritism towards Grab because I think it's their own cars, so they're gonna look after them, or their own bikes, they don't want anything to happen to them. So, they'll be a little bit more careful than the taxi driver. But that's just my theory on that, but yeah, I really liked that that you said, it gives you the chance to travel and explore. 21:12 So, if you're going to explore Vietnam, do you have like some favorite areas that you think a traveler should look at, or investigate or do some research on that there are some wonderful areas to explore. I mean, I've got mine, I talk about mine all the time. So, it's your chance. Alvaro Moreno: 21:40 I can tell you they have in this deal, discover everything that they plan to every year, more places in Vietnam, but this deal is- there is so many things to discover that I will say that it never ends, in the south is Mekong Delta. I think the experience of crossing the Mekong in a boat is something that is a must, especially if someone is going to come to Saigon and for the part of exploring nature and also for the part of understanding the ethnic minorities around there. It is fascinating. Another country inside the country, I will say. Kerry Newsome: 22:26 Yes, absolutely. Alvaro Moreno: 22:36 Hội An, Huế, both destinations have in terms of architectural value, in terms of monumental value also, especially Huế, the Imperial City. It was the old capital of the citadel. I think that the whole history of Hội An, Da Nang, Huế is a must. Then the North's, my favorite one is Hiking in Sapa, in these sites it is great. Kerry Newsome: 23:13 When a traveler is coming to Vietnam, and they want to experience a hotel because you get so involved, I understand, or you'd like to get involved with the creativity. What are some of the things your customers are telling you or your feedback that you're getting about what they like to experience? What are some of the trends and the things that they're looking for in hotel stays now? Alvaro Moreno: 23:46 I would say that for the leisure traveler, one that comes on holidays, what is going to be important for them, I mean, for us? I think what is important is to understand the full portion of their trip. And what do they need from their hotel. Why would they choose a hotel accommodation over another one? Location and convenience are something that plays a very important role. This is because most of the tourists will come to explore. So, they want to make sure that the hotel is a base for them to explore the area. So that's why location, I will say that this is something very important for them. Another one is value for money. Here we come back to what is the budget that they have? A very good thing about Vietnam is that there is a range of accommodation that goes from budget hotel, probably for you can have rooms for $25 and then you can go to luxury within most toward the big destinations of the country. As you mentioned before, there is a growth on some niche markets, which is, for example, the wellness, which is something that many hotels are developing right now, in Vietnam, especially their resorts, there is a lot of new hotel destination coming up, not hotels that they place themselves into destination, but hotels that become a destination on their own. Kerry Newsome: 25:26 A destination in themselves, yes. Alvaro Moreno: 25:29 That is something also growing. So, they help actually do to grow the destination itself. We see that having a very good range of options, what happens with the traveler is that they feel comfortable with what they choose. As being they were coming hometown. We know that we probably have a good match with te consumer that we have, because within the options that they have, they choose to stay with us for whatever reasons that could be. Kerry Newsome: 26:01 Yeah, and the hotel facilities and the hotel growth, as an industry has been something that I've had a fair bit to do with in the last well, since certainly, since 2014. One of the things that I've noticed about Vietnam is that back in 2014, if the hotel didn't have a pool, it didn't matter. If the hotel didn't have a gym, it didn't matter, if it didn't have a spa center, it didn't really matter. Because there was a perception of the new traveler that Vietnam was this developing country, you don't expect those things. But then in a very short amount of time, the hotels had to put in a spa center, had to put in a pool, because the demand was increasing, the traveler was becoming more educated, and the country itself as its own domestic traveler was becoming more sophisticated. So, you know, in working with hotels in the central area, you know, I was helping design gyms in there, what was before their meeting room, their sales meeting room, but it was getting outfitted with mirrors and treadmills and things like that, because they wanted to get up in that category ranking, and they wanted to be able to meet that traveler. They had to change things with their swimming pools and things like that. So, it has definitely seen growth, would you say? Alvaro Moreno: 27:38 Yes, I think that you have touched on a very good point that comes with the fact that the country is a growing economy, thus it is not only growing in the hospitality sector, but also in everything. What we see now is that there is an increase or there has been an increase on domestic travel during COVID Because borders were close, it was an excellent opportunity for the nationals to discover their own country and realize that the hospitality options and the destinations that they have are as good as what they find around the region. 28:23 Something that comes with development, this is also competition for us in the hotel. The more options there are, the better you need to be. And that comes either for the owner of our small homestay in their town, that he knows that he needs to probably not be cheaper, but he probably needs to be better in terms of the experience that he offered to us, in the niche of luxury hotels, more international brands came to the country there has been- the standards have also been raised. But also, one important factor here is that the industry has growth with education. If I may say that these better professionals more than 15 years ago with the growth of the country comes with the personal growth of all of them right so now there is a level of professionalism that is raising up and that's where most of the travelers have a great surprise when they get in touch with their first experience in Vietnam. Most realized that that level of hospitality is standard, regardless of how much you are paying, it's very high. One is because they are very hospitable. Vietnamese are very hospitable. But on the other side comes the professionalism of the industry and something very important also. Kerry Newsome: 30:00 Just by the sheer nature, I think the Vietnamese can excel in hospitality because of that. I mean, we did lose a lot of people from the industry during COVID. But this is where Vietnam was sort of protected, they had like over 60 million people moving around, during 2021 and 22. So, they didn't really cope as badly as some other countries because they got enough of their own people to move around. So, the foreign tourist is going to be the newbie, again, to bring back to Vietnam. It was one of the reasons why I came back, or, was eager to get back as soon as I could. Because I just needed to make sure, touch and feel that everything was okay, because I was getting mixed messages from some people. As you would appreciate, there were some areas that did get swallowed up, and then there were some areas that seem to manage a lot better than others. I think the biggest cities manage a lot better just because they've got sheer volume and sheer size, etc. Whether the smaller areas are taking a little while to get back. 31:17 When I'm talking to my customers about traveling to Vietnam, we talk about love about the food. One thing I'm seeing about Vietnam were years ago, all you could get in Vietnam was Vietnamese food. Like that's all there was for quite a long time. There was only that, but now you're getting pizza, and you're getting Thai. You've got a lot of Korean. It's become very multicultural, don't you think? Alvaro Moreno: 31:52 Especially in the big cities. I will say Saigon, which is the one that I know. But they've everything. You have everything. Kerry Newsome: 32:02 Yes. I went to a pizza place, and I just had the best meal in Hanoi. Oh my gosh, you won't believe me. I have to video this and tell them I'm sitting in Hanoi. Do you have some favorite places in Saigon? It doesn't have to be Vietnamese. But if it is even better. Alvaro Moreno: 32:24 Well, I have some topics. I am a big fan of Vietnamese food. There are of course in some other international restaurants that- or even specific. Like I have my favorite Hispanic restaurant, I have my favorite Japanese restaurant, there are a couple of them that are my favorite Vietnamese ones. I will say that the best of Saigon- My topic of Saigon is 'Street food'. How easy it is to have food at any time of the day and on any street of the city. I think that's my favorite part of living in Saigon from the culinary experience point. Kerry Newsome: 33:07 It's true, it is very true. I find the Vietnamese don't have Western clocks as far as when they should eat or when they shouldn't need. They will eat when they're hungry. That's four o'clock in the afternoon or seven o'clock in the morning, whatever. People don't think that you can have Phở for breakfast but in fact, it's one of the most common breakfast foods, which is Phở, so if you don't get there early enough, it's all gone. 33:46 I see, also there's a growing craft beer scene that's also happening in Saigon. Have you seen that? It kind of exploded there. Alvaro Moreno: 33:56 There is a good amount of very talented entrepreneurs doing great things with craft beer. The consumption of beer in Vietnam is one of the top I think in the world. Kerry Newsome: 34:10 It's the most consumed beverage other than water. Alvaro Moreno: 34:15 I wasn't sure but beer culture is- Kerry Newsome: 34:18 Now I've got statistics to prove that. Alvaro Moreno: 34:20 Okay. [laughter] Beer culture is something very well rooted. Especially because here we love to celebrate. That's something that comes with all those celebrations that are- the need to be on a special occasion. We are talking about day to day. Not only how I have seen a very nice development on craft beer that is also another side on the culinary industry that comes with Vietnamese chefs as future racing stuff. So, the same intrapreneurial spirit, very soon the craft beers are seen on the on the Vietnamese food. Those that are taking the tradition of the Vietnamese food, and they are elevating that. That's something that comes with the development that we mentioned before, in the hospitality industry. It also happens for the foodie scene, especially in Saigon, Saigon is the city that has the biggest progress. But also, I see that the biggest risks are taken in terms of culinary, and also entertainment. 24 hours city, it never closes, there are always things available. But now we can move to this point where we see that the hospitality industry is booming. Also, on the side of the food and beverage option, very interesting, craft beer and new chefs. Kerry Newsome: 36:02 What are your thoughts on the foreign tourism coming back to Vietnam? Where do you think it's going to come back from and who and when? Alvaro Moreno: 36:14 It hasn't been surprisingly fast. I think if I recall, the borders were opening was February, March. And when I say borders opened- entered the country without hotel quarantine, which the latest stage was one week. A couple of months of readjustment and then suddenly, we saw that the tourists were back and it felt almost like nothing happened. Now, if we look into the detail, we see that not everything is back to normal. We are not at that level where we were in in 2019. Korean tourists. Now they are back and slowly they are increasing again, that was one of the main traveler nationalities that we had, pre-covid. I think Japan just announced that they are easy to open, and we expect that the results are going to be recovering from that one. But then there is a good mix of different travelers that are back. For example, hearing in our hotel, what we experience is that we have a little bit of everything right now. So, that's something that gives us a lot of hope that we are over this COVID period, and we can look forward with a very positive mindset. Kerry Newsome: 37:43 Yes, when I was at your hotel, I ran into a lot of other Aussies staying at the hotel, and they only had good things to say which was good to know. Look, I won't take up any more of your time Alvaro. It's been great to chat. Is there anything that you'd like to finish up with, to share with people? My listeners are all over the world. They're keen to know as much as they can. So, they kind of use the podcast as part of their research, or I hope they do anyway. But I think that's the main aim. So, is there anything that you'd like to finish up with or say to people coming to Vietnam? Alvaro Moreno: 38:29 Well Kerry, knowing you already and understanding already a little bit better of why your listeners- I encourage everyone to come to Vietnam. I think this is a magical place. I don't say these because of the love that they have for the country, and all the years that they have been here. I also say this from a traveler- my travel insights story, over my life experience. It is a place that has become a must. I will say for someone coming, especially to the side of the world, I recommend everyone to come. I said before that, it is welcoming, it is safe, it is easy, and the exploring never stops. Kerry Newsome: 39:18 I'm just going to cut you off there and just say that's fabulous. That's just all we need to say. I think that's a wrap. Thanks very much, Alvaro. A Girls Getaway 39:25 When you hear the words: A Girls Getaway to Vietnam, is there just a little part of you that says, "That sounds really interesting. What's involved?" Let me tell you, A What About Vietnam Travel Companion hosted tour. This is something I have had in baking for at least three years. So let me assure you, it's going to be an absolutely wonderful experience for a group of girls. Let me tell you a little bit about it: 1. It starts in Saigon. You're going to get to experience the vibe of that city, shopping wise, cultural wise, food wise. 2. You're going to then move on to Hội An. I've spoken a lot about Hội An and on this program, so you're going to get to experience an old-world town. And just the sheer beauty of that old town and meeting some new people, beautiful beach, once again, great food, but also that beautiful sense of old-world charm. 3. Then lastly, you'll get to experience the island of Phú Quốc, which is another experience, which is totally different and unique. I'm hoping with those three experiences, you're just going to have the holiday of a lifetime. 40:55 So, think about coming as yourself, just on your own and joining in with the group. Or you might want to bring a couple of girls with you. It is a very small group. It's hosted by our Travel Companion services director, Kelley McCarthy. So let me assure you, she has got fun as the top priority for this trip. So, we're really in sync, please go to the website: WhatAboutVietnam.com. Click on the Travel Services tab, and it'll take you to the Girls Getaway page. There's a full itinerary there and you can reach out to Kelley directly to get more information. We'd love to have you on board. It is only a small group. So, it's very private. We put in a lot of work to get the itinerary just right. We just think you're going to have a fabulous time. So, get in touch. We are pretty excited about this trip. So, I'd love to have you on board.

fdafa5c8-3d69-4212-9948-50f4089dab91Lockdown insights and upcoming travel advice Saigons Covid recovery and tourism outlook 2022 Episode 11 S3-11 Saigons Covid Recovery Outlook 00:00 / 39:15 In todays' world of media there are so many news broadcasters competing for your attention, it’s hard to know which one to trust. 
With the advent of Covid’s most devastating outbreak in Vietnam and Saigon happening in 2021, getting local insights in English has been challenging. Albeit, when many other countries around the world are opening up, it's been hard to comprehend, let alone fully appreciate the ferocity of the Delta variant as it forced Saigon into one of the strongest city lockdowns of the last 20 years.
 Michael Tatarski is my guest and in his role as Editor-in-Chief of Saigoneer, the Vietnamese culture and history website, and author of the Vietnam Weekly newsletter is well respected for his local knowledge and reporting in Vietnam and most particularly Saigon. 

I catch up with Michael just as the October 2021 ease in lockdowns is about to happen. In this episode he talks about what it’s been like during the lockdown from July to October 1st, 2021 and what aspirations and advice he has on travel coming out of the lockdown, both domestically and internationally. It's great having Michael come on the show to give everyone the insights into the behind the news stories of Saigon during this devastating time of hardship. 
 I see this as a historic recording. You may wish to listen to this again before you visit, so you can marvel at the city's resilience and determination. I expect a lot of changes and hopefully most for the good.

 Saigon is a truly vibrant and energetic city bursting with heritage that sits alongside creative eateries, secret alleys, coffee houses, river cruising, artisan shopping and roof top bars, that many a news crew were known to drink at in years gone by. 
When you go to visit Saigon, you may wish to listen to previous episodes talking about the Saigon Nightlife, and Best Districts to visit as great guides to maximise your time there. Download Transcript PDF Read transcript

S4-23 Take beautiful photos Part 1 What About Vietnam - S4-23 How to capture Beautiful Photos - in Vietnam or anywhere! - Part 1 [00:00:39] Kerry Newsome: Xin chao and welcome to, What About Vietnam today I'm talking with Thomas Levine, photographer. He lives in Vietnam and he has done a lot of photography in the country. [00:00:53] Kerry Newsome-1: A little bit about Thomas. He currently lives in Hoi An. And he's lived in a lot of places. Omaha, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Tampa. He has a bachelor degree in sociology minors in business and psychology. He's actually, well, he describes himself as a self-trained photographer, but he also trained under, Master photographers and developed some skills, obviously in portraiture. Architecture, national Geographic Photography and working for a New York advertising agency. He does a lot of commercial work, so that obviously gives him some I guess, status in the kind of quality of work that he produces. And he has an amazing portfolio of fantastic photography that you can plug into after the show. He's got extensive experience photographing people and that that's a skill in itself. But he also does other things, you know, for annual reports and advertising Stills,live, cars, food, jewelry, furniture, you. He enjoys photography for many reasons, both personal and professionally, and he's just a lovely guy that can, I think, help us. Will certainly help me in understanding some of the elements of photography when we are traveling because we, we want to get the best shots, don't we? We want to capture the moment. We may come back at another time, another date, another year or whatever, but you're never going to get that moment back again. And so I really impress upon you to, you know, have a good listen to this. Two part series that we've got together and I just want you to get a lot out of it for yourself in your trip planning for Vietnam. But for any trip that you do that you want to be able to produce photography, you know that you're going to be able to put on a wall or sit on a shelf or put in an album that you're really proud of and you can share with others. Let's face it, you don't want to get home or get back to your hotel, or you finish the tour and it's all over and you look at your photos and you go, I really wish I'd taken more time and a little bit more care and with a bit of insight and knowledge, I thought having someone on the program to actually talk through the use of colour and lines and focus when you've got beautiful scenery and people and activities, et cetera. To photograph that we try and get it right from the get-go, and Thomas has done a great job in this show and is such a learned person in this area. I thought this is what we need as part of the show's. I guess features, and I think you can come back to this any time for a bit of a refresher, OR for any trip you do. So please take the time to, to listen to him. He's got, a website and everything that I'm going to be able to share with you so you can go and get some pointers and maybe do some lessons with him or get some advice so you'll be able to reach out to him directly and. Yeah, I just think you're really going to enjoy this show. It's broken into two parts because we went through it and we went, oh my gosh, there's a lot in this. So I've put it into a part ONE and part TWO series, and I'll release these very close together so you can combine them. There is. Obviously transcription notes, so you're going to be able to refer to them and yeah, I just hope you really get out a lot out of it. You don't have to be a professional to use some of his skills and his advice. You can use it with your, mobile phone or you can use it with an actual camera as a dSLR and make those apertures shutter speed s that you need to get things right. Let's welcome Thomas to the program. [00:05:22] Kerry Newsome-1: Thomas, welcome to the What About Vietnam Podcast? [00:05:27] Thomas Levine: Thank you very much for inviting me to be on. Kerry what can I tell you? You're going to be telling me a lot about a subject I only know a very small bit about, and that's photography, but I'm going to. do it in a way, hopefully with your permission, that we hone in on how we can improve our photography skills relative to Vietnam. [00:05:59] Kerry Newsome: Okay. So it's going to be okay, sort of Vietnam specific, if that's okay? [00:06:04] Thomas Levine: Yeah. I mean, some of it's general because it applies to just a camera operation and the rest of it, I'll try to make it for Vietnam. [00:06:12] Kerry Newsome: Sure. Okay. Alright. Firstly, my first question to you would be, tell us a little bit about why Vietnam has captured you through the lens of your camera. [00:06:29] Thomas Levine: Because it's beautiful and, it's, it's a different culture. When I travel I've been quite a few places in Southeast Asia and they're all different, every country's different. You'd think it's, oh, it's not the same, but it's the cultures are very different. The terrain's different and Vietnam is just absolutely gorgeous. And some of the places I've gone to, I mean, I need to go to more places in the north, because that's supposed to be where it's actually really gorgeous. But it's interesting everywhere you go and people are very kind here, the Vietnamese and the tourists too. The tourists are having fun here. But it's the terrain. It's there's, I'm a nature photographer. That's how I start it. And the nature here is incredible. Everything is green. You get a lot of rain, which is another issue too, but it's not a really an issue because. You know when you come here, you're traveling and you have to take pictures, period. You don't have to, but a lot of people do. And if it's raining, you can still take pictures and they come out different. And that's good because the rain makes saturation. You get a lot of colored saturation. It just looks different than other people's pictures, and that's what you want in the first. Absolutely. Sure. Now I'm going to ping you in the sense of, I'm going to start with technique because I think for all of us, Getting our technique right. And as you say, you can take this technique wherever you go around the world, but if we start with technique as a basic, I think that's going to help us from the get-go. So you and I have had a few conversations and just those alone have given me a better sense of where to start. But maybe you could help us with it. Talking just a little bit about some basics I don't know how to hold a camera, how to hold a phone to take, the best image, the best pic. [00:08:40] Thomas Levine: The thing is that a lot of people they get home and they look at their pictures, or you look at your pictures on your phone. Sometimes it's hard to really see into it, but when you get home and you put them on your computer, You. It's not sharp. I guess I didn't do a good job of focusing it, but it's not always focus. It's a lot. That's when it comes down to technique, because when you're taking that picture, your camera needs to be stable and sometimes they have stabilizers in it, but they only works so much. So basically your technique of holding the camera should be the same every time and it takes a little practice. And once you get used to it, then you know your pictures will come out a lot better if that's the problem you're having. Because sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's a focus problem or it's a camera shake problem. But if you see everything in it that's not sharp, that's probably camera shake. If you see parts of it that are sharp, then it's probably focus. But the thing is, when you're holding a camera, what you really need to do is use your elbows and your arms, and you need to have, make it a tripod with your arms. You put your elbows into your stomach and squeeze, and you're holding the camera up. And that's, and then you're actually creating, cradling the camera. It's actually in your palm of your hands. And that's, and that. And then you bring it to your face and basically you're like a tripod. And you, when you press that shutter, this is critical. When you press, you have to be still. And what I do is I hold my breath. I practice it first too, but I hold my breath when I press the. And if you're hiking along and you're taking a picture after picture and you're starting to hold your breath, sometimes you need to take a break because you can't catch your breath. [00:10:34] Kerry Newsome: So I love it. So yeah, you, because you could be out of breath, but for the wrong reasons. Yeah. So you probably need every breath. Yeah. But I like that because when you breathe, you. You move. Yeah. Your chest and your abdomen, et cetera moves as you breathe. So if you hold your breath, that makes a lot of sense in being absolutely. Still. And I agree with you in the little bit of photography skills and lessons I've had, that was one of the first things that they highlighted, whether it was your phone. Or whether it's a camera is finding a way to. Become really still, and as you say, creating yourself as a tripod. [00:11:19] Thomas Levine: Right. And I, I'm, I it's putting it in your palm of your hands is the trick too, because you want it cushioned in your hand. And it's hard to, it's hard to tell you without showing you. [00:11:32] Kerry Newsome: Yes, I know this is where audio is a little bit tricky for people, right? In the sense you can't put your hand up and actually do a demonstration. But we will have some pics on the website with some examples of holding the camera. So we'll definitely put those in. Okay. Alright, so if we've, The camera now cradled in the palm of our hand, or if we've got the phone right. Cradled in a safe, secure, still position holding our breath or otherwise, what, should we be doing or looking for next? [00:12:12] Thomas Levine: First of all when you're pressing that shutter, you could squeeze, because if you hit it too hard, then you're going to vibrate everything. So whether it's a phone or the camera's going to have a shutter. You're going to have a kind of a fake button on the smartphone, and you just have to understand and try it out and see how much of a touch it takes for that shutter to release because you just don't want to touch it too much, because as soon as you start pressing in, you're going to vibrate the whole thing. So you just be able to touch it, but touch it firm enough that it'll take the picture. [00:12:47] Kerry Newsome: I like that. I like that. I think that's something we need to be more conscious of. [00:12:51] Thomas Levine: Yeah. And you just practice it. If you practice it when you're starting the trip you're like, and then you'll go somewhere else and then it's you'll take the picture wrong and then you'll kick yourself and it's okay, I did this wrong. Then you start doing it more and it gets to be a habit. Because that's really what you want. You want know how to hold your camera and pressing the shutter should be something that you don't even have to think about. Eventually, you just do it right? Okay, so it's just practice. But that's the whole thing. The other thing about sharp pictures is you have you have to be able to focus it, right? So if it's a camera, then a lot of times it's automatic focus, so there's a one. That you want to focus at, and that point is going to be the sharpest in your frame. Okay. But the thing is, you have something called depth of field and sometimes you can't tell the difference between the focal point and the depth of field, especially on a phone. And they have a one third, two third rule. And I really don't go by rules too much, but use this one when I. Sometimes I want to make sure I take the picture. So, I will do the focal point, take the picture, whatever the subject is, focal point on the subject. I'll take the picture and then I will do something with the depth of field. So if belongs in, in its part of the aperture the aperture is the, it's the round it closes and opens depending on the setting. And it's like your eye. If you look at something and if you close your eye and squint, you can see the front and the back is even more in focus than just as it was before. Squinting is what that aperture's doing. So when it closes down, which is a higher number, then you have more depth. So you can have a, the one third, two third rule if you have enough of your aperture closed enough, and then you don't always need to close it all the way, but if you close it, then you could set it so that the one third you focused like one third into the frame. So if you're like a landscape and one-third, that's where you focus. And then after that, the two-thirds all the way to infinity should be in, in depth of. Doesn't mean it's going to be as sharp as a focal point because that there's only one focal point, but you want enough aperture closed down so you get the whole thing in focus. [00:15:37] Kerry Newsome: Okay. And I think for lay people like myself who are listening to try and get their heads around that it, it is really about making. Whatever you want to focus on, whether it's a person or a particular flower or some item or whatever the subject. It is the focal point. Exactly. But the rest is quite blurred behind it exactly as you describe about squinting, et cetera. [00:16:09] Thomas Levine: And they, so maybe you don't want, and you can achieve this on your phone as well, can't you? Yeah. And actually there's an app I think that you can actually. Select your shutter speed and your aperture. It depends on the phone, but there, there are several apps that do that. Another thing too that people don't realize is light. If you have a strong light coming it's going to be it'll make your picture sharper because it raises the contrast as long as that light's not getting into your lens directly. So if you have a foggy day, you know it's not going to be sharp. Or if you have a day with a, like a lot of atmosphere where there's just a lot of moisture in the air, which happens in Vietnam, then if you take in an overall landscape, it's going to come out soft. It won't be as sharp. But that's not having anything to do with camera shake or your focal point or depth of field. It's just the atmosphere. So there's not a whole lot you can do other than photograph closer and that show as much area. Okay. But you get certain days, that's just, it's just like that here. And other days everything's sharp because there's good light. So light has a lot to do with it. [00:17:27] Kerry Newsome: I hate to add this point about lighting, but in my experience, and correct me if I'm wrong, with lighting, there's a little bit of an education. To take into consideration about lighting in the sense that doesn't mean in the middle of the day necessarily, because in my opinion it's not a kind light to people. No. And so you can be absolutely drop dead gorgeous, but in the wrong light. You can look a hundred years old. I think, can you speak a little bit more to just that lighting perspective? [00:18:11] Thomas Levine: Of course when you travel, a lot of times you don't have a choice on lighting. Okay. Because you're traveling all day. So the morning and the late afternoon are the best lights because it's coming from the side. If it's overhead, then you might have some problems because you're really lighting, like you're taking a picture of a person, you're lighting the top of the head. But most of the time it's not right overhead. And I found that if you don't have a choice and the person's facing the light, I prefer somebody wearing sunglasses for that particular picture. Because you're probably going to have other pictures whether or not they don't have to wear sunglasses. I used to take pictures. Of these people for commercial reasons, and they would be staring at the light. And they wouldn't they were not allowed to wear sunglasses for the ad I was making. So people are like, they would close their eyes and then I would go, 1, 2, 3 on three, open your eyes. And then they would open their eyes, because otherwise, if you stare at the sun, you're just going to squint. Okay. And it's not that much fun to be a subject. Where that sun's straight in your eye. So I prefer if it's possible, and it's possible when you're traveling, wear sunglasses for those kind of pictures. The other thing you can be under a tree or under an umbrella and take the picture and it's a lot more pleasing. Okay. Or if it's if it's two o'clock and the light is off to the side a little bit, but not as much as you'd like, then a lot of times you can turn that. So that the light's coming off of their side, off the side of their head and their side of their face. And there's another thing you could do with a lot of cameras is it's called fill light. It's fill flash. So if you're taking a picture of somebody and they're they're in the shadow, their face is in the shadow, but everything else is lit, you can turn your flash on and set it for fill and you can do this on your iphone. Or whatever phone you're using, and then it'll fill it in and you, and it's actually very pleasing light for your face. So I don't know if you're familiar with that. [00:20:24] Kerry Newsome: No, definitely not. And I have made the error of sometimes I'll stand in the shade and take a picture of them in the sun. And that doesn't work out. And then I swap places and then I'm in the sun and they're in the shade. And either way it doesn't come out well. Or a person has got shade on half of their face, and sun on the other. You can see how much trouble I have in getting it right. It takes me a few goes. [00:20:58] Thomas Levine: Well, I, Kerry, I it’s something that most people aren't going to carry. I carry, a disc that opens up and it's white. Okay. And it's on a kind of a spring thing, but I've also done it this way. If somebody is, too bright on one side and it's too dark on the other, and I see somebody wearing a white shirt sometimes if they're not going to be in the picture, if I could get them close enough that white, the sun will bounce off that person's white shirt and fill the other part of your face in. So you have them on the dark side of their face, or if you find something white. Sometimes I've even used a, menu. From a restaurant, just to fill in that, because I use that with food too. Because you really it it's too much of a distraction if you're really bright on one side and it's too dark on the other, it just doesn't look right. No, and if you want to print that, then that's not going to print right either. But you want that. Sometimes you want that. It's a, I think they call it Rembrandt. Where you have one side of the face that's lit and the other side's dark. And actually what that does is it makes your face thinner. It makes you look thinner because that's cause part "I'm all for that" yeah. So that's just the way it works okay. [00:22:21] Kerry Newsome: So is this kind of the part where we are talking about lines and curves kind of the psychology aspect of it? Or still in just general technique? [00:22:37] Thomas Levine: I'll talk about leading lines and, line is, is one of the elements in art. There's a leading line that, like a sidewalk and you want to take a picture of a mountain in the background and to get there, you're going down a trail or a sidewalk. [00:22:53] Kerry Newsome: That line will take somebody's eye all the way up into the mountain. So that's what you want. You want to lead the viewer to where you want them to see. Okay. So that's the leading line. And if you have a curve and it curves around this way and it curves around that way, it makes it more interesting. It's not as boring. And if you think about curves are nice because if you think about it, it's a design, like Apple design a lot of curves and earphones, that kind of stuff. It's a design, but also it's a lazy kind of thing. When you see a curve you just emits some sort of feeling and that's what you want to do. When you take a picture. You want to get some sort of emotion. So that's how you can use line and. Line will just if, even if it goes into a curve, your eye will follow that and it'll take you right into the picture, maybe right to the subject if possible. Okay. Because you really need to find out or figure out what is your subject, because that's where you're going to focus, that's where you want the line to lead. That kind of thing, if that makes it clear. I don't know. Yeah. In a way Vietnam is renowned for having lots of places, and we're going to talk a little bit about some of those places later. But where you've got steps up to a peak, you've got trails, you've got ravines through, limestone caves and things like that. I've found myself in inside caves or coming into caves, or I've found. Walking a path and thinking, gosh how could I kind. Get this path visually in a pic to be able to express to people just the length of it, the relativity to its background. I'm thinking about all these kinds of things so that it, I can display the picture in such a way that it gives. A really good representation and perspective so people can go, oh, wow. Kind of like I'm going Oh, wow. In the moment. Can you speak a little bit about how to line that up? I guess sometimes I get quite low on the ground and try and take it so that it's shooting up and I get a longer view. But I'm open to ideas. That's why we're talking to you, Thomas. [00:25:30] Thomas Levine: A lot of it depends on the lens you use too. If you use a really wide lens, then everything's smaller except in the foreground or on the sides. But basically everything's smaller. And so if you have leading line that you want to take people up, it doesn't always work it's so small that you could hardly see that line farther down the picture. And another thing too is if you have a foreground that's really boring, it's like open area, it's kind of flat. Then if you get up higher, that area is actually going to be larger in the picture. If you get low then it flattens that part out and you notice more in the background, which is what you want. Yes. So you have to, yes. Experiment, but people don't talk about that for some reason. At least I haven't seen it. But it really depends. That's what happens when you get lower or higher. And sometimes you want it boring in the beginning. It just depends on what you want. But you should be aware of what it does so that way you can make a choice. If I want to get low, I want to get high. And also when you get low, you are showing more detail in the foreground. And maybe that's what you want because if there's a lot of I've taken pictures of rice fields and I get low a lot of times because I wanna show the rice coming up out of the ground and then you can see on the top of the rice the land, the rest of the landscape. And if it's a sunset or just a mountain or whatever vegetation. So it really depends. But that's how I handle that. It's just being aware of your choices. Okay. And again, you're traveling. Some people wanna take a picture and not worry about it. But if you think about it for a second, you can usually improve that picture. And another thing is when you're taking pictures of people, the easiest thing to do is put that person right smack in the middle of the frame. But that's not always the best thing. So correct if and I like a lot of times the person will go on the front of the. And you take a picture and then you go somewhere else to do the same thing over and over, and it gets boring. So I always like to have the model like you were talking about, where sometimes they turn and they you see their back and you're taking a picture over their shoulder. And what that does is it gives you more depth because we're missing that the camera is one eye. And we have two, but we're missing depth when you only have two dimensions. So if you put something farther in, in your foreground, and then you're taking a picture of a landscape of something farther away your subject is not the person. It's whatever is in that frame farther down. But that person gives you that feeling of depth. And you also get that with lighting because if it's coming from the sun, the side, you have a lighting that it will give you more contrast and you'll have a dark area and a light area, and that gives you depth as well. So that helps compensate for only having one eye, because that's all the cameras got. [00:28:52] Kerry Newsome: I have this theory about travel photography. In the sense that you never are going to go back to that place and have that moment again. So as far as getting it right or getting the best possible picture that you can it's quite a meaningful thing, don't you think? It is. But believe it or not, some people do go back. So it's but you're never going to go back. That could be the same, get that exact time. No, because you are not going to be the same. No. The environment's not going be the same. That moment is the moment. To go back a year later or whatever. And I've done the same and sometimes I've gone back because I didn't get it right the first time. So I want to go back and spend more time to, to really. Do it justice, I think is the purpose, my main purpose anyway, because I feel like I've walked away and then I've looked at the photos back on my computer and gone, damn I really should have taken different angles, right? Different lighting, et cetera, et cetera. But most people now are traveling with their phones. And I think probably we. need to kind of balance that out in this conversation. As everybody's being very clever with their phones and they're, and the phone has definitely come up, definitely in its skill level. And now people are saying if you do a photography tour in Vietnam, that you can do it with your mobile phone device. So maybe if we can include both because I know if you've got real camera, you can work with aperture and all that kind of stuff. A lot easier than trying to switch that theory onto a phone. [00:30:41] Thomas Levine: And, but when you get that control, you can also make mistakes too, unless you're used to using that part of your phone. [00:30:48] Kerry Newsome: Yeah. And that's why they have auto on them. Take it from me. [00:30:52] Thomas Levine: I don't know how many times I've taken my phone and I'll just. And it automatically focuses on something. You can pick what it's going to, when it's you touch it and that's where it's supposed to focus. But if you don't do that, it chooses itself. And some people just do that. They just point the phone and click, they take the picture. And I don't know if this is true or not, but I think there's probably more people with phones traveling than they are with cameras. Correct. That's my guess. Absolutely. That's why I said it's about an eight out of 10 people, are traveling and taking photography with their phones. Two out of 10 are taking. Good cameras with good lenses and taking a very artful approach to it. A good segue into talking about the art element of photography. . Can you talk to us a little bit about that? And I know it's something close to your heart, so talk to us a little bit about the artfulness and the emotion and the psychology side of taking photos. When I learned photography originally, which was years and years ago, nobody explained any of this art stuff to me. I just started taking pictures and they were I get a good one every once in a while. But then I just learned by looking and critiquing and having other people look at why do you have this in there? Why do you have that in there? And you learn that way. But learning the art, sure, learning later on, I learned the art side of it. And it makes it where you understand a lot more and a lot of it's psychology. Like especially with colours. Colours have meaning. Okay? And they also work together or they work against each other. And if you find red a lot. I use the red a lot, but I don't use it in the way of everything's red or most of it's red or anything like that. Like I have a picture of someone in Dalat. In Dalat they have farms and I went into this guy's farm and they had they were growing flowers and they were all yellow, I guess daisies, I'm not sure they were all yellow, but inside there, there was somebody working there and they had a red top on. With one of the conical hats. So she had a conical hat, which is a great thing to have in a lot of your pictures because that immediately shows you're in Southeast Asia and they really use that. I'm getting off track here, but they usually, a lot of people wear that more in Vietnam than I've seen them in a lot of other southeast Asian countries. But anyways, this lady was wearing red and she was surrounded by yellow. Your eye immediately went to her because it's even though it wasn't much red, it really popped out and the yellow was in competition only. There was so much yellow and just that little red, you had no choice but to look at the red. So that's you get an emotion outta that. Red. Red means a lot of things, but There's, like I said, there's a psychology behind it. Sometimes a color would offend somebody. Okay. And they, might get moody, they might not like it. They might feel bad. Who knows? Maybe they were in a car accident years ago and that person that hit them was in a red car subconsciously red is negative to them, that kind of thing. [00:34:20] Kerry Newsome: Thomas we're going to take a short break here and, we are going to keep going, but we're going to do that in a second segment as we've still got a lot of great stuff to cover. And I wanted to just give people a chance to digest everything we've gone through and, we'll continue in part two of this, show coming up. So stay tuned everyone, because there's more really great photography skills with Thomas to come. Thank you. You can contact Thomas Levine here:- https://www.levinephotography.com/ https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/levine-travel-stock Skype: thomas.levine888

S4-19 Vietnam wins the heart of the daring Why Vietnam wins the hearts of the daring Episode 19 S4-19 Vietnam wins the heart of the daring 00:00 / 45:11 Is Vietnam for the daring? The brave hearted. Or is it a country that you can feel confident about challenging yourself in, no matter what is daring for you? If Vietnam feels like a leap of faith to you, then press PLAY. In today’s show we explore some of the things that contribute to making Vietnam a country you can feel safe in, and yet you can push your own personal boundaries. For some people visiting any country in the S E Asia region can feel like a deep dive into uncharted and circumspect waters. If you'd like to experience Vietnam with a sense of curiosity and confidence then my guest today is just the person to allay any of your fears, real or otherwise. Once a tourist to Vietnam from Barcelona Spain, now General Manager of the Fusion Original Saigon, my guest Alvaro Moreno does a wonderful job of identifying those often-unspoken gems that make travel so easy in Vietnam. As a lover of travel Alvaro shares some of the ways in which Vietnam can offer the traveller the chance to challenge themselves in relative safety, and on a range of budgets. He speaks about the high level of connectivity within the country digitally and how easy it is to travel about using various modes of transport, made easy to book on any mobile device through an App. You may be surprised to hear his favourite foodie experience. We touch on the growth of the country and its forward thinking that’s changing its appearance to the tourist and offering them more choices. A competitiveness that adds up to different levels of experiences in the country. He has worked on the pre-opening phase of three hotels and one re-brand in Vietnam over the past 8 years, and he sits with great pride in his staff and hotel as GM of the Fusion Original Saigon Centre. If you would like to check out his hotel - https://saigoncentre.fusionoriginals.com/ You can follow the hotel on their social pages: FB - https://www.facebook.com/FusionOriginalSaigonCentre/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/fusionoriginalsaigoncentre/ YT - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5iXwi8aX-x256XtjDNosxQ Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

27fcfe66-c320-414c-b15d-674d1870cf91Be pleasantly surprised by the views of this teenager One teenagers view on a holiday in Vietnam Episode 25 S3-25 One teenagers holiday views 00:00 / 29:20 If you are thinking about bringing your family to Vietnam and not sure if Vietnam will hit the button for children, in particular your teen son or daughter, you might be pleasantly surprised by the views of one such teenager who visited Vietnam with me in 2019. Ethan Sanders is my guest and just also happens to be my grandson. Ethan was 16 when he came to visit me in Vietnam on one of my trips. 2 years on from that visit;- Find out what Ethan found initially most challenging? Discover the “thing” you thought your child may never do at home, but will try in Vietnam? Learn if he would go back to Vietnam as an adult. What did Ethan find so hilarious in Danang? Vietnam is extremely kid friendly. It is a very safe environment and features lots of activities kids of all ages will love. I hope you enjoy this episode, as this one is for the teens we love. And memorable holidays. Download Transcript PDF Read transcript

S4-11 Revisiting Vietnam Revisiting Vietnam post Covid - First impressions Episode 11 S4-11 Revisiting Vietnam 00:00 / 19:53 Finally, as your host of the What About Vietnam podcast, it's my turn to revisit Vietnam and check it out for myself.
 In this show I share with you my experience from leaving Australia to arriving into Vietnam. My first visit back since March 2020. 
I share what the travel experience is like entering the country? How does it feel? 
What are my first impressions? Has HCMC changed and where are the changes most noticeable.
 Plus, my first time back in Vietnam would not be complete without me sharing with you my welcome back into Hoi An. I likewise share with you my take on getting around Saigon; Best insights into the coffee culture and just how it feels being a minority in the domestic traveller demographic. 

If you want to hear first-hand just how easy it is to travel in Vietnam in September, 2022, then this is the show for you. Straight from the horse’s mouth...so to speak!

 Time stamps to help guide you through the episode: 00.38 The Visa process in action 04.24 Arriving into Vietnam – what to expect 06.17 The domestic travel experience 08.03 HCMC – most significant changes 09.52 Getting around HCMC 13.27 Dining out and the coffee scene Saigon 17.32 Hoi An – Welcoming me back 

Mentioned in the show the A by Tung restaurant To get a little more in depth about Fine Dining in Vietnam check out The Fine Dining Episode with Raj Taneja here Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S6-E9 What Vietnamese dishes should I try < Back S6-E9 What Vietnamese dishes should I try S6-E9 What Vietnamese dishes should I try 00:00 / 36:28 Question 9 What Vietnamese dishes should I try? What if I told you… the best meal you’ll have in Vietnam probably isn’t the one you planned? Today we get clear on the next question in this series - What Vietnamese dishes should I try? We begin our exploration through the streets of Hanoi for smoky, unforgettable bún chả…we go further afield to the Old Town of Hoi An for Cao lầu and delicate white rose dumplings… But lets not forget the explosiveness of food in Ho Chi Minh City, where every bite—from Cơm tấm to sizzling Bánh xèo—carries tastes and experiences you won't forget easily. This episode focuses on the standout dishes most intrinsic to each major region; the ones you will most likely visit as a first time traveller. I’ve included some of my own favourite spots to try these dishes—places I keep going back to—along with a little of my personal journey through Vietnamese food , and how it became one of the biggest learning curves to understanding Vietnam. Because in Vietnam…especially in regional areas, you don’t just eat. You sit, you pause, you reflect, you connect—and somewhere along the way, you start to understand the country differently. You become grateful for the occasion of sharing. If you’ve ever wondered where to start with Vietnamese food… this is your starting point:- [00:05:22] Bun Cha in Hanoi [00:10:32] Cao Lau – a must-try dish [00:16:07] Banh Xeo – the hero dish [00:21:41] Hue’s pancake – Banh Khoai [00:22:05] Vegetarian options in Hue [00:22:38] Coastal areas and seafood [00:24:42] Rustic food in Sapa [00:28:48] Vietnamese food’s diverse influences [00:30:58] Food tours and cooking classes [00:35:40] Special trip guidance in Vietnam Fair warning—you may finish this episode already planning your first meal. Restaurants mentioned in the show: Hanoi – Bun Cha -74 Hang Quat Hanoi Hanoi – Cha Ca Thang Long - 6B P. Đường Thành, Cửa Đông, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội Hoi An – Cao Lau - Quan An (ONG) Hai - 6A Truong Minh Luong ( alley next to Mia Café) Saigon – Com Tam Moc – Saigon Nha Trang – Lobster – Luong Son Cang PLEASE NOTE; This episode is not intended to be a complete guide to Vietnamese cuisine across all regions. Rather, it offers a curated sampler of standout dishes that are closely tied to the places you’re most likely to visit. There are, of course, many more specialties and local variations beyond those mentioned here—each worth discovering in their own time. Do you have a travel question or wish to give some feedback? You have 90 seconds. Click to read the voicemail recording policy Previous Next

S5-E6-Explore the ‘Land of Lychees’ – Bac Giang with return traveller to Vietnam S5-E6-Explore the ‘Land of Lychees’ – Bac Giang with return traveller to Vietnam Episode 06 S5-E6-Explore the ‘Land of Lychees’ – Bac Giang with return traveller to Vietnam 00:00 / 40:19 Bac Giang, is a pictureesque province in northern Vietnam. It’s one place you most likely won’t see hit the social pages and news till around the time of the Lychee Festival. This vibrant event is held in June, and celebrates Bac Giang's reputation as the "Land of Lychees. In today’s episode Bac Giang and the subject of lychees are front and centre, as I get to share the story of a photographer named Jessie Pearlman, a previous guest on the podcast, who embarked on a return trip to Vietnam, driven by his love for the country and his desire to reconnect with friends and explore new experiences. This show delves into the motivations behind his journey; the significance of the lychees to the region and the community, and how best to navigate a visit there. Jesse has a wonderful gift for self-expression and description which will immediately transport you to the experiences he had during his time in the heart of Bac Giang province, Luc Ngan, the township designated as the biggest growing township for lychees. He provides valuable tips on organizing your trip and strongly recommends it as a destination to visit, just a short 2.5-hour drive from Hanoi, especially for photographers and tropical fruit enthusiasts. This is an off the beaten track location and experience, so information is as Jesse describes, hard to find. Therefore, we have the following links to the people who helped him create his trip, which we hope will help you too. Phung Lan, Tour Guide for Luc Ngan Lychee Harvest in Bac Giang Province: https://www.facebook.com/kalydao.phung Lan's Tour Company: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076182891385 By visiting lesser-known regions like Bac Giang, we can contribute to the local economy and make a positive impact on the community. Let's make a conscious effort to explore off-the-beaten-path destinations and give back to the places we visit. Follow Jesse or get in touch via his IG page here - https://www.instagram.com/pearlmanj1/?hl=en Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here