S4-14 Con Dao Islands What About Vietnam - S4 - E14 Con Dao Islands – An archipelago of pristine beauty and complexity SPEAKERS: Conor Kelly, Kerry Newsome Kerry Newsome: 00:18 Xin Chào and welcome to “What About Vietnam ”. Today we're going to talk about a beachside location called the Côn Đảo Islands. Now, when you start Googling and researching for a beachside stay, there's a lot of options in Vietnam. You've got a coastline 3200 kilometers long to choose from. Now, but these islands are quite remote, they are a cluster of 16 islands, to be factual. They are less than hour flight out of Ho Chi Minh City. But the island or the Côn Sơn Island, which is the main one in the group, is very isolated and very raw, in the sense that there's not a lot of touristy stuff to do. 01:28 So, if you do want a very chilled out state, this is definitely the location. If you're looking for a very luxurious stay, there are some absolutely beautiful resorts there. But even if you're just looking to do some snorkeling, do some nice swimming, lay on the beach, read a good book. And you really want to get away from the hubba, hubba, hubba of the world, this would definitely be my pick for you. Conor Kelly is my guest on the show today to talk about Côn Đảo. He went on a trip with some friends very recently, and he really enjoyed it. And I think what you're going to get from this is some insights into just what he expected or didn't expect or was a little bit surprised. There is a prison there with a museum. Regretfully there's quite a brutal past to that prison. So, when you do want to go and check out some history on the island. That will definitely come up. But as I said, quite a brutal past and something to definitely take it in with context. 02:46 I think also with Conor, because he's a podcaster himself. He's a great storyteller. He's also a teacher, and he's also a journalist. He lives in Ho Chi Minh City. So, it was very easy for him to pop over to the Côn Đảo islands to take advantage of this short break. But I think for everybody listening, I really want you to just get some insights into what to expect there. When you start planning, how much time you may want to spend there, if you do want to go at all. Let's welcome Conor to the program. 03:30 Hello, Conor Kelly, welcome to the "What About Vietnam " podcast. Conor Kelly: 03:35 Hey, how are you? Kerry Newsome: 03:36 We were just having a quick chat before this around the fact that we're both podcasters, and we both know what's coming next. But I'm hoping you'll allow me to go all over the place with our subject as we're going to talk about a holiday or a short break you took on the Côn Đảo islands. Conor Kelly: 04:02 Yeah, absolutely. I'm willing to go into as much detail as I can, from my personal experience and looking forward to sharing it. Because still to this day, it's probably my favorite spot in Vietnam, and maybe ever, just due to its complexity and beauty. So, looking forward to diving into it. Kerry Newsome: 04:20 That's a big statement saying, best place ever, because there's so many other beach resorts and beach destinations in Vietnam, for it to stand out amongst all of those. That's a big call. So firstly, tell us how did you came to the decision to go there in the first place? Conor Kelly: 04:43 Well, it was one of those ones where you discuss with your friends where to go as, say a vacation or a short break, and I'd been to places like Da Nang, Nha Trang, Mũi Né, Phú Quốc, and the reason why Côn Đảo stands out is because, for example, all of those features, I personally think if I was to go to them and not know where I was, for example, like somebody brought me that blindfolded, I would probably get them mixed up whilst Côn Đảo was something completely different. I think the main reason I use that is because of the amount of litter that's in the other places, the lack of I say, lack of, as if it's a bad thing. But it's good that there's no litter in Côn Đảo, the crystal-clear waters, etc. And so, I think when I was actually arranging to go, I probably can't take too much credit because I went with some female friends, and they were much, much better at organizing than I was. So, they did their research explained to me the “hidden gem” aspect and said, it's better than let's say, a standard holiday to Nha Trang or Phú Quố, why not give it a try, to which I jumped at the opportunity. So that's really how it came about. Kerry Newsome: 05:53 Okay, so you're right, when you say hidden gem, because it's really only come on the radar for tourists, I think really, just pre-COVID. It was starting to get some attention. It certainly comes up in beach conversations, but never as a standout. And for me personally, I always saw it as I have to have a lot of money to go there. Like that Six Senses Resort was really the standout thing about the place. And apart from that, the views from those windows and the sandy beaches and the beautiful, lush hillsides, etc. I had no other perspective. And I don't even know why I didn't look into it more thoroughly. So, I'm curious, what was your first impression, because you've been to Nha Trang, you've been to Da Nang, and you've been to the other places. So, when you went and arrived, what was your first impression? Conor Kelly: 07:01 I think it was probably ‘shock’, because the airport was probably smaller than my office, which really struck me, I thought, "Wow, this is really quite bizarre." Upon that, I rang the hotel that we'd booked to order a taxi. And it was just, "No English, no English. Get another taxi." So, I said, "Okay, cool." So, then I went to the taxi and said, "Taxi here." "No English ." I said, "Okay." So, I got on my phone and did the whole: 'Come to this location.' And then it hit me. Nobody speaks English on this island, which already gives it a different feel, to say, your Phu Quoc’s because generally you will find English speaking locals there, there are normally lots of expat communities there already; as it's touristy,You think this will be something they accommodate too. But this didn't seem to have anything. It seemed very authentic Vietnamese. So, I thought, Okay, this is my first view, and then driving through the mountains, or well, not necessarily the mountains, the windy roads leading up to the town center of Côn Đảo. 08:01 So, this is something slightly different, middle of nowhere, didn't see any bikes really, only two or three. Then upon arriving just how quiet it was, it almost gave me a bit of a shock as in thinking, "Why does nobody know about this? Is this mysterious?" And then from exploring and my research, I was aware of the historical influence of Côn Đảo perhaps in previous times in Vietnam, so maybe it still has that connotation? Like a war Island? Who knows? But my first impression was, I don't know, it was like a mix of mystery. But also, curiosity. And also, I guess, because some of the things I was seeing in terms of just the sunset, the beaches, the mountains, the desertness of the whole place, they seem to have it in quite a positive way. So that's what my first impression was. Kerry Newsome: 08:56 It's a good thing to bring up because I think, certainly, coming out of Ho Chi Minh City, to the quietness of that island would be a shock in itself. Like it's only a 45-minute flight, isn't it? Like it's short and sweet. I already knew about the airport not being of any grand scale. I also knew that there was very little English spoken there. So, you're right, the island hasn't really been geared up for high level tourism. There are no buses arriving and that real over tourism feel to it at all, which is what I understood. But I'll tell you how it was put to me by someone else. They said, "Look, it's absolutely beautiful. It's absolutely pristine, but past a couple of days, you've got to be really imaginative and innovative in what you're going to do. Otherwise, there's nothing. It's quiet, it's serene. But if you get bored with that, after a while, you've really got to start to look further afield." And I mean, you've already mentioned the war side of it, and the prisons, and we can go into that in a bit more detail. 10:20 So, I can understand and totally relate to what you said about the 'No English', it's quiet, like, "Does anybody really know I'm here? How am I going to function as a tourist?" Because there's some things that I think as a tourist, we still want to have this kind of creature comforts, to know that there's an ATM if I need cash, or, like really basics. And when you get to some of these places, they're the first things you think about, "Well, how am I going to get around? How am I going to do things in this place?" So, from what I understand, accommodation wise, there's either on the beach itself, or it's closer to the town, Côn Sơn, is that right? Conor Kelly: 11:11 Yeah, I believe. So, we ended up going past all of the Six Senses and resorts that were 5-stars and ended up luckily finding a place we booked in advance that was of, I guess, normal pricing, I think it was still quite expensive than what you would get in another place. But it wasn't extortion, it was reasonable. Kerry Newsome: 11:33 So, would that be like a 4-star place or 3-star? Conor Kelly: 11:37 If I remember correctly, it was a three star it was almost standard, like hotel room with a balcony, which was fairly nice, TV, etc. But it was a far cry, I guess, from the results that come up straightaway, like your Six Senses, etc., which are slightly further away from the main town center. I think it's still gotten places like hostels, it's just, you have to realize they don't speak English. So, it will be a bit of a tricky one. I still remember just little things like asking for a motorbike, it took 10 minutes, even with Google Translate, when in other places, it's just, "Motorbike yeah? 120 for the day" There you go. So little bits like that. But we ended up in like a 3-star one, I believe, in the town center. So, that suited well. Kerry Newsome: 12:21 Alright, so you were there five days. So, I'm curious, what were some of the things you decided to do to take in the island? Conor Kelly: 12:29 Well, we had an itinerary, which was good, because I concur with that point that after the first couple of days, once you get completely, I guess, once the novelty wears off, that you're on this beautiful, mysterious island, you could get bored. And we had a bit of a weird situation, to be honest. It's a strange one, our flights got rearranged on the way back without them telling us. So somehow, this situation, like transpired where the flight had already been, but we had to get back, and they hadn't told us. So, it was all a bit up in the air. And with that, I ended up getting stuck on the island for a bit longer, which was great. So, that's when it hit me that. Wow, yeah. Because I'm now stuck on this island, I was stuck. I mean, I could go home two days later. That means that, "Oh, what do I actually do?" And as I was thinking about what I will actually do, I thought, "I'm probably just going to sit on the beach, read a book, have some coffee", very basic things, which was great. Don't get me wrong, but I was thinking, "If I was here for an extended period, that's all I could really do." 13:33 We had our itinerary, like going back to what I mentioned, which was to go snorkeling, then was to go hiking, then was to visit the museum and the prisons. And that was really about it. I'm sure there are other things we could have done but fitting it into like our period where we could also have beach time, there we go. So yeah, I would certainly agree with that. We definitely got to see little bits. And we spoke to locals who had to develop their English, I was lucky enough to interview our tour guide for my podcast, which was amazing. But after a while, you can get slightly bored. I probably wouldn't want to go solo. Because I think the beauty of the trip is experienced in this incredible place with people whilst if you're just by yourself, you can feel very isolated because as you mentioned, a great phrase, "Nobody knows you are here". So, it can be isolating and probably lacking in stimulation. Because there are many activities quote, unquote. There are a few bars that we managed to find, but not very expertly populated, but you wouldn't be able to interact. I think I counted five foreigners the whole time I was there, as I'm seeing it now sounds like a lot, because it didn't feel like there was even five. I was looking around, thinking there's no one. So, it's a bit of a strange one. Kerry Newsome: 14:53 Yeah, and I've only been to a few places in Vietnam where I've looked around and I've gone- because I've got blonde hair, and I would look around and I'd go, "I think I'm the only white person here." I get the feeling that Côn Đảo is a little bit similar. And people say, when you see the photos and all the rest of you go, "Well, why aren't more people going?" I think we've actually hit the nail on the head. And that is: It's not super good for trendy bars on the beach. It doesn't have an entertainment aspect to it. Kids wise, they've got to really be into snorkeling and maybe watching the turtles and, and doing that, maybe some hiking and things like that. But there's no artificial aspects to it to add on another layer. I think, in a good way, it's still pretty raw. And I think if you're into that rawness and that untouched aspect, that is what you would enjoy. But as far as a lengthy stay, it would depend on if you really wanted a wellness aspect to your stay where you really do want really quiet and whatever, you'll definitely get it there. I was going to ask you about roosters, whether they still woke you up. But I don't think you're going to get karaoke bars and things like that. Conor Kelly: 16:30 Yeah, exactly, none of that stuff. It was very much like the rawness was its appeal, not for anything like touristy. Kerry Newsome: 16:38 Yes, exactly. So as far as those things to do were concerned, can I break down a couple that I'd just like to know a little bit more about? So, there is a national park. And I believe the National Park is quite beautiful and teeming with wildlife. And that is Côn Sơn. Did you decide to go and venture through that and do some hiking? Or was there any interest in that while you were there? Conor Kelly: 17:05 I think we were trying to. We were trying to find, say, an official hike to do to go with the wildlife. But for some reason, we weren't able to. Perhaps the tour guides weren't available. I can't exactly remember. But we found someone to take us trekking. It has its similarities to a point. Then once we ended up going through the trek and getting to the top of the mountain, quote unquote, even though it wasn't an official mountain. We then went snorkeling, which was something we'd done the day before. So, it wasn't like- snorkeling was great. So, it's not like, "Oh, here we go. We have to snorkel again." But it was like, "Okay! Snorkel again." Just because it's there. In terms of hiking and experience in the wildlife, that's not something that we did, I guess, the official way, but we did some trekking. Kerry Newsome: 17:49 Right. So, on the snorkeling side of it, did you decide to go out? Because I think there's about 16 islands that constitute Côn Đảo islands from a plural sense. Are there any people that can take you out to some of the other islands? Can you do some snorkeling in other places? Because I do believe the coral and the sea life is quite amazing. Conor Kelly: 18:17 Yeah, we were brought out to a few of the surrounding islands, which I wasn't too familiar with. And there's a, there's a small boat that does that for you, where you have the Vietnamese who will bring you and there'll be, say, within five to six people and then your crowd, and they take you from island to island. You do your snorkeling. And then it's rounded off by relaxing on a beach not too far away. The actual experience of that would have been amazing, except for the fact that the waves were extremely rough on that particular day, and a lot of people were getting sick. So, it was slightly mixed, where you'd be getting bumped around. Waves were crazy. People were getting sick. But except for that, if I was to dive like, for example, when the water was calmer, it was amazing. It was just on that note, it was a bit wild. But that's what happens. You can be brought around by the Vietnamese when you go there Kerry Newsome: 19:15 I guess also for historians, and for people who want to delve back into the history of Vietnam. Certainly, the island holds a lot of some brutal history to do with the prison and definitely the way political prisoners were treated in such a brutal way in the prison. So, it's become quite famous. I understand that. Did you decide to go and have a look at the prison or the cemetery or the museum? Conor Kelly: 19:50 Yeah, all of the above. We thought we'd have a look just to get some historical impact. That's one reason just to see what it's about. Well, the second reason is going back to what we mentioned earlier, we've done the trekking and the snorkeling. What else is that by the beach? So, let's try this. So, it was a combination of factors. But upon going there, it's a strange one, because I've been to the war museums in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, and I'm sure somewhere else, however, it's probably Côn Đảo. That's probably what's on my mind. So, I don't think it differed enormously from those two, to be honest with you. Maybe if I had to make a distinction, you actually went into the rooms, the chambers that were used, and there are statues and exactly what happens. So, if you go up close and personal, it can be a bit slightly brutal, slightly harrowing, especially if you try empathizing with what was happening, hundreds of years ago. 20:46 So, it's a strange one. That's definitely the distinction. In terms of the museum, it was fairly similar to the ones you get Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. There was some slight- I guess, more historical context about the actual island and what that was used for, which was interesting. Because I wasn't previously familiar with it. It does explain the mystery of the place where if I speak to Vietnamese. Some of my Vietnamese friends about Côn Đảo, that's the first thing they say. It's not how beautiful the beaches are. It's not about the scenery. It's always "Oh, yeah, at the war place." So, I do think it has that spooky feel about it still, which can deter locals. But expats may not be so put off by that because of the difference of generation. So that's really what it was. They're all fairly near each other, to be honest with you, and not too expensive to go, I think within 50k to 100k. So, fairly near the beach. So, it's easy to explore and check out. That was my interpretation. Kerry Newsome: 21:50 Yeah, it was a dark place to go for me when I went into to do some serious reading on those prisons, and just, how the French built the prisons and what they were used for, right up too, and including the American war. So, that was a dark area of discovery about the island. But certainly, as you say, I think it does have that stigma. And I think it's possibly one of the reasons that Vietnam hasn't decided to consider it or promote it to its own people. 22:40 Getting on to the other things to do. Can you talk to us about food? Like, were there any cute restaurants? Or did you move amongst hotels to get some different aspects of food? Because I'm thinking in my head also that could have been an interesting delving experience. Conor Kelly: 23:08 This is where I feel slightly embarrassed, because usually when I will go to a new place in Vietnam, I'll do some research beforehand on certain types of food that you must get from there, for example. Upon coming to Côn Đảo, I was really just curious about what it was. It was at a point of my Vietnam journey where I hadn't been here. I think I can't remember; I think what I said, I hadn't been here that long. I've been here about a year. So that's long enough. But upon going, I remember thinking, "Oh, what is different about Côn Đảo Vietnamese food?" I was almost just looking at the menu and choosing what I would choose everywhere else. I had this tradition when I was younger, I say younger in my Vietnam journey, where I would look for great western spots abroad, not abroad, but in just different tourist destinations just to I guess, familiarize myself with. If I'm on holiday, I can treat myself a bit more. 24:05 So, there were some amazing western places in Côn Đảo, which surprised me. It really surprised me actually, because I thought that the whole vibe would be very Vietnamese orientated. But I think that was recommended by a friend of a friend. So that's how it all came about. But in terms of the Vietnamese food cuisine there, I'd probably say the seafood. The seafood was up there. The first meal we had, unsurprising, I suppose. But that was definitely something. I mean, it was quite expensive for what you got, but overall, the food was decent. Kerry Newsome: 24:41 It is, being an island, you would think the seafood would have to be good. Actually, it's not going to be good there, like where is it going to be good? So, that's good to hear. 24:58 So, Conor, would you say five days was long enough or too long, or something in between? Conor Kelly: 25:06 Probably just about enough, if not too long, I would advocate three or four days to be honest with you. I think that's enough time to be amazed by the beauty. Also see everything and not get too bored. Kerry Newsome: 25:21 Yeah, and that's been my feeling as well, as far as when people have asked me about a side trip from Ho Chi Minh City. As we've talked, there's Nha Trang, there's Mũi Né, there's Phú Quốc, and of course, there is Côn Đảo. But as far as 'how long', I really am glad you've said that, because I'm like you. I can get just totally overwhelmed with the white beaches, the sunsets, the long cold drinks, but by day three, I'm starting to get a bit of itchy feet, and I'm going, "Okay, so, what's next?" So yeah, I'm glad you've narrowed that up for me. 26:12 I'm also told by my travel company that the best time to go is March to September. Would that be right for you? You mentioned the waves and I have heard out of season; those waves can get quite big, and it can be quite turbulent. So, do you still think March to September is the best time, or later, or earlier? Conor Kelly: 26:36 Yeah, definitely. Because if it rains, I feel like Côn Đảo suddenly loses an enormous amount of its appeal, in terms of the activities you can do. And the scenery, it would lose a huge part of that. So definitely, if you are thinking I would advocate going at that time. I know a friend who went on Tết holiday, I think. I think it was Tết holiday. But for some reason, the weather was-bad. Kerry Newsome: 27:00 February, March. Conor Kelly: 27:02 And it was just nothing. So yeah, go around that time, I'd recommend. Kerry Newsome: 27:11 Is there any kind of must do's or must don't dos? Is there anything to be warned, people should be aware of? You mentioned some of the aspects of not speaking in English. I think that was good to mention, that there isn't going to be that hospitality trend in Vietnam, where most people in hospitality have got some level- good of English to get around. But do you have any like, 'beware of’. I've heard maybe you need to bring repellent for sandflies. Apparently, the sandflies are pretty raucous on the beaches. Conor Kelly: 27:53 Anything you should be aware of. A good book. Yeah, definitely bring good books. Yeah, I'd say, definitely do that. Definitely bring some good books. Kerry Newsome: 28:03 Or bring a good podcast. There is one. Conor Kelly: 28:05 Yeah, exactly. Kerry Newsome: 28:06 You download a good podcast? Conor Kelly: 28:08 Yeah. I have some recommendations, I'm sure. Yeah, make sure you're in good company, which I'm sure you will already have planned. Kerry Newsome: 28:20 You mentioned just about the flight issue coming back. Did you book that directly with the airline? Or did you go through with your friends and through a travel agent? How did you actually go around booking it? I meant to ask. Conor Kelly: 28:34 A good question. I think it was through Vivu Travel. I think so. I can't remember if it was their fault or the airline's fault that we weren't informed. But yeah, that's another thing I should have mentioned actually. The flights can be tricky. There's only three or four a day, both to and from, at very awkward times. I think the latest is 2pm. So, it's not one of those where you can go for a weekend where you'll go on Friday night and come back Sunday night, which I've done with Da Nang, which can't really happen. So, it's a tricky one, I'd say with flights. That makes it slightly more awkward. So, beware of that Kerry Newsome: 29:17 In comparison to Nha Trang, Phú Quốc, Mũi Né, you would still rate it as number one beach escape? Conor Kelly: 29:28 Number one beach escape? Yeah. And the reason is just because of how beautiful it was, as in the untouched waters, the beautiful sand, the weather, etc. In terms of I guess if you want to escape to go partying, for example, for a week or so, or have like a real western spot, then go to Phú Quốc, but I think Con Dao as a beach escape is number one. Kerry Newsome: 29:50 Brilliant.Transcript Outline Time stamps to follow 4.43 The “hidden gem” aspect of the islands 7.01 First impressions 11.11 The accommodation scale 12.29 Nobody knows you are here – the feeling of isolation 16.30 Discovering the islands “things to do” 19.15 “The war place” 23.09 The food experience 24.57 Time out – how long is long enough? 27.11 Must do’s and don’t – Watch for flights in and out

S4-25 A fun Guide to droning - Photos Part 3 S4-25 -Drone photography in Vietnam A fun Guide for travellers Part 3 Photography 00:00 Kerry Newsome Xin chào and welcome to What About Vietnam. Now, if you're thinking about Vietnam, you're obviously going to start searching social pages, Googling Instagrams, Reels, you name it. And amongst that search, you're going to find a lot of great photography and in particular, a lot of great drone photography. So when I was putting together the 3 part series, I had to include it as 3 parts because whilst we got a lot out of Thomas, like we really learnt some great tips on how to manage our phones or our cameras to get some great pics in Vietnam. But we couldn't just talk about photography and let it stand alone as drone photography and drone video is becoming, you know, something that everybody can do, even people like me. I was fascinated with it back in 2018 and started to bring a drone camera into Vietnam to take some shots. Unfortunately, on the occasion, the weather was pretty awful. So, I didn't have such a great time of it. But at that time, there was a lot of nervousness around bringing a drone camera into Vietnam and doing drone video for a lot of security reasons. There were some people trying to bring it into the country and just for recreation. And, you know, they were getting stopped at security and asked questions. And, you know, there was lots of talk about being confiscated and things like that. So, it was a bit of a crazy time. But in today's chat with my really well informed and local guest, Anton. And you'll hear me try to pronounce his surname in the show, which I think I get right. We're going to talk to him about how he's kind of started droning in Vietnam, but started back in Malaysia. But let me do Anton justice by giving you a little bit of background to him. He's from Ukraine. And while travel is not easy from there, for the past five years, he's been traveling throughout Asia, starting in Malaysia, where he taught English in KL for three years. He really enjoyed that time. And he decided to venture a little deeper into Southeast Asia and found himself in Vietnam. Oh, surprise. Malaysia spiked his interest in blogging as a hobby. And from there, his interest has grown. And he says, you know, when you travel alone, because timing just doesn't always work to join with friends, you still want to share your experiences with others. And I agree totally. So while his hobby started with Instagram, it's taken on a life of its own and morphed into a YouTube channel where filming from his Lumix G85 and his GoPro 8 was doing a satisfactory job. He said, you know, he just had the urge to take it up a notch. So here comes the drone as the best tool to capture those ordinary moments and panoramic views and turn them into extraordinary masterpieces. With the rise of apps and cutting edge technology that allows fantastic editing, capturing epic images and videos from unique perspectives in Vietnam, look now has never been easier. Anton continues to teach English from his base in Vietnam and says he feels like Vietnam has it all, beaches, mountains, hills to hike and old towns and basically anything you want whenever his schedule permits. He is out exploring more of the country and droning where he can. I've put all the links in the show notes so you can follow him on his YouTube channel and you know, I first spotted Anton on YouTube doing one talking about Danang and I think you're going to get a lot out of that. So definitely worth checking out. From my perspective, Anton was able to simplify some of the basic protocols for using your drone for non-commercial purposes. And that's what we're going to stick to in this show. So. if you're the guy that's going to do the next Tourist in Vietnam love story, you will have to get some special permissions. This is definitely for your leisure and recreational traveler who has an interest in photography and in particular drone photography. It is the third part of the photographic series that I've just put together this month. So I hope you're really going to enjoy it. From my perspective, I've had some great fun using my DJI Mavic Pro 3. It's a bit of a monster one. It's about one kilo. But, you know, just the shots that you can get on the right day at the right time are worth it, definitely worth it. But he's Anton. Let's welcome him to the show and learn a little bit more about droning in Vietnam in twenty twenty three. Today, I'm very excited to welcome Anton Glushkoff to the program. He's having a little smile at me at the moment because I've I think I've got his surname pronounced correctly, but just really happy to have 06:01 Alright Anton you on the program and welcome to What About Vietnam. Hi, Carrie. Thanks for having me here. It's exciting. 06:07 Kerry Newsome You said that's a really good start. Now we're going to be talking about something that I have a great interest in. And that's drone photography. We see a lot of it on your Instagram’s and your Reels and your YouTube videos. And I've seen the recent one that you did on Da Nang, which was fantastic. So I'm really going to ping you with lots of questions about how you came to get involved with drone photography in your interest. So let's start kind of right at the beginning, if I may, and say, OK, Anton, what made you decide to get into drone photography and in particular in 06:51 Alright Anton Vietnam? Good question. Well, I started my YouTube like two years ago and I started with my GoPro. That felt like amazing. It's got 4K stabilization. It was great. But when you start filming, it's never enough. So then I bought a new camera and then it was great. It was awesome. But then again, it felt like not enough. And I started thinking about drone because, you know, it gives you this perspective and it's an amazing tool. I just I can't get enough of it. There's so many things you can do that it can fly. It can film. It's got a stabilization. So any kind of altitude. So, yeah, well, one time I just think like, well, well, that's going to be my next step. I just got to get a drone and I was trying to choose one that would be perfect for me. I chose something not too expensive. I've got DJI Mini 2. So that's, I think, very good choice for a traveler, for a solo traveler. And, yeah, yeah, it did. It works perfectly well. And it's really fun. It is. 07:56 Kerry Newsome And, you know, some of the drone photography that we all see sort of gives a perspective of some places that you can't see from the ground. You just cannot get that perspective and that 360 degrees, which is what I think is fabulous, but getting back to some kind of basics for people who are thinking about bringing their drone to Vietnam, can you speak to us a little bit about just some tips maybe on carrying the camera, how best to do that? You know, we've got lithium batteries getting through security, you know, like some of the pointers there for people and especially just your recreational drone 08:46 Alright Anton flyers that are just in it for fun. Yeah, I've been thinking about this question. I have just posted this video about Danang, right? And it's about just flying a drone. To be honest, it was not the main idea behind it. I just wanted to create a theme for the video and I chose the drone because there were some issues with drone, but, yeah, now after this video, you know, my YouTube is very small, like there's like 400 followers and usually people don't should bombard me with questions, but this time at least six or seven people asked me like, oh, drone, how did you bring it in? How did you fly? Were there any problems? And I was generally surprised, like, what problems? What kind of problems are you talking about? Because I personally have never had any issues with it, never. And like I've lived in Vietnam for two years now. I've owned this drone for a year. And well, there were some issues, but there were more about filming in certain areas, there were some restrictions and sometimes there would be some people who would approach me and say, like, no, you cannot fly here. That that happened a few times. But like I flew in and out two times. I flew once to Malaysia with my drone and flew once to Thailand. So I also I did domestic flights with the drone. And no one ever asked me anything. And I'm a bit of, I don't like check- in luggage. So I always carry everything with me. So they would actually be able to scan my bag and see that there's a phone with those three lithium batteries and they never said anything. There is one thing, though, I guess it works. I'm very tall and I think Vietnamese people, I might be a bit intimidating. I'm like two meters tall and I'm quite big. So it's like, you know, I know I've heard stories not related to the drone, but I know, like, in certain situations, like my friends would be bothered by some guys while with me they would be like,ok!! 10:43 Kerry Newsome Yeah. I think that's fantastic. Yeah. I mean, I know when I mean, I always bring a lot of luggage and I kind of stay my maximum of 30 days, so I've usually have got a fair bit as carry on, as well as check in. But in that carry- on proponent, I would kind of disassemble the drone, take the batteries out, put them in a separate bag and have heaps of chords and that. So I did get the odd look occasionally. And some of the security people would kind of go through things a little bit more thoroughly and asking me what they were, what the batteries were, what they were for, et cetera. And I felt this was kind of like four or five years ago when it was kind of still new in Vietnam. And I'd just say it was for a camera. And that was kind of the easiest way to explain it. Drone was, you know, how do you say drone in Vietnam? Don't know. So I just went for camera and I kind of do that and then I'd get it. And I didn't have any problems. But there was quite a bit of nervousness there for a while about the responsibility as a tourist, you know, that people were taking the precautions about flying and being safe with it. And obviously, you've already brought that up in that video that you did on Danang and for everyone listening, I'll put the link to Anton's video so you can check it out yourself. But it was it was good to bring up things like no- fly zones and things like that. And I've seen some drone photography where I've gone. There's no way they could have done that unless they were standing about there or they were over there or whatever. So I'm not sure. I mean, have you seen much kind of police watching of people with drones or seen other people flying drones irresponsibly, I guess? 12:48 Alright Anton I haven't like personally seen people doing it, but I've seen videos where I know like, this is probably not legal. I have seen that and that is dangerous for multiple reasons. Responsible, you can get other people in trouble and you can get into trouble. Well, I think generally it's not a good idea when you are traveling. You don't want to get into problems. And normally with the drones like DJI application, DJI fly application is really smart and always use the restriction zones. It marks them on the map. Yeah. So it won't let you lift off and they will notify you. But I know like that people have these programs. There are some additional programs. They there's lots of things that can be done to drones and that's not safe. And yeah, in this case, that's a very easy way to get into problems because some of those restrictions zones can be related to government buildings or military buildings. And very problematic. Can become very serious. 13:56 Kerry Newsome And you don't have to do that. I mean, I think being responsible, which leads to my question to you about, can you suggest or would you recommend people do some homework before arriving into Vietnam just so that they get a bit of a lay of the land kind of thing? 14:08 Alright Anton I would sometimes use again the same application because you don't really need to actually fly the drone to access as you can open and you can look at the map. And yeah, I would say I just open the map and look at the area where I'm going to see whether any restriction zones, because like a couple of weeks ago I went to Thailand, to Koh Samui and Koh Tao, and then I decided to check, oh, so what's around these islands? Then I realized, oh, wow, actually, there is a big airport in Koh Samui. And obviously there's a restriction zone. So I thought, oh, OK, well, then it kind of changed my plan about my film because I realized that, well, I won't be able to fly my drone because the airport is just there in the middle and obviously it's not safe and you cannot lift off. So, yeah, that's certainly yes. Googling, I don't know, because I well, when all these questions came about droning, I started checking on the internet. So what does the internet say? And I was like, yeah, you cannot fly to Danang with a drone. You cannot do this. You cannot do that. I'm like, what does this come from? Like, I mean, again, I don't know for sure. Like I talk from my personal experience. So maybe some people have had a bad experience. I wouldn't be surprised. But in my case, like, no, no one really bothered me. Again, maybe because of the size, because I'm flying DJI Mini. It's 249 grams. I've got the pro. If it is, yeah, if it is pro, if it was like one kilogram, 15:33 Kerry Newsome it's different kind of equipment that one. It looks like you're a professional. So you may have some profession in media or, you know, you're going to do something of a professional or business nature versus yours, which is, you know, more recreational, you know, more for traveling. So I think, you know, everyone, if you if you've got a drone or you're thinking about buying a drone and you'd like to bring that to Vietnam and you're not really kind of dead serious about making, you know, drone photography, your business or that kind of thing, I think it's much easier if you buy the smaller model, as Anton suggesting, and I'll put the name of the one that you use, Anton, in the show notes so everyone's got that. Yeah, because I did the same as you. I did a lot of checking of Googling and whatever. And then I found on some website there was some forms that you had to fill in to declare whether or not you were filming for business, you know, professional purposes or whether you were using the drone for recreational. And I was a bit conflicted then because I thought, oh, well, I do a podcast and I put it up on YouTube. Is that for professional or is that recreational? I don't know. What do you think? 16:59 Alright Anton Professional would be something related to bigger institutions if you're making like a big video for a big company that needs to legally check everything, because like if you're making a drone footage for, let's say, Apple, yeah, obviously they need to go through legal restrictions and checking, then yes, if I made a video for that kind of organization, I'd probably be a little more serious because then, yes, that could be checked. If you're making for your own YouTube, I don't think you'd need to do that. I did check that again. There was one person who commented on my video and saying, like, oh, yeah, you must get a license. You must do that. You must do this. And I know that in America now, like if you go to a certain place, you must have a drone flying license. And it totally makes sense. But then I checked whether this is a thing in Vietnam. And apparently, not really. You can get a license. It looks like it's for commercial film. If you're making commercial video, yes. And that's like five hundred dollars. And it's like, as I understood, like for one day of flight or something. And yeah, but that's not exactly what I'm doing. 18:10 Kerry Newsome No, certainly not. And I'm sure if they saw the quality of some of my drone photography or my videos, they'd go, no, she's definitely not making money out of that. So, no. So tell us some tips about flying a drone in Vietnam. Are there any kind of peculiarities? I mean, the little bit of learning that I had was kind of not particularly extensive. The little bit I heard was, you know, things about flying in the middle of the day, kind of not ideal because of the direct sunlight and things like that. So do you have any tips for my listeners about if they are out there drone flying in Vietnam, things they should look out for? 18:56 Alright Anton Yeah, middle of the day, it's my problem too. I'm a little bit lazy. I need to solve it. It's easy. There's this thing called energy filters, like a small filter that you attach to your camera. It's basically like, you know, like sunglasses, but for your drone. And then you can film everything and it doesn't get overexposed. Yeah. And it's kind of easy to buy. And I should because I have an ND filter for my camera because it's the same thing. There's too much sun. I think it's overexposed. And yes, certainly if you want to make nice footage, something like nice and smooth ND filter would be helpful. There was a problem like lifting off sometimes. Like if you want to lift off, you know, Vietnam, there's all these wires and buildings and that would be sometimes a challenge. I wouldn't like it's especially in a city in the time. It's really hard to find like a free spot, a safe spot just to lift off. Because of the congestion. I would struggle with that sometimes. 19:55 Kerry Newsome Yes. And the wires. Yes, of course. Yeah. And what about things like birds? 19:59 Alright Anton Oh, yes, yes, birds. They terrify me. And they are really, really interesting, especially for some reason, swallows. They just like they start circling around drone. I had some footage when you fly it and I see like, wow, those swallows, they are getting quite serious about it. And once I filmed, I traveled in the Ha Long Bay and there were these huge eagles that would be like circling around. You know, swallow is not going to do anything. 20:30 Kerry Newsome It's tiny, but eagle. It could have it for breakfast. It hits the drone. 20:36 Alright Anton Sure. I was like flying around. I didn't film it, but I saw eagle just like one meter away from drone. 20:43 Kerry Newsome I was like, OK, it's not to go back. How do you go navigating the weather? Because let's face it, you can have your drone up there and you're watching the skies and very quickly it can change. So you've got to kind of get, get down and get down quickly sometimes. Have you had that experience? 20:58 Alright Anton Actually, No, I was really lucky. I haven't really filmed anything in the south of Vietnam yet. Like I haven't done in the South, it's the tropical weather that's where the rain happens all the time. North Northern weather is more stable, so it can rain. But then you can see it coming. It would be kind of like a day before it builds up and then, you know, the next day is going to be bad. But it could be windy. The wind is a challenge and it burns the battery really quickly. And sometimes difficult to film anything. Sometimes it's so strong that even the gimbal cannot handle it. It's just impossible. And then it's dangerous because you can't really lift off easily. Landing is challenging. I think wind has been the biggest challenge because it just spoils everything. And then, you know, like you have a pro drone, so it's heavier and it's much more stable. Mine is small, so it's great for travelling. But it's light. So when the yes, yeah. And heavy rain, I would think. Oh, yeah. I mean, rain. Actually, yeah, I was in Bana hills near Danang and the rain was approaching us. Yeah, that just I have to cancel. I see there's rain and, you know, these drones are just not made flying when there's water around it. So, yeah, there are some clouds, a bit of a drizzle. And, yeah, I had to cancel the whole plan because it's just unsafe. The drones do collapse, whatever. 22:38 Kerry Newsome So, yeah, if it happens, then I guess you've got to kind of throw it in, don't you? Yeah, I had a crack at doing Bana hills and it was just fraught with danger. Like every time I tried to set it up to lift off, there'd be some people that would come and I was trying to go like to the furthest point and it was late in the day. So nearly everyone had left. It was quiet. It was quiet and normal. And like, I thought I really wanted to get that kind of as the day was ending, kind of feel and look about it, et cetera. But then the wind came up and started to rain and like I just yeah. So I had to cancel the whole thing. Have you had any success up there? Bana hills? 23:25 Alright Anton No, no. It was in a way a bit of a disaster. But yeah, I was, you know, Bana hills are made with this golden bridge with these hands. I was like, whoa, this is going to be so cool. You know, they build all this artificial village, which is kind of cool anyway. Not really a big fan one. But it is cool. I think so too. Cool. And I thought, wow. Yeah. And then I thought, wow, it's going to be great to fly my drone. And then I get there and it gets covered in clouds like almost immediately. And it starts drizzling. I'm like, OK, well, I can use my camera. It's going to be fine with it. But drone, unfortunately not. And also, like usually they say, as I see it, like on the top of the hills, it's usually almost well, especially for a small drone. It's hard to fly. The wind is too strong. And I've also watched videos that sometimes on the top of the hill, the wind can be so strong that just can carry your drone away and you won't be able to get it back and it's going to be gone. And it happens. So I'm very, very careful with that because like you can fly away. And then on the way back, because of the strength of the wind, you just can fly back. Keep your drone in physical sight or do you let it go? I don't. I do let it go a lot. It's nerve-racking. It's terrifying me still because it's not very expensive, but still it's quite a bit of money. Yeah. So you don't want to lose it. So it's nerve-racking. And yeah, I lose it. I was like, well, very cool because, you know, I need to fly around and see stuff. And yeah, I had a funny case once. I was in Ninh Binh and there's huge complex like temples. It's amazing. It's gigantic. But I didn't want to fly my drone there. So I decided to, OK, we're going to walk around and I get out. And then I lift off just fly around. But I didn't really realize that actually the parking lot is really far from the temple complex, it's like almost a kilometer away. So I lift there and realized, oh, wow, actually I need to fly quite far. 25:27 Kerry Newsome . So you did it? So you lift off from the car park and you had to fly it all the way back to. Oh, right. 25:38 Alright Anton Yeah. It was almost a kilometer. And yeah, like I finally reached it and realized, oh, this is so far away. And it was my literally first trip with the drone. I wasn't really out of physical sight. It didn't go so far away from me. Yeah. And then I started flying around. And then I started losing traction. And one point the screen goes black. Yeah. My heart just drops back. 26:01 Kerry Newsome Yeah. And I find I get that little bit of anxiety with it because I go through that euphoria. Oh, wow. Because I can see what it's seeing and what I'm capturing. So I'm getting excited. But then I'm going, oh, holy hell, this is like a kilometer away or whatever. I've got to kind of get it back. Otherwise, my just anxiety levels just go through the roof and I don't enjoy it then. But in those few moments when I'm really hot or and I'm following a ravine or a river or going around places and behind mountains and things like that, I've done that and yes, it's exciting, but it's a bit scary because you don't want it to crash or not be able to bring it back. 26:46 Alright Anton Just one of the most just one of the most useful lessons that I got from my experience. You know, when you carry your camera, you have this mindset, OK, I need to get in the place and just film around everything I see. That's your mindset. And with drone, it's absolutely different. And I just I'm learning this now that the key point is that you need to find a good vantage point that is like there's no obstruction around you. So it can be maybe 500 meters away from what you actually want to film. But if it is a little bit elevated and there is no walls, no buildings, no mountains, that's like a perfect spot to lift off and film because it would make this mistake. Get very close to the place. And then there is a wall, a brick wall. 27:29 Kerry Newsome And one of the other tips, I don't know that whether you think this is worthwhile, but you almost have to do a little bit of a reconnaissance trip. Don't you think like you can't just kind of arrive and think, oh, yeah, this is just going to be a cinch. Off we go. No, no problems. You almost have to go and do a bit of a surveillance of the area, pick some vantage points where people are not. Do you agree? 27:53 Alright Anton Oh, yeah, totally, totally. 100 percent like the best footage you can make only if you go to the place for a couple of days, just walk around, look what's around, like check the mountains, views, scenery, and then after that, you film stuff. You can get to do it. And that's what I'm going to do in April. I'm going to go to Ha Giang and it's getting my second trip. Like I went there in October, last October. I filmed something, but it was my first trip. So, it was like, well, is this the spot? Is this great? I mean, we need to go further now. I know. So I'm going to go in April and spend like more than a week there. I'm going to film everything there. So, I have time to stop. I know some place that I want to film now. And, you know, but I mean, I live in Vietnam. I had this luxury of, you know, going first and then second. But then the same thing with Koh Samui, I spent like in Thailand, I spent a week there. And yeah, first two or three days were just walking around. And the third, fourth day I just filmed everything. And the footage was amazing. But because I kind of did the recon and I knew where should I go to talk to people? Like, where's the beautiful spot? 29:03 Kerry Newsome Yeah, because that was going to be my next question in just, you know, do you kind of seek out the locals because they always know the great spots? And do you kind of get some advice from them as to help you pick those places and times of day and you should come back in September or something like that? 29:23 Alright Anton Yeah, I think somebody told me before that, oh, well, this is for that season…. 29:32 Kerry Newsome Yeah, I know. Didn't you read that somewhere or listen to a podcast that could have told you that? 29:37 Alright Anton Yeah, yeah, I should. I mean, with drone footage, I actually never really asked anybody because I think it's well, I did, but I not with the local, like with the expats who lived in the area. And I asked them about the rules and regulations, like in Thailand and sometimes in Vietnam to like, where could I go? I would ask them for direction and ask for the places because locals usually know it better. And in Vietnam, things don't really get updated on the Internet. So, you can't really always rely on the Internet and believe whatever they say there, because things change dramatically and people don't always change it on the Google. So you can look at the place and the world can be open, but then you go there is closed and there were, for example, like in the Danang, there is this beautiful temple with Lady Buddha statue and then there's a little peninsula that goes around it. And I thought, wow, this is so nice to go there. Like a beautiful peninsula, like a bit hilly road. And then, no, I couldn't because there was this guy standing and he said, like, no, you're not allowed because you're on a fully automatic motorbike. Only semi-automatic motorbikes are allowed to go to that peninsula for some reason, because as far as I understood, like the terrain there is kind of challenging. So in a fully automatic motorbike, no. So if I had talked to somebody in the Danang, then I would have known probably. So, yeah, it's important. I always talk to locals because they especially like in the hotel, in the hostel, they always know some things that are not on internet. 31:14 Kerry Newsome I think challenging around that region that you're talking about in Sontra is there's a military base also that was very strong there for a while. And I think still part of it is. So I've been tempted to go around, but I've got a shake of head by local police or whatever, saying, like, don't even think about it, you know. So, yes, so it is it is a nice Hai Van pass and all that is awesome. So that would be a great place. So that leads to what places have you filmed that you highly rate so far? I know you've got a few on your list coming up, but what are the ones that you've done so far that are really great? 32:00 Alright Anton Ninh Binh is magnificent. It's just unbelievably beautiful. And like, you know, they compare it to Ha Long Bay and Ha Long Bay is also amazing. But the thing is that Ha Long Bay is on the water. So you film, you need to be on the boat usually, and you kind of restrict it. You can easily walk around to get a better spot. No, you can restrict it. It's amazing. But in Ninh Binh, yeah, you just cycle around and it's fast. It's amazing. Those vast mountains are so beautiful. And like, yeah, the first video I made with my drone was from Ninh Binh and it just it's I couldn't get enough of it. And, you know, there's this point when you're just sitting there, you film and you're realizing, wow, this is unbelievable. This is so beautiful. And yeah, that's one of the best places. Ha Long Bay, I'm going to go there again. 32:56 Kerry Newsome But it's… It is. And I mean, all the photography I've seen, you know, that adds up, absolutely. And I've had people on the show that run tours, Flipside adventure tours, the guys there run motorbike tours and things around. And just the way he spoke, Tom Stone, you know, how he spoke about that area, you could just tell he was just so passionate. And it just came through in everything he said. So I would think Ha Giang and I think places like Mu Cang Chai. I mean, you're sitting in the best seat in Hanoi. I mean, you can go kind of left or right or wherever. You've got plenty of choices up there because I think the scenery is definitely more extensive. There's more of it in the north than the south. And yeah, it's just got those jaw dropping vistas, really, aren't they? So you've got some projects coming up and I know everyone will want to see them. So tell us what you've got in store for yourself. Where are you going to head? 34:03 Alright Anton It's just I spend a lot of time on creating a video. I am a bit of a perfectionist and it doesn't really go well along with YouTube. They want people to post every week very regularly. I don't like that. And that's why my number of my subscribers are very low. But I stick to my strategy. I spent like two months, like one video because I also have a full- time job. So two months is one video. And I travel a lot. So I have a collection of places that I need to still process. Right now, working on one in Hoi An is going to be amazing. One of my favorite places. Yeah, I got just two more weeks to make it. Yeah, it's unbelievable. It's one of my most favorite places in Vietnam. And yeah, I made really nice footage there and a nice story. So that's yeah, that's in progress. But then I also have Nha Trang, I've got Ha Long Bay. What else? Well, in Thailand, Penang in Malaysia. Well, Thailand. I'm going to make a video about Bangkok Hotel. There's like a really strange and unusual hotel. It's called The Atlanta. And it's like really old. It's like one of the oldest hotels in Bangkok. And I stayed there for like four days. I just was running around. It's outstanding. It's got like the oldest swimming pool hotel in Bangkok. It's called The Atlanta. And they kept the design and style. I feel like it's still very, very old, but very well maintained. Then Koh Samui. 35:43 Kerry Newsome So there's about like six or seven videos waiting, waiting to be edited. I can understand. What about places like the Mekong Delta? And you've got Can Tho, Con Dao Islands, Phu Quoc? 35:54 Alright Anton Been to Phu Quoc, it's nice, but at that time I didn't have my drone. So I'll definitely go there again because it's such an easy island to get to. And it's just so nice and relaxing. Con Dao, I haven't been there yet. It's in my plans. So when I go there, I'll definitely… The same thing with the Mu Cang Chai. I haven't been there yet. That's just one of the ideas where I want to reach at some point in the future. Because Vietnam has so much to offer. It's unbelievable. I lived in Malaysia before this for three years and it's great. It's awesome. But then one of the drawbacks is that the number of the places where you can go is kind of limited. Like in Peninsular Malaysia, there would be maybe eight spots where you can go. Approximately. Yeah, nice. But then Vietnam has over 20, 30 places that are just amazing. And that's partially why I'm in Vietnam. I left Malaysia during the Covid period and everything was very restricted and closed. So I couldn't really travel much. So I headed to Vietnam because I got all these opportunities to travel to Hanoi and North. 37:18 Kerry Newsome It's so beautiful. And I mean, you haven't mentioned Sapa. Have you been to Sapa yet? 37:22 Alright Anton Yeah, once. It was it was actually kind of funny story because I did this trip to Sapa in 2019 just before Covid and it was the year when I bought my motorbike. So I got my motorbike. I started driving motorbike for the first time in my life in Malaysia. And I was like, cool. Now I know how to ride a motorbike. So I had a long holiday in December, like one month. And I thought, cool, I'm going to do a trip across Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh on my own. And then my friends were like, yeah, can you really get through? No, this, you know, like, no, it's not safe. I don't know? And I was very enthusiastic, but then I decided, OK, fine, fine. OK, I'm going to do Sapa. So I decided to do Sapa trip on my own, my first trip. And it was it was hardcore because it's a long way. It's like over 300 kilometers and I'm not experienced. So, I was I was naive. I thought I would get from Hanoi to Sapa in one go. And like everything's going to be cool because I did some trips in Malaysia. But Malaysia and Vietnam are very, very different. Yeah, like Malaysia is the highway. So you can go like 110 kilometers per hour. And it's easy. It's safe because the roads are built for that. You can go 140, 150. It's just straight. And, you know, there's a lot of space for manoeuvre. Vietnam, like, no, 60 feels dangerous. And so, yes, I had to stop in the middle, like in Yen Bai, because it was too much. And then I had my first motorbike accident there. I fell and I slipped. And, yeah, I got a little bit bruised. And like it was just, you know, first time experience in my life. Like, oh, my goodness, what am I going to do? And I fell. My bike wouldn't stop. My knee was bruised. And there was this Vietnamese guy who just ran to me and helping me. Like, I put on bandages, clean my wounds, like do stuff. And I was like, oh, well, and he wouldn't speak English at all. Like we were just, you know, trying to exchange with gestures. And I like want to offer some money because he helped me a lot. He checked my bike, you know, because I was in a bit of a shock. And when you fall, the hands were trembling and he was so kind. And he's still like, go there, go there, fix your bike. And they fixed my bike. And then it was it happened just, you know, there's this bottleneck road on the way to the winding road. So just I fell right at the beginning of it. So I fell, got injured, bruised, but then I still had to go all the way up. 40:00 Kerry Newsome And especially you're probably in shock and you're riding that bike. Oh, my goodness. Oh, I know people have very adventurous ideas about with motorbikes, but I've heard too many bad stories that, you know, and especially that trip that you're talking about from Hanoi down to Ho Chi Minh. Oh, my gosh, that is fraught with danger. I don't think I know anybody that's done that trip that hasn't ended off the bike at some point, because, as you say, 60 kilometers is fast in some of those areas and the roads not all the best. So when you got to Sapa, was it worth it, like in your mind, did it kind of meet expectations? 40:28 Alright Anton . It was strange. So like I reached it and I reached it really late, exhausted. And, you know, again, I was like it was my first trip in Vietnam on my own. Super naive. I was like, yeah, it's going to be cool. I like these kind of holidays. But again, like now I'm more experienced and now I kind of know what to expect and what to look into. But then, yeah, so I got injured and I didn't book a hotel. I didn't do anything. I was I didn't I didn't do research. I didn't do anything. I just like, yeah, let's go and see how it goes. So I get there and it's cold. It's like there are all these construction sites and everything. And I get into a hotel and it's freezing. There's like no insulation, no central heating. I'm shaking because, you know, like my bruises and everything and the water is cold. It was like, oh, this is a disaster. And I didn't like that sound. It was like, no, no. So I started Googling. Finally, I decided to check on the internet. So what's good? And then I then I Google this place. I think it's a village down from Sapa, basically like 30 minutes ride a motorbike. Motorbike again was exciting. So I decided to go there. So I get on the bike, go down. The road is terrifying. It's just muddy road. And, yeah, I was I was scared. I was so scared. I was thinking my worst fear was that whatever starts raining because this muddy road was dry. So I could get through. But if it is wet and I know I was injured, so I was thinking, wow. It's I was terrified. But that village was amazing because it's located in the valley. And so these huge mountains are round the waterfalls and fields. It is so beautiful, so quiet, so peaceful, you know, and just, you know, it's a village. So everything's kind of simple. You just walk around and go for a little hike. Most of the time, I we're just like in my hammock and just staring at the mountains. And it was that was enough that that was perfect. 42:45 Kerry Newsome I was thinking about your bike trip up to Ban Gioc, I'm not saying that right, either. 42:51 Alright Anton The big waterfall that's on the Chinese border there right at the top. I mean, to this waterfall that you mentioned, I think it's said like “Bunzop” but it's because northern and southern accents are different. So in the south, they'll pronounce in the one way in the north and another way. But when you go to the very north, the border, they'll have some different accents. It's very confusing. But yeah, that waterfall. Yeah, yeah, it's really beautiful. I'm a little bit concerned about flying my drone there because it's right on the border with China. So actually, I think it might be really easy to lose the drone. I have seen people filming with drone there and flying just, you know, around the waterfall. But I feel it might be dangerous. And I heard people were asking not to fly a drone. I couldn't understand why, because, I mean, just across the river, there's Chinese border, you can see all those Chinese walking around. And yeah, but I made a video about it. It was I was really lucky because it's in the middle of the covid outbreak. There was like a little break, like a month break when they eased the restrictions and just got a taxi and went there and was empty. Like the video about it is amazing. It's my channel, too. But any last minute tips for my drone flyers that come to Vietnam? Like when you're filming mountains or buildings, well, OK, let's say mountains. Don't fly over the mountain and behind. That's one of the things that I just need to remember. Like I when I lift off, I want to be like in the middle, like in the valley. And then I fly around the valley. Then the connection doesn't get cut off. But if you see a beautiful mountain and decide to fly above, then it's very easy to lose the drone. I had a couple of these nerve wrecking experiences when the connection goes away. And then normally, normally the screen goes black, but it doesn't mean that you have lost control of your drone, so you can also see like in the corner, there'll be like a small map that shows you where is the drone. You can actually see the drone still follows your controls. So it means like the broadcast has been interrupted, but you still have the control of the drone. So in this case, I'll just turn around, go up and then go back as fast as possible. Yeah, that would be better up to try to regain connection and then return because you still usually have control and then there is automatic. That's always my side card. And you can set the. Yeah, but you need to set the altitude because if you set like 50 meters, it means it will go up to 50 meters and then fly and then land. It's like 20 meters. Yeah, you'll go to 20 meters and then ram into the mountain. So you have to think like what's around. I would not so nice fly like in Hoi An. And I would know that there is not a single building that is taller than 30 meters. It's just very low rise. So I could fly that this is my return point would be like 40. So I know it's even if I lose it. 45:47 Kerry Newsome Yeah, it's a good feature of the of the drone that automatic home button. They should have one installed for everybody on whatever they do on automatic home button. Thank you very much for coming on, Anton. I've loved talking with you and I'm hoping everyone listening has got a few handy tips so they don't either crash into mountains, lose their drone, but still have a wonderful time droning in Vietnam. 46:17 Alright Anton . Thanks a lot for having me, Kerry. It was a great pleasure. It was lovely to talk to you. Alright Anton Danang Video - https://youtu.be/ifTbSl3mgAA Alright Anton Ninh Binh video - https://youtu.be/-z4MNMApXmw Alright Anton Cao Bang – Ban Gioc Waterfall - https://youtu.be/8L0Q0El8mOw

0996e913-3e85-43d0-94f7-b082c48fd09aInsights into Vietnam travel beyond 2021 What About Vietnam – 3-1 Travel Industry experts share their insights into Vietnam beyond 2021 [00:00:36] Kerry Newsome: Xin chào, and welcome to What About Vietnam. What a week! Can you believe the news that has been coming through about Vietnam? It's staggering. I’m so concerned for Vietnam. I really feel for everyone at the moment. While the numbers in Vietnam have been focused largely on the North and they still are, I think the rising numbers in Ho Chi Minh City is where the most recent concern is coming through. Yes, it's very hard to know. It's a watch and wait and see, just how they can get on top of this as quickly as possible, but I have every confidence that Vietnam can do it as they did in the very early stages of the pandemic back in 2020. Look, just to give some context, I've got the guests on this show, which are going to really give you some industry perspectives, Gary Bowerman and Hannah Pearson from The South East Asia Travel Show. They have their own podcast, and I was on their show a couple of weeks ago. In that show, I was reminded of just how important it is to get really good advice and to get it from experts. If you're like me, I’m getting a lot of information through news feeds and Facebook pages and Instagram groups and all that chatter that is out there. It's very hard to try and feel like you're getting the right advice or the best advice. I’m really delighted to have Hannah and Gary on. In no way in my show am I trying to give you COVID updated advice as in a minute. It's just impossible to do, and it's not really the aim of my show. The aim of my show is to give you the best possible advice I can get you to help you make informed decisions about traveling to Vietnam in the future, so that you can hear from travelers from their own perspectives. Today is just going to give you that extra industry information. We're going to talk about vaccination rollouts in Vietnam. We're going to talk about Visas. We're going to talk about domestic versus international. We're going to talk about just how Vietnam gives priority to their own residents, similarly to all of us, but with a population of nearly 100 million, it's a big deal for them. It's going to be a big deal to get the vaccination rollout there. A lot to be revealed in this program today. I know you're going to love it, and I’m sure Gary and Hannah are really going to give you some insights you may not have thought about. Stay tuned and please welcome Gary and Hannah to the program. [music] Welcome Hannah and Gary to the What About Vietnam Podcast. [00:03:48] Gary Bowerman: Hi, Kerry. [00:03:48] Hannah Pearson: Thanks for having us. [00:03:50] Kerry: I’m thrilled to have you on the show to get a travel industry perspective. Our news feeds fill up hourly with advice on COVID, travel restrictions and latest outbreaks. It's hard to keep up and to know what source to trust. The media is driving much of the information we consume. As hosts of the Southeast Asia Travel Show Podcast, I know you both are heavily involved within the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. Gary, I know, is closely monitoring the situation in roles working with the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group, leading hotel groups, tourism boards and online travel agents. Hannah, you provide a very influential weekly report tracking the impact of COVID-19 on the Southeast Asian tourism industry and working hard within the industry tracking trends developing within the Southeast Asian and Muslim travel sectors. I’m sure my listeners are going to be very keen to hear your take on how this region is shaping up as a whole and what's in store for travel in the second half of 21 and beyond. Without further ado, and I’m not sure who to throw this question to, so guys feel free to jump in as you see fit. When you think of Vietnam, what springs to mind first, given the current state of affairs, re-travel, and also there's still a record thus far? [00:05:19] Hannah: Maybe I'll go first then. I think the thing that really stands out for me about Vietnam is just how efficiently they have handled everything so far. To date and I checked out the case numbers this morning, they've had less than 6,000 new cases since the beginning of this thing. That is, for me, super impressive, especially when you look at countries like Indonesia, Philippines who have crossed the million mark. They're countries with a similar population size. They've also got a lot of people, but Vietnam has somehow managed to really control this. I think a lot of that comes down to how fast they react. They react very fast with pretty strict measures, but those seem to be working. What we really saw last year, I think, was they were one of the few bright spots in terms of domestic tourism in the region. Their domestic tourism was really going somewhere. I think when it comes to 2021 things, I’m not saying that they're falling apart. [chuckles] They're not at Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines levels, but we have started to see more increases, more frequency of surges, right? Right now, Vietnam is in this fourth wave. I think it is. Each time they're getting a bit more complicated, so this time I think they couldn't really track necessarily where they come from. There's lots of different origins. There's lots of different variants as well. Things are getting increasingly difficult to manage, but things still seem to be fairly under control right now. [00:06:50] Gary: I would agree with everything that Hannah said. I think it's certainly last year-- as you say, it's a little bit more difficult now because the variance of this virus and its transmissibility across Southeast Asia is proving very, very difficult. Vietnam is just one of the countries that's really struggling right now. Certainly last year and early part of this year, I’d say that Vietnam was the closest to China in terms of the speed that it actually responded and the way it closed down local outbreaks, tracking and tracing, very, very strong focus on that, which is something we haven't had here in Malaysia. I’d say that Vietnam's success was the way that it just responded incredibly quickly to each outbreak. You mentioned there the economy, which is a very, very important part. That's one of the reasons we've discussed on the podcast about "Will Vietnam reopen? When will it reopen?" There's a school of thought that says it doesn't really need to reopen yet because it does need to protect that economy, and it also needs to make sure that it keeps everybody safe and secure, keeps the economy moving because of investment. I don't think there's any doubt that when COVID is done and gone. The two big investment destinations in our region will be Vietnam and Indonesia. That's already happening anyway. [00:08:07] Kerry: Correct. [00:08:06] Gary: That's where international investors are looking for the future. A lot of the investment you already have in the North of Vietnam is companies that were operating in China and have actually diversified some of their operations out of China into Vietnam for a number of reasons. That will continue in future. The economic prospects for Vietnam should be pretty strong in future. The fundamentals are there, but I 100% agree with you, Kerry. It's a really difficult balancing act right now. I would say that international tourism probably isn't the highest priority. It's protecting people and protecting the economy. [00:08:41] Kerry: Getting on to a bigger picture thinking, what do you think are going to be, just from your observations, the biggest changes in the way we travel? Do you think there's going to be some things in the way we travel that are going to be temporary or short-lived or will there be some that are going to be permanent fixtures? [00:09:03] Gary: That is the million dollar question . We get asked it all the time. We ask ourselves it all the time. I think a lot of the work that I do, particularly over the last year when travel has been paused essentially, is that I work a lot in consumer economies, so Vietnam and Indonesia, the two economies that we look at mostly. We've looked a great deal at the way consumers have behaved over the past year. It's been great change. We read these media stories about everybody's moving online. People are buying certain products online that they didn't buy before they're buying more of other products. There are a lot of other behavioral changes as well, particularly in terms of the way consumers respond to media campaigns, the way they respond to video campaigns. Lots of things have changed over the past year. You notice I mentioned before that I think Vietnam and Indonesia are going to be the two strongest economic sectors going forward. There's a lot of projections are starting to happen. This is what happened in travel. When things start to go well, people start projecting 10 years down the road or five years down the road. I think with consumers as with travelers, there's a great deal of uncertainty right now. There could be a lot of the things that we're seeing happening now. I just experienced during the pandemic because there's a lot of things we can't do. We are socially distanced. We have movement restrictions "Which come and go" We have the fear of the virus, which is a huge, huge fear. I think in terms of what travel will be like in the future and the way consumers will respond in future is a great unknown. I think the travel industry itself is looking for all these ways to try and model what could happen in future. They are great unknowns, and I think anybody who actually puts the neck on the line and predicts this is making a big risk. [00:10:42] Hannah: This is something that Gary and I always say that we've never seen so much tourism industry featured in the media in Southeast Asia and worldwide. It's almost the-- I guess this is going to be the last thing that gets back to normal, so perhaps it's what everybody is focusing on, right? "Oh, flights have opened up." People get excited about that because it's like that step towards normality. I think one big change that Vietnam has perhaps seen over the last year is this expansion of domestic flight networks, so we've seen airlines like Vietjet, like Vietnam Airlines and like Bamboo Airways add secondary tertiary routes, linking different destinations that were perhaps never linked before to open those up and a lot more cooperation between provinces as well in terms of promoting one another and creating interesting different routings. I do think that that is going to continue. I don't think that that will be temporary. I think once those routes are there and people see that the markets are there, that's going to continue. [00:11:45] Kerry: Typically Vietnam, they are brilliant at reinventing themselves. They have such an ability to make an opportunity out of adversity. There'll be people that were selling one thing one day and will now realize that they need to go into something else because guess what? The market's changed. Their adaptability is something to be admired, and we're seeing this everywhere in all the major tourist hubs in Vietnam, where people were running restaurants one minute. Now, they've got an amazing takeaway business that will be their new business moving forward. They just adapt and move on. [00:12:31] Gary: I think there's an element of that. I think the adaptability is absolutely true, but I think that it's often underplayed just how much creativity there is in Vietnam, particularly in the major hubs. If you look at Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, particularly amongst young people, young creatives, young media, young fashion, young lifestyle, young music, they're really vibrant hubs right now. I said this before on the podcast that those two cities really remind me of what I lived in China in the early 2000s. Shanghai and Beijing were going through a very similar competitive scenario where there was a lot of creativity in Beijing, there was a lot of creativity in Shanghai. They often played off each other. The nation was benefiting from that because young people were really at the forefront of creating a new lifestyle in many ways. I see that a lot of parallels with that in Vietnam right now. [00:13:19] Kerry: Yes, and I was talking to a girl. We were talking about Saigon during 2020, and she was talking about how entrepreneurs literally who were found themselves stuck in Vietnam during 2020. We were all locked down, but these people were on the spot, putting together small events. DJs also found themselves, and musicians found themselves in Saigon. They were doing secret weekends away with these great fantastic events. People decided to expand their businesses. There's been further development in craft beers and rooftop bars. People just made the best of it in the best possible way and just turned their entrepreneurial heads. I just really admire them, the way they can do it. [music] What did the industry miss as far as developments were concerned in their forecasting and feeding the media, etc.? What was the most overlooked development do you think so far? [00:14:38] Hannah: I think a lot of it is down to that cooperation internationally. I think we've really seen a lack of nations not working together with one another. We've certainly seen that, haven't we? With the vaccination rollout, and countries very much keeping vaccines to themselves. But just in terms of, you know, you said everyone thought vaccines were going to be the be all and end all. Nobody seemed to think beyond that. "What happens when you are vaccinated? With vaccine certificates, are they going to be issued? Are they not? What format should they be? Should they be digital?" But does it matter what vaccine you had? Does it matter the length of time between these vaccines being administered, the different doses. There's so many different variables. This is one of my big bug bears that I’m always saying, "I just don't know why people didn't think about this sooner." We should be thinking about that this time last year, at the same time as developing these vaccines, so that once the vaccines were ready, everything "Boom" could be rolled out as-- well, never, things are never going to go smoothly, but as fast and as efficiently as possible. That's not been the case. [00:15:47] Gary: Yes, I would agree. I think the major developments in terms of how we respond to COVID-19 worldwide, but in Asia as well, have been scientific. Hannah's a big advocate of testing new testing protocols. There's been a lot of innovations in testing. We've seen saliva test, breath tests, all these different kinds of testing protocols are available now. The problem we don't really understand is the travel industry wants to get back to the way things were before, and that scale, that’s big numbers. That isn't going to happen anytime soon even with vaccines. There is going to have to be some interim period where we allow people to travel again in a phased and staggered manner. That will inevitably involve removing quarantines. We have to get rid of quantities if you're going to have people travel. This simply is a massive disincentive. To do that you need really good testing, and you need to make sure that it's robust, that it works, that it's accurate and is verifiable across countries. As Hannah said, this lack of integration and almost trust between different governments is just palpable and getting worse, I think. The issue we have is the science, the technology, much of it is there, but the bureaucratic side of things is stymieing everything right now. [00:17:05] Kerry: Yes, and I’m really glad you brought that up because that's what I’m saying, too, that cohesion, that transparency between countries, that sharing of knowledge. We thought that scientists getting to be able to create a vaccine in such a short amount of time. That was sheer genius, and that was great cooperation within countries and sharing their expertise. You're right that they got to there, but then, okay, well, how were we going to verify that? Where was the credibility factor going to come in that you or me, we are vaccinated with the level of vaccination that a country will accept us? [00:17:48] Gary: Yes, I agree. I think it's a two-way thing as well. It's not just vaccinations for travelers is vaccinations for residents at the other end. You've got to have people feeling confident and safe and not wary of foreigners coming into the destination for the first time in 18 months or two years or whatever that is. There is going to be a changing mindset as well. I think the other thing that this region is really struggling with at the moment is empathy towards people who don't want to have a vaccine. There are many reasons why people don't want to get a vaccine. Governments are really having this hard view of "Well, you take it, or you don't take it." There's got to be a better understanding of reasons why people don't want to take it and trying to control people rather than trying to use a stick approach. You've got to look at some opportunities, I think. Because I think one of the things we're seeing here in Malaysia is the vaccine roll is incredibly slow. A lot of that is also because people are not turning up for appointments, and in in some cases, simply just not registering. But there is a bit of a slow role. You're starting to see that more people are encouraged when they see their friends or their relatives posting on social media they're getting vaccinated. It's slow, but it does happen. I think there is just this, like you said, this idea that vaccines are a panacea, and that will happen within a few months. We're finding out that that just isn't going to be possible. [00:19:10] Hannah: It's not only this year, but it's what's going to happen next year and boosters. I think a lot of countries see this finite end to it. It's not, is it? It's not going to end once you've got to 70%. It's just going to have to keep going at least for another few years. I think there's still not that realization in governments yet that that's the plan. It's very easy for Laos to say, "Oh, we're going to reach herd immunity in 2022." But by that point, many countries would have already been on the-- they'll be on the booster doses by then. They're not going to be just on the first round of herd immunity. [00:19:47] Kerry: That's how the narrative I can see going. It'll be like, "Oh, well, you had the shot back in 21. You haven't had the booster in 22, so does that make you, then, less of a good traveler or less of the ideal traveler?" When I’m filling out my Visa application to enter a country, are they going to ask me when was your COVID vaccination? When was your last? And is there going to be some algorithm, we'll say. "Oh, no. Cut her off because it's been 12 months since she's had it. She hasn't had the booster." All of this validation kind of stuff, I just see maybe my crystal ball is going a bit crazy at the moment. [00:20:33] Gary: I think that's a really good point. That often doesn't come up. I’ve not heard in discussions. I’ve heard about vaccines that "When did you have your vaccine? Does that actually impact your ability to apply for a Visa?" Not heard much about that. I think it's absolutely true. [00:20:49] Kerry: All right, so I’m going to throw the real curly at you now because I’m going to talk about travel bubbles. Because there's been a few that have burst recently, and I've been watching very closely those travel bubbles that were on the table for Vietnam. Do you see travel bubbles still to be relevant, and can you maybe share what you're hearing that could be the country match-ups there in the Southeast Asian region? [00:21:23] Gary: “ Travel bubble” is the word that we have been asked about and used the most in on our podcast, on interviews, everything. It's a moving feast. I think "Let's go back. Let's look at the origin of travel bubbles." That was Australian, New Zealand back in April last year. It took a year for it to actually happen, but it was proposed by New Zealand, and agreed with by Australia. There were very specific circumstances about that if you look at the two countries, very isolated geographically, strong travel flows between the two countries, manage the virus very well. There is trust between the two populations. There's a lot of people live in each other's countries. They work in each other's countries. They are very complementary in that sense. There's no borders as well. There's no land borders to get in the way. In Southeast Asia, we have very poorest land borders. That was almost the template for travel bubbles, but also I think it was the limit of travel bubbles. I just don't think they work in Southeast Asia. I don't really see how you can have travel bubbles across borders. They're not going to work. I think the idea that it has actually got up and running in Australia and New Zealand in recent months. You've had these slight pauses during that time, but generally it's working quite well. Even Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister said last week that they are really only a short-term expedient that going forward, it will be about vaccinated travel. I think that's the way that the Southeast Asia will be moving forward. The terminology of travel bubbles will probably continue to get used, but I think we're looking more-- the reopenings that are being proposed are generally about vaccinated travel. Will they be with specific markets? Well, possibly yes, possibly no, but I’m not sure that's actually a travel bubble. As you say that's because both destinations are looking at absolute numbers, and they are worried about extrapolation of numbers. The problem with that is that doesn't really give anybody any confidence to travel because if you know that you're going to be traveling to a destination where you could get trapped and you wouldn't be able to get back or you're going to have to stay longer than you hoped for. I was listening to a podcast with Tourism Australia quite recently. They said one of the problems that the bubble with Australia, New Zealand is encountering at the moment isn't a fear of COVID. It's a fear of COVID outbreaks occurring in your home destination or where you're traveling to. You're going to have to spend a lot longer, and it's going to cost you a lot more money. That's the problem with bubbles when they're not vaccine related, I think. In terms of Southeast Asia, I think that the trust between countries is so low right now. Whether we're going to have bubbles between countries is difficult. In Southeast Asia, we're so reliant on the Chinese market as well. We're so reliant on Japan and South Korea as well that those markets are so vital in revitalizing travel in this region. Without them, even if you have a bubble between Southeast Asian countries, the way the economies are at the moment, the way the case numbers are, the way that the fear of the virus is right now, the actual travel flows will be pretty low. If you're going to open a bubble right now in the region, you've been looking at long-haul travels. You can look probably Americans or Europeans. We don't really know how long-haul travel is going to-- it's going to pan out right now. It's a very difficult situation. It's very difficult for governments. Governments do get a lot of criticism for the way they're managing this, but the other argument is that most Asian countries are being cautious. They are putting safety first. [00:24:50] Kerry: What do you envisage then for Vietnam for the second half and first quarter of 22? [00:24:55] Gary: I think in terms of domestic tourism, what we will probably see because of the-- I wouldn't say the fear factor, but I think the uncertainty that's been created by this new role as I think we'll start to see more shorter trips, probably day trips, driving trips. I think we'll see a lot more of that. Perhaps in the last quarter of the year, confidence will return, and you might start to see people flying a little bit further domestically. I think for the foreseeable future, there is going to be a bit of caution. I think the industry will have to build that in. [00:25:27] Kerry: Even for the domestic traveler within Vietnam, the possibility that they could end up in 21 days quarantine. That would have to be a serious consideration for them as well because they wouldn't get that time off from their jobs, or they just wouldn't have the luxury of time or money to do that. I think they would have to make a very educated guesses to where they would go for those trips. It would have to be 100% guaranteed, I think, for them to feel that they're not going to get trapped in that. Because as you said, Hannah, Vietnam took very decisive action very early on. If they even suspected for a moment that you could be a carrier or whatever, you were taken to the side of the road, and you were tested, or you were put in quarantine because I was there in March 2020. It was decisive action, and they're still doing it. They will do on-the-spot fines in Saigon if you are not wearing a mask. They deem it if they decide that that could be hazardous to people around them. Yes, it is going to be watching the clock. I am concerned about the roll out of their vaccination. You're right, the population of 100 million, and in certain regions, how they would even get the vaccination to certain regions of Vietnam? Where some people-- I was talking to a guy yesterday said, "Some people work on one side of the border and live on the other." There is cross-pollination happening there. We could sit here and talk, couldn't we? It's a full-time job. Let's face it. [00:27:27] Gary: It really is. When you came onto our podcast a couple of weeks ago, Kerry, we threw a curve ball at you. We said, "What about international travel? When's that going to happen?" You answered it very, very carefully and very, very well. Since you've been on podcast, have you heard anything more-- what are people saying from your contacts about the likelihood of an international reboot? [00:27:49] Kerry: From Australia? [00:27:50] Gary: No, in terms of Vietnam. [00:27:56] Kerry: Look. As I intimated at the beginning of the show, the indications are to me that Vietnam will, and doesn't at the moment, have as a priority travel, international travel. For their GDP, international travel, I think, ranges somewhere between, I don't know, 10-11%. Their manufacturing is going through the roof. Their financial investment is going through the roof. As a country, they're doing really well. I just don't think they want to muddy the waters with international travel as dubious as it is at the moment. So it's not a problem. It is a problem for the future for us who want to go back and travel, I think. What I’m also seeing is Vietnam working very hard at sustaining travel operators and travel businesses by incentivizing their domestic market. If you've got 96 million people being able to move around, you've got a very decent domestic travel market that hasn't really been nurtured in the past. I know Hội An was absolutely in jubilation with domestic travelers during Tết because they had the old town to themselves. It was back to being theirs 100%. We weren't there. There are very few expats still in Vietnam, and not being encouraged to stay, I might add. I’m hearing lots of noise around people with Tourist Visas that are not being encouraged to stay or not being allowed to renew their Tourist Visa. As you say, it's a movable feast, that's for sure, and certainly, keeps me in a full-time role as I know it does you guys, too- [00:29:59] Gary: ( laugh) [00:29:59] Kerry: -just to work out what next and try and to give people the insights that you hear and you find with some level of credibility, knowing that it could change in a heartbeat. [00:30:12] Gary: I think you really nailed it there. One of the most difficult aspects of predicting or even looking at the way international travel will go in future is just this stop-start nature of domestic travel, until domestic travel is on a more even keel. It certainly isn't possible to consider international travel for a number of reasons, not just governmental, but just the comfort and safety and the confidence of local people. I think that is going to be absolutely vital in most countries, in Asia, how they deal with this going forward. [00:30:43] Kerry: Absolutely, look, Gary and Hannah, thank you so much for being on the show. It's been a privilege to have you on, given your busy schedules. Let's hope our next chat will be about travel destinations opening up in the region and maybe thriving under some new sustainable travel models. I just want to say thank you again. [00:31:04] Gary: Thanks very much, Kerry. It's great to be on the show. [music] [00:31:07] Thank you for listening. Check out the episode notes for more information. What About Vietnam. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review and stay tuned for more fun adventures in Vietnam.

ed10c13c-1fb0-41e6-adce-273e1b6a9b72How should you travel to and in Vietnam and is it safe? What About Vietnam - Series 1 - 3 How should you travel within Vietnam? Xing Chau and Welcome to What About Vietnam. My name is Kerry Newsome and I am your host. You are listening to the what about Vietnam series - everything you need to go before you go. My aim is to pass on as much information as I can to ensure you have a great trip. In the previous episode we covered off that age old question “When is it a good time to go?”. In that session I hoped I explained a little bit about how Vietnamese festivals and the weather impacts that decision. However today we are going to cover off the “How should you travel to Vietnam as in what style…. as part of a tour, through a travel agent, do it all yourself, online ???, and the best way to get around. There isn’t really any guide book or website page to help you with the decision of whether to travel to Vietnam, as a solo traveller, couple, in a group, or should you take your extended family. Or maybe you are thinking of a girls getaway? A flop and drop romantic breakaway ? Are you a thrill seeker, intrepid, Cave discovery, Eco, hiking kind or traveller? Should you take kids? Is it safe? Will the kids get bored?Will you be able to eat the food? It is such a personal decision. But what I can tell you is what I know to be true from personal experience and that of many travellers I have dealt with over the last few years working with travel agents and service providers in Vietnam. It depends on a couple of things. Your budget and the kind of experience you want to have. You can buy a 2 star to a 5 star stay in Vietnam. Online there are agencies in all languages. My only advice dealing with an agency, make sure its a reliable one and offers value for their service. To me the biggest advantage of an agent is most in their ability to look after you while on the trip, as in if things go to clay you have a person in charge of your tour who will chase things or fix things for you in the case they don’t work out. Online with Online Travel agents that is not alway so easy and can be problematic. Intrinsically how you book to go, depends on your preferred star rating of travel, budget and level of comfort desired. I have stayed in 2 star to 5 star and everything in between and I have my preferred way but that may not be yours. Im a safety conscious traveller and will not stay anywhere that is a lesser standard of my home, so it least needs to be at that level or above preferrably. Othewirse in my opinion, why leave home.?? Personally I can speak with authority about travelling to Vietnam as a solo traveller. Is it safe? In my experience yes. But like any traveller in any country you need to travel with your wits about you and use common sense when it comes to getting yourself around. I like to think having travelled to many countries I have a ‘sick sense” about impending danger and try where possible never to let myself be in a position to be vulnerable to that. So Where are those places ...like in any country, Mostly in the main cities of Hanoi and HCMC, there are a few areas, I would not choose to go alone. But again, thats just common sense and mostly because, if I found myself in trouble in those areas that don’t see many western tourists, I would stand out like the proverbial. And probably struggle to get help other than hailing a taxi or calling a Grab car. But if you go to outer regions in the country, the locals despite minimal English are always kind and welcoming...in my expereince. And i can only speak from my own experience. You should see what I can do with hand gestures...facial experessions, you can achieve a lot. As you may have already guessed I cannot speak Vietnamese and have zero skills in pronunciation. So you will just have to accept that. In remote areas I would suggest you go with a guide to get the history of the minority groups. Places like Mau Chau, where you will find The White Thai (Thai Trang) Different from Thai people in Thailand. You will also meet the Hmong people living in and around the Pa Co Nature Reserve. Living as they have for many hundreds of years. So for adventurers... solo, or as couples,...or families you can feel confident about planning your trip to move freely about Vietnam, with the utmost safety. The most enchanting areas in the north west of Vietnam, and even around the Mekong Delta, you will see a side of life that is existing…. in some ways as it has done for centuries. Hard as that may be to imagine.The friendship offered by the Vietnamese is well documented and continues today. You will be overwhelmed if my expereince is anything to go on. So getting back to tors, what you want from Vietnam depends largely on your budget and time available. Should you hire a motorbike and ride through Vietnam? Yes, if you are an experienced rider and you have time on your side. Will all the roads be paved. No. Will there be areas where the roads are windy and dangerous, Yes. But will you have the time of your life...ABSOLUTELY. I have known many travelers who have done this and in my new series I will be sharing with them some of these experiences. So stay tuned. For a family, you have all types of travel at your disposal. Kids have a plethora of experiences open to them, many made available through the VinPearl group, who has hotels and theme parks like you would get in the states! But in addition to that you have cultural experiences to open their minds. The chance to visit places to learn how to grow chocolate, make rattan mats, paint masks, make paper lanterns, climb mountains, and visit amazing caves. In addition they can enjoy affordable water sports at some of the most picturesque beaches in the world. I took my grandson last year, who is 16, and I thought without his devices he would be bored, but quite the contrary..he was fascinated with the adventure of seeing a new culture, experiencing the beaches at An Bang at Hoi An, visiting the Old town and seeing the Hoi An Memories show; climbing Marble mountain and even participating in a cooking class which his parents would never have believed had I not taken a video. So you can relax, finding things for your whole family to enjoy will not be a problem. We will talk more about specific locations in future episodes. Vietnam is generously available to all travel types. You can come to Vietnam and get around to most parts by Air, bike, Train, private driver, bus and or river. You cannot however hire a car yourself...as you can in most other countries in the world. Thus you wont see any car Hire places like Hertz or Europcar at the airports. But arranging a quality driver and car with aircon is very easy at any tourist desk in the main cities. And reasonably priced. These tourist desks exist as an easy place to organise your own day tours and adventures. You can do this from your hotel as well if you feel more comfortable, but you will pay more. One visit, my husband and I stayed in Hanoi for a month. Staying at a homestay hotel, at $30 AU a night, we used the city as our base to plan day and over night trips to Ninh Binh and Sapa. All very affordable and easy to arrange. The overnight train trip to Sapa was something id wanted to do, and Im glad I did it, just for the experience. Most places of interest are connected by bus and now Air. You can reach most places within Vietnam by air in about 1 hour - 1 hour 3o mins. Flights are available through: ASCO Air Vietnam JetStar Pacific Airlines Vietjet Air Vietnam Airlines Air Mekong Air is the way to go if you are strapped for time and the terrain you are traveling in between uninteresting. As I have said bus is a common and very cheap form of travel. But slow. And not always comfortable as many roads a windy and the buses old and rickety. Not my preferred way to travel when its easier to get a flight and it is NOT that expensive. I do have it on good authority that some train trips, especially the one from Danang to Hanoi through the Hai van Pass offers some great views so it may be something to consider given you have time as the trip is long 10-12 hours. In regard to bike trips, I will save some of the hair raising stories of fun, and exhilarating experiences for my guests in the next series. I certainly have loved getting around small towns like Hoi An on the back of a scooter within a group tour or with a friend. I do not have a bike licence so that it my only, ….legal option. To ride as a passenger. I wont get into those that still do hire bikes without a licence as its fun, until…...its not when an accident happens. 90% of Travel Insurance companies do not cover bike riding in Vietnam. Lastly, many ask me, if they should book everything before they leave, or wait and book over there. My advice comes back to a question. What are you most comfortable doing? If you do book EVERYTHING before you leave, you are committed and that may be a good thing or a bad thing. Personally, I like to book my flights and some accommodation over there, and then make it up as I go using the various Tour desks. The advantage of group tours, is the pricing and the chance to hang with a group of people and possibly make new friends. ls there is safety in crowds...I guess. I loathe BIG group tours, as I feel they show the stadium experience of Vietnam and not the grass roots version. You only get to eat at and visit places that can accommodate large numbers, and they aren’t always the prettiest versions or the most authentic. Not all, but some as I hate to generalise. Large groups are not well liked for how they treat the environment. So be careful and choose wisely. I deal with all types so please send me a question if you are unsure. In regard to the food. I have mixed it,.... with all kinds of tastes, allergies and nerves about the quality of food and I am glad to say, I have always found options for all paletes. The food is amazingly fresh, cheap if you are prepared to eat like Vietnamese and lushous if you are prepared to pay extra. Seafood is bountiful ….as is fresh fruits. I have one friend who is a seasoned traveller and prefers to eat seafood selected from the buckets where you can pick your own. I could spend a whole session just talking about the amazing food. But I will save it for some experiences I have to share in the next series. I hope I amwetting your appetitie for the next series. So in wrapping up this session, “How should you travel to Vietnam as in what style, as part of a tour, through a travel agent, or do it all yourself???, and what is the best way to get around?? Now you are gathering more info about Vietnam, ask yourself the question, How committed do you want to be before you leave, and what are you prepared to leave to Chance??? Knowing you have lots of options to DIY. In how to get around:- I rate Air, Car with a driver, train for experience, river boat for experience in the Mekong, ….Bike if you have an International bike licence, not just a car licence,( POlice cracking down on this more and more) and lastly bus. For solo, couples, families, kids and intrepid travellers, Vietnam has it all, dependant on budget, and time basically. 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 ... ….stay tuned for more to come in the super 6 series, Whatabout Vietnam - before you book. Thanks for listening…..Bye for now...

What about Vietnam blog about travel tips and holidays in Vietnam S1-E11 Episode 11 As 2025 draws to a close here are some reflections. Go to Episode S1-07 8 Tips for travel during Tet Episode 7 8 Tips for Vietnam travellers during TET Go to Episode S1-03 Travel within Vietnam Episode 3 How should you travel to and in Vietnam and is it safe? Go to Episode S1-E10 Getting your Visa right Episode 10 No Visa or Evisa – Getting it right in 2025 Go to Episode S1-06 Culture and Visas Episode 6 Vietnam from a cultural and historical standpoint. Go to Episode S1-02 Best Time to Travel in Vietnam Episode 2 Know the best time to as a travel manager and “its important”. Go to Episode S1-E09 Vietnam Travel First Impressions Episode 9 Travelling Vietnam for the first time? Go to Episode S1-05 Accommodation Episode 5 Five golden rules on getting the best accommodation Go to Episode S1-08 Join a packaged group tour or DIY Episode 8 The big Decision. A packaged tour or DIY Go to Episode S1-04 What can you buy Episode 4 What does your Dong buy you in Vietnam? Go to Episode

940709d2-c571-4afa-887e-c01f442e35f7Monkeys in the wild at Son Tra Nature Reserve Danang What About Vietnam - S2-22 Visit Danang and see monkeys in the wild at the Son Tra Nature Reserve Kerry Newsome: [00:00:01] Hello Thanh, how are you? Thanh : [00:00:57] Hello, Kerry, and your lovely audience. I am really well, thank you. Kerry Newsome: [00:01:06] Ok, that is great to hear, Thanh. Now tell us something about the Son Tra Nature Education Centre and the Son Tra Nature Reserve. What can you tell us? Thanh : [00:01:36] I believe that a lot of you have visited now the most liveable city in Vietnam. And when you are looking down to the city from the airport, you have you see something green coming up from the water and you can feel curious later on. Thanh : [00:01:54] Upon arrival, you will see that green, lush plantation almost wherever you are in the city. [00:02:04] Son Tra Nature Reserve was established in nineteen seventy seven and the Son Tra Peninsula used to be an isolated island before 15th century. But thanks to the accumulation of silt from rivers, the only way from the city to the peninsula has gradually formed. The size of the peninsula isn't big is four thousand three hundred and seventy hectares. [00:02:47] And can you believe that it plays a significant role in local life? First of all, it is the frontier protecting the city from storm which come from the ocean. Secondly, it can provide oxygen for four million people, not only one million population of Danang and the people who live here or come for a visit. They can see the nature and ten minute, which is incredible. If you travel to the other places in Vietnam, that is not feasible because in Hanoi or HCMC the main city, the traffic is terrible and even the other locations are pretty far away in the remote parts. [00:03:56] So in nature reserve is such a precious gem of the city and everybody here is blessed. Can you believe that they see the blue sky every day and fresh air is just a pleasant life experience. [00:04:29] Unfortunately, the reserve has been threatened by human activities such as illegal hunting and poaching. But the more serious issue is the building of resorts and hotels or mass tourism development. [00:04:53] And it was the reason why Greenviet, a local non profit organization, decided to establish St. Charles Asia Education Center in 2018 and through founders believed that education will have to save the situation before it becomes too late. [00:05:24] And our main visitors are students or university students because they are willing to make changes. Otherwise, they are either fearful or too old to make any changes. [00:05:51] The Nature Education Centre is spacious because. It was built on a rental space in the Sunshine District is the last available, not fully occupied neighbourhood in the city. So the housing price is insanely expensive. Can you believe the housing price is about, two fifty thousand US dollar for one hundred square meter, and it is covid price, it used to be higher. Yeah. So Greenviet doesn't have the money to buy a place. They built a temporary education center with the hope that the city council would appreciate their effort and issue a better location. Unfortunately, since it was established in 2018, our voice hasn't been heard and we have struggled a lot, especially since the Covid outbreak has stopped us from welcoming visitors and donors. Yeah. Kerry Newsome : [00:07:28] Just let me interject here just to give perspective for our listeners. So the reserve is located just a little bit out of Danang, isn't it? About 10 kilometers, maybe five to 10 kilometers. [00:07:53] Kerry, the peninsula is located in the north east of the north, and if someone stays in the city center or an expat neighborhood, the traveling distance would be from 7 to 10 km, but it takes them only 15 or 20 minutes to get there. Kerry Newsome : [00:08:24] Yes. Yes. So it's very close, as you say, and beautiful and green and lush. So for a new visitor, as you say, they arrive into Danang airport. What would you suggest for a new visitor if they would like to come and visit this area? Thanh: [00:08:51] I want to tell you a thing, everybody can rent a scooter, a manual bike and do an exploration by himself, but he is kindly requested to pay us a visit so that he can learn about the biodiversity and what should he do or shouldn't do when he is doing his trip. Because I'm in the peninsula is home of more than one thousand three hundred individuals of restaurant langurs, the queen of Primate's. [00:09:44] If he follows our guidance, he will have the opportunity to see them in the wild. And the other monkeys. Yeah, red langurs, early feeding monkeys. They are so beautiful that they were considered the queen of primates. [00:10:10] So there are more than seven hundred kinds of primates around the world, rushing to the Langurs as they are the most beautiful ones. And therefore it's called the Queen. The Primate. And another name can sound funny, which is the pop monkey. [00:10:35] The five color four refers to the pop's coat, or we have named them the Soldier Monkey because their front head looks like those soldiers hat. Yeah. Kerry Newsome [00:11:00] Interesting. [00:11:01] Yes. Yes, absolutely. So tell us, some of the things a visitor should know before they go into that area like so that they are respectful of the reserve. Thanh: [00:11:18] Uh, first of all, if they want to do a trip on their own, a motorbike is a good option because if they drive around in a day, 90 km can take them a few hours already. Right. And imagine if they walk 90 kilometres, it will take forever. The good motorbike should be equipped with a good brake and gear. Do not forget to fuel the tank or check your tires, because once you go up there, you won’t see a petrol station or a mechanic shop. I myself once had to push the bike for several kilometres. Yeah, it wasn't so warm. And so they should, they should choose the proper outfits. Green or dark colours are really good because they make the large animals less afraid of strangers. Walking shoes, sandals, sneakers are much better than flip flops or high heels. Come on, you don't want to take selfie pictures there because it doesn't matter how much effort you put in. [00:13:05] The nature is just beautiful, breathtaking, and you feel speechless. So if you try to spend time or taking selfie pictures. I highly recommend you to take pictures of the magnificent flora and fauna species which you should learn about before going so. Kerry Newsome : [00:13:45] So let me jump in here. So do you suggest. The person go to the education center first, yeah, and then go to the reserves, so they go in with better understanding of what to look for in the flora and fauna. Thanh: [00:14:03] Mhm. Yeah. Because my centre does organize several excursions upon requests, but we are busy doing researches and arranging meaningful activities for the society. [00:14:24] So some people may not know about us before coming and they won't be able to join our trips so they can go to the center, gain the better understanding and then explore on their own. [00:14:46] We will always give them several survival tips like;- do not feed the life of animals, do not stare at the macaques or some kind of safety instruction, you know, not driving fast and furious. You are not in the movie. You want to come back home in one piece. You know, this is an alarm. [00:15:22] So you have to put your hands on the gears firmly and stay focused. I mean, we really hope that the visitors will spread information about the peninsula more and more people. So, you know, one person can teach others. Kerry Newsome : I get it. So are the monkeys friendly? [00:16:02] Or do you need to be careful around the monkeys? Thanh: [00:16:07] So in southern China, there are several other kinds of parks and recreation, duck, langurs, plush vegetation. So they are nice and kind. They are usually camera shy. So when we see them, we should keep a distance so that they won't run away from us. [00:16:40] We want to take great pictures of their shining coat, the adorable families or their interesting daily life activities. They will be cautious. The fathers make some noises to his family, like, oh, some strangers around, everybody watch out. [00:17:13] But as long as we hold our camera or take pictures with our phones and we don't show any harmful gestures, then we are OK. They can give us several minutes and they leave or some will like us and stay with us for a while by the time we are safe with our friend. OK, Langurs. The attacks, on the other hand, should get some of your attention. Macaques are very smart, but you can think about them as the witches. They like to take your belongings, they wait for your food or they want to scare you. They can scare you to death? Yeah. There are two kinds of macaques, the wild ones and the ones which used to be pets. So the wild ones are really protective. They see you coming and they will make the loud, alarming sound and she will want up play along. They think you are ready to fight back and they call the other members of the flocks and come and start the fight. Or if they see you pulling something out of your pocket, they think that, aha, you are prepared and they like to take your belongings first. You know, like now you are not armed and you cannot cause any harm to them. The second kind which used to be pets, they would be the pain in your neck because they lose the ability to find food on their own. They would rather gather along the main road, especially the parts in front of Intercontinental Hotel. They make the drivers sit on a lot of nerve. The drivers do not want to hit and run away. Right. But it can be unavoidable in certain circumstances. And can you believe you lock the car, you lock your bike and you stand on the pavement, take pictures of flowers and the landscape. And when you come back, they sit on your bikes or under your car looking at you like trick or treat, you know, like give me food or I'm not gonna leave! Kerry Newsome : [00:20:45] How do they attack you? Are they vicious? [00:20:51] Yeah, especially if they see you carrying some food and not willing to give them in their country. And also in India, China, Thailand, Macacs have cost tremendous problems. Everybody love the cute babies and they think, oh, I just want to do him a favour. I cannot resist this cuteness and people have changed their natural instinctive behaviors. Instead of trying to find the food and feeding themselves in the life they have become “sport pets”. You know, in the life market, a baby monkey is asking for one thousand five hundred US dollar, but the owner only wants to keep him for a few months or maybe a year or two later on. The baby monkey grows up and loses the cuteness. He will start to expose the wild characteristics, you know, cranky, fighting or wrecking family. You don't want to have something sitting in your house, right? So the owners will take them back to the forest and say, off you go, let them go. [00:22:44] That time, you know, they have no skill and they have no skills needed to survive. And it is crazy. [00:22:57] But for a tourist, I'm thinking, gee, I'm not sure where I would feel comfortable going there knowing that as you call them, the MACKA could possibly attack me or put me in a position that I was frightened. Kerry Newsome : [00:23:21] So how do you protect yourself from that? Thanh: [00:23:24] Oh, honestly, I would give people advices regarding on which time frame would work. [00:23:38] For example, tell us that if you want to go to Lady Buddha or Intercontinental Hotel and the adjacent areas, you should definitely avoid the late afternoon show from three pm. The local people would love to visit the mansion places because the breeze, the sun, everything is just perfect. And the local people have been blinded by their emotion. They do not care about the warning signs. They carry the food and they even make fun of the macaques. So from three p.m. and onwards, you see my car sitting on the road fighting for food and local visitors are laughing ridiculously. [00:24:46] And I would recommend visitors, foreign visitors to check out those places earlier in the day. And of course, I will be willing to share with you the few map roads you can drive up there and see the last known part of the peninsula where you will be able to see the wild macaques. But keep in mind, there are safety instruction because it's not pleasant being bothered by many shouting noise, you know? [00:25:32] Oh, I'm taking picture…. of why are you trying to make me go away. Please understand that we are intruders. We invade their privacy. [00:25:47] But yes, if they get mad at us, we should feel like it's a part of the experience. Kerry Newsome : [00:25:58] Yes, I know I have been to Son Tra a couple of times, but more to the area where they are developing some small areas where resorts and beautiful beaches and things. And I've also been to the top of the hill, which has got an amazing view of the city and the coastline. But I had been warned about the monkeys in the in the forest. And when I went to visit Lady Buddha, my friend who took me on a motorbike, she said, we go early, very early in the morning so that we will avoid most of the harassment of the monkeys that you mention. And we still get the sunrise so that we can capture the beautiful photography, which we did. And it was an amazing experience for me. I just loved it. But it's good to know from you just a little bit more about the aspect of it being a nature reserve that we need to protect. We need to protect the plant species and the animal species that is their home. It is what is their land, their space and their part of the planet. So, as you say, we are the intruder. So we need to be aware of this. And something I want for the people listening is to still have a look at the options available to visit this area, get a better understanding from your education centre. [00:27:47] I'm going to put all the links in the episode notes that people can jump on and find out more information and then people can use that as a bit of a guide. I want people to go there with some having done some research into this area because it's still worth going. But go into it with your eyes wide open and with some knowledge to make the visit pleasant as possible. Keeping in mind that there is some elements that may not be always easy to manage. Which you have really done well to explain to us that, you know, being mindful of food and the precarious nature of some of these monkeys is not always they tease you and they screech and they can be a menace to you in your experience. The red necked monkeys, they are a little bit different in their nature. And we need to be respectful of that. As you say, talking about taking selfies. Yeah, we want to try to minimize the selfies and take more of the flora and fauna and the area as such and hopefully some beautiful vistas and views. Kerry Newsome :[00:29:19] Just to finish up. [00:29:22] I want to just cover off if we can, what a visitor or a person that has an interest in this area in biodiversity and would like to support Green, what can they do to help support this, your organization. Thanh: [00:29:45] Kerry, that is so nice of you. Of course, my NGO needs a lot of that. And as I mentioned earlier, being a non-profit organization is not easy. So the founders of the NGO have always done our consulting work or extra words so that they can sustain the NGO and do the good things for the peninsular and the local people. We need to protect the primates, including the Clangers and the macaques, because they are considered our ancestors. Let's say the restaurant at languorously they share 98 percent of 80 and similar to with human and the premise they have family structures, they have the similar eyes to us. We caught monocular eyes that can observe different colors and they are really smart. Thanks to the big brains. They take care of each other. They use tools. I mean, there's so much for us to learn from them. They play another role in pollination. Or can you believe that a kidney of Russia's mopac, one species in southern China can be extracted for a few hundred kinds of vaccines that save people's life? So we need to protect them because if they are gone, they are gone forever. [00:31:54] And it's really sad that in the past my country suffered poverty and hunger. People would eat everything. Nowadays, the situation is not the same. But people are using wild animal products, including primates, medicines and makeup, whatever you can name into my NGO founders think that is unfair for the environment. Why the animals have to suffer. They have the right to live their life as we do so they have to try enormously to code for the participation of local people and foreigners. So we need to protect the peninsula. We don't want hotels and resort to be built there because where the sewage will go, how the trash will be handled and if someone is capable of. Controlling the place, we won't be able to go there without paying a fee, you should relate to Ba Na Hills Hills like once upon a time you could go to the nature reserve there. But nowadays you have to pay for the US dollar for a cable car ticket. And it is compulsory. We want to save the place for everybody for this generation and the future to come. [00:33:55] So the most important message would be as individuals or groups, please. Stop taking the peninsula for granted. Primates are not our pets, not our meals or medication. For example, we always need volunteers to help us with giving lectures in English lessons for all ages and our translating documents. Or you can make donations so that you can join us in this long and tiring journey. Kerry Newsome : [00:34:54] Ok, I. I know you have a busy day ahead of you, so we will finish up now. [00:35:01] I just want to say thank you very much. I will put the links to the education centre in the episode notes. And of course, we will share this, so one person or another person will share with another person, hopefully. I hope that you have been able to learn a little bit more about this area, as I have. And I think going into it with your eyes wide open is the best way to do it so that you can have a very pleasant experience of this beautiful area. Thanks, Thanh. Thanh: [00:35:39] Oh, it is my honor. And I really hope that I will be able to welcome you. Together, we can make the place become better and well protected. Kerry Newsome : [00:36:04] Thanks, Thanh

1319efd4-ae5f-4518-ac06-e7d25b28d9e3Fun Hanoi foodie adventure to blow your mind What About Vietnam - Series 3 - 8 A fun foodie adventure in Hanoi that will blow your mind [00:00:36] Kerry Newsome: Xin chào . Welcome to What About Vietnam . Today, we're going to take a real fun adventure in Hanoi. We're going to be experiencing something with a lady named Fleur Sharpe. It's a foodie episode believe it or not. It's a crazy, crazy fun story. I couldn't let it go. I couldn't let Fleur go without telling this story because I think what it did for me originally was just open up my mind, and I'm hoping yours, too, just about the things that you will do on a holiday that is a little bit left-field, a little bit adventurous, risky, a little bit dangerous because it just all adds to the momentum of your trip, your storytelling. You're walking away, going, "Wow. That was crazy, but it was fun. It was just heaps of fun. Fleur is no stranger to food. She runs her own online programs, where she specializes in courses in recipes and learning how to use the Thermomix. If you would like to know more about those, you can reach out to her on the episode notes links as I'll have everything there for you to access her directly and book those courses. Today's episode, as I said, is a crazy adventure with a very fun lady as she shares with us just what happened one lunchtime in Hanoi with her husband when they took on a very, very adventurous food journey. Please welcome Fleur to the program. [music] Fleur, welcome to the What About Vietnam podcast. Great to have you on. [00:02:34] Fleur Sharpe: Oh, thank you for having me. I'm excited to tell you about my adventure. [00:02:38] Kerry Newsome: [chuckles] Well, it's funny. Adventures can come in all forms. I have to say the adventure that you spoke about when we last chatted just blew me away. I'm going to let you tell my listeners what your adventure entailed. Maybe that's not the right word I should be using. In Hanoi, you decided to take up quite a gastronomic adventure I would call it. Let’s hear all about it. [00:03:14] Fleur Sharpe: Oh, well, it was an adventure. That was for sure. I was even a bit nervous as a pretty hardcore foodie, and I pretty much say yes to everything. When my husband first floated this idea of going to this snake restaurant just a little way out of Hanoi, I was a bit like, "Oh." It's one of those things that sounds great in theory, but when you're actually confronted with doing it, it took me back. I was like, "When am I ever, when am I ever in my life going to be back here and be able to go to a snake restaurant." I just went, "Look. Let’s just do it." I steal myself with a bottle of French champagne. I got it on the way. I just was like, "Let this crazy thing roll." It wasn't planned as part of our trip. In fact, the whole trip wasn't particularly well planned. It was a bit of a last-minute thing. We're in Hanoi. [00:04:05] Kerry Newsome: When was it? [00:04:08] Fleur Sharpe: It was actually three years ago this week. Not the best time to be there. It was hellishly hot like, "Oh my God." Coming from Queensland, I'm used to the heat, but this is a whole other level of heat and humidity. You just suck the life out of you. What do we do? We're wandering around. I don't know. What's that lake in the middle of Hanoi in the old-- in the center there? [00:04:31 Kerry Newsome: The Hoan Kiem Lake. [00:04:33] Fleur Sharpe: Yes, we're having, That's it. Well, we're having one of those beautiful egg coffees. Then, David said, "I've just been doing some research and found this restaurant that I think Anthony Bourdain had mentioned in one of his adventures too. I think it was the same trip that he met up with Barack Obama in Hanoi, and they had that famous dinner." Anyway, so he recommended it. I went, "Oh, okay. I'm sold. Let’s go." Off we go, it's about 5 km. It's called The Hung Snake Restaurant. It's about 5 km outside of the Old Quarter. Off we trot, I don't think we had a booking at all. I think we just knocked on the door. It was about midday. [00:05:19] Kerry Newsome: You went midday? [00:05:21] Fleur Sharpe: Midday, yes. [00:05:22] Kerry Newsome: With the champagne? [00:05:24] Fleur Sharpe: Yes, with a bottle of champagne under my arm. They obviously weren't expecting us or anybody to be honest because we had to wake them up. They were all lying on the floor because it was so hot under the fence. [laughter] We had to wake them up. It was so funny. Then, in a heartbeat, they were like, "Come in. Welcome." Basically, the premise is that you choose your snake. You choose a snake, and you pay for the whole snake. I think you can pay by the kilo, but we were in for a penny, in for a pound. Let’s buy the whole snake. We chose a cobra for no other reason than I think it was the most expensive and the fattest. [chuckles] [00:06:06] Kerry Newsome: Isn't there some story that goes with the cobra? I heard that it had extra ??? value] or something about it. It's like the king kong of snakes. [00:06:17] Fleur Sharpe: Oh yes. The cobra comes with its own marketing message, 100%. I'll tell you more about that. We choose our poor cobra, who has been caught in the wild. These people that have been doing it, they're fourth-generation snake catchers in the wild. The owner who was actually the son of the owner was the fourth generation. His name was Dragon. Not sure whether that was his stage name or his actual name, but it was Dragon. He talked us through it. We chose our cobra and then obviously the cobra had to meet its maker. To distract us while that happened, they did a bit of a snake show. I know you're not a fan of snakes. [00:07:00] Kerry Newsome: No, definitely not. [00:07:00] Fleur Sharpe: This would have completely freaked you out. They get the snake out, and they do this snake magic kind of thing. It was fun and terrifying at the same time. [00:07:12] Kerry Newsome: I hope by now you're having the champagne. [00:07:15] Fleur Sharpe: Oh yes. [laughter] [00:07:20] Kerry Newsome: I was going to say you have to have a few champagnes by the stage just to take that show in! [00:07:27] Fleur Sharpe: Then, they sit us down, and the show begins. Dragon presents every course to us. It was basically a 12-course degustation of cobra. Now, I love food. I'm a pretty adventurous bit of a foodie, studying gastronomy. I've had some really great meals in my life around the world. I think there's a reason why cobra hasn't taken off as a gastronomic thing because [laughter] I read the reviews on TripAdvisor. Everyone's going, "Oh. This is a great restaurant. This is fantastic." I'm like, "I don't remember a single flavor with the exception of two." [chuckles] A lot of it was deep-fried, but you've got to go. Don't let me put you off. You have got to go. They come out the first thing they do is that they give you-- Well because I was with my husband, they gave it to him. It was the still-beating heart of the cobra in a shot of vodka. He had to down it. The thing was if you drink it while it's still beating, it gives you longevity. [00:08:31] Kerry Newsome: Long life and-- Yes. [00:08:32] Fleur Sharpe: You're bulletproof. Yes. Then, there's another shot of vodka with this bright-green-like, nuclear green liquid in it, which is the bile, which was for me. [laughs] I've got a slick. [00:08:47] Kerry Newsome: Did you hold your nose or— [00:08:49] Fleur Sharpe: I didn't. I was just like, "Oh, anyway." I was just like, "Okay, it's a shot of vodka. Down it goes." it was like [00:08:56] mild. It was pretty bitter. It wasn't pleasant, but that was my fit. It was pretty much all downhill after that. Oh, with the exception of one thing my husband got because there was only one. He got to eat the penis. There was this whole story. [00:09:09] Kerry Newsome: Oh, lucky him! [00:09:12] Fleur Sharpe: There was this whole story around what eating a cobra's penis will do for a man. Hung, the owner, was totally into it, totally believed his own PR. We bought into it, too, to be honest. We ate that. Then, it proceeded with dish after dish after dish of different parts of this poor cobra, which we had no hope of eating in its entirety. In fact, I think Hung's family ate very well for the next week of the leftovers. [laughter] [00:09:45] Kerry Newsome: But do you add salt and pepper or has it got herbs and spices? [00:09:50] Fleur Sharpe: Yes, there was one that was very much like Kentucky fried cobra. It was off the bone. It was the backbone and was all kind of spicy, crunchy, and all that stuff. Then, there was one that was like spring rolls and one that was in a salad. Yes. Then, it was a blur, to be honest. [laughs] [00:10:08] Kerry Newsome: Oh God. [00:10:11] Fleur Sharpe: It was pretty funny. Then, the champagne ran out. They bought out a bottle of Vietnamese vodka. There's a reason why [00:10:20] it's 4.50 a bottle. It’s pretty rough. [00:10:22] Kerry Newsome: Pretty rough. [00:10:24] Fleur Sharpe: After what we'd been through it, it was like-- whatever. It was certainly an experience. Then, they took us down to where they keep all the snakes, the snake boxes, which would have completely freaked you out. We went down. We got down this-- how they do in Vietnam, those tiny, rickety wooden staircases that go around and around and around. It was like going into the bowels of hell. Then, we went down. We went out to the garden, where there were all these boxes, wooden boxes full of snakes. They explained to us that when they go out into the long grasses, that to find snakes that's where they bring them back to. That was when Dragon's father arrived. I think his name was actually Hung, the hung. [00:11:13] Kerry Newsome: [laughs] [00:11:14] Fleur Sharpe: He was the original Hung. [00:11:16] Kerry Newsome: Do you reckon he ate a lot of penises to be called Hung or…. [00:11:22] Fleur Sharpe: Oh my God. [00:11:23] Kerry Newsome: Is there any correlation? [00:11:24] Fleur Sharpe: How did I miss that? Of course. [00:11:28] Kerry Newsome: I don't know where I went to with that, but I just thought "Hung" and "penis" were like-- Oh my God. [00:11:31] Fleur Sharpe: It's so funny. Well, I think Hung has been doing it for so long. He only had three and a half fingers left. He literally had virtually no fingers left, this old man. Well, he looked like an old man. I said to David, "Look. He's probably 45, but he looked 85." [00:11:52] Kerry Newsome: Did he have 25 children or something because of all these meals?? [00:11:54] Fleur Sharpe: Nearly. Yes, huge families. Yes. [00:11:59] Kerry Newsome: He's worn out obviously. [00:12:00] Fleur Sharpe: Clearly. Yes, clearly. [00:12:05] Kerry Newsome: Did they speak at all about the poisonous side of things or Did that ever come up? [00:12:10] Fleur Sharpe: Well, no. They said that they were removed. The way that they kill it means that that doesn't go through any of the flesh, so it's done pretty well. From what I understand, no one's died yet. [00:12:31] Kerry Newsome: Talk to us a little bit, Fleur, about-- you went at lunchtime so was this like 12, 1 o'clock? Then, how long did you actually spend out there? [00:12:43] Fleur Sharpe: We went about midday from memory. Two of the courses take some time. We were still there. Come late afternoon, early evening, and a lovely American couple came from Texas. We pulled up a chair with them. They didn't do the full 12 courses, so we ended up meeting some really lovely tourists. We shared a cab back into Hanoi with them, which was lots of fun. We shared the bottle of vodka with them. We were there pretty much the whole afternoon. It was the most incredible experience I remember telling you about. I still glow about it. Even though it wasn't a real foodie, foodie experience, it was a fantastic all-round adventure. [00:13:31] Kerry Newsome: You're right in saying that. First, I would put it down to maybe a dare that as a backpacker or something and a whole heap of guys and girls, etc. might go and do. When I spoke to you and because you're a sophisticated lady, you're well educated in food and all this type of thing, that's why I was fascinated. I was thinking, "My God. She was game enough to do it." I definitely couldn't go there just because I can't stand reptiles. I certainly can't stand snakes. The fact that it is an experience you can have in Vietnam, I really wanted to have you on the show to share that with people to say, "Look. You can go as wild as you like. You can be as adventurous as you like. I've got proof. I'm talking to this lady. It's 2021. She survived it. [laughs] She's here to tell the tale, and she had a fun time." You've walked away with saying it was a great experience. Was it expensive? [00:14:35] Fleur Sharpe: Well, the way we did it, which is buying the whole thing. [00:14:37] Kerry Newsome: Well, you started with the French champagne. It kicked off with a good start. [00:14:40] Fleur Sharpe: [laughs] Yes, that was. It's the cobra was about-- I think you pay by the kilo. I think we paid about 250 USD for it. [00:14:52] Kerry Newsome: Wow. [00:14:52] Fleur Sharpe: But that could have easily fed six to eight people with that. We didn't need to do it that way. The other couple that came in were just ordering a few dishes. You weren't killing a whole snake just to feed them. You don't have to do it that way. I'd say if you're adventurous, and you want a good story to tell and good pictures to take home and add to your photo book, it’s certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Yes, I'd highly, highly recommend it. [00:15:22] Kerry Newsome: You'd highly recommend it. Well, that's good to know. I think because we talk about going to Vietnam, some people get a little bit concerned about some of the species of animals [laughter] that can get dished up. Would you agree with me? You've got to go with an open mind, haven't you? [00:15:44] Fleur Sharpe: Everywhere you go over the world. I don't think you've got any business traveling if you're not up for experiencing and saying yes to things. Not taking stupid risks, but come on, don't go to Paris and order a burger. Don't go to Vietnam and expect to eat hotel food all the time. Get out there and try something new. Push your boundaries. That's a whole point of travel for me I think. [00:16:14] Kerry Newsome: Certainly, a cobra at 250 USD. That's a fairly big swag of money for a Vietnamese, yes, in Vietnamese terms. As you say, he is lucky that his virility could afford his wallet because [laughs] if he's got all those kids and that big family, he would need 250 USD, I guess, to spend it. What was the ambiance of the place? Talk to us a little bit. Was it terrible? [00:16:46] Fleur Sharpe: Terrible. [00:16:47] Kerry Newsome: Ow. It was really basic, was it? [00:16:49] Fleur Sharpe: Yes, it was like plastic chairs, but that's like how it is there, everywhere. [00:16:52] Kerry Newsome: That's perfect. [00:16:53] Fleur Sharpe: All I really cared about is it was air-conditioned because, stupidly, we went in July. It was air-conditioned. [00:17:00] Kerry Newsome: And it was the middle of the day. [00:17:01] Fleur Sharpe: Yes. There was an enormous stuffed snake, that was the decorator, that hung over us. I don't know what sort of snake it was, but it was ginormous. It was stuffed, and it was there. That was kind of a backdrop of it. You were immersed in a snake nirvana. [laughs] [00:17:22] Kerry Newsome: Yes, nirvana. Did you have any concerns about health and hygiene because this is another aspect that people come to me about? How did you feel about that? [00:17:36] Fleur Sharpe: I get that from a food point of view like food safety and all that, that's what I really find fascinating. Having worked in food safety here in Australia and the enormously precautious approach you have to take to food safety here. Yet over there, there is literally meat out on the street in the middle of the day in the heat. Food poisoning is actually pretty rare. I think you've got to be pretty smart about it. At the same time, it wasn't really something that I thought about too much because there are other ways of making sure that foods are properly prepared and stuff. That's probably why they deep fry a lot. They also use a lot of salt for preserving. That all helps. I think I wouldn't go, and I guess this is the point of why we're doing this today is giving a recommendation. If we hadn't read the reviews, and we hadn't seen that it had been a good experience for people, then we may not have gone. Do your research, but I think this experience, in particular, is not really for people that are overly precautious. At some point, you've just got to be all in and take a risk in order to have a great experience. I think that is also true of Vietnam [laughs] as a country. It's not a place for somebody that wants everything in its little box, yes, everything is predictable and planned out. It's probably not the country for you. Do you need that? [00:19:12] Kerry Newsome: No. I'm really glad you mentioned that because I think you do have to be realistic. People have come to me concerned about the health and hygiene of food because as you say, you'll go to the markets and there'll be fresh meat and fish and that out on tables. Once you dig in a little bit deeper and actually did another podcast with a chef in Vietnam, and she was saying, "But they do two kills a day." That meat that's out there early in the morning is actually all sold in about two hours, three hours tops. It's as fresh as you can get. Sure it's not refrigerated, but it's not there for very long before the restaurant, all the locals, etc. picked it up. I think the way they cook it and because of the deep frying and the high temperatures, you have got that, as you say, as a safety precaution You're right, if you've got a stomach that is a little bit delicate or some smells or as you say, rickety chairs and cobras stuffed on walls, and all of that's going to upset you, yes, don't go to a snake restaurant. I'm glad you mentioned the TripAdvisor and all the rest of it because I've used the podcast or what I'm doing with the podcast as almost your live trip advisor. People come on to share their experiences. We're in the middle of COVID. Hopefully, we're just coming out of COVID. Cross fingers. I'm really loving talking to people about their experiences of Vietnam. When people do a trip plan, if they want to do something adventurous, they can find you and this episode and go, "Hey, she came out of it with a smile on her face. She sounded like she had a great time." I think that's the whole gist of it for me. [00:21:16] Fleur Sharpe: Yes, I think so. I think that there comes a point. If you continue to keep looking, you can over research something. If it sounds like a good idea, and there are people out there that have corroborated that idea and go, "Yes, it's a good idea," then go with it. I think some people can have depth by research, and they talk themselves out of it at some point just go, "Yes. Let’s give this a go." [00:21:42] Kerry Newsome: Look. It's been great to have you on the show, Fleur. There's no way I would be sharing this experience with anybody. I won't be taking the recommendation, but more because I can't stand snakes, period, let alone eating them. I just want to make sure your husband and you are well and everybody at home is—well! [00:22:08] Fleur Sharpe: Yes, he's still alive. To give you some context, he ran a marathon. He ran 42 kilometers a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was the snake. Maybe it was the penis. Who knew? But he's very, very well. [00:22:23] Kerry Newsome: Ow, that's fantastic. Fleur, just again, thanks for being on the show. [00:22:27] Fleur Sharpe: Pleasure. [00:22:29] Jingle: Thank you for listening. Check out the episode notes for more information. What About Vietnam. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review, and stay tuned for more fun adventures in Vietnam.

14e1533c-3922-4356-b2d5-5f8c211cf3bbLanguage tips in Vietnam week 1 - "greetings" Learn "greetings" in Vietnamese Episode 19 S3-19 Learn "Greetings" 00:00 / 17:18 You have just arrived into Vietnam and you’d like to know a few words in the form of greetings, to help pave the way. You are in the right place. English is widely spoken in the main cities, but in the North and in the more remote regions, not so much. It is always nice to have some greetings down pat to help break the ice and come across polite and courteous to those you meet. Vietnamese rate courteous behaviour highly and you will win them over very quickly simply by trying. This episode is 1 of a 3 part mini-series I am running over the next 3 weeks;- Week 1. What About Vietnam – S3-19 – Learn “greetings” in Vietnamese Each week will be a new episode focusing on a particular setting or scenario. Its lots of fun as I am the guinea pig. My Expert Guest joining me in the mini series is Ha Dam. Ha is Vietnamese and well versed as an English-Vietnamese translator. I caught up with her in France where she now lives with her partner and is currently an English to Vietnamese translator for a UK company helping immigrants settle into their new country. A few years ago she did this Video which is why I thought she would be great to have on the show. You can see her by clicking on the YouTube video to the right - Vietnamese 101. My thanks to www.hoiannow.com for helping me track her down. PLEASE NOTE: This not a training or educational language lesson, it is purely for fun and pronunciation and conversational purposes. Download Transcript PDF Read transcript

17f693a3-e0d3-48a7-bc50-3b3790001b10Vietnam from a cultural and historical standpoint. Vietnam Culture and Visas Episode 6 S1-06 Culture and Visas 00:00 / 16:29 In this episode, I’d like to give you some general background to the country you will be visiting, from a cultural and historical standpoint. What to expect when you arrive! For most of us, it resembles - organised chaos! Heat, smells and officialdom. Cities where there are more bikes than cars. What is the Visa process amid Covid19, and what are the things you need to watch out for? Do you need a Visa? Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S5-E8 – Empowering the Traveller to fight Human Trafficking S5-E8 – Empowering the Traveller to fight Human Trafficking Episode 8 S5-E8 – Empowering the Traveller to fight Human Trafficking 00:00 / 38:19 Join us for an insightful journey into the pressing issue of human trafficking in Vietnam, and discover how, as a traveller, you have the ability to effect real change. In this episode, I'm joined by Kim Miller, who offers firsthand insights into the challenges and the remarkable efforts undertaken by "Blue Dragon" (see link below), an organization dedicated to combatting human trafficking. As a listener, you'll gain a profound understanding of the poverty and vulnerabilities that fuel human trafficking, along with practical guidance on recognizing and responding to situations where individuals are exploited or in need of assistance. We start off by talking about Kim’s experiences of Vietnam since 2016—Kim shares her deep affection for Vietnam, recounting her experiences living there and highlighting her favorite Vietnamese cuisines like "Phở chiên phồng" (see link below) and destinations you may not have heard about just outside of Hanoi called – "Ho Dong Do lake district" (see link below). Kim shares her bold ambition of raising $200,000 by swimming the English Channel this July to support "Blue Dragon's vital community initiatives". (See link below). Tune in as she outlines actionable steps travellers can take to aid vulnerable individuals they encounter. From simply reaching out or alerting organizations like Blue Dragon, travellers can ensure prompt assistance for those in need, empowering them to play an active role in combating human trafficking. This is an episode that I'm confident will offer you valuable insights and takeaways. Finally, you are one click away from supporting "Kim's cause" (see link below), please check the link here and let’s unite in making a positive impact during our journeys through Vietnam. To date, Blue Dragon has: Rescued 1,431 people from trafficking Represented 261 people in court cases Sent 6,314 kids back to school & training Provided shelter to 1,668 girls & boys Placed 445 teens in jobs Served 672,359 meals Built 262 homes for families Reunited 769 runaways with their families Obtained legal papers for 13,544 people Blue Dragon https://www.bluedragon.org/ "Phở chiên phồng" https://deliciousvietnam.net/crispy-rice-flour-puffs-stir-fried-beef-pho-chien-phong/ "Ho Dong Do lake district" https://vietnam-destinations.com/en/destination/ho-dong-do-ha-noi/ "Blue Dragon's vital community initiatives" https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=3WAmPI-ptISS4uua&v=nl0hJfRc_R0&feature=youtu.be "Kim's cause" https://au-give.bluedragon.org/fundraisers/kims-big-blue-english-channel-swim Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S5-E11 Out and About in Ho Tram Vietnam S5-E11 Out and About in Ho Tram Vietnam Episode 11 S5-E11 Out and About in Ho Tram 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

S4-04 Vietnam Wedding Planning Vietnam wedding planning - all you need to know Episode 4 S4-04 Vietnam Wedding Planning 00:00 / 39:03 When planning a wedding there are so many factors to consider. While you start with - Who to invite? It quickly moves into - the venue and destination. And along with that comes the budget, and what style of wedding you want? How traditional, creative or crazy do you want it to be? For those exploring options in this space I say “What about Vietnam?”. As you will hear from my lovely guest Jenny, a Wedding and Event Planner for 10 years in Vietnam, “the crazier the wedding the better”. Beach weddings; on top of a mountain; in a cave; on a boat; paragliding onto the beach as an entrance; rich and colourfully traditional; to everything in between. You will soon discover in this program, Jenny, found here at “Weddings and Special events by Hoang Anh”, has a lot to say about the kinds of things the bride and groom can experience in Vietnam. Climate, food, flowers, staff, culture and many beautiful locations can bring to life a dream wedding, that is both uniquely special and culturally rich for everyone who attends. Hoang Ang, who for easy conversation allows me to call her Jenny, is a very hands on planner as she engages with all aspects of the event, including the travel plans and arrangements for pre and post events; family get togethers’, and parties of celebration. You will have a good laugh at the “Hangover” story. You can find more about Jenny’s business and discuss your ideas using the links available at the conclusion of the Transcript available on this page. Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

65dfbab5-85d9-46bf-b803-c8167282dec0Discover and mastermind your Vietnam experiences What About Vietnam - 2-18 How to mastermind your best experience of Vietnam. Kerry Newsome: [00:00:35] Xin chau and welcome to what about Vietnam today, I'm delighted to have Kirsten Pilz on the show because we're going to discuss how journaling or writing can help you explore the reasons why you want to go to Vietnam. Together, we take a real deep dive into how to capture that pre-trip, excitement and anticipation as none of us know when we will be traveling abroad again. We are all looking for ways to do that. Does that explain the boom in travel groups on social media as we all want to keep our dreams alive and chat about where we want to go after Covid? Can a journal tease out those begging questions of why, how, when and if? Kerry Newsome: [00:01:23] And can it be our companion pre the trip during the trip and post the trip? Let's find out. Kerry Newsome: [00:01:31] Kirsten, in her recent Tedex talk, spoke about the healing power of writing as a way to heal and grow. In the context of travel; In this episode, we talk about how a journal can, from the very beginning, help tease out any fears. You might have & expectations. And of course, it helps you document that bucket list of things to do. And we discuss how writing can be the companion to your experience and help you overcome those feelings that you know right now you just can't explain, especially as we venture out after the covid pandemic. Kirsten tells us about her writing retreats in Hoi An and how many solo women travelers joi them. They come to connect with other travelers and to give themselves permission to possibly deal with all feelings that they haven't had a chance to express in a creative way. Let's face it, writing for yourself is a dialogue with yourself. Essentially, you become the author of your own experiences and your own holiday. Dr Kirsten Pils, as she's also known, is a published author, former academic with almost 20 years experience as a teacher and a wellbeing coach who runs her own online business and writing retreats in Australia and Vietnam. And when Kirsten moved to Vietnam in 2016 and set up a popular online business, Write Your Journey.com that allows her to share the tools that helped her transform, grow and heal. Thanks to the pandemic, she's currently in Australia and finishing her memoir, Falling Apart Gracefully. You'll get a real sense for how her and I both feel about travel in Vietnam. And in this episode we share just how we've used writing, journaling and creating trip books to capture our experiences. Please welcome Kirsten to the program. Kerry Newsome: [00:03:39] Kirsten, hello and welcome to what about Vietnam? Thank you for coming on the show. Kerry Newsome: [00:03:45] Look, I'm really excited about this episode, so let's jump right in as we've got a lot to talk about. I thought let's, do this a little bit differently this time. Kirsten, let's just pretend we're taking a leisurely walk together and we just chatting. And I begin our conversation by saying, look, once we're allowed to travel, I would really like to go to Vietnam. I'm seeing it come up quite a lot in the media. And it seems to have had and been fairing really well through the Covid crisis. But I'm not sure, I don't know… would I like it; would I feel safe? Is it really my kind of destination? I don't know a lot about it. I mean, what do you think? How do you think I can kind of process should I approach it, that kind of thing, about whether to go to Vietnam? Kerston Pilz: [00:04:42] Yeah, that's a great question, Kerry. Thank you for that. As you know, I teach writing, personal writing and journaling. And I think a journal, a travel journal can begin way before the trip itself. And as we all know right now, the idea, even just you and I strolling around Sydney is almost unthinkable. So the idea even to go overseas, you know, really makes everybody quite nervous. And so the Journal is really an opportunity to actually get in touch with those feelings, with our fears and maybe also with our reasons for actually going on a journey. Because any trip, whether we're going to a safe place or whether we're going to a really far flung place like I did last year to Iran on a off the year before, takes us outside of our comfort zones. And that is where the journal comes in handy, because any trip is inevitably a form of ourney as well. And that inner journey begins a long time before you standing there at the airport with your mask and perhaps trembling knees. So that is right. Kerry Newsome: [00:05:57] So where do you begin with a journal like that? Does it start with research, do you think? Or like you're talking about that in a journey? I don't know where to start. Why do I want to go to Vietnam of all places? Kerston Pilz: [00:06:19] It was just a statistically named as the second best country, having dealt with Covid just after New Zealand. So it's obviously one of the safer to go to. I personally have been a solo traveller for much of my life and I would say Vietnam is one of the safest countries. But the journal really you can use it obviously for the sort of nitty gritty trip planning, of course, there are Apps around that you could use. But it's also really nice to use a pen and paper journal and to write down your itinerary. And you know, the thing is, we're all at the moment dreaming about going on a trip because nobody knows when we can even go. The borders can close, even state borders any minute. So just use the journal as a way of savouring, of prolonging the sort of pre trip excitement. I recently had a very interesting course with Yale University about happiness. And the interesting thing that these researchers found was that we experience happiness by savouring the moment, and that means the anticipation of the experience. And so there is, for example, a really good place for the journal to actually prolong this experience by writing about your pre trip excitement and sort of tease out the reasons for why you've chosen this country. It might be economical. It's just cheaper or it might be because it's different to other places. So, yeah. Kerry Newsome: [00:08:04] And I think that cultural expectation is also an element. Kerston Pilz: [00:08:09] I know years and years ago when I did anticipate going to Vietnam, you might be thinking I did start to write down things that I want to, I don't know, to get some verification on, because coming from Australia, there was lots of talk about the Vietnam War. Did the Vietnamese like Australians did they how did they feel about us as a country? So I had lots of No. And questions that I want answered during my visit. What do you think what do you say to that? Kerston Pilz: [00:08:45] Yeah, I mean, that's a great point that you bring up there. And it sort of hones in on the idea of our expectations, because inevitably we always look at a foreign culture through our the lens of our own expectations and our cultural understanding and the ways we behave. So I think a journal can be very helpful in that, because also you can often surprised in our trips positively and negatively. And the Journal is actually a way to then reframe your experiences, especially the negative ones, you know, and to really see and dig deep. And I think it's really interesting that you brought up that historical question. How would I feel as an Australian passport holder going to Vietnam? Would they look at me like strangely or hostile? And let me let me assure your listeners that that is actually not the case at all. I always say this. Kerry Newsome: [00:09:47] Go on. Yes, I think having some understanding. I know I read a few books at the time to get a better understanding of that, especially when I was visiting certain places in Vietnam that held a lot of, I guess, historical significance in respect to that. I looked at them, as you say through that lens. But I did refer back to, for want of a better word, my trip book or my trip planning book. Kerry Newsome: [00:10:29] And and I kind of had a list of to DOS and some things that I just wanted to experience to say, gosh, you know, this happened then and how it really transpired. And then to see it now and to be greeted by the lovely people in Vietnam was was just such a welcoming feeling so that when I came back and people asked me again, you know, I could refer, oh, yes, I actually went to that site. And this is what I experienced in places like the Kuchi tunnels and things like that know, I think speak to a lot of historical significance. And I think they do resonate with your upbringing, with your emotions, your feelings and how forefather's, I guess, could have experienced Vietnam very differently. Kerston Pilz: [00:11:18] Yes. I mean, it was interesting. The very first time I went to Vietnam, I went with a friend in 2004. And I grew up in Germany. My father grew up in East Germany. So Communist Germany. And I had this flash, this communist flash. I had this nostalgia in Hanoi. I couldn't get over the similarities. And I sort of felt very unexpectedly sort of a connection. Even though I grew up in West Germany, I still felt this connection between part of the Germany where my father grew up and Hanoi with the communist paraphernalia and all of that, which really, really surprised me. And I had to yeah, I had to actually go to my journal to tease that out because my friend that I was traveling with, she couldn't really understand. She kept laughing at me. So that's the other thing that that's the other thing that the journal where the general comes in handy is also a companion, whether you travel alone or not, because obviously when you travel alone, it is very handy companion, but also when you travel with a friend, because often you do get very different reactions to places. And also you may know your friend in Australia or wherever you come from and you have that familiarity. Kerston Pilz: [00:12:38] But once you both step out of the comfort zone, you might you might react to that other culture in a very different way. You might feel challenged in very, very different ways. I had this experience with my friend. She's a very much an extrovert and I'm much more an introvert. And so I actually liked the fact that I could lean on my journal and just have a quiet time to process and say, can you just give me a moment? I just need to write down what we saw on today. And so, yeah, that's another aspect of the journal that a lot of travelers will find useful. Kerry Newsome: [00:13:15] Yeah. So what you're saying and I mean, I, I kind of hold you up there in the writing, journaling speech and certainly connected to travel. And, you know, your recent TED talk spoke a lot about the healing power of writing. So if we if we're talking to my audience and saying, OK, the writing aspect can actually begin well before you leave, it can become part of your, I guess, inner exploration and research technique to decide whether or not you do want to go to Vietnam. Kerry Newsome: [00:14:00] I mean, I'm hoping even my podcasts are part of a person's process of research and understanding of the country, because we're talking to people like yourself who have been to Vietnam, lived in Vietnam and traveled extensively. Kerry Newsome: [00:14:18] So you've got a lot to share. So if I was to kind of point to some beginnings of that writing journal that we're starting,… at the very beginning of the process, what about if we touched on some of the things that you would advise people to include in that journal, like we've mentioned, things like stepping out of their comfort zone. What advice would you give to a person to start the journey? How could they kind of begin? Did I write a list of things I'm worried about my number one, the food or the traffic? I didn't speak to that a little bit. Kerston Pilz: [00:15:05] Yes, sure. So first of all, my expertise, like you just said there in my TED talk, it was the healing power of writing. And that sort of goes hand in hand with that idea of the inner journey, because as we said at the beginning, any trip is a step outside of the comfort zone. And it's really confronting and again, especially during these times when everything is so uncertain. And so the list is actually a very, very good way to turn. I often use that in my writing groups, as in writing prompt; Write a list of the fears you may have or write a list of the preconceived ideas you may hold towards that country and really be honest with yourself. And that's the beautiful thing about a journal, is a place where you're meant to be brutally honest because it's only for yourself. And that's also the sort of fabulous thing in the way about a journal is a dialogue with yourself. And you can be frank. So this is a very good place. And you could list my favorite top things. I want to see my Vietnam bucket list. That could be a list, and then you could go off and do your research. The things I definitely want to do and achieve in this trip, or maybe a list about what do I want to get out of this trip? Do I want to go for relaxation, cultural awareness and deepening my cultural awareness of this country? Or maybe a mixture of both so the lists can be themed? My fears and I think that's the other thing we often do, because we do live in the culture of positivity and so on. We often don't give ourselves permission to actually think about our fears and travel inevitably brings up a lot of fears. So give yourself permission to write about those fears. Kerry Newsome: [00:17:06] Yeah, and then I go, you know, I was just going to be checking up to ask when you did visit Vietnam for the first time back in 2004, did you have a list of things that you wanted to experience or fears that you might have had preconceived ideas or anything like that? What was on your list? Kerston Pilz: [00:17:29] Well, you know what? Kerston Pilz: [00:17:30] This is actually quite embarrassing to confess, but I actually was quite overworked at the time and I just needed a break in. My friend said, let's go to Vietnam. And I was so silly I hadn't even brought a lonely planet or we hadn't we hadn't actually planned anything. We were on the plane and because I hadn't seen my friend in a while. So, you know, sometimes how it is, you catch up with a friend as you go on holiday and chatting, chatting, and then we touch down. And I think it was like going to a city and we're like, actually, hang on, we want to stay tonight. I mean, so I wouldn't advise that I normally don't travel like that anymore. Kerston Pilz: [00:18:06] I'm also a little bit older now. I do get a little bit anxious these days. I usually have the first five books. And so here we are standing at the taxi rank, going on with the with the picnic a quarter. Where does one go? Kerston Pilz: [00:18:21] So, yes, I would definitely advise doing that research in advance and also doing the research on like I don't know how much is a taxi to cost and how do I get from the airport to town without feeling ripped off because you don't want to start your. Journey in a negative way. Feeling, oh, my God, that taxi driver, this rarely happens in Vietnam because it's so organized, so. Yeah, yeah. Just things to think about. Kerston Pilz: [00:18:51] So I think when you're young and you do kind of fly by the seat of your pants in a way, and that's totally cool. But I think as you do get older, you become a little bit more of a thoughtful traveler. Do you think? Kerston Pilz: [00:19:07] Yes. And also depends how much time you have. Like back in the day when I have a month, months of backpacking and you just go where the wind blows you, that's that's cool. That's part of that experience. But if you're working and your annual leave is very minimal in Australia, we typically get 20 days that that is not very much to play with. So that's where, again, the journal comes in handy in the trip planning because you really want to figure out, OK, do I need one night in this place to I should give myself three nights here. Do I want a rest stop in the middle of the trip? Because when often when we cram too much into our journeys, we can come home feeling more exhausted than before we left. So definitely I would advise or I these days plan a little bit more carefully, although I didn't do that on my last trip to Iran. Kerston Pilz: [00:19:59] Again, we just had the first night booked, but that was because there was very little information available. Kerston Pilz: [00:20:05] Vietnam has a lot of information and the What About Vietnam podcast is, of course, one of them. So I would advise to do so, because we don't know when we'll travel. So use this time to do a little bit of armchair travel and use the time to write about and start that dialogue with yourself. What do I want to get out of this trip and how do I expect it to change me? And what are my fears like we said before? And what are my preferences, especially if you're travelling with other people that can often be a clash. One person wants to be super active, the other one maybe wants to hang more by the pool. So how do you negotiate that and so on? Kerry Newsome: [00:20:47] Yes, and I think that's something definitely to consider when you are traveling either as a family or, as you say with a friend or or even in a group. Sometimes there'll be a dynamic in that group where one person is a “doing” person or group and the other person's a bit more of a chill kind of aspect. Just on the on the writing side of it, you've got me thinking now about journaling. And I'm I'm a bit of a fan of pen and paper and beautiful little kind of notebooks. And that's probably very old fashioned. But about capturing those highlights, I tend to take lots of photos and I do. And I have created over my life various trip albums so that includes everything from the first itinerary to the ticket, to hotel bills, to tickets to shows, things like that. I include all in a trip album so that I can go back and say, gosh, you know, I went to Vietnam back in 2010 and I was only paying so many Dong for a hotel. And now 10 years on, I'm paying this in a hotel or the sophistication is increased enough that I certainly think both you and I both seeing Vietnam evolve and become a much more sophisticated country and able to deal with the the Western traveller and in a much more, how shall I say, luxurious way than in the past. it had. And I mean, what are your thoughts about trip books versus trip Apps, versus photo like this is your space. Kerry Newsome: [00:22:52] So tell me more about your thoughts on that. Kerston Pilz: [00:22:56] Kerrythank you for that question. I am quite active on Instagram because I love taking photos, but like all of us, you can take one hundred photos and then you go back to work and suddenly you forget about them. And one day you need to change phone and you go, oh my God, I haven't even downloaded those photos or done anything with them. And the same can be true for Camera. And I used to travel with a big camera. Kerston Pilz: [00:23:26] So I really like the old fashioned journal for several reasons. One is what you just mentioned. You use it like a scrapbook and it becomes sort of this lively record to help you track your trip, you'll a treasure that more than the photos that he never downloaded from your iPhone or your camera because like you said, you can stick receipts, entrance tickets from the temple or the pagoda in there, and it becomes sort of a visual record, a scrapbook. And the other thing is a journal slows you down. And one of the reasons we take trips is to actually get away from our everyday life. Often we feel a bit burnt out with our jobs, our routines. So traveling is a way to slow down. And writing pen and paper is a way to slow down and to really get in touch with your deepest thoughts and reactions. So I really am a great advocate of getting yourself a beautiful book, you know, with a nice, sturdy cover. Or you might even buy it there if you. That's another. Yes, it's a beautiful picture. Kerston Pilz: [00:24:37] Yeah. Combined Vietnam and books with handmade paper and lovely. Lovely. And the other thing is, of course, I find people, you know, suddenly discover their creativity when they write. And I get so many people in my online courses who feel very, very shy to admit to themselves that they have creative stirrings. But we all have them. But they get sort of taught out of us, when we grow up. We leave the crayons in the sand in the kindergarten and then we grow up. But journaling is a is a very lovely way to get in touch again with your creativity and discover things about yourself that you didn't even know you had interest in yourself. And so savour that time, you know, and yeah, I think it's a wonderful tool to also to document your trip. It's a practical way to organize a stay organized. I just use Instagram because I like it and it helps me connect with my community. But I actually love the journal. Absolutely. Kerry Newsome: [00:25:49] So now what do you think it is about Vietnam that does seem to inspire the “writer” in us? I know one of my trips I had the privilege to attend one of your writing classes and I really, really enjoyed it. And I think retreats or writing retreats is kind of a unique thing in itself. But there's something about Vietnam that you mentioned slows you down or there's something about the nature of Vietnam in some places like Vietnam, where where you hold your writing retreats. Kerry Newsome: [00:26:35] Tell us a little bit about a writing retreat and what people can expect to experience in that. Kerry Newsome: [00:26:43] Yeah, great question. And also, I just wanted to say that you came to was the very, very first class I ever held, so good to know, as I was very nervous that day. But that was four years ago. Kerston Pilz: [00:27:00] We actually went online for our writers group and this year we had to do advising. So I listen to some episodes of your wonderful podcast and you have talked about yoga retreats and skin wellness retreats. Kerston Pilz: [00:27:17] So you can obviously do a range of retreats. And Vietnam is still a virgin territory, if you like. And as was discussed in some of your episodes there when it comes to retreats. A writing holiday is quite a unique way to experience a holiday. Typically, I get a lot of women, but that's just because I sort of advertise that way. And often they come because they may want to travel by themselves, but they feel a little uncomfortable if you just go all by themselves. So this retreat gives them that container of safety and community. And I also often get people who are not necessarily aspiring to publish books or to write creative fiction. Most of the people who come to my retreats are actually there to connect with themselves. So they use that like other people might go on yoga and meditation retreat. And we actually combine yoga and meditation and mindfulness with the writing practice. And so they really come to take that deep dive into themselves and to dwell on that dialogue with themselves. Often they work through episodes in their lives that may have been traumatic or difficult and. So they want to find that sort of next chapter, ….because really writing symbolically is all about closing one chapter and opening another one. And that is why I love that, …that you open it and it's a blank page…. and you can put into it whatever you want. Kerston Pilz: [00:28:54] It really is up to you. You are the author of your trip and also of your life. And the other thing, of course, about Vietnam is that because it's not sort of so oversaturated, from an Australian perspective. We know there's a lot of travel historically that has gone to Bali. It's sort of still more new and fresh. And a lot of people love that sort of or what I do with my students on retreat or participants is we go to the markets, and we do a cooking classes. I also take them on excursions and then we write about it. What did you see today that really surprised you or describe, I don't know, the smile on the lips of a vendor that you didn't have a common language with at the market? You still had a really profound experience connecting with that person. Describe that. Describe the feeling of riding through the rice paddies. What did you see? And that is another way of slowing down and connecting with your senses and again, connecting with yourself in ways you don't normally do when you are following your routine. You're going through life on autopilot, busy getting through the day. So it's a really lovely way to expand yourself, your understanding and you're opening yourself up to the world in creative ways. Y Kerry Newsome: [00:30:21] And and it's a lovely way to record your actual experience at the time, because sometimes we are so busy where we're getting on the cable car. We're going up with the kids to the top of the mountain, to Ba Na Hills or whatever. And just to make sure at the end of the day, we captured something that someone said or, as you say, the smile on the girl's face, as she said, welcome to the hills. Or, you know, we very rarely give ourselves the privilege of that because this gets in the way. I know one of the things that I've written about in Vietnam quite a bit is in particular in Hoian is the colours. I'm always struck by the colour and how the colour and the colours I experience influenced me and my sense of happiness, my sense of joy, my sense of well-being, my positivity levels. I always come away from Hoi An, feeling very lighter andbrighter, more colourful, more creative, more open, more even friendly. I think I'm even a nicer person. Kerston Pilz: [00:31:46] Yeah, I think that really resonate with me because as you know, I lived in Hoi An up until I became stranded here actually almost a year ago now. And I do. I mean, you make me really nostalgic. Kerston Pilz: [00:31:59] Of course, there's a beautiful. Yeah, and the beautiful thing about the Vietnamese is the smiles, even though I often think they have gone through incredible hardship, inconceivable trauma, and yet they're smiling and they're resilient and they live in the moment. And again, writing is actually about capturing the experience in the moment, documenting the story as it is unfolding. And so there's a point of connection there when we slow down and slow down to that very moment where I feel I can connect better with the locals because they live in the here and now. It's not about the past, even though that past could go away terribly on their minds. And I'm sure it does. But it is about living now and expressing that joy and that happiness. And the one thing I want to say to then is I do with my community is to encourage them to write a gratitude journal. And that's something you can also do with your journal when you when you travel, because like you say, we are so busy. Sometimes we go up and I remember meeting somebody and today I have to just get the tailor down and then I have to get this done. And then I still have to go to the then why do I have to do that on a holiday? You don't actually have to go to the tailor. You could just relax so long to capture what you have actually experiences to write a gratitude journal. Five things I saw today that made me smile. I mean, you could do that every day, but especially on a trip , it's just such a beautiful record to take home. And then even on the days when you're not feeling so happy and you know you're anxiously awaiting your next holiday, you might just go over that and say, oh, my God, that was so simple and it was so profound and so wonderful. So, yeah, it's the simple things that often end up so special. Kerry Newsome: [00:34:02] And I think when someone then asks you down the track, gosh, you know, why do you want to keep go to Vietnam? What is it about Vietnam? Kerry Newsome: [00:34:12] Even if I've momentarily forgotten, which doesn't happen very often, as you know. But if I momentarily why do I care or why did I go to that place? Kerry Newsome: [00:34:24] What was it about Ba be Lake, I am in love with it. Was it the stillness? Was it the serene environment? Was it the beautiful, warm family that I stayed with at a homestay? Kerry Newsome: [00:34:39] Was it that really beautiful meal that I had with them when it was cold and we were all rugged up and we really couldn't converse because obviously my Vietnamese is hopeless. Kerry Newsome: [00:34:52] However, we did have a connection through our smiling with each other, with our handshake's, with our gestures and things like that. How can I convey that this is this is one of the things that has spurred me on with my podcasting. And I think from what I know about you, has spurred you on with your writing classes, and your retreats in Hoi An and things like that, because it comes out in in what you deliver and what you give and what you invest into those retreats. Kerry Newsome: [00:35:26] I want to finish because we are getting away with time. We do kind of touch on why Vietnam, why go to Vietnam and not Bali now? I have no answer to that. What would be your answer to why Vietnam? Why not Bali? Because we both know both places. Kerston Pilz: [00:35:47] Yes, I actually lived in Bali for a year in 1986, believe it or not, when it was very different. So my reason for not going to Bali, I guess it's because I'm nostalgic for the Bali ,that no longer is. But it's also I guess it has that reputation. I guess, you know, people go there for parties and it's very crowded. I actually recently did go to just before I came back to Australia, I transited via Bali and I spent a week there and it was just so busy and it sort of had lost a lot of its charm. Kerston Pilz: [00:36:22] And I guess its become very commercialized I mean, obviously any country in SE Asia is booming. It was booming before Covid. Also, you watched the rice paddies disappearing and so on. But I feel there's a creative energy in Vietnam, especially with the young people. It has a very large young population. And maybe because it had communist oppression and the war before that for a long time, there is sort of an opening up, a burgeoning creative energy that you often experience in countries that awaken to something new you had it in. So I feel there is, yeah, a creative spirit and adventurousness that is, perhaps was…. in Bali years ago and is no longer there for me anyway. You know, with the young people opening beautifully hipster, I don't know, coffee bars with those, those decorations, the tiles. And suddenly I remember one reason why I did move to Hoi An in 2016, which is not so long ago because it didn't have a yoga center. It was that here that Natalie who opened the first yoga center and yoga and up until then it didn't have a yoga center. And so everything was still new. Virgin territory like it is saturated now with yoga centres and especially after that book by Elizabeth Gilbert – Love eat pray But still Vietnam is still sort of Virgin territory in many respects. And that's what I love. There's a freshness and the newness. Kerry Newsome: [00:38:03] Kirsten, look, it's been lovely having you on the program. I hope we together have inspired people to have a look at the option when they are investigating a trip to Vietnam, to look at the idea of starting even before that armchair version of research and armchair version of an inner journey, as you say. And I'll definitely be putting the links to your retreat's both in Hoi An, and at Mission Beach is which is where you're sitting at the moment, correct? Yeah. Just lovely to have you on the program, as always. And lovely to catch up with you. Kerston Pilz: [00:38:47] Thank you so much. And you make me a little bit nostalgic now, but just to leave your listeners with this, do not be afraid. Vietnam is a wonderful place and it's it's safe. Thank you for listening. Kerry Newsome: [00:39:03] Check out the show notes for more information. What about Vietnam? Don't forget to subscribe, write and review and stay tuned for more fun adventures in Vietnam.

S4-23 Take beautiful photos Part 1 How to capture beautiful photos - Part 1 Episode 23 S4-23 Take beautiful photos Part 1 00:00 / 35:31 One of my favourite things to do in Vietnam is taking photographs. You can’t help wanting to just click away!!! It’s hard not to want to capture Vietnam’s magnificent scenery and colour popping landscapes, rivers, mountains and cities a buzz with people and rich culture. However, how can we capture those photographs that, upon reviewing them later, fill us with an overwhelming sense of pride and eagerness to share them with our friends and family. Meet our extraordinary photographer, and guest Thomas Levine whose talents and experiences have taken him on an incredible journey around the world! With a bachelor's degree in Sociology and minors in business and psychology, he possesses a unique perspective that shines through in his captivating photographs. His portfolio boasts a diverse range of subjects, including people for annual reports and advertising, still life compositions featuring cigars, cars, food, jewellery, furniture, flowers, and even nature and wildlife. His artistic eye captures the essence of each subject, delivering images that are both visually stunning and conceptually compelling. This is a 1 of a 2 part series on mastering photography in Vietnam. In Part 1 Thomas shares his wisdom in the pursuit of the perfect travel pic you will want to share. He focuses on the use of color, lines, backgrounds and the focus you need to have when photographing epic scenery, people, and activities. Whether its with a Camera or smartphone these tips on photography are universal. Follow Thomas’s remarkable photography as he continues to capture the beauty of Vietnam from his home in Hoi An, one click at a time. Check out his website for further advice and lessons. You can find Thomas here Thomas Levine https://www.levinephotography.com/ https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/levine-travel-stock https://thomaslevinephotography.com Skype: thomas.levine888 Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S4-13 Citizen 44 podswap Sorry no transcript for this episode

S4-09 Hanoi A Foodies Paradise P1 Hanoi is a foodies paradise - Part 1 Episode 9 S4-09 Hanoi A Foodies Paradise P1 00:00 / 33:22 When you think of Hanoi, do you automatically think of food? Probably not, but after you have a listen to this 2 Part Series, you may very well change your mind! You may even decide to spend more time in Vietnam’s capital city to explore its rich culture, history, labyrinth of tiny streets in the old quarter and, of course, its hearty food. My guest on today’s show is a prime example of someone who got swooped up by the city’s chaotic diversity and charm. However, while she loves the city this show….it is without a doubt “all about the food. The dishes. The places to enjoy food. And the districts to visit to expand your culinary horizons. Find out what is truly distinct about Northern Vietnamese cuisine in this episode of What About Vietnam Podcast. Let me tell you a little about my guest Corrin Carlson. Starting from her home in the U.S. Corrin let her passport lead the way to a working holiday in NZ. From there she navigated her way around SE Asia finally landing in Hanoi in about 2019. Before she knew it, a month had been extended to 3 months. Then Covid hit. However, for Corrin that meant work opportunities popped up, and a special someone who won her heart. Eventually, she found herself in Hanoi for 3 years. During her time in Vietnam, as a talented actress, she applied her skills to produce the very popular “The Fat Passport” Tik Tok and Instagram pages, sharing her “Plates of Hanoi” with her many followers. This is a show brimming with lots of helpful and cool information including answers to some of those tough questions related to food that both her and I get asked all the time. Make sure to check out the transcripts for all of the amazing details! And don’t forget to tune into Part 2 to follow! Time stamps for your easy reference: 07.29 – Best areas for Tourists to head to 08.20 – Tay Ho Lake district – Broadening your horizons 12.28 – Casual Dining – Plates of Hanoi 14.37 – Famous Hanoi Districts 16.58 – The vegetarian options 21.03 – Street food you wont want to miss 27.19 – Chicken street 29.05 – One dog of a question we get asked all the time Follow Corrin here – 
https://www.tiktok.com/@thefatpassport?lang=en https://www.instagram.com/thefatpassport/ Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

1af68691-5373-4368-b065-0bf15aeb9b4cWorld's largest cave at Phong Nha National Park. What About Vietnam - Series 2 - 9 Discover Phong Nha and the largest cave on the planet Kerry Newsome : So to kick it off. Maybe we just tell everyone. Where is Phong Nha, You know, Where is it located? Ben Mitchell : Okay, Phong Nha is located 300 kilometers north of Danang. Ah, 200 kilometers north of Hue. Um, if you were to get an overnight train from Hanoi or from Phong Nha to Hanoi, Hanoi down, you could have a break here on your way from Hanoi to get to Hoi An.. Um, There's flights to Dong Hoi City, which is 50 kilometers from Phong Nha from both Saigon and Hanoi On board, most people come usually on their way to or from Hoi An between Hue and Hanoi. Kerry Newsome: Right, Okay, because I probably wouldn't have thought about it that way. I probably would have thought I'd fly to Hanoi, do my Halong Bay stay and do my Hanoi stuff. And then I would pick up a flight to Dong Hoi. Ben Mitchell: Yeah, you could do that., But to get to Hoi An on from here, you really have to go overland because we don't have flights into Phong Nha, so that would be a good way to do it. You could fly down from Hanoi to Don Hoi and then go from from us, overland. One of the best sort of cross sections I believe that you could do in Vietnam would be to go from Phong Nha, down the HCM Trail as a day trip; stay overnight, and then go from bike on over to Vin Moc tunnels and around the DM zone, the older militarized zone from during the war, and then stay overnight in a way and then do another one day transit trip, if you like stopping a different places between Hue and Hoi An. It would be sort of three days from Hoi An to Phong Nha. Seeing a great cross section of both culture, historical jungle, minority people, beaches, different types of architecture. The whole cross section over three days, Central Vietnam. Kerry Newsome: Now we're going to get into a little bit more about things that people should look out for when planning this kind of trip. Uh, maybe give us some background a little bit. How you found yourself in in Phong Nha as a foreigner, like you've you've established a life there. So you know how did Phong Nha now come up on your radar? Ben Mitchell: Well, I met my wife, BEC, when I first came out working in Vietnam, and she brought me up to Phong Nha nearly 15 years ago. To meet the family and Phong Nha was very, very undeveloped back then. Um, there wasn't really any tourism to speak off. They got some busy domestic tourism on the long weekends in summer coming out from Dong Hai on day trips. Um, but it was very, very low key. And the national park wasn't open to tourism at that time. It was only the Phong Nha cave on the edge of the National Park, which was a boat trip. The ferry crossing in Sun Track Village, which is now sort of all purpose, is called Phong Nha. Um and I came here then and fell in love with the area. Um, a few years later, my wife and I decided to have a try at opening a tourism business for foreigners to come to the area to try and encourage foreigners to come to the area. And that is what is called Phong Nha Farmstay. We opened that in 2010 after having people sort of staying at a house for the year or two before that, at a parent's house in hammocks. After that we decided we opened up our farm stay. And that did encourage foreign tourists to come to Phong Nha very quickly and from our farm stay and then it hit the ground running throughout 2011. Um, yeah, and sort of it's growing quickly since then. Kerry Newsome: It has kind of been an evolution, hasn't it? Because I remember when I started coming to Vietnam, you know, like, this is only about 14 years ago, but, uh, it really wasn't hitting any headlines. It wasn't hitting any tourist list. But then all of a sudden, as you say, six or seven years ago, it started to get meaty media attention. And just a little I had to do with Vietnam tourism, the VNAT. All of a sudden, there was this cave system, and very quickly people were setting up businesses like yourself and and others to meet that demand, which was fantastic. And I think there's also been some further discoveries of caves in recent times, that has broadened that openness and an eagerness of people to say, “Hey, we need to include this on our map”. Traditionally, Vietnam had featured the hot spots of you know, Hanoi, HCMC. and Hoi An, Hue. Where Now Vietnam is opening up to these outer regions because, as you said, there's just so much more to greet you in these places, including minority groups, including culture, crafts and, local cuisine, etc So, uh, just when we're talking about the caves themselves, I mean, you've been there and seen a lot. They've been opening up and developing, tell us about the caves that you'd suggest would be kind of meeting the average person's ability to explore, to spend time in and and really enjoy their stay there. What caves would you suggest? ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAVES Ben Mitchell : Well, the caves could sort of be divided into three categories. If you like. One would be the show caves, the Paradise cave, the dark cave, the Fungal cave, the TSien Cave, um. These caves are set up to accept mass tourism. So busses can pull up in car parks and they are set up with infrastructure that can move people either by boat or zip line or up and down staircases and walkways, um, into and out of the caves. That would be one category. Another category would be the more Adventure Caves that are for doing day trips to and maybe overnight trips to. And they would be what I would consider great for tourists to go and have a really adventurous experience of trekking in the jungle and visiting a cave. Maybe, as I say, maybe for a day trip and then coming back and having a swim in the pool and a gin and tonic watching the sunset from there, Or, from a bar somewhere around Phong Nha. Or maybe they do an overnight trip where they camp in the cave and they have the right cook dinner by the local jungle man. And yeah, thats fun. So the third category that I would suggest would be the, uh, multi night caves so they could go into the two lung system for many, many nights of camping and trekking and adventure of course this includes the Son Doong cave, which is Ah, a four day trip usually. The moment you are in Son Doong you're actually tracking to a different location every night. In either solely the Han Son Doong cave or in some of caves and do the other trips. You could be going to different caves and different campsites every day. And they would be the more\, adventurous ones. That would be, I would consider, would be not probably for everyone, but definitely for people who want to do something that's going to be outside the box. Kerry Newsome: And I think they are the ones, that multi night cave trips that are featured in those,trekking tour brochures. They're the ones that always seemed to sit on all the websites and feature all the amazing pictures. Because I know when I did a VNAT tour a couple of years ago and I went... God, these caves are amazing. But then when I drilled down to it, I found out that, you know, it was a 7 kilometer cave and, you know, you could spend four or five nights and maybe not get through, plus when you've got a book; Sometimes two years in advance. I mean, we're sitting here in the middle of September and the middle of Covid 2020 so I'm not sure how that's affecting future plans. But prior it was about a two year in advance kind of booking, set up, that you would have to make to even get on one of those as an experienced trekker. And secondly, they were quite expensive. Those multi night ones, Um, all right, CAVING SEASON FEBRUARY - SEPTEMBER Ben Mitchell: Yeah, its September, and currently looking like the caving season for, say, Hang Son Dong,( which they refer to as its full name) the world's biggest tour finished here about a week ago now, due to the chance off Typhoon or Big Storm coming in from the Pacific at this time of year. Uh, Oxalis, the company that runs the tours, stops tours between now and the end of January to the world's biggest cave. Kerry Newsome: And that's nothing to do with Covid, is it? That's just seasonal. HOW THE CAVES ARE RUNNING DURING COVID Ben Mitchell: Well, it was quite funny. Strange things happen like when when Covid came. Obviously, a lot of people canceled the holidays with Oxalis and a lot of people postponed till next year, Um, or to even the year after, We were lucky enough, as a lot of Vietnamese people and expats who live in Vietnam, then took the tour. So the tour has been running as busy as it normally would do, right throughout Covid, with domestic and expatriate tourism. Uh, yeah, so looking at next year at the moment, they're running 15 tours per month, so it runs on a 15 out of 30 days and looking at numbers at the moment, they've got some openings. WHAT IS 2021 LOOKING LIKE? The caves will be opened up on around the 27th of, January. They've still got some places open on the 29th. February is quite busy. They do have a few places left, March is booked out. But April is, um, April still open. Like if you want to go next year, there's still a lot of places open for that. So it's not like when they say, booking a year out? Well, yeah, there's There's 15 trips per month and 10 people can go per trip. So you're looking at about 150 people a month going through from January till September, excluding TET holiday, which they’ll be closed down for for a little while over TeT in February. Kerry Newsome: I really appreciate you breaking up the caves in categories, as in that, you know, one category being the show caves, as in they're the ones where I see all the as you say, bulk tourists, um, you know, cramming themselves into busses and other kinds of vehicles, etc and flooding those caves. And then you've got the “adventurers” caves. Then you're going to get people that are going to spend, you know, two or three days, um, exploring. And then you've got the really experienced, uh, trekker Who's going to take on that quite strenuous caving through Son Doong, because, you know, that's not just for your average bear. Let's face it like I don't know about you, but I certainly know about me, and Im not sure I would be up for it. WHAT FITNESS LEVEL DO YOU NEED TO TREK SON DOONG? Ben Mitchell: It is mainly is for walking, like if you can walk a few kilometers a day, you'd be right to do the world's biggest cave. It's not, for people that can't walk and balance is helpful. Yeah! Kerry Newsome : Balance.!!! And, you know, having the right gear, the right footwear HELPS. You know, not being worried about squeezing your body through, small crevices. Yeah. Darkness. Yeah. Actually, I read something that the stalagmites in size can be related to the Big Ben in London. Is that kind of a little bit of an overstep in creative license description? I mean, is that true, that they are that big? Ben Mitchell: Makes a big day. Yeah. Yeah, that's how big they are. Yeah. So Kerry Newsome: When you walk…. Ben Mitchell: through it, it feels like you're in Notre Dame Cathedral. But you're a Lego man. Hahahah! Yes. Wow. God. My mother's done it. Um, my, I've done it. Um, I have a lot of different people come from, and so long as you can, you keep yourself physically moving for a few days. You can do it. There's a little bit of rope work in that, but where people don't have the experience to do it. The company Oxalis has it. Their staff are very experienced, and they're not just experienced in what they do. But they're also experienced in getting people who are not experienced in what they do through the cave. So, you know, they've got some good runs on the board at this point after being doing it since 2013. CAVES ONLY OPEN SINCE 2013 Kerry Newsome: Yeah, and you know we're still talking about It's only 2013. We are only sitting in 2020. So less than 10 years. Quite a revelation. These caves. That's why you know, having you on to talk about it rather than just me read about it in a Vietnam Tour guide or, you know, Lonely Planet guide. You’ve done it. You know your mother's done it. You live there. It kind of makes it a little bit more real to me. Ben Mitchell: It's a very interesting part of the world. Like when I first came here, I was asking my then girlfriend, now wife Bec and her family and other people in the area. Like what? What about these mountains? What's in these mountains? And no one would answer me. No one would tell me anything, and it was just fascinating. And then I found out about a group of British cavers who'd been coming here since 1990 um, every year or two or three whenever they could come and exploring the area. Now those guys, some of those guys now work here permanently for the Oxalis company, working around safety. And, uh, you know, they are the caretakers off the cave, and other caves that Oxalis are involved in. They also tend to help other companies that want to set up on that a bit on the side just to try and keep everything, um, safe and environmentally sound as well. Like sort of advisers, consultants, they become the safety monitors on the bigger tours as well, but they have explored the area, and still do every year. They do expeditions where they go and explore new caves. it's just amazing that there's all these caves. I mean Paradise Cave, for instance, which sells a lot of tickets on a weekend public holiday. Um, and during the summer, it's very busy with people from all over the world. CAVES DISCOVERY The first humans completely went through the whole passage in 2005. It went open to tourism in 2010. Like it's just hard to imagine, and I do often have a lot of guests, who say...they must have known about it. Someone would have known about it. Somebody would have used it during the war or something. And it's like, No, they just didn't. There are some of the caves have got very interesting histories. Like Phong Nha. Our cave was used by the champ, the Champ Monks. They broke down stalagmites and stalactites and made altars in there, and they wrote graffiti all over the walls. Um, that cave also was used by the NVA, the North Vietnamese army as a major, sort of, uh, logistical part of the logistics for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Um, other caves, like Von Cave, had a whole town underground during the war, Um, in order to avoid the bombing. But most of the caves, to be honest, just weren't used by people. The people didn't have lights up until a less than 10 years ago. They had torches and things here in this area. Um, they just didn't go into the caves. They went in as far as they needed to get out of the rain.,Even the world's biggest cave, wasn’t discovered till 2009. When the first people went and explored it. The local bushman who took the British explorers to the entrance to show them where,the entrance to what he believed would be a big cave. He found that in 1990, during a thunderstorm, when he was only about 16 years old, and, uh and he took them back there in 2009, and they went in and to explore it. And they were very excited from from the moment they found it because they knew they'd found something remarkable on. Then they opened it up with Oxalis, with the owner of Oxalis, in 2013 for the first tour group that went there. And then, really, they opened in 2014 fully. Kerry Newsome : Yeah, you mentioned you know, the safety aspect. And maybe let's just touch on that a little bit more because, you know, there is sometimes, um, a concept about some of the things in Vietnam, you know? Are they safe? You know, Do they have the, you know, the kind of same levels or quality of safety that you know, are experienced in other countries, etcetera. I mean, talk to us a little bit about that. I mean, I've been up to Ba Na Hills and seen, you know, the extravagance of workmanship that went into that five kilometer cable car that takes you to the top of that hill. I mean, my heart still races every time I do it, but I I say to myself, geepaz, it's an amazing piece off of ingenuity. So just talk to us a little bit. So we can. We can cover that off for people, so people know it sounds like it's well, it's well managed. It's safe, etc. SAFETY OF THE CAVES Ben Mitchell: Yes, okay, I've been to the cave with the Oxalis tour company to the world's biggest cave and yeah, the safety, it was above, and beyond. Everyone's inducted; How to use the harnesses in the parts where they need to use the harness. Everything's bolted. Um, yeah, I mean, it was 100% kosher, fully safe. Yeah, it’s that's good. And as far as, the Phong Nha cave goes and some of the other tourism, that mass tourism, involves water. Um, there's life jackets and everything provided I mean at the springs. You're not allowed to swim without a life jacket there. Even if you can swim because they do have a lot of them, I guess that they can't swim properly. So they just make everyone wear a life jacket anyway. And when. Kerry Newsome: You have to wear a swimming costume for that, don't you? Ben Mitchell: Yeah. Yeah. When you're caving through like the Two Lung cave system, you would really want to wear a life jacket. Like I'm a strong swimmer. And I always wear a life jacket when I go through those river caves simply because it's so nice to lay on your back with a life jacket on. Just to relax. WHAT DOES A STAY IN PHONG NHA LOOK LIKE? Kerry Newsome : And not have to do all the work. Yeah, for sure. All right, now I want to talk about just what a stay a in Phong Nha could look like?. So you've seen a lot of changes and developments in accommodation and, you know, just the township I would expect has evolved with tourism to support it. So talk to us a little bit about the types of accommodation that you can experience now and a bit about the town itself. Ben Mitchell: Well, where we are at the moment here in Phong Nha, we've got a lot of local people have opened homestays. A lot of those homestays HERE NOW. Sort of borderline between a small guest house and a “bed and breakfast”. You get a room and you get maybe a nice view of the river or nice view of the rice paddies. Ah, lot of them have got swimming pools. Um, and they supply breakfast. And there's other restaurants around the town that you could go out to for your evening meal. Most of your lunchtime meals would typically come from most people traveling through Phong Nha and be out in the park or part of the tour. It would be be pre planned. Um, you know, Phong Nha to date hasn't sort of been the destination where a lot of people are sitting around during the day. They sort of come in quickly, see the caves doing a full day of activities or two full days of activities, and then leave. Um what, like it's just in that stage of development where people are putting it short, as you so put it, between Hanoi and Halong Bay. Um, I think most people, when they do come through Phong Nha, although wish they hadn't done that, but it's just not well known enough. They've heard about it, so they come to see the caves and move on. But once they get here, they sort of realized, Oh, well, we could have. You know, maybe this was actually better than Halong Bay. Because it's sort of got the feeling up to now of being a little bit rough and ready. Still, um, there's a few of us here that have started to build some nice accommodation that people can come and actually have a holiday and relax for a few days or a week. Um, pool villas, poolside villas, bungalows by the lake at the Lake house. Different, uh,They're starting to become a little bit of, ah, body of nice accommodation out here in Phong Nha. But there is a lot of budget accommodation and a lot of that budget accommodation is cheap, and you get good value as well. It's very competitive. Because there's so much at that base level, as far as villa and bungalow accommodation goes, You've got Victory Road Villas. You've got Elements Villas, JungleO, villas, the Phong Nhal Farm Stay the Lake House Resort. The pepper house home stay is really nice around a pool. Uh, in that mid range, there's a few places like it around the valley. Ah, lot of like in the town is a main strip that you would find in most tourist towns, with all the neon lights and a few karaoke bars and hostels and cheap cheap bars and restaurants. Um, in Son Trac Village near the boat station, which was the old ferry crossing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where you get the boats to Phong Nha cave. There's a big, long strip of that style tourism there, but depending on what you're after, that's where the bus stops. So most home stays and other places air measured on their occupancy, from how far they are from the bus stop due to the backpacker style accommodation that was here prior to Covid. Um, Vietnamese tourism has always typically stayed in Dong Hoi. But we have seen a trend has changed where they are now looking to come out and stay in Phong Nha in more unique style accommodations than the cheap hotels that they were attracted to in Dong Hoi in the past, especially as the domestic tourism is now, Oh, many Vietnamese now buying cars to go, like they're traveling in cars as family groups rather than traveling in large groups on buses, as the way they always typically did before. We're now seeing smaller groups of people in cars Kerry Newsome : A lot more wealthy Vietnamese. Ben Mitchell: Vietnamese have got a lot more expendable income now. And, you know, my friends up and down the coast have been talking lately. Since Covid hit, we've seen this massive amount of domestic tourists driving around the country, checking out their own country in their cars. Kerry Newsome: Yeah, fabulous. Yeah, on doing the D Y. I thing….do it yourself angle. HOW LONG SHOULD YOU STAY IN PHONG NHA Um, if we talk about the length of stay for someone planning a trip. You know, what would you say is a good amount of time? I mean, we've got now a better idea of the types of caves and access. And then, you know, who could do any of these? The show, the adventure or the multi the multi night caves. But on average, what would be a like, a good a couple of, you know, nights to stay two or three? Ben Mitchell: Yeah, Minimum of three. (3) Full days in the area are memorable days. Yeah. And, uh, one thing that we've noticed as well since Covid in March. We've noticed that they Well, we've had a lot of expats come and stay from Saigon and from down from Hanoi, and they typically stay for between five days and two weeks. And that's been a big change to the whole way we operate because they tend to go out and do something every day and then come back and relax. Whereas before we were full of people staying two nights, wishing they had four and trying to fit everything in everything in one or two days. Kerry Newsome: And, you know, we've talked a lot about the caves and the caves, obviously, you know, get the headline, but there's quite a bit to do just around the park. Is that right? IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE CAVES Ben Mitchell: Yeah. I mean, one thing I've noticed with all the expats coming through, they tend to rent a motorbike or go with one of our Phong Nha riders who used to be timber cutters or hunters. They take people. Yeah, they take people around the back of their motor bike all day. What we are typically finding now is that people are going up into the park and maybe they're going to eight Lady Cave and the Botanical Gardens one day. Then they're going to Paradise Cave another day, and then they're going to the dark cave and nuke Marquis Gautreaux Another day. That... Kerry Newsome: Sounds like a great idea.. TWO DAYS NOT ENOUGH - ALLOW 3-5 DAYS Ben Mitchell: Yeah, and they sort of just keep going up into the park and doing things each day because there's so much waiting. There's way too much to do now, for just two days, and so they're sort of If people come for longer, will they get to do more? And that way, they actually get to enjoy it, rather than and then on to the next thing, and then we'll have half an hour here and then onto the next thing. And then we have an hour here, and then we're onto the next thing. Um and then that's things you can do yourself. But then outside the park, you've also got, like, all this countryside to explore and do what you want, like bicycles or mopeds, and you could just explore. And we're very close to the coast here too. So …. Kerry Newsome : you said you went surfing this morning. So we don't think about surfing in Vietnam as the water mostly calm, but... Ben Mitchell: ...from September through to November. We get waves. Yeah, so we try to make the most of it. It's only a short short window of waves. So I'm going, Yeah, so? So there's there's a lot like: You've got the ocean; You've got the fishing villages; You've got the sand dunes; Then you've got all the rice paddy farmland; Then you've got the agricultural land between the rice paddy land in the jungle; Then you've got the jungle in the mountains. Then you've got the caves and you know it...a great cross section off Central Vietnam. Just within a 40 kilometer, 50 kilometer width area of the country. This is the narrowest part of the country here, like JUST SOUTH OF PHONG NHA , the country's only 40 kilometers wide. So it's the narrowest part of the country. And as a lot of experts have been telling, me over the last few months, they're like, …...Wow, we just never knew, You know, “we're here for like, two weeks, and we're you know, we're coming back”. They love it. They say “We'll be back again in a few months, you know?” Kerry Newsome : Yeah, it's on my list now. Well, it's been on my list for quite a while, but it's matching up the best time of the year. Let's just talk about when you would suggest is the best time of the year to come. WHATS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT? Ben Mitchell: Let's say the best time of the year to come would be March April. Um, it's Kerry Newsome : THATS all of Vietnam. Ben Mitchell : Yeah, best is April, It's spring here. So we have, if you look at it from down South, they only have two seasons, wet season or dry season. If you look at sort of north of us. They have four seasons. They have summer, autumn, winter and spring. Well, here in Phong Nha, we have six seasons and the crossover of those two climates. So we, uh, we have plants and animals that are endemic to both the North and the south of Vietnam. We also have plants and animals that are found only here. It's a very high biodiversity in the jungle here, but having said that March and April is spring here everything's blooming. Everything's coming to life. It's just not too hot yet. It's going to be hot in Hoi An in, May and June. Yeah, but it's cold here in January and February. If you are going to come here and do some hard core tracking and camping, I would highly recommend coming between January between December and February because yeah, then much in April's sort of the prime and then again September, October November. It's a really beautiful time of year, ….

e3006e0d-2050-43b4-8931-3fe27f6b5457Special retreat focusing on skin wellness What About Vietnam - 2-13 A special kind of retreat that focuses on Skin Wellness, Part 2 Kerry Newsome: xin chào and welcome to what about Vietnam? Today we're going to be talking a little bit further about health retreats and on Wellbeing in Vietnam, & the focus is going to be on skin wellness. And I've asked Kim La Sambolec to come on because she is an expert in this field and she is running retreats in Hoi An in Vietnam. She is founder of the Skin Wellness Academy, and she's clearly ahead of the game in this area. Now, when you start looking at retreats and finding locations for them and looking for destinations which can offer you a range of experiences, you probably can't go past Vietnam as a location to do that. And certainly, the focus could be on a place called Hoi An, because Hoi An offers just such a beautiful range of experiences to add to whatever retreat you might choose to do. Today, Kim's going to take us and quite deeply into skin wellness. We're going to learn lots about what she offers in her retreats. And so lots of lessons to take away from today. Skin wellness is a specialty. It is quite unique. And it's absolutely fabulous that you can find a retreat such as this in Vietnam. I hope you're welcome Kim to the program, Kim. Welcome to the show. It's lovely to have you on. And I'm so excited to be talking about retreats in Vietnam and what you do in the skin wellness space. Kim La Sambolec: Thank you Kerry for having me on here, and I'm really, really excited to be talking about that with you and everyone who is listening as well. Kerry Newsome: Great. Look, You know, we hear a lot about wellness retreats in Vietnam. I mean, what for? For a person looking to come to Vietnam, especially post COVID. What should they be looking for in a wellness retreat in Vietnam especially, in the post COVID environment? Kim La Sambolec: Yeah. There's two separate questions there I can hear Kerry, one is like what to look for in a wellness retreat in Vietnam. I could tell you for that question alone that there's not many of them here. At all, and I, in fact, like skin wellness, you know, there's not really that many in the world at all. I'm actually quite happy to say that I host one of the world's first skin wellness retreats, and it just so happens to be in Vietnam's. I guess that's why I was on your radar and then for yeah, and then the second question; What could they look out for here? Is that correct? Kerry Newsome: Yes. Kim La Sambolec: My retreats are held currently only in Hoi An which is near Danang in Vietnam. It's a UNESCO heritage site, and it has a beautiful old town and rice paddies and, you know the beach and the mountains all in one. And it's actually a very unique place because there are not really many places in the world that has all of those four elements in the one place within literally five kilometers from one end to the other, like mountain to beach kind of thing. And so, when I have the skin wellness retreat here, it really, is complimentary to what we offer in the retreat because it really has that holistic and healing and added relaxation benefits to it as well to help to restore, recharge and relax a person that may have been in lock down for multiple times in COVID. And so, when you come to look for retreats after COVID, then you probably want to, you know, get away to a place that maybe has a lot of elements that your town or city, the place that you're coming from doesn't have. And so, I feel like Vietnam’s got food, it's got nature, it’s got beaches. It's got beautiful tourist destinations and scenic things, and it has beautiful retreats and stuff here to choose from as well. So why not? Kerry Newsome: Yes, definitely. I mean, you're right, you couldn't get a better setting than Hoi An. And I think the thing that I really want to hone in on with you in this episode is around the difference in I guess what we read in Brochure, and what we see on Google and all the kinds of promotions around wellness. You know, it's kind of the hip word to use to describe retreats and eco and all of those words kind of get mixed up a little bit, I think or confused. The good thing about yours for me and in understanding yours was that it's really centered and focused around your skin. And, the wellness retreat that your offering is all around looking at the barriers to poor treatment off your skin or you know, any information and things like that. I have been listening, and I think what I'd like you to tell us a little bit more about is just what that means for the person who's booking a tour like that to experience that with you. Because you know, there's products to talk about this. You know what? What do they do there? What do they do with you? That kind of gives them this wellness? Kim La Sambolec: Yeah. Great question Kerry, thank you for that. Skin wellness okay, like skin alone is generally something that you know. We often think it’s separate, its superficial. It's on the surface and everyone sees and everyone touches it., you know, and it's protecting us. It's meant to be protecting us from the environment, right and holding us together like, well, without our skin and functioning and body intact. You know, we would be a blahmess. What I mean by skin wellness is that well, you need to be well and have wellness and have health and have vitality from within before your skin can then look and feel amazing and radiate literally your glow from the inside out. So that's why I've made it skin wellness rather than just a blanket term off general wellness. Because, yes, there are plenty of retreats out there all over the world., that a wellness treats like yoga retreats or exercise retreat or boot camp. It treats. Yeah, but this is very specific in skin wellness treats and how I have merged my skills and what I love to do and how I transform my client’s skin into a skin wellness retreat is basically incorporating all the elements of my skin transformation system into three days. And so, you probably want to know like, Well, okay, what is that system? Right. The system, in order to get your skin to be glowing and healthy and radiate; for it to age gracefully and also not even just the more superficial side of it. But what about the comfort side of it? There are people that you know, have itchiness and redness and rash and stuff, and they kind of are uncomfortable in their own skin. It is hard to sleep. They've scratched themselves until they bleed at night and stuff. I'm talking about, you know, a whole general wellness level, that will transform into a healthy, beautiful, resilient organ which is the largest organ in our body. And that's our skin, right? And so, my skin transformation system, when we incorporate all of the elements of that into a wellness retreat, is the fact that you will get all the tools that you need to rebuild your skin by rebuilding your health at the same time, which then equal being well. What if we talk Post COVID in particular? Well, what is happening during COVID? Okay, there's a lot of stress. There's a lot of anxiety. All of a sudden, moms and parents and stuff find that they're doing now, like 50 jobs rather than 20 and a lot of roles and responsibilities. I just before this podcast started, like, you know, you saw that I have to message multiple people to keep the kids that they, you know, so that they come here and don’t make noise and stuff. It's really challenging for the world right now, and we're in COVID right now, so we're really, definitely, projecting that Post COVID. It will be soon on what? You know, you are going to think about what you are dealing with right now during COVID and then what? What do you want at the end of COVID? The Skin Wellness Retreat gives you, then you know, tools and elements that you need, in your pocket to just reach in and manage to feel well, to feel balance, you know? It's got meditation techniques, mindfulness techniques. You learn different things, different breathing techniques, like there are multiple different kinds of breathing techniques. I simplify everything to make it suitable for the most beginner as well. And then we do yoga to move the body, and then we eat amazing food. And what better product that there in Vietnam, like all of the food we get from the organic three organic fields in Hoi An. And the chef that I work with. He's a Vietnamese American chef who has so much flair in his food. And so, he personalizes everything. And so all of the ingredients and the food are high with nutrients that are known to regenerate skin and give energy for a person; he helped me incorporate that into the menu. So basically, moms or parents and stuff who come to the retreat, they don't have to think about everyone else for once, they can be taken care of. So, I think that's really important for Post COVID. It is that Yeah, you go. You're kind of like, hitting quite a few birds with one stone, right? Learn something that you could take back, and it'll last forever. Treat yourself so then you can show yourself some care, some care, some love, some respect and actually recharge your batteries. Because otherwise, if you keep going and going, going, going like an energy bunny, doing everything for everyone else, when is your battery going run flat? And when your battery runs flat it’s much harder to recharge. And then you're talking about a health condition. You're talking about disease. You're talking about cancer you're talking about, you know, like lots of things. Like, I mean, I ran into that myself, So I don't want that to happen, um, to anyone else, because it's really not pleasant, I tell you. Kerry Newsome: No, definitely not on. I think, we’re not really aware of the pressures or the impact of COVID until we start to see evidence of it in things like our skin. And, you know, as skin is one of those things, I think that, you know, it's something that everybody can see. So, you know, if its kind of, you can't hide from it. So, you know, if you're not well or you are feeling anxiety or whatever. It's very easy for the skin to show that up. And I love the fact that you take responsibility and you want to encourage the people who join you at your retreat, to look at the inside and to look at you know, your mental attitude and your mindfulness around it because, as you say, they're all very, very connected. I think one of the things I just want to add, which is, is possibly something that comes up for people that I engage with in my role as a foreigner. They kind of see Vietnam is, um oh, gosh, you know, we're going to get all this pampering and they're going to, use locally made products and there's, you know, there's going be Citrus oils and, uh, you know, alot theseddifferent kinds of skin rubs and masks, and I'm going tell you I've had some disasters where people have tried this with every good intention I might add, as they tell me that are you will feel so much better with this, and your skin will love this and only to walk out with my skin totally gone berserk and uh, me walking away thinking No, I will not be doing that again. Can you talk a little bit about how that happens and, like, what can people do to avoid that? Kim La Sambolec: Yes. But it all comes down. Kerry to having an awareness of what your body needs and what your body is capable of handling. So, if you think all of these lotions and potions and rubs and Citrus this and that that you locally made of Vietnam, and you know you had disasters when you were here last time, think back off. Say, for example, when you were 10 or 12 and you had these lotions and potions put on you. Do you think that you would have reacted the same back then, as you did previously? Like just recently? Kerry Newsome: I don't know. Probably not. Kim La Sambolec: Exactly. I mean, what is that? Kerry Newsome: I mean, I think you know, if you have skin that has a highly allergic aspect to it, then it's pretty difficult to not hit that note, I guess. But I just find that in Vietnam because there is a a propensity of the Vietnamese to want to lather you in locally made oils. And coconut oil especially, because it’s kind of the standard, but it's not of the same standard as a foreigner would be used to applying to their skin so often, I'm not the only one. Our skin can react quite violently. Kim La Sambolec: Totally. I totally get that. And most of my clients who come to me their skin has reacted violently due to the fact of using incorrect products. You know, because our skin is the largest organ in the body and it's designed. It's designed to protect us, and so when it's weak and it’s down and it's not strong, as strong as it used to be, um, then it's going to be highly sensitive to reacting to anything so and then. So that's one factor. But the other factor is like, “What is it that you're putting on your skin?” You know? How is it made? What is the formulation? What is the ingredient inside? It's all really important, too. Being able, understand where you're at, and also what are you being exposed to, so I'm very, very careful about that. Like in my skin consultations and stuff. When I look at every single product a person is using, analyze every single ingredient in each of those products to find the root cause of what is aggravating their skin. Because if we don't find the root cause of why the skin is breaking down, why the skin is not being as resilience a it should be. Then, of course, we're going to, we're not going to get the outcome that we want. Does that make sense? Kerry Newsome: Yes, yes. No, definitely. And I think I guess what I’m trying to hit the note on is in Vietnam. There's such a great, uh, opportunity for people to experiment in the sense with food, with different oils with different experiences of oils, as in pampering. And there are different processes that are offered at various different locations around Vietnam. And you would know this. I just would love to give some guidance to travelers around the experience on skin wellness. And, maybe, between you and I, we can give some tips to people to avoid those reactions, those negative negative reactions. Because I don't want anyone going to Vietnam after they've been listening. to my podcast about wellness and going Oh, we were told that we could do anything. Well, that's not right. So yeah, I just think it's great that you have been able to focus on what's most important from an ingredient perspective and not fall into the “You know, it's organic and it's made locally” and lets not fall down that route and that that's not what your retreats based on them. A little bit more scientific, I think. What I'm what I'm trying to get to;- Kim La Sambolec: Yeah, no, we definitely want, you know, scientific elements, clinical aspect, holistic aspect. And if, after all of that, then whatever could be organic and, you know, no chemicals and preservatives like nasty preservatives and stuff, then great, right, because then we get the best of both worlds then. But where, where we're getting out, we don't want the listeners to, you know, we want to actually guide the listeners to get to Vietnam and be able to have a bit of a bit of knowledge on what they can do to protect them from getting reactions from these treatments that are available on every street corner. Correct? Kerry Newsome: Yes. And I think definitely. Yes. Kim La Sambolec: Well, I have never had a facial or treatment in Vietnam or many countries. Actually, um, if it's not in a clinic like a proper, clinical, well established environment where I can see that, people are well trained and the hygiene standards, uh, there and everything, you know, like a massage. Okay, I'm a little bit more liberal about massage. But I also asked them to change the towels right in front of me, you know? When I walk into the room, I will ask him, “Can you please change the towels in front of me?” Because if I put my face on those towels, what if the previous person to me has some skin rash or infection or something? on so that is something that I always do, but otherwise carry, facials and letting them rub stuff on my face. No, that does not ever happen in Vietnam. I've been to places like, the Intercontinental. . And I've had a facial there but then they're just, like, therapeutic. Relaxation kind of facials. They're not. They're not, like, skin transformed, regenerating, you know, rebuilding skin health kind of stuff that I'm me into. Because for me, all of my stuff is like, it goes deep, all the ingredients. Everything you use literally goes into yourselves, right into cells. If you have superficial treatments that they just lather oils and stuff on top, then if you have an acne skin. If this comes thento having awareness of what your skin needs on what your skin is able to take is that, say, for example, you already have sensitive and acne skin on you. Allow them to rub like essential oils on you. It doesn't matter how it's made. really or oils. Then it's going clog your pores, it is going irritate it more. And then afterwards you break out more and also the creams and the cleanses and stuff like how can you be sure that you know the ingredients in there is not going to strip your skin; is not going leave it susceptible to bacteria invasion. As soon as you step out the door and it's hard, it's human. It's dusty and sunny, all of those things, I question. But of course, thats the reason why I don't have treatments. And I miss out probably because I know too much? Yeah. And it comes in a paranoia comes with knowing all these things and being out to see it. Where to a person that doesn't maybe doesn't know as much, then they don't notice these things. Then you just go in and hope for the best, right? So… Kerry Newsome: Yeah, I think there's a difference. Yeah, you're so right. I think you know that aspect of going in and having an expectation that you're going to have all these local, locally made and produced oils. And it's organic this and. that?? You're going to walk out with, a fully restored skin, from a cellular level, as you say is too high. That expectation is too high. And I think what I'm trying to warn people about is to not go in there and just be, mindless in the sense off. You know, saying yes to everything, instead be a bit more inquisitive, as you say, ask about the towels. You know, what oils are they using? You want to know what specific method or treatments are they going to apply. Really do a little bit of homework rather than just going in, because you can walk out; not the same as the way you walked in, and not for the better. And I think there's a different cost to that to that scenario as well. You're thinking about that, and it will be, you know, I don't know about $500,000 dong, or whatever it is for, you know, a couple of hours treatment, etc in mask and face mask and things like that. Where, as you say, you could even go to the intercontinental Danang where it'll cost you, 3 times as much, you know? And arm and a leg., and it's still a therapeutic treatment for relaxation. So and yours is kind of that next step over again, isn't it? It's like, Well, this isn't just like a short buzz. You're going to walk out in a half an hour and you're an hour's time and, you know, totally refreshed. This is a treatment isn't it's three days of applying a process. So maybe walk us through just very scantily. Maybe just that three days. So the person arrives. What's the first thing they do? Kim La Sambolec: Well, the first thing you do is relax by the pool and get a head and shoulder massage, and you can choose your location to get the massage. So underneath the coconut tree by the lake. Or, you know, like underneath a little chalet over the ponds that lily ponds and then Just settle into your room and just be like in awe. I've got my own space. Finally, no kids screaming, no one asking me to do anything except to come and have my nails painted and get a massage and then get my program for when my yoga and meditation classes will be. And when my next meal is going to be. That's already cooked for me, and it's already planned out that it's going be good for my skin and my body and for my digestion on. Then all these next three days. It's just about me. And then people have an option. Like we advise people just to be on your phone as little as possible, because you want to be here. You want to be immersing yourself and you want to immerse in the experience here for three whole days, right? Not 1 foot in, 1 foot out and the other foot is at home worrying about whether the kids they're going to survive or the husband is going to survive with kids or the nanny or whatever. You're right. They can deal with it. And I mean, I've had a lot of moms who come, and it's their first time leaving their kids at home. And really, it was not easy for them to say yes to themselves and to come. But once they did now, they're like, Wow, everyone can live without me. It's awesome because that's the pressure that moms and women put on ourselves as well. We tend to think we're so used to doing everything for everyone else that we tend to think that the world can't function without us, and so that's the pressure. And that's the guilt as well, because we think if we're out doing something for ourselves, then we're being selfish. And what about everyone else suffering at home? Well, you know what? You've kind of been suffering slowly every single day since you had that. Not to say that children aren’t a blessing in disguise and, they teach us lots of lessons and kids are amazing. I've got two myself and you know, no regrets there, but it's really hard work. It's definitely one of the hardest challenges that I have ever yet overcome, you know? Kerry Newsome: I think you're right Kim, I think it’s about us entitling ourselves to that kind of gift isn’t? It's a self gift and a gift that we want to say. Look, we deserve this. We do deserve this and, you know, guilt free. Absolutely. Kim La Sambolec: So even just once a year. You know, once a year, just go for a week on your own, with your girlfriends or somewhere you can just relax, and then just be pampered and just I mean, do it for me. I always like to do things I don't usually do. I tend to choose one thing, that one reason. I like to make sure that I get multiple benefits out of one decision. I feel like this skin wellness is to “treat” it like that because, you know, you're going in and you're treating your skin, you're going to look better. You're going to feel better and you're going to blow everyone away when you leave. And so, when you go home, people are going to be like, WOW,.... Yeah. People do leave with just a glow and then guess what? You've now got the tools to be able to maintain that glow because you get a full, thorough consultation with me to analyze. You know what's going on in your body. You get a treatment as well, like a clinical treatment that I have never had anyone had reactions to. Because, you know, when you know and understand the skin to the level that I do, then you know how to treat it. So then there is no reaction. And if there is a reaction or response, I wanted to use the word reaction. Okay, there's a response within the skin. And guess what. If you want to age gracefully and for your skin to be strong, you need to do things that your skin will respond to say, for example, you go and want to build a six pack. You're not going build a six-pack sitting, lying back. Relax on the couch. You know you're going be lifting weights and jumping around for a long time and your muscles are going to hurt quite a bit, but you're guided. If you're guided by a personal trainer to then lift things correctly and move things correctly, then you're going to get the results faster. So that's the exact same thing of me, that I often refer to myself as like a skin cell trainer. Kerry Newsome: I'm going to write that down skin cell trainer. Kim La Sambolec: I whip yourself. I whipped your skin cells into shape. Kerry Newsome: In three days. Kim La Sambolec: Well, it's the start of the journey, but usually my retreat. Kerry uh, I mean, I I've only ever had two people I ran two last year and one from each group that have never actually had had exposure to my work before, But otherwise these retreats are kind of like an upgrade to my existing clients who know my work already. And I've started on this journey of skin transformation with me already. They used the products I've prescribed. They follow my meal plans. They do basically everything I tell them to, and they literally have the results pretty much already. And they don't want to get back to that place where it felt horrible. and so they know that with the tools that you need, like breathing and yoga and meditation and eating right that it is necessary if they want to maintain their glow. And so, if they want to continue showing their glow to the world and to themselves when they look in the mirror forever, then they've got to learn some new skills. Because isn't it the definition of insanity to, you know, do the same things over and over again, expecting a different result. Kerry Newsome: Exactly, I think you know, if there's a place to do it that you can achieve results like you are talking about, but also get a holiday out of it, in a beautiful environment, in a country that offers the most amazing food, beautiful beaches, weather, and people. I think people is a big factor; the staff and the people that do the massages and things like that, they are just so lovely. Kim La Sambolec: Yes, bingo, Kerry Newsome: Bingo, Kim, I just want to say thank you for coming on the show and its been great to delve a little bit deeper to what your perspective is around wellness treats and the focus being skin for you. Really loved getting your insights. Kim La Sambolec: Well, thank you much for having me.

f95cbcc0-460f-45ef-a101-7e7674afa267Unrivaled golfing experiences and locations Greg Norman isn't the only one raving about golf in Vietnam Episode 11 Greg Norman isn't the only one raving about golf in Vietnam 00:00 / 50:30 Vietnam is well known for its magnificent natural beauty, culture, great food and tropical climate. However, it is fast becoming better known to golfers for its unrivaled golfing experiences and locations. Part of that is due to the promotional work of Greg Norman - Vietnam Tourism Ambassador. With Norman’s global presence, vast background in golf, business and experience designing and building some of the top resort golf courses in Vietnam and around the world, he was identified by the Vietnam Ministry as the ideal candidate to help the country capitalize on the influx of international tourists looking to experience first class golf resorts in one of the most unique and visually stunning destinations in the world. Now don't get too excited ! We don't have Greg on the show. Better still, we have Chrissy Hordern, a strong, avid player who is accustom to taking groups all over the world including the US Masters, Ireland, and Europe. You will love the detail she will give you to the courses she has played. Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

S4-03 Travel Outlook 2022-23 Vietnam Travel Outlook 2022-23 Episode 3 S4-03 Travel Outlook 2022-23 00:00 / 58:37 This is a Podswap from the Conor Kelly & Kerry Newsome interview - ComebaCK Podcast #371 If you are sitting on the sidelines Googling madly, watching and reading social media chatter, but still unsure if it’s a good idea to take your next holiday in Vietnam, or go back there?;- then this show is for you. Why? Because Conor asks the questions I think many of you want to know the answers to. The doors are open, but is everyone rushing through the gates? And if not? Why? This is a totally different show. As I am the guest, not the host on the ComebaCK Podcast and this is what we call a Podswap. Essentially this allows me to share his show with you, on my channel. Conor Kelly, the host and ambitious podcaster of his own show ‘ComebaCK’ generously invited me to come on his show to talk about my thoughts on the future of travel in Vietnam and the ‘What About Vietnam’ podcast. Of course, I was delighted to do this, as it gave me a chance to share my journey with Vietnam from over 15 years working in the travel industry, talking with Vietnam travel organisations, industry boards and chambers, and travelling back and forth. Conor and I got down to business very quickly and settled into a hearty discussion on my personal history with travel in Vietnam as far back as 2007, and how I am tracking Vietnam’s comeback!! Great name for a Podcast, Conor Kelly. So here you have it - Ep #371 ComebaCK To make it easy- Some of the subjects we covered are here:- 00:02:34 – Kerry’s first visit to Vietnam 2007 00:08:33 – The travel boom 2019 to now 00:10:13 – When Covid hit 2020 – Kerry’s reaction 00:14:48 – Keeping tabs on Vietnam during Covid 00:18:16 – The launch of ‘ What About Vietnam’ 00:20:21 – What’s trending on the show 00:29:54 – Tourism forecasting beyond May 2022 00:36:01 – Over-tourism to sustainable tourism 00:37:27 – Hidden gems needing more promotion 00:42:54 – Managing over- tourism – some ideas 00:46:35 – Crystal ball – 2022,23,24 travel trends 00:48:45 – Sustainable tourism opportunities 00:51:35 – Is Podcasting a good platform to inform people on travel in Vietnam? 00:56:01 – How to access Kerry and What about Vietnam If you prefer to read please check out the Transcript on the www.whataboutvietnam.com website. Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here

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

563d5888-0c4a-4aa2-bc33-874a4fa3d98eHow Danang offers up a new kind of experience Chilling out in Vietnam's most liveable city - Danang Episode 16 Chilling out in Vietnam's most liveable city - Danang 00:00 / 20:42 Danang has really come of age! One could say the "Age of living better", as todays guest Jonathan Kiely offers up his insights into the chilled out vibes of Danang. A fun Irish lad who left Ireland in search of adventure and who found himself drawn to the beachside city of Danang where he has decided, he might just settle for a bit, as he rates it as one of the best “Chilled out” cities he has ever visited. Jonathan left his high pressure job in Ireland to go traveling. He landed in Vietnam and despite the Covid Pandemic he opted to stay on and live the life of “Riley” so to speak as an Expat. A year and a half on, Jonathan gives us his version of Vietnam and his experience of Danang and the local community which he has found an affinity with through various health and well being programs. He raves about the people and the environment in which you can explore your own creativity. Plus, you can SURF. Download Transcript PDF Read the transcript here