Witness Tai Chi in the park, visit busy morning markets and slup pho with the locals

Designed to show travelers the ‘real’ Ho Chi Minh City, this morning tour makes the perfect introduction to Vietnamese life. Setting off at 7AM, the tour first goes to the park where the locals gather to exercise. Take a short stroll around to see Tai Chi, aerobics, badminton and other activities. Continue to a morning market to visit the vendors and stalls. This market is busiest in the early morning hours with fresh produce, seafood, flowers and a variety of other items arrive from the countryside to be sold and traded. Then continue to Pho 24 restaurant, a local institution, for a bowl of pho noodle soup- one of Vietnam’s best known dishes. Before returning to the hotel, a stop will be made at a streetside café for traditional Vietnamese coffee and people watching.

An added touch, the program uses a unique form of local transportation. Suitable for FITs or Groups, we recommend this as an introductory tour or for travelers with limited time in the city.

The full details can be found here: http://traveltrade.exotissimo.com/product/good-morning-saigon-ho-chi-minh-city-day-trip/
For booking or inquiries, please contact vietnam@exotissimo.com

One of our most popular multi-country programs, the 12 Days / 11 Nights Essential Cambodia and Vietnam Tour, is currently featuring discounts of more than 20% on first class hotel stays. This promotion now makes a great way for travelers to learn about these two neighboring countries at an incredible price!

A day is first spent in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, before flying to Siem Reap to spend the next two days exploring the Angkor temples and Tonle Sap Lake. On the fourth day, a short flight takes guests across borders into Vietnam. A couple of days will be spent discovering the colonial architecture and bustling markets of Ho Chi Minh City, and includes a cruise in the fertile Mekong Delta. Next heading to the central provinces, guests will visit the heritage port town of Hoi An, the Cham museums of Danang and the imperial history and architecture of Hue. The program’s final leg heads to Hanoi where guests can enjoy cultural excursions to lakefront pagodas and the Old Quarter in the Vietnamese capital before ending with a cruise on Halong Bay. For more program details, click here.

Exotissimo Vietnam Lends a Helping Hand to Local Communities

In keeping with our responsible travel ethos, Exotissimo gives back to local charities and the disadvantaged in Vietnam in a number of ways:

Aid assistance in typhoon-struck province- A week after the devastating Typhoon Mirinae hit South-central Vietnam, the Exotissimo team arrived in Phu Yen Province to render aid to four affected villages. Altogether three tons of rice, instant noodles, cookers, blankets, personal hygiene kits were given out, totaling more than 2.000 USD in aid given.

Sponsor for a kids’ day out- Over 40 impoverished children from Mekong Delta villages in Ben Tre Province were sponsored by Exo Vietnam on a fun day out at the Water Park and the Botanical Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City. For most of the children this was their first time to the city and they were overjoyed at the opportunity. In addition, one child was given a year of scholarship sponsored by Exo Vietnam.

Sponsor for KOTO Charity Bike Ride- Proudly sponsored by Exotissimo Vietnam, the annual KOTO Charity Bike Ride was successfully held in Hanoi on 21 November 2009. Over 150 riders turned up for this event. KOTO is a not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training program for the disadvantaged youth in Vietnam.

Click here to view other causes your clients can support while on holiday in Vietnam. For more information, please contact Le Hong Lan, Project Manager for CSR and Special Projects, at honglan@exotissimo.com.

Exotissimo Cambodia Teams Up with Local Charity

Exotissimo continues to play a part in the development of sustainable tourism in Cambodia by teaming up with American aid organization Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) in their inaugural Hidden Treasures Cambodia contest. This initiative seeks to identify and promote lesser known attractions in order to increase awareness amongst potential visitors and encourage tourist spending outside established areas. The winning destinations were offered consultation with Exotissimo Cambodia and media promotion. This year’s winners are:

o Peam Krassop – Mangrove forest in Koh Kong Province
o Chi Phat Ecotourism village in the Cardamom Mountains
o Chambok Community Based Waterfall – an ecotourism site in the Cardamom Mountains
o Ta Tai Waterfall – an ecotourism site in the Cardamom Mountains
o Phare Ponleu Selpak – an arts school and circus center in Battambang
o Banteay Chhmar – a cultural tourism site
o Kampong Luong Floating Village – an ecotourism site in Pursat Province

Click here to view other causes your clients can support while on holiday in Cambodia.

New Luxury Option for Hue Dinner Cruises
La Residence Hotel and Spa in Hue is now offering dinner cruises along the Perfume River. Seating up to 25 passengers, the 2-hour cruise offers a Vietnamese set dinner and live traditional Vietnamese music and can be privatized for groups. Available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, these cruises provide a stylish way to sightsee Hue’s iconic river. Click here to view details of La Residence or contact vietnam@exotissimo.com to book the dinner cruise.

New Deluxe Cruise Option for Tonle Sap and Mekong River
The Jayavarman is the latest boat addition on the popular route between Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Saigon. It is a 60-m deluxe riverboat with 27 cabins and suites as well as 800m² of public space across its 4 decks. Operated by Heritage Line Cruise Company, the Jayavarman has various river itineraries ranging from one to seven nights. The company does not operate the Phnom Penh – Siem Reap route during the low water season from April to June.

Belonging to renowned Vietnamese painter Thanh Chuong, Thanh Chuong Palace is an elegant antique house showcasing a valuable collection of Vietnamese artifacts. Situated in the countryside, it makes a great half-day excursion from Hanoi or as a stop on the way to Noi Bai Airport or on the return from Halong Bay. It is suitable for groups as well as FITs with an interest in Vietnamese culture. Lunch and water puppet performances are available upon request. For more information, email vietnam@exotissimo.com.

Indochina Heritage Road, one of our most popular multi-country programs, underwent an improvement recently. Visiting the main attractions in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, the revamped 14-day program features an extra day of touring and flies direct from Vientiane to Hanoi to replace the overland transfer to Hue. Clients can expect more Exo touches, such as a specialist guided tour by a war veteran at Cu Chi Tunnels. Click here to view the itinerary.

Better known as Uncle Nam, Huynh Van Chia is a Cu Chi native who fought in the Cu Chi Tunnels for 12 years during the Vietnam War. This retired military war veteran is now available as a tour guide for the Cu Chi Tunnels, offering visitors a personal, first-hand account of his war experience. For more information or to book Uncle Nam’s services, please contact vietnam@exotissimo.com.

Tropical storm Mirinae is reaching Vietnam’s south-central coast today (2 Nov 2009) at around 6pm near the town of Thuy Hoa. Other affected areas will be the beach destination of Quy Nhon further north and Nha Trang further south.

Exotissimo currently has very few customers in this area but all those in the vicinity and clients scheduled to arrive tomorrow have been informed of the situation.

All clients have been advised to stay indoors during the worst of the storm and to follow instructions given by the hotels.

If you have clients affected by the storm, you would have heard from our Travel Consultants about what has been done by now.

Please contact your usual Exotissimo contact for any question or more details about the situation on the ground.

The fabulous seascapes of Halong Bay and Nha Trang can now be enjoyed from a flying boat, the newest kind of sightseeing service in Vietnam. These inflatable hovercrafts can carry over 400kg each while cruising at an average speed of 70km per hour. Seating a pilot and a passenger, this service is currently only available for FITs. For clients looking for a touch of adventure in their Halong tours, this option can be incorporated into our Halong and Hanoi Discover Tour. Contact vietnam@exotissimo.com for more information.

The center of the tropical storm Parma is reaching Vietnam’s northern coast today around 7pm after ravaging the Philippines for one whole week. The storm is much weaker than the Category 2 typhoon Ketsana which affected central Vietnam two weeks ago.

At the moment the main affected area is Halong Bay as all boats are forbidden to leave port and all cruises were cancelled for yesterday (Tuesday), 13 October and today (Wednesday), 14 October and most probably also tomorrow.

Since yesterday, we have been talking to all our clients booked on cruises and we have informed them about the situation. We then proposed alternative programs and re-arranged all bookings. Options varied from day trips to Hoa Lu, additional sightseeing in Hanoi, cooking classes to overnight excursions to Mai Chau to the west of Hanoi.

If you have clients affected by these changes, you would have heard from our Travel Consultants about what has been done. The changes are done with minimal inconvenience for your clients and without them having to spend any extra money. In cases in which the changes result in a lower total pricing, we will inform you first to seek your opinion on how you want to handle things.

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?

- The storm will be moving inland from Halong to Hanoi and will weaken considerably once it touches land this evening. As of 2pm (Vietnam time) today, it did not even rain in Hanoi.

- Visits in and around Hanoi for today and tomorrow will be affected by the wind and rain. We will plan all visits as well as possible.

- We do not see any reason to postpone or bypass a trip to Hanoi and do not expect any hotel closures unlike during the Ketsana storm.