FOOTPRINT VIETNAM TOUR PREMIUM DISCOUNT

Dear friends;

To support your travel in Vietnam in our current economy, Footprint decided to give you a premium discount on most of our set tours vietnam, these promotional prices vary from 5% up to 20%.

We lower the cost but not lower the quality of the trips and we even add more value to make the trips more exciting, so we hope this support will be favorable to you.Tour name & number of day

Motorbike Ha Giang & the Northern most Regions - 8 days
Hanoi City Tour - 1 day
Hoa Lu & Van Long Tour - 1 day
Halong Cruise Tour - 2 days
Babe lakes & the tribal homestay - 3 days
Mai Chau & PuLuong Tour - 2 days
North-West Loop Tour - 7 days
North-East Loop Tour - 5 days
Sapa Easy Trek - 3 days
Sapa Easy Trek plus Sunday Market - 3 days
Essential North Package Tour - 9 days
Vietnam Impression – 14 days
A Glimpse of Vietnam Tour - 17 days
Vietnam Package Tour - 21 days

If you do not find your tour here, you can plan a Vietnam tour with us. In the planning process, please ask our travel consultants to get you a discount. Homepage: Vietnam tour
Discount tour link: Discount tour

This Vietnam discount travel will be applied to any booking from January on, and valid to the end of May 2009. Not applied for confirmed bookings before Jan 15 2009.

Thank you for your interest and look forwards to showing you the beauty of Vietnam.

Vietnam Tour Information Launches New Tour Information Website

Vietnam Tour Information Launches New Tour Information Website Vietnam-Tour.info

Vietnam-tour.info Guides Tour, y, is proud to announce the launch of its new design for its website www.vietnam-tour.info .

The new website has been designed to be more visitor-friendly, allowing quicker access to Vietnam Tour Information

line of innovative adventure and luxury tours across Vietnam.

Vietnam Tour and touring ideas will be regularly updated to ensure that guests looking for a holiday in Vietnam

will be well served. The website will also suggest new modules and hotels with which customers can further

customize or extend their tours.

The new layout of the site is just one of the many ways they are constantly improving their company, to better

serve their customers across the world.

In addition to the wide variety of new Vietnam tours, site visitors will now have access to Vietnam-tour.info

expert advice regarding tours, booking and review Tour with more tour websites in Vietnam.

In this way, the company seeks to continue its leadership in travel in Vietnam, and continue to demonstrate its

expertise in mainstream, luxury and adventure travel.
Please go to website: http://www.Vietnam-tour.info

Ecotravel Vietnam Tours Promotion

Ecotravel Vietnam Tours Promotion
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Hue city tours - Hue city tours

Take time to enjoy all the beauties in Hue ! City tour by car will help you to save the time to visit and discover the beauties of Citadel, Royal tombs and handicraft villages within one day. It is convenient to you !

Itinerary detail:

Your trip starts at 8.00 am from hotel, the driver and guide will take you to the boat landing on the river to make a trip on Perfume river for visiting Thien Mu pagoda. Along the river on dragon boat you will enjoy the tranquil feeling with two sides of green banks’ river and see the daily life of local people. Next you will be transferred back Hue city centre to visit the Imperial Citadel where Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945 with numerous of attractive places to see like Flag Tower, Noon Gate, Nine Dynastic Urns, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, and Forbidden Purple City. Thai Hoa Palace, . Have break for having lunch at restaurant with special dishes of Hue.

This afternoon you will continue to visit the mausoleums of Nguyen’s Kings like Tu Duc tomb, next is handicraft villages such as hat-making, bronze-casting, insence-making and last Minh Mang tomb. You are back hotel around 5.00 pm. Tour finishes at your hotel.

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Hue aluoi tour - Hue aluoi tour

Leave all daily necessaries behind for a memorable moment in your life with Eco Travel Vietnam to ethnic villages and other historic spots such as " Hamburger Hill ", historic Ho Chi Minh Trail and so on. Although the time you spend on exploration is very little, what you will receive from it is extremely immense and useful. Joining this adventure, not only will you heighten your mountain climbing skill, but also acquire mountainous culture as well as historical knowledge.
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DMZ tour vietnam - DMZ tour vietnam


Besides the poetic and ancient beauty, Hue is more attractive to international tourists due to cultural values of minority groups. Join 2-days tour to remote rural regions, you will realize that the time you spend on there is not useless at all; on the contrary, it is certain that you will receive a hearty welcome from ethnic people and get the right respect for their habits and customs. Above of all, this tour will take you to specialized historic spots in DMZ.

Itinerary detail:

Day 1: Hue - A Luoi ~ 70km (LD)

Depart at your hotel in Hue at 7am, you will be transferred to A Luoi about 70km. Arriving A Luoi and check in Stilt house. Having a short rest, you will discover A Luoi town and daily life of Ta Oi ethnic. Besides, you will visit a well-known military site - Hamburger Hill (nickname 937 Hill) on walk. From the top of this hill, you can see the whole sight of the airport and the combat base. This will take you about 6 hours for trekking up and down. Have a picnic lunch on way. Then you return the tribe village to break and spending your night in the minority village. Have dinner with traitional dishes of ethnic people on their stilt house. At night, you will enjoy traditional music of ethnic people. Overnight in Stilt House in A Luoi.

Day 2: A Luoi - Dmz - Hue ~ 330km (BL)

You get up early in this morning to experience the activities and morning life of local people as well as enjoy the fresh air in the mountain area. Leave the village at 7 am after having breakfast in Stilt House, then go along Ho Chi Minh Trail for visiting Dakrong Bridge with via Ka Tu, Van Kieu, Paco village. This is an opportunity for you to meet more ethnic people in the highlight of Viet Nam Central. Then go around visiting the Rock pile described as 230 high-piles of rocks and Khe Sanh combat base - one of the most famous sieges of American Vietnamese War. Return to Dong Ha town to have lunch. In the afternoon, you will go on visiting Doc Mieu, Hien Luong Bridge, Museum, Ben Hai River, the 17th Parallel, Vinh Moc Tunnel and Cua Tung Beach and back to Hue about 6pm. Tour ends at your hotel.
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BACH MA TOUR - BACH MA TOUR


Bach Ma Mountain is 60 km to the south of Hue city. This is home to the rare diversified animals with many limpid brooks & picturesque waterfalls, a range of unique trails for those who interested in wildlife and history…Two days trip to Bach Ma National Park offers a delightful opportunity to relax and discover the nature. Taking time to swim at Lang Co beach – one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam, your tour will be perfect ! Let join this tour…

Itinarary detail:

Day 1: Hue to Bach Ma. Overnight at Camp (LD)

Leave hotel at 7.30 am then you will take an unforgettable drive upwards to Bach Ma travel center. After that you get ready for a 30 minutes walk to Bach Ma summit to take in spectacular at Bach Ma fauna and amazing butterflies. Taking a swim in the small romantic pools and fairy streams. Having a break for lunch at Five Pools. Within an hour walking, you will visit Do Quyen Waterfall - is astounding and huge in the wooded mountain. It is more than 300m high and 20-30m wide. It is amazing to watch the silver water running into the bright red of water-rail flowers. Then our trek is up back the place of camping to overnight. Enjoy the sleep in the jungle.

Day 2: Explore nature trail, Lang Co beach & back Hue (B)

Early morning, visitors will enjoy the beautiful sunrise scenery then trek to explore nature trail to see lots of Bird, Pheasants... 9am – you will leave Bach Ma National Park and go to Lang Co beach. You will have time for freeing to chill out on the beautiful, white sandy beach of Lang Co. 11am - Back to Hue, arrive Hue at noon. Tour ends at your hotel.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia Day 3

Today I’ll be on my own. I had to meet Jayanthi, a staff of Girls Brigade Singapore, who is working in Phnom Penh. We had arranged to meet at 0930 for a short meeting at Jars of Clay café near Russian Market. I got a motordop driver (motorcycle taxi) and paid 2500riels (USD$0.5) for the ride there. I arrived a couple of minutes late…Jayanthi was already there. We had a short meeting till Jayanthi had to leave at 11am to do some work.I went off to Russian Market to do some shopping since I was already in that area. Of all the markets in Phnom Penh, this is my favourite market…maybe because I used to stay near the market or maybe it’s where I always get my DVDs when I’m in Phnom Penh. I went straight to the DVD section and literally went on a mad spree. I bought like maybe 11 DVDs at the market. After buying the DVDs, I went to the food section for lunch. I always eat this dish call lok char at the market. In Singapore, we call the noodles bee tai mak. It’s actually a short white thick noodle that looks like rat’s tail. In Cambodia, they fry the noodles with vegetables, egg and black sauce. You can have beef with it if you want but I normally take without.The lady whom I always buy lok char from. Amazingly, she still recognizes me after my one year absence. Despite her working in the market cooking such hot oily food, she has really good complexion. At least she didn't try to squeeze my pimples which would be really freaky.My dish of lok char. Look at the wok, the noodles are just left there. Every time someone orders lok char, she would just use her spatula to get the amount needed from the pile and start cooking. So basically, flies or dust can land on the noodles without anyone knowing.After a lunch of lok char and ice lemon tea which costs US$1, I went to the dessert stall to buy some desserts. I wasn’t buying them for myself as I normally only eat steaming hot cooked food from the market or street. I was buying them for friends at the shop my organization open in Phnom Penh selling handmade bags, shawls etc.This is a typical dessert stall in Cambodia. The metal tubs hold different desserts. You just order and the lady would pack them in plastic bags to take away or in bowls so you can sit around the stall eating. The green plastic bag on the table is mine. I ordered 7 different kinds of dessert. She even put shaved ice in the bag for me. Each packet I bought is 500riels so for basically about US$0.8, I bought desserts enough for 7 people.Some photos of the market.The market is pretty dark with no overhead lights and natural lighting is very minimal. It’s quite a narrow path between the shops.The wide variety of vegetables sold in the market plus dried stuff.This stall is selling some kind of barbequed meat. Look at the eggs on the left side of the photo. They are duck eggs with duck foetus in them. It’s a favourite delicacy in Cambodia. It is said to give a person strength. I had a friend who ate 5 eggs at one go. Till now, I haven’t the guts to try and I doubt I will ever try. I’ve seen the foetus in the egg before. Feathers were already growing on the foetus. It was totally disgusting.The outside of the market. Look at the guys under the red and white umbrella. Those are motordop drivers waiting for customers to leave the market.After buying the dessert, I proceeded to the shop. We are situated just outside Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. As you walk out the entrance of the museum, look to your left, we are at the corner. The name of our shop is VillageWorks. We sell handmade bags, shawls, little souvenirs etc. VillageWorks was conceived by the Girls’ Brigade Singapore for the purpose of creating employment and providing skills and livelihood to women and young people in Third World Countries where the Girls’ Brigade Singapore has pioneering work.Our vision is to bring meaning to the lives of people in small villages, to nurture their worth as persons and to help them realise their potential and purpose in life. Our strategy is to organize, equip and inspire the villagers to produce quality handicraft works for the global marketplace.VillageWorks is more than craft. It is more than enabling the villagers to bring home food for themselves and their families. VillageWorks is about restoring the spirit to small villages and about bringing meaning to their life. It is about empowering the people to stand tall on their own.As we are non profit, every cent that we earn goes back to the business and to the women. If you are interested in buying some of our products and supporting the work in Cambodia, please visit http://www.villageworks.com/ . To find the locations of our Singapore outlets, please visit the website as well.I know it sounds like I’m advertising our business and I am but that’s because I know how much our business is helping the women in a small village in Kampong Thom and some of the handicap staff that we employ. I myself have spoken to some of these women during my stay in the village and I know with the work we give them, they can lead better lives, buy better food to nourish themselves and send their kids to school. I see this business and I believe in it. In addition, we are giving these women self worth which is more important then anything.Anyway, I spent some time with the staff in the shop, catching up with them again. One of the staff, Kung, had gotten married during the one year I was away. Our manager, Anak, was also 7 months pregnant. About an hour later, I went to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. I’m ashamed to say though I have been to Cambodia so many times and worked there for a couple of months, I have never been to the Genocide Museum or the Killing Fields. I’ve always never felt like going in because of the tragedy that happened at the museum. For a month, I actually stayed opposite the museum and still I’ve never stepped in. Reading about the Khmer Rouge (KR) Regime and the time under the KR, I know it’s going to be difficult to walk in and out. But I thought I should at least visit once…how can I say I’ve been to Cambodia and worked there if I’ve never been in. So this trip, I resolved to visit the museum.I paid my entrance fee, US$2, and went in. I felt a sense of dread as I walked in.For those unsure of Cambodian History, well let me talk a little on it. Cambodia used to be a French Colony along with Vietnam and Laos. During the days of colonization, Vietnam was treated better then Cambodia in terms of education and the general opening up of the country because the French saw more potential in Vietnam then Cambodia. Anyway, after World War 2 and in early 1950s, King Sihanouk began to demand for independence from their colonial masters. In 1953, Cambodia finally gained independence. King Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father and became Prime Minister of the country. With many policies and political repression that made then politicians unhappy, a coup was staged in 1970, deposing him in favour of Lon Nol. With that, King Sihanouk traveled to Beijing and from there supported the Khmer Rouge in their campaign to oust the Lon Nol government. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge gain control of Cambodia and began their inhumane rule. The Khmer Rouge broke off all contact with the outside world, totally isolating Cambodia. They closed schools, hospitals, factories and abolished finance, currency and banking. They also outlawed all religions and confiscated all properties. They drove all the people from the capital to the countryside where the people were forced into hard labour. During their four years in power, the Khmer Rouge overworked and starved the people and at the same time killing selected people whom they felt were a threat to them. People who were educated, professionals, used to work with the previous governments, ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists monks or found with foreign objects like spectacles were put to death. Studies have shown about 1.7million people died during the period of 1975-1979. In 1979, Vietnam liberated Cambodia.As for Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, it used to be a high school. In 1975, the school was converted into a prison and interrogation centre. Of the estimated 17,000 who went in, only 7 survived. The rest were tortured and later brought to Choeung Ek otherwise known as the Killing Fields to be exterminated.The prisoners brought in were from all over the country and they were usually former Khmer Rouge members and soldiers who were accused of treason. These men were viewed by Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, as potential coup leaders against him. Besides the “coup leaders”, their families were also brought in to be interrogated and later killed.

Ha Noi Overview

Hanoi is the elegant capital city of Vietnam sprawling

Day 7: Island Hopping at Hong Islands

Determining day 7 was such a dilemma. Initially I was planning to do water rafting + elephant tracking. But since the past days I was so hooked on snorkeling, I’m considering to visit Hong Islands instead. In confusion, we even flipped coin to determine where to go ha ha…At the end of the night, the tour agent said that the water rafting is in different province where it will take about 2 hours drive (!); and since it’s not rainy season – there are not much of water in the river for rafting (???) Ian laugh imagining our raft stranded in the middle of the river :D So Hong Island it is. Plus, according to source, Hong Island is a national park (which means you have to pay 200 bath just to land on it cause it’s so special).When we got to the first island (this is a round of 5 islands – they claimed), well, the water is kinda greeny blue. When we took our mask and jump; errr how come I can’t see anything! The water is just too cloudy for snorkeling (plus, not much of coral nor fish!). AND the water was kinda makes your skin itchy (confirmed by dear husband). I thought, well, it’s only the 1st island. Maybe the save the best for last.Next one, the Hong Lagoon. Errr… well, basically a lagoon. More modest than the Pi Leh Bay or even the Ao Thalane we visited. Okay, still 3 more places to go. Hmmm. Next is to Pakbia Island that connected to another island during low tide (similar concept with Tup Island in Day 8). Well, it’s dirty and small. Again, not good to snorkel. Nor to swim – cause it’s itchy. Nor to sunbathe – cause the beach is so small and dirty.Next we’re suppose to go to Rai island – but THE TOUR GUIDE SKIPPED IT! Claiming that it’s high tide and we’ll not able to land there. But according to my tour agent the night before “You know that they name it 5 islands tour but you’ll only see 3 right?” O damn, she’s right :DI think this is the first time in Krabi where I just can’t wait just to get the tour over with. In the last island, before we land, the tour guide said “This is Lading island – land of paradise”. Errr.. another green sea, with small beach and cloudy water!!! Aaargghhh!!!Well, Ian and I ended up practicing our snow angel movement in the water (no it’s not an intercourse position ha ha ha, it’s basically floating with your back – staring at the sky). These 5 islands package was where I saw really small number of boats (guess not much people was “tricked”). I was surprised though when I saw a couple that (seems to) rent a private boat to go to this particular island. I guess there were on honeymoon or something cause they kept hugging and strangling each other with affection ha ha… Survey, survey, survey my friend – luckily love is so blinding. Otherwise she won’t smile that much ha ha…Final verdict: NOT WORTH IT. This package cost 700 bath (twice as much as the 4 islands tour) and the islands are just so so for that amount of money. Suggest you to specifically go to Bamboo island (one of the Phi Phi Islands) instead.O yeah, forgot to mentioned - the only good thing about this tour is you get the change to take picture feeding pretty big fishes in Hong Island :D In the other islands, the fish are too small to get captured in regular camera.Chubby Traveller’s rating : 1 / 5.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia Day 3

Today I’ll be on my own. I had to meet Jayanthi, a staff of Girls Brigade Singapore, who is working in Phnom Penh. We had arranged to meet at 0930 for a short meeting at Jars of Clay café near Russian Market. I got a motordop driver (motorcycle taxi) and paid 2500riels (USD$0.5) for the ride there. I arrived a couple of minutes late…Jayanthi was already there. We had a short meeting till Jayanthi had to leave at 11am to do some work.I went off to Russian Market to do some shopping since I was already in that area. Of all the markets in Phnom Penh, this is my favourite market…maybe because I used to stay near the market or maybe it’s where I always get my DVDs when I’m in Phnom Penh. I went straight to the DVD section and literally went on a mad spree. I bought like maybe 11 DVDs at the market. After buying the DVDs, I went to the food section for lunch. I always eat this dish call lok char at the market. In Singapore, we call the noodles bee tai mak. It’s actually a short white thick noodle that looks like rat’s tail. In Cambodia, they fry the noodles with vegetables, egg and black sauce. You can have beef with it if you want but I normally take without.The lady whom I always buy lok char from. Amazingly, she still recognizes me after my one year absence. Despite her working in the market cooking such hot oily food, she has really good complexion. At least she didn't try to squeeze my pimples which would be really freaky.My dish of lok char. Look at the wok, the noodles are just left there. Every time someone orders lok char, she would just use her spatula to get the amount needed from the pile and start cooking. So basically, flies or dust can land on the noodles without anyone knowing.After a lunch of lok char and ice lemon tea which costs US$1, I went to the dessert stall to buy some desserts. I wasn’t buying them for myself as I normally only eat steaming hot cooked food from the market or street. I was buying them for friends at the shop my organization open in Phnom Penh selling handmade bags, shawls etc.This is a typical dessert stall in Cambodia. The metal tubs hold different desserts. You just order and the lady would pack them in plastic bags to take away or in bowls so you can sit around the stall eating. The green plastic bag on the table is mine. I ordered 7 different kinds of dessert. She even put shaved ice in the bag for me. Each packet I bought is 500riels so for basically about US$0.8, I bought desserts enough for 7 people.Some photos of the market.The market is pretty dark with no overhead lights and natural lighting is very minimal. It’s quite a narrow path between the shops.The wide variety of vegetables sold in the market plus dried stuff.This stall is selling some kind of barbequed meat. Look at the eggs on the left side of the photo. They are duck eggs with duck foetus in them. It’s a favourite delicacy in Cambodia. It is said to give a person strength. I had a friend who ate 5 eggs at one go. Till now, I haven’t the guts to try and I doubt I will ever try. I’ve seen the foetus in the egg before. Feathers were already growing on the foetus. It was totally disgusting.The outside of the market. Look at the guys under the red and white umbrella. Those are motordop drivers waiting for customers to leave the market.After buying the dessert, I proceeded to the shop. We are situated just outside Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. As you walk out the entrance of the museum, look to your left, we are at the corner. The name of our shop is VillageWorks. We sell handmade bags, shawls, little souvenirs etc. VillageWorks was conceived by the Girls’ Brigade Singapore for the purpose of creating employment and providing skills and livelihood to women and young people in Third World Countries where the Girls’ Brigade Singapore has pioneering work.Our vision is to bring meaning to the lives of people in small villages, to nurture their worth as persons and to help them realise their potential and purpose in life. Our strategy is to organize, equip and inspire the villagers to produce quality handicraft works for the global marketplace.VillageWorks is more than craft. It is more than enabling the villagers to bring home food for themselves and their families. VillageWorks is about restoring the spirit to small villages and about bringing meaning to their life. It is about empowering the people to stand tall on their own.As we are non profit, every cent that we earn goes back to the business and to the women. If you are interested in buying some of our products and supporting the work in Cambodia, please visit http://www.villageworks.com/ . To find the locations of our Singapore outlets, please visit the website as well.I know it sounds like I’m advertising our business and I am but that’s because I know how much our business is helping the women in a small village in Kampong Thom and some of the handicap staff that we employ. I myself have spoken to some of these women during my stay in the village and I know with the work we give them, they can lead better lives, buy better food to nourish themselves and send their kids to school. I see this business and I believe in it. In addition, we are giving these women self worth which is more important then anything.Anyway, I spent some time with the staff in the shop, catching up with them again. One of the staff, Kung, had gotten married during the one year I was away. Our manager, Anak, was also 7 months pregnant. About an hour later, I went to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. I’m ashamed to say though I have been to Cambodia so many times and worked there for a couple of months, I have never been to the Genocide Museum or the Killing Fields. I’ve always never felt like going in because of the tragedy that happened at the museum. For a month, I actually stayed opposite the museum and still I’ve never stepped in. Reading about the Khmer Rouge (KR) Regime and the time under the KR, I know it’s going to be difficult to walk in and out. But I thought I should at least visit once…how can I say I’ve been to Cambodia and worked there if I’ve never been in. So this trip, I resolved to visit the museum.I paid my entrance fee, US$2, and went in. I felt a sense of dread as I walked in.For those unsure of Cambodian History, well let me talk a little on it. Cambodia used to be a French Colony along with Vietnam and Laos. During the days of colonization, Vietnam was treated better then Cambodia in terms of education and the general opening up of the country because the French saw more potential in Vietnam then Cambodia. Anyway, after World War 2 and in early 1950s, King Sihanouk began to demand for independence from their colonial masters. In 1953, Cambodia finally gained independence. King Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father and became Prime Minister of the country. With many policies and political repression that made then politicians unhappy, a coup was staged in 1970, deposing him in favour of Lon Nol. With that, King Sihanouk traveled to Beijing and from there supported the Khmer Rouge in their campaign to oust the Lon Nol government. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge gain control of Cambodia and began their inhumane rule. The Khmer Rouge broke off all contact with the outside world, totally isolating Cambodia. They closed schools, hospitals, factories and abolished finance, currency and banking. They also outlawed all religions and confiscated all properties. They drove all the people from the capital to the countryside where the people were forced into hard labour. During their four years in power, the Khmer Rouge overworked and starved the people and at the same time killing selected people whom they felt were a threat to them. People who were educated, professionals, used to work with the previous governments, ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists monks or found with foreign objects like spectacles were put to death. Studies have shown about 1.7million people died during the period of 1975-1979. In 1979, Vietnam liberated Cambodia.As for Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, it used to be a high school. In 1975, the school was converted into a prison and interrogation centre. Of the estimated 17,000 who went in, only 7 survived. The rest were tortured and later brought to Choeung Ek otherwise known as the Killing Fields to be exterminated.The prisoners brought in were from all over the country and they were usually former Khmer Rouge members and soldiers who were accused of treason. These men were viewed by Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, as potential coup leaders against him. Besides the “coup leaders”, their families were also brought in to be interrogated and later killed.