Vietnam’s other language: Honk, Honk! Beeeeeep! Honk!

Almost everyone's Vietnam tour starts with an arrival in Saigon, a brief stint at customs, picking up your luggage and then a transfer to your hotel. It is in the taxi or hired car on the way to the city, that culture shock begins to set in. You first real Vietnam experience to the culture will be driving. And, as much as it will be the new sites, it will also be the new sounds, that will quickly make you realize that you are far from home. Yes, the traffic is going to surprise you! Millions of motorcycles buzz the streets ... Readmore

Footprint Vietnam Travel’s girl guides

Ever since Footprint Vietnam Travel began over ten years ago, they have been very proud to offer their clients some of the best guides in all of Vietnam. However, over the past year, Footprint has noticed an interesting trend. There have been more and more requests for female guides. Inspired by a recent review in Trip Advisor, we are excited to promote our Vietnamese female guides to our clients. In the last review, Mi (pictured here, far right), a young graduate from Hanoi Open University's Faculty of Tourism was touted as being incredibly knowledgeable about Vietnam, as well as outstandingly friendly ... Readmore

Hanoi Street food explained: Bun Dau – Noodles and Tofu

A fresh option for lunch or dinner is Bun Dau. Literally translated to mean 'noodles and tofu', this favourite Vietnamese street food option is truly worth trying! Bun Dau can be easily found on the streets of Hanoi. To find it look for people huddled around big round colourful serving trays with plates of write noodles (bún), fried tofu (đậu phụ rán), fried fish cakes (bánh cá chiên), spring rolls (nem cuộn), and a pile of lettuces and fresh herbs. To eat it, take a choice of dips - either a traditional shrimp dip (mắm tôm) or sweetened fish sauce (nước mắm) ... Readmore

Ho Chi Minh City listed among best cities for street foods

Ho Chi Minh City has been ranked among the world’s top ten cities for street foods by the US’s monthly culinary magazine Food & Wine. “Saigon's street foods range from the savory soup known as pho and the French colonial–influenced banh mi (pâté sandwiches on French bread) to regional southern specialties like banh xeo (stuffed pancakes),” the magazine wrote on its website foodandwine.com. “A trip to the mega-size Ben Thanh Market could yield spring rolls, spices and a knockoff handbag.” The other cities are Austin, Los Angeles and Chicago in America, Bangkok in Thailand, Berlin in Germany, Istanbul in Turkey, Mexico City in ... Readmore

Tet Tips

Here are a few last minute Tet tips as we near the Lunar New Year. TET TIP #1: Be sure to withdraw cash from the ATMs earlier in the week. By Sunday some ATMs will have a line up of patrons, as well as have been known to run out of cash. TET TIP #2: Learn how to say Happy New Year in Vietnamese! "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!" Saying this to your new Vietnamese friends throughout the next week will generate lots of great smiles! TET TIP #3: If you are invited to someone's house for Tet, say yes! A few things to ... Readmore

Fight back against pick-pockets

Every Friday afternoon as Hanoi's Dong Xuan evening market begins to get set up those weekend-nigh-tmarket-pickpockets start getting excited. This weekend lets 'fight' back. Hanoi is one of the safest places to travel to on your Vietnam tour - if not for those pesky pickpockets that seem to only come out during the night market. Really, they are not even real pickpockets, but they have devised a way of getting to your cash, credit cards, and sadly, sometimes your passport. What they do is, unexpectedly cut a hole in your bag and get everything out that way. So here's what we all ... Readmore

Vietnam’s tourism with the… odd advice

“The best way to travel in Vietnam is renting a motorcycle and taking a trip from the north to south,” an odd advice. Lorijon Bacchi, Director of Visa Company in Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia said that she read the odd advice on tripadviser.com, one of the most prestigious websites to global travelers. When she came to Vietnam, she heard the joke of Vietnamese tour guides “museums in the morning, and water puppetry in the evening. Finally, she understood the meaning of the odd advice. Vietnam has many interesting for travelers to discover. However, it would be better to do this themselves. In ... Readmore

Year of the Dragon!

One of the most important years on the Lunar calendar, this year marks the Year of the Dragon. In Vietnam this will mean many things for the culture and for families. A great year for everyone, the Year of the Dragon, is definitely reason for celebration. One thing that makes this year so important is that everyone gets to celebrate. It is thought that the dragon is made up of parts of all the animals. For example the dragon's head is made from the buffalo, its eyes from the rabbit, and its claws from the tiger. This means that everyone will ... Readmore

Preparations for Tet – Vietnamese New Year

All of Vietnam is busy in preparation! As much as Vietnamese New Year is a week away, the Tet festival has truly begun! If you are on a Vietnamese tour you may have noticed that everyone is that much more busy, that homes and store fronts are being adorned with decorations, and that motorcycles are being loaded up with a few extraordinary items. Tet is the most important celebration of the year. It is a time when families get together to celebrate the new year. It is thought that even ancestors and loved ones that have passed away come back to join ... Readmore

Cooking up good luck for the Kitchen God: Ong Tao

Today is an important part of the Vietnamese New Year traditional celebrations. Ong Tao, also known as the Kitchen God, will make his way to the heavens. With the event, the streets will be lit up with the sight of small fires as a symbol of offering and Ong Tao's journey. Ong Tao is the god that lives in everyones' home. He is the one who has watched over the family over the past year. The reason for his journey to the heavens will be to report on each family's life and experiences throughout the year. It is said that he ... Readmore