Most Inspirational Moment
The cycle ride around the paddy fields and cottage industries just outside Hoi An. This gave us a real feel for how ordinary Vietnamese people live outside the major cities.
Thoughts on Group Leader
The leader in Vietnam was excellent. Very knowledgeable about local history and culture and made some great restaurant recommendations. The leader in Cambodia was also great, though we only had him for a day and a half.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Make sure you take enough Vietnamese dong. There were many places outside the cities that were cash only. Take any opportunity to see life outside the cities and make the journey to the river market on the Mekong. Well worth it, despite the early start.
Suggestions
Whilst our Vietnamese guide was excellent, I found the requirement to contribute to what I consider to be an enormous tip was alarming. Our guide received approximately £700 from our group, which was in line with the amount suggested by Exodus. It led me to question how much the guides are paid (by Exodus?) and whether they are receiving adequate wages. This leaves me very uneasy as I would hate to think these very professional guides are reliant on tips for their income. More liaison between the Vietnam guide and the Cambodia guide would have been useful. We arrived in Siem Reap expecting a relaxing afternoon but were told that we would have 15 minutes to freshen up then we would be going to a temple then straight to dinner. Some members of the party hadn’t had lunch as they were expecting to get something in Siem Reap during the free afternoon! We did insist on 30 minutes to freshen up but this still wasn’t enough time to grab something to eat. Time was a bit tight at the airports for the internal flights.