Learn some fundamental Vietnamese to get around the country with. SPECIAL emphasis on pronunciation - the most difficult aspect.

Coaching is given by a native English speaker, fluent in Vietnamese, who can point out lots of "tips & tricks" to help you overcome the difficulty with tones.

You get to nominate what terms & phrases you want to learn and learn the writing system so you will be able to be understood by over 85 million people!

A great little 'crash-course' for getting names, addresses and destinations correct in Vietnamese and avoiding all those unnecessary delays due to language misunderstandings.

Put something back into the communities you visit by offering conversational tutoring to the locals in English.

ALL upper-primary and high school students study English in Vietnam. However, the vast majority of them, especially out in the countryside, may never have the opportunity to talk with a native speaker.

You can help them by simply engaging them in English. Don't be surprised if this gathers a small crowd of onlookers eagerly listening & learning!

Paddy snails
Field mice
"Clean water" eels
Sparrow chicks
Feral chickens
Dog (specifically bred for the purpose)
Paddy fish
etc.

The Tay Ninh countryside is a veritable larder. You can help catch and cook your own dish. Availability is always seasonal, so some delicacies will not be possible during your visit.

Recipes are travel souvenirs for the stomach! You can take them with you wherever you go for the rest of your life!

From simple, hearty country fare to cultural staples! You can ask for a class for a specific dish you have enjoyed or just take a general introduction into Vietnamese cooking techniques. Vegetarian dishes can be catered for as well.

Vietnamese family and community culture has an amazing number of different traditional events. From the rituals following the birth of a child to memorial anniversaries for deceased family members.

In the countryside, where the sense of family and community remain strong, there are even more. Harvest blessings, thanksgivings, offerings to different Deities for particular reasons and more.

A great opportunity to get 'under the skin' of the spiritual, social and ceremonial side of life.

Become a member of a country family for a day or two!

While you will stay with the family and be a guest, you will be expected to join in with the activities of day-to-day life. This can be anything from watering plants or animals, cutting grass to cooking, cleaning up, singing karaoke for fun or even doing a bit of washing.

Facilities can be rudimentary compared to Western standards, but you will have your own clean, private room. Currently there is no internet or International TV, but we are working on it.

At its largest, this was a network of over 250km of tunnels which was home to an estimated 150,000 peope. The entire complex, extending under tens of square kilometers, played a key strategic role in the forming of the modern Vietnamese nation state.

The tunnels themselves mirrored the villages above them, with schools, hospitals, houses, administrative buildings, warehouses, etc. throughout the three levels of the tunnels.

In the latter years of that war, dead-ends, booby-traps, choke-points and water-traps (sections filled with water & designed to absorb the shock waves from hand grenades and bombs) were added.

Tay Ninh is home to some of southern Vietnam's most interesting, but largely unknown or ignored, history and heritage. The province is the setting for "the quiet American's" lonely night in the hostile wilderness, one of the Communist's first "liberated zones", home to the much searched for but never found COSVN Headquarters and the scene of one of the few photographs that can ever be said to have changed history!

It is also home to one of the Worlds strangest religions ... the Cao Dai.

Particularly for Australians, this is a fully-customized service. We will arrange to go where you want, see what you want, do what you want, do it when you want.

We will be in Vung Tau at some point (often using it as our 'base') and usually get asked to visit the Task Force Base at Nui Dat and the Cross at Long Tan. We also have a source for military maps of the period and can (normally) identify, locate and visit almost anywhere in the province ... even the "Long Hai's"!!!

We are too young too remember that time, but we are sensitive to both sides of that same coin. We are always humbled by the experiences we learn about on these trips.

This can be included into your existing itinerary or we can work with you to build an experience that is relevant to your own personal "connection" to this area.

The rural country side takes on a whole different persona when the work is done and there is time to relax.

Without the annoying background lights of the city, see the quiet and peaceful village from a totally new perspective

Núi Bà Đen (Black Lady Mountain) ... one of Vietnam's last remaining cultural "secrets"!

One of the most visited locations, by the Vietnamese people, in all of Southern Vietnam. A very intriguing place, home to a complex of Buddhist pagodas and several monks living in caves!

At almost 1000m high, the mountain is the highest point on the landscape for hundreds of kilometers and offers expansive views across the plains into Cambodia and on a clear day you can see Saigon, 120km away to the Southeast.

Climbs to the top take approx. 6 hours in total (ascent and descent, not counting time spent at the top) and can be arranged with 1 month notice in advance.

Get an in-depth insight into the local agriculture.

Visit the rice paddies to understand the irrigation systems & how 3 rice crops can be grown in a single year (but not every year).

Waddle along to join a duck breeder moving his flock of hundreds to fresh grass by 'folding' their pen along the canal bank.

Cut some fodder for the animals or help move the beef cows to a greener patch of grass.

There are also some fruit orchards, rubber plantations, vegetable gardens & more to check out.

Priced according to the mode of transport and the distance.

Available options:
Cyclo (it's kind of like a tri-shaw)
Bicycle
Motorcycle (self-ride)
Motorcycle Taxi - Pillion
Motorcycle Taxi - Trailer
Ox-cart
Buffalo cart
4-seat sedan
16-seat minibus (Private)
16-seat minibus (Shuttle)
48-seat inter-provincial coach

There is more than a hint the way things used to be riding through country lanes in an ox-cart.

Home to some of the most significant organizations and places of the American/Vietnam war, we can show you where some of the most significant events occurred.

This trip includes the Cu Chi Tunnels complex, the memorial sites of several important strategic battles and a visit to the COSVN Headquarters.

COSVN (Central Office for South Viet Nam) was the North Vietnam Headquarters in the south. The so-called "Free-World Forces" spent many years and millions of dollars attempting to find this location. They never found it, but we can take you there!

Explore the rural by-ways at your own leisurely pace and see life as the people live it.

Rural Vietnam is a web of unnamed tracks, paths and trails. Exploring them for a day will bring you into intimately close contact with the local people.

The people will often show their hospitality by welcoming you in for a cup of tea or a light snack ... even if you don't share the same language!

Be part of different aspects of rural life in various hamlets around the village.

Join the locals as they go about their days. Take the opportunity to see the world from their perspective.

It always 'seems' to be a quiet place with nothing much happening, but when you get "embedded" within the community, there is always something happening.

Have a professional, freelance photographer accompany you to the destinations of your choice for a "fotofest"!

Ideal for amateur or professional photographers who know their craft but are unfamiliar with rural Vietnam.

We are also able to source photographic equipment repairs, supplies and accessories.

We can arrange accommodation in HCMC within 1-2 hours.

Elsewhere in Vietnam we can arrange accommodation for you within 24 hours.

If you get 'stuck' for a place to stay in Vietnam, we can always find a suitable solution.