After a long day of traveling throughout the different sites of Vietnam such as the tomb of Ho Chi Minh, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Hoa Lo Museum and the Museum of Ethnology. We enjoyed a welcome dinner at a local restaurant where we had some great Vietnamese food. But before that, we were introduced to the Asia-Pacific Academic (APA) team that will be traveling with us throughout our time in Hanoi.  This included Zoe, the APA manager that accompanies us throughout our time in Vietnam, and Yun, the APA manager that accompanies us throughout the time in Hanoi only. In addition, our local tour guide Long, also gave us a brief background on his experience within the tourism industry including five years of studying the profession through a university. He was also a part time lecturer at his alma mater for a course called “Sustainable Tourism Training” which is targeted towards the training and development of future tour guides in Vietnam.  He also gave us some tips with regards to how to have a fun trip in Vietnam while also being safe. Some of the tips that Long provided us included advice regarding money, where he told us that we should ensure the amounts that we are handing out to vendors are accurate and that we are confirming prices before the execution of any purchases.

Other tips that Long provided mainly involved our personal safety in Vietnam, with tips such as not purchasing gifts or other items from street vendors and instead purchase them from a trusted source.  Additionally, if you are ever in trouble make sure to record information about the vendor and send it over to Long, and he will send it over to the Vietnamese Tourism Board and have them take care of the situation and settle any losses accrued. Lastly, the GLCM director EJ Ignacio ended the introductions with brief reminders of student expectations and how we can make the most of the trip.

The meal that was served for our welcome dinner was a set menu that included 7 separate courses that included vegetable soup, a mango and papaya salad with dried shrimp for our appetizers; for the main courses we got Hanoi Grilled Fish “Cha Ca”, Grilled Chicken in Banana Leaf, Stir Fried Vegetables, and Fried Rice with Egg. Finally for dessert we had a Flambe Banana with Orange Ice Cream.

Due to multiple members of the group having dietary restrictions, the thoughtful staff and the chefs at the restaurant decided to provide us with the appropriate substitutes that allowed those of us with dietary restrictions to properly enjoy the meal. Including serving dishes intended to have nuts without them on and serving a separate “mini course” for grilled pork instead of the fish.

Blog written by Rex Chung Hin Tse