The Best Money You’ve Ever Spent

It’s not very often one gets the opportunity to travel. And, to do so in such a well organized manner is even more rare. I’ve just completed my 12 days with Vietnam Intro and I couldn’t think of a better way to have experienced this breathtaking country. Vietnam Intro came highly recommended by a friend who had done one of the other Intro trips to Bali. It’s quite difficult to pin point one specific highlight in a schedule that is so jam packed, but on my list of top 5 are the following:

1. Boat cruise around the majestic Ha Long Bay with its 1969 limestone cliffs.

2. Volleyball and hammocking on Freedom Island.

3. Local homestay in Ninh Binh surrounded by mountain goats and the great trek up Dragons Peak.

4. Hoi An. HOI AN. Theres just nothing wrong with Hoi An. From it’s lantern-lit streets to its tailor shops and restaurants.

5. And, I didn’t think I’d be writing this...but...catfishing barehanded in the muddy streams of the Mekong Delta.

Doing a trip with a babbling tour guide seems to be so run-of-the-mill these days. I imagine it would be easy to parrot fashion a bunch of facts to travelers if boredom ever struck. We didn’t have that, though. We had Mat Stirland. Mat went out of his way to throroughly walk us through each activity on each day, effortlessly arranged transport so that it was no inconvenience to us and checked in at the end of each day making sure we got the most out of every experience. To tie that all together he was funny, knowledgeable, able to communicate with locals, helpful and invested in what he does. I couldn’t think of anyone else squeezing every last drop out of an experience the way Mat did. And for that, I’ll remember this whole experience for many years to come.

I now can’t wait for Bali Intro and Thai Intro, I’ve already started my planning. You don’t want to experience this with anyone else but Vietnam intro and Intro Travel.

Michael McMeeking