15 Day Experience

My first time to south east Asia and I couldn’t have had a better time! Thoroughly enjoyed every day on the experience tour. A good mix of activities like hiking, more wholesome ones like tea parties and lantern making and fun nights out. Our group bonded super quick and whilst we are all girls from uk/Ireland we all had very different personalities and interests and the mix of activities was great as there was something for everyone! So glad I did a tour as I wouldn’t have done as many activities in those 2 weeks without! The itenerary is super busy at times with quite a bit of travelling (6 hour bus to sapa and back) but it’s worth it and our leader Adam Donovan made a point of giving time to us to rest or have time to ourselves or just do our own thing.
The only activity I didn’t partake in was catfish fishing, it’s just not for me but I was more than happy to watch the others and take photos for them. I didn’t feel left out or like I was missing out by not doing it.
I packed really lightly (glad I did as I ended up buying clothes in Mr axe’s and the markets) and was relying on washing my clothes once in the country and was able to get a wash done in sapa and hoi an. Unfortunately my clothes weren’t washed well in hoi and one item came back ripped but I would just not use that hotels laundry service again.
I got 2 outfits made in Mr Xe’s that came to $170 (us) so if you’re budgeting I’d just recommend allocating some money for that.
Adam was super helpful and has the patience of a saint (we must have asked him the same questions several times every day). His love for Vietnam was obvious and he was very knowledgeable and went above and beyond for everyone on the group in regards to onwards travel.
Felt super comfortable and safe the whole time and this has given me more confidence to spend a couple more weeks in Vietnam solo :))