HOW TO BE A RESPONSIBLE TOURIST!
Have you ever thought about giving something back when travelling abroad?
Volunteering with indigenous people in Ha Giang, Vietnam
Since we embarked on our world adventures, 16 countries in 16 months - we have made it our goal to give something back to local communities while travelling the world especially with children, animal and eco-conservation.
The first thing we did when planning our trip around the world was to subscribe to Work Away. You can become a member for about £20 for 2 years, and get access to their massive database of volunteer opportunities all over the world. From pet-sitting in Australia, teaching English to orphaned kids in Cambodia, building libraries in Bolivia, helping create a better life for kids on rubbish dumps in Guatemala to working with horses in Europe; the world is your oyster with WorkAway. You can work for 4-5 hours per day 5 days per week in exchange for free accommodation and food. For Planet Hero the membership fee was certainly money well spent!
YESD Organisation Volunteers
We hooked up with YESD Organisation through Work Away to help foster responsible tourism in Vietnam. We had an amazing and authentic experience of Vietnamese culture and certainly went off the beaten track for 2 months working on responsible tourism projects across northern Vietnam.
Indigenous Tay People
Our adventures included a death-defying motorbike ride to Ha Giang and Saba on the most dangerous road in Vietnam. Driving close to the edge of cliffs through the thick fog is not for the faint-hearted, to the border of China...
But certainly worth it to deliver warm clothes and other donations to the indigenous Tay people and see the smiles on their faces.
Delivering Donations
We stayed with the amazingly hospitable Tay people in a Homestay which is a traditional bamboo hut (on stilts) overlooking rice fields. The rustic hut comprised of individual double rooms sectioned off with curtains, and open windows.
Homestay in Ha Giang
The main living space was warmed up in the colder weather by an open fire utilized also for cooking our evening meal. There was plenty of tofu and other vegetarian options on offer for animal-friendly tourists and volunteers, so this was certainly pleasing to my palate! There was also a resident black cat who liked to cuddle up to volunteers for a stroke. Plus traditional handicraft workshops given to volunteers and visitors.
Tay mother & child
YESD took us to two Vietnamese weddings where we danced the night away and awoke at 5am to a chorus of 100 cockerals; to collect the bride from another village in an entourage of vehicles. The overindulgence of ‘Happy Water’ which Roni consumed the night before, did not revive my husband when he was forced to drink another 10 shots of ‘Happy Water’ for the wedding breakfast; by the father of the bride and chums.
Village life
In a small village, on Christmas Eve in Nanh Binh we were frog-marched to the stage by the local mayor and summoned to sing ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ in front of 400 locals. Even though we sang like a group of four alley cats having a scrap, we were applauded, presented with a bouquet of flowers, and treated like a famous pop band. It’s amazing how four volunteers – one Brit, 2 Americans, and 1 Brazilian can sing so fabulously out of tune and sway from side to side without tripping over each other on a Vietnamese stage in the middle of nowhere. All without the influence of alcohol.
Give something back! Roni with American Volunteer Brian.
An undercover policeman in the audience then frog-marched us down to the local cop shop insisting that we register our passports (which we had all accidentally left in Hanoi). So we spent Christmas Eve house-bound, tucked up in bed by 11pm; after the male volunteers had smoked a pipe with the cops, taken group selfies, and tried on some rather dandy police helmets.
Cycling Tour in VietnamCycling Tour in Vietnam
Youth unemployment is a big problem in Vietnam. At YESD we also helped with the free English classes they provide for Hanoi youth to improve their employment opportunities.
River tour
Sampling YESD tours is an amazing way to have a truly unforgettable experience in Vietnam.
Village Boy
We rode on bamboo rafts in the longest caves in the world. We cycled through rice fields, tranquil villages and climbed a hill by a temple to see the most breath-taking views.
River rafting
Watch this short video we made for YESD in collaboration with volunteers Tyson and Lina Cronin to see how as a tourist you can help with a more eco-friendly approach when traveling to foreign lands: