E-Book Going Somewhere? and taking the kids! Our journey through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

The first in our D.I.Y travel planning series!

A practical, easy to follow D.I.Y. guide to planning your trip with children.   175 pages that show you step by step how to take the mystery out of

D.I.Y. holidays on a budget through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

This book is for people who love to travel and need direction on how to research it, plan it, book it and make a real success of a D.I.Y. holiday with their family!

Written by Julie Warner, a travel planning expert who has personally travelled to over 100 countries with her husband and taken their 16 and 14 year old children to 54 and 51 countries respectively.

Book Excerpts:

"The idea behind this book came from the number of people who express surprise over our holiday choices given that we have two young children. People who have children, and those who don’t alike, are always intrigued with our travel plans.  Even if they were used to travelling overseas prior to having children, most people say that they could not contemplate taking their younger children with them – unless it’s to a family-oriented resort destination with a “kids club”."

"In this book, I aim to provide useful information for planning an overseas trip with children, with practical advice on what you can achieve with the kids, without needing to take out a
second mortgage.  My hope is that it may just inspire other families to take a chance on a different style of holiday when they next venture away - and to discover that it can be fun!"

Hotels: "The accommodation side of our trips is one area that we save substantial amounts of money.  This is the part of any trip that can really put a big dent in to your overall budget and with some careful research substantive savings can be made."

Packing, What to Take?: "What to take and how much of everything do you pack?  I personally hate the washing aspect of being on the road for a number of weeks so I tend to take quite a lot of clothes for everyone to limit the number of times we need to think about doing laundry.  In saying that, we usually only travel with one large suitcase, a smaller wheelie bag for shoes and toiletries, the kids small wheelie back pack for toys and our day pack (backpack)."

"My hope is to inspire others to take the plunge, pack those bags and take their families on a trip that they may have thought was too difficult to contemplate or not suitable with
children.  If you do make the effort, I am sure the benefits will far outweigh any minor stumbling blocks you may encounter along the way.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction…..1

The Background….. 3

Why Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos?..... 3

Planning:..... 7

Airfare Research….. 8

Travel from Vietnam to Cambodia….. 11

Vietnam Domestic Travel….. 12

Airfares & Train….. 12

Tours:….. 14

Mekong Delta Tour….. 14

Halong Bay Tour….. 15

Cu Chi Tunnels Tour….. 15

Hotels:….. 16

In Vietnam:….. 19

In Cambodia:….. 19

In Laos:….. 19

Packing, What to Take?:….. 20

Toiletries….. 20

Medical Kit….. 21

Kids’ Toy Bag….. 23

Clothes….. 24

Shoes….. 24

Day Pack (Back pack)….. 24

Money….. 25

Camera Bag….. 26

Vaccinations….. 27

VISA REQUIREMENTS….. 28

BEFORE YOU GO….. 30 

OUR JOURNEY….. 33

Day 1 - Sydney to HCMC, Saigon….. 33

Day 2 – HCMC….. 38

Day 3 – HCMC to Can Tho (Mekong Delta)….. 48

Day 4 – Mekong Delta, Can Tho to Chau Doc….. 60

Day 5 – Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh….. 71

Day 6 – Phnom Penh….. 79

Day 7 – Phnom Penh to Vientiane….. 82

Day 8 – Vientiane….. 85

Day 9 – Vientiane – Luang Prabang….. 89

Day 10 – Luang Prabang….. 93

Day 11 – Luang Prabang….. 100

Day 12 – Luang Prabang to Hanoi….. 103

Day 13 – Hanoi….. 108

Day 14 – Hanoi….. 114

Day 15 – Halong Bay….. 119

Day 16 – Hanoi to Hue….. 125

Day 17 – Hue to Hoi An….. 135

Day 18 – Hoi An….. 141

Day 19 – Hoi An….. 149

Day 20 – Hoi An to HCMC….. 161

Day 21 – HCMC to Sydney….. 165

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES….. 172

BIOGRAPHY….. 173