Hello, any fellow travellers for an all action trip to Vietnam out there?

rosie w. Hi im going on the trails of vietnam!! just booked last week!! my friend Tim and his pal are also travelling!! Tim and i have done several trekking trips!! we laugh alot and are easy company! looking forward so much to visiting such a fascinating country!!

Good to hear from you. What treks have you done? This is my third Exodus trip but the first that isn't  all trekking. I'm so looking forward to the variety of this trip. Not sure how good my canoeing skills are though - think I had better practice! Travelling with husband Al.

rosie w. hi!! not a kayaker!! but should be fun!! done lots of treks over the last 5 yrs inc nepal x2,kili, ethiopia, peru, mongolia, high atlas and borneo which was ation packed like this one!! that was interesting and vietnam has always been on the hit list! so it is a last minute decision!! so furiously cycling at the gym daily!! as if that will make a difference!! and doing some reading about the area!!

 

Hi All, Rosie has already introduced herself. Along with Rosie (who I met in Ethiopia, Simeon Highlands), another of my friends, Martin, who I also met on my travels (Mexico, Sierra Madre trek), is joining us. Martin and I don't like too much instruction from local guides at cultural sites - after a few minutes, we get bored and start to wonder off to explore. So you'll have to forgive that little idiosyncrasy. Otherwise, you should find us easy-going ;-) The photo was taken by Rosie of me bathing with an elephant in Chitwan, Nepal - fab day!

Hi everyone. Chitwan picture looks great - looking forward to taking some good (?) photos in Vietnam. Is anyone planning to take any anti-malarial tablets for the trip? The FCO website says that they are not needed for the cities and east coast of Vietnam, which is most of the trip - apart from the trekking days. Am not sure if it is worth bothering just for a short time, but would welcome anyone else's views.

I picked up my prescription today - Malarone. The nurse at my GP practice tells me all of Vietnam is a high risk malarial area. Also, the trip notes recommend anti-malarial too.

Also, one can get bitten during the day by mosquitos carrying dengue fever - so a good bug repellant is a must too. I've used the Boots jungle formula on previous trips, which contains a good percentage of deet. Hope this helps Lizzie. 

Thanks Tim, that's really useful. Looks like I had better get down to the surgery, as well as stocking up on the jungle formula. I think Boots has brought out one called 'Repel' with a higher percentage of Deet in it.