FIT & GIT in terms of travel

Some people especially travelers see FIT and GIT rates on a travel website but they do not understand what they mean. I hope that you will get the overview of these terms after reading my post.

FIT stands for Free Independent Travelers (or Tourists).

It means a small number of tourists (usually fewer than 5 persons or couples) who take packaged tours at a time of their own choice. They eschew mass tourism and the holiday package concept promoted by Travel operators, in favour of a more individualistic approach to travel.

On contrary, GIT stands for Group Inclusive Tour.

It is a travel program with a special fare and specific requirements (usually a minimum number of persons often more than 5 persons traveling as a group throughout the tour).

Based on above differences, the rate for FIT is often higher than GIT.

FIT tour is recommended for couples or family because the rate is not much higher but you receive much care and attention from the tour operators. They also customize the itinerary to meet your needs and interests.

If you travel alone, you'd better join GIT because you can save money, enjoy the tour with other people so you will not be alone in a strange country.

Just some of my advice. Hopefully it is useful for you before you decide to take FIT tour or GIT.

Send money to Vietnam

If you want to send money to your friend or family in Vietnam, there are some available options:

- Western Union: (http://www.westernunion.com/)

- MoneyGramm: (http://www.moneygram.com/)

Most of the banks in Vietnam are agents of these two companies so it will be very easy for your friend in Vietnam to receive money from you. You only need to know your friend's exact name, address and Identification number. After you send money through these websites and give your friend the secret numbers (Western Union: 10 numbers. Moneygram: 8 numbers), he/she will go to a bank in Vietnam and submit the information to receive the money. It only takes 5 minutes since you send the money until your friend can receive it in Vietnam. This is the most popular way to send money to your friend or family in Vietnam.

- Xoom (http://www.xoom.com/)

With Xoom, you can also send money to your friend in Vietnam quickly. However, it is only partnered with a few banks in Vietnam such as VIB bank, Sacombank.... Therefore, please check their cash pick up locations before sending money to your friend to make sure that it is convenient for your friend to receive money. Free delivery to your friend's home if he/she is living in Ho Chi Minh city.

- Moneybookers (http://www.moneybookers.com/)

This is also a good way to send money to your friend. You only need to know your friend's email. Your friend can withdraw money to her/his bank account or credit/debit card.

This offers the same services as Paypal but Paypal does not allow people in Vietnam to withdraw/ fund money from/ to Paypal account. So please do not send money to your friend in Vietnam by Paypal at the moment. Please check again with Paypal at http://www.paypal.com/ if they change the policies for Vietnam.

- Bank transfer

You are also able to send money to your friend in Vietnam by bank transfer. You need to know your friend's bank account name, number and information of the bank where the account is opened. It is a safe but slow way to send money.

Beside above methods, if you need to send money to a business in Vietnam, you can also use credit card payment. Most of the businesses in Vietnam cannot accept credit cards online so they will send you some documents called Authorization letter and Approval letter for you to fill in. You'll also need to give them all your credit card information and the copy of your credit cards. This is definitely not a safe way to send money so please only use it if you could not use the above options. Moneybookers is a good way in this case.

Hopefully, the information is helpful to you. Please give me your comment or ask me if you have any question.

Our day trip in Hanoi

Today we decided to visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Because we got up a little bit late (around 8:00 AM) and after doing some stuff, we started for the trip at 9:30 AM, then we arrived at the Mausoleum after 20 minutes of driving my motorbike.

When we arrived at the Mausoleum, my friend Brian was very surprised at the long and crowded row of people in front of us. He asked me what they were doing while he did not know that he will soon join that row!

I had to park my motorbike at a much further place than usual because today is Sunday and there are so many people from both the cities and also the countryside that have come here to visit the Mausoleum. So to facilitate this they opened other parking places, we joined the row and were a little bit rushed as the Mausoleum is only open for a few hours (Tue through Thu morning) and also Saturday and Sunday. It's not open on Mondays and Fridays. During the whole month of October it's also closed for maintenance.

We went through the security check, then I received a bag to put my cellphone, my friend's cellphone and camera in, then we continued along the row until I got to the drop off point to keep all electrical products there and I will receive them back at a pick up point after we have visited the Mausoleum.

It took me around 1 hour to get to the main entrance of the Mausoleum then you only have an opportunity to see President Ho Chi Minh for a few minutes as the guards keep everyone moving along. You are not allowed to stop and look. Then I was very happy to meet my friend waiting for me at the pick up point to get our cellphones and camera back. Then, we did not visit the house on stilts and Ho Chi Minh Museum as we have visited them before. We went out and decided to visit the Military History Museum instead. However when we got there, it is almost 11:45am and they had closed for lunch already. This museum is open from 8:00 to 11:30 and from 13:00 to 16:30 for week days except Monday and Friday.Therefore, we decided to go somewhere for lunch.

This time, I took my friend to Phung Hung street. If you go along Phan Dinh Phung street you will turn right at the Galaxy Hotel to get to Phung Hung street, then after about 200m we came to eat at a barbecue or "Bun Cha" restaurant. This food is made from grilled pork patties with rice noodles which come with heaped plates of herbs and lettuce. We also ordered two bottles of cold beer to cool us down. The owner of the shop is a friendly and helpful man. He helped me to park the motorbike and also prepared the food for us. However, he is a little bit deaf. I asked him if we could have a fan as my friend comes from the UK but he could not hear. He thought that I asked him about the food so he kept telling us about the food. It was very funny but truly speaking, the food is really nice and it made us forget what he is trying to say :-)We each had "Bun Cha" as well as spring rolls and drank two bottles of cold beer. The total amount we paid is 55.000 Vnd = 3.5 USD.

After the meal, we drove around Westlake as it is near the street we had lunch, just 15 minutes by motorbike going straight along Quan Thanh street, then turn right at Thanh Nien road which is described as a comb between Truc Bach lake and West Lake, then you'll see Westlake.

Then we went to the Military History Museum.The museum is located at 28A Dien Bien Phu street. If you visit this museum after Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, go to Hung Vuong street,then turn left at Le Hong Phong street go straight ahead you will see Dien Bien Phu street, then after passing Hanoi flag tower and Le Nin Park, you'll approach the museum. While I was talking to a guide at the ticket office, my friend bought the tickets for us which cost 20.000vnd (US$ 1.3)per ticket although he should not have bought for me as I will be his tour guide. But we did not return the ticket, then we went inside the Museum.The museum was built in 1956. It is one of seven national museums in Vietnam. You can visit its website here However, it is written in Vietnamese only. This museum reflects the history of founding and defending the nation against foreign invaders of Vietnamese people. It presents and exhibits thousands of artifacts, images, maps, sand tables and many documents, newspapers written by Ho Chi Minh President or other famous military celebrities. We also had chance to see many weaponry and planes such as Russian fighters and anti-aircraft guns from the American War. There is a courtyard which is dominated by the mangled wreckage of assorted American planes piled against a tree. Within the museum compound stands the Hanoi flag tower (We call Cot Co Ha Noi). It was built from 1805 to 1812, with a 31m height and a 180m perimeter. This is an ancient architectural work well-known and classified as a historical cultural relic.We also took some photos there.Near the museum, there is a big and nice bar under the shadow of big trees that you can easily recognise after visiting the courtyard. It serves fast food, ice cream and other stuff. You can also go shopping at some souvenir stores around the Museum.

At the time we visited, it is a little bit hot and it is too bright to take good photos so I advise you to visit this museum either early in the morning or in the late afternoon around 3 or 4 PM. It would be better.

We ended our trip with a cool drive from the museum to my room.

Meet Vietnamese online

In my free time, beside reading books, I often visit some making friends websites. I just go there to find something interesting to do, not only making friends such as post a blog, upload an image or just to say hello to my old friends.
So I also think that sometimes you might want to make friends with Vietnamese. If you are a lonely guy, you can find a nice Vietnamese girl. If you are a girl, you can find a cute Vietnamese guy :-) Who knows! So, I'd like to give you some websites that I know here:
- Myspace ( http://www.myspace.com/ ) I think I do not need to introduce this website because it is too famous. There are many Vietnamese members on this website. You just log in your account, use "browse" to find out who are in Vietnam.
- Zorpia ( http://www.zorpia.com/ ) This is also very famous website as well. It is developed from China however the members come from all the world. Everyone can post everything and it will immidiately appear on the website. Many Vietnamese people here as well.

- Vietnam Cupid (http://www.vietnamcupid.com/). This is a dating and personals site that assists people to find Vietnamese singles for dating, romance, friendship or marriage. There are lots of Vietnamese ladies seeking marriage here.

- Or you can also visit Craigslist to find some ads for making friends with Vietnamese!

Vietnam visa

Although Vietnam is very open for visitors now but visa is still required to visit Vietnam except for some citizens including Vietnamese who are living in foreign countries.

- No visa required for travel less than 30 days: Citizens of Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos.

- No visa required for travel less than 15 days: Citizens of Japan and South Korea, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland.

- No visa required for travel less than 90 days or several visits within 6 months: Citizens of France holding valid diplomatic or official passports

- No visa required for travel less than 60 days: Citizens of Chile holding valid diplomatic or official passports.

- No visa required for travel less than 60 days: APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) Holders from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies

- Special Phu Quoc Exception: Foreigners and Vietnamese nationals bearing foreign passports who enter Vietnam through an international border gate and then travel to Phu Quoc Island and stay in Phu Quoc less than 15 days will also be exempt from visa application. Passports must be valid for at least 45 days. After arriving in Phu Quoc Island, if visitors want to travel other localities or stay in the island for more than 15 days, the immigration department will be responsible for issuing visas right on the spot.

- No visa required for Japanese citizens who hold valid diplomatic or official passports when entering Vietnam to implement diplomatic or Government’s official tasks without concerning about the time of stay. For those who entering Vietnam not for the diplomatic tasks but hold valid diplomatic or official passports can be exempted from entry visa and permitted to stay within 90 days.

For other visitors, you'll need to get a visa for entering Vietnam. You can apply for a visa at Vietnam Embassy or General Consulate of Vietnam in your country or through a travel company. Although it is very easy for both ways but people seem to use travel company because they will do less works and the fee is lower. Sometimes they can get free visa if they book some services from a travel company. If you are interested in, you can make a Google or Yahoo search to find out what company offering the service or you can ask me. I will be very happy to help!