With the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in November 2010, many travelers now feel more comfortable visiting Myanmar (Burma), a destination that many had felt discouraged to visit in the past.

Yet, visiting Myanmar, the land of a million pagodas, is a retreat to a country whose great allure lies in its warm-hearted and welcoming people, peaceful Buddhist culture and bucolic landscape.

Asia Transpacific Journeys, the nation's leading tour company specializing exclusively in Custom Journeys and Small Group Trips in the Asia/Pacific region, is reporting that bookings to this intriguing country have almost tripled year over year. The company has been organizing travel to Myanmar for the past 15 years and is the hands-down Burma expert in the industry.

Marilyn Downing-Staff, Asia Transpacific Journeys' founder and President, says: "It's a golden moment to see Myanmar and take a step back in time to the Southeast Asia of old. The country still moves via ox cart, water buffalo plough the fields and smiling children run to greet the traveler."

Ms. Downing Staff made her first visit to the country in 1987 and describes travel to Burma as captivating – "a place that I go back to time and again, to renew my deep affection for Southeast Asia's people. " Many of Asia Transpacific Journeys' travelers have made friends for life with the hospitable Burmese people and there is no better place to immerse one's self in Asian culture than in Burma, according to Ms. Downing Staff. The country offers tremendous value, with comfortable to luxurious accommodations and attentive service. English is widely spoken, making it easy for travelers to interact with the locals.

Asia Transpacific Journeys' Small Group tour "Burma – Land of the Golden Pagoda" January 2011 departure is sold out and demand for their custom journeys to Myanmar have also risen considerably in recent months. Their list of Myanmar travel tours include three expertly led small group trips with five annual departures, as well as customized, privately guided tours.

The company's next Small Group tour "Hidden Burma" departs January 28 and "Burma—Land of the Golden Pagoda" departs again in October, while Custom Journeys can be arranged at any time of the year, with October through February being the best time to visit.

Highlights of a custom trip to Myanmar include witnessing the annual Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, one of the most popular pagoda festivals in Myanmar, where thousands of floating luminaries dot Inle Lake for the first few nights of the festival. Other highlights include riding bicycles at sunrise through the countryside around Bagan or through the Lisu and Rawang tribal villages in the far north, or enjoying a spectacular sunrise balloon ride over the temples of Bagan, the former capital of several ancient kingdoms in Myanmar.

Asia Transpacific Journeys also recommends visiting lesser-known areas of the country such as the mountainous areas of extreme northern Myanmar or some of the remote towns of Shan State including Hsipaw, Kengtung and Putao. "The morning markets in these areas are second to none in Southeast Asia, filled with colorfully dressed tribal villagers, local crafts and freshly prepared food", says Ms. Downing Staff.

SOURCE: http://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/interest-in-travel-to-myanmar-surges-15216.php

By WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTERS

KAY LAR, Myanmar—In the evenings, as the sun disappears behind the hills south of Mandalay and water laps against the hulls of wooden fishing boats here, it’s possible to imagine the outside world is slipping away.

In fact, it’s Myanmar’s famous Inle Lake that’s disappearing.

Inle, best known for the fishermen who glide across its glassy waters in flat-bottomed skiffs like misplaced Venetian boatmen, counts among Asia’s most magical places. But it’s shrinking at an alarming rate, the causes believed to stem from rising population density and rapid growth in the area’s two main industries: tourism and agriculture.

Floating gardens, manmade islands used to grow crops such as tomatoes and flowers, have expanded to cover much of the area near the shoreline; though photogenic, they are choking the lake’s fragile ecosystem. Shifting agricultural patterns in the surrounding mountains compound the lake’s problems, scientists and residents say, as forest-clearing for timber and slash-and-burn agriculture allow more silt to wash into rivers that feed the lake.

Inle Lake shrank by roughly a third, from 69 square kilometers to about 47, between 1935 and 2000, according to a study published in 2007 by the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science, a Japanese consortium that includes several universities. Another report, prepared by the Myanmar government in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Program and others, measured the lake—a rough oval in shape—at 11 kilometers long and five kilometers wide in 1996, down from 23 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide in 1967.

Hoteliers and other residents say they believe the rate of decline has accelerated in recent years, and this year the problem has been exacerbated by a severe drought. During a recent visit, some areas traditionally open to tourists were difficult to reach because water levels were so low. One village was cut off entirely from boat traffic, leaving boatmen to wade through mud for the final hundred meters from a canal.

If recent trends continue, says Tin Aung Moe, a senior program officer at UNEP’s Regional Resource Center for Asia and the Pacific in Thailand, “the lake might be gone in one or two decades.”

The problems at Inle are emblematic of a country that’s filled with extraordinary natural wonders and has more green space and unmolested wildlife than most other parts of Asia, but lacks the institutional capacity and political will to preserve them. The military junta that has ruled since 1962 launched a national environmental policy in the 1990s, and has won some qualified praise for overseeing preservation of the country’s 12th-century-era Bagan ruins, another major tourist draw. But it has failed to protect Inle and other treasures from the likes of logging, mining and development.

Environmental policy is largely in the hands of the National Commission for Environmental Affairs, which analysts say has limited powers and is understaffed and underfunded. Only rarely are officials willing to work with international organizations that have more expertise.

Scientists say Inle’s problems may be reversible, and for now the lake retains the ethereal natural beauty that has made it such an attractive destination. In the mornings, when a blanket of mist rises and the sound of oars striking water floats to the shores, it still feels very much alive.

Set in a tranquil mountain valley a short flight from Yangon, Inle seems more like Switzerland than Asia, the temperatures cool and the hills framed in blue hues as light fades into evening. Resident and migratory birds, including wild ducks, cormorants and herons, appear in single file or formation over the shallow waters. And though tens of thousands of people visit Inle each year, for now it’s still large enough that in remoter areas visitors can feel they have it all to themselves.

Tourists typically hire wooden boats with outboard motors to navigate the lake and the narrow canals. They stop off at stilt-house villages, a 19th-century monastery and a sprawling lakeside open-air market that moves from site to site during the week.

They also check out the beautiful but problematic floating gardens and visit handicraft workshops and temples, including the region’s holiest site, Phaung Daw Oo Paya, a multitiered pagoda with Buddha images covered in gold.

It’s worth asking the boat operator to cut the engine in the middle of Inle and just drift for a bit. From there one can take in the whole scene—in the distance white pagodas and along the horizon fishermen, using the curious local technique to move about the lake: They wrap one leg around a wooden paddle and whip it back and forth in the water to propel the boat. The atmosphere seems little changed from centuries ago.

But Inle is changing quickly as more people migrate in. The area’s population grew by more than 35% between 1983 and 2005, to 144,000 people. One reason is the floating gardens, which provide a livelihood beyond fishing. Villagers build them by assembling a mat of aquatic plant material (like the fast-growing but invasive water hyacinth) combined with silt, though not so much as to submerge it. After inserting bamboo poles at intervals to keep their islands from floating away, they plant their crops. In hopes of boosting yields, many apply agricultural chemicals, which leach into the lake and add to its troubles.

“Farming is a good business here,” said one grower of tomatoes and flowers as he worked along a weed-clogged canal. He has expanded his farm in recent years, he added, but now “there is no more space,” as nearby farms have also spread.

As the lake shrinks, the fish population drops—which in turn drives more villagers to take up farming. One fisherman in his early 20s says he makes perhaps $3 or $4 a day, catching only a handful of fish, considerably fewer than his father caught a decade ago. The lake’s shallowness—it’s mostly no more than a few meters deep, even a couple of kilometers from the shore—is one of the features that makes it slightly surreal, but the young fisherman says the water was deeper back when he used to go out with his father.

“Now all you see is weeds,” he says. Tangles of olive-colored plants were visible beneath his boat.

The other big change at Inle is the rise of mass tourism. Before Myanmar opened the sector to more investment in the 1990s, tourist arrivals in the country came to only a few thousand people a year; today the number is about 300,000. There are now more than 10 major hotels along Inle Lake and more than two dozen lodges in a nearby town, compared with just two in the area in the mid-1990s.

Most of the lakeside properties are big resorts, some quite luxurious. At the Myanmar Treasure Resort Inle Lake, for instance, rows of hardwood-floored cottages fan out along the shoreline, with rustic wooden paths and gardens between them. Amenities include satellite television, a spa offering aromatherapy massages and facials and a boutique selling local handicrafts and clothing.

The newer hotels have made Inle more inviting to higher-end tourists. Some hope visitors can help the situation by being mindful of their impact and encouraging hoteliers to invest in programs to remove silt and other waste. But scientists tracking the lake’s decline say there may be more cost than benefit.

The development “just increases the amount of garbage that has to be dealt with, the electricity that has to be generated, the sewage that is probably dumped into the lake, in a part of the world where infrastructure is often lacking,” says Alan Ziegler, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore and one of the authors of the Japanese consortium’s study.

Development at Inle “is probably at the doorstep of being at a situation where it’s unsustainable,” he says.

Hoteliers say they are working to limit their impact. Some have donated money to local groups that promote conservation, though environmental organizations are typically given limited space to operate in Myanmar’s tightly controlled political climate.

At the Myanmar Treasure Resort, general manager U Win Oo Tan says his hotel has installed wastewater-treatment systems and introduced proper garbage collection. The resort also requires boatmen to cut their engines as they approach its dock and pole their way in to preserve peace and quiet—the hotel marshlands are a gathering place for scores of wild birds.

“The authorities and the people here are very much aware” of the problems, says U Win Oo Tan.

Myanmar authorities have established an Inle Wetland Bird Sanctuary and instituted a number of programs and laws that in theory restrict the expansion of floating gardens. It has employed dredges to clear out silted areas, and boat drivers have been required to haul out hyacinth—a species that has choked lakes around the world—whenever they travel to Nyaungshwe, the main service center for the Inle. But residents say commitment to such policies is sporadic at best.

Across from the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda, a sign admonishes residents to “get rid of water weeds and hyacinths” and “limit the extension of residences and plantations.” Those goals “must be carried out with cooperation” between the people and the military, it says. Yet all around the area, farmers continue to expand their gardens.

Attempts to reach the Myanmar government, which rarely speaks with foreign journalists, were unsuccessful. An official at the National Commission for Environmental Affairs didn’t respond to a list of questions.

One of Myanmar’s leading environmental groups, the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association, says it has launched discussions with forestry officials and an army commander in the region to boost conservation programs there, according to U Ohn, the group’s vice chairman. He says he’s developing a five-year Inle Lake restoration program that will encourage more-sustainable agriculture and forestry practices and further increase awareness of the lake’s troubles.

“It is late but not too late” to reverse the lake’s decline, he says. But he estimates it will cost at least $1 million to put the plan into action, and says it’s unlikely the government will provide more than a small contribution.

Kyi Thein Ko, general secretary of the Myanmar Hotelier Association and managing director of the Shwe Inn Tha Floating Resort at Inle, said it’s understandable that officials have other priorities—like dealing with the environmental toll of Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 130,000 people in 2008. But given its enormous economic value, hoteliers say, Inle must be protected.

“One day Inle Lake may be fading away and we’ll be using motor vehicles instead of outboard motors,” said Kyi Thein Ko. “Which tourist will enjoy our hotel without water?”

SOURCE: http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748704289504575312014195024620.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines#articleTabs_slideshow

The Myanmar aviation authorities will increase the airport tax of the Yangon International Airport to 3,000 Kyats (about 3 U.S. dollars), which is six times the previous rate of 500 kyats, starting July 1 this year, sources with airline industry said on Wednesday.

The new tax rate will be collected for Myanmar citizen passengers taking flights while the original tax rate of 10 dollars for foreign passenger remains unchanged, the sources said.

The raising of the airport tax is due to increased cost for installing new digital machines at the arrival and departure lounges for rapid service, it said.

The annual cost for such formalities is estimated at 300 million kyats (about 300,000 dollars).

Meanwhile, a Myanmar private company — the Asia World — will take over the ground handling service of the Yangon International Airport, an earlier report said.

Before the handover of the technical-related business by the airport authorities, two private airlines — Myanmar Airways International (MAI) and Air Bagan are still handling the ground work.

Yangon International Airport was built in 1957 and the new terminal was constructed in 2003 by the Asia World Company.

Yangon international airport received over 251,800 foreign tourists in the fiscal year 2009-2010, according to statistics.

There is one Myanmar international airline and 13 foreign airlines operating between Yangon and nine destinations, namely Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing via Kunming, Guangzhou, Calcutta, Chiang Mai, Taipei, Doha and Hanoi.

The 13 foreign airlines flying Yangon comprise Air China, China Southern Airlines, Thai Airways International, Indian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Silk Air, Malaysian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Mandarin, Jetstar Asia, Phuket Airline, Thai Air Asia and Vietnam Airlines.

Source:Xinhua

Travel demand in the Asia Pacific picked up strongly at the start of this year, with a 10 percent increase in international visitor arrivals recorded for the first quarter.

According to the latest statistics from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), international arrivals to most areas of the Asia Pacific increased in the first three months compared to the same period last year.

Arrivals to South Asia grew 17 percent year-on-year, with strong growth for Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan, up 30 percent, 21 percent and 57 percent respectively.

Strong growth was also seen in Southeast Asia with an overall 16 percent increase, sub-regions Myanmar (up 39 percent), Vietnam (up 36 percent) and Thailand (up 28 percent) recording the highest growth.

However PATA noted that Thailand’s early recovery is expected to be “severely impacted by the tensions and unrest in April and May.”

Northeast Asia arrivals grew 8 percent year-on-year, buoyed by a strong 29 percent growth in arrivals to Japan and 17 percent growth in arrivals to Hong Kong.

Growth was also recorded in subregions China (up 4 percent), Macau (up 12 percent), Chinese Taipei (up 28 percent). However, PATA noted Korea recorded a 1 percent decline in the first three months.

In the Pacific, foreign arrivals grew 6 percent, with a 6 percent increase in visitor numbers to Australia and New Zealand while smaller Pacific island destinations such as Fiji and Papua New Guinea saw 26 percent and 22 percent growth respectively.

SOURCE: http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article.asp?id=69074&nav=109

A rare “white elephant” – traditionally viewed in south-east Asia as a symbol of good fortune and power – has been captured in Burma, state media reports.

Reports say the elephant was tracked down in Maungdaw in western Burma. It is likely to be brought to the capital, Naypyidaw, for the military ruler, General Than Shwe.

White elephants are only nominally white – they often look reddish-brown in the sun, and light pink when wet. They have white hairs on their body.

Language barrier

With elections due this year under terms the country’s opposition considers unacceptable, Burma’s military rulers have been hunting for their good omen for some time now.

When a white elephant was sighted earlier this year in the western jungle, they reportedly sent an army u

nit to scour the area and find it.

Their prize is said to be about 40 years old, 2m (6.5ft) tall, with pearl-coloured eyes.

Gen Than Shwe has never had a white elephant of his own, although Burma’s

leaders travel in aircraft called White Elephants 1 and 2.

The generals may hope their new trophy – and their own fortunes – are not blighted by linguistic association.

In English and some other languages, a white elephant also means a useless structure, and a needlessly expensive burden.

SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10452174.stm

AirAsia is offering 10,000 tax only fares from its international destinations to Bangkok from 28 May to 1 June, 2010 for travel between 7 June and 31 August, 2010.

The low cost airline through its travel holiday division AirAsiaGo is also offering guests traveling into Bangkok free night offers (stay, pay promo) for hotel stays in Bangkok including free transfers and free half day city tours.

The international destinations included in this special five-day promo are Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang), Myanmar (Rangoon), Cambodia (Phnom Penh), Singapore, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi), China (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau, Hong Kong), Taiwan (Taipei) and Indonesia (Bali, Jakarta).

Thailand is a popular destination for AirAsia guests. The airline has two hubs – Bangkok and Phuket – in the country. Aside from Bangkok, other very popular Thai cities are Phuket, a perennial favorite among both Thai and foreign travelers; Chiang Mai, popularly known as “The Rose of the North”; Krabi, a famous diving destination; and Surat Thani, the jump off point to the party island Koh Samui.

AirAsia began operations in Thailand in February 2004. It currently has 11 destinations in Thailand, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Phuket, Surat Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani.

Bangkok is the airline’s most popular destination in Thailand, with the capital connected with direct flights to 10 other Thai cities and to 14 cities elsewhere in Asia.

FOREIGN travellers are coming back to Myanmar and the outlook for the industry is positive, a leading tourism body said last week.

At the annual general meeting of the Myanmar Marketing Committee, an organisation of tourism industry companies, memb-ers heard that tourist arrivals have recovered from a series of setbacks in 2007-8.

Recent positive developments included the introduction of direct Vietnam Airlines flights between Hanoi and Yangon, the Air Bagan service to Chiang Mai, the launch of upgraded railway facilities by Myanma Railways to Bagan and, most recently, the introduction of a genuine visa on arrival system.

The MMC has also taken steps to boost the local industry, committee chairperson Daw Su Su Tin told the May 14 meeting.
“We have initiated plans to organise Myanmar Inter-national Tourism Exchange Yangon (MITEY), where we will host a tourism show to showcase Myanmar’s various attractions that visitors can explore with ease and affordable value,” she said.

Ministry of Hotels and Tourism director general U Htay Aung said the visa on arrival system, which was introduced at the start of May, would provide a further boost to tourist arrival figures. “Arrivals in 2009 were up by 25 percent compared to 2008. The new visa-on-arrival system is very useful for future tourism in Myanmar, though we still need to improve the service,” he said.

MMC organised several fundraising activities in 2009-2010, including a fun run, musical, golf tournament and sports day.
Daw Su Su Tin said with the strong support of sponsors and industry colleagues, their project team successfully raised the funds required to continue with industry promotion activities. Further expenditure on marketing and promotion would attract more tourists to the country, she said.

Members elected Dr Aung Myat Kyaw as chairman, U Phyoe Wai Yarzar as vice chairman, Daw Phyu Phyu Mar as secretary, and Daw Rita Myint as treasurer.

By Zaw Win Than and Pan Eiswe Star
May 24 – 30, 2010

SOURCE: http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/travel/524/travel001.html

Sittwe: All flights scheduled along the Sittwe – Rangoon route have been postponed since Saturday due to bad weather with heavy rain, said one spokesperson from a travel agent.

He said, “Flights scheduled between Sittwe and Rangoon were postponed from Saturday because an airplane owned by Air Mandalay could not land at the Sittwe airport as planned due to bad weather and heavy rain. After that, all flights were postponed.”

Air Mandalay has flights to Sittwe from Rangoon every day, while Air Myanmar flies into Sittwe from Rangoon five times a week.

“The flight from Air Mandalay will fly into Sittwe next week, but travelers were requested to contact the airline on Tuesday. If the weather improves, the airline will resume their flight to Sittwe from Rangoon,” he said.

In Sittwe there has been heavy rain with strong winds, and clouds have blanketed the city after Cyclone Laila passed by the Arakan Coast.

An airplane from Air India Express crashed on Sunday in southern India when it skidded off the runway in heavy rain at Mangalore airport in Karnataka. Just eight of the 166 passengers and crew onboard the Boeing 737-800 flight from Mangalore to Dubai survived the crash.

On 6 June, 2009, Myanma Airways Fokker F-28 crashed when the plane landed at Sittwe airport, causing substantial damage to the plane and injuring three people, including the pilot.

Posted via web from myanmartravelguides

VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi-based agency Luxury travel has begun a promotion; six days and five nights touring in Myanmar.

The tour is the best choice for Vietnamese and worldwide travellers when Thailand – the traditional favourite destination in the Southeast Asian region – has been in political crisis.

Myanmar has emerged as quite a safe and peaceful site for tourists rather Thailand.

Luxury Travel, which is a 100% fully registered and privately-owned Vietnamese company and Vietnam’s first luxury tour company with full travel service agency, has offered travelers an option for week long in the Buddhism country.

Upon arrival in Yangon International airport, warmly welcome by a local tour guide, tourists will start the first day trip by visiting the magnificent Shwedagon pagoda, landmark of Myanmar and one of the greatest wonders of the world.

Buffet dinner with traditional culture show serve at Karaweik Hall which is a classy modern restaurant standing in water. Overnight in Yangon.

Early morning of the second day, travelers will fly to Mandalay, where they take an excursion to Amarapura, City of Immortality, founded in 1783 AD. Here, one can see Mahaganthayon monastery the largest teaching monastery in Myanmar. Daily at around 10:30 a.m. about 700 monks queue up for their last meal on this day.

The great serenity of U Bein wooden Bridge, which constructed in 1849, will be the next step. It is about three quarter of a mile with 1086 posts and enchanting Taung- ta-man lake.

Maha Muni Buddha image temple, completely covered with gold leaf, is the last visit before lunch.

After lunch time, travelers will visit the reconstructed Mya Nan San Kyaw Palace, Kuthodaw Pagoda, often called the world’s largest book (a set of 729 huge stone slabs on which the Buddhist scriptures are inscribed) and Shwekyaung monastery which is what remains from Mandalay palace after second World War.

The entire monastery was built with teak wood and carved all over with motifs and mythical creatures.  The day tour will finish by visiting Mandalay Hill, the natural watch-tower where visitors can watch the sunrise or sunset over the city plains.

Visitors will start the third day in Mandalay by visiting Sagaing Hill where over 600 monasteries for monks and nuns are located for Buddhist studies and meditation.

U min Thonze or thirty caves pagoda has many Buddha images in a crescent shaped colonnade, Ywahtaung Village where you can see silver workers producing bowls and other silver items by traditional methods and the most impressive Soon Oo Pon Nya Shin Pagoda nearby.

Private boats float to Mingun that is famous for its huge and incomplete Pahtodawgyi Pagoda built by King Bodaw Badon in 1791 and Mingun Bell the biggest hanging bell in the world. There are handicraft workshops such as bronze molding, gold leaf beating, and marble stone carving.

A flight to Bagan, where sightseeing leads to Nyaung Oo Market,  Shwezigone Pagoda in which the Frontlet Relic of Buddha were enshrined, Gubyaukgyi  Temple, where is noted for its wall paintings, Htilominlo Pagoda one of the largest temples of Bagan is noted for its fine plaster carvings Ananda Temple.

The finest, largest and best preserved of all the Bagan temples, Ananda Okkyaung, a brick monastery with 18th century mural paintings and Dhammayangyi Pagoda, extending approximately 255 feet on each of its four sides, is Bagan’s most massive shrine.

A visit to a local family lacquer ware workshop, this is one of Myanmar’s best-known handicrafts. Manuha Temple is considered one of the earliest temples in Bagan and Nanpaya temple — a unique sandstone monument and Thatbyinnyu Pagoda, the Bagan’s tallest temple at almost 217ft.

The sunset from Shwesandaw Pagoda is breathtaking, the most popular sunset-viewing spot in Bagan. Dinner and overnight at Bagan.

The last day will start with a fly to Yangon. Travellers will visit Chaukhtatgyi reclining Buddha image which is one the largest image and then take Sule pagoda surrounding — city hall and the largest collection of British colonial buildings.

At the Gem mart where the qualities of gems are displayed.

The country is known as the world number one producer of precious stones.

Boggyoke market provides an amazing range of Myanmar products which is a shopping paradise for tourists and locals. In the evening, China town will be next visit of the fifth day. After touring amazing Myanmar, fly back to Vietnam.

Tour prices start from US$990 net per-person double rate, this includes accommodation costs, nearly all meals, regional and international flights, private transfers, private pick up and drop off service. The tour can be booked at last minute, and can be customized to suit individual interests and schedules.

“Throughout Myanmar you will savor fresh and exotic cuisine, experience the warmth and openness of the Burmese people and enjoy abundant luxury shopping, this new travel experience brings you absolutely the best of the best Myanmar has to offer” said Dav Nguyen, Sales and Marketing Manager of Luxury Travel Company.

For additional charge, guests are also free to request balloon ride, restaurant reservations, meetings with artists, cooking instructors and designers, shopping recommendations, spa reservations, tours with special-interest lecturers, and exclusive access to local activities and cultural events.

For tour and booking, visit www.luxurytravelvietnam.com