Collecting Smiles in Vietnam

Gordon posts the smiles he "collects" in his travels to his blog, Faces From Around the World. Do you blog about your travels? Email a link to [email protected] .

By Gordon Wininger, 35-time traveler from Henderson, NV

On my travels, I have been to over 70 countries.

If I could recommend one destination from O.A.T., it would be Vietnam.

From the hill tribes around Sapa down to Saigon and the Mekong River, the Vietnamese are the most welcoming and kind people in all of my foreign travels.

Through my eyes I see the women of Vietnam as the hardest working and creative in the whole world (men or women). Their colorful outfits always make me smile.

The kindness of the Vietnamese is heartwarming. I collect more smiles in Vietnam than any other country. When I walk around town on my O.A.T. designated free time, I don't have to walk far before a local person strikes up a conversation with me. They are curious about where I’m from and what I do. They are more than willing to tell me about themselves and their family. When I tell them I’m from the Las Vegas area of America they get a bigger smile on their face.

Of all my tours with O.A.T. and Grand Circle, Mai Nguyen is by far the best Trip Experience Leader. I have traveled with her leadership on three O.A.T. Inside Vietnam tours. Her kindness is beyond reproach. Mai's sense of humor makes everyone in the group smile on a daily basis. She respects and is kind to everyone we come across on the tour: bus driver, hotel personnel, members of our tour, and local people. To me "Kindness is King"; our world needs more of it. Mai’s knowledge about her country’s present and past is incredible. She has convinced me that Vietnam is the one destination I would recommend, and I do to fellow travelers on every other tour I take.

Because of Trip Experience Leaders like Mai Nguyen, I only travel on land or river with O.A.T. and Grand Circle.

See how many smiles you can collect—and how often you smile yourself—when you join O.A.T. for Inside Vietnam.