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Indochina Sails confirms that overnight cruises on Halong Bay are safe.

activetravelvietnam — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:19:03 +0000

Indochina Sails is well known for providing the most luxurious and highest quality cruise ships on Halong Bay. As the first operator to offer overnight cruises on the Bay, Indochina Sails has over ten years experience hosting international travelers, and has consistently set the benchmark for luxury cruising on Halong Bay.

Indochina Sails has always maintained the highest level of safety standards as well.

With the recent addition of two new vessels our fleet now consists of six boats comprising a total of 74 cabins. With all of our boats safety has been and will continue to be an utmost priority.

All six boats in our fleet (Indochina Sails 1, 2, 3, Indochina Sails Premium, Valentine and Valentine Premium) have life vests in every cabin (1 per guest, including children). Additional life jackets for all guests are stored in public areas.
The boats are equipped with life buoys and life rafts with capacity for all guests and crew on board.
Each boat has a tender (also equipped with life jackets) to assist in any emergency or rescue operation.
All of our boats are under professional daily on-board technical supervision.
Our Captains possess long term experience and are extensively trained and fully licensed.
Our crews are fully trained with clear procedures as to how to deal with emergencies.
All guests are briefed and given safety procedures on board with clear instruction in case of emergency.
All boats are fitted with professional marine safety equipment: VHF, GPS, radar, walkie-talkies, water leakage alarm systems, water pump systems, fire alarm & fire extinguisher systems.
All boats undergo one-month extensive dry dock maintenance yearly and are fully checked by local marine registration authorities before and after leaving dry dock.
All boats are covered with maximum boat insurance and maximum passenger & crew insurance.

The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance. We provide safe passage for all our guests.

If you require any more information please feel free to contact our Hanoi office.

INDOCHINA SAILS
Hanoi Office
Add: 27 – A6 – Dam Trau Quarter – Hai Ba Trung District – Hanoi – Vietnam
Tel: +84 – 4- 39842362
Fax: +84 – 4 – 39844150
Email: info@indochinasails.com
Website: www.indochinasails.com

How to find safe travel in Halong Bay Vietnam

activetravelvietnam — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:43:09 +0000

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to give out some advices about how to travel safely and enjoyably in Halong Bay. There are some something you should concern about as you plan your trip there.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

1. Overnight junk (vessel) or hotel?

When you travel you can stay in hotel anywhere, anytime and that is just so normal. If you want to have a unique travel experience in Halong Bay it worth spending a night aboard of an overnight vessel amongst thousands of islands and islets. Though the recently tragedy incident happened to an overnight vessel I still vote for it. The question now is how to minimize the risk.

2. How to choose a reliable overnight vessel?

Stick to popular names like Indochina Sails, Huong Hai Junk, Bai Tho Junk, Hai Long Junk,… there are many boat fleets recommended or not recommended on Trip Advisor by travelers. We all know that the big brand is likely a guarantee for the quality. In this case, it is so true. A wooden vessel of a big fleet after some year in operation would be sold to smaller fleet who is targeting at cheap services. These old wooden vessels are not reliable especially in bad weather.

When you book overnight vessel ask your travel consultant or reservation license of the vessel for doing its business. That can tell a lot how reliable your overnight vessel is.

3. What else a popular big vessel fleet can offer?

Their crew are better trained and more discipline. They concentrate on what they do better than crew of a small and unorganized fleet. The vessels are well maintained and safety equipments aboard are better equipped. There are many more things about quality and safety that a small and cheap fleet can not offer traveler since they just target at cheap services.

4. Already aboard, what you should concern?

There should be a hummer in your cabin which can be used to break the glass window in case of emergency. The hummer should be hang right on either sides of the window and you have locate it so you can have it when you need (hope not). If you do not find the hummer you should ask for one from the crew or you make something yourself for that purpose.

There should also be life-vest in your cabin. You have to be sure that you have them ready in case.

Scan the whole vessel for emergency escape way, fire extinguisher,… that would be useful in case of emergency

( Source: news.activetravelvietnam.com)

Indochina Sails, the unique Guide Awards’ Winner for Luxury Cruises in Halong bay Vietnam

activetravelvietnam — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:08:15 +0000

Indochina Sails (www.indochinasails.com ) has just won the Guide Awards 2010 for “the Year’s Best” products and services in the tourism sector in Vietnam in Furama Resort Danang, celebrating their award winning service.

The Guide Magazine has choosen 125 tour operators hotels and travel suppliers in Vietnam who make contribution to Vietnam Tourism such as protect travel environment, supply sustainable travel services and responsibility to local people. Besides, The guide Magazine have shown the beautiful pictures of landscapes and daily life in Vietnam

Indochina Sails is the first company to offer overnight cruises on the bay and now widely known as the number one choice for discerning travelers, operating a fleet of four newly built wooden junks designed in time-honored traditional style, with contemporary and luxurious cabins and facilities.

This award – winning luxury cruises are also offering terrific deals, to tempt travelers who travel with family members and are keeping their wallets tightly closed these days.

Ha Long Bay listed among the world’s most surreal landscapes

activetravelvietnam — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:30:31 +0000

The Telegraph has recently selected the world’s most surreal landscapes, including Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, a world natural heritage recognised by the UNESCO.

Halong Bay, Vietnam: This stunning landscape features some 3,000 limestone pillars rising out of the emerald waters on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Tonkin. Local legend has it that the islands were created by giant dragons, summoned by the gods to fight Chinese invaders.

Valley of Desolation, Dominica: This valley was a lush rainforest until a volcano erupted in 1880. Fauna is now reduced to lizards, ants and cockroaches while boiling mud and fumaroles dot the landscape.

Painted Desert, Arizona, USA: Vibrant reds, oranges, blues, greys and pinks decorate the sun-baked Painted Desert on a high plateau in Arizona. Home of the Hopi and the Navajo peoples, the latter known for their ceremonial sand paintings, it’s an utterly unique part of the planet.

Purnululu National Park, Australia: Until the release of aerial photos in the early 1980s, this remote area in Western Australia was all but unknown to the outside world. Traditionally used by Kija Aborigines during the wet season, the rugged web of gullies, cliffs, gorges, domes and ridges hold aboriginal works of art and burial sites.

Petrified Forest, Argentina: This flat arid land in Patagonia’s Santa Cruz province is strewn with the stumps of fossilised trees. Some 130 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, wet forests of giant araucaria trees covered the area. During the formation of the Andes, large-scale volcanic activity buried Patagonia in ash and these forests turned to stone.

Wadi Rum, Jordan: The forbidding beauty of Wadi Rum was the perfect backdrop for the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia. This desert wilderness is certainly cinematic – sand valleys and dunes punctuated by a maze of monolithic rock, natural arches, slender canyons and fissures, beautifully moody colours at dawn and dusk, and night skies sprinkled with a multitude of stars.

Lake Myvatn, Iceland: The Apollo 11 crew were sent here to train for their moon walks. It is lined with craters, lava pillars and mud pits, while volcanic islets are scattered across the water. If not for all the ducks roaming the sandbars, it could well be on another planet.

Cappadocia, Turkey: So inhospitable is the landscape here in the heart of Turkey that early dwellers went underground, building churches and houses into the soft cliffs. Above ground, honeycomb cliffs and volcanic cones – known as ‘fairy chimneys’ create dramatic landscapes.

Lake Bogoria, Kenya: So shallow is the earth’s crust in this sinister landscape that the surface looks like a giant witch’s cauldron, with scorching springs and geysers. Rich in sodium salts and minerals, the lake has no life bar the blue-green algae, eagles flying overhead and the incredible number of flamingos that feed here.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia: Blindingly white and dizzyingly high, this vast salt flat near the crest of the Andes could easily be mistaken for a Salvador Dali painting. Eerie and otherworldly, Salar de Uyuni holds intensely blue skies, red and green lagoons, pink flamingos, smoking volcanoes, giant cacti, hot springs and spitting geysers.

Source: Telegraph

Two months in Southeast Asia – Travel Vietnam, Laos, Thailand

activetravelvietnam — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:58:50 +0000

Since my second backpacking trip through Europe, I wanted to journey to Southeast Asia.

I chose to visit Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and developed a loose itinerary, starting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Bangkok was everything I expected. The number of people everywhere was staggering, but before long I got used to the crowds, the heat and the food.
I visited many temples and shops, including the Grand Palace and the famed Khao San Road. The Grand Palace was amazing. Inside there were countless statues of Buddha. To my disappointment, Khao San was the typical tourist trap, with vendors selling T-shirts and bootlegged CDs.

After a few days I headed to Phuket, where I played beach bum for a few more days before flying to Saigon, Vietnam.

Scooting around Vietnam

Now, that was exactly what I pictured an Asian city to be – scooters everywhere! Crossing the street in Bangkok was like crossing a street in Des Moines compared to trying to cross the street in a Vietnamese city. The first time in Saigon was a big leap of faith. The trick is to just walk and keep your head turned to oncoming traffic.

I spent three weeks in Vietnam traveling from south to north. The highlights were eating the food in Hoi An, enjoying Hanoi’s famed Bia Hoi beer gardens and eating snake, and seeing the rock karsts of Halong Bay.

I had many choices of border crossings into Laos from Vietnam but I chose the crossing near Vinh in central Vietnam. This meant that I had an eight-hour bus ride from Hanoi to Vinh followed by a 14-hour bus ride to Phonsavan, Laos.

Phonsavan is famous for its “Plain of Jars” fields. These are fields of stone jars, each about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide, scattered everywhere. Other jars are scattered in jungles surrounding Phonsavan.

Floating through Laos

After a day in Phonsavan I headed to Luang Prabang for a few days and then to Vang Vieng. My time in Vang Vieng was some of the best. There I went on a two-day trek that included hiking over mountains, spelunking through caves and kayaking the Nam Song River that runs through the town. The town has become a hotbed for young tourists who tube down the river. The river has a number of bars along its banks. Some have zip lines, bungee jumps and slides for the patrons to enjoy and all blare techno music.

Cambodia was the biggest surprise of the trip because I knew the least about it. The biggest draw to Cambodia is Siem Reap where Angkor Wat is located. Many people go only to see Angkor Wat but there are many more temples around Siem Reap and Cambodia. I felt like I was on another planet when I went to Angkor Wat to watch the sun rise over the temple.

I spent two months in Southeast Asia and there are still parts I didn’t see. I enjoyed every minute. Many people ask if I felt safe. I did.