This entry was posted on 9/27/2006 8:49 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
Make sure to bring:
Bottles
Playtex disposables are a great option because cleaning the bottles was not always assessable.
Bottle brush
Small bug spray
Hydrocortisone cream
Cradle cap medicine
Dramamine
Pepto
Germ-x or packets of hand-sanitizer
To-go toilet paper
Kleenex
Lots of $1’s
Tennis Shoes
Small sun screen
Plastic Bibs
Ziplock storage baggies
Small trash bags
Pacifiers
Tide individual laundry packets
Multi-vitamins, not being able to eat salad and only peeled fruit or cooked veggies we are all depleted for sure
Cherrios for older children
Cough drops
A few snacks, peanut butter, granola bars, but everything else you can get here.
If you get to travel with a group, communicate often and divide things you can bring and borrow so that you don’t have to all bring the same things and overpack.
MUST HAVE’s!
A Lap Top!
Skype, purchase minutes in the US
Cell phones and blackberries do work
A BABY CARRIER, any kind you like, but it will save your life here!!!
Older children, a back-pack carrier over a stroller, the streets are not made for strollers
Make a Blog or internet site if possible. Keeping in touch with your family seems invaluable while you are away, it keeps your spirits high.
Your child’s medicine, teething tablets, cough medicine, antibiotics, Motrin, Tylenol and anything else you may need.
Wish we would have NOT brought:
Thermos, all our children took their bottles, hot, cold or room temp, they did not care.
Diapers
Formula
We brought too much clothes and luggage, think LIGHT!!! Like 5 shirts, you can rewear and wash here very easily. Too much luggage like 6 or more pieces is too much. With all the families you should have seen the look on the hotel guys faces and the surrounding people. Bring the essentials, everything else, buy here!
Hairdryers were at every hotel
When Shopping:
BARTER! They will come down, pull the ‘walk away,’ if they don’t and you love it buy it, but you WILL find it somewhere else!
Buy your gifts and clothing in Ho Chi Minh City, they have GREAT shopping and very cheap! Do not wait until Hanoi or you will pay a fortune!!!
They have beautiful Art Work, barter for this too
They have men’s suits and womens Ao Doi’s for every cheap, handmade for you.
Every place we went took both American USD and Vietnamese Dong. 16,000 Dong is $1 USD.
We all brought between $2, 000-$3,000 dollars for extra shopping, food and diapers, formula, doctors visits, HCMC to Hanoi tickets, lots of stuff and if you have to stay an extra week or two, you will be glad you brought more money. You can always take money home.
When traveling:
EVA allows 70lbs per person
Use the Saigon Tourist Taxi’s in HCMC
Use the Hanoi Taxi’s in Hanoi, everyone else will rip you off
Look at your tickets closely for your HCMC to Hanoi trip- our dates were wrong and we did not notice until we went to check in. We have to cancel all our tickets and try to get on the flight we wanted. We did, but it was very stressful. This flight only allows 22 kilos per person, ALL of us had to pay over, it was no big deal though.
TAKE TOURS!!!!!!
If in Ninh Thuan, go see the laceName w:st="on">ChamlaceName> laceType w:st="on">TowerslaceType>
While in HCMC, go see Cu Chi Tunnels
While in Hanoi, go see Sapa village- book Victoria on the train and Ha Long Bay!
There are hundreds of other places to go and see and amazing things to do. Ask each hotel for recommendations or hook up with a tour guide. We LOVED our tour guides, they made the trips for us and gave us more things to do during the day and great places to eat at night!
Child holding:
They LOVE children in this country. All the children, their own, stranger and your’s! EVERYONE will want to hold your baby, love on them, kiss on them, touch their faces, hold them during dinner. Its so fun once you get into it! Yes you are bonding, but a few minutes will not hurt your child and it’s a cultural thing here, saying ‘no’ to them is very rude and they don’t understand it. Yes of course, use discretion, we did not let several people hold our baby’s (this is where a great carrier comes in handy too) but during dinner, they will play with your child while you eat. They are your’s forever, just enjoy just a baby obsessed culture!
Hotels:
For the most part we loved all the hotels Dillon chose for us.
The Saigon Ninh Chu in Ninh Thuan was to die for beautiful. Only thing in this place, only Vietnamese food, no American food anywhere! So get used to it, breakfast, lunch and dinner for 5 days (for us anyway.)
The laceName w:st="on">RexlaceName> laceName w:st="on">HotellaceName> in HCMC. 4 of the 5 families would not stay there again. Its dark, old and we woke up sick with sore throats and allergies every morning. The best part about the hotel that made it worth it was its location was perfect and there were $6 dollar massages that were soooo good and after traveling for almost 40 hours, it was such a treat! The Sheridan and the Continental Hotels are just down the street and are Much nicer!
The Melia hotel in Hanoi. We loved this hotel, 5 star very nice and a huge price tag, $130 a night. The location was awful, nothing to do or walk to and we asked to switch hotels after 2 nights because we learned that we were going to be staying an extra week.
The Hong Nogc Hotel. There are 5 of them in Hanoi. We stayed in the one on Hang Manh street. GREAT location, lots to do and see. Only draw back, there is not great comfey furniture like there was at all the other hotels. Hard wooden chairs and a harder bed, but for $55 dollars a night, it was worth it.
STAY:
Get your mind ready to STAY, if you get to leave in 2 weeks, count yourself blessed and be happy. If you have to stay one or two more weeks, you can do it, God will fill your time with good things and you can afford it.
Hospitals and clinics:
There are hospitals around if you get really ill. We chose to use the SOS International Clinci. It was very close to our hotel in Hanoi. We all took our babies or ourselves there and they are western and were great.
Orphanage Donation:
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Floss
Diapers
ALL Age clothing, infant-15 years
Toys with out batteries
Stuff for older children to play with
Games
Orphanage Caretakers gifts:
Picture of your child
Jewelry
Towels
Cleaning items
Clothes, Size small
Practical items
Thomas will divide up the gifts and hand them out to the caretakers or to whom he sees fit for that gift, so no worries.
Dillon Staff:
Thomas: Size M, short sleeve dress shirts, plays bad mitten, family games, 2 daughters
Minh: Size M
Phuong: size XS, American stuff, jewelry
Ha: Size XS, nice things, jewelry
Buy what you think you would like to receive as a gift, they loved all our presents and they were totally different from one another! We all got them things like, baseball team shirts, football hats, batteries, socks, jewerly, candy, American items.
Orphanage:
Spending time there is what you make of it. Yes its hard, Vinh Long is way nicer then Ninh Thuan, but both are hard and have lots of children with no parents. Focus on your child. It will be hard if your caretaker is crying their eyes out and wants to keep holding your child. Pray through it and be patient. They are breaking the bond with the child they have taken care of for so long. You will see your baby at least one day before you adopt them and other families many days before you adopt them, so the longing gets intense. Soon they will be yours forever though and visiting the orphanage will be a forever reminder to pray for the other children.
Rules for the trip:
- Flex or die (be flexible or life’s going to be really hard)
- Suck- it- up!
- Don’t state the obvious (it’s hot, ok were ALL hot, or I’m hungry, ok were ALL hungry)
- Continuously pray for your child and as a family
- Soak in Vietnam, its AMAZING!
This list of good info was put together just for you by Dillon’s second family group to travel to Vietnam. Those families are: The Reeders, Furrows, Homans, Davis’ and Perrymans.
ENJOY VIETNAM!
