food safety in vietnam – Family World Travel

In Amazing family vacations

Vietnam with kids- Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and Hanoi: recommended hotels for a soft landing (and how much they cost)

April 25, 2016 No Comments

Discover the best hotels and accommodation prices in Vietnam-Ho Chi Minh(Saigon) and Hanoi when travelling with kids. Recommended destinations for a comfortable stay

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city are both remarkable destinations that any tourist would love. Not only do they have a certain charm around them, these cities are also home to some really amazing relaxation spots. However, when you stare reality in the face, the first thing you observe are the clogged array of motorbikes, scooters, cars, and smoke in a dense and people-clogged environment. This colorful mess might make you stop in awe at the crosswalk and wonder if you will ever be able to cross that road.

However, even with this rather dense atmosphere, navigating these two cities can be really easy if you know the right place to stay and are able to find your way around.

Below is a list of Recommended hotels in Ho Chi Minh City when travelling with kids:

Best Luxury Hotels:

✨ The reverie Saigon– Do you want to get a mind blowing view of the river and the entire city? This hotel offers you everything you need in a five-star hotel and so much more. From a breathtaking swimming pool with color changing waters, to a full bursting minibar and a manservant available for hire, it is just perfect if you are looking to have a great time. It also features wall-to-wall windows with well facilitated rooms (including an espresso machine!)

Kids below 11 years of age stay free. Price– 225$ a night.

Book your stay now to enjoy the amazing city and all of its pleasantries!

Click to book through Agoda now

Click to book through Booking now

✨ Sherwood residence hotel– Get the feel of luxury at an affordable rate! The Sherwood residence hotel offers you apartments from 80sqm in size in a spectacular apartment setting. This standard room comes with 2-bedrooms, 2-bathrooms, living room, well equipped kitchen with a fridge and even a washing machine.

To get more out of your stay, you also get a swimming pool, a play room for the kids and so much more in a sparkling and squeaky clean setup.

What’s even better? Children younger than 11 years get to stay for free!

The price- 87$ (for the standard apartment described above) a night and upwards for other high end rooms with additional features.

Book your stay now to set down a reservation for your trip!

Book through Agoda today

Book though Booking today

✨ caravelle saigon hotel– Would you like to enjoy the serenity and astonishing beauty of Ho Chi Minh? the Caravelle Saigon hotel brings you a 5-star hotel in the perfect location! You get great rooms, a wonderful pool and a remarkable view!

It also offers free stay for kids younger than 5 years!

Price- starting from 135$ a night.

Make your reservation today to enjoy excellence in hospitality!

Click here to book through Agoda

Click here to book through Booking

Best Guesthouses in Saigon:

✨ beautiful Saigon hotel– Want an affordable yet high class accommodation that brings you quality service and a family friendly environment? The beautiful Saigon is what you need!

Here, you get an amazing location, swimming pool, clean rooms, fast Wi-Fi and breakfast included in the fee. It is absolutely affordable and offers you the option for rooms with three or more beds for better convenience.

Kids younger than 10 get to stay for free!

Price: Starting from $28 night.

Click here to book through Agoda

Click here to book through Booking

✨ Saigon Europe hotel spa– Experience convenience and relaxation in a spa styled hotel with all of the facilities you need!

Want to stay in a good location, with big, clean, air conditioned rooms and a pool? The Saigon Europe hotel spa offers you that and so much more. It also come with a served breakfast included in the fee.

Price: $50 a night for the family room.

Book your reservation today and give your family a treat.

Click here to book through Agoda

Click here to book through Booking

Recommended hotels in Hanoi with kids:

Best Luxury Hotels:

✨ meracus hotel– Enjoy the service of a great staff and a breakfast served for kings in the highly rated Meracus hotel. With a strong reputation of excellence, this hotel is located right on Hoan kiem in a perfect location and is extremely affordable for all of the features it offers!

Price: 70$ a night for a family suite.

Click here to book through Agoda

Click here to book through Booking

✨ Hanoi la siesta– Perfect for maximum comfort, the Hanoi la siesta is designed as a family friendly location with pleasant and helpful staff and a good location. Located in the old quarter, you can book rooms with connecting doors for great family accessibility and closeness.

Price: 160$ a night for two rooms with a connecting door, or 170$ a night for a family suite.

Want to enjoy your stay with your family? Book a room at the Hanoi le siesta today!

Click here to book through Agoda

Click here to book through booking

A good hotel for a good price:

✨ hanoi lotus boutique hotel– This hotel offers you an amazing array of services including friendly staff, great location, an awesome restaurant and organized tours for the entire family. You also get free Tea/Coffee/fruit juice throughout the whole day.

Price: 25$ a night for a double room, 40$ a night for a family room.

Follow this link to book through Agoda

Follow this link to Book through Booking

Best Guesthouse in Hanoi:

✨funky jungle– If you are a backpacker/traveler, a group of friends travelling together or visiting the city as a family, then the funky jungle is the ideal location for you!

Located in the heart of the old quarter, this guesthouse provides a common playroom, restaurant and bar (free beer!). It is a great place for social encounters/making new friends from all over the world.

You can get a few beds in a dorm room, or get a private room.

Price: A bed costs 10$ a night and a room costs 35$ a night.

Click here to book through Agoda

Click here to book through Booking

Don’t forget that you need to make your Vietnamese visa in advance online. and read more information about trip to Vietnam with kids.

For more inspiration try our awesome itineraries:

Vietnam with kids- Two weeks luxury vacation

Vietnam for food loving families

and more…

You can find many more hotels throughout Vietnam on Agoda , Booking or Hotelscombined

My new eBook is now available on amazon. click here, and find out how to travel the world with your kids for less than 1400$ a month (yes, even when staying at those really nice hotels :-)).

In How to travel with kids

East Asia with kids- What to take in your first aid kit?

February 10, 2016 No Comments

A first aid kit is one of those things that make you feel safe, even when you’re in the middle of nowhere in southeast Asia, and especially when you are with kids. When you always have one in your bag, you can be as spontaneous as you like and still be a ‘responsible adult’. It’s important, though, to never forget it in your room because that will be the one time you actually need it. Yes… I learned that the hard way :-).

Things I recommend taking:

Basic first aid- sterile pads, disinfectant, plasters of different sizes, bandages, tourniquet, and something special for burns.
Hand sanitizer (a small bottle just in case you really need but don’t have one).
Mosquito repellent. I always have some in my bag, but in my first aid kit I always carry some wet wipes with mosquito repellent, just in case.
2 hygienic bandages in a sterile wrap.
And empty plastic bag.
Multiple purpose disinfecting liquid- a little bottle that can disinfect anything, cuts, surfaces, toilets.
A salve to sooth the skin- stings/sun burns/nettles.
Antihistamine.
Two unopened tooth brushes+paste. The small kind they give in hotels and airplanes. Yes, sometimes you have dinner at a friend’s home and the girls decide to stay to sleep there.
Lavender oil for everything- scratches, cuts, burns.
Soap pages in a travel pack.
Lipstick for dry lips.
Hair bands.
A lighter.

In addition, it’s best if you give your kids a few basic safety rules. Whatever seems important to you. For example, my kids know to beware of certain plants that irritate the skin- you just need to point it out to them and tell them to be careful. They also know not to touch shoe soles or anything off the floor, or to come close to a motorbike’s exhaust pipe (in southeast Asia there are more bikes than cars)

You can buy a ready-made first aid kit and just buy a few more things that are important specifically for a trip in southeast Asia with kids. That’s what I did to begin with, but as time went on the bag got ripped and ruined so I bought a camera bag. A square bag, waterproof, opening from the top and divided to several compartments. I chose the size that fits comfortably in the bottom of our bag that still goes everywhere with us, and put everything in it.

In How to travel with kids

southeast Asia with kids- food and drinks : safety rules

January 29, 2016 No Comments

A big fear many parents have is about the hygiene of foods and drinks in developing countries. Even doctors specializing in travel medicine recommend to be extra careful with those. I wrote here the ways we deal with it.

Drinks:

Many of the worst diseases originate in water.

2. That’s why I always go under the assumption that the water anywhere is not fit for drinking. Not taking any chances.

3. The most effective way to disinfect water is by boiling.

4. That’s why any dish containing water must be well boiled.

5. Drinking water- you can find different qualities of drinking water anywhere. From mineral water from abroad to locally treated and disinfected. Buy a few types, pick the one you like best and stick with it. And of course, pay attention to the lid signature.

6. Juices- fresh fruit juice is one of the ways to keep the kids healthy. It’s important to make sure they don’t mix it with water or ice. Also, pay attention to how clean the dishes are.

7. Cold drinks- sodas and the likes are perfectly safe to drink.

8. Hot drinks- usually there’s nothing to fear, the water is well boiled and even if they add milk- they boil that too for you.

Food:

The best way to disinfect food is by boiling.

2. That’s why it’s always better to eat food that was cooked in high temperatures, baked or well fried.

3. Meat is one of the biggest sources of disease, that’s why rule no.2 is twice as important if you’re going to eat meat. Don’t eat meat that hasn’t been well coocked!

4. You don’t have to eat meat.

5.Eggs- go under the assumption that the Eggs have been fertilized. If that doesn’t bother you, I recommend you to put Eggs in the same category with meat- make sure all parts of the Egg have been well cooked (I don’t order fried, boiled or scrambled Eggs, I order an omelet and ask it to be well done).

6. The locals prefer to be healthy and know all these rules even better than us. True that their digestive system is designed to those conditions, but they’re not immune either.

7.That’s why the local foods are always healthy and nutritious, while keeping to the hygienic rules relevant to that place.

8.On the other hand, it’s the western foods that are made only for the tourists are those that aren’t prepared properly according the hygienic rules and hence have a higher chance of making you sick.

9. In addition, take under consideration that the local food is what the locals cook best. Western food won’t be ‘like home’, and especially the meat- not always worth the risk (depending of course on the destination of your trip)..

10. In short, it’s recommended to just order the local food.

11. Another important detail- people are always warning of the cooling and keeping conditions of the food, but in local restaurants they never prepare food in advance. They only start to make it when they get an order. It takes a while (take a deck of cards with you J)… but together with that you can be sure the food is the freshest it can be.

Fruits and vegetables:

Fruits and vegetables that were watered with polluted water are not recommended to eat, because their peel is contaminated.

2. That’s why you have to make sure they were properly cooked.

3. Or properly peeled..

4. Or properly washed..

5. If there’s no way to wash/cook you should always pick the fruits or vegetables with a thick peel (Papayas, Oranges, Coconuts, Pineapples, Bananas). And those that grow on trees/bushes and not on the ground.

6. Many restaurants in touristic areas are aware of the problem and clearly mention that they wash their fruits and vegetables with disinfectant (iodine usually). Even with that, I don’t take risks and don’t allow the kids to eat fruits and vegetables that aren’t peeled.

Buying snacks or packed food:

One thing you have to remember: pay attention to the expiry date. If that’s not written, or if it’s expired, DON’T BUY!

Eating at food stands:

Usually their food is very fresh (and tasty!), they always make it that same day.

2. In large, the rules are the same rules, don’t forget them.

3. Pay attention how many locals eat from that stand. Don’t buy from an empty stand.

4. Pay attention to their utilities and where they sharpen their knives (there are stand owners that sharpen their knives against the sidewalk..).

5. Don’t forget to ask a number of times ‘not spicy’.

6. Or come with a ready-to-pull bottle of waterJ.

7. It’s best to come with your own disposable utilities.

8. And yet, I wouldn’t eat meat in stands.

General hygiene:

The utilities are washed with regular water, usually with soap..

2. They have a different way of washing dishes: they soak the dishes in a big bowl full of water, then scrub with soap, wash and leave in the sun.

3. Their use of the sun is not only to dry but also to disinfect.

4. They serve the silverware on a plate.

5. Table cleaning: oh well, it’s usually not very clean. You can ask them to clean, you can use a wet wipe yourself, or you can simply not mix the silverware with the table.

6. You don’t have to use glasses, drink straight from the bottle..

7. You can buy a packet of straws and drink through them for maximal hygiene.

8. Remember to wash your hands before every meal.

Bottom line:

Wash your hands before every meal.

2. Prefer local foods.

3. Cooked in high temperatures.

4. always suspect the water. Drink only purified water/fresh juice/sodas/hot drinks

5. Check the date of expiry on all packaged snacks.

It looks complicated but within a few days you get used to these rules and they become habit. Even the kids learn fast and the rules become a part of their life. they don’t even think about it anymore.