Did you know that there are 2796 different ways say "hello" around the world? Here in Vietnam, I have learned that to say "Hello friend" I would say "Chao ban".

So, Chao ban!

Our trip comes to an end in a few days, so I wanted to share some thoughts and pictures of what we have been up to!

After a very enjoyable flight via Hong Kong, we arrived in Hanoi with our golf clubs just itching to get out of the bag and hit the first course.

The clubs would have to wait a day as Hanoi was waiting for us to explore!
Hanoi was quite interesting for all of us. The city still has a lot of the old French colonial influences in a lot of the buildings. As we drove in from the airport, you could tell the city is old with not a lot of modern buildings in the downtown core. Our anticipation of what we would see on our full day city was already mounting. On our city tour of Hanoi, we visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where the body of the former leader is on display. We had a very informative guide that provided us with an interesting background on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, with the history of independence as well as how the official Vietnamese language came about.
 
Hanoi has a lot of very interesting character restaurants. For example, for lunch, we went to a small restaurant that only has two items on their menu, Vietnamese Spring Roll and Vermicelli with bbq pork. Both of these items were delicious and these items would not be found on a typical Vietnamese restaurant in Calgary. Part of our city tour involved a one hour cyclo tour that took us around the old French quarters of Hanoi as well as the old traditional neighborhoods where the roads are too narrow for coaches to pass through.
 
Our first round of golf was at the King's Island Golf Course.  As the name implies, this 36 hole golf course is built on an island and every golfer has to take the speed boat over to the golf course. The course is excellent! The caddies here speak English, which makes for an enjoyable round of golf.
 
We return to Canada at the end of this week and I look forward to sharing more pictures and stories with you in our February newsletter and blog.
 
Until then, "Chia tay"  (Farewell!)
 
Sincerely,
 
Michael

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Greetings and Happy New Year!

One of my favourite things about travelling to new destinations is to try the local cuisine. Our upcoming Vietnam and Cambodia Golf and Sightseeing Tour is going to allow me to do just that!

But, there is one thing I'm not so sure about...

Have you ever heard of Ruou Ran? It's snake wine.

Here's what Wikipedia says about this Vietnamese beverage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_wine

"Snake wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. The drink was first recorded to have been consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty and considered an important curative and believed to reinvigorate a person according to Traditional Chinese medicine.[1] It can be found in China, Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia.

The snakes, preferably venomous ones, are not usually preserved for their meat but to have their "essence" and snake poison dissolved in the liquor. However, the snake venom is denatured by the ethanol; its proteins are unfolded and therefore inactive."

The venom may be inactive, but still...

Who knows? Maybe I'll gather up the courage to try it and I'll be sure to let you know all about it upon my return!

If you're thinking about joining me on this tour, please give me a call (403-269-2122) or email me with any questions you may have. I'd love to welcome you on this Unique Golf Vacation!

Michael

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Seasons Greetings Golfers!

The December newsletter is now posted on our website. Inside this month, we feature:

- Upcoming Vietnam and Cambodia Golf Tour   
- New! Bali and Thailand Individual Golf Vacation Programs
- Borneo Golf Adventure
- Funny Golf Commercial Video
- Wine Pick of the Month

Read the DECEMBER UNIQUE GOLF VACATIONS NEWSLETTER

Would you like to receive our monthly newsletter? SIGN UP HERE

Questions about Unique Golf Vacations? Contact me anytime at 403-269-2122 or email (michael@uniquegolf.net)

Sincerely,
Michael Ho

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Hello Fellow Golfers!

The November Unique Golf Vacations Newsletter is now posted online. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a quick look inside:

- Vietnam and Cambodia Golf Courses - Have you heard us on 660 News? Take a look at our new video!
- Unique Golf Vacations Blog - Course highlights from around the world
- Golf Tip of the Month - Long Drive Golf Tips
- Travel Covers make a great Christmas Gift!
- Wine Pick of the month - thanks again to Pacific Wine and Spirits for providing our pick of the month!

Feel free to browse through previous newsletters on our website: http://www.uniquegolfvacations.com/Newsletter.html
(If you don't receive our monthly newsletters - you can sign up at the above link too!)

Questions about Unique Golf Vacations? Contact me anytime at 403-269-2122 or email (michael@uniquegolf.net)

Sincerely,
Michael Ho

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That's right - for the month of December, subscribe to our newsletter and you'll get a $50 travel credit towards your next Unique Golf Vacation!

Use it towards golf vacations to places like Vietnam and Cambodia, Hawaii, Borneo, South Africa - so many incredible golf destinations to choose from, you may have a hard time picking just one!

The Unique Golf Vacations monthly newsletter contains monthly columns like our destination of the month, golf tips, stories and pictures of recent trips - even a wine pick of the month!

Browse through our archived golf newsletters to see what we have in store for you.

We hope you will take advantage of the $50 travel voucher and SUBSCRIBE NOW! You can unsubscribe at any time and keep the $50 for any Unique Golf Vacation in 2012!

Sincerely,
Michael

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