VietNamNet Bridge - For those in need of a no hassles, stress free tour of Hanoi, Minh Phuong writes.

HanoiKids are not unlike many other young Vietnamese students. For now their main ambition is improving their English language skills.

But the way this group practices speaking English is completely unique.

With an ever increasing number of tourists coming to Hanoi the HanoiKids decided to use their initiative and become tour guides. But what’s in it for the tourists?

Well, for starters a free tour. Plus, a more laid back and fun approach to discovering the capital city. As their slogan says – “be more than just a tourist”.

“It’s like killing two birds with one stone,” says Thu Huong, one of the gang. “They help us practice English and by showing them the beauty of our city as well as the hospitality of Hanoians we’re doing our bit to highlight Hanoi on the world map.”

Naturally, the students have carefully researched some of the city’s most famous tourist attractions such as Van Mieu (The Temple of Literature), Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter.

“During the preparation for the tour, we discovered that although we were born here and grew up here, most of us had a lot to learn about our city,” admits Thu Huong. “Hanoi is like an open book waiting for not only foreigners but also young people like us.”

In the beginning, HanoiKids had difficulties in finding tourists to guide. When leaving promotional fliers around Noi Bai airport or lobbies in famous hotels, they received nothing but the ire of security.

Plan A was clearly not working. So being typically IT savvy young Vietnamese Plan B involved the internet – namely spam mail! Hundreds of emails were sent to travel websites such as www.aardvarktravel.net and www.travellerspoint.com.

“We know that many young students love to discover the world by their own without any help from travel agencies. That’s why we also send emails to universities around the globe,” explains one of the members, Thang. “Some foreign students have contacted us. They’re the same age with the same passions, so we really hit it off together.”

The first tour group was from a group of Dutch. HanoiKids members were understandably excited but despite careful preparations the tour had one minor hiccup.

At a souvenir shop the tourists were charged $7 for silk sleeping bags, but outside the same tourists discovered the bags cost $3 elsewhere. An embarrassing situation for the young guides’ debut as the tourists could easily have thought the HanoiKids were in cahoots with the greedy shop owner.

“No pain, no gain. We are not professional guides so it’s easy to see how this kind of thing might happen,” says Thanh, one of the main organisers of HanoiKids.

Most of HanoiKids’ members are just students. What they lack in professionalism is made up by their enthusiasm, so it’s more like hanging out with friends than being on a guided tour.

However, with a view to improving their guide skills, every two weeks HanoiKids’ members gather together at a café to discuss their experiences and share ideas for future tours.

In six months Hanoikids has guided 40 foreign groups around Hanoi.

Matthew Lee, a British journalist who joined a HanoiKids’ tour wrote to the group after the trip, “Together with you, I directly experienced the lifestyle, customs and history of Hanoi. I’ll write an article on HanoiKids and suggest my friends join you guys on a Hanoi tour!”

On a HanoiKids tour, the foreign visitors have a chance to try classic dishes like: pho, bun cha or nem, but also some less famous ones, like hat de nuong (roasted chesnut), nem chua ran (fried fermented pork sausage) or hoa qua dam (fruit dipped in salt, red pepper and sugar).

At this moment, HanoiKids are working with friends in Hue and Ho Chi Minh city to establish a VietnamKids group in the hope of helping more young Vietnamese make international friends while showing these guests to their country around. Everyone’s a winner.

(Source: Time-out)