Especially prepared for Coos History Museum members and their family and friends.
Goals: provide a special experience to learn about Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, travel with people you know, an opportunity to donate to the museum
Join Susan Tissot , the Coos History Museum Executive Director, and Carol Pinnell as they lead a trip commencing in the last week of October for a 12 day/11 night rare opportunity to explore these three fascinating countries that are amazingly rich in history, culture and scenery. This journey will focus on learning about the cultures and meeting the diverse groups of people who live in these regions. We will visit modern and ancient Khmer kingdoms, golden temples and colonial architectural gems, go to a hill tribe village, take a boat trip on the Mekong, enjoy fun outdoor adventures, visit ethnographic and modern art museums, explore historical sites, and learn about local crafts and folkart. A highlight will be Angkor Wat (the remarkable ancient temple complex), a UNESCO World Heritage site. We will also visit small cooperatives, schools and non-profit sponsored projects that support and educate the local people, some of which Friendship with Cambodia in Eugene supports. We stay in moderately priced hotels in the town centers so that each person can get out easily to discover on their own free time the markets and restaurants and meet the locals in doing so. Costs are kept as low as possible and interesting experiences are maximized.
Susan and Carol have led other trips together when Susan was Executive Director of the Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver, Washington. It gave them the chance to get to know and lead very interesting people to special destinations as well as lend monetary support to the museum.
Who is the co-leader?
Carol Pinnell is the former principal owner of Journeys! from 1984 to 2001 with offices throughout Oregon. She has personally led many groups and was a forerunner in developing adventure and exotic travel and has traveled to over 130 countries. She sold her travel agency and formed Group Journeys to focus on specialized small group tours like the one we have planned. Because of the long history in developing adventure and exotic travel, she has been fortunate in forming strong friendships with small, excellent travel companies all over the world. The one we will be using for this trip took her as advisor for 2 extensive trips in these countries in which documentaries were filmed and funded by the tourist offices and the international airlines. In helping with this project, she experienced these countries in depth and got to know very well the areas, the sites and the tour guides.
What is included and the pricing?
All hotel and land arrangements based on twin or double accommodations, all sightseeing as specified, all touring in private air-conditioned vehicles, professional guides in each area, meals as specified on itinerary, 3 internal flights, all hotel government taxes and service fees, tips and gratuities to guides and drivers, visas for all 3 countries, and donation to Coos History Museum (tax deductible $200) .
- Group price based on a minimum of 12 travelers – $3785
- Airfare from Portland $1200
(Price as of Feb 2017. Could likely change. Not exact until ticketed) - Travel Insurance $319
- Single supplement additional–for single room accommodation $775
How to sign up:
- Fill out traveler form with all pertinent information.
- Give a deposit of $500 per person to confirm space on trip by May 1, 2017. Final payment is due June 15, 2017. Checks are to be made payable to Coos History Museum. If payment is by credit card, a 4% processing fee will be added.
- Cancellation policy. 50% non refundable from June 15 to Aug 15. After August 15, 2017, 100% non refundable. Airline tickets are also non refundable once written. We highly recommend travel insurance to protect your investment in land and air arrangements as well as for medical reasons.
To answer a few questions:
- We will fly into Siem Riep, Cambodia and out of Hanoi, Vietnam.
- Weather in Asia is mild during this time.
- Friends and family coming from elsewhere can fly into Portland or we can check if there is a better fare for them from their origin city.
- For those traveling to Portland earlier or staying after, we will book the Radisson Airport Hotel that gives us special rates. They have a good shuttle and also free parking for 2 weeks for those who drive to Portland.
- A simple suggested packing list will be available.
Questions: contact Susan Tissot, Executive Director, Coos History Museum, (514) 765-6320 or director@cooshistorymuseum.org.
All events subject to change.