One of the best in the business, we are proud to have Khoa on our Journeys Within team. Working out of one of Vietnam’s most chaotic cities Khoa’s extensive knowledge and steady ways make him the man to show off the best of Sai Gon …
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Name: Khoa Nguyen
Age: 36 years old, married with 2 daughters.
How did you become a guide?
Initially, I trained and worked as a Secondary School Teacher and after moving to Saigon became interested in guiding. I retrained and changed my career and now I have been guiding for more than a decade already.
What do you like about being a guide?
I love showing guests my country and my people. Vietnamese are fun and friendly people and we enjoy bringing everyone together to share life. This is a great gift that we can give people who visit. Personally, I also feel I have grown so much more about myself, my people and my country through the eyes of guests. I feel I am a better human being for my experience as a guide.
What is your favourite part about being a guide?
Appreciating that whilst not everyone has the opportunity to “physically” travel to another region or country, everyone can “virtually” travel through a simple conversation or experience. In this way everyone has the opportunity to gain an appreciation and understanding of other people and places that crosses the World’s borders both ways and brings a new insight and awareness to everyone involved.
What is the most challenging part about being a guide?
Eating too much of our delicious food, realizing I am getting older and need to do more exercise to keep a good balance. Difficult as a self-confessed foodie!! On a more serious note then I would say balancing maximum flexibility and keeping guests to schedule when it is required. This gets easier over time and then becomes second nature.
What is your favourite thing to show guests?
That is easy, Vietnamese food. I grew up just after the Vietnamese War with little choice and today we are more likely to over feed you with our welcoming hospitality. We have so much choice now, so fresh and great to share.
What kind of things do guests ask you/ want to talk about?
Many guests ask about the Vietnamese history and the culture and how we are progressing today. The truth is as a nation we live in the now and look to the future. We are very positive people and so don’t concern ourselves very much over earlier more troubled times, but history is part of us all and makes us the stronger people we are today.
What food / restaurants should guests try?
You can’t visit Vietnam without becoming a connoisseur of local pho (soup) either at street stalls or local restaurants. This dish is such a large part of our culture and eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between!
What should guests coming to Sai Gon now?
Sai Gon is a mix of old and new. With the recent economic growth its face is changing quickly but it still has the same warmth and character underneath. As a guideline you find the modern life on the main streets and the slower more traditional life away from District 1 and in the back alleys (hems) of the city.
Most memorable guest?
I look forward to David’s visits whenever he comes here from Chicago. He is so much fun and so interesting. Previously serving with the forces in the early 70’s he orginally came back see the progress of Vietnam and retrace his footsteps from early times. We travelled by motorbike to places well off the beaten track and it was such an adventure!