Dana visits Linh Son pagoda in the central highlands city of Having lived in She dreamed of telling her own story of VN in a book read by many people across the globe. Her dream suddenly came true in June when Moon Travel Guides, a top publishing house based in the The lucky girl is 25-year-old Dana Filek Gibson. Her friends in The more I travel, the more I love VN Dana has to work every day from 7am to midnight to meet her March deadline. She acts as a tourist to collect information about hotels and restaurants in popular tourist destinations, recording the details as she goes. Dana takes time to find information before travelling to a certain city or province. She says it is much easier to find information about tourist attractions in big cities like Dana said she became interested in studying about VN because it helped her understand more about its culture and history. She toldTuoi Tre that when she first came to Saigon in 2010, she was much impressed by several tourist attractions such as the Reunification Palace, the Notre Dame Church, and Ben Thanh Market, but she took them at face value. However, after researching these sites, she began to find Vietnamese history more and more fascinating. Dana told Tuoi Tre that she loves learning about Dana also said she loves local people. “I’ve been in She said foreign tourists appreciate the hospitality and friendliness of Vietnamese people. When she cycled from From the letter in 1964 to “rip-offs” Dana said she would never forget a story told to her by an old Vietnamese man she met in Tra Vinh when she was in the Mekong Delta region to collect materials for her book. When she was walking around Hang pagoda in Tra Vinh province, a local man in his 70s appeared and began talking to her. He told her many interesting stories about antiquities, tourist attractions, and historic relics in Tra Vinh, including Hang pagoda. Before leaving, the old man showed her an old letter sent to him by an American military official nearly half a decade ago. In the letter, it was written that in a town where just a few people could speak English, he [the old man] spoke English very well and was a kind and honest person. It urged visitors of the town to ask him for help. The writer’s signature was at the bottom. Dana believes that the biggest problems that Vietnamese tourism authorities have to deal with are rip-offs and scams that target foreigners. “If a product is worth VND10,000, it is acceptable if you sell that product to foreigners for VND12,000, but it’s not fair if it is sold for VND30,000,” she said. In her guidebook, Dana will provide readers with some tips to avoid being ripped off or fall victim to scams. She suggests that tourists request the price of an item before paying, bargain for a cheaper price, or simply select the best option from shops that sell similar products. She hopes her book will become a dependable guide for tourists to When asked about whether or not she can compete with Lonely Planet, Dana replied that she just hopes that her book is able to offer tourists more choices. “Most western tourists don’t like to buy tour packages because they cannot explore a real After graduating from the Writing faculty at During her first year in the city, she was a teacher at some major English schools. She said she enjoys teaching kids but her passion for writing is stronger. In 2012, she began her own column in Asia Life Magazine, titled “Odd One Out,” a lighthearted take on expat life. She also writes in-depth features about Vietnamese culture, such as the Chicken Beauty Contest in Hoc Mon, a rural district of HCMC. Dana says that after finishing her travel guide, she will continue to write about Saigon, where she first fell in love with “The more I study about
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