Rachel Pham (Ms.)

Trip Type: Couple’s journey across Vietnam – a roundtrip with 10 locations in 18 days

We booked our Vietnam trip through Asia Pioneer Travel, and we couldn’t have been more satisfied. From our arrival in Hanoi on July 14 to our departure from Da Nang on July 31, every part of the journey was seamlessly organized, with personal follow-up and high quality throughout.

Planning & Logistics
Each part of the trip was well planned: transportation, accommodation, guides, and activities. We were always met by punctual and friendly guides with a driver, traveled in comfortable private cars, stayed in quality 4★ hotels in great locations, and experienced a lot without ever feeling stressed or rushed. We especially appreciated that the itinerary was flexible and could be adjusted along the way, which was particularly important in the heat.

Traveling in July meant heat and humidity, but the itinerary gave us time to rest and adapt.

Highlights
Highlights included exploring the colorful markets of Hanoi, the spectacular views from the mountaintop at Fansipan in Sapa, a peaceful overnight cruise in Bai Tu Long Bay, walking the lantern-lit streets of Hoi An, and the unique experience of seeing Ho Chi Minh City from the seat of a vintage Vespa (an experience not to be missed). These activities gave us a genuine sense of Vietnam’s diversity and culture. We also appreciated visits to local temples and vibrant street markets, which added to the cultural depth of the trip.

Food Experience
Many of the meals were included and coordinated in a way that gave us the opportunity to try a wide range of delicious Vietnamese food. The two street food tours were especially positive experiences – both flavorful and social.

Personal Support
Rachel from Asia Pioneer Travel stayed in close contact with us on WhatsApp throughout the journey and was always available. She made adjustments along the way based on our preferences, including meals, pace, and small details that made a big difference. All the guides we met were consistently professional, friendly, and knowledgeable, adding depth and local insight to every destination.

Overall Impressions
There are surely cheaper alternatives, but for us it was worth paying a bit more for the safety, local expertise, excellent service, and the consistently high quality of both the hotels and transportation throughout the journey. We felt well taken care of throughout the trip and are left with lasting memories from all parts of the country, from north to south, with great and very different locations.

Thank you, Asia Pioneer Travel. We wholeheartedly recommend you to anyone looking for a well-organized and personalized journey in Vietnam, and we won’t hesitate to use your services again when traveling in Asia.

Warm regards,
Robert and Margita

Thanks to Rachel, my trip organiser, I had an amazing holiday in North and Central Vietnam. I found this company by accident online, emailed them and Rachel organised my trip with my input on the side. Communication was mostly immediate reply, all my requests were included and I was given excellent advice.
I’m an older person and although my schedule was pretty full on, it was enjoyable because everything was taken care of, visa, airport pick ups, local guides etc. And Rachel was there 24/7 for ‘issues’ like “was I at the hotel yet” when our mini van was held up for 3 hours in a motorway traffic jam. Sooo reassuring to know that someone has your back when you’re travelling alone in a foreign country. Highly recommend this company and Vietnam for a holiday. I previously visited the South, hence this trip to North & Central region – amazing country/history/food and the people I met were so helpful and just ‘Nice’. Great trip and excellent experience, thank you 🤩 🧡

Rachel made sure that every detail was taken care of, even when our mid tour flight was delayed late in the evening, she made sure our driver and hotel was aware of our delay. Our accommodations exceeded our expectations, and our guides where fantastic.

My wife and I were visiting Vietnam for 10 days and we had plans only for 3 days in Hanoi and 2 days cruise in Halong bay. We contacted Asia Pioneer Travel looking for other places to visit and got in touch with Rachel Palm who proposed a 3 days trip to Hoi Ann. This was our best time in Vietnam. Hoi An is a beautiful city, much more quiet than Hanoi and so many places to visit. Rachel designed a perfect program for us. From arrival to departure we were taken care by her profesionnal team and all the tours went very well. Thank you Rachel!

We spent two unforgettable weeks in Vietnam, starting from Hanoi and visiting Sapa, Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, and then heading to the center to Hue and Hoi An. The entire experience was flawlessly organized by the teams of Asia Pioneer Travel, they took care of every detail: from carefully selected accommodations, internal flights and a large part of our meals… to local experiences of street food, sight seeing, boat rides and much more. Everything was thoughtfully tailored to our needs, including our budget, allowing us to fully enjoy the trip without any worries.

From the very beginning, Rachel, our travel consultant, was 100% available, guiding us through every step and helping us choose the perfect itinerary shaped to our needs. Her professionalism, patience, and genuine dedication made the entire planning process smooth and stress-free. Her support didn’t stop once we arrived, she followed us throughout the entire journey, checking in and ensuring that everything was going perfectly.
The tour guides we met along the way were exceptional. In Hanoi, Anh welcomed us with incredible energy and warmth and was wonderfully attentive to one of my family member’s lactose intolerance while street food eating. In Sapa, Khu gave us a truly authentic experience, immersing us in the breathtaking villages with great passion and insight. And from Hue, Mr. Cong, with his wonderful sense of humor and his deep knowledge and attention to details brought every place to life, accompanying us beautifully toward the end of our journey, leaving us with unforgettable memories.

The team of Asia Pioneer Travel, described in just a few words: Attentive, reliable, professional, detail-oriented, and genuinely caring. Every aspect of the trip was perfectly organised , yet flexible enough to adapt to our needs, making us feel both secure and free to fully enjoy the experience.

Rachel arranged our tour and on behalf of Jodi and myself we would like to say thank-you to Rachel for arranging our tour. It went very seamless and no problems. The accomodation and food was great. We will gladly recommend dealing with Rachel to organise all of your travel arrangements.

Thanks
DJ and Jodi (Australia) 😀

We can’t say enough good things about Rachel and Asia Pioneer Travel. From our initial outreach to plan our 2+ weeks stay through the follow up once our trip ended, Rachel was consistently in touch ensuring every inquiry, request and detail was handled meticulously. We truly felt like we had a partner vested in our experience every step of the way. Every tour guide was knowledgeable and helpful, every driver was courteous and on time and every transportation vehicle was roomy, comfortable and clean, very much delivering on what we hoped and expected. We had started our trip with a few days in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by an AmaWaterways cruise up the Mekong Delta into Cambodia. From there we travelled to Hanoi, then Halong Bay and back to Hanoi. Our original plan included DaNang and Hoi An, however, Rachel smoothly adjusted the itinerary to accommodate our concern about the weather on the central coast and our wish to spend a night on a cruise of HaLong Bay. The Stellar of the Seas ship Rachel booked for us was so impressive (food, suite, staff) and the beauty of the area so breathtaking, we opted to stay a second night, prompting yet another significant change to the schedule, all of which Rachel handled with utmost professionalism. We loved the hotel choices she made and particularly staying at the Allure Hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi; highly recommend that to experience the vibrancy and liveliness of the city in a lovely boutique hotel. The authentic Vietnamese meals arranged for us were perfect in letting us taste high quality, beautifully prepared pho as well as a multi-course meal in a casual but upscale-styled restaurant (Lan Ong in Hanoi). We appreciated both the presentation of multiple excursions each day, and even more, the flexibility to pull back so that we had time for R&R. In Hanoi, we visited the Ho Chi Minh complex, sat cafe-side as the train passed by on Train Street (the guide knew the schedule and exactly where to situate ourselves!) and the Hao Lo prison. All were very much worth our time though we were forewarned that 60% of the prison was undergoing renovations; still glad we saw it. In Ho Chi Minh City, we toured the War Remnants Museum, the Post Office and walked around Notre Dame; all very worthwhile.

We will recall the endless scooters and the dizzying traffic circling major intersections efficiently; the bustling neighborhoods; the countless storefronts and sidewalk cafés where locals sat on low stools chatting, eating pho, and yes, looking at their cell phones. But above all, we will remember the smiles, the warm welcomes, and the joy with which the people of Vietnam and Cambodia shared their storied and rich heritage and often heartbreaking history. Truly the trip of a lifetime, thanks to Rachel and Asia Pioneer Travel.

Asia Pioneer created a lovely Thailand tour to wrap up a cruise from Singapore. Our 6 days tour included Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai with domestic flights, lovely hotels with breakfasts, local transportation and guides—all for a very affordable price. Rachel Pham kept in touch from planning, throughout the trip to checking up on us post-trip, making sure everything was as it should be. We highly recommend her and Asia Pioneer Travel!

We are a couple in our 60s, and Vietnam has always been on our bucket list. Knowing very little about how and where to travel, we researched many travel agencies to help us plan our trip of a lifetime. We settled on Asia Pioneer Travel. And more specifically, Rachel of Asia Pioneer. We provided Rachel with ideas of where we would like to travel and she put together an unbelievable in-depth itinerary. Some of the regions we wanted to see were unfortunately inundated with heavy rainfall. No problem though. We contacted Rachel and she went to work ( in record time I might add) and, with our input, provided a great alternative. In all, we changed our itinerary 3-4 times. The changes were mostly as a result of talking with other travellers visiting areas that were of interest to us. For example, we asked Rachel to book us on a specific 2 day cruise in Ha Long Bay. Once on the cruise, we realized that 2 days (one night) was not sufficient enough to take in the beauty of the region. One quick message to Rachel and within hours she cancelled some already booked itinerary and kept us on the cruise for another day.
Rachel’s English speaking and communication skills are impeccable. In addition, she would always be available via WhatsApp ( phone or text). Meeting up with Rachel in Hanoi was the icing on the cake. She is truly genuine and it is very obvious to see that she wants only the best for her clients. Each and every time we changed our itinerary, Rachel would provide an incredible updated schedule. Our tour also included private drivers to bring us to different venues and regions.
In my honest opinion, we could have not experienced such a wonderful trip without the help of Rachel and Asia Pioneer. She did it all for us, from booking planes, hotels, site seeing, cruises, recommended dinners, etc. All favourable selections and surprisingly at very little cost.
Thank you Rachel for making our dreams come true.
We will return to Vietnam and you will be our first point of contact.

I went on a two-and-a-half-week trip to Vietnam with a friend. The trip to Vietnam was arranged by Rachel of Asia Pioneer. Rachel was attentive to all our requests for changes until the last minute. She accompanied us all along the way and the plan worked as planned.
We had fun in Thailand too.

Just returned from a wonderful 3 week trip to Vietnam and Cambodia arranged by Asia Pioneer Travel. When we decided to travel there last year I contacted a number of different agencies to craft an itinerary for us. Rachel Pham was my assigned contact and she immediately stood out from some of the other agencies through her thoughtful suggestions and recommendations. The initial price was not the cheapest, but certainly not the most expensive, and seemed to me to represent good value. Rachel worked with me over the next month or so to tweak the trip and we eventually agreed the schedule.

There is obviously a degree of nervousness in dealing with an agency from far away but we really shouldn’t have been worried. The whole trip was flawless, guides and drivers were excellent, tours interesting and enjoyable and hotels exceeded our expectations. Our trip covered Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Phu Quoc, Ho Chi Minh City, and Siem Reap. We have so many special memories.

It was a pleasure to meet Rachel in person in Hanoi and she kept in touch with us to make sure everything was running smoothly and all was good. It was great peace of mind to know that she was there if we needed her (even though we didn’t).

We have used a number of local agencies in different countries for trips and I must say that Rachel and Asia Pioneer Travel have probably been the best we have come across. Looking back now I think that the trip represented incredible value for money and we had envious comments from other travellers who had booked similar itineraries with UK based operators and paid much more.

I would highly recommend them and would like to finish by thanking them for a wonderful trip. If we ever return to Vietnam I know who’ll be organising our trip.