This is the second time we’ve used IndoChina Pionneer to arrange our travels whilst in SE Asia. Last year Lam helped us to arrange a five-week bespoke tour around Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. This time, Lam was again incredible in communicating and arranging our bespoke two-week tour, this time through Myanmar (Burma). We started our tour in Mandalay and moved on to visit Bagan, Inle Lake, Ngapali Beach and Yangon.

From start to finish Lam was so helpful and informative, with the level of service being second to none. He arranged the hotels, tour guides, day trips, flights, including a beautiful balloon flight over the temples of Bagan. Throughout our stay making the experience both varied, educational and enjoyable.

I have no hesitation in recommending Indochina Pionneer to anyone traveling to Myanmar, or Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. My heartfelt thanks go to everyone from Asia Pioneer who really helped make our stay so wonderful.

We decided to request Asia Pioneer to plan our travel since we looked up reviews that said getting around in Vietnam is not as easy as in other parts of the world, given the lack of fluent English speakers in the service industry and they were right! The two or three instances when we had to take cabs on our own, or order food, it never was what we expected and a few times, we were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Having said that, go with Indochina, they are simply fabulous! Why did we decide to go with them instead of all the others? Well, we found them to be the most efficient, cost effective and service oriented.

We were coordinating with Ruby for a few months before our travel and she was so efficient and professional, it was almost hard to believe! Her responses to emails were at lightening speed, and her attention to detail really gave us a sense of comfort. She customised the tour to Hanoi, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay according to our interests and food preferences and left absolutely nothing to chance.

We were travelling with infants, elderly parents and couples, so we really needed every comfort in a foreign country as possible and Ruby ensured that, even while we were on the tour , checking on us everyday to make sure we were well taken care of.

One suggestion is to ask the company to assure you a tour guide who will volunteer information on the history, food, places you are passing and living in, else you may get one who just accompanies you around.

My husband and I used Asia Pioneer to assist with our travel planning in Vietnam. We worked with Kata on our travel planning arrangements and Mr. Quyen was our guide. From the very beginning, this company put us at ease as Kata was extremely attentive to the details of our trip and responsive over email. When requesting multiple revisions to the itinerary, she was always careful to attend to all of the changes making the communications with her very efficient. She was flexible and allowed us to customize the itinerary in any way we desired.

However, this company really set itself apart from others I have used once we arrived on the ground to Vietnam. Our driver was ready and waiting at the airport. Upon arrival (very late at night – after midnight i believe), our driver hands me his cell phone and I was welcomed to Vietnam by our guide. He immediately put any fears to rest about our tour for the next day. Also, his perfect English was evident through this communication. We really appreciated not only the very comfortable vehicle (which stayed with us for the remainder of our trip) but also the careful driving of our driver. He was always cautious on the road and we felt very safe throughout our journey with the company. The next morning we were picked up by the same driver and our guide for the trip (Mr. Quyen) and taken on a tour of Hanoi. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the city and culture. He went out of his way to share information with us and was extremely attentive for the entire day. The itinerary followed precisely what we had requested. We really enjoyed spending time with the guide and the experience he offered us in getting to know the city of Hanoi. During lunch, our travel planner, Kata, made a surprise visit to greet us and ensure that we were enjoying our tour. We really appreciated that she made the special effort to come and meet us.

The next day the same guide and driver greeted us in the morning and we were off to visit Bai Tu Long bay (near Halong Bay). We really appreciated Kata’s advice on the selection of the boat as we ended up with a private boat on Indochina Junk (Indochina Princess) which was both clean and beautiful. It was a long drive out to the harbor, but the very comfortable car, safe driver and excellent guide made it a pleasure. The boat ride was extremely relaxing and the scenery pristine. We also really enjoyed the food. The guide offered the perfect balance of spending time with us to provide context and information, while also giving us some private time to relax and enjoy our time on the boat.

The next day we were met promptly again by the driver and returned to the airport. From start to finish..everything was so carefully executed.

After dealing with many, many travel companies around the world, I can say without hesitation that this company is truly in a class of its own. Careful planning, outstanding tours, warm and wonderful staff. My only regret was not booking my our onward travels with this company. I fully intend to use them for our future travels in Southeast Asia. It was a pleasure having this company plan our travels! Highly, highly recommend. Thanks to your staff for a very special experience in Vietnam. We will forever remember your kind hospitality.

We enjoyed touring many destinations in Vietnam with Asia Pioneer We visited Vietnam with stays in three locations, Ho Chi Minh, Central Vietnam , and Hanoi. Kata prepared an itinerary with tours in and around these locations for our family of two adults and two teenage children. What we liked about her itinerary was that it did not just cover the main tourist sites but also included “unique experiences” such as bike riding in the Mekong Delta, lunch at nunnery in Hue, street food tour in Hanoi. We were very pleased with how well organised the tours were. All guides were punctual, knowledgeable and helpful. The drivers were all safe in their driving. We have no doubt that the knowledge of the guides about the sites we visited as well as the general information provided by them about the Vietnamese culture and people, enhanced our enjoyment of the trip. We were also very happy with the restaurant/meal choices which were not only a tasty meal but also often an education of the food of the region. Kata was easy to work with, updating details of our itinerary as required and answering my many questions. We thank Kata and the Asia Pioneer team for a fabulous touring experience in Vietnam.

Visited 25 December 2015 – 02 January 2016 (9 days)

We (2x family of 9: 5 adults & 4 parents) engaged Asia Pioneer Tour for our 9 days stay at vietnam. It is our 1st time to Vietnam and we weren’t really sure of what will be coming till we land in the good hands of our tour guide, Mr Lam. =)

Transportation: 5/5
The 24 seater air-conditioned bus was crazily nice & clean: very comfortable and seats could be recline. The bus smells fresh always! +points
Recommended by Mr Lam, we took Fanxipan night train to Sapa and it was a memorable experience. Highly recommended.

Tour Guide: 5/5
Mr Lam is easy-going, flexible and knowledgeable. It is our honor to have him as our guide throughout the 9 days. He provides suggestion of places to visit and even bring us on a food on foot trip while in hanoi. Here’s some of the street food we’ve tried: Bánh Cuốn (Steamed Rice Cake), Baguette (Bánh mỳ), (Gỏi Bò) Papaya salad with pork liver, Chè (Sweet Desserts and Puddings) and more.. Note: please start your food tour with an empty stomach as we were so so full thereafter @.@

Hotel / Cruise Arrangement: 5/5
We were delighted to get some of the rooms upgraded during the trip, we were wondering if it’s our tour guide who has helped with the arrangement. Nevertheless, we were really appreciative for the surprises. All stays throughout the trip were well picked and recommended by Mr Lam, no signs of dirty bedsheets/insects. Bathrooms were clean and spacious too.

In summary, the places we had visited were absolutely breathtaking with stunning views, what more could we ask for with all the good food and great company!

Highly recommended to groups and families as Asia Pioneer is flexible and have the ability to handle group requests! When I eventually do return to Hanoi, I will absolutely use Asia Pioneer again. Money well spent!

Visited 25 December 2015 – 02 January 2016 (9 days)

I can’t speak highly enough of this company – it was truly one of the best trips we have taken (Turkey and Africa – with other tour companies – being the other two).

Four of us went on a 3-week private tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos all arranged by Kata, the representative who helped us. We had an excellent experience, including the sights, the guides (Rom in Siem Reap and Thuy in Saigon were fantastic), the hotels, and the restaurants (yep, that’s the whole shebang!). We loved every other hotel and every meal with two exceptions. The Chateau Restaurant = Restaurant Chateau in Saigon wasn’t good and the Moonlight hotel was nice but El Dorado in Hue might have been better – although others seem to love Moonlight).

Kata answered a kajillion questions prior to the trip with patience and reassurance. The itinerary was very flexible; we could add and eliminate activities as we pleased – even when we were there. You won’t realize certain things until you’re there, so you may want this kind of flexibility. A couple of the guides suggested a few additional activities that were fantastic.

A couple of side notes: Vietnam Airlines is the best of the worst, so if you’re flying within the country or to Laos or Cambodia, be prepared for changed flight times. The planes themselves were fine. If you start playing with the itinerary, keep hotel check-out vs. flight/drive times in mind (unless you don’t mind sitting around for a while with nothing to do). And do a street food tour with one of the guides – or two! Our street food tour with guide Duan in Hanoi was wonderful.

Lam organised a 3 weeks trips for our extended family (grandparents, 2 couples and kids) through South Vietnam. He was great to work with during planning and accommodated all our specific desires. He lined us up with great guides, full of enthusiasm and local knowledge (and having studied tourism). Lam stayed vigilant and available all the way through which was a great bonus for any small changes we needed organised.

I’m happy we chose him and the rest of the Pioneer team!