I spent several months researching Vietnam and Cambodia and once I put together an itinerary I reached out to 8 tour companies for pricing. I narrowed down the list to three and asked each company to provide US references that I could contact either by email or phone. Only two companies complied with the request and only one company’s (Asia Pioneer-balance of review as IP) references were completely positive (actually, after speaking with one reference several times, I modified our itinerary), so I concentrated on working out the details of the hotels, tours, etc with Asia Pioneer and we ultimately booked with them. I never looked back and was never disappointed from start to finish. After completing the trip would I change a few things? …of course, but I think that would be true of any trip. We booked 3 star hotels with the thought that we were only in the rooms for sleeping, but next time I would price both the 3 and 4 star hotels and consider both. We did end up staying in 3 4* hotels and two were exceptional and one was not. In some locations, the choices were fairly limited and it was in those locations that the hotels were not as nice but we had expected this. We also had some excellent 3* hotels.

We had a pretty aggressive schedule because we’re not planning on returning to SE Asia anytime soon so I figured we could rest when we got home. The trip began in Bangkok where we spent a day and a half before going on to Hanoi (one change would have been to fly directly into Vietnam and out of Cambodia or vise versa to gain time, but when booked the flights we had planned on spending a few more days in Thailand). Our itinerary: Hanoi, Halong Bay (Indochina Junk-Dragon Pearl-separate review—all hotels and sites have been reviewed), back to Hanoi, Phong Nha National Park (Phong Nha Farmstay…if you have the time-GO HERE), Hue, Hoi An, Dalat, Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong, Can Tho, Chau Doc to Phnom Penh via high (?) speed boat and finally to Siem Reap.
It was a bucket list trip and thanks to Lam and IP we had a great time especially in light of having to change our schedule midway through the trip to avoid Typhoon Haiyan. As we watched the weather and the storm heading towards the Philippines, we made the decision to alter our schedule. We’re from Florida and realize the potential problems of being stranded by a storm. Lam at IP worked with us as to shorten some of our stays on the itinerary and add Dalat moving us south into the highlands and away from the coast. This involved changing airline flights, hotels, tours, guides, etc. He did this all with a positive attitude while listening to our concerns, questions and decisions. He offered suggestions, we made the decisions and he implemented them, all while we continued to travel and enjoy our trip (IP provided us a cell phone while we were in Vietnam and this proved to be a true blessing…although Lam had to have one of our guides purchase additional time on the phone due to all of the phone calls back and forth!!). What makes this more amazing is that he was doing the same thing, at the same time, for all of his other groups.

We had a GREAT time. It was wonderful to be picked up at every airport, checked in at every hotel and as this was a private tour, be able to change our schedule as we wished (although we rarely did). We always had cold water, nice vehicles, good drivers and guides whose goal was to teach us about their country and customs. We questioned them continuously and they seemed to enjoy sharing their knowledge, experiences and thoughts.

As far as Asia Pioneer is concerned, we would recommend them without reservation.

We booked our tour through Asia Pioneer and our travel consultant was Lam Duong. Out tour was a private 4 person excursion that took us through Saigon, My Tho, Can Tho, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Mai Chau as well as a cruise on Halong Bay.
The hotels were all great but our stay at the La Siesta in Hanoi was made special by the family atmosphere from the staff there, The Silk Marina in Hoi An is a great place to unwind and enjoy a quieter pace. Our drivers were very competent and we never felt at risk in the heavy traffic. Our guides were very knowledgable about all sites we visited, I was amazed at how detailed they would get in respect to dates and names. They always assisted with our check ins and getting lunch set up so we could have an enjoyable time.
The food was mostly great but a few times we were not sure what we were getting but it was never a big deal. We had a choice of great western style meals when we wanted some comfort food. We did have some wonderful local food that was very delicious.
I would highly recommend this trip to anyone.

Having never been to Indochina before we had a look at Asia Pioneer after looking on trip advisor, the reviewers certainly were impressed with IP and also with Lam, my initial thoughts were on the lines that Travel agents are never this good!
My wife and I have just completed a 28 day trip, we’ve travelled by plane, boat, train, car and all our arrangements have gone like clockwork, they were all done by Lam and he has excelled.
Throughout our travels to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia the guides have been great, the private cars clean and comfortable and the hotels exceeded our expectations.
Lam has kept in contact with us either by email or Skype during our trip, and has helped with any problem arising, I think the biggest compliment we can pay to Lam is, he isn’t like most travel agents, he actually cares and this extends to the period after he has received your money!

This was my second trip with Indochina!!! Thank you so much Kata once again. We were thrilled with every part of our journey. Lyn, Dom, San, Long and our guides in Cambodia were excellent. Thank you to all of you for your care and kindness in showing us your beautiful countries. I am in love with Vietnam and it’s people. My experience will never be forgotten and you will all hold a very special place in my heart 🙂

Asia Pioneer designed a beautiful trip for us. The drivers were good, the guides were excellent. It was the most comfortable vacation I’ve ever been on. Our contact at Asia Pioneer, Ruby, was great at meeting our requests for the trip. The guides that they provided were friendly, and their knowledge of Vietnam and the areas we were in was incredible. No one was ever late in meeting us, in fact we found out that they waited for us. Our flight into Hanoi was late and our guide and driver were there to greet us. It was a very comfortable start for our experience in Vietnam.

I will certainly use them on my next trip to Vietnam or Laos or Cambodia.

We wanted to visit the 3 countries of Indochina in a very short space of time. Lam assisted us to plan our independent tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Nothing was too much trouble, and any changes we wanted to make to the itinerary were able to be accommodated. We met Lam in Hanoi, and he provided a personal touch, by taking us to lunch at a restaurant that he frequents and giving us a local Vietnamese eating experience.
Lam remained in regular contact throughout the Vietnam section of our trip to ensure that everything was to our satisfaction, and providing alternatives when the weather threatened to upset our travel plans.

We cannot overstate how much we enjoyed our tour with Asia Pioneer. Everything was so well organised and there were no problems with any of the arrangements. The hotel rooms we stayed in were very good, the guides were all excellent, the drivers did a fantastic job, and the meals provided were exceptional.

In short, we can’t recommend Asia Pioneer highly enough, the tour exceeded our expectations, and it is a trip we will always remember fondly.

We contemplated using a local (to us) agent to organise our trip, but thankfully, we were introduced to Quyen and his team at Asia Pioneer instead. He put together our personalised honeymoon itinerary in a matter of days, and it suited us to a tee. The perfect combination of adventure and luxury. We hardly had to lift a finger – our visas were done for us, we were greeted on arrival at every destination, we were given a mobile phone and told to call if and whenever we needed to, the hotel choices were great and the tour guides were friendly, fun and very knowledgable. I was also a little ill in Hanoi and the tour guide was extremely caring and helpful, and was ready to take me to hospital at the drop of a hat – it is a real comfort having someone local by your side to help you out when you become helpless.
Asia Pioneer prides itself on the personal service it provides its clients and, from our experience, it has reason to be proud of itself. This tour company made our honeymoon stressfree from the start and fantastic throughout. And…I challenge you to try doing it yourself for cheaper. You won’t be able to.
I cannot recommend this tour company highly enough – if you use them, you will not be sorry!