Testimonials

Prior to booking, we communicated extensively with Miss Ruby about our preferences, which included a focus on area agriculture, culture, and history. The staff at Indochina created an itinerary that covered every area-every day. We were always on the move…by foot, on an assortment of boats on an assortment of waterways, by plane, by sleeper train, by luxury bus, by small (as in 4 cars) ferry across the Red River, in a tuk-tuk, and on bikes 6-10 hours a day. In 17 days we traveled from the Mekong Delta to Sapa (in the mountains 24 miles south of the Chinese border). Each guide excelled in his knowledge of the culture, industry, and history of every area we traveled. We even visited a small but phenomenal agriculture museum devoted to rice production that we had to travel to on one lane paths through rice patties and past water buffalo, cows, and fishermen to get to. We traveled by fishing boat through the Xuan Thuy National Park to observe shell fishing practices and migratory birds, capped off with a fresh cooked seafood lunch (featuring local fish and shellfish) eaten in one of the fishing huts built on stilts in the coastal zone of the Red River Delta and the National Park. We hiked through the rice terraces in Sapa. We visited an organic garden, a farm that harvests sea salt, a farmer who produces fish and shrimp sauce in barrels behind his house, a family who harvests coconuts and honey, a family brick making operation that still uses giant beehive kilns to dry bricks, and a family business where we saw a child assisting his grandmother in the weaving of a bamboo mat. We spent many pleasurable hours in a car driving from one part of the country to another. The guides never tired of our questions about what we were seeing, and the drivers were so accomplished when it came to any type of terrain that we always felt comfortable. My husband is 70 and I am 65. We plan to return for another Indochina tour. We think we have the energy to pull off another, although at times we did look at each other and say, “Do you think the guide will forget about the last thing in the itinerary?” No, that never happened, and we are happy it did not, because some of those sunset and evening activities were the most memorable. I should mention that our Home Stay was a wonderful experience and encourage everyone to add this to the itinerary.

We (family of 4) traveled to North Thailand with Asia Pioneer (“IP”) for 15 days. This was our second trip with IP we previously traveled to Vietnam. The service provided by IP, Ms. Ruby, was outstanding. Our guides were very knowledgeable, spoke good English, and were very accommodating to last minute changes in our itinerary. The drivers were equally outstanding, always on time, drove safely, and very helpful. I highly recommend IP for travel to SE Asia.

Lam and his team were amazing and so flexible! We did a private tour for a family of 4 adults. His team on the ground was so accommodating, one day we wanted to do something different than what the itinerary suggested and our guide made the changes on the fly without any concerns. The food tours in Hanoi and Ho Ann were delicious and so much fun! Our tour guide in Cambodia was extremely knowledgeable and knew where to go to get the most perfect pictures. Overall working with is groups was easy and affordable. We will absolutely use their services in the future.

From our very first communication with Inodchina Pioneer to our return home from Vietnam we were treated with the utmost care. All of our requests were addressed quickly and completely. The departure information we received was excellent, understandable and thorough. Our guides and drivers throughout the trip were very helpful, prompt and responsive (especially in Hanoi)!! We would highly recommend this agency to all of our friends and family.

I have always been reluctant to engage the services of a travel agent to organise my trips. I have travelled all over Europe more than once with no incidents. However Vietnam and Cambodia presented a language an cultural barriers, and somehow hesitantly decided to let Asia Pioneer to arrange my trip.
Everything, and I mean everything, was exactly as advertised or better. All our guides (4 of them) have university degrees and their English was pretty good. They are very knowledgeable and made every effort to make our stay as pleasant as possible. They were absolutely flexible and accommodated many last minute wishes with no hesitation. Punctuality was British and politeness and care Asian. I cannot think of a single suggestion to improve their services.
Our tour operator, Ms Kata Tran, was very efficient at addressing all our queries. She absolutely delivered what was promised in the brochure.
I will recommend, with no reservations, the services of this company to all my friends who are thinking of visiting these fantastic countries.

Thanks Lam for the well organised 6D5N trip in Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. Though there’s a small hiccup on the taxi arrangement when back from Sapa to Hanoi, Lam managed to settle it without any delay though already 9 something at night. We enjoyed the trip very much. Thanks.