Testimonials

Found Asia Pioneer while I was using Trip Advisor to find out about Vietnam/Cambodia. Lam at Asia Pioneer organised a tour for 2 of us with private guides and drivers in each city. We had the most amazing trip. Everything was incredibly well organised and we had a fantastic and different experience in each city. Our guides were fantastic and made sure we had a fabulous experience in each place we went. The trip was great value and covered all internal flights, tours, hotels most meals and a private driver and guide in each city. We didnt have to worry about a thing! Cannot recommend Lam and Asia Pioneer highly enough. We had a fabulous holiday.

Due to pressure of work we had limited time to research for our trip to Vietnam Kata Tran put together a very personalised tour of all the things we wanted to do and this could not have been more perfect – this was our very first trip to Asia which we approached with a bit of trepidation – right from the beginning i.e. itinerary setup to being in the exceptionally capably hands of our three lovely tour guides Linh in Ho Chi Minh quy in Hoi An and Phillip in Han Oi we were treated with respect and great professionalism – the care shown to us particularly by lynh was superb and everything was organised impeccably – we felt that we were not on our own ever! – when a monsoon caused all junks in Halong bay to be brought back prematurely to harbor – most of our fellow travelers were stranded with no accommodation or alternate plans -Indo China pioneer however had arranged for our collection had changed our hotel bookings and arranged for our immediate transfers before we had even been alerted of the imminent problems – I therefore have no hesitation in recommending using them to arrange your holiday – they were exemplary!

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.