Testimonials

I am a sixty year old woman traveling alone in north west Vietnam. i had such excellent and professional service from start to finish. They organized the tour just as I had wanted it. The owner Mr Lam was there to offer all kinds of help . Everything was organized like clockwork . The guide showed up on time, the car was impeccably clean at all times. My driver was excellent on all counts. He always had cold water and a package of wet face wipes, a welcome way to beat the heat. They thought of everything. My driver was courteous, safe, and neat and clean when he arrived. I have to applaud the experience and knowledge of the guide.
Often I had access to villages and people because of his professional relationship with them. Traveling alone I never felt unsafe or anxious. I stayed in many nice hotels on my tour. I was always escorted to my hotel, the guide took care of my checkin I literally had nothing to do except enjoy my room. Even at the airport and the train from Sapa everything was looked after exceptionally well.
I was very happy with the service I received but more happy that I had hired a Vietnamese company that supported local guides and the local economy when I booked my trip I thought I would try two different companies just in case one was poor I would not be stuck. iI was wrong. I should have stuck to Asia Pioneers. indochina Odessey presented as a Vietnamese company when indeed they are aChinese company. I did not receive as good or personable service from them. Next time, will again book with
Asia Pioneers this kind of professionalism is welcomed and greatly appreciated by everyone especially women traveling alone

We had an absolutely great tour with Pioneer. Quyen was our tour guide for Vietnam and Cambodia and was a delight. We covered a lot of territory, Hanoi, Saigon, Halong Bay for 3 days and Siem Reap. Great hotels, tours and just the right pace for this short time in these countries with sites to be seen but also time to relax and explore on our own. Would book with them again. Trust the reviews, this company is the one to take.

We have recently concluded a 23 day tour of Cambodia and Vietnam, arranged by the wonderful Kata @ Asia Pioneer, in Hanoi.
First I should say that i started the whole process a year ago, when we had finalized our flights and nothing else. I emailed a few companies, some in Vietnam and some in N. America. Right from the start i was impressed with Kata, who responded promptly, and got back to me when she said she would get back to me. Between the two of us, this trip was revised so many times by tweaking the category of hotels, or the route! Nothing was too much trouble. I never felt I was a pain in the butt!

Our tour actually started for us in Bangkok as that is where our stopover en route to Australia went. Kata arranged our pick up from the airport, a hotel, return to the airport the next day and flight to Cambodia for the ‘real’ start of our tour.
We did 5 nights in Cambodia and 18 in Vietnam. Once the details had been ironed out prior to departure, we were totally at the mercy of Kata’s scheduling, and she did not disappoint. We literally were guided along at every step of the way.
The tour operators were very nice people, who were so eager to share their knowledge of their respective countries.
On arrival in Vietnam we were handed a cell phone, with Kata’s number in it, and also on our first day Lam phoned (the boss) asking if everything was OK. Nice touch! As we were travelling without a cell phone (Just an ipad for emails) it was reassuring to know in an emergency we had a phone at our disposal.
Our tour ended in Hanoi, and Kata and her husband came to visit us at the hotel. It was so nice to meet the person i had sent (what felt like) hundreds of emails. She was just as charming in person too!
So, in short, I would recommend this company anytime, and I would also book with them in the future.

Where do we start!! Never being ones for doing “trips/tours”, as we always like doing our own thing, that is not being taken to places guides think we want to see or souvenier outlets, or hanging around waiting for the rest of the bus!! We took a leap of faith booking our tour to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos with Indochina, but from the start of the planning last August to throughly enjoying our tour Jan/Feb this year the service we received was exeptional. Kata had to be very patient with us while we fine tuned our trip numerous times so we could vist all the places we wanted to see in the time scale we had. But she got it perfect in the end thanks Kata.

We had a private tour just my self and my husband. All the hotels were lovely, the guides were all so well mannered, polite and had a good knowledge of the English language, and a great knowledge of their individual countries and attractions. The transport was perfect, clean safe vehicles, the drivers were polite and very punctual, we were treated like Royalty nothing was too much trouble.

It really was a trip of a lifetime, seen and experienced so much, and I would not hesitate to recomend Asia Pioneer to anyone.

They are such a great team too, we were very fortunate to meet a lot of them in person as we happened to be in Hanoi ,Vientnam for Chinese New Year this year, and we were invited to Indochina’s staff party at a local restaurant, we had such a good evening great food, wine and company, it was a shame we had to leave quite early for our overnight train to Sapa,(now that was and experience!!!)

Believe the rave reviews for Asia Pioneer! We booked a 3 week tour of Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos with Asia Pioneer and I can recommend them unreservedly. Very competitive prices for the attention and detail put into your trip – we just travelled as a couple so had individual attention. Superb. Great hotels and experiences and the guides/drivers were superb, it was like clockwork so time was really maximised. Great flexibility regards visits – Lam at Head Office in Hanoi was so friendly and helpful when we were booking the trip, he even came out to meet us at our hotel when we arrived. Hotel d’ Opera in Hanoi was brilliant – well worth eating there too, superb food.

The guides were really knowledgeable, spoke good English and knew exactly what times to visit places so that they were at their least busy. Exploring the temples round Angkor Wat was a real highlight and we were able to see most places with very few other tourists. Fascinating insight into the culture and diverse ethnic groups and you got the opportunity to see ordinary people in their homes/stilt houses etc which was so interesting. Such a pity that the US deliberately destroyed so much of Vietnam’s cultural heritage alongside 2 million civilians! The Imperial Palace at Hue was awesome even though 90% was destroyed by American bombs. You really wonder at their mentality but the Vietnamese seem amazingly forgiving and only look to the future.

Hanoi is a crazy city but we loved it once we had got over the initial culture shock. So many scooters/bikes/motor bikes and crossing the road by just stepping out and walking slowly across through the chaos takes some getting used to but we didn’t see any accidents – the riders and drivers aren’t at all aggressive and all give way easily. Halong Bay is well worth seeing unlike any place I’ve ever seen.

We loved Hoi An in Central Vietnam – great place for having clothes made but also many excellent places to eat. We were there for Tet, the New Year and it was so colourful. The Mekon Delta was very interesting and we took a boat up to Phnom Penh – we only had one night there but very interesting city and totally different to anywhere in Vietnam. Siem Reap and the temples is an absolute must see – truly awesome. The Cambodians were such nice peole even though they have had such an awful recent history – the US killed 600,000 during the Vietnamese war and opened the way for Pol Pot who wiped out another 2 million! I just hadn’t realised how much damage had been done across the whole region. Siem Reap isn’t particularly attractive as a town but there are loads of places to eat and some great bargains to be had in the shops and markets but be prepared to haggle.

We finished our trip at Luang Prabang in Laos, a very attractive French colonial town with some great restaurants and beautiful surroundings. Having guides and skilled drivers (and the drivers really were good, I wouldn’t dream of driving in the region!) made such a difference. It was like being royalty and having everything arranged for you and all you have to do is turn up. Everyone was so friendly and you always felt safe wherever you went. If you’re considering a trip to Indochina then I would look no further, these guys are local experts.

I chose Asia Pioneer again for my second vacation in Hanoi. My experience with them the first time was so positive that I did not need to look any further when deciding to return to Vietnam a year later. As with my first trip arranged by them, the second went just as smoothly, with the same attention to detail and planning, which is beyond compare. My guides spoke excellent english, and the drivers were 1st class. Mr. Lam at Asia Pioneer makes you feel like his only client when planning your trip and nothing is too much trouble for him. I doubt you will find this kind of service anywhere else! I strongly recommend this company if you are considering Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar, you will not regret it!