I spent ages trying to get the right trip to celebrate my husband’s big birthday and by chance came across reviews for Asia Pioneer. How lucky I was! Kata responded immediately to all e-mails and took into consideration all the things I had planned to visit and fitted them into a well-organised trip. I was apprehensive having never been to the Far East before let alone using a travel agent from a country I did not know. I needn’t have worried. Our good friends came with us as we travelled from Laos to Vietnam, took in all the places we wanted and then on to Angkor Wat. Kata organised it perfectly. We had 25 days of varied activities from an Elephant sanctuary in Laos, then to Vietnam where we went hiking in Sapa, in the mountains, on to a 5* junk for Halong Bay, down through Vietnam to lovely Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh and then to the jewel which is Angkor Wat. We crawled through both Vinh Moc tunnels(which we thought were the best), Cu Chi tunnels, learnt loads about the war and each countries customs, history, fears and aspirations, it was truly an amazing trip.
Every hotel was at least 4*, we could not fault the choice of any of them. The drivers were all very safe, and supplied water and fresh towels each time we entered the van. The guides were brilliant, their English was good and their knowledge superb. The highlight for all four of us was in fact a trip on the Mekong Delta, with a night on a sampan. We just loved it. We were looked after superbly, taken off the boat to a market and cycled round the town, the bikes being carried on the sampan. It was first class travel and such a lovely way to spend a day and a half, floating down the Mekong tributaries watching life go by….we did not want it to end. Also being an private tour you can adjust your timetable so if you decided you did not want to do something you just opted out or did something else.
I cannot praise Kata enough. She was very attentive and came to see us at Hanoi, which was lovely. I can only highly recommend this company with no hesitation. Thank you Kata for making our special trip so very special.
Sandy Smith