14-day Best of Vietnam & Cambodia
We are usually independent travelers, but this was our first visit to Vietnam and so we opted for a private tour with Odyssey, who came highly recommended by friends. So here are some thoughts about various aspects of the tour: Itinerary: We chose the 14-day Best of Vietnam & Cambodia tour as it offered so many exciting destinations - Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Danang, Saigon and then to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. What an itinerary - it was just incredible, and every day memorable. So this tour was a great choice. Planning: Our travel consultant Eric was very accommodating and worked with us to refine our itinerary to suit our preferences. We rearranged a few things, and wanted this and that, and Eric always gave very fast turn-around on all our email enquiries and questions and changes - often within the hour. When we weren’t sure he gave us costed alternatives so we could decide. He was very professional. Guides: Our local guides were absolutely outstanding. We have nothing but praise for them all. They were fonts of knowledge and history, courteous and helpful, and very friendly. We have memorable moments with them all, particularly cycling with Will around Hoi An; the Mekong tour with Mia; to and from Halong Bay with Robert; water puppets in Hanoi with Namh; and visiting Angkor Wat with Khemrint where other tourists would listen over our shoulders to his authoritative descriptions of the stories about the temples, statues and carvings. Drivers: Our drivers were splendid and we always felt safe and secure. Clearly there are very experienced and know all the local tricks. They were always courteous and attentive with opening doors and handing out drinks and umbrellas. Hotels: We accepted Eric's recommendations here and all the hotels were excellent. The only change we would make, and it is in hindsight, is in Hoi An where we would stay nearer to town, as this is a better base for bicycle rides. But this is a location issue, not a criticism of the lovely hotel there. Meals: We had a lunch stop every day and the meals were always great. We could not fault them. They always showed off fine Vietnamese cuisine, plus the local specialties. We wished we had had an extra day in Hoi An as we would have arranged to do a cooking class there. Trouble-Shooting: We had a challenging moment in Danang when an airline cancelled our flight at the last minute. Rearranging our flights was not straight-forward and in the end we needed a connecting flight and a terminal change in HCMC, with only 20 minutes to do so. We could not have been happier with how Odyssey, and Linh in particular, liaised with the two airlines to switch our flights, and then coordinate people to be on the ground in HCMC to meet us on arrival and ferry us to our connecting flight. Eric also phoned us to double check all was OK and that we were happy were the alternative arrangements. It was simply fabulous service. So, we thoroughly recommend Odyssey, and will definitely travel with them again in the future. It might be Laos or China, perhaps a multi-day private tour and maybe just a day tour to a special destination, but we will certainly work with them to plan some future adventure.