30 days in Vietnam and Cambodia (Feb.-March 2017)
Odyssey pre-trip planning - I enjoyed the back and forth and flexibility that a privately designed tour allowed us. Cherry Wei was helpful and very prompt in responding to all my queries and many change requests. Together we created a great package which fully met our desires. Odyssey arrangements - Perfect! We were met at airport arrivals and /or our hotel promptly each and every time. This is a big relief for first time travellers to a country. - We loved each and every hotel selected. The small boutique style was excellent for us and minimized the risk of being overwhelmed by large tour groups staying at the same location. e.g.: the Liberty Central in Nha Trang that I selected. It’s difficult to pick a No.1 as each was charming in it’s own way. Breakfast was excellent in all cases, service was extremely good and the locations enabled us to enjoy the cities on our own. Nam Bo in Can Tho and the Little Hoi An boutique hotels were our favourites. Tours and activities - We obviously couldn’t see and do everything in each location and deciding in November while sitting at a computer in Canada how long to stay in each location involved a bit of guessing. After reading several guide books,etc.. I think we came close to seeing and doing almost everything that first time visitors could possibly do. Guides and Drivers - the drivers- for the most part spoke little English so our direct communication was minimal however, each of the drivers was polite, courteous (opening car doors,stopping for pictures when asked,etc...) timely, and most important- safe and excellent drivers. As you know, driving in Vietnam is not for everyone! - The guides- general comments- we enjoyed the company of each of them. Each guide was unique in their own way. It was their personal stories and experiences that added so much to our Vietnam and Cambodia experience. Spending our days with them allowed for much more personal interaction than a guided group tour could ever offer. - Tipping- we tried our best to follow Odyssey’s guidelines although we were likely on the high end for everyone although sometimes it was difficult as drivers came and went and simple things like not having the proper currency on hand may have made things a bit uneven. - Tipping others- one thing that I was never sure of and suggest maybe an “all inclusive”, was advice on the amount to tip boat drivers,etc. When on a tour, I usually asked the guides how much would be appropriate. I trust the recipients were pleased. Mr. Le We only had him for a day and a half and much of that was driving –HCM to Can Tho /return. Lots of activities; boat trips, cycling, floating market, rice noodle making- all in all a very active two days which we couldn’t have done on our own. He was young and full of energy- just what we needed to start our adventure off by trying new experiences. Mr. Phally We loved him! An interesting man with lots of stories and insights and he knew every inch of the Khmer temples that we saw while in Siem Reap. I completely recommend having a private guide like Mr. Phally to sidestep the crowds and get us to the most interesting parts, photo ops,etc.. Our morning cycling trip out to the temples and getting up at 5am to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat will forever be imprinted in our minds – Fabulous! Mr. Vinh We had Mr.Vinh both before and after our Halong Bay excursion. He took us to each of the Hanoi main tourist attractions but probably our most memorable day was the trip to the countryside with him. Again,cycling along laneways, past rice fields, watching people going about their daily lives left a lasting impression on us. Vinh also sang us a touching farewell song (at 5:30 am) as were enroute to the airport. We enjoyed our time with him. Mr. Minh A gentle kind man who we got to know quite well after four days and three cities. The caves at Phong Nha are spectacular and your firm could highlight that more for future visitors.Only a few people we met; both tourists or Vietnamese have seen them. Hue was full of melancholy and our only rainy day. Hoi An was our favourite city and we’re very glad we gave ourselves five days there. Again, Mr. Minh not only knew his facts and kept us informed but he shared life experiences that helped bring our trip alive. it was tough to say goodbye to him. Nha Trang Mr. Vinh (Short time - for the drive from the airport and then the drive to Dalat two days later). He was young and funny and he made the drive to Dalat very interesting. He also allowed us to change the schedule a bit as we wanted to see the huge white Buddha in Nha Trang and had run out of time so he toured it with us in the morning before leaving for Dalat. This is the type of flexibility that we really appreciated. Dalat- Our guide for the day was Anh .She was sweet, smart and spoke excellent English. Since we had been in Dalat the previous day, we had basically seen everything that Odyssey had on it’s list, so we changed things up and loved it. We said- “show us what we haven’t seen” and she did! The two of us riding an elephant was just one of the highlights. Restaurant Lunches We were very impressed with each and every selection that Odyssey selected. Local food, very well prepared and in a clean environment. The only problem- not really- was that it almost too much food for us. After the beautiful and plentiful buffet breakfasts each morning, we didn’t need such a large lunch. However, the wide variety of dishes gave us a good understanding of Vietnamese cuisine which we really appreciated. Halong Bay - the two night/three day circuit is really only 48 hours but looked preferable to the shorter ones . The one nighter appeared rushed and those on our boat never saw the sun while we had a three hour interval the next day while kayaking. - the cave trip was impressive but only until we saw the ones at Phong Nha later in the trip - the cabins(upper for us) were good and we liked the opportunity to mingle with other “tourists” as we had little of that always being on our own with our own guide. We made some friends which we saw later by chance in Hoi An. - the food on the boat was not good. They were the only meals over a five week period that were not up to your standard. The “day boat’ lunch however was excellent. I hope this brief summary of our travels and relationship with Odyssey was helpful. We had a fabulous time and sincerely thank them for making all of the arrangements. We will be using them again to plan a similar adventure to Myanmar and Laos in the near future.