Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai & Bali
When I first contacted Indochina Odyssey Tours, I'll admit I was wary since it was hard for me to put so much trust (not to mention money) in an online travel company based overseas. It was finding so many positive reviews and mentions on BBC Travel that made me take the leap. I am so glad that I did and I wanted to write this review so that if others were wary like I was, that they too can trust and work with Indochina Odyssey Tours as well. For the private tour trip to Thailand and Bali I was paired with Alick Peng as my travel consultant. I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Alick - he always responded in a very timely fashion (usually under 12 hours, never more than 24 - even on weekends), was very thorough and went above and beyond in going through the process and understanding what we wanted out of a trip (it was our honeymoon) and then putting together a perfect itinerary. I think we went through 3-4 different versions of the trip before finally getting our final, but I never felt pressured by Alick or felt any sales push, it was genuinely just trying to help us enjoy our trip. I want to note as well, when booking the hotels I believe Alick informed all of them that we were on our honeymoon so we had gestures from each hotel in our room to help us celebrate, which was a fantastic touch from both Alick and the hotels themselves. Our trip began in Bangkok where we were met by our driver and local guide, Ms. Emmy. Both were incredibly professional and very knowledgeable about the area and went above and beyond in welcoming us to the city. The tours and sites we visited were immensely improved upon with the background and history Ms. Emmy could provide. The highlight of this portion of the trip was definitely the historical temples in Ayutthaya. Our next stop was Chiang Rai and then Chiang Mai where we met our guide Maya (again incredibly professional and knowledgeable). I can't say enough about how beautiful this part of Thailand is and how much we were able to see, from the Mae Salong Village (including an extra unplanned stop at a tea plantation which was a highlight), the border with Myanmar and the Golden Triangle. Completely by accident while we were there it was the Loi Krathong festival (if you have the chance to - fantastic time to travel here), and Maya gave us the history as well as helped us take part in the traditions of it. The planned boat cruise through the heartland, visiting the local Karen Tribes was a great change of pace, ending at the Thaton Temple with its picturesque views. The final full day visit to the Elephant Nature Park is something that we will always remember and cherish as the absolute top experience of the trip. Our last stop was to Bali where we stayed in Ubud. Our guide was Gede Pariasa, who was amazing in his local knowledge and friendliness. We visited during the Mt. Agung evacuation zone/warnings so there was last minute changes to our itinerary, but again Alick and team were fantastic in keeping in touch with us and updated. Alick was great in asking us "What would you like to do, here are also some ideas as well" and this actually ended up with us visiting a coffee plantation (Kopi Luwak is amazing) as well as enjoying a long lunch overlooking Lake Batur and the mountains, definitely the scenic highlight of the trip. Bali we did more adventuring on our own and had some downtime as it was the end of our trip, but I cannot say enough good things about Mr. Pariasa (another highlight, upon hearing we wanted to try Durian on our way to the hotel after landing, he remembered this and on our last outing with him we stopped at a side street where a woman was selling fresh fruit - definitely try it!). All in all we had the trip of a lifetime. The hotels selected, even though we went with the 3-star accommodations (we went to adventure not stay in a room!) were absolutely top notch - better than 4 star hotels I have stayed at in the states - not to mention all were centrally located and allowed for us to do many things at night just by walking out the door. I can't say enough good things about Indochina Odyssey Tours, all of our guides and especially Alick who helped make all of this possible. To those of you looking to make a trip to this area, I highly recommend Indochina Odyssey Tours, and I would also recommend the private guided tours - all the hassle of transportation, entrance fees were completely taken care of allowing us to enjoy the experience, not to mention the added benefits of having such knowledgeable local guides. We are definitely going to contact Alick and team for our next trip to this part of the world!