Luxury Vietnam & Cambodia Travel Review: Hanoi, Saigon, Hoi An, Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, Tonle Sap Lake, Banteay Srei Temple

Review by traveler

Meher D.

3.28.2023

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Vietnam

Cambodia

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

I would give the trip and company 4.5 stars, but that is not an option. Overall, the trip was interesting, and we felt the program allowed us to get a good overview of both Vietnam and Cambodia. Ms. Ha at the travel agency was excellent to work with. She was very prompt in responding to our queries, helped us plan a great itinerary, and attended to glitches right away. The arrangements, especially in Vietnam, were very good, our guides were always punctual, knowledgeable about their cities, and keen to share that knowledge with enthusiasm. We appreciated the fact that in Hanoi, our guide went out of his way to help us with money exchange and pharmacy purchases and also allowed us to fit in an unscheduled visit to the Hanoi Hilton (at our expense, of course). It was also very nice to have dinner with Ha on our final day in Vietnam.

The cruise on Halong Bay was a bit disappointing. For people who do not want to kayak or swim, there were very few activities, and the ship spent a lot of time anchored rather than cruising. The rooms on board, however, were very good. All hotel choices were very good, and we would like to give a shout out to the hotel in Hoi An, which was a charming place to stay at.

We enjoyed Cambodia, but the 95+ degree heat detracted somewhat from our enjoyment and exploration of the temples in Siem Reap. Due to a mix-up with the operator in Cambodia, and despite our mentioning this to the guide, we went to all the temples in a single day, which was somewhat exhausting. Our guide was knowledgeable but seemed to go strictly by the book. Unfortunately parts of Angkor Wat were closed to tourists the first day because of the king's visit. The next day's excursion to Tonle Sap Lake and Banteay Srei temple was slower-paced and more enjoyable, and on our free third day, we rented a tuktuk and enjoyed a trip through the countryside to the Landmines Museum. Our guide in Phnom Penh was great and made recent history come alive.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Our interactions with the local people, although these were limited mainly to those in the hospitality industry. The people were warm and welcoming, and went out of their way to be helpful
Some stand-out activities:
Night food tour on scooter in Saigon and chatting with the young students
Hanoi old quarter
Cooking class, walking and shopping in Hoi An
Banteay Srei temple and Angkor Thom
Visiting the Vietnam war "sites"
Killing fields and Tuol Sleng museum
Cruising and scooter ride in Mekong delta

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

1. Go earlier in the year or possibly do the trip in reverse. Or start much earlier than 8 am. It was horribly hot in Cambodia the third week of March and this really affected our enjoyment of the temples. However, we had been assured that this time of year was okay---traveler's ages should be taken into consideration when advising.
2. We had a real problem with currency in Cambodia---all "old" dollar bills and any dollar bills with even the slightest tear or if heavily folded, were constantly rejected at banks and establishments. This is something that should have been flagged for us
3. Maybe choose a different cruise ship for Halong Bay---it was a bit disappointing and there were several other cruise ships around. Would have preferred to do more cruising and fewer "activities" Or even just consider a day cruise.
4. Skip Hue
5. Would like to have had more variety in the courses served in the set lunches

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Mrs. Dustoor,
I wanted to follow up on your comment posted in Zicasso a while ago for your trip in Vietnam in March 2023 with us.
First of all, I would like to thank you for your time and I appreciate your feedback regarding both the good and negative experiences. We always strived to provide the best experience for our clients and take negative comments seriously. Kindly be advised as follow:
-Lan Ha Bay cruise: sorry for the unhappy experience that you had on this cruise. I had replied while you were on tour of the unexpected change in last minute, which often happening while cruising on this Bay. Kindly be advised that both of the Day or Overnight cruises in Halong/Lan Ha bay will be included the swimming/kayaking and exploring the caves as these are main activities on that Bay. If we had known you did not like the swimming or kayaking earlier, we would have suggested another tour for you.
-Siem Reap: we did have a talk with the Operator in Cambodia and realize that the trip in Cambodia would have been better if the guide in Siem Reap was more attentive to your request on arrival. Our operator in Cambodia had a talk with the guide about this and he was sorry, as what he explained he had many tours in March and he took granted that the itinerary had been logically. We will consider whether we still want to work with him in the future. Guide is an important element of a trip and a not good and not enthusing guide may take us to a wrong direction
-The hot weather in Cambodia: to be honest the climate is something unpredictable, the hot weather should be until April – May, which are two hottest months of both Vietnam and Cambodia. This year, climate seems a bit drier than the previous year and the hot time is coming earlier than before.
- Not able to use old US bill in Cambodia: sorry for not knowing about this in advance as we have not received any feedback regarding this from previous client. We will take note for this time and shall inform our future clients who might travel to Cambodia.
Thank you for your review and travelling with us, we will learn from these contribution ideas of you and make sure we will do better in the coming time.
We wish you all the best and have many more good trips in the future
My best,
Ha