Review: Culinary Tour of VIetnam, Pu Luong, Phu Quoc, Halong Bay, Cooking Classes, Local Culture

Review by traveler

Bob T.

11.12.2018

General Info

Traveler Review

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

Vietnam

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Excellent trip but marred by a few annoyances. Would have given 4.5 stars if I could.

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

Trip to Ha Long Bay, cooking schools, villages of Pu Long and beaches of Phu Quoc.

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

Very little - these are minor gripes!
Avoid westernized set menus at some planned stops - usually Vietnamese food was available (to others) but not provided as an option.
Avoid tourist craft centres - such as the pearl and silk centers - they were ridiculously overpriced and appeared exploitative of persons with disabilities.

Travel Company Comments:

Thank you very much for your travel review posted on Zicasso.com. Through the Zicasso website, you have really brightened our company's image and vouch for us being a trustful tour operator in Vietnam. We value your feedback very highly and use it to improve our service.

Your kind words are much appreciated - I’m pleased that you had an excellent trip and loved the trip to Ha Long Bay, cooking schools, villages of Pu Luong and beaches of Phu Quoc. Your praises on our guides, transport and places did add us with confidence and proud of being trustful travel advisor to our valued customers.

Thank you for your comment regarding the local foods options. We often booked Vietnamese Set Menus at clean restaurants for the travellers to guarantee the quality of foods, the foods will be well prepared in advance so you don’t have to wait, and it will be nice decorated to show you the good skills of Vietnamese chefs. We never book Western foods unless the clients request. We sometimes include Vietnamese local foods when we include a street foods tours for the travellers.

Thank you for your detailed and constructive evaluation on the craft center. Yes, they are built to sell pearl and silk to travellers who is interested, their goods are in good quality so prices are high. The center also shows you the process to make pearl as traditional way in Halong Bay, which is interesting to some people. For other travellers, the center provides a clean and modern toilet, and a necessary stop for people can rest and drink coffee along the 3.5 hour drive between Hanoi and Halong Bay. Our guide did inform this to you in advance, as our policy mentioned that our tour guides will not take clients to shopping places which the clients don’t want. I trust our guides always do their jobs best to keep engaging with our company's standards and spirit.

Even though this is your personal idea, you do help us to enrich our advice not only for you on your next trip with this company but also for other customers who have the same style as yours.

On behalf of our staff members, many thanks for travelling with us - we enjoyed working with you. Our good wishes go with you – we hope to see you again in the future.

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