Thailand and Vietnam Luxury Tour Review: Hanoi, Bangkok, Lan Ha Bay Cruise, Con Dao, Elephant Sanctuary, Temples, 12-Day Trip

Review by traveler

Melanie H.

10.17.2023

General Info

Traveler Review

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

Thailand

Vietnam

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

The places selected for our trip (Thailand and Vietnam) were beautiful and we experienced diverse activities. Our hotels were all outstanding: gorgeous rooms, great/responsive services, yummy included breakfasts. The guides they found were so informative and helpful; they really went above and beyond to connect and engage us. The drivers were very safe and we were amazed at their ability to navigate those busy city streets! We felt that the travel agency really understood what we were looking for on our trip. We do wish the itinerary was a bit more detailed for our Type A personalities. We had to ask for additional information on start times, once we got closer to the date, for the activities included.

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

The elephant sanctuary in Thailand. Street food tour in Hanoi. Pearl factory on the way to Lan Ha Bay. The Cruise in Lan Ha Bay! The accommodations in Con Dao.

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

We would recommend more "buffer time" on itinerary Day 1. Our first international flight was delayed which caused us to miss our second. We missed almost the entirety of our Day 1 itinerary (e.g. Art museum) and had to cram our Bangkok food tour super late in the evening.

We really enjoyed the temples; however, it started to become redundant with the amount of temples we ended up visiting and it resulted in more time in the car than we would have preferred

We would adjust the Mekong Delta district (Vietnam) portion of our trip: it was eye-opening, but honestly uncomfortable, when we stopped to observe workers shucking coconuts. They are doing incredibly hard labor, all day, for $10/day while we stand there and observe in our "fancy" clothes and jewelry. I felt like a tool, honestly. Maybe prep visitors about the level of poverty and dress accordingly. It's a good lesson in privilege that is important, but I felt like the way I was dressed was inappropriate and the itinerary was so vague I didn't know what to expect and plan accordingly. Also, the place we ate lunch at had amazing food but as we approached, we were concerned about sanitary practices. And sadly our concern became reality: both of us got the norovirus and were bedridden for four days (basically impacting us the entire time we were in Con Dao).

Travel Company Comments:

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your feedback on your trip to Thailand and Vietnam with our travel company. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed the beautiful places, diverse activities, outstanding hotels, informative guides, and safe drivers that we arranged for you. We are glad that we could meet your expectations and provide you with a memorable and satisfying experience.

We appreciate your constructive comments on how we can improve our service and itinerary. We apologize for any inconvenience or discomfort that you faced due to the lack of detail on the itinerary, the redundancy of the temples, the poverty level in the Mekong delta, and the norovirus infection. We will take your suggestions into account and try to avoid or minimize these issues in the future. We hope that you have recovered well and that these incidents did not spoil your overall impression of our company and destinations.

We are grateful for your trust and cooperation in working with us. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you again in the future and offer you more amazing and customized travel experiences. Please feel free to contact us anytime if you have any questions or requests.