Hello Mrs,
Thank you for your mail.
We have indeed returned to our country, and have, alas, resumed our usual activities after 3 great weeks.
As promised, you will find below a short account of our trip.
Its sole ambition is to allow you to improve (or adapt) your offer to European tourists.
In attachments, here are 2 photos from our group.
GENERAL ORGANIZATION AND COORDINATION (Horizon Vietnam): we really have no criticism to make: the welcome at the various stages, the flight and hotel reservations, the accompaniment…: everything was remarkably organized!
GUIDES: very good everywhere, EXCEPT in Saigon where the commitment of the guide was not up to our expectations (which were perhaps too high, given the level of the previous guides). A bonus as far as our guide in Cambodia (Mouny) is concerned, for his culture, dedication, professionalism and kindness.
HOTELS:
– During the tour, we generally benefited from excellent hotels, with a downside however with regard to that of Saigon (no deckchairs available at the pool, noisy hotel … Luckily, it was only for one night!).
– Congratulations really to the hotel in Hoi An (Muca Boutique Resort, which is worth much more than its 3 stars) and especially in Siem Reap (Central Boutique Hotel), whose infrastructure allowed us to survive temperatures above 40 °.
– In Phu Quoc, we regretted the lack of air conditioning and a fridge in the rooms as the night heat was suffocating. For the rest, the hotel is to be recommended, especially for its restaurant and its beaches.
VISITS:
NORTH: we were enchanted by Halong bay which really deserves its reputation, and in which we spent an unforgettable day on the private junk, and by the visit to Hanoi.
Halong Bay on land was also a good time, if not for the aggressive attitude of the rowers, who not only ‘demand’ drinks and other food supplements halfway through, who aggressively offer you the purchase of so-called handmade products, and who complain in the end because the tip they are given (adapted obviously given the purchases made halfway) is not up to their expectations.
CENTER: Very nice program.
Special mention ++ for the excursion where we had the opportunity to practice crab fishing, cooking class and lunch at the homestay.
SOUTH: Saigon is disappointing and not worth a visit. On the other hand, the program on day 10 was good. On day 11, we drove more than 4 Hr to be dropped off at the airport 4 Hr before the flight to Siem Reap. Our conclusion is that the SOUTH part could be advantageously removed, or at the very least, greatly reduced, given its little interest.
CAMBODIA: magnificent, even if we could only be operational in the morning, given the excessive temperatures (43 °).
Really recommend it!
PHU QUOC: it was a nice stay at the beach (a little short: 1 or 2 more days could have been possible by removing (adapting) the south program.
Thank you again for everything and good luck to your agency that we will not fail to recommend to candidates for a trip to Vietnam / Cambodia.
Yours truly and maybe see you soon,
Eric Quataert, Nadine Fouarge, Patrick Laureys and Lucia Bottiglieri
