I have visited more than 40 countries and I often hire private guides. We bought a 13-day luxury private tour from Indochina Voyages, and we were very happy, especially with Van, who is the sales agent who handled everything from the 1st email to travelling with us to the Hanoi airport on our way home. She was willing to tweak things along the way to make sure we had the best time possible.

For me, the foundation of every trip is the combination of hotels, meals, and guides. On this trip, all were excellent. I do not want to stay at the nicest hotels in Vietnam, many of which are the same as all of the hotels in the US where I regularly stay. I want to stay at the nicest Vietnamese hotels. Von booked us with many very nice hotels with lots of old Vietnamese charm. It’s hard to have a bad meal in Vietnam.

My only thought about the food was that a couple restraurants were tourist places. The food was excellent, but it made us feel like we were part of the group tour, which is exactly what we wanted to avoid when we purchased the luxury private tour. We were in big rooms filed with tour bus crowds. Van said she will try to avoid that in the future.

The guides were excellent. Unforutunately, one of the guides cancelled and Van had to find a replacement. She was a very sweet woman and my wife loved her. However, I was unable to understand much of her English.

I have been to so many museums and temples around the world that I now get bored. I want to see all of the sites, but I do not want to spend more than an hour or two at a temple or a ruin. I much prefer activites, like the tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City, spending a night on a Sampam in the Mekong Delta, or an overnight cruise in Halong Bay. Plus we did a bike ride and we rode on a couple small boats on other days. The activities were excellent.

The price of the Vietnam tour was good, and the trip was excellent. I expect to visit Cambodia, Thailand, and Loas early next year, and I will hire Van and Indochina Voages again to organize a private luxury tour.