Blaxill Family * 4 pax | Northern Vietnam | Vietnam

Itinerary: Hanoi City Tour - Sapa - Trekking Fansipan (Heaven Gate) - Kayaking Halong Bay & Trekking Cat Ba national park - Biking Mai Chau & Ninh Binh

Date: 14th Dec - 30th Dec, 2014

Nationality: Australian

Dear Candy,

We are now home and feeling well refreshed from our wonderful holiday in Vietnam. Thank you for the really great work you did organising and coordinating our holiday. It really was one of our best holidays ever and we can t thank you enough for all you and our lovely guides did to give us such a great time. It was the perfect balance of activity and relaxation, travelling and staying in one place, time to ourselves and time with others. 

Just perfect. You really did a fantastic job and we are so grateful that we used you and Active Travel to put our holiday together. We have already been recommending you to friends and family her in Perth.

More specifically, we thought you might like some specific feedback on the things we were particularly impressed by and maybe a few things that perhaps could be improved slightly (these are very few as 90%of the trip was outstanding).

We especially loved:

-The Medallion Hotel in the old quarter- a very high quality hotel with excellent, caring staff and so well located for exploring Hanoi and the Old Quarter ( we would definitely stay there again), -The City tour the first day was a fantastic introduction to Vietnam and Hanoi, -The lunch the first day in the restaurant was really lovely, -The coffee in the little old quarter cafe with other guides was great fun and helped us feel like a Vietnamese person and not a tourist !

- the water puppets were well worth seeing,

- we were very impressed Candy that you personally came to meet us in our

hotel- a lovely touch,

-The train to Sapa was remarkably comfortable and we loved the experience,

- the hotel in Sapa was excellent and we would happily stay there again, -Walking in Sapa and the surrounds was a real highlight,

- Our porters and guide up and down Mt Fansipan did a brilliant job and also cooked some delicious meals,

- having the rooms to shower, rest and have breakfast in at La Rosa was fantastic and so well organised, -Halong Bay was outstanding and even more beautiful than we thought it would be, -The accommodation on the Junk was very comfortable and we thought the cabins were really beautiful, -Extending our stay in the area with extended days kayaking and visiting Cat BA island was one of the best parts of our whole trip. We would highly recommend it to other tourists.

-The kayaks were excellent quality and the places we were taken to kayak were very well chosen as we really felt well away from many tourist groups, -The bikes we used for cycling were excellent and top quality, -Home stays were fantastic and having two very different home stays was a great experience, as the more basic first one gave us a chance to really see how the locals lived and the second one was lovely and luxurious in a pretty valley, near Mai Chau

- the food throughout our trip was amazingly good and of a very high standard ( except for breakfast in Ninh Binh...see below) -Our bus drivers were excellent and drove very safely and well, -Our three guides all were very informative and went out of their way to give us a perfect holiday. They were all excellent however, we would particularly like to commend Hoa, our last guide who well and truly gave 110% service to us and also combined it with excellent English, a great sense of humour and outstanding care for us all right to the end of our trip. He is a truly magnificent guide and we feel very lucky to have enjoyed his services for so many days.

Here are just a few suggestions of things that could perhaps be improved:

-Before future tourists book to climb Mt Fansipan, I think it would be helpful to warn them that a  cable car is currently being built and therefore it is a bit of building site in places on the mountain and not very picturesque near the top. There are also periodic explosions heard on the mountain and lots of workers working there so it is not as peaceful as a usual mountain climb.

- Also, I think future tourists should be warned that the hut/ accomodation where one sleeps on the mountain is very basic, very noisy and the toilets are very dirty and unhygienic ( as they do not seem to be cleaned regularly and were filthy)

- The hotel in Ninh Binh, was our least favourite as it had little atmosphere ( more like a bed factory!) and the breakfast included stale bread, cold cooked food and sickly fruit drinks ( not juices). Our son also subsequently got food poisoning from eating an egg at breakfast there on our last day. Fortunately, he has fully recovered now.

In conclusion, we had a brilliant holiday and definitely want to return to Vietnam again and will be very pleased to use Active Travel again for our next trip.

Many thanks to you and all your staff.

Kind regards,

Clare, Phil, James and Phoebe Blaxill 

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Tony Bowden * 5 pax | Northern Vietnam | Vietnam

Itinerary: Northern Highlight

Date: 29 Nov - Dec 9, 2014

Nationality: Australian 

“Fantastic Trip”

"My family of 5 adults have just returned from a 12 night private tour in north Vietnam with ActiveTravel Asia. Everything ran very smoothly and professionally...even when inclement weather delayed our 3 day Halong Bay Cruise by one day, our itinerary was swiftly re-organised so we didn't miss a thing (we actually got to see the amazing Ninh Binh as a bonus). Our Hanoi based guide Bac (Buck to us) was excellent, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic while our guide in Sapa (Hiep) was also very knowledgeable as well as funny and entertaining. Our travel consultant Candy rang several times during our trip to make sure everything was going OK. I highly recommend this company to anyone wishing to undertake a tour (private or otherwise) of this amazing country." 

Visited December 2014

This review is on Tripadvisor, view here.

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Stein Also * 2 pax | Vietnam

Itinerary: Biking Adventures Mekong; Centre Highland and Northern Highlights
Date: Feb 22 - Mar14, 2014
Nationality: Norwegian

Dear Candy.

At once, now the foto`s comes!!!
And again, thank you for a fantastic trip in Vietnam. We tell all our friends.
Good luck to you!!

Best regards from Stein.

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Scott Yerigan * 2 pax | Vietnam

Itinerary: Tailor made tour in Vietnam

Date: Mar 3 - Mar 25, 2013

Nationality: American

We are very happy with the service that ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA provided. Our consultant, Candy, listened to our goals and provided a comprehensive program that achieved our travel goals. In addition, Candy was very prompt, courteous, and professional in all of the replies.

We enjoyed Hanoi and North Vietnam the most because we were able to see the day-to-day routines of Vietnamese people.  Trekking near Sapa was peaceful, homestays were very interesting, Halong Bay was gorgeous, and motorbiking was fun. Quyen Vu was our favorite guide because his English was excellent, and he was very patient, happy, and professional. We also enjoyed the bicycling and boating in the Mekong Delta area.

Thanks again for arranging such a wonderful tour!

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Scott Kerby * 2 pax | Sapa & Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Sapa Trekking & Homestay and Kayaking Halong Bay & Trekking Cat Ba National Park

Date: Oct 31 - Nov 9, 2012

Nationality: Canadian

We did enjoy our tour through Sapa and Halong Bay.  Our guides were excellent, very pleasant, knowledgeable and accommodating when needed.  The food was good and plentiful and the drivers were very good. 

The kayaking was fabulous and thank-you to our guide and boat captain for accommodating our interest in paddling as much as possible.

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Christella Mylordi * 6 pax | Halong Bay, Cat Ba National Park | Vietnam

Itinerary: Kayaking Halong Bay & Trekking Cat Ba National Park
Date: Jan 14 – Jan 18, 2011
Nationality: Australian

We are grateful to our guide, Cuong, for the direction, general knowledge and explanations of the Vietnamese culture and vast experience in kayaking.

Michelle, Tony and Karen | Vietnam

Itinerary : Tailor made tour in Vietnam
Date: November 13 - November 27, 2010
Nationality: Australian

We just spent 2 weeks on a tour organised for 3 people by Active Asia Travel and would not choose anyone else to travel with throughout Vietnam. We had drivers and guides at every point to meet us (and all early), our every need was catered for.

We started in Hanoi where we were picked up at airport and met our wonderful guide who would take us onto Halong Bay where we kayaked and cruised for 2-3 days - absolutely breathtaking. Caught a night train to Lao Cai where we trekked from beautiful Sapa and had two wonderful home stays, our guide was so much fun and we had a fantastic experience. Onto Hue, Hoi An where we had shorter day tours of these lovely places then finished bike riding through the Mekong Delta for 4 days with yet another fantastic guide.

All our transfers were taken care of, all accommodation organised and almost all our meals were catered for. The guides were all so much fun and extremely knowledgable of the areas they took us. The kayaking, treks and bike riding where all well planned and able to be adjusted if it got too difficult - the guides were great at determining just the right amount of activity to be challenging yet moreso enjoyable. Our travel agent Jessie should be commended, she done a fabulous job and we will definately be back to Vietnam, and would not travel with anyone else.

Thank you Active Travel for an absolutely wonderful trip !

Source : http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293924-d1469397-r89463066-ActiveTravel_Asia-Hanoi.html

Jodie Cummings | Vietnam

Itinerary : Tailor made tour in Vietnam
Date: October 20 - November 3, 2010
Nationality: British

I really enjoyed my trip. Thank you for all my planning. The homestays were the best.

I think if i was to do the trip again, I would have continued riding up from Than Uyen to Sapa, instead of going back to Hanoi and doing the night trains.... then spend a few nights in Sapa and Bac Ha, doing mountain biking and hiking. Then head back down to hanoi on the motorbike stopping again at Thac Ba reservoir (that was the best homestay). And from there end my trip after the Halong bay tour....

In all honesty - it was still a lovely trip. Long was by far the best of the 3 tour guides.
He was the most sociable and outgoing, and therefore I felt comfortable and safe the whole time.

My hightlights to the trip were:

- Motorbiking!
- Halong bay - was just stunning - and i'm so glad i did 2 nights!! 1 is definately not enough - the first day is very rushed!
- Sapa - the beautiful colours....

Hope that gives you enough feedback.

Thank you again for your help !

Tora Must Hatlebakk family | Vietnam

Itinerary: Tailor made tour in Vietnam
Date: 26June - 17July, 2010
Nationality: Norwegian

Sunny,

We are in all aspects very happy with all your arrangements; guides, places to stay, what to see etc
We have lot of fantastic memories and pictures from Vietnam.

Best regards

Helge Ulvang | Vietnam

Itinerary: Family Adventure tour
Date: 30 June - 11 July
Nationality: Norwegian

We are very satisfied with the Vietnam-trip and we will thank you for all your help and good work. Everything was excellent. We liked the guides and the hotels very much.

Vanessa Xavier * 2 | Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Kayaking in Halong Bay - 4days
Date: April 07 - April 10, 2010

Hi Ms Sunny,

Thanks for your mail. I'm so sorry that I haven't replied you earlier. I have been so busy after my holiday in Vietnam! Sorry for neglecting your email.

Actually we were very happy with Active Travel. We had an excellent tour guide, who could speak good English, and was very informative and engaged. He was a great assistance, and he took us to many wonderful places in Halong Bay which we wouldn't have discovered without him.

We greatly enjoyed the kayaking and exploring of caves and lagoons. We also like that we had the boat all to ourselves during the day, and we could be flexible on how we want our itinerary to be. The seafood was also great, and I loved that special lunch we had on our last day when the boat crew created dishes with amazingly crafted dragon and phoenix from carrots and vegetables.

We would like to say thank you to Active Travel for its good service, and well-planned itineraries. Please continue the good work, and best of luck to you too!

Best regards,

James Maher & Mike Maher | Northwest, Sapa, Cat Ba island, Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Motorcycling Northwestern Trails , Conquer Mount Fansipan - Heaven Gate Route, Kayaking Halong Bay & Trekking Cat Ba National Park
Date: April 30 - May 14, 2010
Nationality: England

Dear active travel Vietnam

We both arrived home safely. England is dull and cold compared to Vietnam and we would like to thank all of you for making this trip so special. All our guides including Ken, Son and Quyen along with the porters and drivers were excellent.

We will be recommending you to our friends in England and hope to return to Vietnam in the future as it was a brilliant country.

Very best regards,
James Maher
Mike Maher

Hamid Giuseppe & Maria Arjomand | Halong Bay, Mai Chau & Ninh Binh | Vietnam

Itinerary: Biking hidden paths Mai Chau & Ninh Binh and Kayaking Halong Bay 3 days
Date: April 22, 2010
Nationality: American


Dear Sunny,

Thanks for your follow-up email.

The trip was fantastic and exceeded all my expectations. I was amazed every single day by the charm and beauty of Vietnam and the warm hospitality of everyone we met.

Quinn (Quyen) was a great host and guide, and spared no effort to accommodate us in the best possible way, as well as daily providing us with interesting background information about places and history. He really knows his stuff.

Finally, thank you and the rest of your staff at Active Travel for your assistance in organizing this trip.

Best regards,
- Hamid

Daniella Gill | Sapa & Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Sapa Long Trail & Halong Bay 2 day
Date: April 12, 2010
Nationality: Australian

Excellent service. The tour was everything we expected and more. We saw other tours here but ours was a lot better (we are happier)

Lap and Chu are top class. They treated us like VIPs the whole trip. We felt safe and looked after. They are both great! Cooks the food was wonderful. Thank you!

Great trekking tour!!

Kathrin Wieczorek | Vietnam

Itinerary: Tailor made tour in Vietnam
Date: February 21, 2010 - March 13, 2010
Nationality: German & England

Dear Jessie,

yes, we are all back home safely, thank you.

We had a great time in the beautiful country Vietnam.

Let me point out what we liked best in this trip

1. The hiking to Mt. Fansipan was absolutely great. We especially liked that we went a 4 day trip instead of just 2 day, as most tourists do. That way, taking the longer route, we saw beautiful nature and not many other tourists. The food was sensational and the organization was perfect. We had a very nice young guide named San (or Sang? Sam? Spelling of Vietnamese names is difficult for us…) who we would highly recommend. It would be nice if you could pass on our happiness about San to his boss.

2. Also, Quyen was a great guide for Hanoi and Halong bay. We highly recommend him. It was nice to spend several days with him, and he made us feel like friends, not just like tourists. He even spent some of his evening time with us, which we greatly appreciated. He also introduced us to the real Vietnamese foods which is eaten on the street, rather than in fancy restaurants.

3. The food in Vietnam was the best we have ever had

4. The tour itinerary was very complete…we feel we have visited the highlights of the country.

5. The organization of all the different tours was perfect. Everybody was on time and everything worked out nicely. Everyone involved was absolutely reliable.

6. The hotels that were picked out were very good, especially the one in Hoi An. That was the most beautiful place we had ever slept!..

Altogether we all had a great time and enjoyed Vietnam very much and would return to the country anytime.

Thank you very much for all your help,

Best wishes and greetings from Germany,
Kathrin

P.S. Could you please give me Quyen’s e-mail? He gave it to me, but I unfortunately washed my trousers with the piece of paper in it. I would like to send him some pictures. Thank you

Anthony & Shona Holdsworth and family | Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Halong bay charter boat 2 days 1 night & Transferring Hanoi - Halong - Hanoi
Date: May 17 - May 20, 2009
Nationality: Australian

Dear Ms Sunny,

I am just writing to thank you for all your assistance in regards to our recent holiday. All your planning was fantastic and we could not have managed without you.

I do hope we can work together again in the future when we again visit Vietnam and in the meantime, I will recommend you to all our friends who plan on holidaying in Vietnam.

Very kind regards and best wishes,

Anthony & Shona Holdsworth and family

Jacq and Pete Conway | Sapa, Cat Ba island, Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Sapa trekking & home stay and Trekking Cat Ba National Park & Kayaking Halong Bay - Vietnam
Date: April 05 - April 13, 2009
Nationality: Belgium

Hi Julia,

We had the most enjoyable 2 weeks in Vietnam. Everyone we met was so friendly, and the service was excellent too! The trek in Sapa was what we really came for, but Halong Bay almost beat it for its beauty. The kayaking was superb! It was so good to have some of the busy locations to ourselves first thing in the morning. The food was just amazing - almost too much really!! Think I will have to go on a diet!!

The 3 guides you provided, Mr. Than (Hanoi), Mr. Lan (Sapa) & Mr. Qyuen (Halong bay), were all great guys, who were most knowledgeable and were happy to introduce us to the local customs and a few words of Vietnamese. Nothing was too much trouble for them. We would recommend any of them. The driver you gave us to Halong Bay, was fantastic...he did not use his horn once!! Very smooth, relaxing ride!

Gao Bai Hotel, Hanoi was very good. Service excellent, friendly & helpful. Front rooms a little noisy, but fun to look down onto the street below! Chau Long Hotel, Sapa, was in a great location, but I felt the service could have been in bit better/friendlier for the level of hotel. Sunrise resort at CatBa was in a beautiful location, and the restaurant was quite reasonably priced for a hotel. Good service.

The welcome dinner at The Wild Lotus, Hanoi, was magnificent! We were expecting something a lot less grand, so thank you for organizing this for us! And the Indochina Sails junk in Halong Bay (upgraded) was just so unbelievable Pete & I thought it must have been a mistake!! The train to Sapa was an experience I won't forget! Not the best sleep but lots of fun!!

Last but not least, thank you to you Ms. Julia! You organization skills from our first inquiry to this follow-up were so professional and helpful. It made us feel very comfortable to know the answers to our many questions before we arrived, and all the transfer connections were perfect. It made the trip run so smoothly, we had more time to enjoy the sights and less time to worry about the details you took care of.

Pete and I would be more than happy to recommend yourself and Active Travel to anyone looking to travel in Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos. I have already given your name to my sister in HCM, as she may look to go to Laos later this year. I also mentioned you to a few travellers I met in CatBa, who had a bad experience with another agency. As mentioned, I walk with a group of women in Sydney, who travel alot to go trekking, so I will let them know your details if they are looking to go to Vietnam. Please also feel free to use any of this email as a recommendation for your services.

We wish you, your family and your new baby all the health and happiness. Best wishes and good luck for the future.

Warmest Regards,

Jacq and Pete

Jacq & Pete Conway
9 Rofe Street
Leichhardt NSW 2040
02 9560 3775

Silke Lasslop | Halong & Sapa | Vietnam

Itinerary: Halong bay kayaking 3 days & Different Sapa Different trek
Date: March 29 - 9 April, 2009
Nationality: South Africa

Hello Sunny,

Now that we are back in SA and slowly picking up with day to day life I am giving you some feedback as promised :-)

The service of Active travel was fantastic! Starting with having you, Sunny, to answer all questions and requests in detail and always very promptly. That in my opinion is very important. You made me feel safe and trusting. I really appreciated that I could call you even on a Sunday! at 6! in the morning to sort out our transfer to Hanlong Bay.
All the transfers and services where great! You made us feel very special.
Our accommodations on Halong Bay, Train and in Sapa where lovely and much better then we expected.
The food on Board the Boat and on our Hiking trip was very good and surly the reason why we put on a couple of kilos ;-)

Mr Hung our guide was absolutely great. He did everything possible to make our trip a great success. His knowledge about the country and the people is added greatly to our understanding about Vietnam. Mr Hung is extremely helpful and kind.

We were very happy with Active Travel. And I will and have already recommend your company to fellow travellers.

All the best and thank you again for all your help and great work!

Warmest wishes,
Silke

Dirk Doclo | Sapa, Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay | Vietnam

Itinerary: Sapa trekking & home stay and Trekking Cat Ba National Park & Kayaking Halong Bay - Vietnam
Date: March, 6, 2009
Nationality: Belgium

Dear Julia,

We enjoyed our trip to Halong Bay and Cat Ba. This Mister Hay was a very good guide. Also the men on the supporting boat were very friendly and very good cooks.

Warmest greetings,
Dirk en Greet

Rick Simons | Halong bay & Sapa tours | Vietnam

Itinerary: Trekking Sapa & Halong Bay tours - Vietnam
Date: December 05, 2006
Nationality: United Sate of America

I'm back from Vietnam trip with Active Travel Vietnam and have some review as below:

Where we traveled: At the Duongs' house in the small village of Ban-Ho, a six-hour trek outside of Sapa. Sapa is in the northwest, just south of the Chinese border, a place many hill tribes call home.

About meals: We had dinner at the Duongs' house, where our guide Hoa was the chef. The different courses (spring rolls, fish, tofu, soup, beef, rice) kept flowing until we were satiated. However, the most pleasant experience was drinking the homemade rice wine made by Mr. Duong. He continued to pour it until we finally had to say "no more." We did learn that "took saquaya" is the equivalent of "cheers" for the Tay people.

How to get best deal: We booked a three-day trip to Halong Bay and the four-day Sapa trek with Active Travel Vietnam. Every aspect of the trip was perfect; the English-speaking guides were informative but not overwhelming. The price was inexpensive. Reach them at info@activetravelvietnam.com.

Best time to go: November was a perfect time, but it was hazy everyday, so pictures did not have blue skies in them. The temperature was pleasant; no rain and no crowds of tourists.

Best travel tip: Don't be afraid to go to Vietnam because of the war in the '70s. I found the Vietnamese people to be among the friendliest I have ever encountered, and not one of them had any animosity toward American people.

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/papertrailsarchive/ci_4905810