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Def/Air Attache of Chile in IsraelThank you
Dear all. This is to say thank you very much for all your support during our trip to Vietnam. We spent a wonderful time in your country, and we were able to know a lot about your people, culture, places and ways of life. Our three guides, Thong - in Saigon and Mekong Delta; Thom - in Hue and Hoy An; and Ding - in Hanoi and Halong Bay did a wonderful work. Congratulations for all of them. I think we can recommend your agency to our friends. Our best regards Carlos Bertens and family.
Arnaldo Matutecomments about our tailor made trip to Vietnam by tnk travel
Hi all I write you just to comment our recent trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. On Vietnam´s two legs of the trip, we asked tnk travel to organize for us some smaller trips : Mekong delta 2 days, out to Cambodia, Sapa 2 days, halong bay, and also little things like "we need a Hanoi - Hue train ticket". We combined all of this with our self-made own itinerary, and all worked fine, except halong bay (but for bad weather), and even then, they promtply called us and they looked for alternatives for us. Even saying we normally prefer to travel by ourselves, we found Tnk travel very helpfull and usefull for us Thanks a lot
The Kane familyA wonderful experience with TNK travel (January 2009)
Our family of 4 just came back from first ever trip to Vietnam (18 days). We chose TNK Travel and it was a great trip. I wanted to thank TNK and to share our experience with future prospective travelers.
We started the planning almost a year ago. I must say we were hesitant at first and concerned about choosing a reliable travel agency. I read a lot on the internet (e.g. tripadvisor .com) before identifying a few prospective travel agencies. I then asked for an initial quote from my top 3 choices. TNK was the middle quote but what I liked about them was the level of detail in their initial proposal. I then looked at their guestbook and selected 17 people worldwide who recently travelled with them and emailed each of them to ask about their experience. Every single one of them responded and all were very positive about TNK. This made me comfortable with the idea of having to send money upfront to book a trip in an unknown country where I would have no recourse if dealing with an unethical company. With TNK, everyone assured me that once an itinerary is finalized, the company will do whatever is needed to deliver on its promises and to make it a pleasant experience, and they sure did in our case.
Over the following month, I exchanged several emails with Mr. Dsung Trinh, the Managing Director, to modify the original proposal based on my research about the sites we wanted to see. For example, we removed Sapa from the itinerary because the Northwest is quite cold in January, but added Phu Quoc Island instead. In the end, we agreed on a price for the revised itinerary, and I paid the customary 30% deposit by credit card (with a 3% fee). From that point-on, I dealt with Mr. Dac Dahn in their operations department who always promptly answered my numerous enquiries via email, and sent me hotel vouchers and e-tickets confirmation from air travel within Vietnam, as well as the invitation letter for the Visa. Fast forwarding to the end of the year when our trip began:
We landed roughly on schedule in Hochiminh on Dec. 31st in the evening and had to wait an hour or so (not ideal after a long flight from the U.S.) to get our visa on arrival ($25 per person in cash). Once we exited immigration and customs, our guide (J.J.) and driver were there to greet us with a sign bearing our name. They took us to our hotel. Because of the traffic, we ended up being in the center of the city near the cathedral at midnight, surrounded by thousands of motorcycles ringing their horns when the near year arrived (quite a cultural experience). From there on, the entire trip was very pleasant (I will post details on the hotels on tripadvisor.com). We visited Saigon (and stopped by the TNK office to pay the balance of the trip), the Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc, PanThiet/Mui Ne, Da Lat and Nha Trang by private van and boats with J.J. (who was excellent, paying attention all the time to what we liked and making sure we would always have it). We almost missed the speedboat from Rach Gia to Phu Quoc, because the itinerary was 30 minutes off. As a result, we couldn’t have a scheduled lunch, but TNK compensated us with an excellent previously unplanned dinner in Hue. J.J. ordered a van with more legroom when we returned from Phu Quoc to HCMC (we flew back), arranged for a small canoe to pick-us up and take us to our hotel in Cantho where we were stuck in traffic on the way to the ferry, etc…Then we flew to Danang and were greeted by our new guide Tui (Mr. Dac Dahn had kindly arranged for French speaking guides at the other locations at our request), and from there visited Hoi An, My Son and Hue, Tui was excellent as well, very knowledgeable and helped us solve an issue we had with a tailor-made suit. In Hoi An, the reservation was not a river view room, but after contacting Mr. Dac Dahn generously agreed to pay the difference and we were upgraded accordingly (we had insisted on 2 deluxe rooms with sea/river/lake views everywhere) and I had not noticed it was not the case at that location. We then flew to Hanoi which we visited with our last guide (Mr. Lan, who was OK but not as good as the first 2), and went from there to Halong Bay for a memorable 2-day cruise, then flew back to HCMC, stayed overnight near the airport and had an early morning flight back to the U.S. On returning to HCMC, no driver was there to greet us, we were told after we called the agency that he was stuck in traffic due to an accident. We took a taxi to the nearby hotel, and the driver who picked-us up in the morning for our return flight to the US. reimbursed us more than we had actually paid for the taxi. We didn’t have to pay a departure tax, it was apparently already included in our plane tickets.
Overall, a great trip thanks to the logistics, efficiency and professionalism of the TNK staff and agents. Food was excellent (though too copious for us, we always have festive lunch menus booked by TNK with 6 or 7 courses in nice restaurants (included in the price), nice buffet breakfasts in most hotels. The only problem (which is beyond TNK’s control) was insufficient hot water in many hotels for two people to take showers one after the other), a really bad road with big holes when exiting MuiNe to go to Da Lat and a third guide in the north who took us to a number of expensive stores along the road when we saw much cheaper prices elsewhere (we suspect he had a kick-back from these stores (but to his credit, he advised us to see the anthropology museum in Hanoi instead of a couple of extra pagodas, which we really enjoyed). Other than these minor opportunities for improvement, we had great hotel rooms with very nice views (important to us), good weather, good food, good guides and drivers (who seemed satisfied with the tips we gave them), and we were taken to all the places agreed-to on the itinerary. For those who do not feel adventurous enough to be on their own in Vietnam, we do strongly recommend TNK travel as an ideal, reasonably-priced solution. You can count on them for a memorable and pleasant trip. One final comment, although you can pay everything in Vietnam in US dollars or Euros, prices are cheaper if you pay in Dongs (local currency, FX at 17.3 VND/USD on the average during our trip, calculated at 15 by the stores if you pay in USD). Also a word of caution, Vietnam Airlines only allows 20 kg for a checked suitcase and 7 kg for a carry-on so travel light……
If you are thinking of going and have any question about our experience, don’t hesitate to contact me at dkane@mmm.com.
Our sincere thanks to MM. Trinh, Danh and the entire TNK staff for a wonderful trip. The Kane family (Austin, TX, USA)
SelinaTHANK YOU
Special Thanks to Mr Le Hung Kiet from your Dalat Office Words cannot express our heartful THANKS to him Mr Le was very responsible and helpful. Thank you for your Excellence Service I would certainly recommend our friends in Singapore to use TNK Travel if they are going to Vietnam
Janis LIndblomExciting Vietnam
We have recently returned from our third trip to Vietnam arranged once again by TNK Travel's staff, Luu Vo, Dac Danh and hosted by our wonderful guide "JJ" and excellent driver in HCMC and our great guide Quyen and terrific driver Thanh in Hanoi. All your staff are so reliable, helpful, courteous and informative. We always enjoy their company so much and really miss them when we have to part. Thank you so very much for another excellent holiday, great hotels and a wonderful tour. Each time we visit we include new locations and we will return again and will certainly use the services of TNK. Thank you also for the souvenir gift it is very thoughtful.
Mr. Anne PorterThank you to everyone at TNK Travel
Good morning, Yesterday we arrived back form our most enjoyable holiday in Vietnam and we would like to thank you for all your help and assistance in arranging this trip for us. Some comments :
I’d like to make special mention of two of your staff – Dac Danh who handled the final part of our booking was very thorough and helpful and Hian (Moon) who was our tour guide to Cu Chi was very interesting and knowledgeable with a great sense of humour. They both speak excellent English which made it much easier for us.
I note from some of the reviews on sites like Trip Advisor that some people have complained about your company and your service. I have posted a review to let people know how good we have found your services. The link is below.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-Our_Excellent_Vietnam_Trip_with_TNK_Travel Vietnam.html
I would make only one suggestion – the payment procedure is quite complicated and I believe you would get more overseas customers if you were able to accept credit card payments online. Thank you once again to you and your staff for a wonderful visit to Vietnam. We loved your country and would like to come back again and see more of it as well as Cambodia and if we do I will most certainly be in touch with you again. In the meantime I will be recommending you to any of our friends who want to visit Vietnam. Kind Regards Anne Porter
Gordon and Elaine AshtonOur Holiday
Ms Hang Vo !
We have just returned home after a month away and one of the first things I wanted to do was thank you for the wonderful 8 days you had organised for us.
Everything was better than expected and we will be telling our friends and family to be in touch with you whenever they go to vietnam.
We will be touch for our return visit next year
Thank you again
Gordon and Elaine Ashton
John ChilesVietnam & Cambodian Tour II
Dear Mr. Dzung We would like to express our appreciation for TNK's efforts to make our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia so enjoyable. Of our many trips since 2002, this one has been the best. Some of that is due to the attraction of the two countries. But a bigger reason is the treatment we received from your company. All of our hotels were comfortable, and even somewhat luxurious for a couple that usually stays in bed and breakfast type accommodations. Very good meals in excellent dining establishments. Our guides deserve most of the credit for the success of our trips. They looked after us from pick up to departure. They ensured that we visited sites at the right time to avoid most of the crowds and avoid the hottest time of the day. They varied the itinerary periodically, with our consent, to ensure that we saw the most desirable attractions, They were well informed about the history and stories of the attractions. They moved us along to cover the itinerary without us feeling that we were being rushed. We always felt that we had any time we wanted to wander through the sites according to our interest. Although the guides were probably the strongest feature of a very well organized and professionally run tour, their one weakness was their English pronounciation. It was difficult at times to understand the message because some words were pronounced differently from what we are used to hearing. On the whole, however, that was a minimal limitation. A special thank you for providing us with the document permitting us multiple visits to Vietnam. We had arranged for our visas to Vietnam, although you had offered to do so. However, enroute home, when we and presented our passports with single entry visas to the ticket agent at the Siem Reap airport in Cambodia, we were advised that we needed multiple visit visas in order to obtain a boarding pass for our flight to Hochiminh City, Even though we had advised you that we would be obtaining our visas on our own, your thoughtfulness and thoroughness in providing the multiple visit authorization saved us a lot of grief. This incident brought home to us more than anything else, TNK's level of professionalism and concern for its customers. There are many other things that we could add to illustrate how well we were looked after by your company. When we first 'discovered' TNK while researching on the internet, our first thought was that this unknown tour company was probably a low budget, high risk venture. You get what you pay for, right? Well, in this case you get more than you would normally pay for - much more. We had been reassured somewhat by a prior TNK traveller who had posted a testimonial on the TNK site, as well as by the timeliness and quality of feedback we received from our e-mail enquires to TNK. However, we still remained slightly skeptical prior to arriving in Hanoi. Within hours of arriving, however, we were reassured that we were in good hands and that we were going to have a marvellous experience. The tour surpassed our expectations. We wish TNK much success for the future. We expect that your company will eventually displace North American tour companies as the leading choce for tours to Indochina. Sincerely, Virjon Ontario, Canada
Mrs Isabella Hanssonvietnam highlights tourI would like to thank you for organising our wonderful trip to Vietnam in July 2006. Your guides and drivers were superb and the service you provided was excellent. We feel so lucky to have spent time in your country and have seen so many marvelous sights that will stay in our hearts for ever. Your company offers excellent service and I recommend anyone thinking of travelling to Vietnam to travel with you. A special thanks to Do our guide in Hanoi for the wonderful experience of Halong Bay.
Kerry MowettViet nam - Southern package tour
Dear Luu Vo
Thankyou for your organisation of our groups visit to Ho Chi Min city.
Everything was organised and went smoothly. The meals were amazing and of a very high standard.
Thankyou for the wonderful tour guides Binh and Lyang who were helpful and informative.
Your drivers and bus assistants were pleasant and patient with our group.
I am now planning another group tour in July 2011 for a group of 40 (39 pax plus Tour Leader).
The tour group will arrive in HCM City on Saturday 2 July and return to Australia on Sunday 10 July 2011
I have looked on your website and like the ideas in Vietnam Highlights tour commencing in Ho Chi Min City and ending in Hanoi.
Accommodation in standard 2 star hotels will be acceptable.
Could you please prepare a suggested tour outline and cost for my consideration.
Thankyou
Kerry Mowett
Day 1 : (Friday) Hanoi - Lao Cai
20: 30 pm - Pick up at your hotel in Hanoi and transfer to Hanoi railway station for boarding the Express Train to Laocai. Overnight in an air-conditioned soft sleeper cabin. (4 pax/cabin or 2 pax/cabin on request.)
Day 2 : (Saturday) Arrival at Lao Cai - Can Cau market - Bac Ha ( B / L / D )
6 : 00 am - Arrive at Laocai train station. Welcome by your local guide and driver. Have breakfast at restaurant before transfering to CanCau market. It takes over 2 hours to get to Can Cau, a small market situated in a valley surrounded by mountains and only 7 km from China. The market epitomizes the cultural values of the minorities in remote mountainous areas in Vietnam. Enjoy seeing boys and girls dressed in colorful costumes representing the various colors of the mountains. They attend the market in the hope of finding "the other half of their lifestyle". It is also an opportunity for them to chat and bargain with people from different ethnic groups over a cup of wine. On the way to BacHa, visit a village of the Flower H'mong and then check into your hotel in BacHa. Free to explore the town. Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at your chosen hotel in Bacha. ( Sao Mai or Thien Thanh hotel – the best in town)
Day 3 : (Sunday) Visit Bac Ha market - Sapa ( B / L / D )
Breakfast at the hotel. Take a walk to BacHa market, a big market crowded with people from many different hill-tribes. This is the most colorful market in North Vietnam. Here, you have chance to enjoy the BacHa people's simple but unique kinds of food with special wines made from rice, cassavas, corn and different sorts of fruits such as plums, apples and peaches. Talk to the locals using the guide as your interpreter. Leave the market for the H'mong King's house (King Hoang A Tuong) built by the French colonists and the Chinese in 1920. Return to the town for lunch. In the afternoon, visit BanPho village. On the way back to Sapa, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbour Mouth in LaoCai. Reach Sapa late in the afternoon. Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at your chosen hotel in Sapa.
Day 4 : (Monday) Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi ( B / L / D ) ( 4 hours trekking, 12 km, 2 villages )
Breakfast at the hotel. Travel downhill by jeep to the valley, then walk through 3 villages of the Black H'mong and the Dzay people. Lunch with a Dzay family. Return to Sapa and have dinner a local restaurant. Then take the jeep to Laocai station for the night train to Hanoi. Overnight in an air-conditioned soft sleeper cabin. End of services
Tour price includes :
Tour price excludes :
Goldsea Hotel
Bamboo Sapa Hotel