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Andrea MallettThank You
Dear tnk, Your company organised a wonderful trip for ourselves and our friends (Mallett & Crisp families) over christmas and new year 2006/2007. We have some photos and things we would like to pass on to the wonderful guides that showed us around your beautiful country. If we send them to you are you able to pass them on for us? If possible do you have an address for Dat who did such a wonderful job of showing us around Saigon and Mekong Delta. Thank You again for a wonderful trip we have been recomending your company to all of our friends. Andrea Mallett
Julia PriceTrip
Hi Would just like to thank you for the great service provided by TNK. We have just returned from a 2 week trip and booked accomodation in three areas through yourselves. In a trip where any thing that could go wrong did, it was great to arrive somwhere and know that at least our hotel booking was hassle free. Thanks heaps for the great service. Regrads Julia
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)
Thom StephensThank you! (from Thom Stephens)
Hello,
I arrived back in the U.S. last night and wanted to send you a quick email.
Our trip to Vietnam was fantastic. Thank you very much! Everything was perfect-even the weather was beautiful while we were there.
The hotel was great, the tours were very good and Mr. Ha and Mr. Kong (driver) were very polite, punctual and informative.
Everything you arranged was perfect and I will be recommending TNK Travel to anyone traveling to Vietnam in the future.
Best regards / Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Thom Stephens
Ron & Myra SuchThanks
We had a lot of dealings with Miss Hang Vo (TNK Travel) at De Tham Street, HCM City. We found Miss Vo to be the best Agent we have come across in Vietnam. She was very helpful in every way and helped us with any problems we had. We have travelled in Vietnam on 6 different occasions, and never had better service. We recommend Miss Vo to anyone worldwide for any dealings you have in South East Asia.. We met her personally in HCM and found her to be very charming, she is now a friend for life.
Cameron WrayDear sir
I was recently a customer of yours while in Saigon, I would like to pass on my remarks on your tour guide,(mr Hai) he was excellant, My parents and I enjoyed his company and knowledge immensly, I have since recommended your company and mr Hai to a number of people and will continue to do so, Thanks again for a great holiday in your beautiful country. I look forward to a return there one day.
Cameron Wray
Dirk AmeerThanks so much !! (Viet Nam package tour Ameer)
Dear Ms Luu Vo,
we are back from Vietnam now and I would like to let you know that you and your colleagues planned one of the nicest holiday for us we ever had. We enjoyed so much Vietnam and all the friendly people and fantastic places in your wonderful country. A special thank you we wanted to say to our three tour guides. All were exceptionally friendly and helpful and provided us with a lot of useful information.
The mixture of beach, culture, city life, nature and history was fantastic and we have the feeling we learned a lot about Vietnam in just 3 weeks.
We would like to let you now that especially Eden Resort on Phu Quoc and Life Resort in Da Nang were really nice hotels. Last one with exceptional good food. We were unhappy just with just one hotel, Hoi An hotel. It is very noisy, we didn`t sleep two nights. There is a big construction going on, so also during day you cannot stay there. We recommend not to book it for other guest.
We will come back to Vietnam for sure again.
Two friend of us, Attila and Bernadette from Hungary with their parents will come to Vietnam shortly. We had a great evening last Sathurday when we showed them hundreds of Vietnam photos. They asked for your contact data and they will mail you short term. Please help them as much as you helped us.
Thanks so much and best regards,
Dirk, Kim, Fabian, Finn and Hannah Ameer
Tatiana LuebkeViet Nam - Southern package tour
Just a quick note to thank you so much for your help during our stay in Vietnam. We were extremely surprised by the good quality of the service provided to us in every respect: the friendly guides and drivers, the itinerary suggested and the great meals we were taken to. The boat dinner in Hue was particularly unforgettable!
We loved Vietnam! We really enjoyed our time and we will definitely recommend our friends to contact you if they decide come to Vietnam.
Best regards,
Tatiana Luebke
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
rob mccormackLove TNK
Just revisited the TNK website and thought I would add to the travel guest book. My wife, self, and two friends travelled with TNK in Jan 2008. We started in HCMC, took a bus to Phnom Phen, a ferry to Siem Reap, plane to Hanoi, went trekking at Sapa, cruising on Halong Bay, then train to Hue. From initial emails putting my ideas into a manageable itinerary the organisation was seemless. Transfers, accommodation, driver/guides in Vietnam and Cambodia, our diminutive Hmong guide Shu in Sapa, and our meet and greet in Hanoi, TNK arranged everything brilliantly.
We have since recommended TNK to friends who travelled with them this year and could not speak highly enough of the company. And as a bonus the price for our tour was over one thousand dollars cheaper than equivalent prices quoted by Australian tour operators. Congratualtions to Mr Dan and the team at TNK
Sapa Daily tours : Sapa, nestling in a beautiful valley on the border with China, is northwest Vietnam's most colorful destination. Vivid green rice terraces are sculpted into the mountain sides while in the fields H'mong and Dao women work dressed in traditional colorful clothes. At the end of the week, the H'mong, Dao and other ethnic minorities trek down from their villages to trade goods at the weekend markets in Sapa, Bac Ha and other small towns. . .
Day 1 : Hanoi - Lao Cai Day 2 : Lao Cai - Cat Cat - Sin Chai ( 5 hours trekking, 12 km, 2 villages ) Day 3 : Sapa - Giang Ta Chai - Sapa ( 7hours trekking, 17 km, 3 villages )
Day 1 : Hanoi - Lao Cai Day 2 : Lao Cai -Sapa - Ta Van: 5 hours trekking, 14 km, 3 villages. Day 3 : Ta Van -Ban Ho 7 hours trekking, 18 km, 3 villages. Day 4 : Ban Ho -Sapa 3 hours trekking of 7 km and 23 km by jeep. Day 5 : Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi
Day 1: ( Saturday ) Hanoi - Lao Cai Day 2: (Sunday) Sapa - Lao Chai Village - Ta Van Village Day 3: (Monday) Ta Van Village - Giang Ta Chai Village - Sapa Day 4: (Tuesday) Sapa - Coc Ly Market - Boat Trip on Chay River
Day 1 : Hanoi - Lao Cai ( Overnight on the train ) Day 2 : Lao Cai - Sapa ( 1600m ) - Camp 1 ( 2200m ) Day 3 : Camp 1 to the Summet of Fansipan ( 3143m ) Day 4 : Camp 1 ( 2200m) to Sapa Day 5 : Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi ( Overnight on the train )
Day 1 : (Friday) Hanoi - Lao Cai Day 2 : (Saturday) Arrival at Laocai - Can Cau market - Bac Ha Day 3 : (Sunday) Visit Bac Ha market - Sapa Day 4 : (Monday) Sapa - Lao Cai - Hanoi ( 4 hours trekking, 12 km, 2 villages )