Waikanae

Kapiti

New Zealand

20 November 2006

Hello Ly, Lee and Bin,

We have been home a week and it has rained every day! I wish I was back in the warmth of Vietnam, though the garden is full of roses and other flowers which are all drooping and dripping!

My comments on the tour are as follows:

From the time we were met at HCMC we enjoyed ourselves. All of us have travelled a great deal before and we all loved Vietnam, the country but mostly the people. I for one will definitely come again to explore more of the country as well as bringing a group next November.

The guides: HCMC. Long was very pleasant and looked after us well though his accent is very hard to understand

Hoi An: Chin was efficient and has good English but was a little schoolmasterish! He looked after us well. I would recommend him for Hoi An.

We had another guide for the Myson Ruins who was very efficient and knew all the history though we would have preferred Chin.

Hue: Huy came to pick us up in Hoi An and from the first we really liked him. He is quiet and polite and an excellent guide with good English. He looked after us well and I would recommend him highly.

Hanoi/Halong Bay: Thanh’s enthusiasm, humour and excellent English made our welcome and exploration of Hanoi and the area as well as Halong Bay, very interesting and enjoyable. When I had my accident and was very shocked, he was sensible, confident and very gentle. I had every confidence that I would get whatever treatment I might need and Hien backed this up later. I would highly recommend Thanh as an exceptional tour guide.

All the hotels were excellent with exception of our unexpected night in Hong Ngoc 4, which made us appreciate more our other accommodation. The highlights were the Pilgrimage Village and Halong Bay, although I enjoyed everything.

The restaurants you chose were all excellent and we particularly enjoyed the Cha ca la Vong restaurant, where Thanh cooked our meal for us and the last meal in a restaurant used to train students, up some stairs in a lovely environment. Could you give me the name of it? We also thought the cooking lesson in Hoi An was great and very good value. We would have liked another evening free so we could choose just one particular course as we all felt rather well fed! However, we are all experienced travellers and happy to make our own choices, others might prefer all the meals.

All our tours into the countryside were very interesting. We found it a long day seeing the Cu Chi tunnels and then the Caodai temple on the bumpy roads, though both were interesting and we loved driving through the countryside. We would have been interested in the Mekong Delta and maybe on my tour we should include at least the Caodai temple and the Delta area and include a short stay in Saigon. I’m not sure a group of women would be so interested in the war museum and city tour apart from the lacquer factory with the eggshells which was fascinating. What is your advice re either flying out of Danang back to Singpore or to have another internal flight and include the above mentioned sites. What would the cost be approximately for that.

I sent you a quick outline of my ideas for next years group and will be in touch further when I have had your advice. I would do 20 days maximum for 7 women.

I can safely say I have never had such an enjoyable and interesting holiday and I am well travelled. I enjoyed being looked after so well and the biggest decision I made in 3 weeks, was to choose which bed to sleep in, when there were twin beds in my room! It was so great not to be responsible for children or a group!

A big thanks to the team at Tonkin Travel! I have given out all the cards you gave me and have given your website to several interested people. Maybe I should have some more cards! Also thanks for the lovely gift.