Durations: 13 Days - 12 Nights
Travel consultant: Hieu Ha
Customer name: Bob Townsend
Address: United Kingdom
Start date: 2017-06-01
Finish date: 2017-06-14
Myanmar Discovery from 14 Feb to 26 Feb 2015
Good Morning Yen
From time to time the itinerary was changed and the guides did not always explain in advance what we were doing the next day.
The guides were very knowledgeable and their vocabulary was good. However their pronunciation was sometimes difficult to understand which meant we had to concentrate very hard on what they were saying and sometimes it was difficult to stay focused.We paid extra for a bigger vehicle and this did not work well at all times.At Bagan we were met in a small Nissan saloon and had to ask for the car to be changed the next day.At Kalaw we had a smaller Toyota, not the bigger vehicle with the higher viewing position.When we left Inle Lake there was no car to meet us and we had to leave our luggage and walk into the town.In all we paid $260 extra to have a bigger vehicle for 9 days and that only worked for 6 days which was which was disappointing. You may consider a refund is appropriate in these circumstances.
Yes thank you we had a great holiday. Because we stayed in a number of different hotels and had various guides the feedback survey form is not suitable for our type of trip so my feedback is shown below. (Marks out of 10)
HOTELS
Shangri La – 9
Yadanarbon – 7
Chindwin – 6
Amazing Bagan- 9
Popa Mountain Resort – 8
Hill Top Villa - 7
Shwe Inn Tha – 6
GUIDES (I'm not sure how to spell their names)
Yangon – Honey 7
Mandalay – Jor 7
Bagan - Zor 5
Bagan – Tan 7
Kalaw/Inle Lake – Joseph 7
In Bagan Tan was supposed to be our guide but he was not available for the first day so his cousin Zor met us instead.
DRIVERS
All very good – 9
ARRANGEMENTS
Generally very good (but see below)- 8
OVERALL
Finally many thanks to you for all your help. You replied so quickly to all our queries that we felt we were in capable hands from day 1.
Kind regards
Bob Townsend from UK
Southest Asia Discovery from 17 Jan to 24 Feb 2015
Hi Binh
I wanted to send this before it gets too old and has no relevance.
First I want to thank you and your company for an excellent tour. We had a good time and all your people were really good. The guides, the drivers were all top notch. They were respectful and responsive. Of course there were a couple that you know who did not perform well. That happens.
You did a wonderful job of creating an itinerary that I would have created if I knew all the places that we visited. The amount of time spent in each country was appropriate. I liked Vietnam and Laos. Cambodia and Myanmar were ok to see the places but would not go there again.
Some of the things that we did not like were:
The buses were not good in Cambodia. The small mini bus in Phonsavan was cramped. The pick up by Tuk tuk was ok but we spent an hour on it because we were the first ones to be picked up. It is ok for backpackers but not for us. The bus to Vientiane was long also and it made many stops to pick up roadside passengers.
The hotel in Ken Tung, Private Hotel had problems with hot water and power supply. It lost power and we were left with no TV, Internet or lights in the afternoon when we were spending time in the room. The staff was excellent and friendly.
The boat ride from Mandalay to Bagan was too long. The itinerary does not state the length of the ride. We were not prepared for the long ride.
As you see above, overall the trip was very enjoyable and the items above are small things that you can fix to make the experience even better.
Let me know if this makes sense to you. I would like to send an email to your owner Mr. Alan Hoang complimenting how you made our trip worthwhile.
Also find photos of our house and the street when we arrived here after the trip. It has been very cold - coldest February in a 100 years or so.
Take care, and with regards,
Raman from Canada
Mandalay to Mogok (Mandalay – Mogok) 08 days/ 07 nights from 17 Feb to 24 Feb 2015
Dear Mr Ha Hieu,
This trip is going very well and Zaw is an excellent guide with good local kknowledge.
I would be most grateful if you could book a room for me at the Yadanabon Dynasty or equivalent if that is no longer available. It need be only for the night of my return to Mandalay on the 24th.
My thanks,
Neil McCallum from Netherland
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Dear Mr Ha Hieu,
I am very happy with how the trip went and also with the assistance of Mr Zaw. The trip ccould not have been better.
My thanks, Neil McCallum
Captivating Myanmar (Yangon – Bagan – Mt. Popa – Mandalay – Mingun – Inle Lake – Indein) 09 days/ 08 nights from 14 Feb to 23 Feb 2015
Dear Mr Ha Hieu,
thank you for your kind letter and for the overall assistance we had from you before and during our wonderful trip to Myanmar. We will definitely keep in touch as we are planning our next trip to Cambodia (eventually to combine with Vietnam) from October 1st to October 8th and I would definitely like to have your help on the organization of this new adventure.
Best Regards
Margherita Cattaneo from Italia
Heritage Journey (Yangon – Inle Lake – Bagan – Hanoi – Halong Bay – Hoi An – Saigon – Siem Reap) 16 days/ 15 nights from 8 Feb to 23 Feb 2015
Dear Mr Ha
Today is our last day in Cambodia and the end of our trip with you. On this occasion w would like to show our appreciation for a well organized and first class service. Every one of us enjoyed it and appreciated what you did. I will recommend you in the future to all my friends.
Best Regards
Najib from Israel
Flights (Yangon – Bagan – Heho – Thandwe – Yangon) from 14 Feb to 22 Feb 2015
Hi Hieu Ha,
Thank you so much for all your help - everything went very smoothly with the flights.
We'll certainly consider you for any future trips in the region.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth from UK
Accommodation and flights (Yangon – Mandalay – Monywa – Pakokku – Bagan – Inle Lake) 15 days/ 14 nights from 6 Feb to 20 Feb 2015
Dear Hieu,
Sorry for not contacting you before we left for Myanmar, we left a little earlier in the UK and didn't have internet access so I missed your email about sending the travel documents to the hotel. Tim and I would like to thank you very much for all you have done organising the holiday, we truly had amazing time. Everything was perfect and there were so many wonderful moments. Thank you again for all you did to make this holiday so special and hassle free, it could not had gone better.
Best Wishes,
Emily and Tim from UK
From Angkor to Bagan from 11 Feb to 19 Feb 2015
Hi Ly An,
We are back in Santiago. We thank you very much, everything went perfectly. All guides were extremely attentive, courteous and knowledgeable . It was a great trip thanks to you and are very grateful.
Very best wishes,
Alejandro Rojas from Spain
GLIMPSE OF MYANMAR from 4 Feb – 10 Feb 2015
Hello Hong Nguyen,
Yes we had a wonderful trip and all our wonderful comments are on the survey that we completed and handed to our last driver on departure day on feb 10 he had a Myanmar van and promised me he would drop the envelope at the office for you
Can you please let me know you received it ok?
Thanks again Hong for the great planning and great delivery
You live in a wonderful country ...
Best regards
MR. JIM RICHARDS from Canada
MYANMAR DISCOVERY from 1 – 9 Feb 2015
Dear Ms Hong Nguyen,
We just returned home after spending some time in India after our trip to Myanmar.
I would like to thank you and your Country Manager Ms Nway Eai for a very successful trip. We enjoyed our trip and were able to see and learn from the people of Myanmar and its rich history and culture. All hotels were good, transportation and planning were excellent and guides were OK.
Special thanks to Ms Eai for arranging anniversary cakes for us and our friend at the Shangri La hotel.
We look forward to traveling with you again when we visit Vietnam and Cambodia.
Sincerely,
Anil Shah from USA
Best of Myanmar & beach break 21 days (18 Jan – 8 Feb 2015)
Dear Hue Nguyen,
Thank you for your e-mail.
Yes, the issue of the French speaking guide was the only little problem during our fantastic holiday in Myanmar.
As we explained on the phone, it was only a matter of communication. Unfortunately, due to the lack of vocabulary and in prononciation it was really hard to understand him and to have us to be understoon by him. The day before you received his call, we spoke clearly with him (both in French and in English) about the situation and if the wouldn't have called you, we would have done it. The three English speaking guides have been exactely what we were expecting from them: we had the opportunity to learn a lot about Myanmar, its history, its monumenst, its culture andt its people.
The quality of all accomodation was excellent (maybe we would rate "good" the one in Mandalay, but we don't have really to complain about it).
As said before, the quality of the English spiaking tour guides was excellent. For the French speaking one, maybe, for a tour of a couple of days may be OK.
The food was just marvellous and the relax on the beach for the last days just outstanding.
We will visit Myanmar again and we will contact you again in the future to plan other tour in Asia.
Many thanks for everything.
All the best,
rita & arno from Switzerland
Best of Myanmar from 16 Jan to 31 Jan 2015
Dear Binh,
Now back in Paris and readjusted at least partially to grey skies and cold temperatures, I wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed our trip to Myanmar.
The hotels were lovely, breakfasts very good and light meals around the pool at the Mandalay Hill Resort really super. The only disappointment was, not surprisingly, the Private Resort Hotel. It was so noisy, the rooms poorly maintained (screens torn) with very scarce hot water and complete lack of wifi that we checked out and went to the Princess Hotel where one superior and one standard room were, miraculously, available. I was quite comfortable in the standard room, which despite being a bit closed in, was infinitely more agreeable than the Private Hotel. The owner of the Princess was remarkably helpful one evening when Emily took ill. Though it was late, he personally took her to the clinic and ensured she was given quick and excellent care. The Win Unity Hotel was quite pleasant and beautifully maintained, though the first rooms we were shown were so far from the main complex we requested and paid for an upgrade.
Vans throughout were comfortable, the drivers safe and careful, attentive and courteous. Guides were knowledgeable, some easier to understand than others. Kai, our Mandalay guide, was especially appreciated.
Trust then that the above comments give you a good sense of our trip. Thank you for all your help in planning it. We would definitely use your services again.
All the best.
Sheila Trifari from France
Treasure of Myanmar 10 days / 15 January 2015 – 24 January 2015
Dear Dzung Vu
I just wanted to email to say thank you for the trip that you put together for us to Myanmar. It really was incredible, thank you - we loved Myanmar, your guides and drivers were very good, the hotels we stayed at were excellent and the suggested itinerary was also excellent.
We are going to Vietnam in June or July so will use your company again.
I would be happy to write a testimonial for you should you require it and please feel free to use this email to show other prospective clients. I would highly recommend you to everyone and will tell anyone interested in going to Myanmar to email you directly.
Many thanks for many this trip, a trip of a lifetime for myself and my family.
Best regards
Lisa Simmonds-Webb from Australi
Myanmar Discovery 13 days/12 nights from 06 Jan – 18 Jan 2015
Big thank you to Myanmar Travel. Thank you for organising a stress free and smooth journey through Myanmar. Graham, Kelsey and I are back in the land of Oz. (Australia) Many great memories made. Myanmar is a wonderful place and the Burmese people always soft, gentle and always wanting to please. We will definitely make the journey back! 2 weeks was not long enough! A special thanks to Miss Binh Yen for organising our itinerary. All our guides for educating us with information and drivers for making our adventure safe
I have a bunch of photos on Instagram if you would like to find me on @ jane_budgie
Thanks again
Mrs. Jane Marek from Australia
Best of Myanmar 14 days (1 Jan – 14 Jan 2015)
Dear Hue,
Thank you for your help in arranging our tour to Myanmar.
Everything was functioning extremely well. The guides we met were very competent.
We were quite impressed of how well all time tables were kept and how well all hotels were functioning (e.g warm water coming from the shower except on Inle lake).
Mrs Kiiskinen left her camera in a taxi, and even that was recovered and returned to her on the way. Quite astonishing!
Wish you all the best , both personal and proffessional,
Maiju
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I was fully satisfied to my trip, but it is not likely that I would visit again, because there are so many places in the world to visit. Only thing which I would perhaps change, is the fact that we had so little "own time" in Yangon and Mandalay, and there were a few really early wake-ups on the morning (leaving for Bagan and for the cruise from Bagan to Mandalay). And I was realy surprised of the fact that everything worked exactly as was expected - no delays, hotels were good, drivers realiable and the guides knew so much about everything. I will certainly recommned this trip to such friends, who are idependent travellers.
Thank You!
Mrs Riitta Kiiskinen from Filand
Myanmar Discovery 17 days/16 nights from 19 Dec 14 to 05 Jan 15
Hi Binh!
First of all a big Thank You for all the effort you have put in to this trip. It was totally amazing and we all agree that it is one of the best we ever done!!
Everything worked extreamly well, not a single hiccup. We couldn't be more pleased!
Some feedback:
Hotels:
Shangri La - Choosen because you know what you get. True also in this case. Not the most charming and authentic;) but a good place to start to give you some time to adjust to your new surroundings.
Thanzin Garden: Charming. Nice Garden and rooms. I do think people on Tripadvisor is unfair regarding the food. We ate very well here both our dinners. Maybe the breakfast wasn't the best but they had an egg station with great omeletts so nothing to complain about. The staff didn't speak much english but they tried hard.
Amara: Another charming hotel.. Felt more like we were in the Alps then Myanmar. Good service and dinner. The breakfast was really good. Nice that we had a hole villa for our self with a nice fire to chill infront after dinner.
Princess Inle:Beautiful place with very nice bungalows and the teracess view over the lake was great. I guess this was the most expensive of the places we stayed at. Everything was great about it. Nice food and really good breakfast.
Bay View:Nice beach resort with spacious rooms. Good service and nice surroundings. Beautiful gardens. We tended to eat outside the resort since it was much cheaper and at least as good. But when we did eat at the resort it was nice food.
The activities:
City Tour Yangon: Nice and I liked that it was mostly by foot. The Shwedagon was impressive.
Bagan: The morning tour by car in the morning was nice and it was interesting that we could get in and around the pagodas. The afternoon trip by horse was charming. It was very crowded at the pagoda choosen for the sunset but it was a great view so I understand why it was choosen. The early morning balloning was amazing and I was glad we did it even thou it was so expensive...it was a once in a life time experiance! (this is the only blog post I have done yet http://cathinkaingman.se/blog/ , I will let you know when I have done the others). The afternoon to Mount Popa was the only thing we wasn't super excited about but still worth a visit.
Shane State: We made a village tour on our way to the buddha caves which was really nice. The Buddha cave took as by suprise with its greatness. We also did a short stop at the market in Kalaw to buy avacados which was very nice. I loved the hiking! Beautiful landscapes and villages. The overnight in the Monestry was a thrilling and cold experiance;) I had plenty to wear but not all of my companions had read what I written about the cold nights... The food we got served this evening was realy good!
Also everything with the excursion around Inle was good, especially the visit to the market.
The Guides (I am sorry about the spelling of the names...):
Nine Su (Yangon), Extreamly pleasant and knowledgeable. He did put everything on the exactly right level for our group.
Mr E (Bagan): We didn't really get along very well with Mr E. He was completely different to Nine Su and not as informative. We on the other hand is not a easy group to guide.
Su Elmo: One of the best guides I ever had. I liked that he all the way told us what was going to happen. He told us a lot of stories and knew a lot. He read us well and put it on a good level for us. Can highly recommend him as a guide.
The flights:
We constantly got good info from the Yangon office regarding the changes in flight schedule and nothing that changed our plans. The first flight from Yangon to Bagan with Sun Tour (I think this was the name) had an extrmly bad machine but it did what it should and took us from A to B.
I think this was all..Once again Thank you!
Vänliga hälsningar / Warm regards
Cathinka Ingman from Sweden
Myanmar highlights –( 1 January – 5 January 2015)
Dear Ms. Dzung Vu
We had a wonderful time in Myanmar. Your last guide in Inle Lake was excellent. She went out of her way to show us the area. When we finished our tracking early she took us to the vineyard which was beautiful.
And thank you very much for the Birthday gift. So thoughtful of you all.
Please thank Sule Shangri-la Hotel who gave us a complimentary Birthday cake with our dinner on 1/1/2015.
Thanks once again. Will recommend to friends.
Regards,
Dr Sarva from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Myanmar Discovery (Yangon – Bagan – Mandalay – Inle Lake – Ngapali Beach) 16 days/ 15 nights from 20 Dec to 04 Jan 2015
Dear Mr. Ha,
I am presently still in transit at Paris CDG airport as my départing flight from Hong Kong had been delayed by 7 hours...
As mentioned previously, I will give you some Fred back on our globally very satisfactory trip in Myanmar.
Kind regards.
Alain MAURICESOCIÉTÉ from Switzerland
Best of Myanmar (Yangon – Inle Lake – Mandalay – Bagan) 10 days/ 9 nights from 25 Dec to 03 Jan 2015
Hi
Thanks for putting such a lovely package wish I could have staged longer sad that i did not stay longer -i would love visited mandalay.
thanks
Ms. Selvie from South Africa Bob Townsend from United Kingdom.