The Kane family
A 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)

Evelyn Ng and Wendy Koh
Thank you for the wonderful tour !

Hello TNK

I would like to express my thanks to TNK for the nice tours on 28 and 29 March, for my friend and I. The tour guide Mr Thong was very good in explaining the history and entertaining in his humorous way for the Cu Chi tunnel and Cao Dai Temple . My friend and I enjoyed ourselves very much. Good job!

Also, in our tour group on the 28 March to Cu Chi and Cao Dai, with Thong as our guide, there was an American Chinese, who happens to be working in Singapore. We would like to enquire for this friend's contact or email, so that we can keep in touch in Singapore. Hope you can help us!

Thank you!

Regards
Evelyn Ng and Wendy Koh
Singapore

Penny and her Group
Thank you Note

Dear Miss Nhu Y,

Thank you for arranging the Vietnam tour for us from the 17 Dec to 24 Dec.

We enjoyed ourselves tremendously and we truly appreciate your quick response to our feedback.
Thank you for the 3 star hotel you picked for us which far exceeded our expectation, and birthday party for our group.

We enjoyed the Chinese dinner, and the beautiful ancient style restaurants at Hue and Hoi Ann and our only regret is that we have not arranged for more shopping time.

I also wish to specially commend our tour guide in Hue and Hoi ann for his professionalism and also wish him happiness and success.


Thank You once again.


Cheers!

Penny and her Group

Daina Valanciene
The tour was above our expectations

We, the group of 6, started our tour in Hanoi on January 3, 2008. We had chosen the authentic Vietnam tour -16 days/15 nights, however, excluded Lao Cai and Sapa because of cold weather there. Instead we prolonged our stay in Nha Trang where the weather forecast promised sunshine and heat. We stayed in 4* hotels and were pleasantly surprised by much higher quality of services in comparison to European 4* hotels. Asia Paradise hotel in Nha Trang, where we had been offered senior deluxe rooms because our 4* hotel was fully booked for those days, was the greatest discovery as we had not seen such excellent 3* accomodation anywhere else.

The tour guides -we had 4 guides in different cities - spoke good English, were always punctual and efficient and provided us with much valuable new information on Vietnamese culture and history. We were fascinated by Halong bay trip - the nature was amazing, the rooms were convenient and the food was varied and delicious. If we had been sure about the weather in Halong bay, we would have stayed on boat 2 nights instead of the one. We found the floating market in Mekong delta- a must to see-very impressive. The war museum made a shocking impression on us. Our flight from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh city was delayed because of the weather so the travel agency took the decision to get us there by coach saving us half of the next tour day in Ho Chi Minh city.

We have not seen the tribes in the North, have not been to Dalat and stayed too few days in Ho Chi Minh city this time. We hope to return to Vietnam next year to see these sites. We have previously been to Thailand, south of China, Cambodia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia and we make comparisons but the tour to Vietnam has exceeded all the expectations.

In the name of the whole group I would like to thank Mr. Dzung Trinh and Ms Nhu Y for their efforts to organise the best available vacation and we would undoubtedly recommend this travel agency to friends.

Daina Valanciene
Lithuania

Mrs.Yukiko Sjogren
Vietnam & Cambodia customized tour ( Nov 27th 06 )

Just a quick note to say a BIG BIG thank you!!!

We had a FANTASTIC time in Vietnam, definetely will be back. I have recommended you to some of my cieints and friends so please do not be surprised if you hear from some people from Paris or UK.

Our guides were excellent, we loved Quang who took us to the Cu Chi tunnels, Trang in Hanoi and Visal in Siem Reap - then a lovely girl who picked us up in Danang airport!!!! Please tell them all a special thanks!! The trips were nice too and the service overall, great!!!!

We will def use TNK the next time in Vietnam - wish you continued success!!

Regards, Yuki & Erik

Yukiko Kubota-Sjogren
Morgan Stanley Japan Equity Sales
25 Cabot Square | Lo

Joel Ng
Vietnam travel services

Dear Mr Dzung Trinh,

our group will like to thank you and your team for the memorable trip in Ho Chiminh city.

JJ (our tour guide) was good and responsible, he took special care of the old and kids well.

Will sure recommend TNK Travel to friends visiting Vietnam.

Joel Ng
Singapore

Janis Lindblom
Indochina Tour

My husband & I have just arrived home to Australia after a sensational three week private/tailored tour to Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos. Our holiday was arranged by TNK Travel & they have been absolutely fantastic! From my first email inquiry to the tour operator staff & the immediate response from Luu Vo with a prosposed itinery. The second contact person was Dac Danh in sales & the bookings of all our hotels, flights, tours & lunches were exceptional. Finally our guides & drivers in all three countries were all excellent (especially "JJ" in HCM and Hui from Hue). They were very professional, knowledgeable & ensured our comfort & safety at all times. It was a stress & hassle free experience from beginning to end which becomes important as we get older. We now have every intention of returning to spend more time in HCM and Hanoi & to visit other towns & villages that we did not get to this time.

We will definitely use TNK Travel again next time as we believe it would be impossible to get better value and service by any other means. We highly recommend!
Thank you all for making this our best holiday ever!

Henry Osborn
Thanks very much in advance for your help.

Dear Sir / Madam,

I have been attempting to use your online service to reserve a room at the First Hotel Saigon (as featured on your hotel promotions section for USD50 per night), but keep on receiving a "Sorry an error has occurred" notice
whenever I enter my details and click on the "send" button.

Please could you kindly let me know the availability of deluxe rooms at the First Hotel Saigon from Sept 11 - Sept 15 (four nights) at the advertised USD50/ night promotional rate? If a deluxe room is available I'd like to
book in advance by credit card.

Thanks very much in advance for your help.

Henry Osborn

Arnaldo Matute
comments 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

Edward & Sue McCarthy
Thank you

We are now back home to reality and feel that we would just like to let you know how much we appreciate all the help you and your staff gave us whilst we were in Vietnam, particularly when putting our constantly changing travel plans together. In particular we would like to thank not only you, but also Miss Kim and Nhu Nguyen for your unfailing patience and great sense of humour at all times.

You were recommended to us by our friends in France and we will be doing the same favour to any friends visiting Saigon in the future.

Once again, many thanks for all your help and good luck for the future.

Edward & Sue McCarthy