What they wrote to us

Roger Greaves, a broker, together with his wife and some American couples, took our POP TOUR No1 13 days in Vietnam. Please read the full story about his trip to Vietnam as well as the travel tips, advice and sharing experience with travellers to Vietnam.

DEAR THREELAND

From Roger and Heather Greaves - Pop Tour 1— 21^st December 2004

The contents of my response was basically that we had the most fantastic experience thanks to your company and your staff. I had never booked a holiday on the internet before and was nervous about what we may have landed ourselves with. Your helpfulness with my queries via email prior to the journey went a long way to making us feel safe in your hands , but there was still a bit of doubt.

As soon as we landed in Hanoi and were met by our “larger than life” guide Hung we both knew that we were going to be OK .( Despite the name being held up for us saying Foger Greaves , I hope that I manage to spell any Vietnamese names correctly now ). Our first impression was” WOW What a place” . The Hotel was well situated for the essential sites of Hanoi , the staff in the hotel being “always happy to help with a smile “ (like everyone else that we met in your special country). The accommodation was up to the standard expected , as were all the hotels (apart from the hotel in Haiphong , which the  lights did not work in the bedroom) .

The itinerary was fantastic , we did so many things , we saw  so many sights , we ate some fantastic food . At times we were tempted to say slow down to the guide but his enthusiasm was infectious . Hung helped us to feel part of the places we visited , we shall not forget  Christmas Eve near Phat Diem cathedral squatting on undersized plastic chairs with Hung and some locals drinking numerous cups of green tea and other drinks I did not recognize. Nor will we forget the party laid on by the hotel owner in Nimh Binh , a simple gesture of friendship , nothing grand as we have grown to expect  at home at Christmas time. Our trip to Halong Bay was memorable , once again the guide and the young driver Goan added so much to our enjoyment . Our chance to jump off the boat for  a swim was unique for us . We were a little wary of the rusty ladders provided to get us back on board , this holiday was too good to let something trivial like a gash on the leg spoil it , we got on board safely thankfully. The meal provided on the boat was very special, crab, large prawns etc . We are not used to eating 2 meals a day like we were eating on the tour.

 Other highlights of our stay in Hanoi have got to be the Cyclo ride through the old quarter , how do people avoid missing each other at intersections baffles me. Our visit to your office was a pleasant experience, again lots of happy, smiling faces, our impressions of you formed by our email “conversations” were proved to be true, i.e. you have a great group of people making Threeland happen.

The water puppet show was unique and most enjoyable .

One possible improvement to our stay in Hanoi would have been to see a bit more of Vietnam’s modern history. I appreciate that on the day long tours pagodas and temples must be visited , at times we did feel that we had seen enough pagodas etc . Hung did a great job, being enthusiastic about each place , I must admit that since we have returned I have been rather confused about some of the pagodas and temples visited. Again Hung did a great job getting us through departures for the flight to Hue.

Again the hotel in  Hue was in a special situation, backing on to the river . I spent a few night time hours during our stay sitting on the balcony listening to the noises from the river, namely the families living on the boats moored on the far bank of the river. Our new guide , Ba , was obviously of a different generation to Hung but was equally fascinating to listen to . We wanted to meet people who were of a similar age to ourselves,  Ba was able to fill that role . The itinerary was again very full , the Royal Citadel was spectacular , specially at sunset . The day that we visited the 2 tombs (Minh Mang and Tu Doc) was probably the day when we had probably gone” one ancient site too many”. We enjoyed the day greatly, but a bit of variety would have made the day even better. When we left Hue we had the  feeling that we hadn’t really explored Hue , apart from in the evenings ,when all I wanted to was enjoy the hotel balcony. We enjoyed a most impressive meal whilst in Hue when we had dinner at  a restaurant called ”Pretty Garden” .The dishes just kept arriving at the table. Variety did happen after Hue. The ride over the Pass being very different from all the other journeys we had done so far, not because it was raining but because of the mighty mountains, so far we had seen lots of flat !It must be an impressive journey on a clear day. We enjoyed all the stops on the way to Danang and once again the hotel was well up to standard. Hoi An was another special place , again unique ( once again we felt that time spent in the Chinese temple was unnecessary given that we had seen similar sites previously ). Ba was excellent helping us to purchase our gifts , we would like to have spent more time in Hoi An (and Hue , and Vietnam !) .

Once again our guide safely saw us on our way to Hochiminh City , where we met our new guide Quoc, another fascinating person , so different from our two previous guides. Quoc was extremely well-informed , knew a great deal of information about the places we visited and spoke excellent English. He will do well in business in the future. The hotel in HCMC was perfectly placed to enjoy the city, specially as it was New Year , “what a party”. We will never forget it. Highlights of our final part of the tour include the visit to China Town, it was frantic, the Caodai “Church” was unreal , the Cu Chi experience was better than even we expected (I scored 2/5 with the AK45 and won a guide book ) only the wife managed the tunnel . The lunch on the Mekong delta was probably the best meal of all that we had on the tour. Quoc arranged  a visit to a fish sauce factory as well as the rice paper factory etc. We certainly  had a real “taste” of Vietnam , not forgetting the fruit trees .

The only aspects of the tour which did not come up to your high standard were the hotel in Haiphong, mentioned earlier, the lunch and dinner in Haiphong which were virtually identical and finally the “Floating” dinner in HCMC fell way below the standard of all other

The tour was a truly memorable experience and fantastic value for the money, we will certainly spread the word about Threeland to our friends. Many thanks for providing the service. We also appreciated the excellent taxi that you laid on for us , the driver was first class, he managed to drive without overusing his horn, rare in Vietnam ! He was punctual and helpful , specially when he understood my sketch of a toilet !

P.s. I promised that I would send Hung a paperback book , could I post it to your office and perhaps you would be able to pass it on to him .

THREELAND WROTE:

Once again, thanks for your precious comment and recommendation. We are very happy to be your local friend here and looking forward to meeting you again in Vietnam.