- JRR Tolkien
" We loved hitting the ground running in Vietnam with our motorbike food tour. What a great way to dive into the pulse and flavor of such an exciting city. David was a bit more adventurous than I was, eating his duck embryo with gusto! The hotel in Saigon won best breakfast award of the trip. The mekong river cruise was a fascinating counterpoint to the city and and an introduction to the river that we would see though out our adventures. Hoi An was very touristy by day, but quite magical by night with the lovely lanterns and terrific food. Hang, our tour guide for 5 days who met us in Da Nang, was so engaging, enhancing our experience so very much by weaving in both her personal history and the history of the places we visited. I cannot recommend her enough.
David had a fabulous adventure in Hanoi, when our guide Tao invited him along to his local pub to see Vietnam play soccer in the Asian Cup semi-finals. He was the only westerner there and when Vietnam won in an upset, the city erupted and he had a blast. For a rabid sports fan to have such an authentic experience was most memorable.
Kayaking in Halong Bay was a highlight and inspired us to want to kayak here in California. The boat was really lovely and I would encourage you to recommended the premium boat as the small number of rooms made for a much more intimate experience than the larger boat would offer.
Luang Prabang was a jewel despite the plethora of tourists. Our wonderful guide made all the difference in “crowd avoidance” ……facilitating a connection to the Buddhist underpinnings of the city in a meaningful way. He had lived when he was young in the monastery as so many of the Laotian boys do as a path to education and his Buddhist perspective was a very stimulating bonus. Trekking though the forest with the elephants was of course, yet another highlight for us.
The River Resort in Champassak was so special we couldn’t tear ourselves away and your colleague Jason was immediately available to extend our reservation.
Silen was a yet another wonderful guide who brought the magic of the Angkor temples to our lives in a way we will never forget. We have particularly great photographs from our time with her as she knew exactly where we could get the best shots. Breakfast in the tuk tuk and dinner at Villa Chandara made us feel ridiculously spoiled but we loved every minute of it. We were impressed and touched by how About Asia made such a clear effect to positively impact the community in which they are based. The Aviary Hotel in Siem Reap was fantastic. On that note, the hotels you chose for me to pick from were all absolutely wonderful. Clearly a very well curated selection that made us feel so comfortable and cosseted…….we looked forward to returning to them every single night.
Having never used a travel agent before in all our decades of wandering, we now see very clearly what we were missing. Thank you for making each and every day an experience of wonder, discovery and joy. I can certainly see why you choose to live among such warm and welcoming people in such a beautiful and enchanted part of the world. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of travel is how one refocuses the lens though which they see their own lives. That has certainly been our experience now that we are home.
Should we ever be fortunate enough to travel in SE Asia again, we would hope to have you craft our itinerary.
We could not be more grateful."Cambodia travel information and Angkor Wat tour specialists ABOUTAsia are based in Siem Reap just 4km from Angkor Wat. At the heart of the organisation is a guiding research centre providing Cambodia vacation advice and industry leading tours planning.
Peerless service standards and local positioning have made us the tour operator of choice by international luxury travel groups and discerning independent travellers to Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Southeast Asia.