Luxury Travel Testimonial - Part 1: HCMC, Mekong , Phu Quoc  We are a couple in our early sixties from Montreal , Quebec , Canada , Arnold August and Louise Gauvreau. Louise is a retired Nurse and Arnold is a travel agent by profession. We have traveled quite extensively. Being in the travel agency business, Arnold of course is in a special situation to judge services. We organized with Luxury Travel based in Vietnam a customized tour of 65 days (January 19 to March 15, 2007) visiting all three former Indo-Chinese countries, in the main Vietnam, but also Cambodia and Laos. The entire tailor-made trip, that that is hotels and breakfasts, guides, drivers and cars, flights within Vietnam and between the three Indo-Chinese countries (nine in all!), lunches, fourteen boat excursions, concerts and shows, were all serviced by Luxury Travel. Right from the first day we contacted them through email in 2006 until our departure on March 15 2007 , the service was excellent. Of all the trips we have taken in the world, Luxury proved to be the best. Reasonable rates for hotels, air and all services with five-star plus service. We asked for a French-speaking guide, but Luxury can also offer English-speaking guides. Your choice! Speaking about guides, their guides, drivers and cars/vans are so reliable, that whether you are a couple like us, or a group, you do not even need anyone as an accompanying person from Canada . You are in good hands. Flexibility is also the name of the game. Luxury prides itself in being flexible. While respecting the itinerary to the letter, they also are more than willing and capable of making changes based on the needs, capacity and interests of the clients. The guides are all without exception professional, speak French very well (the same applies to English), most knowledgeable about the country, history, culture, society, religions, and the places visited during excursions. The drivers are so courteous, thoughtful and careful. The cars and vans are all latest models, in the main American, Japanese or Korean made. They even provide cold drinking water available in the cars.
Throughout our 65 day tour, not once did the guide or driver arrive late at the airport or hotel. On the contrary, they were always a few minutes early, in case you are ready to start early or have anything to settle at the hotel before departing for the day. For example, here we are with guide and driver (second and third from left to right) as well as the very comfortable van we had at our disposable (Picture 2). They were with us for the entire portion of our trip in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong , sleeping over in their own hotels. Luxury travel makes sure that the number of guides and drivers are kept down to the minimum, so that you do not have to get used new guides and drivers all the time. It also encourages friendly and easy-going relations with the guides, facilitates discussion on day to day life in their respective countries and regions, touching all topics which you want to discuss and discover. Coupled with the fact that the Vietnamese people are about the friendliest and warmest people in the worlds, these special unique contacts with the guides make for a life-changing experience for those who are interested in learning adventures and tours.
In Ho Chi Minh City , we stayed at the Majestic Hotel, a four star boutique hotel right on the Saigon River . Built originally during the French colonial period in 1925 (the second oldest hotel in the city), it has been recently completely renovated, but maintaining the old charm and architecture. What a great view! As far as services and location, it is five-star. We highly recommend it (Picture 1). Have breakfast or an evening dinner on the roof-top terrace over looking the river (Picture 3). Of all the buffet breakfasts we had in Indo-China, this is one of the best, if not number one. The right choice is a deluxe riverside room. You can spend hours on your private balcony watching the spectacle of street traffic: 4 millions motorbikes for a population of 8 million people, river boat traffic, port activity and the continual stream of ferries carrying motorbikes and their passengers from one bank of the river to the other. We visited other hotels in Ho Chi Minh City , including luxurious five star American style hotels. We would suggest the Majestic. However, it is your choice. Luxury can book the hotel that is best for you.
We are very much interested in the day-to-day life of the inhabitants of the country. Here we are with our guide visiting the local market in HCMC. He took us through the most interesting parts of the city as well as temples and pagodas to get an inside view of how their religion is practiced. These visits are of course in addition to the many museums we had explored. If you are history buffs or just have a passing interest in history, the American war in Vietnam is well know to all. In the museum dedicated to this, visit side by side with Vietnamese students on their field study trips to find out more about this part of their history (Picture 4). See the original guillotine used by the French against the Vietnamese patriots. There are also the positive memories such as these medals given by an American decorated soldier after the war to the Vietnamese people as his way of saying that the Vietnamese were right and the Americans wrong. Yet another museum deals with the full history of Vietnam going back to the very first settlements, thus rivaling China as an ancient culture. There are several other museums such as the Fine Arts Museum. The beautiful Re-Unification Palace brings back vivid memories of April 30 1975 for people of our age, when the Vietnamese patriotic forces broke through the gates of the pro-US government building (now the Reunification Palace) in Saigon to finally liberate the south and end the war.
The guide took us to the very worthwhile and famous Cu Chi Tunnels outside of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). On the road during this one day excursion, an impromptu stop took place at a rubber plantation in the countryside where the guide gave us a detailed and most fascinating description of rubber and its historical and current importance for Vietnam . (Not on the itinerary, but one of many extras that Luxury offers through its guides and drivers for those interested.) The guides are mandated to do it and carry it out. Why are the Cu Chi tunnels so famous and interesting to visit? We highly recommend this tour. You will see for yourself how the Vietnamese used their ingenuity and persistence to defeat a super-power. Of course you have to be a bit adventurous to visit, but it is worth it!(Picture 5) In the same vein, another full day excursion brings those interested to Can Gio, and island off HCMC which was used by the Vietnamese to sabotage the American occupation and attempts at expansion and thus greatly contributed to their defeat. Our guide took us through with all the necessary explanations which brought to life the role of this island in that period. If your stay does not allow enough time for both of these visits, we suggest the Cu Chi tunnels as a priority before the island.
Any couple or group can vary their visits and put emphasis on how their interests can be satisfied in HCMC. There is a lot to see, it is up to you to choose according to your time availability and interests. Luxury can do it.
Next leg of the tour: The Mekong Delta. The guide and driver took us by car, in itself an experience to see the towns along the road. We had asked Luxury to visit My Tho, as a first stop. The guide with his contacts elaborated this request with his contacts and long experience amongst local guides and boat pilots to visit islands, and small out of the way villages along one of the arms of the Mekong. This provided us with the opportunity to see for ourselves how people earn their living there: for example, making rice patties for export and domestic use. We had the unexpected opportunity to cruise through their small canals connecting two of the nine Mekong arms to see the daily life on the water (Picture 6). With Luxury Travel, there are only good surprises, not bad ones.
We arrived later that day at Can Tho, the capital of the Mekong, where we were lodged at the beautiful Victoria Can Tho Hotel, right on the Mekong River. It is the only four star hotel in that city, the best hotel there. Our guide and driver stayed at their modest hotel and they picked us up in the morning (get up early, it's worth it!) in order to see the first of two floating markets near Can Tho: Cai Rang. We were looking forwards to these markets a long time before we left Montreal . We were far from being disappointed. We had our own private boat and excellent pilot who brought us right into the thick of the transactions between the wholesalers and retailers. Do you like photo or video opportunities to take back home? All the conditions and advice are available to satisfy your desire.
The next day we visited another type of floating market, Phong Dien. This one is dedicated to buying and selling between smaller producers and buyers, very much different than the first one, and as colorful and lively. The guide and boat pilot then glided us through the canals so that we were able to see another part of the Delta. The canals are so narrow, that at one point a carefully carved pineapple appeared from nowhere (thanks to the pilot and guide and no doubt the friendly Vietnamese people along the shore (Picture 7) to quench our thirst. All along the way, the Vietnamese families and kids waved and cheered us on in their usual friendly and outgoing way. As we arrived ashore, many kilometers from where we had left the driver and van, there he was waiting for us. Excellent coordination! But we got used to this, it was like this for the full 65 days.
We needed a break from visiting, and planned ahead for some sun and beach, and so we booked as part of the over all tour with Luxury some leisure time on the island of Phu Quoc , west of the Delta. Luxury had booked a speed boat transfer from the mainland to the island. There was no need for a guide and driver on the island which is a real paradise for those who love sun, beach, sea and diving. This is the view from our bungalow at the hotel, the Phu Quoc Saigon Resort Hotel, right on the beach. We were there for 5 nights, and we were treated to five sunsets on the beach like this!. 
If you do not have as much time as we did, you can have Luxury book you to another paradise, closer to HCMC, Phan Tiet with a large variety of hotels.
(Picture 8)
We then returned by plane from the island to our home away from home, the Majestic Hotel. From there we took a seven-night, eight day cruise up the Mekong all the way to Angkor Vat (Siem Reap) in Cambodia , passing through its capital Phnom Penh . There are also great scenes along the Mekong such as these floating villages and markets near Chau Doc just before reaching the Cambodian border.
If your schedule does not permit this long cruise up the Mekong, allow Luxury to organize speed boat cruises up the Mekong, going the same route but taking only a couple of days. In this case, we would suggest one over-night at the Victoria Hotel at Chau Doc along the Mekong.
Arnold August
arnoldaugust@hotmail.com |
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