Dear Ms Alice
What a wonderful holiday we had. Words cannot do justice to our experiences but firstly can we say thank you for your wonderful advice and organisation. In all our travels we have never enjoyed such professionalism and excellent advice. This really showed when we had a couple of hiccups along the way.
Arriving in Hanoi we were one of the last people to leave the airport – customs had closed it was so late. There was a delay at the visa office. It was an anxious moment as we left the deserted terminal but very quickly we were relieved to be greeted by a lovely smiling man ready to look after us and treat us so well, even going to the door of the hotel to arrange the staff to unlock the door. He was fantastic. All of the people you contracted for us throughout our travel were of the highest standard, very polite and friendly. This was the first time we were so grateful for your organisation. All the taxis had gone – what would we have done without you?
Sitting at the Danang airport without a phone and no guide was another anxious time but I felt in my heart that it would be alright because you had organised always the best for us. The other local guides that were there were so willing to help us and eventually contacted you for us. Had we not had you at the other end of a phone we could have found it quite stressful getting to our destination. Thank you for correcting our problem so quickly and for your kind follow-up with us. It was not the guide’s fault but the tourists who convinced him that the name on the sign was theirs. They apologised to us.
Siem Reap was disappointing due to me ending up in hospital but again we were quite overwhelmed by the care and concern and availability of our guide you had arranged for our Angkor tour. I was to have been released at 8.30 but the doctor didn’t arrive until 11.30. Bob had been in touch with the guide who said that he would just stay on call ready to come when we were ready. He and his driver picked us up at the hospital at about 12.30. We headed off to see what we could see in the time available. He was so considerate when walking that he would have us time to sit on occasion and we were able to see some of the best sights. He was very knowledgeable and able to give us detailed history. When we were travelling home he said that he and his driver were available to us until we had completed our visiting for the day. He suggested that he take us to the hotel for a quick freshen up and change of clothes and while we doing that he went and bought us tickets to Smile Angkor and was back at the appointed time. On the way to the show he had allowed enough time to take us to a local restaurant where we had dinner and then on to the show. There was no extra charge for staying with us for so many extra hours, ”just a couple of extra dollars for fuel for the driver”. We felt we were travelling with friends rather than “tour guides”. This man and his driver went above and beyond what was required and left us with beautiful memories of Siem Reap and a desire to return. Without them our stay in Siem Reap would have consisted of a hotel room for Bob and a hospital for me given I went straight from the ship to hospital. He was the best!
Everything we did was fabulous, the Bhaya Cruise of Halong Bay and of course the Amalotus cruise. The quality of these trips was just amazing. The staff quickly became like family to the guests on board and we developed friendships with some. The highlight was the Maitre’d – Lay Phann. We became close friends and upon returning to the ship after obtaining his marriage licence he presented us with an invitation to his wedding and a photo of his wife. He wrote his email address in my notebook. I have tried to email him as his wedding was 10th April but the email cannot be delivered. I don’t know how to find out what the mistake is and thought I would start with you. He doesn’t have our contact details unless he could get it from the ship records. The arrangement was that we would email Lay. We would be very upset not to be able to keep in touch with him. I will try to post a letter to his wife’s parents whose address I have but neither his wife or her family speak English. If you can give me any advice how I can make contact with Lay that would be greatly appreciated.
We loved Vietnam and we loved Cambodia – the highlight was the beautiful people and smiling faces we met – the happiness and sense of achievement of the people despite their tragic history and on-going struggle. We came back very grateful for what we have and our relatively peaceful history as a country.
Thank you once again Alice for your wonderful attention to our every detail. We will always remember your wonderful service and recommend you to anyone we hear of that is wanting to go to Vietnam. We will definitely contact you when we return to Cambodia. It would be very special to meet up with our same tour guide again and do some tour with him. We will have to just wait and see when that will be.
Alice is the best!
Regards
Bob & Roslyn