点评:My wife & I just returned home from a 23-night first trip to Vietnam that was planned with the help of Hien of Realistic Asia & KimKim Travel. Hien was our contact person with Realistic Asia, helping from start to finish in designing and supporting our trip as it went; she was always easy to reach & communicate with as we traveled. With a little over three weeks in-country we spent the fist two weeks in the north, then flew south to see essential highlights in central & southern Vietnam (the Citadel & mausoleum of Hue, the lanterns & river of Hoi An, & then the Cu Chi tunnels, along with the enormity of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City--as we exited from Saigon). Along the way hotels chosen were beautiful; many of them were unique.
Hien's help over the last year as we designed and arrived at the final version of our itinerary has been fantastic. Realistic Asia's ground logistics and coordination is a combination of art & science. I have traveled in Asia before, and am astounded by the ability of companies such as Realistic Asia to plan & coordinate such detail along with such precision. Plus, from when we arrived in Hanoi with fast-track entry to exiting at Ho Chi Minh City, our guides were uniformly excellent. They were invariably prompt, professional, knowledgeable, & well-informed about history and the economies of areas we traveled through. More, all of them were fun, with a sense of humor, & spoke good English. This made the trip more interesting and entertaining. Invariably, they were attentive to our personal needs & comfort, frequently checking on how we were doing, and making adjustments to plans or scheduling as needed. Our drivers, similarly, would flawlessly manage traffic & coordinate with our guides as we toured.
In the north we had the delight of having Cuong as our personal guide for the entire two weeks we were there. We were floored by the "busyness" of Hanoi, the unceasing flood of motor scooters, & its size. My favorite areas--and there were many--were probably the mountainous Sapa & Cao Bang regions northwest & north of Hanoi. Sapa was surreal, unearthly in its beauty sometimes, while Cao Bang (famous for its beautiful waterfall shared with China & mountain with a hole in it) seemed in contrast more spread out & open.
In sum, I would highly recommend Reallstic Asia for the attentiveness, care, communication, knowledge, and professionalism that Hien, its guides, and drivers invariably exhibited. This is a very experienced company, and knows Vietnam (&, I imagine, Asia) and the realities & adventure of travel. They showed an easy flexibility & willingness to change or alter plans as circumstances dictated. I learned a tremendous amount on this trip, had a great time, and met wonderful people. I would sign up again with Realistic Asia in a heartbeat.
翻译:我和妻子刚结束为期23晚的越南之旅回家,这是我们第一次去越南,行程是在Realistic Asia的Hien以及KimKim Travel的协助下规划的。Hien是我们与Realistic Asia的联络人,从行程规划到实施全程都给予了帮助;旅行期间,我们随时都能联系上她,沟通也很顺畅。在越南的三周多时间里,我们前两周待在北部。随后我们向南飞行,游览了越南中部和南部的几处重要景点:顺化的皇城与陵墓、会安的灯笼与河流,还有古芝地道;最后我们离开了西贡/胡志明市。沿途所选的酒店都非常优美,其中许多都独具特色。
在过去一年里,我们在规划并最终确定旅行路线时,Hien给予了极大的帮助,真是太棒了。Realistic Asia的地面物流与协调工作堪称艺术与科学的完美结合。我以前也曾在亚洲旅行过,但对于Realistic Asia这类公司能够如此细致且精准地进行规划与协调,我深感钦佩。此外,从我们通过快速通道进入河内,到最后从胡志明市离开,我们的导游表现都极为出色。他们始终准时、专业且知识渊博。他们对我们所到之处的历史与经济情况都了如指掌。更重要的是,他们个个风趣幽默,英语也说得很好。这让整个旅程更加有趣且充满乐趣。他们总是细心照顾我们的个人需求与舒适度,经常询问我们的状况,并根据需要调整行程安排。同样,我们的司机也能出色地应对各种交通状况,并在游览过程中与导游密切配合。在北部地区,很幸运的是,在我们停留的两周时间里,Cuong一直担任我们的私人导游。河内的繁华景象、川流不息的摩托车大军以及城市的庞大规模都让我们惊叹不已。我最喜欢的地区——其实有很多呢——大概是位于河内西北方及北方的多山的沙巴和高平地区。沙巴的美景有时简直超凡脱俗、宛如仙境。相比之下,高平地区则显得更加开阔与空旷(高平以与中国共享的美丽瀑布以及中间有个洞的山峰而闻名)。
总之,我极力推荐Reallstic Asia,因为Hien、他们的导游和司机始终表现出细心周到、体贴入微、沟通顺畅、知识丰富以及专业素养。这是一家经验极为丰富的公司,他们深谙越南(我想也包括整个亚洲)的国情,也了解旅行的现实情况与其中的乐趣。他们表现得十分随和灵活,能够根据实际情况随时调整或改变计划。这次旅行让我收获颇丰,玩得也非常开心,还结识了许多优秀的人。我绝对会毫不犹豫地再次报名参加Realistic Asia组织的活动。