Most Inspirational Moment
I'm tempted to say "getting home", but I did enjoy seeing Angkor Wat. We went to a couple of excellent restaurants recommended by the guides. Hoi An has its charms. I enjoyed the floating markets in HCMC but we had only about half an hour so it was a bit rushed.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Fair in Vietnam - not overly interesting and his English was at times difficult to understand but he worked hard to keep us on track with the itinerary. Very professional and a nice guy.
In Angkor Wat - excellent guide with superb English who surprised us with his excellent knowledge and vocabulary (he got me with "cantilever"). Only with him for two days.
Advice for Potential Travellers
You are based in cities in Vietnam. It's hard to walk anywhere - mopeds use the pavements as parking bays and whenever there is some space, the mopeds drive on it. You need nerves of steel to cross the road. HCMC felt more spacious but it's a huge city with sky scrapers.
You have very little exposure to the countryside (though some people in the group did an optional morning cycle ride into countryside and raved about the experience). There's no wildlife to speak of, even in Hoi An when we stayed by the river, in the Mekong Delta and during the trip to Halong Bay.
Pollution is a huge problem in the parts of Vietnam we visited. Air quality is very poor and many locals wear masks. It was hard to take a decent photograph of any water due to the large numbers of plastic bags and bottles floating on the surface.
Hotels were in the main the kind you would use on a business trip. I drew the short straw in most hotels though some other members of the group were lucky in getting rooms overlooking pleasing sights. In HCMC, we were surrounded by noisy construction sites which kept some group members awake at night and there were numerous massage parlours in the same street as our hotel, with scantily clad employees seated outside. One of our group said, "Miss Saigon is not a musical but an essential piece of travel advice" - and it's not far off the mark.
Overall, I didn't find this a Premium experience. The trip is scant on content and whenever you do get to a sight, I felt we had very little time to explore properly. Angkor Wat is worth seeing however and the overgrown temples are beautiful - but be prepared for crowds.
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Reply from Exodus
We would like to thank Cheryl for her feedback, although we regret that she did not enjoy her time in Vietnam. We appreciate that Vietnam is an increasingly popular tourist destination; as part of our Responsible Travel Policy our local operator strives to ensure that our groups minimize their impact on the communities they visit and that we do not add to the plastic waste issues facing South East Asia. We also feel it is worth mentioning that out of 48 reviews on our website, clients have given this tour an average of 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 (on the date of publishing) and we feel this is reassuring, however we are genuinely sorry that Cheryl’s experience was not so positive.
Kelly Reid – Product Manager for Vietnam and Cambodia
