The Kane family
A wonderful experience with TNK travel (January 2009)

Our family of 4 just came back from first ever trip to Vietnam (18 days). We chose TNK Travel and it was a great trip. I wanted to thank TNK and to share our experience with future prospective travelers.

We started the planning almost a year ago. I must say we were hesitant at first and concerned about choosing a reliable travel agency. I read a lot on the internet (e.g. tripadvisor .com) before identifying a few prospective travel agencies. I then asked for an initial quote from my top 3 choices. TNK was the middle quote but what I liked about them was the level of detail in their initial proposal. I then looked at their guestbook and selected 17 people worldwide who recently travelled with them and emailed each of them to ask about their experience. Every single one of them responded and all were very positive about TNK. This made me comfortable with the idea of having to send money upfront to book a trip in an unknown country where I would have no recourse if dealing with an unethical company. With TNK, everyone assured me that once an itinerary is finalized, the company will do whatever is needed to deliver on its promises and to make it a pleasant experience, and they sure did in our case.

Over the following month, I exchanged several emails with Mr. Dsung Trinh, the Managing Director, to modify the original proposal based on my research about the sites we wanted to see. For example, we removed Sapa from the itinerary because the Northwest is quite cold in January, but added Phu Quoc Island instead. In the end, we agreed on a price for the revised itinerary, and I paid the customary 30% deposit by credit card (with a 3% fee). From that point-on, I dealt with Mr. Dac Dahn in their operations department who always promptly answered my numerous enquiries via email, and sent me hotel vouchers and e-tickets confirmation from air travel within Vietnam, as well as the invitation letter for the Visa. Fast forwarding to the end of the year when our trip began:

We landed roughly on schedule in Hochiminh on Dec. 31st in the evening and had to wait an hour or so (not ideal after a long flight from the U.S.) to get our visa on arrival ($25 per person in cash). Once we exited immigration and customs, our guide (J.J.) and driver were there to greet us with a sign bearing our name. They took us to our hotel. Because of the traffic, we ended up being in the center of the city near the cathedral at midnight, surrounded by thousands of motorcycles ringing their horns when the near year arrived (quite a cultural experience). From there on, the entire trip was very pleasant (I will post details on the hotels on tripadvisor.com). We visited Saigon (and stopped by the TNK office to pay the balance of the trip), the Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc, PanThiet/Mui Ne, Da Lat and Nha Trang by private van and boats with J.J. (who was excellent, paying attention all the time to what we liked and making sure we would always have it). We almost missed the speedboat from Rach Gia to Phu Quoc, because the itinerary was 30 minutes off. As a result, we couldn’t have a scheduled lunch, but TNK compensated us with an excellent previously unplanned dinner in Hue. J.J. ordered a van with more legroom when we returned from Phu Quoc to HCMC (we flew back), arranged for a small canoe to pick-us up and take us to our hotel in Cantho where we were stuck in traffic on the way to the ferry, etc…Then we flew to Danang and were greeted by our new guide Tui (Mr. Dac Dahn had kindly arranged for French speaking guides at the other locations at our request), and from there visited Hoi An, My Son and Hue, Tui was excellent as well, very knowledgeable and helped us solve an issue we had with a tailor-made suit. In Hoi An, the reservation was not a river view room, but after contacting Mr. Dac Dahn generously agreed to pay the difference and we were upgraded accordingly (we had insisted on 2 deluxe rooms with sea/river/lake views everywhere) and I had not noticed it was not the case at that location. We then flew to Hanoi which we visited with our last guide (Mr. Lan, who was OK but not as good as the first 2), and went from there to Halong Bay for a memorable 2-day cruise, then flew back to HCMC, stayed overnight near the airport and had an early morning flight back to the U.S. On returning to HCMC, no driver was there to greet us, we were told after we called the agency that he was stuck in traffic due to an accident. We took a taxi to the nearby hotel, and the driver who picked-us up in the morning for our return flight to the US. reimbursed us more than we had actually paid for the taxi. We didn’t have to pay a departure tax, it was apparently already included in our plane tickets.

Overall, a great trip thanks to the logistics, efficiency and professionalism of the TNK staff and agents. Food was excellent (though too copious for us, we always have festive lunch menus booked by TNK with 6 or 7 courses in nice restaurants (included in the price), nice buffet breakfasts in most hotels. The only problem (which is beyond TNK’s control) was insufficient hot water in many hotels for two people to take showers one after the other), a really bad road with big holes when exiting MuiNe to go to Da Lat and a third guide in the north who took us to a number of expensive stores along the road when we saw much cheaper prices elsewhere (we suspect he had a kick-back from these stores (but to his credit, he advised us to see the anthropology museum in Hanoi instead of a couple of extra pagodas, which we really enjoyed). Other than these minor opportunities for improvement, we had great hotel rooms with very nice views (important to us), good weather, good food, good guides and drivers (who seemed satisfied with the tips we gave them), and we were taken to all the places agreed-to on the itinerary. For those who do not feel adventurous enough to be on their own in Vietnam, we do strongly recommend TNK travel as an ideal, reasonably-priced solution. You can count on them for a memorable and pleasant trip. One final comment, although you can pay everything in Vietnam in US dollars or Euros, prices are cheaper if you pay in Dongs (local currency, FX at 17.3 VND/USD on the average during our trip, calculated at 15 by the stores if you pay in USD). Also a word of caution, Vietnam Airlines only allows 20 kg for a checked suitcase and 7 kg for a carry-on so travel light……

If you are thinking of going and have any question about our experience, don’t hesitate to contact me at dkane@mmm.com.

Our sincere thanks to MM. Trinh, Danh and the entire TNK staff for a wonderful trip. The Kane family (Austin, TX, USA)

peter wells
Thanking Dat

Hi Dat, Hope biz. is booming. We ve recommended lots of friends here to contact TNK and Guide Dat.

We enjoyed our holiday in your lovely country. Be careful on your busy roads - we will never forget our
enlightening experience of Vietnam with you.

Cheers and thanks from Ozzie mates Heather & Peter Wells

Mr. Anne Porter
Thank you to everyone at TNK Travel

Good morning,

Yesterday we arrived back form our most enjoyable holiday in Vietnam and we would like to thank you for all your help and assistance in arranging this trip for us.

Some comments :

• We were very happy with the transfers provided – all good cars, with careful and polite, friendly drivers
• The Grand Hotel in Saigon was very nice and in an excellent location for both shopping and sightseeing
• The Quoc Hoa Hotel in Hanoi was also very pleasant and comfortable with very friendly staff and also in a first class location in the old quarter allowing us to easily walk around and enjoy this fascinating area.
• The Bai Tho Junk tour was absolutely first class – lovely accommodation, very friendly staff and excellent food
• We were very glad to helped us choose to stay at the Ana Mandara in Nha Trang – a superb hotel and we really enjoyed our rest and relaxation there
• Our tour to the tunnels at Cu Chi was memorable with an excellent tour guide and driver

I’d like to make special mention of two of your staff – Dac Danh who handled the final part of our booking was very thorough and helpful and Hian (Moon) who was our tour guide to Cu Chi was very interesting and knowledgeable with a great sense of humour. They both speak excellent English which made it much easier for us.

I note from some of the reviews on sites like Trip Advisor that some people have complained about your company and your service. I have posted a review to let people know how good we have found your services. The link is below. 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-Our_Excellent_Vietnam_Trip_with_TNK_Travel Vietnam.html

I would make only one suggestion – the payment procedure is quite complicated and I believe you would get more overseas customers if you were able to accept credit card payments online.

Thank you once again to you and your staff for a wonderful visit to Vietnam. We loved your country and would like to come back again and see more of it as well as Cambodia and if we do I will most certainly be in touch with you again. In the meantime I will be recommending you to any of our friends who want to visit Vietnam.

Kind Regards

Anne Porter

Ms. Frances Ann Reid
Train Booking HCM - NT ( Oct ) / Ms. Frances Ann Reid

Thank you so much for your excellent service on my recent trip to Vietnam. I booked train tickets, an air ticket, a day tour and stays in 2 hotels with your company and everything went really well. The staff in the office in HCMC were really friendly and helpful and I will recommend TNK Travel to anyone heading to Vietnam, Warm regards, Frances Reid.

Selina
THANK YOU

Special Thanks to Mr Le Hung Kiet from your Dalat Office
Words cannot express our heartful THANKS to him
Mr Le was very responsible and helpful.

Thank you for your Excellence Service

I would certainly recommend our friends in Singapore
to use TNK Travel if they are going to Vietnam

Ho Dac Nguyen
thank you !

I knew TNK since 3 years.Just one word for those who read this message :You can really trust them !!!!
Special thanks to Mrs Pham Nhu,Miss Thao,M.Duy !!!
Rendez-vous to the next year !

Ho Dac Nguyen

Joel Ng
Vietnam travel services

Dear Mr Dzung Trinh,

our group will like to thank you and your team for the memorable trip in Ho Chiminh city.

JJ (our tour guide) was good and responsible, he took special care of the old and kids well.

Will sure recommend TNK Travel to friends visiting Vietnam.

Joel Ng
Singapore

Rosa Fonti
Greetings and Thanksgivings

Dear Mrs. Luu Vo!

first of all, my apologies for writing so late.

I would like to thank you so much for the very nice present we got from Mr. JJ on you behalf!

We appreciated it a lot and once again let me say we are very grateful for the very nice tour we are enjoying throughout Indochina.

Our guides and drivers in Vietnam, Cambodia and now in Laos wereare very good, and the accomodations and restaurants always very nice.

We will definitely recommend your travel agency and the tour to anyone we can.

Again thanks a lot and our best regards,

Rosa Fonti

Ron & Myra Such
Thanks

We had a lot of dealings with Miss Hang Vo (TNK Travel) at De Tham Street, HCM City.
We found Miss Vo to be the best Agent we have come across in Vietnam. She was very helpful in every way and helped us with any problems we had.
We have travelled in Vietnam on 6 different occasions, and never had better service.
We recommend Miss Vo to anyone worldwide for any dealings you have in South East Asia..
We met her personally in HCM and found her to be very charming,
she is now a friend for life.

John Kellas
Mai Chau 4 day trek

We used TNK Travel for 16 day tour in 2008 and have now moved to Hanoi for a year and use their local affiliate, Dream Travel in Hanoi. We arranged to do the 4D/3N trek from Po Co/Hang Kia to Mai Chau over New Year. While the weather was cloudy and we missed the spectacular sights, we did enjoy the exercise. We had a local Guide/Cook, Miss Phuong, and a Hanoi guide, Quyen, with Mr Son doing the luggage transfers. We had 3 homestays and Phuong showed her culinary skills to perfection, different dishes each lunch and dinner, at each one.
We seemed to meet most of Phuong's family through the course of the 4 days, which we enjoyed. Homestays were satisfactory and trekkers will find them acceptable. Village life is simple and basic and one hears all the animals day and night, so expect the roosters to crow early and often.
We will suggest to our own future visitors that we do some more treks or stay at Mai Chau.

Thanks to Danh (TNK) and Ngoc Anh and Trang (Dream Travel).
JDK
PS Ask for Phuong and Quyen as guides