Long Dao

Excellent experience working with Long at Kimkim. Much revision of itinerary to meet my ideal Excellent experience working with Long at Kimkim. Much revision of itinerary to meet my ideal vacation.

Airport pickup and transport was everything I hoped. The VIP escort through customs when we arrived allowed us to cut the line after the long flight which made us all happy. Also got eSIM for phones to avoid international fees. Used Viettel kiosk at airport. Tony helped with currency exchange at the same kiosk too.

Enjoyed food tour with Tony in Hanoi. He continued with us as our guide to the mountain towns of Pu Luong and Ninh Binh. Both Long and Tony as well as driver, Mr. Huong were a great resource when my teenage daughter needed medical attention. Easy to work with healthcare in hospital. Everything worked out well. Also needed a special prescription filled and team was extremely helpful to find pharmacy.

Ha long Bay cruise was a nice new boat with good food. Not much educational tour component. Also diesel fumes from so many cruise boats around. Also have to pay for all water and drinks on the boat. Not too expensive but an extra cost to be aware of.

Family enjoyed Hoi An hotel Moon was a new resort. Good experience with John as our guide in Hoi An, making lanterns as well as custom clothing. Farming village tour and cooking class were in same location with some overlap of activity. Probably would just pick one of these activities next time. I enjoyed the produce and crafts market in Hoi An. Don’t miss street food, and famous banh mi restaurant. Night market in Hoi An was interesting and felt safe.

Getting money from ATM needed me to notify my bank I was traveling. Had me nervous for the first day until I was able to make withdrawals. While most hotels will take credit card, the small merchants will ask to ‘share the fee’ and mark up the price 3-5% if you use credit card.

The finalized itinerary gets uploaded to a convenient app that I could refer my teenagers to look at to know the next activity and schedule for the day. Also has some pictures to provide an idea of what is coming up and hotels etc.

Airport pickup and transport was everything I hoped. The VIP escort through customs when we arrived allowed us to cut the line after the long flight which made us all happy. Also got eSIM for phones to avoid international fees. Used Viettel kiosk at airport. Tony helped with currency exchange at the same kiosk too.

Enjoyed food tour with Tony in Hanoi. He continued with us as our guide to the mountain towns of Pu Luong and Ninh Binh. Both Long (through what’s app) and Tony as well as driver, Mr. Huong were a great resource when my teenage daughter needed medical attention. Easy to work with healthcare in hospital. Everything worked out well. Also needed a special prescription filled and team was extremely helpful to find pharmacy.

Ha long Bay cruise was a nice new boat with good food. Not much educational tour component. Also diesel fumes from so many cruise boats around. Also have to pay for all water and drinks on the boat. Not too expensive but an extra cost to be aware of.

Family enjoyed Hoi An hotel Moon was a new resort. Good experience with John as our guide in Hoi An, making lanterns as well as custom clothing. Farming village tour and cooking class were in same location with some overlap of activity. Probably would just pick one of these activities next time. I enjoyed the produce and crafts market in Hoi An. Don’t miss street food, and famous banh mi restaurant. Night market in Hoi An was interesting and felt safe.

Getting money from ATM needed me to notify my bank I was traveling. Had me nervous for the first day until I was able to make withdrawals. While most hotels will take credit card, the small merchants will ask to ‘share the fee’ and mark up the price 3-5% if you use credit card.

Another favorite activity was spa for massage. Hotels charged a little more than shops but were very convenient. If we had some down time wife and daughters were getting nails or facial for very inexpensive price. Great way to help back and legs recover on first morning after the long flight.

I had a great experience planning a two week trip to Vietnam with Kimkim and my travel advisor Long. My family and I travel frequently and have worked with many travel agencies. Working with KimKim and Long was easy and very pleasant. The proposed itinerary was interesting, well thought out and accounted for all of our preferences and interests. Long quickly accommodated a couple additional requests for specific activities and providers as well as a very last minute (evening before 8am departure) request for fast track assistance on the outbound flight from HCM. I really appreciated Long's responsiveness and thoroughness. His recommendations matched our asks well and he frequently provided multiple alternative options for us to choose from before we finalized everything. Communicating using the Kimkim platform was very easy, especially the ability to provide feedback and ask questions about specific parts of the itinerary. We had a great time on the trip and everything went really smoothly. I'd be happy to work with both Kimkim and Long on another trip in the future. Thank you for all the help!

Hotel Review

Capella Cruise

Halong

Very nice ship, beautiful cabins and nice pool deck. Food was average. Activities were ok - somewhat limited but I think that's pretty standard for the 2 day/1 night cruise.

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

VIP Fast Track Service

Vietnam

Quick and efficient.

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Coconut Fragrance Cooking Class

Hoi An

Favorite activity on the trip. It is an authentic local family business run at a small scale and focused on providing a great experience for their customers. The market tour was a lot of fun and very informative. The cooking lesson was very well organized and the food recommendations were great. The seasoning and the dishes were really well chosen.

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Food

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VIP Fast Track Service

Vietnam

Very useful. The passport and security lines at the airport were incredibly long - very glad we paid for this service.

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Dinner at Ngoc Son Residency

Hue

Very interesting home and host in a beautiful garden. Great conversation. Food was good but not particularly memorable with the exception of the shrimp dish.

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I had the most amazing 19 days traveling in Vietnam and Thailand.
This is my third time booking through KimKim, and my first with Realistic Asia and I am very pleased with the whole experience.
Lucy did a great job with the planning, and Long was amazing at finalizing, executing the plan and following through. Everything was tailored to my needs, the logistics were 10/10, and I was always taken care of.
The hotels they chose were in good locations, their drivers were always on time and polite, the activities were the type of things I love doing while traveling.
This time I traveled by myself and felt safe the entire time, plus I never felt the need to worry about anything, as everything was already taken care of.
I'm very thankful to everyone on the team, Long especially, for making this an amazing journey.
I'm sure I'll be in touch again soon.

Hotel Reviews

Hong Ngoc Dynastie Hotel & Spa

Hanoi

Super friendly staff. I really liked this location.

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Staff

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The Saga Hotel Hoi An

Hoi An

My favourite hotel of this trip. Loved it here.

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Staff

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Silom Serene Hotel

Bangkok

Beautiful hotel, confortable and clean.

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Cleanliness & Comfort

De Chai The Colonial Hotel & Spa

Chiang Mai

Loved staying here. It was a good location, very nice spa.

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Doris Cruise

This was my least favorite place to stay. I only stayed for one night, and while I was getting ready to check out I was looking through the room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind only to find trash under the bed... not only was it dusty there was a plastic bottle, a tissue and a Qtip. I felt very disgusted knowing the room I slept in hadn't been clean before. The walls were also dirty and the soap dispensers empty. I left this feedback while checking out and the staff approached me, apologised and didn't charge me for one drink I had. They took notes and photos and assured me they would work on improving, which I do appreciate.

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Acnos Hotel

This hotel is ok, a bit old and outdated, but clean and well located.

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chanalai Romantica Resort

Phuket

Super friendly staff. The location was ok, where most hotels are. Very near the beach.

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

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Activity Reviews

Join Cooking Class and Market Tour in Hanoi

Hanoi

Lots of fun, made some delicious food!

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Food

Made by us!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lan Ha Bay – Dark & Bright Cave – Disembark Cruise (Doris Cruise)

Ha Long Bay

Nice views

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hanoi - Ninh Binh (Dinh Le Temple, Tam Coc, Mua Cave) Day Trip by Group Tour (B/L)

Hanoi

Really stunning place.

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Food

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Onboarding - Lan Ha Bay – Ba Trai Dao/ Tra Bau (Doris Cruise)

Ha Long Bay

Really beautiful views, the Cruise itself wasn't great.

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Tra Nhieu Village - Kim Bong Eco Tour

Hoi An

One of the funnest experiences on this trip. My guide was great, took me to some very local spots.

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Mekong Delta Group Tour (My Tho - Ben Tre) (updated)

Ho Chi Minh City

Sadly, one of my least favourite experiences. I say sadly, because my guide was great, he was friendly and engaging. He tried to make this a great day. However, the island had some things I disliked: horse pulling carriages, crocodiles being bred for leather, snakes for photo ops. It didn't feel right. The river canoes were very nice and visiting the temple was good too.

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Private Jeep Tour Saigon by Night: Foodie & City tour ( Updated )

Ho Chi Minh City

Favourite night! Everything was incredible, our jeep, the tour, the food, the guide. Loved this experience.

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Cham Island Full day Snorkeling tour

Hoi An

It was ok, but too crowded and too far for me. You spend a lot of time getting there, so if you don't love it, it doesn't feel like it's worth it. The snorkeling spot wasn't that good... there wasn't too much to see.

Colors of Bangkok - Joint in group

Bangkok

Very fun day! Got to see a market, had great food, biked, learned about the culture. I really liked this day.

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Maeklong Railway Market and Damnoen Saduak floating market - Half-day

Bangkok

Lots of fun. The guide knew a lot of locals so that made the experience better.

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SkyWalk - Full Day at Elephant Nature Park

Chiang Mai

Beautiful experience. So important to know it's an ethical park and everything is done with the elephants' wellbeing in mind.

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Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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VIP Fast Track Service

Vietnam

Useful

Half day Chiang Mai City Tour with Tuktuk (N)

Chiang Mai

Cool tour. Got to see the city, learn about it, make a ring. My guide was very sweet and super knowledgeable.

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Long was exceptional, detailed engagement and adjustments to our trip that best suited our family, followed by consistent check-in’s throughout the trip made for a very personalized experience. Our family would highly recommend working with Long on a trip to Asia!

I do not write reviews usually but this one is well deserved.
Interacting with Mr. Long in preparation for our trip was very efficient, professional and well done. Everything during our 12 day trip was executed to the minute and as per our correspondences.
Mr. Long was in touch with us with instructions and checking that all went well contacting us few times a day.
Reminders were sent prior to arrival making sure visas were done. At every pickup point ( Airport arrivals, immigration procedures, drivers, guides and transfers ) we were greeted either prior to time planned or on time. One time that driver was late due to traffic ( 10 minutes ! ) we were notified prior. For every flight there were notices sent in advance.
As for guides and drivers as well as their vehicles they were all perfect as promised. However I have to commend specially the guide and driver in Angkor Wat ( 3 days ) It was very humid, every time we entered the vehicle driver had super cold small towels to refresh ( from ice box, 10 pieces in one day ) and in humidity it was great. Very nice guide in Ninh Binh. All drivers and guides were very attentative, polite and never experienced anything but careful driving. The cars were nice as stated prior.
Honestly, never gotten so much attention and sincere interest to make sure all is going well.
We want to thank Mr. Long and his choices of drivers and English language guides for making our stay and travels withing the country easy, pleasant and amazing!

The trip was outstanding in every respect. The itinerary was arranged to match our preferences, the hotels were lovely, and the guide was knowledgeable, caring and friendly. Long, our contact at Kimkim, checked in with us almost daily to see how we were doing. We would definitely book future trips with them.

Long curated an incredible itinerary to Vietnam and Thailand for our family of 5. Every schedule pick up was on time, guides were great and all bookings were smooth and problem free. We will recommend Long at Realistic Asia to any friends traveling to Asia in the future. Thank you for everything!!

Activity Reviews

Ba Vi Eco Tour - Visit the Countryside of Hanoi

Hanoi

Our countryside visit was extremely intimate and memorable. Both hosts were so kind and gracious. Our guide Dung was fantastic.

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Half Day tour to Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

Phuket

Incredible!

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Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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