Kimkim Trip Reviews

Isabel Fernandez worked so hard to make our trip to Ecuador so memorable. Every part of the trip was smooth. No hassles in terms of pick ups and transportation. Our guide, Christian was fantastic. We told Isabel what we loved to do as travellers (hiking, nature, etc.) and she worked with us to plan a perfect vacation. She made great suggestions and we worked together to make our Ecuadorian experience so memorable. Rich and Melissa

I had pretty much planned out my trip to Egypt and Jordan on my own, when I decided to contact kimkim to see what assistance might be available. I had used kimkim to help plan a trip to Myanmar which was incredible -far beyond my expectations - and so I decided to use kimkim again for on the ground support in Egypt and Jordan.

I am so glad I did - everything went like clockwork. From the moment we were picked up at the airport in Luxor until we were deposited at the airport in Amman at the end of the trip, it was an incredible journey. Our guide for the Luxor to Aswan portion of the trip, Mahmoud, was terrific. His vast knowledge of Egyptian mythology and history was inspiring and we very much appreciated his guidance and willingness to share with us what life in Egypt is like today for the people who live here.

Likewise with our guide Hisham in Cairo - and here I would like to put in special thanks for Hisham and the other support staff in Cairo. I managed to contract the dreaded TD for a couple of days in Cairo and the support I received was fantastic, from constant checking in to make sure I was okay, help in obtaining antibiotics and the like. Egypt was far more interesting and exciting with the support of Ibrahim and his colleagues than it would have been on our own.

We then flew to Amman, also with the help of Ibrahim. We were met at the Amman airport and whisked through border control like celebrities. The next morning, we met our guide and driver, Abou, whose support was priceless. We talked about what we wanted to do and he strongly suggested that we alter our plans to include an overnight stay in Petra, which we were able to do and which greatly enhanced that experience. Again, Abou's willingness to share with us his life, and what it is like to be Jordanian, greatly enhanced our experience.

Thanks to everyone who helped us along our two weeks in Egypt and Jordan - it was exactly what we wanted, and more.

Pissa was the best guide and the insight and cultural history I learned from the inside was invaluable. High highly recommend KimKim and, if possible, a solo tour with one of their guides.

Every aspect of the trip that Patricia planned for us was flawless. The guides and drivers, particularly Miguel, Daniel, and Inma were so knowledgeable and concerned with our experience and comfort. I have travelled extensively in Europe, individually, as the leader of student groups, and as part of a travel group, and I can say unequivocally that this was the best trip I have taken. I loved meeting Patricia and I especially thank her for her terrific work.

First of all, I want to say thank you to Lena for sticking with us! We took months to plan and finalize our trip, and she was with us through it all, changing our itinerary multiple times and answering our seemingly endless questions promptly!

Jordan was full of natural beauty and we LOVED our hike in Dana and our guide Mohammed. Will never forget having Bedouin tea and freshly warmed pitas with him over lunch. Equally lovely was Wadi Rum. Aicha Camp was gorgeous (and they upgraded us to a panoramic tent - superb!), and our driver on our Jeep tour, Adam, was wonderful. We loved our driver for the first portion of our Jordan trip, Hasan. Always on time and very kind! The only thing I wish we had done differently is make sure that we had transportation arranged for our day at Petra, as our hotel was a bit off the main Tourism Street (Petra Quattro). It was easy to hire our own guide for Petra at the Visitor's Center, but I'm sure Lena could have arranged this for us in advance had we wanted! I also want to note that we loved our cooking lesson at Beit Sitti in Amman our first evening!

Lena was very helpful in prepping us on what to expect during the border crossing at King Hussein Bridge. We were a little nervous, but it went smoothly and our driver Awas was waiting for us on the other side.

Jerusalem was an overwhelming city, but we had the most wondeful guide two days in a row for it and Bethlehem (I loved that we got the same guide as it really allowed you to make a connection). Ibrahim was one of my favorite tour guides ever, anywhere. If I am back in Jerusalem, I know who I am calling. He even checked in on us a few days later to make sure we were okay and ask if he could help us with anything more! The location of our hotel was pretty great too (Gloria on Latin Patriarchate Street near Jaffa Gate). It was definitely older (the dining area is currently being remodeled), but the location makes that worth it.

I thought the price we paid for the trip was quite fair, and appreciated the flexibility Lena showed in booking everything for us.

Thank you again for an unforgettable trip!

Overall we had a really positive experience using KimKim. As two people who don't speak much Spanish, we found their services to arrange tours and transportation to be a huge benefit in making our travel throughout Argentina easier. We were thankful for Virginia's responsiveness and recommendations.
We especially loved El Chalten and Los Glaciares National Park. We only had one small tour/transportation hiccup but Virginia responded right away and came up with a solution quickly.

Amanda planned for my travel companion and I a 8-days, 7-nights trip to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara. It was both of our first trip to Nepal and I must say it was an eye-opening experience!

Here's what I liked and did not like about the trip:

The positives

- The planning was generally good and made sense. We arrived on late night of 20 February right before the Maha Shivatri festival on 21 February. Instead of planning for us to visit Pasupatinath temple that day (which would have been exploding with millions of worshipers and impossible to get in), Amanda and team planned it on the following day, 22 February, when we still got to experience remnants of the festivities and the crowd, but still be able to get around the temple

- Being flexible in terms of our asks and requirements, e.g.: planning two separate hikes for us when we stated that we wanted to experience a bit of hiking during our trip, and planning a really enjoyable white-water rafting session for us even though we were not in the season for white-water rafting yet. (The rest of the crew had to be made up by other members of the rafting team, but we were good to go with two pax).

- Special mention goes to Ritesh from the Operations team, who has been extremely responsive throughout the trip and helping us whenever things did not go as planned. Due to weather conditions, our Everest scenic flight was cancelled twice, our hot air balloon and helicopter flight to Annapurna base camp were also all cancelled, and he was very diligent and fast in helping us liaise with the respective provider companies, and in helping us get our refunds. The trip would have been quite dreary if not for his help, with so many things being cancelled! So I must really thank him for being there (via text) for us

- Keshab as a guide for Pokhara - He is really young but he made up for it by his boundless energy. He doubled up as both a tour guide and as our trekking guide up the World Peace Pagoda, and was really helpful to us especially throughout our hikes, helping to carry not just one but both our bags as we made the journey up the steps. He also told us interesting stories of the attractions we were in, and made jokes and riddles along the way to liven up the atmosphere, and make sure both of us were well taken care of

- The guesthouses that were booked were really charming and full of the flavours of local Nepali architecture. I especially liked Milla Guesthouse in Bhaktapur and Thamel Villa in Kathmandu. The former felt really cozy with a lady owner who was so friendly and accommodating, and specially prepared our breakfast (baked our bread and made jam for us) late into the night! Whereas the latter was a bit more European in its architecture / chandeliers, but still really charming, and it tied up with a restaurant across the road for breakfast that was really delicious.

The (slight) negatives

- Amanda, while being fairly responsive, regrettably had a slightly different communication style from me. The itinerary she planned was a little high level and vague, and I realised I needed to be very specific when communicating with her, if not her responses may still not really answer the crux of the question. Also, there were some errors in what she communicated with us vis-a-vis what eventually panned out: E.g.: there was no heater in our hotel in Patan - Swotha Traditional Homes, even though she sounded pretty sure there were heaters in all our hotels; Or that after whitewater rafting, as we were enroute from Kathmandu to Pokhara, there were no shower facilities and only a small room for changing (we were of the impression from her there were shower facilities). I had also requested for her to try to put some of the information that she mentioned in our fairly long interactions on KimKim into the final itinerary, e.g.: estimated start and end time every day, emergency contacts, etc. But that was eventually not added into our itinerary and only passed to us on a handwritten paper that could have been easily misplaced on the 2nd day. Again, I acknowledge most of my frustrations could be attributed to a difference in communication styles, but at the amount we were paying: ~USD1.8K per pax for 8 days of mostly 3-star guesthouse accommodation, I believe I was justified to expect a little more

- Our guide in Kathmandu Valley, Pratikshya. She was very comprehensive, fluent in English and detailed in her explanations to us, which I agree with some of the other reviews written here. However, I felt there was still a little room for improvement. Throughout the few days in Kathmandu valley when we visited the various UNESCO world heritage sites, other than Pashupatinath temple, I felt she was a little bit rushed, and I did not have enough time to fully explore the various places or imbibe in the local culture and vibe. This was especially the case in the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, which was really pretty. We just briefly walked into the palace for a very short while (and wasn't sure if there were any other buildings in the square to explore), and then continued on our walk to the hotel. Granted, she did give us our Durbar Square tickets so that we could come back if we wanted to. But in the case of some of the venues, like Bhaktapur, it was a very long walk from our hotel and very difficult for two females to come back all the way in the dark. Also, we were travelling in a very small group of two. However, most of the time, she was walking ahead with my other travel companion and explaining to her, leaving me trailing behind and not knowing what is happening. I think the trip would have been more enjoyable if she made a bit more effort to involve both of us (given it is such a small group). Last but not least, on our hike up to Namobuddha, we were given the choice of two places to eat for lunch - the Namobuddha resort that served farm-to-table organic vegetarian meals, and the monastery restaurant. The former needed to be booked half an hour before we arrived. She briefly mentioned the choices the night before and I opted to decide on the day itself. She asked us for our choice again midway through our hike. However, as the information was incomplete / erroneous and my travel companion was extremely strong-minded, I was compelled to make a decision I did not want at a time I was feeling very exhausted - Pratikshya told us that the resort only had a fixed vegetarian menu every day (without telling us what is the menu that day) whereas the monastery restaurant had an ala carte menu where we can order whatever we want. Also, we could drink beer in the monastery restaurant but not at the resort (something I wanted to do to celebrate our achievement of completing the hike). The impression I got was that the resort was more touristy whereas the monastery restaurant was more authentic. But when we finally made the hike up I realised it was anything but! The monastery restaurant had only a menu handwritten on the board of 7 dishes (most of them included things I could find in my local country like Fried Rice and Fried Noodles), was full of tourists, and last but most importantly, could not serve beer because it was a restaurant owned by the monastery. I had to go the the restaurant opposite if I wanted beer. I felt a little cheated because I might have enjoyed it a little better if I went to the Namobuddha Resort and tried food that was actually grown locally. But there was no more time to try or change my decision after the hike, as we could not afford a slightly longer lunch and had to drive down to Bhaktapur, for which she rushed through anyway.

- Kimkim's payment policy: We were a little uncomfortable having to pay 100% of our trip costs even before the trip commenced, and were worried that Himalayan Trails would not be incentivised to put in good service as a result. Thankfully it turned out OK, but it would be good if kimkim can review its payment policy to leave some percentage (perhaps 10% or so) to be paid at the end of the trip.

Overall the trekking was very well organised with excellent commumication leading up to the trek itself. The rice terraces of Ifugao were truly amazing and better that I expected. Loved the villages and the warm welcome we received throughout our journey. Our guide Marvin was very friendly and led us through well, and has a superb knowledge of the local area, the environment, its people and its customs.

We had to make some initial route adjustmenst due the poor weather and track conditions, and the unforeseen eco-tourism shutdown at Sagada was well covered by the alternative day to the Hapao valley and hot springs. Marvin made it all happen without any stress or fuss.

I would also recommend that hikers be made aware of the need to negotiate the many narrow walls in the rice terraces, some of which are quite high and slippery in places. We had one or two close calls!

For adventurous hikers, this area is a must-do

Hi Linda was the most wonderful source and seemed to tune in to our
particular needs.
The guides were wonderful. Christian did a great job in Quito with our
two excursions..even took Bob to a shop for him to buy a coat. Impressed with
his knowledge and driving in difficult conditions...rainstorms.
Carlos in Santa Cruz took us to a great beach where we were the only people for an hour or so and we loved that...great swimming.
The ships crews were just amazing...great food and terrific outings..was
impressed by all the activities that were offered.
We liked all the hotels especially liked our stay on Santa Cruz Island and woul
have stayed there for one more day and one less day in Quito.
I loved the atmosphere of the hotel in Quito, but it was very noisy ...with
dogs barking and the cars so sleeping for me was difficult.
Truly a wonderful trip for two seniors that suited us perfectly.
Well done Linda and her associates!
Pat and Bob Yaccato

This is my first time using the services. I had Virginia as my agent and I was very happy with her. Things were planned last minute and somehow everything worked out. My highlight was the stay at the Mercure Hotel in Iguazu. I did not do any research at all and I was blown away. Thanks Virginia and KimKim for making dreams come true!!!

Emilce was very responsive and gave us great service. The trip itself was very enjoyable. the only wrinkle was that we had expressed an interest in hiking anddespite the fact the south of Argentina has lots of great hiking, the "hiking experiences" were mostly bus rides to scenic places.

First - we will definitely use Kimkim again for future travels! Thank you for a well-planned vacation.
Secondly - Chio was responsive and helpful - nice work! Our only complaint is that everyone knew that Tayrona National Park was closed in February - apparently it's an annual thing. If we had known this from the beginning, we might have altered our itinerary. We did not get informed until January. We really loved the place we stayed outside of Tayrona Park, but the River Don Diego excursion was underwhelming. (Although the guide Stephen was very helpful when my husband became sick with digestive issues.)
Big highlights for us were the birdwatching in Minca with Antonio Martin, the trip to the market in Cartagena with Carolina and the day trip to the Rosario Islands. This was supposed to be at the end of our stay, but was moved to the beginning because of when we arrived. We really think this worked better - we had a day of beach and relaxation right away which we desperately needed coming from our cold, snowy, busy lives:)
The hotels were good and we had a nice balance of scheduled vs. free time. In our information packet it said that there would be an English-speaking person on our long car trips to and from Cartagena. We did not - just Spanish-only drivers. That would have been a great opportunity (9 hours!) to ask questions about what we were seeing and find out more about Colombia. My husband especially was disappointed that there was no conversation on these transports.
Again - we are happy to have discovered Kimkim and are already looking forward to our next trip with you. I hope our feedback has been helpful.

It is one thing to book and adventure into the unknown to try to figure it out for yourself. It was my intention to do so, but the reality is that it helps to have somebody at least give a map or a general guide of what to look out for.

It is another thing when you can have a specialist help carefully curate an experience. First, I'd like to mention that the magical experience of my trip was only emphasized by the incredible knowledge and hospitality of the agent who helped me - Emanuela Grieco.

As master of her product, she skillfully curated a self-driving tour which allowed me the gleefully roam the Western and Southern regions of Iceland in the winter time, while still feeling like I was taken care of. To be in communication with a professional throughout my travel, helped ease any sort of travel anxiety that may have come up, allowing me to fully focus on the magic that solo travel in Iceland can bring. It was truest sense of hospitality one could experience from a travel agent, similar to that of experiencing a Michelin 3 star restaurant or 5 - star hotel accommodation.

From the initial conversation of attempting to book this experience, I was tended to in regards to what I was looking. I gave a budget and picked out a few things I wanted to experience. I knew that I wanted to go to drive myself to explore the island, experience Blue Lagoon, Snorkel, tour an ice cave, snowmobile on a glacier and see the northern lights.

I let her know what I had booked personally - a plane ticket, a 4WD car rental and my first night stay. She was able to intelligently fill in the rest. Honestly, I only booked those things first before I even considered using KimKim and to be frank, I probably didn't even need to do that!

It was quite the itinerary that I had intended to experience and Emanuela thoughtfully crafted a driving tour which allowed me to systematically experience all of these activities while making positive progress of exploration along the way. Simple, effective accommodations were booked along the way essentially allowing me the mission of getting from point A to point B while experiencing the freedom of the self drive tour that I had envisioned.

Her route took me from landing in Keflavik, directly to the Blue Lagoon. Stayed my first night in Reykjavik (booked by me) and followed a walking tour of the city that was provided by her. The next day I started my drive towards West Iceland and the Saga town. I was trepidatious at first, driving into the unknown, but as soon as I caught my first glimpse of the magic of Iceland (everywhere), I knew that I just had to trust the plan that was set before me.

From the Snæfellsnes Peninsula to Thingvellir National Park, to the majestic waterfalls of the south to the magical beaches of the South, sprinkled in with snorkeling and some off road super jeep adventures and some super thoughtful accommodations I was truly ensconced by the natural wonders of the country. I was able to see the Northern Lights dance on my final night to boot!

As a person who is relatively frugal about travel and all of the details that come with it, I took the opportunity to fully dive in and let a professional create an experience for me. I regret absolutely nothing and can only encourage other to trust and let the professional do what they do. It was worth every penny.

If you are on the fence, at least just start the conversation and see what unfolds. The professionalism and skill and knowledge that Emanuela and the convenience that Kim Kim provides will successfully finish it for you.

We had a fantastic trip to Morocco thanks to Kimkim! They provided us with luxury accommodations and a wonderful driver, Faissal, who was with us for the entire trip! Faissal was extremely friendly, spoke English well, and helped us quite a bit with our interactions with locals. The tour provided an excellent taste of Morocco and I feel that we really did get to experience everything we wanted in just 8 days. We enjoyed our time in the Sahara the most as it was such a unique experience, but really every stop was quite memorable. I highly recommend using Kimkim for planning this vacation and taking all the stress away!

If you are looking for an adventure then book yourself the Ifugao Villages Trek.
Forget the telephone and fl-yin rescue teams. You depend on your buddies and the locals.
We combined our trip with a trip to Sagada. (8 day tour including travel to and from Manila.
Our tour guide Marvin is a local and answers all questions regarding the Ifugao region.
Unfortunately the day we arrived in Sagada all tourist attractions got shut down due to the covit-19.
Marvin took us back to Banaue where we were able to visit the hot springs instead.
Top hike. Highly recommended.
(If you suffer from vertigo, dizzy spells or are not steady on your legs do not book this trip!)

Just back from an amazing family vacation! Emi’s recommendations and planning allowed us to see and experience parts of Rome, Milan, Turin and Florence - both through relaxed self exploration within the cities and small group tours for daylong excursions in smaller towns nearby. The hotels, and train travel she organized made it easy to relax and enjoy the trip. Questions arose while we were traveling, and she was quick to reply - so nice to have a friendly local resource! Would definitely recommend and use this service again for future trips. Thank you Emi!

The organization and schedule met our requests. Abdellah perfectly understood whate we wanted and organized everything accordingly. The places we visited were magnificent. The roads and hotels we stayed in surpassed our expectations in most cases. Our driver, Karim, was great. He was very professional, respectful and with a great attitude. He made our long trips enjoyable. Also, he is a very good driver and has a lot of patience. Thank you for making this an unforgettable trip.

Our trip to Spain, planned by Patricia of Your Trip to Spain, was perfect in every way. Every place we visited was memorable: Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, Granada and finally Barcelona. All of the hotels we stayed in were centrally located as we requested, just steps away from main attractions. In Madrid, we were so close to the Plaza Mayor. In Seville and Granada, very close to the cathedrals and historic areas. Every driver was on time, and all the guides were exceptional: Carmen in Madrid, Inma in Toledo, Enrique in Seville, Laura in Cordoba, Daniel in Granada, Mar in Barcelona. Special mention of our driver/guide Miguel. We spent two days with him in Seville and our day driving to Granada. He went out of his way to show us a small mountain village and a castle off the beaten track. His suggestions for lunch were perfect, and we really enjoyed his company. We learned so much about Spanish history, art and culture. I give this tour a 5 star rating and highly recommend Patricia.

I had 3 excellent guides: Maria Alejandro Nariño in Bogota, Juan David Martinez in Leticia, and Mauro Hernandez Aguinago in Medellin! The Lost City of Colombia Trek guides, Juan and Checo (sp) also did an excellent job!! I hope that the friendships I established with them will continue into the future:-)

We decided to create our own "excursions" while traveling through Asia on a cruise. Linh helped us plan activities for three of the ports we visited. We gave her our destinations and she gave us various options to pick and choose from. Our first port was in Koh Sumai, Thailand, where Mr. Sonthaya gave us a great tour of all the island highlights and brought us to a beautiful beach side restaurant to enjoy the view and some local food.
Our second stop was in Laem Chabang, the port south of Bangkok. Ms. Angie and a driver picked us up from the port and drove us west of Bangkok, to ride a river boat that brought us to her favorite floating market, Don Wei Market. It did not disappoint, as it was a fascinating market filled with the smells, sounds and tastes of Thailand. We were truly immersed in the wonderful culture. We enjoyed tasting some foods while wandering and then ate a delicious lunch in a restaurant on the water. We boarded another boat and were taken to Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), a tower on the Chao Phra river bank built in Khmer architectural style. It is the tallest temple in Thailand, decorated in beautiful ceramic pieces. We finished our afternoon in Chinatown, one of the largest in the world, then headed back to the ship in the evening.
Our third adventure was in beautiful Halong Bay in northern Vietnam. Our guide, Mr. Sam, met us early at the pier and brought us to a favorite coffee shop to have authentic Vietnamese, drip into your own cup, coffee. It has just a touch of sweetness from some added condensed milk and is the smoothest, non-bitter coffee! So enjoyable. Next we were brought to a pearl factory to learn and watch how oysters are inseminated, farmed, harvested, and pearls sorted for size and quality. We were then brought to Halong Bay, where we were given a private boat tour of the beautiful bay, filled with 1000's of islands. It was so relaxing and fascinating! We were brought to Sung Sot Cave (Surprise or Amazing Cave). Found by the French in 1901, this is one of the largest and most beautiful caves in the area! Be ready to do some walking! It truly was amazing! Back on the boat, we were served an amazing lunch of freshly steamed prawns, squid salad, stuffed crab and other delicious delicacies that had been caught by the captain and his first mate! It was too cold for kayaking that day, but that would have been a great option as well.
We were very please with Linh's help in finding us very informed and interesting guides. Every "excursion" went off without a hitch. I would highly recommend KimKim and their local guides next time you plan a trip or just plan excursions while on a cruise!