Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our trip to Iceland coincided with our 35th wedding anniversary and my two month recovery from hip replacement surgery. We had a slightly rocky start as the ride from the airport didn't drop us off at the hotel but instead at the bus depot, a 20 dollar ride to the hotel. Because it was a special time for us I booked the Icelandair Reykjavik Marina hotel for 4 nights so we could enjoy the city and its sights and cuisine. The hotel was fantastic and perfectly located. The room I booked came with a social hour that included free wine and beer and snacks which took a little of the edge off of the expense of Iceland. I hired the kimkim team to plan the next 4 days and they came through with a spectacular agenda in the Golden Circle and the South of Iceland. They arranged for the rental car, three hotels, and forwarded the agenda which included google map directions, vouchers for a zodiac boat tour of the ice lagoon, and an ice cave exploration. We were picked up in the morning to get the car. The car came with a wifi hot spot and a garmin nav device. Driving in Iceland is easy once you get the feel of the two lanes roads that become one lane over bridges. Our mapquest instructions broadcast through the radio and were perfect during our first days exploring through the glorious, sometimes strange landscape. Waterfalls and photo ops every few feet it seemed. We drove approximately 235 km on the Golden Circle and stopped at Thingvellir National Park, got drenched by an active Geyser but recovered with a mug of spectacular lamb soup, saw the magnificent Gullfoss waterfall. We ended our day at the Hotel Ranga. This was another beautiful hotel with rustic charm and amazing views, including one of the most productive Salmon rivers in Iceland right in their back yard. We continued on around the Island towards the east coast with more astonishing landscapes but at this point our mapquest couldn't find a network. Fortunately we had printed the itineraries and had the Garmin navigation device so we were ok. We visited black lava beaches, looked at seals and took photo's of icebergs on the beach before donning our survival suits and flotation devices for a zodiac ride on the lagoon. We were up close to a glacier that represents one 6th of the landmass of Iceland. The day was really wonderful but we were ready for a quiet night in our next Hotel, the Fosshotel Nupar. This was a bit of a disappointment as it was a little old and tired looking but since we booked late there were no better accommodations to be found. We were there for 2 nights. It did have a nice bar lounge that played some really great music. I should mention that all the hotels kimkim booked for us came with a full breakfast which again helped the budget from bleeding too much. The last day took us through the charming town of Vik with its lovely red and white church standing over the town and from which one had spectacular views of the ocean and the surrounding landscape. We drove through miles of lava fields, the largest in human history, that was other worldly! We took our time, visited the Bridge between the continents where the Euroasian and the American tectonic plates meet. I had to cancel the ice cave adventure as it involved some climbing which my new hip just wouldn't allow. Kimkim were gracious enough to refund that portion of the trip and we were very grateful. It gave us a little more time to drive to the most geothermal area of Iceland and feel the heat! We also at some point went to a waterfall that had a rainbow in front of it for hours and one that we walked behind. Our last night was at the Hotel Berg near the airport for our return flight the next day. Iceland is one extraordinarily beautiful country and we picked what must have been be nicest 8 days in the year. It was sunny every day with only one having a mild rain squall. Unfortunately it was cloudy at night so the only time we saw the Northern lights was on the plane as we approached Iceland. Just an excuse to return. So thank you Preeti, our kimkim travel coordinator, and her colleagues, and kimkim itself for helping us make memories.

Had a great, albeit too short, experience in Morocco! Brahim was able to tailor an experience to our short timeline. The trip was a great balance of travel between locations, local tours, and some free downtime to explore on our own. It was exactly what we were hoping to get out of the trip. Our driver, Rashid, was absolutely fantastic; provided us with comfortable transit between Casablanca, Tangier, and Fez - and he was great to talk to and share information with us about Morocco. Overall, I would highly recommend the kimkim team and would definitely use them again for our next trip where we hopefully will have more time to explore all the amazing sites that Morocco has to offer.

The trip times and experiences were told in advance to be one thing and were very much another. We were told we would be in Wadi area for lunch, turned out the time to get there was about 7 hours. We got there around sun down and took the camel ride as the sun went down and got to the overnight accommodations after dark. Our guide explained that the people booking this did not understand the time and distances and we needed to be flexible. We cooperated but were surprised that Lena did not know how long it would really take to travel from the Jordan entry point down to Wadi Rum and had put the trip as us getting there for lunch, and doing a jeep tour that day. Wafa was an experienced guide and helpful in many ways. We did not fault her for the confusion on our part when the times were so different that in the paperwork sent out.

We trekked the Langtang-Gosaikunda-Helambu route for 2 weeks with our Nepalese guide Dawa and porter Renjen. The trip was absolutely amazing: stunning views, friendly people, interesting culture! We felt safe and welcome from day one until the end.

Karma and Sam were both very friendly, knowledgeable and extremely professional.
The Dagala trek was a highlight for me and a special adventure. Although the cultural sites were rich and came alive with Karma,s descriptions and history.
I hope to return to Bhutan again and I would certainly recommend Vishal and his team.

My husband and I had a wonderful trip organised by Ngima and his family. The whole experience has been breathtaking and it will remain in our memories for a long time. We chose to visit Kathmandu for two days , we then drove to Bandipur in private car, continuing to Pokhara the next day. We then did a three days treck with a guide and porter in the Annapurma, after which we flew back to Kathmandu. Our guide in Kathmandu was very knowledgeable and attentive to our needs , giving us lots of free time to enjoy particular spots when we wanted to. Our driver in Kathmandu was very professional and punctual making the visit from sites to sites a breeze in a very busy and someyimes chaotic city.
Pema Futi , our guide in the Annapurma was very professional and friendly , making sure we enjoyed our treck and were well fed and comfortable in the tea houses we staid in. Everything in the trip was organised very professionally and I highly recommend Ngima's company Nepal Myths Mountain Trails to anyone wanting to have a memorable and wonderful trip in Nepal.

We enjoyed an unforgettable introduction to Morocco. The places we stayed were, without exception, all very lovely and well located, with full, nice breakfasts and excellent staff. Our driver was nothing short of wonderful. He was extremely helpful, offered what turned out to be excellent advice when requested, and took outstanding care of us. We realized the driver could not substitute as a professional guide, and there were a few times he could not provide answers to our questions, because of language difficulties, or just lack of really specialized knowledge. Yassine and his colleagues made certain that we were always well cared for, and they were genuinely concerned that we enjoyed ourselves.
If there were one aspect we would have done differently, knowing now what we do, we would have covered less, or else lengthened the trip. It was impracticable to cover the distances we did and still arrive at our destinations with enough time to do any exploring. We definitely needed another full day in Chefchaouen. We thought Essouaria was more important to visit than Volubilis, Moulay Idriss, or even Rabat. Ifrane was better just to pass through than visit. We spent proportionately more time in the car than we wanted. We did rely on the trip planners to know how long it would take to reach a given city, and travel times in general; despite cutting down on some of our original plans, we still could not cover everything.
In Fez, our cooking class was very enjoyable; we did not get as much benefit from the professional tour guide as we had hoped, however. He repeatedly remarked that he could not show us what he wanted to because we had come to Fez on a "holiday" (Friday), and that we needed to visit on a different day to see more activity. That was hardly anything we could have known in advance. He also disappeared whenever he "delivered" us to merchants he thought we should shop from. We loved the goats and the argan cooperative; Todra Gorge was excellent; we enjoyed the hammam in Marrakesh; and our overnight in the Sahara was probably the single most important experience.
Overall, the special attention we received throughout our trip, and particularly in Marrakesh, made us very glad we chose Kimkim and MOTB/Yassine and his team to make our arrangements.

Lena was so professional, quick, responsive, efficient, and helpful! When my driver was late by 30 minutes, I called her and she sprung into action. She provided excellent trip recommendations and feedback. Thank you LENA!

Everything was wonderful! Joseph was our guide and his knowledge of the area and animals was amazing. Wilson and William, our waiter and security to and from our tent, where very welcoming and fun to talk to. The views from our Chalet was unforgettable. Sunrise and sunsets were always surrounded my giraffes at Mara West.

Dear Kim Kim

I apologise for not writing before but my journey after Mongolia continued to China and I have had yet more adjustments to make and a culture shock as well! I may never have left Mongolia if such an opportunity existed. It is an exciting and beautiful country like no other and my visit there was in no small way life changing. That is to say I will never again look at a map of the world without my gaze first falling on Mongolia and being reminded of beauty and kindness. As far as Kim Kim is concerned my experience with planning the trip with Enguerran was first rate. He guided my expectations beautifully and without any pressure. He is a consummate professional and I will always be grateful to him for arranging this extraordinary holiday. Olongerel and Sambuu were our guide and driver respectively. I can honestly say that in the whole two week journey there was not a single moment when my sister and I were not cared for, looked after, made to feel safe, had our needs considered and catered to. It was hospitality of the highest order, always delivered with thoughtfulness, kindness and although it was - and felt like friendship - behind this was perfect professionalism that I have never experienced before in tourism. Me and my sister - who may well write separately, - we are now at opposite ends of the world - could not have been happier or more ecstatic with our Kim Kim Mongolian holiday and are planning another! Thank you to everyone but especially Enguerran, Olongerel and Sambuu who made everything possible. Victoria and Kitty

Martin was easily contactable and helpful in providing tours, and selected some perfect tours for us in the end. However it was hard to determine the exact day itineraries to see what was involved. It would have been useful to have been sent final overviews to what each day covered and what was included with more information than was provided. This lead to a bit of confusion on arrival as there was a misunderstanding of the plan for the day and being dropped at the hotel for lunch when we thought we were out all day, and when we were late being picked up on day 1 we weren't sure who to contact.

The local agency was very good - very knowledgeable guides and great trips.

Nathalie organised a wonderful trip for us. She was very responsive and everything was organised perfectly. We were very happy with all of the hotels, guides and activities. Nathalie called us at the beginning and end of the trip to make sure everything was ok so it was a very personalised experience. We loved Colombia, especially our time in the Amazon and will definitely go back.

The guides were all fantastic and look after us all very well.

We had a wonderful time with Responsible Treks!

Responsible Treks is a great touring company with a respectable business model and mission. By mainly hiring employees from a single, impoverished village high in the Himalayas, they are providing a way for members of the village to earn a living outside of the mountains. Our guide was Sonam and our porter was the famous dancing and singing Nirmal.

Our trek was a 7-day/6-night hike through the south Annapurna Conservation area. The highlight of the trip was being on top of Poon Hill for the morning sunrise! If the afternoon weather was clear, we would have tried to climb up for sunset instead - the mornings can be very crowded with fellow tourists. However, it was still well worth the climb.

We would choose Responsible Treks again!

A stand out negative- the Oscar hotel in Petra is not clean and is very tired and smoky. I asked for simple but clean. We ended up moving to the move pick for our second night. I would remove it from your hotel list.

We also had three different drivers all were nice and efficient but better to have one that can tell a few stories. They were very reliable and punctual though.

Otherwise Jordan was fantastic. Thank you.

The guides were excellent especially Chiring and KB. They were very attentive and helpful. The whole journey of trekking and places and people and views we passed thro were so awesome and amazing .

My wife and I just returned from a 12 day (Sept 30-Oct 12) road trip around the island of Sicily. We worked with Marianne to book our car, places to stay and visit, and local guides. I started to work with Marianne back in early 2018 and she delivered on all counts.

The itinerary for each day provided us many interesting things to do, as well as plenty of time for us to explore this beautiful island. All accommodations were very comfortable and inviting. There were a few in which we would gladly return without hesitation. Our local tour guides were excellent! We were with guides at the Vally of Temples, Villa d'Casele, Syracuse, and Palermo. It was great having our own guide, not like the oters in groups, 30-40, following one person. Our guides also knew of ways to bypass long lines, a great thing at the Valley f the Temples.

During the trip, Marianne was always just a text message away, but we didn't need much from her, since the trip was well planned in advance.

Overall, an excellent experience/vacation/trip! Our first time using KimKim, and not our last I'm sure.

Richard & Brigette

Max, the local specialist, did an outstanding job planning our two week tour through China. We moved around alot during the two weeks (planes, trains, boats, etc) and everything went smoothly. We were always met by local tour guides who ALL did a fantastic job showing us around China. Max put together a fantastic itinerary and even called us in China to make sure everything was going well. We will definately use KimKim again for future travels. (This will be our second trip using KimKim - my family visited Iceland in the summer of 2017). Iceland trip was outsanding too.

Ayu was so helpful and professional in booking our trip to Bali. With all the information available online, it is overwhelming to know where to go or what to do. She gave us invaluable information on which beach city was the least touristy and helped us come up with an itinerary that minimized travel time. Our Guide Leni and Driver Mady were so warm, personable and helpful throughout our trip. It was an amazing experience.

Jorge turned around a complete tour with under 24hrs notice. The tours were informative with great guides and delivered exactly what we asked for. Thanks!