Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our Multisport Adventure Tour dome by Adventure Journeys was just superb! Our guide, Paul Aguilar was top notch - very professional, attentive, informative, mechanical, humorous and so knowledgeable about so many Ecuadorian things. He repaired broken bike chains, assisted in dealing with my Canon camera service issue in Quito, and guided us strongly in each of the sports. He became a friend. He deserves a huge raise in salary! He also convinced us that everything ever invented started in Ecuador!! Our driver, Alejandro, was superb as well - the guy can drive!! He handled our bus so well, at all times, and helped us all if we needed it. He also deserves a huge raise in salary!!

We visited Jordan and Israel. From the very beginning to the end Lena was amazing. Very quick to respond, accommodating, flexible and highly professional. She answered all of our questions effectively and organized specific individual requests we had. In both countries the service was lovely, comfortable and high end. Thank you Lena for your hard work! We had a blast!

I have been all over the world but my recent trip to Myanmar was truly something special. From the very beginning Shu Shwe Yee and Linn Linn were very hands on in helping me plan my perfect personalized trip. They were always available to quickly answer any questions, make any itinerary changes, and offer local advice. Everything about the trip happened without any incidents and I knew i was in good hands the entire time. I was able to enjoy Yangon, Bagan, and the Mandalay area on my trip. My only regret was that i did not have enough time to visit Inle Lake. By far the highlight was my two full days in Bagan. My guide, Mr. Aung Soe Min, was the best guide i ever had. He was able to personalize my experience based on my preferences. I told him that i was really into photography and he was able to show me the best places to capture the beauty of the land and include the locals in there as well. He gave me different options on things to do and the information i needed to make an informed decision. I also really enjoyed how he was able to include unique experiences with the locals that were different from the usual temple itinerary. I highly recommend using this company while in Myanmar and to spend more than a week here. Plenty to see and the people are very friendly. I felt safe and secure the entire trip.

Valentin gave us an itinerary that well suited our needs. We were able to cover a lot of territory in a relatively short stay. All of our reservations and arrangements went according to plan. A highlight in the South Island was the cruise on Milford Sound, but the overall scenery was very beautiful. We appreciated that city accommodations were on the edge of town to avoid city driving. In the North Island we especially enjoyed the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Hobbiton and also a day trip we took took to Waipu. Again the scenery was absolutely beautiful all along the way.

I had a great experience with Drive Albania on my whirlwind three-day car tour. Ed responded promptly to my inquiry about a custom tour for a single traveler in the off-season. The company built an excellent and ambitious itinerary which they fulfilled. My guide Ardi was enthusiastic, patient, and ever attentive. I highly recommend this company!

Great trip. Expensive for what you got. Most tents and sites were available and empty. Had been , prepaid for by guide companies, who monopolize the park. Locals would not let anyone stay in open sites if they did not have a reservation. Everyone we talked to had great difficulty getting reservation on their own. Drove the cost up exponentially. Kimkim was great to work with and tried to help with costs. Tent sites were the best vs. Made beds in dorms and snorers. Dittmar was ok. The sandwich they gave us the day before at orientation was bad by the next day. Totally soggy with tomatoes,cucumbers. Transportation in the park was not always on time as stated. Buses didn't run sometimes and neither did the ferry. A lot of standing around and waiting for it.

My wife and I spent a wonderful 10 days in Cambodia in Feb 2019 on a trip designed by Steve to see as much of the "authentic Cambodia" as we could in the limited time we had in-country. In short, to say that we enjoyed the trip would be an understatement. Steve's local knowledge and expert planning made all the difference - we hadn't been to Cambodia before so his suggestions and recommendations were absolutely invaluable. Our guides (Reya in Phnom Penh and Dy in Battambang / Siem Reap) and drivers were just fantastic, and all trip logistics (transport, hotels, restaurants/cultural events etc) were impeccably handled. Our trip really wouldn't have been the same without Steve's input...
We started the visit in Phnom Penh (to avoid the Chinese New Year tourist crush in Siem Reap) and had a great visit with Reya to the Royal Museum, National Museum, and the S21 Detention Centre and Killing Fields (pretty depressing, but obviously an important part of the country's recent history). Next was Battambang with Dy, in which we experienced the French colonial centre, saw the nearby bat caves at dusk (pretty amazing natural phenomenon), took a ride on the Bamboo train, and did a bike tour through local communities to see how they produce rice paper and other local products. Also saw the Phare circus one evening - definitely recommended.
Then onwards to Siem Reap to see some of the Temples of Angkor, including Angkor Wat. Totally amazing complex and history - with some of the oldest temples in the area dating back some 1,000 years - but the truth is you'd really need months to see everything! We also spent a morning on the Tonle Sap lake, which included a visit to the village of Kompong Khleang (only possible to drive through in the dry season when the lake level is at its lowest). Here we had a really heartwarming experience - whilst checking out the local fish drying process on an extremely hot day, a fortuitous encounter with lots of kids coming out of school and an ice cream vendor lead to about 70 ice creams being handed out to all the kids in town (plus a few adults as well). The cost was nothing but the happiness generated was incredible.
Aside from the sites we visited and the local cuisine, one of the highlights for us was the Cambodian people themselves - incredibly friendly, dignified, hard working. Truly amazing people.
But back to the overall trip - I can't emphasize the value of Steve's local knowledge in making this trip so memorable for us. I would highly recommend - especially for first time travellers to Cambodia - booking through Steve. And as for us, we will certainly be back in Cambodia sometime soon!

After some initial communication difficulties, Preeti’s responsiveness and the kimkim mail system greatly facilitated the trip experience. She did very well given that we were widely dispersed geographically and somewhat unsure of exactly what we wanted to do. In the end though, the whole trip came together really well.

Preeti excelled herself with the choice of guide, Arun Panicker. His maturity, experience and responsiveness were absolutely perfect for the ages of our group. And on top of all that, his excellent command of English and knowledge of all aspects of India made the trip highly educational and much more enjoyable than just a temple visit focused experience that it might have been under a different type of guide or tour leader.

Steve and Katy at Kim Kim made the planning for our first trip to South America incredibly easy. They sorted out everything for our 8 day trip - hotels, transfers (planes, trains and buses), entrance tickets to all the sites and most meals. We saw most of what there was to see in the Rainforest with our guide Yuri, who was amazing with a machete! Aldo took us around Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Moray and Machu Picchu; sharing with us interesting history about the Incas. He even climbed Huayna Picchu with us.

Thank you all for making our trip so memorable!

Sent from my iPad

A big thank you to the KimKim team for the planning, organisation and great communication that went into making our 5 weeks in Namibia a truly memorable trip. From the first contact, throughout our requests for changes and alternate itineraries, nothing seemed like it was too much trouble for Tara and Deborah.

Everything around our self drive Safari/Tour was exceedingly well planned and co-ordinated with a perfectly suited vehicle, that was ideal for the conditions and well equipped. Their local representatives were both very friendly, helpful and informative, which added to the overall sense of confidence in the planning and the enjoyment of the tour.

The trip turned out to be excellent. There was some confusion re the booking at first regarding the tickets for the plane and the fact they wanted photo copies of our passports, never done before but we later found out it is required by the Police.

So at first a bit of a lack of confidence that all would not be as good as expected or that the trip and people would turn up.

Both trips were excellent and we got exactly what we asked for.

The trip to Giza had a guide who thought he was in a lecture theatre at first but came around after a while.

Yes I would recommend Kim Kim

Overall the trip was absolutely amazing. It was also very easy to organise the trip through Kim Kim.
Two things to note were that on one day we sat on the boat stationary for 6 hours without a guide and weren't able to do anything as we waited for others to arrive.

Secondly, on our itinerary it was different to the itinerary the boat had for us on the last day. We had to go off by ourselves to see the tortoises and meant we were additionally out of pocket to go see this site as another place was planned for the others. This was our last chance to see them so we had to do it at this time. The people on the boat said this was an issue with the people who made our booking.

Other than that, was a great trip.

Thanks for everything.

Ben

Our recent 17 day tour in Myanmar was superb. Anne, our 4 guides and 4 drivers made us feel like royalty. We have never had the luxury of a private tour for 2 before and we have now been well and truly spoilt. The local people of Myanmar, the sights, the food - quite the experience. Thank you for having us.

My father and I spent 11 days traveling around Morocco with kimkim and had an absolutely incredible time. Right from the start, our local specialist, Brahim, was attentive to our questions and priorities, responsive and very patient as we put together our itinerary. Our trip was planned last minute-- we only had about 3 weeks between the time we contacted kimkim to when we landed in Casablanca, and kimkim was able to cater to our spontaneity, customizing the perfect trip for us. Brahim checked in with us several times throughout our trip to make sure things were going well and we always felt looked after.

Our driver, Amine, was polite, always on time, and flexible if we wanted to change plans or linger in one place. It wasn't long before he felt like a trusted friend. Most importantly-- he was a VERY safe driver-- particularly in Marrakech we were impressed with his driving skills, where the roads are chaotic. Getting to know Amine was one of the highlights of our trip.

Our tour guide in Fes, Hafid, blew us away. He was knowledgeable, charming, and spoke English very well. He was also very flexible with how long the tour lasted-- we didn't feel rushed and he kept asking if there were other things we'd like to see. We couldn't have enjoyed the Medina nearly as much without his local insight.

We chose 3* accommodations and found them perfectly adequate for a father/daughter duo. Always central to wherever we were staying, sparkling clean, with friendly staff and a delicious, fresh breakfast. The riads in Rabat (Dar Alia) and Fes (Perle de la Medina) were breath taking.

It's difficult to pick a most memorable place-- but I think I enjoyed Fes the most. We stumbled upon Cafe Clock; we actually went there twice for dinner because we enjoyed the vibe so much.

Speaking of restaurants-- the only negative about the overall experience I can think of was the surprising lack of diversity in cuisine. It seemed like almost everywhere we were taken to, tagine was the main offering, and after the first 1-2 times of tagine I craved something different, but did not find much variation. We didn't often pick where we ate for lunch (and we would have no resources to know where to go anyway), so I don't if it's just the way moroccan food is, or if it was because of the specific places we were taken to. So unless you know you love tagine, try to make sure your meals have some variation, even if that means eating non-Moroccan food at times. I think we liked cafe clock so much (we went 4 times! 2x in Fes and 2x in Marrakech) because their menu had interesting things to offer besides tagine, and you could tell it had a youthful, cultural community vibe.

Overall a 10/10 for kimkim and all our guides and the people who made our trip unforgettable! Thank you so much!

Holly

We could not have been more pleased with our experience with Karin, Ariel (our guide), and the people of Cuba. It was an enlightening trip where we learned far more than we ever thought we would about the little island to the south.

Karin’s itinerary was well thought out and tailored to meet our interests. She was a pleasure to work with.

Ariel was extremely informative and passionate about his home country. He was interested in learning of the differences in our cultures and governments while teaching us about his. We felt a special bond with him, as he went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and valued. We cannot day enough good things about him. He is a very special person and embodies the welcoming spirit of the Cuban people.

Odalys was a gracious and hospitable casa proprietor. Although there was quite a language barrier, she was eager to [enthusiastically] ensure our comfort. The breakfast at her casa was lovely and served in her beautiful dining room where we met some very friendly French tourists.

The Iberostar receives top marks for cleanliness and comfort. The staff was lovely, the beach was breathtaking, and the food was delightful.

I was sad to leave but I look forward to one day returning to Cuba.

From beginning to end, we were extremely well taken care of. From our first communication, Yassine patiently helped us prepare an itinerary that was perfect for our group. Once we arrived in Morocco, everything was seamless and well organized. Our driver Mohamed was polite, helpful and charming. He helped make the long drives between cities enjoyable, and assured that we were always comfortable. We were quite pleased with the selection of riads; all three were beautiful and special, each in their own way. Guides were polite and well-informed. Ali in Marrakech did a great job choosing restaurants for us, and we had a few memorable and delicious dining experiences thanks to him.

All in all, we had an excellent trip, and were extremely satisfied with the level of service from KimKim. We would do it all over again if we could.

Thank you for an wonderful experience!!

Dan planned my whole trip to the Philippines and it was exactly how I wanted it to be. He was very knowledgeable about all the places we talked about and made good suggestions of what we should do if I was unsure about anything. I would highly recommend Kimkim to all my family and friends as they tailor the trip to whatever your needs are. I am very happy. Thank you so much will definitely be booking with KimKim again

Where do we begin?!

From the moment we were greeted by Mohammed, our driver, at the airport, our driver/guide throughout the trip made us feel extremely comfortable from the start. Mohammed was on-time and ready to go as we left the airport and took us to our transportation which was as described by our local specialist Radia - a spacious and modern Mercedes van. The vehicle was fully supplied with fresh snacks, cold water and charging ports for our phones. The wifi was extremely helpful and worked throughout our entire trip! Mohammed made sure our ride to the hotel was smooth and along the way began talking to us about Morocco and its rich history, culture and surrounding areas. For the entire trip, Mohammed was ready and always EARLY for all of our trips. We visited 4 cities - Marrakech, Casablanca, Chefchaouen, Tangier. Mohammed was accommodating throughout the entire trip.

All the accommodations that were selected and booked met or exceeded our expectations and we were delighted to stay in locations that were central to where we wanted to be, yet distant enough from the hustle and bustle of the cities. We were impressed by the seamless check-in/check-out processes at each stay, the friendly hotel staff and their willingness to accommodate all requests. At the local Riad's we enjoyed amazing teas and Moroccan desserts. All the rooms selected met our needs and was spacious and clean.

Our various tour guides were all amazing. Ahmed, in the city of Marrakesh, was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and eager to share his knowledge and history of Morocco and its amazing historical sites. Lotfi, our tour guide in Chefchaouen, was an amazing person, super friendly, personable and did an amazing job of photographing our time in the 'Blue City'. Lotfi was accommodating to all of our requests, was extremely well known throughout the city and clearly had a passion for showing us all that the Blue City has to offer. We spent about 5 hours with him and he did a great job.

The food in Morocco is truly amazing. All the selections made by Radia that were included in the package were well selected and did not disappoint. The selections for the lunch and/or dinners were perfect for each occasion. Both Rick's Café & Rhizlane were truly amazing for us. While we enjoyed all of the locations, these two stood out the most for it's quality of food and locations. We truly couldn't have picked better places to eat and enjoy local Moroccan cuisine.

Overall, we highly recommend utilizing KimKim for this or any other trip. We can't wait to not only come back to Morocco but also using KimKim for other future adventures. It was our first time using the site and while hesitant at first, we truly do not regret using the service and only wish now we could have found it sooner to have booked our other vacations in the past! This was truly an unforgettable experience as we went to celebrate my birthday! We truly encourage anyone to consider KimKim for taking care of it all and just sit back and relax and know that your interests and needs will be fully taken care of and far exceed your expectations on your trip!

My trip to Jordan was one of the best trips I ever had, from the beginning the web side was very easy to get the information I needed, Carmen the specialist in Jordan helped me get the most of my trip planning and informing me of my best options.
In Amman the driver Mustafa who pick me up at the airport and drove me to Petra was very friendly and helpful during the time he was with me I wish he would have been with me all the time.
Over all it was a great trip.

Our Driver Manoj,
The guide in Coimbetore Prkash,
City foods guide Sounder,
Sundar in Trichy,
They were great and courteous, knowledgable and eager to show us things around.
Prakash in coimbatore specially was a superb fine young man.
Hats off to the whole team!