Kimkim Trip Reviews

A great planning experience and an amazing trip. Thank you True Colombian Travel. The entire team was professional and personal and went beyond the extra mile to plan us the perfect Colombian adventure. They are there and touring you around. They are the perfect trip planners and guides. I can’t recommend them more. Responsive and flexible. We felt completely taken care of. Thank you.

Kimkim did not reply to emails. This was frustrating. James switched to Haley three weeks before the trip - we were not happy to have our specialist changed at the last minute without warning. We were disappointed in several aspects of the trip - neither James or Haley properly dealt with the following:
1. Informing us of luggage restrictions within Peru and our trip in particular
2. Informing us of the need for extra Peruvian currency in the small towns (and I asked about cash in advance)
3. Asking for and providing our seating preferences on domestic flights (no one wants a middle seat)
4. Informing us of the schedule/activities available at our resorts so that reservations could be made in advance to include limited enrollment tours and activities
5. The Inca Trail from the 104km point to Machu Picchu. This trail is very difficult - I was completely under-informed about the rigors of this hike (and I called and asked about it). James/Haley should understand their client base and plan accordingly -

Bottom line, I paid Kimkim/Quechua Treks a large sum of money and neither company met expectations.

Rolfi (Guide) was exceptional. His knowledge of the places we visited and his personality made for a memorable experience. He is easygoing, has a great sense of humor and was extremely flexible when we needed/wanted to make adjustments to the schedule. He was our guide when we arrived July 1st and our friend when we left July 7th.

Juan Carlos (driver) also took great care to make sure we got everywhere safely and even though his english is limited, we were able to have some good laughs.

Of course, we enjoyed the major sites/cities Rolfi took us to: Machu Picchu, Cusco, Ollantaytambo, etc. What we enjoyed most with Rolfi was when he took us off the "traditional tourist path" to local food and goods markets, restaurants, street food vendors, etc.

I would recommend anyone traveling to Peru to make sure Rolfi is their guide!

Where we do have issue is with the Kimkim - Quechua Treks relationship. We feel there are some areas where the trip could be enhanced - some of the little things that separate the good tour companies from the great tour companies. We paid Kimkim to connect us with a tour company and expected that company to be thorough in communicating all options, opportunities, etc. Naturally, these are issues specific to us and our travel experiences but I am certain many would have similar comments, namely:

1. When arranging the intra-country flights and train schedules, you should ask if travelers have a seating preference. On all internal flights, one of the seats was always a middle seat - very uncomfortable. You should have asked our seat preferences

2. Additional with number 1 above, you should advise price difference for various travel classes. Most people would not be opposed to a minimal upcharge for an upgraded, more comfortable class of travel

3. For meals that were included (we had 2 lunches at restaurants with Rolfi), we understand that alcoholic drinks are extra. However, you could include in the package pricing non-alcoholic drinks. It is one of those "little things" - if you charged me $5 - $10 more a day when we had a restaurant included meal and we could get water, tea, coffee, soda and not have to pay out of pocket, just makes sense. For the amount we paid for the trip, another $10 - $20 would not have been the difference between going and not going

4. With hotels you recommend, you should include an activity sheet for that property. We would have liked to know in advance all the available excursions @ Inketerra Pueblo Machu Picchu and Inketerra Amazonica, especially about the bear project excursion or at the Inketerra Pueblo. We missed out on a couple things we would have included. Knowing in advance helps planning for stays at the properties.

5. You should provide more specifics about baggage limitations for certain internal flights and limitations (train) for going from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu. Had we both done the hike from 104KM, there was no arrangement for bags to get to the hotel

6. We were advised we did not need much local currency almost everything was included. There were many places that took neither US dollars or credit cards so you need to review how you communicate the issue of cash needs.

Hoping these suggestions are helpful in improving your communications with future travelers. Overall, it was a fabulous experience. Rolfi is a tremendous asset to the company!

Please feel free to email or call if you would like to discuss any of these points further.

The information provided allowed us to make the best use of our short time in Iceland.

Fantastic travel planning by Clara and her team on our 15-day trip to Peru. They went above and beyond by helping us rearrange and rebook our schedule when our flight from Cuzco to Puerto Moldonado was cancelled because of weather conditions. They even helped up pick up our laundry and have it delivered to our hotel! I can't say enough good things about them. They helped make our trip to Peru amazing in every way.
We highly recommend them.

A TRULY MEMORABLE HOLIDAY — HVALA ANTE!

From the 2 weeks of planning to the duration of our holiday, Ante went well above and beyond his role of local specialist, which we never expected from someone we met for the first time!

He was consistently available to answer any and all questions; providing useful advice and numerous options for all aspects of the trip — activities, dining, transportation & alternatives when the weather presented setbacks. Indeed, despite thunderstorms delaying our transit via Zagreb, he kept us updated via messages on the status of the subsequent flights and ensured our safe arrival. Ante hand-picked our tour guides to best fit our requirements and personality, even guiding us through Split when he could have easily found someone to take his place — putting in extra effort with no hesitance. Throughout our numerous holiday stops, he would send regular messages to ensure our safe arrival and that all transportation and activities went over smoothly; always courteous and never forceful!

This holiday was also very special to me, because of my intention to propose to my girlfriend (now fiancé) — Ante proved a great asset; providing numerous ideas for romantic venues and settings throughout the trip, culminating in a wonderful sunset dinner atop Srđ Mountain overlooking the beautiful city of Dubrovnik where she would say yes! In her words: "the proverbial cherry on top, making an already fantastic holiday... perfect!"

Thanks to Ante's positive attitude, friendly demeanor, willingness to help, and passion for his role gave us peace of mind, but also a truly personal level of attention reserved to family and friends: which is how we both felt after leaving Croatia — we visited a truly beautiful country and wonderful friend!

Our Norway trip was incredible and absolutely spectacular! Alesund is a very beautiful town with great seafood and views, and the fjords and natural scenaries in Trollstigen, Geiranger, and Fjærland were breathtaking and unparalleled to many other places I’ve been! Hotels were really nice with great amenities and views. Our trip would not have happened without our local specialist Ingrid’s awesome service. She is attentive, informative, and supportive end-to-end, from initial planning to adhoc support throughout the trip and we ended the trip with a nice personal touch, i.e., grabbing lunch with Ingrid at a nice local cafe in Bergen. Thanks Ingrid for your detailed planning and support, and for making this trip memorable for us!

This was an incredibly well planned trip that was so enjoyable and excellent. Our guides were so knowledgeable and went at our own pace. Never rushed and each one was early every morning so no stress! Tatiana took us to the gold museum in bogota and her in depth knowledge made the next days trip to guaatavita very meaningful. We also went with her to la calenderlaria and the botero museum. The salt cathedral and guatavita are a must see. A highlight was the days we spent with David in the Corcora valley. We had an intimate coffee experience and amazing hike in the unique Corcora wax palm valley. David is so warm and enthused about his country and made the experience very personal with a coffee experience in pihao with a local farmer. In Cartagena the two best tours was a day trip to the sport baru hotel in the Rosario islands and the fishing with locals in la boquilla. Nathalie checked in on us was very responsive and definitely partnered with first class locals for the tours. It exceeded our expectations in every way!

I was a little skeptical initially about using Kim kim to assist w my travel planning as I had never heard of them and the 2 local travel agents that I know had not heard of them either. My family decided that Romania would be an interesting place to visit, but our local travel agents knew nothing about it and I was at a loss when attempting to plan the trip myself, using travel guide books etc.

I found Kim Kim while doing internet searches about travel planning for Romania. Kim kim connected me to a local travel guide, Raluca Teodor who was very helpful and responsive. Kim kim also was extremely helpful and responsive when I contacted them initially, they returned my calls and answered my questions about how their service worked immediately and then followed up with emails to be sure that all my questions were answered. I felt reassured that they were a legitimate company and I could feel secure in using their service to plan our vacation for our family, which ended up including 5 adults ranging in age from 25-70.

Raluca assisted me in planning every step of our trip including hotel transfers, itinerary, hotel and guest house bookings and suggestions for activities. The planning was made more difficult as everyone had different travel schedules and to make it back to Bucharest to go home at different intervals during the trip. Every hotel or guest house booked was clean, in a nice location and included a free, very nice breakfast. The guest houses provided home cooked dinners as well, preparing local specialties and some of them even provided picnic lunches. Romania is a beautiful country with many of the same attractions of other European destinations, including several Unesco designated sites, but at about 1/3 the price. We found many english speakers, especially among the younger people, though not as much as other European countries, we had wi fi in most of our accommodations. It was great to stay in the guest houses with the local people and learn some of their customs.

We enjoyed Transylvania which is beautiful and maybe the most populated area in Romania, but we also loved Bucovina for the painted monasteries and Maramures for the wooden churches and observing how the local people still dress in their traditional clothing, work in the fields daily and use horses and carts to transport hay and other products of their daily work. Romania is a great combination of old world charm with modern conveniences in most places. It was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to go somewhere a little off the grid but without too much roughing it.

We were pleased with all parts of the trip. All the guides were accommodating and interesting, they all helped with interests and attention span of the young children of our group. The hotels were located in convenient locations, easy walks to and from trains and ferry. Linda had great ideas for us and put it all together....even delivered train and ferry tickets to us. The mini bus tours were perfect, just long enough for families and to places hard to reach other ways. All members of my family were pleased with the trip and the pace of the trip

The whole trip was amazing and this will go in the list of the best holidays I have ever done. The trip was well organised and detailed, down to the time in which I had to catch a train or a bus. This was most helpful. The stay at the three mountain hotels/huts (Haugastol, Geiterygahytte and Osterbo) was most pleasantly surprising. I was expecting something rougher, but rooms and food especially were amazing. Same for the Ronda Hoyfjellshotell in the second to last day. Our preferred spot was in Kalvag. We loved it and we may go back there as it was a real paradise.

Linda was super helpful in designing the holiday and in creating the itinerary. She was patient with the changes I asked her to do and was very responsive.

The only suggestions for improvement are:
- the hut suggested for stop in the second hiking day (Stein Bergdal) did not appear to be open to the public. Other hikers stopped there but ended up eating outside on the grass like us. I think it needs to be clear that there are no hospitality places where one can stop. It helps setting up the right pace and mindset at the beginning of the hike
- all the hiking times are excluding stops and probably it is better to specify it
- the hike on the third day was too optimistic and strongly not recommended by the staff in the hut where we stayed overnight. It was possible to do it with no stops and no time for contingency, but it also required leaving at 8 am. Breakfast only gets served from 8! so we shortened it and we took the bus earlier in a spot suggested by the staff in Osterbo
- the overview of Bergen was good and with interesting insights in the culture. I would have probably cut a bit certain areas less interesting and added the bit around the old harbour. Also, I would have liked to hear more about the history. There was no coffee and cake :-(

Overall I thought Ethical Travel Portal was great and I would recommend them to friends. I would recommend Linda to anyone who wants to go to Norway.

Cuba was amazing! Magalys our tour guide did an excellent job taking us to the best spots in Habana like La bodeguita del Medio ( live music and mojitos), delicious lunch at Chanchullero de Alamar and the highlight of the entire day was the ride on the classic car. A very unique, unforgettable and emotional experience.

I had a great time in Colombia. Angel was a remarkable guide who was able to cater to our group in an expert way. Each driver was skilled and they were fun to talk with. The Sierra Nevada in Santa Marta was beautiful and all of the hotels that Juan recommended were great.

We called in your office twice on Friday 29th but it was closed, so here is our report!

The trip was well planned and everything worked.
The hotels were all of good quality and in central locations.
The guest houses were well appointed, welcoming and with good food.
Breakfast at the Zograf in Tryavna was inadequate and we had to buy some fruit and yogurt to top up.
We felt that we had a good insight into the country, it's people and culture.
All trains ran to schedule and whereas we had no problems at all, some clients could find it a little uncertain due to language and alphabet differences.

Suggestion at Rila Monastery - room reservation doesn't open until 2 pm and there is no provision for left luggage before that time.

Overall we had a very good time despite the poor weather at the end.

Amazing trip - Norway is incredibly beautiful! The trip was amazing - perfectly planned to see the countryside. Linda was responsive and customized our trip perfectly.

We had a fabulous 5 days in Sri Lanka. The set up of our itinerary by Sandun was expertly done and contact with Sandun was extremely easy. The accommodation choices were super. Each of the hotels chosen were great places to stay and the people there were extremely friendly and accommodating. Our driver/guide, Tony did a fantastic job. We cannot recommend him highly enough. The various places we were taken to along the way were all great places to visit. We thoroughly recommend using Kimkim for any visit to Sri Lanka.

An amazing trip! We had two great guides that showed us a lot. Dario was out first guide through Quito, the Highlands, and the jungle. He was very knowledgeable! Ivan was our guide in the Galapogos. He certainly knew his birds.

Tanzania and the national parks truly were unforgettable. Our driver / guide Living was great and PK Tours did a good job arranging everything. Bianca also was very communicative and planned an unforgettable trip. Thanks!

Yi was a great tour resource for our family. He recommended great places for lunch, things that our kids would enjoy and the providers were on time and friendly. Yi was also able to converse very well in English. Our specific tour guide (Kai) was very knowledgeable as a local to the Beijing area. Thank you Kai!

Now for the great disappointment... We spent an extraordinary amount of money to have a lifetime helicopter tour of the Great Wall. What we paid for was a 30 minute tour but the reality is that we only had 10 minutes hovering around the densely populated tourist part of the wall. We would have expected to see more of the expanse of the Great Wall rather than just circling the tourist area 3 times and calling it a day. It was a complete rip off and disappointment. Don't do it unless you really don't want to walk all the steps (which we did and was amazing).

Clara planned a perfect getaway for the few days that we were there. A sightseeing excursion that included lunch and a Pisco sour tasting, a bike ride through the city and then a ride to an ancient ruins sight. It was perfect for our time there.