Indochina Odyssey Tours Reviews 319

When I first contacted Indochina Odyssey Tours, I'll admit I was wary since it was hard for me to put so much trust (not to mention money) in an online travel company based overseas. It was finding so many positive reviews and mentions on BBC Travel that made me take the leap. I am so glad that I did and I wanted to write this review so that if others were wary like I was, that they too can trust and work with Indochina Odyssey Tours as well.

For the private tour trip to Thailand and Bali I was paired with Alick Peng as my travel consultant. I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Alick - he always responded in a very timely fashion (usually under 12 hours, never more than 24 - even on weekends), was very thorough and went above and beyond in going through the process and understanding what we wanted out of a trip (it was our honeymoon) and then putting together a perfect itinerary. I think we went through 3-4 different versions of the trip before finally getting our final, but I never felt pressured by Alick or felt any sales push, it was genuinely just trying to help us enjoy our trip. I want to note as well, when booking the hotels I believe Alick informed all of them that we were on our honeymoon so we had gestures from each hotel in our room to help us celebrate, which was a fantastic touch from both Alick and the hotels themselves.

Our trip began in Bangkok where we were met by our driver and local guide, Ms. Emmy. Both were incredibly professional and very knowledgeable about the area and went above and beyond in welcoming us to the city. The tours and sites we visited were immensely improved upon with the background and history Ms. Emmy could provide. The highlight of this portion of the trip was definitely the historical temples in Ayutthaya.

Our next stop was Chiang Rai and then Chiang Mai where we met our guide Maya (again incredibly professional and knowledgeable). I can't say enough about how beautiful this part of Thailand is and how much we were able to see, from the Mae Salong Village (including an extra unplanned stop at a tea plantation which was a highlight), the border with Myanmar and the Golden Triangle. Completely by accident while we were there it was the Loi Krathong festival (if you have the chance to - fantastic time to travel here), and Maya gave us the history as well as helped us take part in the traditions of it. The planned boat cruise through the heartland, visiting the local Karen Tribes was a great change of pace, ending at the Thaton Temple with its picturesque views. The final full day visit to the Elephant Nature Park is something that we will always remember and cherish as the absolute top experience of the trip.

Our last stop was to Bali where we stayed in Ubud. Our guide was Gede Pariasa, who was amazing in his local knowledge and friendliness. We visited during the Mt. Agung evacuation zone/warnings so there was last minute changes to our itinerary, but again Alick and team were fantastic in keeping in touch with us and updated. Alick was great in asking us "What would you like to do, here are also some ideas as well" and this actually ended up with us visiting a coffee plantation (Kopi Luwak is amazing) as well as enjoying a long lunch overlooking Lake Batur and the mountains, definitely the scenic highlight of the trip. Bali we did more adventuring on our own and had some downtime as it was the end of our trip, but I cannot say enough good things about Mr. Pariasa (another highlight, upon hearing we wanted to try Durian on our way to the hotel after landing, he remembered this and on our last outing with him we stopped at a side street where a woman was selling fresh fruit - definitely try it!).

All in all we had the trip of a lifetime. The hotels selected, even though we went with the 3-star accommodations (we went to adventure not stay in a room!) were absolutely top notch - better than 4 star hotels I have stayed at in the states - not to mention all were centrally located and allowed for us to do many things at night just by walking out the door. I can't say enough good things about Indochina Odyssey Tours, all of our guides and especially Alick who helped make all of this possible.

To those of you looking to make a trip to this area, I highly recommend Indochina Odyssey Tours, and I would also recommend the private guided tours - all the hassle of transportation, entrance fees were completely taken care of allowing us to enjoy the experience, not to mention the added benefits of having such knowledgeable local guides. We are definitely going to contact Alick and team for our next trip to this part of the world!

Lisa Ling has been outstanding in her help to us to put together a wonderful tour of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia to meet our requirements. Always attentive to our needs and follow up fantastic. A real pleasure to work with her. She is a great representative of Odyssey Tours and 100% portrays your recipe for success in this competitive business.
Steve Miller

This was our first trip with Odyssey and it certainly will not be the last. We were given a local guide, driver and an air conditioned car (much welcomed in Vietnam where we experienced 94% humidity and 32 deg C temperatures some days). Our guides met us when they were supposed to, went out of their way to assist us and ensure that we knew where to go on our personal time. They were knowledgeable and friendly and were happy to change the itinerary when we asked. Our travel agent, Liz was very responsive; queries were answered usually within 12 hours and she asked great questions to provide us with the trip of a lifetime.

Allison has been wonderful, supportive and helpful.
Two thumbs up!

Indochina Odyssey took us to fascinating places with absolute reliability. When our hotel was caught in rising flood waters during a typhoon, they were in constant touch with the hotel staff to make sure we were taken to another, safe hotel. It was very, very reassuring to have them behind us.

My wife and I have used Indochina Odyssey Tours for two separate tours, one in Vietnam and the other in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. We have been delighted with the service we received for both tours. Our IOT Travel Consultant was very helpful in the planning of our customized tours and very prompt and thorough in answering all of our questions. Our tour guides were excellent and the accommodations that IOT arranged for us (overnight lodging in hotels and meals) were wonderful. We will certainly use IOT for any other tours that we take in the future in Southeast Asia and we highly recommend IOT to other travelers!

We are usually independent travelers, but this was our first visit to Vietnam and so we opted for a private tour with Odyssey, who came highly recommended by friends. So here are some thoughts about various aspects of the tour:

Itinerary: We chose the 14-day Best of Vietnam & Cambodia tour as it offered so many exciting destinations - Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Danang, Saigon and then to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. What an itinerary - it was just incredible, and every day memorable. So this tour was a great choice.

Planning: Our travel consultant Eric was very accommodating and worked with us to refine our itinerary to suit our preferences. We rearranged a few things, and wanted this and that, and Eric always gave very fast turn-around on all our email enquiries and questions and changes - often within the hour. When we weren’t sure he gave us costed alternatives so we could decide. He was very professional.

Guides: Our local guides were absolutely outstanding. We have nothing but praise for them all. They were fonts of knowledge and history, courteous and helpful, and very friendly. We have memorable moments with them all, particularly cycling with Will around Hoi An; the Mekong tour with Mia; to and from Halong Bay with Robert; water puppets in Hanoi with Namh; and visiting Angkor Wat with Khemrint where other tourists would listen over our shoulders to his authoritative descriptions of the stories about the temples, statues and carvings.

Drivers: Our drivers were splendid and we always felt safe and secure. Clearly there are very experienced and know all the local tricks. They were always courteous and attentive with opening doors and handing out drinks and umbrellas.

Hotels: We accepted Eric's recommendations here and all the hotels were excellent. The only change we would make, and it is in hindsight, is in Hoi An where we would stay nearer to town, as this is a better base for bicycle rides. But this is a location issue, not a criticism of the lovely hotel there.

Meals: We had a lunch stop every day and the meals were always great. We could not fault them. They always showed off fine Vietnamese cuisine, plus the local specialties. We wished we had had an extra day in Hoi An as we would have arranged to do a cooking class there.

Trouble-Shooting: We had a challenging moment in Danang when an airline cancelled our flight at the last minute. Rearranging our flights was not straight-forward and in the end we needed a connecting flight and a terminal change in HCMC, with only 20 minutes to do so. We could not have been happier with how Odyssey, and Linh in particular, liaised with the two airlines to switch our flights, and then coordinate people to be on the ground in HCMC to meet us on arrival and ferry us to our connecting flight. Eric also phoned us to double check all was OK and that we were happy were the alternative arrangements. It was simply fabulous service.

So, we thoroughly recommend Odyssey, and will definitely travel with them again in the future. It might be Laos or China, perhaps a multi-day private tour and maybe just a day tour to a special destination, but we will certainly work with them to plan some future adventure.

Dealing with Liz on almost a daily basis (by email) to get our trip to the north of Vietnam organized, was totally effortless! Liz replied quickly and with much detail. She took our comment and questions to heart and always came up with a great solution! We loved the trip we finally put together and will definitely return to another part of Vietnam!

I would highly recommend Indochina Odyssey Tours. They took care of every detail both large and small and made our travel experience wonderful. Liz Ling represented your company in fine fashion. She was very knowledgeable, experienced in her job and an absolute pleasure to work with. I look forward to the opportunity to recommend Indochina Odyssey to others. Please tell Liz how grateful we are for her service. We made great lifelong memories as a result of her dedication. Sincerely, Stephen Flynn

We worked with Liz Ling of Odyssey Indochina tours . She arranged an 11 day custom tour of Vietnam and Cambodia for us in February 2017. She provided excellent service. She was very responsive to our needs and prompt with e mail responses. She guided us to design the tour with a slower pace as one of us had mobility issues.
We are pleased with the service and are now working with her towards a Malaysia and Bali trip for 2018.

Great service! From the time we booked to the day we left Vietnam. Excellent balance of food, culture, shopping, history and relaxation. Loved every minute.

Wonderful trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Our personal travel agent, Liz Ling, planned a perfect itinerary for us that was both interesting and thoughtful. We have recommended this company to our friends unreservedly.

great service.good price.very friendly staff liz ling helped in the organization of my whole trip to south east asia.
highly recommend her Liz Ling an Odyssey Travel Consultant for all your travels.i did give her name to our neighbors.

They are the most helpful travel company I have ever used and the quality was first class.

Perfect organization; professional team

Just booked at a 12 day tour to Cambodia and Thailand with Allison Chiang! The trip is truly custom made and flexible. We had to alter the dates and locations a few times before settling to the current itinerary. She responds quickly and gives concise answers. Will update more once we return from the trip!

My experience so far with Indochina Odyssey Tours has been great. Allison Chiang is very responsive and diligent in following up. She has also put together exactly the tour we asked for at a reasonable price. I can't wait to take the tour next month.

Odessey always gives us the best service and care for us.

I have had amazing service from Liz. All my questions were answered promptly, all the documents were clear and itinerary detailed. Very friendly and helpful with changes to itinerary. I was a little wary about dealing with an overseas provider initially but was very satisfied with this company. I would recommend highly to others. Thanks to Liz for tailoring out trip to our needs.

My wife & I have recently returned from a 17 day private tour of Vietnam arranged through Indochina Odyssey Tours and we have no hesitation in recommending them and their services to others who may be considering a visit there. The trip was arranged via email with our consultant Liz Ling, who was incredibly helpful as we negotiated where to go, where to stay, what to see etc.etc. Our trip started in Hanoi and included Sapa, Halong Bay, Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, Hue, Hoi An & Ho Chi Minh City, including a day trip down to the Mekong delta. In every location we were met and escorted by knowledgable, English speaking guides and experienced drivers in late model air conditioned vehicles. They were always punctual and had a good knowledge of each area we visited, but they also had a great sense of humor, which made the trip an even better experience. Accomodation & activities were excellent in each location. Lunches were magnificent - no complaints whatsoever. The guides even assisted us with the checking in process on each of our airport transfers - one could not ask for any more! A truly wonderful holiday because of IndoChina Odyssey and their staff.