Indochina Uncovered In 19 Days - Cambodia, Vietnam & Laos

Customer Reviews

• DF

  David

  · February 10th, 2025
  We have wanted to visit Angkor Wat for some time and January seemed like a good season for a visit (dry & not too hot.) Cambodia is a long flight from London, so we thought we'd visit Vietnam and Laos too and we found this trip on tourradar. This was the only tour I could find that did all three countries - a week in each country seemed to be a perfect split. This was advertised (or tourradar) as a 'group tour' but it is actually a private tour - we had our own guides and our own car & driver in each location. As a private tour, this is incredibly good value for money and it means you have a lot more flexibility. The guides were all local to the cities we visited (& were locally qualified & authorised tourist guides.) We were assigned a tour manager (Than) who was very helpful in customising some of the tour and building the final itinerary. Throughout the tour, he kept in touch by WhatsApp and also seemed to be checking on the local guides. As Realistic Asia are based in Hanoi, we got to meet him one afternoon after our tour THE TOUR: it seems to cover all the top attractions at most of the cities we visited, but with only a week in each country we realised there is still plenty more to see, so we'll probably come back another time. We saw the Mekong River again and again - it's a huge part of the Siem Reap & Angkor Wat was amazing and we saw three other temples the same day. There are still plenty more we didn't see, but you can get a bit "templed out" after about 7 hours, so we saw as much as we wanted to and came back to the hotel for an afternoon by the pool. The next day we had an ox cart ride through nearby farmland; we saw the floating villages (& crocodile farm) on Tenlé Sap; the local markets and a craft centre where you see how all the stone & wood carvings are made. You could easily spend more than a week in Siem Reap and see more temples with different activities on other days. We had a quick tour of Phnom Penh, but weren't there long enough to visit the 'killing fields' genocide centre. On to southern Vietnam: we arrived in Chau Doc by boat and then did a tour of a Cham village (local Muslim ethnic group) across the Mekong and visited a fish farm. The next day we went to a nature reserve and saw lots of birds. We then flew to Hoi An and a 'rest day' (no tours). Finally flew to Hanoi where we had a trip to the country to see a tea plantation, talk to a war veteran, discover how they make rice whiskey and help cook a (huge) meal. The food was local, but seems very similar to Chinese food. There was a option to cycle round the village, but we just walked to a farm making tofu. The next day we stayed overnight on a cruise boat around Halong Bay - seeing massive Karg rock islands and caves. Next we went to Laos - much quieter & less hectic than Vietnam. Most of the tourists here were French. We saw lots of waterfalls; a bear sanctuary; Hmong ethnic village; a lovely and relaxing boat trip on the Mekong to see some caves & have lunch; and, of course, lots of temples. WHAT WOULD I CHANGE? The basics tour price includes 3 star hotels (& one of our friends said they were fine) but we upgraded to 4 star hotels and these were very good for very little extra money. I do wonder what 5 star would have been like. I should have at least asked for a quote. The only thing I would change if going again is to add in more rest days. It is exhausting to arrive at a hotel late afternoon and then check out early the next morning (and means you are not really going see or use many of the hotel facilities.) Of course, if the tour operator did this in the standard itinerary, you might balk at a 25-days tour, with "wasted days" where you have no activities planned, but trust me you would enjoy a few more days off and the chance to unpack and relax in a few nice hotels.
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  Realistic Asia commented on this review

  Dear David, Thank you for sharing such a detailed and insightful review! We’re thrilled to hear that your journey through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos was such a memorable and enriching experience. It’s great to know that the private tour setup provided... Show more
  
  Trip date: January 2025
• EP

  Erika

  · November 17th, 2023
  Very good inspiration for more
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  Realistic Asia commented on this review

  Dear Erika, We would like to thank you forsharing this review of your holiday. It warms our hearts to hear such amazing feedback! We’re very grateful for customers like you and hope to see you in Indochina again. Thank you! Realistic Asia team
  Trip date: October 2023
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  Janes

  · October 21st, 2022
  This itinerary really exceeded our expectations...
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  Realistic Asia commented on this review

  Dear Janes, Thank you so much for sharing your feedback and your kind words. We are so happy to know that the trip was enjoyable for you. It was a great pleasure for us to organize it or you. Thank you for choosing this tur and we hope to see you... Show more
  Trip date: July 2022