manny262

Hi everyone,
My fiancé love to travel to Vietnam and Myanmar in our honeymoon this Nov. We haven’t traveled to Southeast Asia before and think it's better to let a reliable travel agent plan our trip. I was recommended some but cannot decide which one to choose.
I was quite impressed with the website of Exotic Voyages, which looks luxury and reliable. But not sure about their quality, does anyone have experience with them?
Another agent i was recommended is Myanmar Dairies, but as I know they only do tours within Myanmar, is it right?
I’m open with aother suggestions for experiences and tips in 2 countries, please share.
Thank you in advance

Kathie

For travel in Myanmar, you want a local agent there. We used Santa Maria, but there are many excellent agents in Yangon.

How much time do you have? Both Myanmar and VN take time, and if you don't have a lot of time, choose one country. For VN, you may want to use a local agent as well like Tonkin or VN stay. Using a big international company like Exotic Voyages will cost you much more than using a local agent.

Craig

Unless you have 4 weeks for your honeymoon, you cannot do justice to both countries. I suggest you pick one or the other. Many on this forum (including me) have used local agents such as Tonkin Travel for Vietnam and Santa Maria for Myanmar. These agents are easy to work with and will customize their tours to your needs. If you want luxury, they can provide it. I would choose Myanmar over Vietnam for a honeymoon and visit Bagan and Inle Lake, for sure. You could also do some beach time in Ngapali, if that suits you. Most likely, you will enter and exit Myanmar via Yangon. Post back and we would be happy to answer more specific questions in detail.

manny262

Hi Kathie and Craig,
We have only 2 weeks, but our plan is traveling to Myanmar for about 10 days and flying to a beach in Vietnam for 5 days. Is it possible? I thought Exotic voyages has head office in Vietnam??? doesnt it?
By the way, I have checked out these 2 travel agents website you recommend. Tonkin is ok but Santa Maria looks scrap. Do you know any more luxury agent? I'm a little bit worried as we would like the best tour for our honeymoon. Quite confused about what to choose

sophiefriedman

@Manny262: You can do both in two weeks. While I would recommend a travel agent for Burma, you can go through Vietnam without one no problem. The beaches in Phu Quoc are beautiful and if you just want to laze on a beach, it's perfect. If you want to be able to do other things, try Nha Trang or Da Nang. Plenty of hotels and easy to book online. From Da Nang, you can visit Hoi An in about 20 minutes. You can easily do a day in Saigon before heading to either, especially since you'll land there. Enjoy!

Kathie

If you want a beach as part of your trip, I'd suggest that you either go to a beach in Myanmar or one in Thailand. VN requires another pre-arranged visa.

I can't imagine why you think Santa Maria "looks scrap." I've used them for two trips, had top accommodations or both. They were excellent. But I have no stake in you using them, I just want to make sure you know to use a local agent. I expect any local agent in Myanmar would be quite willing to book you the best accommodations, but the question is whether they have the connections to get you the best. Santa Maria books a lot of high-end clients. When we visited the Governor's Residence in Yangon, the manager took us on a tour and showed us the "best" room, which he noted Santa Maria requests for their clients. Also, they were able to get me the suite I wanted at the Strand, a river front suite in Bagan, etc. Here is their website: http://myanmartravels.net Most agent in Myanmar don't have fancy websites if that is what you are looking for.

Exotic Voyages does have an office in VN, but also has offices in the US, UK and Hong Kong. In my experience, the big multi-national agents don't have the local connections so necessary in Myanmar and they are always more expensive, as they have to subcontract some things to local agents. If you want to use them for VN, they would probably be ok, but I wouldn't use them for Myanmar.

manny262

Hi Kathie,
Thank you for your suggestion, i have contacted Exotic Voyages and about to contact Santa Maria as well, hope they have experience in planning luxury trips as you said. I think I shall compare the proposals from them and decide later.
many thanks,

Kathie

Good luck! Let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Kathie

Be aware that you are quite late for planning a trip for Nov 2013. It may be difficult to find luxury accommodations at this late date.