Need help with small tour group companies for Thailand and Cambodia
 

Hello,
I'm starting research for a trip to Thailand and Cambodia for fall of 2007...I could use some help in researching tour companies. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I should add that my husband and I are usually independent travlers, fairly active 40 somethings. I have done a little preliminary research and found a tour with OAT that sounds interesting but want to explore other options. Not sure about their group sizes, though...

Thanks in advance for your help!

We need more information. Do you mean companies that offer all-inclusive, multi-day tours taking you to different locations? Or do you mean companies that offer day tours in specific locations? Are you looking to travel with a group or with just you and a guide? Thailand and Cambodia (especially the former) are easy to do on your own if you want to make your own arrangements. Do you want to do some of the planning yourself? Or do you want logistics and such things taken care of for you? Also, any idea of where, specifically, you want to go?

We've used Gregg at www.Innovasian.com several times with good success. You can do it cheaper on your own, but the first time we went it was comforting to have someone else do all the detail work.

I knew as soon as I posted I had ot given enough information...sorry about that.

My husband and I normally travel independently and I usually book all of our trips, but I feel a little overwhelmed by the thought of booking this tour!

We want a multi-city tour, preferably a private tour but would consider a SMALL group. (under 10 people)

Just bought a travel book on Thailand and Cambodia, so the specific sights right now are mostly limited to what I already know about Cambodia (Angkor Wat, etc.) I'd liket o see a little bit of everything, I guess!

Can't help with the under 10 size, but Intrepid travels with no more than 12. Great itineraries and prices, but you will travel close to the ground and may rough it a bit. Forget OAT - I went to Thailand with them for my second trip to Asia and thought they were awful - poor planning, bored guide, hotels outside the center - I could go on. In fact, for Thailand and Cambodia, no reason you can't do it on your own. If you really want a tour we need some idea of your price range - Geo Ex is a lot more expensive than Intrepid or Peregrine, for instance, and Adventures Abroad is in between..

Consider www.imaginative-traveller.com. We took their trip to Japan and liked their style a lot. They have both "Adventurer" and "Traveler" categories. Also, did you see this month's (or maybe it was last month's) Budget Travel magazine a charming story about a woman who took a small group tour in SE Asia. http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt...900690_pf.html.

Wow, thanks for all the info! I admit I was leery of OAT- the pictures in the catalog look like everyone is over 70! I have a friend who went with them to Egypt and had a great time, but if it's possible for us to do it on our own that would be my first option.

A group of 12 wouldn't be bad, I suppose...

I'll look into Intrepid...the other companies I've seen are:


www.innovasion.com

http://www.exploreworldwide.com/

http://www.geckosadventures.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

http://www.gapadventures.com/country...nd?utm_id=5406

Anyone familiar with any of these?

Oops! I wrote the first one wrong... it's

www.innovasian.com

Haven't traveled with any of those, although I recognize some of the names. I'd suggest you spend some time with the guidebooks (don't forget Lonely Planet & Footprints), and then come back with a tentative itinerary. You can get around these countries by train, plane and a few buses or cars.

Thanks so much...will come back on once I've rad my books!

I traveled to Thailand with www.travelindochina.com , but they also go to Vietnam, Cambodia, China, India and Laos. They also have some trips that do more than one country. They have small groups (my group only had 3 travelers) and I had a great experience with them.

Jenn

I did mean READ my books...typing malfunction today I guess!

Thanks, Jenn, I will check out your web site.

What are some of your favorite places to go? We're not always into the typical "touristy" things (just got back from Egypt and had my FILL of cheesy tourist crap!)We like to have more of a glimpse of the culture of the country- not people putting on a show for the tourists, do you know what I mean?

I've traveled with Intrepid - a group of 12. We enjoyed the tour a lot. It was mostly a young group. For my trip with my daughter to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, however, we decided after much agonizing (and many questions on this board!) to go on our own. It was a wise decision. It was easy and lots of fun. We hired guides in a few places so we weren't totally left to our own devices. If you enjoy traveling independently, you can definitely do so in Thailand/Cambodia. We can help you work out an itinerary, suggest hotels, recommend guides/drivers, restaurants, and not-to-be-missed sights. I wasn't sure we could do it on our own, but it was absolutely no problem. If you enter "conundrum" in the search box, you'll see the trail of my agonizing and planning: "Mother-daughter conundrum...what if?"
My "PRE-TRIP" report laying out what it took to organize everything.
And the trip report when we returned: "After all that planning and agonizing, Karen and Julie finally did it"
Give it some thought. I'd encourage you to go it alone!
Karen

I agree with Karen. It's not hard to plan the trip on your own. There are so many great guides, great hotels where the staff will take care of you, and traveling between points a&b is easy.

Don't be intimidated!

Why not put together a loose itinerary of the places you'd like to see and let us help you plan it?

We are travelling Thailand and Cambodia in late Dec/early Jan. We are using a small tour operator - Journey's Within. They've worked with us to design a private, custom tour. The owners are expats living in Cambodia. The tour is from Bangkok to Cambodia, Northern Thailand and Phuket. Price, in our opinion, is very good.

The owner even called me at home to go to fine-tune the itinerary.

We seriously considered planning ourselves but, after seeing what Andrea put together, we decided it would be great to just let someone else handle the detail.

Check them out at http://www.journeys-within.com/


DJ

Okay, I'll go over my books tonight and try to come up with some places of interest...then we can start making the decision on whether to try it alone or with a group. So far the tour companies I thought seemed interesting were Intrepid, Gap Adventures and Gecko.

Thanks again for being patient with me!

We're about to go off on a monthlong custom tour planned and booked through Asia Transpacific Journeys. They have small group tours as well, but we prefer to be on our own. We'll let you know what we think when we return after the first of the year.

www.asiatranspacific.com

After doing some reading, I think I need to back up a little and start with some simpler questions:

What is the best time of year to visit? I've read conflicting opinions and would like to get a clearer picture.

Would you also include Vietnam? My husband has expressed some interest in going there, but I am not certain about the safety factor.

How many days should we consider aa a minimum?

The best time to go is mid-November through February. It is winter and Thailand is merely really hot, not unbearable. As noted above, we used Gregg at Innovasian.com twice. It is essentially a private tour. For first time Thailand visitors, the sights are pretty much recommended by all. For two weeks (the minimum), BKK-4, Northern Thailand-4, Beach-4. Note that you lose two days travelling. If you're going to Cambodia, either add 3 days or skip Northern Thailand. To go to Vietnam, I would add at least an extra week. otherwise, you will be too rushed and will not appreciate how great Asia travel can be.

I've only been to S.E. Asia in the fall - Oct-Dec time frame. If you go to N. Vietnam, earlier is better than later, while further south later is better. No reason to exclude Vietnam - it's just as safe. Actually, main safety issue in Cambodia (and Laos) is unexploded ordinance, but tourist areas have been cleared.

Obviously, the more time the better. Without knowing how many places you want to see, it's difficult to give an estimate. For instance, just Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) in Cambodia, or Phnom Penh as well? Battambang and the coast?

Thanks for the insight. I was thinking we would need three weeks, I have so many booksmarks as it is in just the Thailand book alone!

thursdaysd, how was the weather in Oct.? Originally that was the time we were looking at. I know it's hot, but how rainy was it? Or is it always rainy?

I'm not thinking right now I'm all that interested in the beaches, I think we'll want to concentrate our time on temples and such. When we were in Egypt last month we spent the last couple days in Hurghada on the Red Sea, and it just felt strange after spending so much time with all that history! (not to mention the rude Russian tourists!)

Still looking into how much we want to see in Cambodia, I want to spend at least three or four days in Siem Reap, other than that I'm not sure. There's so many beautiful things to see and do I'm overwhelmed! We're pouring through the books this weekend to narrow our choices.

Thanks again for your help! Of, and gpanda, I did look up innovasian.com, thanks for the suggestion!

I know I'm probably the only one here, but I didn't do the beaches in Thailand. I like the beach, but I wanted to use the time I had to see all the other things there are to see.

Jenn

Jenn - no, you're not alone. In 2004 I decided to spend Christmas in Laos instead of on the Thai islands. So I missed the tsunami....

heymo - enjoyed your Egypt trip report (although I decided against revisiting Egypt on my next trip.) The year I was in S. E. Asia in Oct. I started in Malaysia, and there was rain, but not a whole lot. Then I moved on to Laos and I don't remember any rain there. You can read my trip report at www.wilhelmswords.com/asia2002. There are just so many great places that you need to figure you will return, but three weeks is a good start. If you go in October, consider starting in Hanoi and moving south, visiting Cambodia on the way to Thailand. Maybe a week for each country, skipping the Thai beaches.

Thursdaysd- thanks for the compliment on my trip report. It was my first attempt, and I was afraid I had rattled on too much. I agree, though I really enjoyed our time there for the most part, I would not go again. Mostly, there are just too many other places on our list to see.

I'm glad I'm not alone in skipping the beach. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach, but I can go to the beach anywhere. I will look into starting in Hanoi, that was one of our options.

While I haven't been to Thailand or Cambodia, I have travelled with OAT several times (France, Costa Rica, Turkey, and East Africa). While it is true that the average traveller is retired, I'm in my 40s and was amazed how often the older people were actually fitter than I am. Out of the 4 trips I was on, they all had 12 or 13 people, and used a bus that was sized to have several extra seats, yet only 1/3 to 1/2 the size of those big tour busses. On every trip, I found the arrangements to be seamless. I choose their trips because they tend to be slightly off the beaten track and less 'Americanized' than some of the more luxurious tours, while also being a better value.

For your first trip to Asia, Definitely use a tour company. If you can use Kuoni from where you are then they are ideal because they will tailor exactly what you want. Loads of info and links on our site.....take a look at
www.leightravelclub.com

I went to Thailand and Cambodia with Oat. We were there the last of Oct and the first of Nov 2006. The weather was very good.Yes, it was pretty darn warm, but nothing that one couldn't handle. No Rain, I guess we had just missed it, by about a week. Bangkok was still showing sighs of flooding.

I have traveled with OAT two times. Egypt was an amazing trip.Fast paced and interesting all the way.I highly recommend that one.
Thailand I didn't enjoy as much. To much bus time between places for my taste. But we did see and learn a lot of things, that I think I would have missed on my own.

I did Love the day at Elephant camp!!! . :-d

The OAT Cambodia part was wonderful. Awesome Guide,and was also fast paced and very interesting. The time there was way to short.I wish we could have had a couple more days here.

It is true that OAT draws an older group. However, they were a very interesting and fun loving group, both trips. Most of the people were very adventurous and in pretty good shape. I am 53 and I was the next to the youngest one. There was a 19 year old what came with his Grandmother, on the Thailand trip. He seemed to have a pretty good time, for the most part. I don't think age would be a problem here.

I have traveled independently myself and do like to plan and do my own thing also. You don't have as much freedom on a tour. However a couple of people from our tour did strike out on there own on a couple of days. So that is possible to do, if you like the idea of a tour, but have a few other things you want to do instead of the itinary that is planned for the day.
The part I do like about the tours is not thinking about how to get from point "A" to point "B". I saw and learned a lot more then I do when I am on my own. Also, the insight, about life there,that you get, from the guides, and the home hosted visits, is worth alot.