I am booking two tours with Tong, well not with her but with her guides because she was busy for my dates.

She must be very busy now because I can't get her to reply my questions and she just sent me an email asking me if it would be ok that the driver and guide would be the same person ( I asked her for a normal car with a/c for a full day as we are 2 people)

My question is why did she ask me that? should I hire a larger car and have a driver and a guide?

Thanks in advance

I don't think there's any particular reason why you need a driver and a guide

That's what I think but I am curious why she asked that. As she takes some time to reply to me I thought I would ask here because so many people have used her services.

Some people do not like having the driver and guide be the same person....this is just feedback she's gotten before, so she's just asking to make sure it's ok.

We have used Tong before and had a delightful day. She drove and was the guide. It is not a problem. Other guides have a driver and the car is kept cool and driven right up to the door of the sight you are seeing. With only 1 person you may have to walk to the parking lot, or wait a few seconds while the driver/guide gets the car. It saves money having only 1 person.

At present she IS very busy. If you search this forum you will find
she has several email adresses . Someone else can let you know which is better to use.
In anycase enjoy your days with her

No need for a driver and a guide. It's just extra cost. We've used Tong twice and met some of her team. I have complete confidence that you will be well cared for.

Thanks all for your feedback and help.

Can someone please post which of Tong's email addresses is best for getting in touch with her? She and I corresponded briefly, but now I have not heard from her in awhile (I do understand she's busy, so not complaining, but do want to nail down our tour date!). Any advice would be greatly appreciated--thanks!

[email protected]

I have been communicating with her at the above E-mail address.

tong told me today that she hopes to hire someone soon to answer e mails for her so that there would never be a backlog...

Good idea Bob!

I wonder why she hasn't entrusted this to someone already seeing all the business she is getting lately?

Aloha!

she is like any HI business owner, she wants all the profits....

I think she does well because to book a tour with her an get her to answer our questions and doubts takes days....

I am only keeping the tours with her ( her guides) because of the good feedback she has on this forum, if not I would have given up.

Sort of piggybacking on Tere's last response here. I am still unable to get in touch with Tong to finalize our tour. Sadly, she is unavailable for our dates, so we would be going with one of her guides instead. It's obvious from the feedback on here that Tong herself is fabulous, but does anyone have experience with one of her other guides? Basically, I am just wondering if it might be better in terms of ease of getting a tour set up, as well as the actual guide we have, if we were to go with a different guide/tour company, since Tong herself cannot take us around. Any opinions?

Perhaps you could find out the name of the other, substitute guide and let us know...

We used both Tong and Tan (an independent, not one of Tong's guide). If you can not get in touch with Tong, give Tan a try. She's absolutely wonderful. Very caring with excellent English skills. Extremely knowledgable, very good communication via email. I highly recommend.

http://www.izthai.com/

TC--thank you so much! If you don't mind my asking, are Tan's prices pretty comparable to Tong's?

I toured with Tong in December and met one of the other guides she hires out, Nui. She seemed like a very sweet girl. Others here may have toured with her too.

In fact, I recommended Tong to my boss but she was unavailable and offered Nui instead. They (my boss and his parents) toured a day with Nui last week and he emailed me from his trip that their day out was fabulous!

I do think Tong should get some "administrative" help. It's just too much for one person. She gets even more recommendations from people on the Trip Advisor forum than she does here!

We had 3 wonderful days with Tong in Feb. I would be 100% confident in anyone Tong recommended (or hired). She is a real professional and does not take her responsibility to helping you enjoy you holiday lightly.
In answer to the original question... Tong is very polite, She would never assume that she could change your arrangements without checking with you. I am sure that a driver only will be fine.

I will be touring with Pook ( one of Tong's guides). Has anyone toured with her before?