Tour Price shock: Luang Prabang and Siem Reap
Sep 16th, 2008, 09:23 PM
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Tour Price shock: Luang Prabang and Siem Reap
Folks, I am living in Hanoi for the semester and started to plan a 15 day trip from Hanoi to Luang Prabang and Siem Reap.
I contacted a travel agent recommended on this board for some quotes. They came in yesterday and I just now picked myself up off the floor. They are much higher than I anticipated.
I know flying from Hanoi--> LP--> SR--> was high. I was quoted $659 per person for these three flights. This seems alot, but if that is what the fares are, I will pay it.
The hotels prices seem ok: Villa Santi Resort at $92 a night in LP and Borei Angkor hotel at $72 a night in SR.
The SHOCK came in the form of the tour package. Granted what is planned seems nice, but $522 per person for 6 days in LP (two of us so total would be $1044 for the land package in LP) and $396 per person ($792 for two) for a 7 day land tour in SR. Total land package for 15 days is quoted as $1836.
Thus the total cost for this 15 day excursion is about $4200.
Holy Smokes! That seems high! And this is only one of several trips I want to take.
What should I do? Try another agent? Negotiate with this one? Or try a DIY tour....which is what I wanted to avoid because I am plenty busy trying to teach a class in English to non-English speaking Vietnamese.
So....some help in trying to figure this out is needed!
thanks!
I contacted a travel agent recommended on this board for some quotes. They came in yesterday and I just now picked myself up off the floor. They are much higher than I anticipated.
I know flying from Hanoi--> LP--> SR--> was high. I was quoted $659 per person for these three flights. This seems alot, but if that is what the fares are, I will pay it.
The hotels prices seem ok: Villa Santi Resort at $92 a night in LP and Borei Angkor hotel at $72 a night in SR.
The SHOCK came in the form of the tour package. Granted what is planned seems nice, but $522 per person for 6 days in LP (two of us so total would be $1044 for the land package in LP) and $396 per person ($792 for two) for a 7 day land tour in SR. Total land package for 15 days is quoted as $1836.
Thus the total cost for this 15 day excursion is about $4200.
Holy Smokes! That seems high! And this is only one of several trips I want to take.
What should I do? Try another agent? Negotiate with this one? Or try a DIY tour....which is what I wanted to avoid because I am plenty busy trying to teach a class in English to non-English speaking Vietnamese.
So....some help in trying to figure this out is needed!
thanks!
Sep 17th, 2008, 03:19 AM
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Why do you need a tour in Luang Prabang? It is very easy to find your way around and there are plenty of tourist agents if you want to pick up something in LP.
Ditto with Siem Reap. If you are living in hanoi you will find both places a breeze on your own. (As well as a lot of fun)
Oops I just read that you want to avoid a DIY tour. Sorry but my suggestion still stands. There is no need for an expensive tour.
Ditto with Siem Reap. If you are living in hanoi you will find both places a breeze on your own. (As well as a lot of fun)
Oops I just read that you want to avoid a DIY tour. Sorry but my suggestion still stands. There is no need for an expensive tour.
Sep 17th, 2008, 05:19 AM
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Hmmmm...$1836 divided by 15 comes out to $122 a day for two people for the land portion. That's $61 per person per day.
What does that include? A guide? Admission tickets? To what? A car and driver 24/7? Any meals? Honestly, that part may not be that bad if you really don't want to do any planning, depending of course on what it includes.
Have you gone to any local travel agents in hanoi to see if they can do better?
You should be able to save some money by DIY. If you can book the flights and hotel yourself, then you can certainly do the rest with little effort, a guidebook and this website. Were it me, that's what I would do.
What does that include? A guide? Admission tickets? To what? A car and driver 24/7? Any meals? Honestly, that part may not be that bad if you really don't want to do any planning, depending of course on what it includes.
Have you gone to any local travel agents in hanoi to see if they can do better?
You should be able to save some money by DIY. If you can book the flights and hotel yourself, then you can certainly do the rest with little effort, a guidebook and this website. Were it me, that's what I would do.
Sep 17th, 2008, 05:38 AM
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Travel agents make their money by charging you more than it costs them.
Doing it yourself it not complicated, even though you are busy. I expect you can book your own flights online or though a local (VN agent). You should also book your own hotels - at least change the one in Luang Prabang. The Villa Santi resort (different from the Villa Santi) is 20 minutes outside of town. Find a place in town. As others have said, there is absolutely no reason at all for a tour in LP. If you want to go to the Pak Ou caves, you just go down to the river and hire a boat. If you want to go to the waterfalls, take a tuk tuk.
In Siem Reap, contact Ponheary and have her get a better price on the hotel and arrange for a car and driver and a guide as many days as you want. You do need at least a car and driver in Siem Reap, ad it will be more expensive than LP because of that. You'll also need a temples pass, $60 per person for 7 days.
All of this may take you several hours to arrange. I know you are busy, but you have to decide whether it's worth it to pay a travel agent a lots of money to set it up (and choose a distant hotel for you in LP) or whether you'd rather do it yourself.
Doing it yourself it not complicated, even though you are busy. I expect you can book your own flights online or though a local (VN agent). You should also book your own hotels - at least change the one in Luang Prabang. The Villa Santi resort (different from the Villa Santi) is 20 minutes outside of town. Find a place in town. As others have said, there is absolutely no reason at all for a tour in LP. If you want to go to the Pak Ou caves, you just go down to the river and hire a boat. If you want to go to the waterfalls, take a tuk tuk.
In Siem Reap, contact Ponheary and have her get a better price on the hotel and arrange for a car and driver and a guide as many days as you want. You do need at least a car and driver in Siem Reap, ad it will be more expensive than LP because of that. You'll also need a temples pass, $60 per person for 7 days.
All of this may take you several hours to arrange. I know you are busy, but you have to decide whether it's worth it to pay a travel agent a lots of money to set it up (and choose a distant hotel for you in LP) or whether you'd rather do it yourself.
Sep 17th, 2008, 07:17 AM
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yes we would all DIY; that's what this board is all about, but if the OP doesn't want to, then that's cool too.
If it were me (and it isn't) and I was too busy to DIY (which I'm not!) then I would let an agent book the air. Price seems reasonable.
Then I would book my own hotel in LP (Kathie's suggestion is a good one). This would take about 10 minutes on line. A taxi from the airport in LP is cheap, no preplanning needed there.
I would forego a guide in LP all together; it is SO unnecessary. Walk outside your hotel and hire a driver to take you wherever you want to go. Walk to the river, get a boat, it's SO EASY, no preplanning necessary for LP. Just ask, we'll tell you what to see if your tour company hasn't already done so.
Then I would email Ponheary as Kathie suggests ([email protected]) and make a reservation for guiding and driving and let her negotiate a nice hotel for you. She'll happily include your airport transfers. Another 10 minutes spent.
You'll probably save a few hundred dollars for 20 minutes of work. That's a lot of Beer Lao!
OTOH, I also agree with Kristina that the per diem of $61 per day isn't HORRIBLE, although we still don't know what it includes.
If it were me (and it isn't) and I was too busy to DIY (which I'm not!) then I would let an agent book the air. Price seems reasonable.
Then I would book my own hotel in LP (Kathie's suggestion is a good one). This would take about 10 minutes on line. A taxi from the airport in LP is cheap, no preplanning needed there.
I would forego a guide in LP all together; it is SO unnecessary. Walk outside your hotel and hire a driver to take you wherever you want to go. Walk to the river, get a boat, it's SO EASY, no preplanning necessary for LP. Just ask, we'll tell you what to see if your tour company hasn't already done so.
Then I would email Ponheary as Kathie suggests ([email protected]) and make a reservation for guiding and driving and let her negotiate a nice hotel for you. She'll happily include your airport transfers. Another 10 minutes spent.
You'll probably save a few hundred dollars for 20 minutes of work. That's a lot of Beer Lao!
OTOH, I also agree with Kristina that the per diem of $61 per day isn't HORRIBLE, although we still don't know what it includes.
Sep 17th, 2008, 06:38 PM
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thanks for all the suggestions!
After I posted yesterday --I started doing some serious internet searches. I also emailed Ponheary in Siem Reap. She responded within a nano-second! So after a few back and forth emails, I have a new hotel booked for good price and also Dara for at least three days! Thanks Ponheary...and thanks Fodor people!
So...Siem Reap is booked.
The problem I am having right now is finding a hotel in Luang Prabang. I waited too long! We will be in LP from Oct 24-29th....and all the hotels everyone has mentioned on this board according to the websites are full. Does anyone have suggestions of other places to stay?
After I posted yesterday --I started doing some serious internet searches. I also emailed Ponheary in Siem Reap. She responded within a nano-second! So after a few back and forth emails, I have a new hotel booked for good price and also Dara for at least three days! Thanks Ponheary...and thanks Fodor people!
So...Siem Reap is booked.
The problem I am having right now is finding a hotel in Luang Prabang. I waited too long! We will be in LP from Oct 24-29th....and all the hotels everyone has mentioned on this board according to the websites are full. Does anyone have suggestions of other places to stay?
Sep 17th, 2008, 09:01 PM
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Check out this website
http://www.luang-prabang-hotels.com
They have rooms available for your dates.
I can vouch for the Sala Luang Prabang. Charming ambiance, nice staff and great location with nice views over the Mekong.
They have a few others...the Apsara Hotel, the Ancient Luang Prabang Hotel both get good marks on TA.
http://www.luang-prabang-hotels.com
They have rooms available for your dates.
I can vouch for the Sala Luang Prabang. Charming ambiance, nice staff and great location with nice views over the Mekong.
They have a few others...the Apsara Hotel, the Ancient Luang Prabang Hotel both get good marks on TA.
Sep 19th, 2008, 05:33 AM
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Ok folks, I am hanging my head in shame--After my opening sticker shock message, I took heart in what all of you said and got busy. Today (only two days after I put my first message online) I finished the planning for this trip.
For airfare, I asked a frugal faculty member I work with if he could help me find a reputable travel agent in Hanoi. So today I took the bus into an area of Hanoi far from the old quarter with its numerous travel agencies. I was able to undercut the quote I got from an agency by $70 per ticket..so there was $140 saved immediately. I was able to contact Ponheary and she has us booked with Dara and also made hotel reservations for us. This saved us a BUNDLE. I did some serious searches on the internet and was having a terrible time booking a room in Luang Prabang. I sent out a ton of email requests and just heard back from a new hotel called Lotus Villa that has sterling reviews on TripAdvisor. Room there is also booked. And finally, as you all suggested, we are not going to book a tour there...but just hang out and book things individually. That saves us another bundle of cash.
So, THANKS to everyone. I will be sure to post our travel experiences...especially how this hotel in LP works out.
I also will put a post online soon about using local transportation in Hanoi. I am sick of being taken by the taxi drivers.....the damn meters are rigged on many taxis. I use a xe om (motorbike) when I am alone, but with another person it got very, very expensive. So I decided to try to figure out the bus system. works like a charm! Each ride costs only 30 cents and you can travel across the whole city at that price if you don't change busses. Once I feel comfortable with the system, I will put a post online to let people know it is ok to use them!
For airfare, I asked a frugal faculty member I work with if he could help me find a reputable travel agent in Hanoi. So today I took the bus into an area of Hanoi far from the old quarter with its numerous travel agencies. I was able to undercut the quote I got from an agency by $70 per ticket..so there was $140 saved immediately. I was able to contact Ponheary and she has us booked with Dara and also made hotel reservations for us. This saved us a BUNDLE. I did some serious searches on the internet and was having a terrible time booking a room in Luang Prabang. I sent out a ton of email requests and just heard back from a new hotel called Lotus Villa that has sterling reviews on TripAdvisor. Room there is also booked. And finally, as you all suggested, we are not going to book a tour there...but just hang out and book things individually. That saves us another bundle of cash.
So, THANKS to everyone. I will be sure to post our travel experiences...especially how this hotel in LP works out.
I also will put a post online soon about using local transportation in Hanoi. I am sick of being taken by the taxi drivers.....the damn meters are rigged on many taxis. I use a xe om (motorbike) when I am alone, but with another person it got very, very expensive. So I decided to try to figure out the bus system. works like a charm! Each ride costs only 30 cents and you can travel across the whole city at that price if you don't change busses. Once I feel comfortable with the system, I will put a post online to let people know it is ok to use them!
Sep 19th, 2008, 06:29 AM
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I'm glad it worked out for you. Do post a report, we'll all be interested in the new place in LP.
And do post about buses in Hanoi. When I was there several years ago, we had a ride in a taxi that was much smaller than the other taxis we'd used - and much more expensive. The hotel staff told us that company's meters were rigged, and told us which taxi companies were reputable. Unfortunately, I can't remember now which two companies they recommended, but after that we used only those two companies and had no problems.
And do post about buses in Hanoi. When I was there several years ago, we had a ride in a taxi that was much smaller than the other taxis we'd used - and much more expensive. The hotel staff told us that company's meters were rigged, and told us which taxi companies were reputable. Unfortunately, I can't remember now which two companies they recommended, but after that we used only those two companies and had no problems.
Sep 19th, 2008, 08:11 AM
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That's the spirit! Glad everything worked out and you were able to save some coin.
Having some insight to the buses in Hanoi would be a real boon...I thought about it once but was too scared of making some huge mistake!
Having some insight to the buses in Hanoi would be a real boon...I thought about it once but was too scared of making some huge mistake!
Sep 19th, 2008, 11:17 AM
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Gailmo, I will be staying for 5 nights at the Lotus Villa in January, so looking forward to a trip report about the hotel and your experience in Luang Prabang. Have a great trip and glad it all worked out for you.
Happy Travels!
Happy Travels!
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