zinfanatic

I have just begun to plan a trip to Vietnam Cambodia and Laos and I have already come to the conclusion that I will need a travel agent to help me. I would like to deal with either an agent in the region or one local to SF Bay Area. Don"t know if either have advantages. Generally we love to involve ourselves in more local life and we are pretty adventuresome for our age-- 60's!!!. Any recommendations for agents will be welcome.

rhkkmk

generally speaking many of us plan our own trips, using this forum and guyidebooks....

what exactly is it that you want a TA to help you with??

rhkkmk

guidebooks above

Gpanda

Our experience is that you can do it cheaper and better without a TA. If you give us the length of time you will be travelling, we will be glad to suggest an outline and then details, e.g., hotels, guides etc..

Craig

There may be instances where a local TA ("agent in the region&quot can help out. For Vietnam in particular they can be helpful for good rates on hotels and coordinating drivers, transfers, air travel etc. However, you will pay a great deal more however to deal with someone stateside. It seems that most people do Cambodia and Laos on their own but then most just do Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and Luang Prabang. If we could get a better idea of what you want to do that would be helpful.

zinfanatic

Thanks all, I am used to planning my own trips, but it did sound more difficult to hire local guides and plan the overland or local train travel or guide/driver recommendations without a TA. I have to do more reading on this forum and do more guide book reading before I settle for sure. Right now we are considering a month long trip in March. The bare bones are traveling to HCMC from Hong Kong where we will be visiting friends,and visiting the Mekong delta,working our way north to Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Haiphong Harbor, Sapa. It seemed best this time of year to do south to north. Then we would fly to Vietiane- not clear yet about Laos- one week maybe and then to Siem Reap and then return to HCMC.

ekscrunchy

I used Gregg at Innovasian. I believe he works with someone in California. Their Asia operator is Exotissimo. Gregg and his partner were very responsive when a few glitches cropped up while I was in Asia.

www.innovasian.com

Craig

Gregg at Innovasion is 50% higher than some of the very reliable local agencies in Hanoi based on my recent contact with several. However not all of the local agencies are particularly competitive. The Hanoi agencies will be equally responsive I am sure based on what I've heard on this forum and elsewhere.

zinfanatic

Craig, Could you tell what agency in Hanoi you used or considered using?

Craig

Tonkin travel. Alison on this forum used them very successfully and many others on tripadvisor were happy with them. I have arranged a trip next April with them - they have been prompt in answering all of my (many) questions and their attention to detail is excellent. You will have to specify exactly what you want i.e. non-smoking and/or class of rooms in hotels, the type of vehicle you want for transport and whether or not you want pre-arranged tours (we did not, for the most part).

Femi

I used Asia Transpacific Journeys for my trip to Indochina last year and was pretty happy with them. http://www.asiatranspacific.com/

rhkkmk

you might also check with asian trails....we used them for VN and i was very pleased