ENDURO TOURING group (16 people. September 17th-30th, 2006, Big North Vietnam, Motorbike trip)
Tempo of the tour and the stop-over:
- Hakan: "For most of the time it was enough time for average riders. Some rest days would be needed on a longer tour."
- Georgia: "Mostly fine although a rest day mid tour would have been good."
- Ashley: "If my seat was softer it would have been good. I just have a soft bum."
- Marty and Chris: "No days were too long. Rest days sufficient. Group riding skills and mechanical faults limited the travelling time so it was well organised given those problems."
- Claire: "The distance each day was about right but we could have done with some time off."
- Josefine: "I loved the homestay - this is the real Vietnam! Between 100 and 200 km is fine to travel, it depends on the road!"
- Dieter Gerald: "Planned tour would be great. But it was nice anyway, some short days."
- Andrew: "Some days a little short. But stops great."
- Karin: "Stops were ok, amount was good."
What were your favourite places?
- Hakan: "Meo Vac and its surroundings."
- Georgia: "Meo Vac and all roads to and from. Meo Vac. Visiting the (palace?) was good to do."
- John: "Meo Vac."
- Ashley: "Every place was different with different things - so no one place stood out."
- Marty and Chris: "Meo Vac area and off road tracks. All the passes the road to Pa So and Meo Vac."
- Claire: "Mai Chau, Son La, Meo Vac."
- Heather: "Homestays. Meo Vac."
- Josefine: "Mai Chau, Meo Vac, Sa Pa."
- Dieter Gerald: "Every places were special, Sapa is one."
- Andrew: "All places were great but the offroad villages and northern scenery were incredible."
- Karin: "Sapa - Meo Vac."
Transportation:
- Ashley: "Motorcycles were not quite up to the job on steep off road but otherwise ok."
- Marty and Chris: "Bikes were inconsistent in their state of tune and reliability which in our case limited choice of riding. Bikes would be very suitable if properly repaired and serviced before each tour."
- Claire: "Motorcycles - very smoky and noisy."
Accommodation:
- Hakan: "A mix of both is good. Too many homestays = too much rice wine!"
- Georgia: "Accommodation was great and a combination of homestay / hotel is ideal."
- John: "Good both hotel and homestay."
- Ashley: "The accommodation mixture was about right."
- Marty and Chris: "Homestays were very good and we were well looked after by the hosts. A good mix of homestay / hotel nights."
- Claire: "Prefer hotels although the stay at Mai Chau was very enjoyable."
- Heather: "I prefer to stay in private houses, but both (in hotel and private house)"
- Josefine: "Private houses - a combination is fine."
- Dieter Gerald: "Private houses are better for sociality and get to know the locals."
- Andrew: "I prefer to stay in private houses - homestays - would prefer homestay rather than hotels."
- Karin: "A good mixture would be fine."
Food:
- Hakan: "Sufficient and enormous quantity. Good and excellent quality."
- Georgia: "Sufficient quantity. Lunches could be smaller. Excellent quality."
- John: "Enormous quantity, excellent quality."
- Ashley and Josefine: "Enormous quantity. Good quality."
- Marty and Chris: "Enormous quantity. Lunch was sometimes too big (but still eaten). Good quality. Getting good sized coffee was a challenge. Good variety."
- Claire: "Enormous quantity. More food than we could eat. Good quality."
- Heather: "Enormous quantity and excellent quality!"
- Andrew: "All food was amazing. Better than expected. Excellent quality."
The organization - Guide services:
- Hakan: "Large diverse group. Have to please every body. Very patient guides. For larger groups they need to take more authority. Excellent knowledge. Fluent language. Need to speak a bit louder at briefings and other instructions."
- Georgia: "With the large group we had a good cross section of personalities in our tour guides too. Good and excellent knowledge. Good language."
- John: "Excellent attitude. Good knowledge. Fair language."
- Ashley and Josefine: "Excellent attitude. Good knowledge. Good language."
- Marty and Chris: "All guides were friendly and most helpful although at times did not understand N.Z humour. A lot of fun and good people. Good and excellent knowledge. Good language. Had no major problems understanding or being understood. It was very useful all the guides spoke Vietnamese."
- Claire: "Excellent attitude. Good knowledge. Good language. Fabulous spectaculars put on by local people."
- Heather: "Excellent attitude. Especially Hung. Good and excellent language. Good care of poor motorcycle rides? Good language."
- Andrew: "Good and excellent attitude. Good and excellent knowledge. Fluent language."
The price:
- Hakan: "Yes absolutely good value."
- Georgia: "Great value for money."
- John, Ashley: "Yes, good value."
- Marty and Chris: "Great value but don't put the price up!"
- Claire, Heather: "Yes, excellent."
- Heather: "Excellent good value."
- Andrew: "Yes, we could have been charged more (under priced)"
How did you hear about us?
- Hakan: "Over email and personal contact."
- Other peoples: "Via Hakan and Georgia from Enduro Touring New Zealand."
Any others comments?
- Hakan: "Great guides with so much knowledge to be able to change the route to suite the riders."
- Ashley: "A bit more information about the handcrafts what we will see and be able to buy."
- Marty and Chris: "Would have no hesitation in recommending Voyage Vietnam tours to anyone - if the bikes were 250 cc just kidding. We were very happy."
- Claire: "We had a wonderful time, Sa Pa was very touristy but everywhere else was a real treat and the people made us feel so welcome."
- Heather: "Take photos of Meo Vac for website and posters for your office to promote Vietnam."
- Josefine: "I loved this trip we had so much fun and I learned a lot about this country! And riding the bike!"
- Andrew: "One of the best trips I have been on. You never knew what was around the corner. I will be back next year for another go. The people in the country are incredible."
Full name: ENDURO TOURING.
Address: New Zealand.
Contact us if you want to contact this group.