Best 5 Days 4 Nights Northern Vietnam Private Tour From Hanoi

Viet is the best. What a nice company

I was really excited about this trip, when i booked it. The itinerary had everything, i wanted to experience in northern Vietnam. I did find it pricey, though, as i paid almost double for being a solo traveller. The local agency even contacted me on whatsapp few minutes after booking in order to confirm my pick-up point and time. They even supplied me with usefull information on the homestays that i was to visit. They told me not to expect luxury, which basically met my expectations. I thought this service was really great. However, on my 5-day trip i was faced with very local street kitchens, tasting everything from chicken (incl. feet), small fried (whole) fish and porcine uterus. Local places (with a hygienic standard very different from that in Scandinavia) like that can impose a risk to any western/Scandinavian stomach. And i also got a stomach infection already on the second day, spending a whole night with vomitting and diarrhea. The next day i only had a slice of toast from the hotel, trying to give my stomach a rest. The day after that, i tried to explain to my guide, that i had a bad stomach and only needed bread and rice from now on. It was very hard for him to understand, that i was only trying to stay away from the type of food, that had made me sick in the first place. So, the next days he kept on wanting me to eat things, that i kindly declined. I know, that it is inpolite to refuse food in Vietnam, but i had hoped for a little bit more understanding and consideration as i was a tourist trying to recover from a bad stomach infection (it takes more than just a few days to do so). The night when we had the porcine uterus i had one bite of this but had to decline more (it is an aquired taste). If it was this alone, or if i did something else unknowingly to upset him, i don’t know. I asked him what i did wrong, but he just replied that everything was ok. But his mood left an unpleasant atmosphere at the table. Today was the last day on my trip, and also my birthday, which my guide had forgotten about. He slept most of the day in the car (yet again), and woke up few minutes before lunch. The driver had before that got a phone call that had put him into a bad mood. Again a bad atmosphere at the table, and my guide seemed annoyed with me, that i only had rice and wanted me to try the catfish soup. In order not to be inpolite, i had one piece of the fish, even though the soup looked spicey (not good for a bad stomach). But i struggled with some fish bones in my mouth. Me trying to remove these seemed, yet again, to annoy both my driver and my guide, and they started their own angry conversation ignoring me. On the way back to Hanoi, it was dead silent in the car - my driver was sleeping again, of course. But few minutes before arriving at my hotel, both my driver and my guide puts on some music and seems happy. My guide then starts complementing my driver for his brilliant driving and tells me, that i can give him a tip, if i want to. Not even a happy birthday for me 😄 Normally, i give a really good tip, when i feel that i have recieved a good treatment and have had a good time. But this time, i did not. So to summon up, it was not the standard of the accommodation, that the agency had warned me about, that makes me give this review. It was: The choice of really local kitchens, that made me sick. As a tourist, i would like to witness local food - but served from a “safe place”, and i would like to enjoy my holiday - not spending it on being sick. The lack of respect from my guide. As a guide, you should know your clients (the different types of tourists). And you shouldn’t be annoyed at someone, who’s declining the food you order, when recovering from a bad stomach infection. That i find disrespectful. Also, i find it unprofessional as a guide to get drunk every night in the local rice brandy “happy water” and trying to force it onto me (also when recovering). It then makes sense, that he was sleeping every day in the car. I didn’t travel so far to get drunk every night. I actually wanted to experience the beautiful sceneries, and learn about the people, the food, the history and the culture of northern Vietnam. But you don’t learn much from a guide who’s sleeping most of the time. I tried to treat my guide and driver in a kind, respectful and tolerant way. Unfortunately, i didn’t feel that i was met with the same.

Had last minute travel plans. Search online for numerous hours to try and find tours with times that would match with my schedule, but couldn't find anything. Decided to try Old Quarter Travel hoping they could find something. With-in 2 hours, found the perfect tours with the times I wanted. Very professional and understanding of what I was looking for in my travel plans. Definitely would recommend.