clients' reviews

As I take the time to reflect on my 28 days in Vietnam, I can confidently say it was a trip of a lifetime, arranged by my personal travel agent, Lien Tran. Lien took the time to understand my interests and desires, which provided her with the insight necessary to curate a transformative experience.
The guides she selected to explain the rich history and culture of the villages and temples truly provided a five-star experience. Their knowledge and enthusiasm brought the destinations to life in a way that deepened my appreciation for Vietnam.
Moreover, Lien checked in daily to ensure that everything was proceeding according to plan. The detailed daily programs she provided were first-class, incorporating a perfect balance of sightseeing and leisure.
Thank you, Lien, for your professionalism and dedication in making this an unforgettable journey.
ZH USA

We absolutely loved every moment of the trip! I cannot thank you enough for organising everything for us - everything was brilliant!!! We will be back to go to central Vietnam and Cambodia. Thank you Lien!!!

Another great family adventure organised with Lien at Authentik Travel. Having been well looked after on a fantastic trip to Vietnam 18 months ago, we contacted them directly to see if they could organise a trip through Laos and into Thailand. After sending across our suggestions for a family friendly, active, but not too rushed trip, Lien put together and organised our ideal programme. It would be fair to say that the ground operators in Laos had a less dynamic approach to scheduling and communication than experienced previously in Vietnam. However, everything came together and the trip was throughly enjoyed by all. Meanwhile, upon reaching Thailand, everything ran like clockwork, with five star attention to detail. I have no hesitation recommending Authentik and have done so to numerous friends since our first trip. When we are next planning a trip to the region, Lien will be the first person we call.

We had a wonderful time in the bay. Everything was perfect, beautiful boat, top service, nice crew, amazing food and great activities.
We thank you for your very good and efficient service, we appreciate it. We will put a very good review.
We wish you all the best and will recommend you for sure.
Thanks for everything
Sara & Eugene

It was a wonderful holiday!  Beyond all expectations!  We had a good time!  The unexpected journey from Ha Long to Hanoi was not a problem, hopefully without consequences for the driver!  Vietnam is an amazing country.  The Vietnamese people are very welcoming and kind.  We thank you very much!

Dear Lien,

We really enjoyed the trip and all the activities and excursions we did. The guides took great care of us all the time. Special mention for Kien (what a lovely person!) , in Hoi An and Hue, because he knew how to solve the situation of not being able to go or by bicycle, with solvency. In general we are very satisfied with the services you provided us that met our expectations. In any case, in order for you to improve the quality of service, we make the following considerations.

In relation to the pre-trip information, we had a very complete and detailed program, but we thought that if it could be provided in Spanish it would be much better for us! Another point to improve is that there was no mention of two bicycle excursions, as it was later. And it would have been nice to have some more prior information regarding the tips we had to give to guides, drivers and hotels, because we were somewhat clueless in this matter.

In relation to excursions, visits and activities, we loved the Halong Bay cruise and especially enjoyed the Ho Chi Minh City Vespa Tour and the Ninh Binh Excursion. And...there were a couple of visits that did not bring us much, as they were big businesses; the pearl factory and the silk fabric factory; on the contrary, we really enjoyed visiting the small artisans along the trip.

The hotels were very good, as expected, although if we had known that the hotel in Hoi An did not have a lift or air conditioning in common areas we would have chosen another one with these improvements.

We thought the meals included in the program were great, and we really liked the restaurants.

On another note, Ana (our guide in Hanoi), offered to take photos of us with her own mobile phone and said that she would send them to us later, but although we have claimed them by wasap we have not received them.

We hope this is useful to you and we will also post some review on the internet. Of course, we will recommend you to friends who want to travel to Viet Nam.

Thank you so much Lien!

Take care, 

Inma y  Chema

Hello Lien, my family is very happy with this travel. We would like to congratulate you and Authentik Travel for the tour, everything was perfectly scheduled, and the service was 10/10. Thanks you for helping us 24/7 (you are the best). We will always remember this travel. As I told you some months ago, we have a YouTube Channel based on our travels, I will share with you the video when its done and we will recommend make a tour with your travel agency.

Hi Lien,

We are back home with a full heart.

This was the first 'far-away' trip with the kids.

(Two years ago we did namibia, but that was wiht parents, nephews and cousins so just the four of us was 'a first'.

I wanted to thank you for the super professional organisation of our trip through Vietnam.

The best thing i did was contacting you.

Everything was so well organised!

My son is still sad that he has to wait until he is 18 to go back on his own to meet Johnny again.

If you ask him what the best part of the trip was. He says: 'meeting Johnny'.

Says it all i guess ;-)

Johnny was the best guide we could imagine and Mimi was also good.

She needs maybe a bit of professionalism (being on time; but she is still young), but when she was there, she was passionate in what she does.

The top experiences for us 

- The hike in Sapa

- All the local lunches and encounters

- The boat & biketour in Ninh Binh

- The streetfood tour on the motorbikes in Ho chi min city with Mimi

What we would do differently next time (you never know if it might be usefull)

- Take the train back from ninh bin instead of the drive in the minivan to Hanoi to gain an extra day

- Take a less touristy tour in Halong bay or the bay next to Halong bay which seems to be less touristy

- Stay an extra night in Hoi An (so beautifull!)

- Other stay in Ninh Binh

I came back with a full heart and an extra bag full of food and a cookingbook.

The best food is definitely the Vietnamese food.

(I follow you on instagram and all the food you post goes through the google translator ;-))

Today, i sent your contactdetails to14! friends who followed our trip on insta and asked for it.

Goodbye, mayby till next time!

Catherine COSSEMENT
 

Hi Lien,

We are having an amazing time. Seeing and doing so much. Mr Tung is an excellent guide so knowledgeable and we really enjoy his company. He is looking after us so well.  Thank you for forwarding the pictures.
Jane

Just to let you know that our meal with the Van family was an exceptional experience. We were made so welcome by Perfume, her sister and Mr Van. Perfume explained all the dishes we ate - which were delicious.  Whilst we wereHaving tea in their living room a big surprise was when they bought in a birthday cake for Dominic and Julie - thank you so much for arranging this it was so thoughtful. Mr Van played some of his musical instruments and sang songs which Perfume translated. A wonderful evening
Our tour with Tony in the jeep we also thoroughly enjoyed - such a knowledgeable guide and such an enthusiastic young  man and he showed us so many interesting places with relevant stories.
Now at Ba Be - what a cycle ride!! & magnificent cave.
We are having such a wonderful time.
Back tomorrow.

----------------

Hi Lien
After an amazing trip in and around Hanoi dung Van and the dragon cruise - which we all so enjoyed we are now loving Hue after our great train journey. Ms Lilly is such a lovely young lady. We’ e made flowers, block printing  in villages which we visited on scooters as it is so hot - great idea rather than cycling.
Now relaxing at the very nice Spatel Hotel. Off again tomorrow to Hoi An.

We are having an amazing time, now relaxing in La Siesta on the terrace another fabulous room.

Hi Authentik travel :
Liz and I first want to tell you how much we enjoyed our trip. We explored and learned so much! We tried lots of new foods, most of which we liked, and had lots of memorable experiences. In answer to your questions below, let us tell you about some more of the specifics. First, among the many things we liked:
1. The coordination of all of the parts of the trip, both in Vietnam and Laos, was excellent. The trip had so many pick ups, drop offs, and need for good timing and all went without a problem.
2. The guides and drivers were excellent. Although as we mentioned, it sometimes took us some attention to understand, they had good command of English and had tons of information. They were also willing to adjust the program when appropriate. Also, all of the people we met in both countries were welcoming and smiling!
3. The hotels, with one exception (see below) were really excellent and very comfortable. We used the pool in 4 different places, so that was welcome after a hot day of sight seeing.
4. We really liked that we were on our own for dinner (and lunch too in Laos). This allowed us to explore lots of restaurants. For us, staying away from fixed lunch menus worked best, since we usually don't have a big mid day meal.
5. The train we took in Laos that the Chinese built (and seem to run) was excellent! Much better than trains in the US.
Some suggestions for future trip planning:
1. For some reason, the War Remnants Museum was not on our original itinerary in HCM City. Our guide suggested that we substitute that for a visit inside the Independence Palace (which we visited later as a short stop).EVERYONE, especially Americans, should visit that Museum. We found it very moving!
2. We enjoyed the homestay a lot, but as I think I mentioned to you, the bed there in the first floor apartment was a platform with a rock hard mattress. We slept very poorly that night.
3. The Cao Dai temple visit was probably not worth the time to get to. It was a pretty long trip.
4. The overnight train trip from Hue to Hanoi was OK. The private compartment was small but worked for us, and we did sleep part of the night. But as we told you, the toilet was the worst we have ever experienced anywhere! It is not something we would repeat.
5. We liked our time in Laos, particularly Luang Prabang. Van Vieng seemed to be a backpacker center, which was very different than all of the other places we visited. The hotel we stayed in had a beautiful view, and the balloons and ultra light aircraft at sunrise and sunset were wonderful. We also visited during the annual long boat race, which made the place kind of crazy but interesting. However, the hotel was by far the worst of those we stayed at. It was old and looked it. The bathroom wall tiles were all cracked, the furniture and hallways were worn.

The other thought, which applies to Vietnam and Laos, is that there are around 50 minorities in each. We had a chance to experience Hmong culture, but wonder if there might have been a chance to visit other parts of the countries, particularly Laos, to see what life is like outside of the cities and perhaps in the mountains. We hope this helps you. We will certainly post on Trip Advisor with a very favorable review. We just want to tell you once again how much we enjoyed the trip, and how much value we think there was for the price.
Thanks again, Len & Liz