Walls of Angkor Wat, Cambodia (Rae Brouwer)Itinerary:
Kulala Lumpor, Malayasia to Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi to Cat Ba and surrounding islands
Cat Ba South by bus to Hoi An
Hoi An South to Ho Chi Min City
Ho Chi Min City to Siem Reap, Cambodia
(still traveling by bus mind you..)
Siem Reap to Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok to Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi to Phuket
Phuket to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Wheww… that long list was just how it felt too, extensive, exciting, exhausting, and of course an excellent addition to experiencing new cultures. I will say, with only four weeks to travel (which you can give each bus ride anywhere from 12-24 hours) the time to really submerge yourself is hardly allowed. So instead, we did all the tourist stuff. Freezing my tush off in Hanoi (at this time I had been living in Malaysia), kayaking through the islands of Cat Ba, watching martial arts and exploring glee-full colors of history in Hoi An, re-introducing myself to western life in Ho Chi Minh City, finding peace among ancient temples of Angkor Wat (my favorite part), and then Thailand.
I must say, actually experiencing some of the “touristy” activities was good. It’s kind of something you need to check off your list, so next time you return, you give yourself the time to explore more of the back alleys and the true life of the locals. It’s so funny, the things that make all of these places incredible, are the tourist traps. It can't be avoided. So, it's been done. And next time I find myself in Vietnam, Cambodia, and even Thailand, I won't have to go anywhere my travel book suggests.
Our agent Jessica was very helpful with the whole process and always responded in a timely way to all of our questions.
K Van
1 day ago
Chern was very patient snd helpful.
CaBaba
2 days ago
Cruse ship was great. Fantastic food and service. Cruise itinary got changed so not what we expected, but not an major issue. Japan portion was great. Drivers/guides arranged by 80 Days were great. Hotels were mostly ok. Did not know that most hotels outside of major cities do not allow shoes to be worn in the hotel. again a minor inconvenience. Overall a great trip. Adventure Life communications were timely and much appreciated as far as changes/requests.
Peter Goff
3 days ago
We were a group of three that initiated our research by independently searching for the best agency to help us in the somewhat complex experience of traveling to the Galapagos. We chose adventure life because they were the most responsive in the website provided the most comprehensive overview of the trip. Their reviews were also very good.
Adventure, life splits up its booking process in two parts. First Jeff, the booking agent helped us decide which experience best suited are interests. We chose a small 14 to 16 group sized yacht. Once the booking was made with Jeff, we were handed off to Coleene, who oversaw the complex process of assembling all of the necessary documents and making sure we had everything we needed to make the trip go smoothly. The adventure, life website, then becomes your personal place of reference for all things related to your trip from door to door. It’s a lot of information to assemble, especially for three travelers, but the website makes it easy and Colleen‘s gentle reminders kept us on track. In all, from the beginning, we had four months from the time we started our research till the time we departed. We felt that was, a good amount of preparation time and don’t think it would be wise to do it in less than four months. Mostly because I think you have more options with that amount of time. There were others on our trip that took six months and more from the time they started planning.
The trip itself was outstanding. We ended up on an excellent yacht (Galapagos Angel II) with a great group of guests that we were able to connect with and put together a really nice google photos album to share.
Jed
1 week ago
Mary was very helpful. Quick to reply with helpful information and closure on arrangements.