Lost Worlds of Asia: Myanmar & Bhutan Tour

We requested proposals from 7 different providers.  After evaluating each proposal on cost and quality we selected this travel agency.  Their price was in the middle of the price range.  However we judged their value to be the best considering the creativity and quality of the activities proposed as well as the included hotels and amenities.

Our request for proposal included our age, mobility situation. desired trip length and countries to be visited.  We visited Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.  We provided our international flights to Phnom Penh and home from Yangon.  Our travel agency provided flights internal to SE Asia.  We were met promptly at each airport by a driver if we were just going to our hotel or driver and guide if sightseeing or activities were involved.  The guides handled all of our arrangements and everything went like clock-work.  They got the tickets, got us in the right lines or to the right door so that all we had to do was enjoy ourselves. Despite all the activities and sightseeing we still had time to enjoy our hotels and rest.

The activities were first-class:  acrobatic circus in Siem Reap, dinner and Thai dance show in Bangkok, floating market in Kanchanaburi, ride on the death train on the River Kwai, boat tour on the golden triangle river,  cooking class and dinner with a local family near Chiang Mai, two night luxury riverboat cruise from Mandalay to Bagan, sunrise balloon ride over Bagan, longtail boat tour around villages on Inle Lake and high tea at the old colonial hotel in Yangon.  All of these activities were wonderful and we will never forget them.

The hotels were all luxurious and had local flavor.  All of the rooms were spacious and the service excellent.  We spent the night in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mandalay, Bagan and Yangon.  We have had several river boat trips but our river boat trip from Mandalay to Bagan surpassed it with more spacious cabins and baths, better public spaces and better service.

Our travel agent worked with us back and forth promptly as we fine tuned our itinerary.  He made recommendations on tipping, currency and local customs such that the entire trip went smoothly and thus maximized our enjoyment of these wonderful countries.  I cannot recommend this agent and his company high enough to reflect our satisfaction with the trip he arranged.

We are a retired couple from the USA in our late 60s.  We recently returned from a fantastic five-week tour of India and Bhutan (four weeks in India followed by a week in Bhutan) arranged through this agency, a truly first-rate company.  Our travel planner had assured us that our tour would be the "trip of a lifetime," and we were not disappointed.  We are veteran travelers and usually tour on our own (renting a car) in Europe–and even in Japan.  Our instinct was that we should not attempt this in India–and we were certainly right.  

We began our search for a tour company by looking at small-group tours, but these did not offer the length of stay we had in mind.  Figuring this would likely be our one trip to India, we wanted to spend at least four weeks and to include as many destinations as possible.  We also had the idea of extending the trip by an additional week in Bhutan, since relatives had been there and loved it.

We soon discovered that there are a number of companies offering personalized tours for individuals or small family groups, and that such individual tours are the preferred way to tour India.  Having surveyed a number of such luxury tour providers online, we selected three of the top companies and solicited proposals for a three- to four-week tour of India hitting as many of the must-see destinations as possible.  We then studied the proposals and followed up with lengthy phone conversations with representatives of the three companies, including our travel planner. 

Through this process (which required a good deal of study and work on our part), this travel company emerged as far and away the best choice.   First, their pricing was considerably lower than the others.  Equally important, of the three company representatives we interviewed, our travel planner was the only one who truly listened and understood our travel style and what we wished to accomplish.  He has far-reaching expertise of the many varied destinations in India and helped us put together an itinerary that was ambitious in its pace but not exhausting.  He rightly advised allowing sufficient time at each destination to relax as well as to cover all the major sites.  He was also attuned to our budgetary concerns and helped us to tailor a selection of hotels that kept expenses under control without sacrificing quality or style.  

One advantage of our selection process was that it helped us become aware of the breadth of possible destinations in touring India, since each proposal contained at least two or three suggested destinations that weren't mentioned in the others.  Having a list of recommended destinations was a boon in narrowing the focus of our study of the vast amount of information online and in travel guides.  We were thus able to sort through the possibilities and select those that were most interesting to us.  We worked with our travel planner to expand the itinerary he had proposed to include such places as Ranthambore and Madurai, as well as the one-week extension in Bhutan at the end.

After we signed on with this travel company, we remained in contact with our planner, working out numerous details regarding hotels, internal flights, and the like.  We conferred mainly by email, but occasionally talked by phone to discuss more complex matters.  Throughout, he was always responsive.   We were very concerned about setting the specific dates of our travel, since we wanted to be in Punakha, Bhutan for a festival in early March.  This was not easy, since the dates of that festival were not yet firm.  Our travel planner called contacts in Bhutan to make sure that we would likely be in Punakha on the right dates (and we were).  He recommended a mix of premium and luxury hotels that he felt would offer a special experience (and they did).  He took care of booking our seats on the internal flights.  He tweaked our itinerary at the last minute to include visits to museums and other sites that we had read about and wanted to see.

This travel company's mission is that their clients "experience destinations rather than visiting them," and certainly our tour was rich in personal experiences that made us feel a true connection with Indian culture.  The excellent guides and drivers are essential to this experience.  All the guides were fluent in English and very knowledgeable about history, culture, and current events (both in India and the USA).  We felt we were able to get to know them personally, and we were particularly fascinated by the variety of people who served as our guides.  They represented a range of ages, ethnicities, educational and professional backgrounds, political and philosophical viewpoints, and even genders (one guide was female).  Getting their takes on people, places, and events offered a real cross-section of society.  And we had the feeling that most of our guides enjoyed getting to know us as well.  We didn't get to know most of our drivers so well, since they generally spoke less English.  On two extended segments of our tour, however, our drivers served as guides as we traveled around a region.  This worked well, and we developed a special bond with them.  The guides and drivers were consistently attentive to our needs and adapted readily to our interests and touring style (frequent stops for photo ops was a must!).  It was always easy to fine-tune the daily plan (to include a particular site, activity, or restaurant, for instance).

A particularly invaluable aspect of the the travel company's tour is that a company representative is at the airport or station to meet clients upon arrival at each destination to assist with luggage and transportation to the hotel.  Similarly, at departure the company representative is there to assist at the station with boarding trains, or at the airport with passing through security and checking in for flights–often a complicated process.  This service worked nearly flawlessly.  Just once there was a glitch when we had trouble finding the travel company representative upon arrival.  I simply called our planner (who picked up instantly), and he put us together with the representative within a matter of minutes.

Just a word on the hotels:  For budgetary reasons, we had selected a mix of four-and five-star hotels.  All were truly fine, and some were spectacular. This travel company has great knowledge of hotels across India, and those they offer their clients are integral to the experience.  In certain instances, our travel planner steered us to a particular hotel that he thought was special and worth the extra money–and he was right in every case.

We fell in love with India–and Bhutan as well.  When we planned the tour we thought it would be our single trip to that region.  In thirty-three days we covered an amazing number of important and unique destinations.  We now realize, however, that India is a huge, immensely varied country and that there is so much more for us to experience.  We may very well make a return trip.  If we do, we will certainly book our tour with this company.  This great company offers its clients excellent personalized tours at a price that, considering the exceptional quality of the services, is remarkably fair.

As promised, here is a follow up on my trip.First, a big thank you to my planner for the book, Burma: Rivers of Flavor, it is super and I will challenge myself to create some of the recipes.I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Myanmar. I had an excellent, informative guide and a delightful companion. I had no idea that she would accompany me throughout the trip, but I am happy she did. Most everything about the trip was delightful, and the balloon ride exceptional. Perhaps the only thing lacking was that which was in your brochure which stated meeting with local dignitaries or a cooking lesson. The temples were beautiful but by the third day in Bagan I was ready for something a bit different. As I was a solo traveller, my guide accomodated a slight change and we went into town, had a massage and I was delighted and grateful.I thank you for organizing an unforgettable experience.

We had a fantastic time on our trip to Thailand and Myanmar..your suggestion of using this travel company was spot on...their services we're  par to none and our consultant gave and planned a unforgettable trip for us...from the destinations to the guides who spoke outstanding English to the plane trips  to get to different parts of the countries to the cruise company for our 7 day trip down the Irrawaddy all was outstanding..they deserve all 5 stars plus...we would definitely use them again and thank you again for this wonderful suggestion..Warren and Kathy USA

Our search began, as with most, jumping around on various internet sites looking to establish travel on a unique tour of Southeast Asia.  Our goal, for a two week trip (14 days) for our family of three, was to experience Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Currently living in Singapore, we have friends and coworkers who suggested some "areas" of the region and specific locations and sites that were defined as a "must see".  Along with those suggestions very often they included the comments on how beautiful, peaceful, and friendly this area of the world truly is.  In a word, "GO", and experience all that Southeast Asia has to offer and you will not be disappointed.

Our online research brought us to Zicasso, where we outlined at a very high level our goals of selected countries, types of experiences, hotel grade, type of room, and special accommodations related to allergies.  It was at this point and time that we were connected with our travel agency to begin constructing our tailor made tour. 

Almost immediately, our agent was at our tailored need in guiding us and helping us craft our itinerary.  We found this travel agency to be extremely responsive and flexible, as well as, offering counsel and input.  At first glance, our travel goals for the two weeks appeared a bit aggressive, and as our travel agency began constructing a sample itinerary they asked us to review it closely to be sure we were going to be comfortable with the pace and travel that was to be required.

The process actually began with a phone call, basically an interview to understand our families' goals, needs, and desires for our hopeful experiences.  Ongoing communication took place via email, with extremely quick responses to our questions or requests for additional understanding as we continued to do our online research of the region and awaited our proposed itinerary and cost.

We remember receiving the itinerary, and the excitement for the potential of what we were about to embark on immediately jumped out of the pages.  The itinerary was very detailed indicating what would be taking place Day 1 thru Day 14.  Our private tour included a personal guide for each location and a personal driver and van at each location as well.  It listed their recommendation for the 4 - 5 star hotel at each destination and how and where we would be greeted upon arrival. 

This last little component is one, as we actually traveled, we really came to appreciate.  Our trip essentially included 8 flights over the 14 days.  We arranged our travel to/from Singapore, our travel agency arranged all the other remaining transportation and flights.  The travel agency had a representative meeting us as we got off the plane.  In Vietnam for example, we just sat back as they managed and processed the express visa service, guided us through immigration and customs, assisted us in our bag collection, and then introduced us to our guide and driver as we headed to the hotel.

This experience was repeated as we arrived in Laos from Vietnam, in Cambodia from Laos, in Thailand from Cambodia, in Myanmar from Cambodia, and within Myanmar as we flew from Mandalay to Bagan, then flew from Bagan to Yangon.  In part, this part of the travel arrangements constructed by this travel agency removed what could have been a very stressful component of the trip and had us relaxed, as we watched other travelers standing in long lines or trying to understand what was required to pass into country.

Speaking of potential stress, in the past, we would manage all the travel arrangements ourselves.  We would construct the itinerary, including locations and sites, schedule in meals, manage local transportation, and try to take it all in at the same time.  Managing all of that takes away from the experience, adds stress, and if you need flexibility you are not prepared to adjust or understand how.  Our travel agency made all of that disappear and we simply got to sit back (ok, lots of walking and climbing, not exactly sitting back at a beach) and enjoy our trip.  Here is where we became impressed.  Our guides and drivers at each location were simply amazing.  How friendly and gracious they were, they became part of the experience.  We just didn't walk up a temple, we didn't simply see the sunrise at Angkor Watt, we heard and understood the history of what we were witnessing at each location.  The guides were incredibly knowledgeable.................and observant.  Without them, the trip's experience would have simply been reduced by 50% in appreciation and understanding. 

We happened to travel from the end of June through the beginning of July.  This isn't exactly prime tour season for these destinations (usually Oct - Mar).  However, our family believes this made the experience that much more enjoyable.  The guides and drivers were thanking us for our patronage and for visiting and everyone we engaged was so polite.  This leads us right into the staff at each of the hotels.  As we came and went on our daily tours and returned in the late afternoon or early evening, we felt as though we were being welcomed home.  Often a cool drink, cool towel to refresh ourselves, and assistance greeted us each and every time.  Always this came with a smile and a thank you.  The people made our experience memorable and our travel agency put all of this together for our family.

Just when you think that the travel agency's personal touch couldn't get any better, our agent took the opportunity during our trip to actually meet us at the hotel while we were in Vietnam.  Ensured we had all the personal contact information necessary for each contact at each location, as well as, his own personal contact information.  He then presented out family with a small gift of appreciation.  Nice job and well done.  This was our first experience using both Zicasso and this travel agency and we were incredibly impressed.

Overall the trip was excellent. Our guide and our driver were very capable and also very pleasant to deal with as well as a lot of fun.