My Tho

On this trip to Ho Chi Minh City, I took two day tours. By comparison, I highly recommend SST Travel. Since I don't use WhatsApp, I was able to communicate with them via LINE, which was much more convenient! The tour guide, Travis, speaks very good English with almost no Vietnamese accent, making it easy to understand historical information, meet-up instructions, and so on. On the bus, he didn't try to make us feel sorry for him by complaining about waking up early or earning very little money, nor did he use emotional blackmail to pressure us into giving tips or forcing us to scan a QR code to write reviews. The main point is that at every stop, he genuinely asked if we wanted to try various activities (like popping popcorn, holding a snake, or making pancakes), and he even got animal feed from the vendors so we could feed the fish and see a flying fish (I noticed that other tour groups on the same day didn't do this). When we reached Coconut Island, he also asked the staff to demonstrate the whole process from hacking open a coconut to finally grinding and pressing the milk (though the latter part seemed to be requested by Travis, as the local staff looked a bit reluctant and didn't really want to do it, but they still demonstrated it for us). Afterwards, he helped take photos on-site (the tour guide took pictures of us boarding the boat from the shore), and we received the photos ❤️ On the boat ride back, we even got to drink fresh coconut water!! In short, I highly recommend this tour! However, since it includes visits to bee farms and coconut workshops, you should mentally prepare yourself to be pitched to by the vendors. I believe their other tours are just as wonderful!

Tämä matka todellakin kannatti tehdä. SST Travels laati matkaohjelman erinomaisesti! Matkaoppaanamme oli Noah, joka on erittäin asiantunteva. Retki oli hauska, sillä hän selitti asiat todella hyvin ja antoi meille hyvät taustatiedot, jotta pystyimme kokemaan Cu Chin tunnelit paremmin. Lisäksi Mekongjoen deltaretki tarjosi niin paljon hauskoja uusia kokemuksia, joita pääsimme kaikki kokeilemaan.

Today’s Mekong River tour was a truly unique and wonderful experience. I’m so grateful to our lovely and kind guide for sharing so much information and taking such good care of us. I’ll definitely come back again with my family or friends. It’s a memory I’ll cherish for a long time.

worth our money!! we went to the pagoda first, then to the bee honey production, then coconut village & mekong delta. i bought the honey there. then we were entertained by a local performers singing traditional song, then off we go to Mekong delta sampan ride. tho it took a whole day but its worth it. guide also speak good english.

This was my second tour of Thoi Son Island in the Mekong Delta, and once again, having a Japanese-speaking guide was incredibly helpful and informative for a Japanese person like me. Last time, I joined an English tour and was so focused on understanding the language that I couldn't fully enjoy myself. This tour's guidance is consistently provided in Japanese by a local guide. For the outbound journey, they pick you up at your hotel, but for the return, you can choose from several drop-off locations, including Ben Thanh Market. On Thoi Son Island, local workers may ask tourists for tips, but we were informed beforehand that we are not obligated to pay. There are so many unique experiences that you can't have in Japan, such as seeing beehives, interacting with pythons, and tasting fruits, royal jelly, and coconut water. I never get tired of it, no matter how many times I go. For lunch, we enjoy specialty dishes from My Tho City, and I believe they all suit the Japanese palate. Please note that while the food is included in the price, beverages are at your own expense. Beyond the numerous experiences unavailable in Japan, the Japanese-language guidance and the opportunity to travel with many other Japanese participants (which minimizes cultural gaps in group activities) are, I believe, the greatest hospitality for Japanese attendees. This tour does not involve the aggressive sales tactics often found with major travel agencies. While the Japanese-speaking tour costs more than the relatively popular English tours, I considered it a necessary investment for myself to enjoy Vietnam more fully.

As a first timer in HCM, Vietnam, this definitely set my expectation amongst all the guides that we've experienced so far. John Wick was there to guide our group all throughout the tour and was always there to answer our queries. He brought us to well-known places with proper orientation before engaging into the activities. Kudos to our tour guide for asking for our consent before doing a certain activity. Definitely a value for money!

Nautimme tästä retkestä todella paljon, erityisesti upean oppaamme Puonin ansiosta. Hän oli niin ystävällinen, kannustava ja huomaavainen, otti aina kuvia puolestamme ja jakoi hyödyllisiä vinkkejä tehdäkseen vierailustamme Ho Chi Minh Cityssä entistäkin paremman. He jopa yllättivät tätini laulamalla "Hyvää syntymäpäivää", mikä teki kokemuksesta erityisen. Retki sujui ongelmitta, vaikka olikin sunnuntai, ja rakastimme ruokaa, musiikkia, eläimiä, veneretkeä ja ainutlaatuisia kokemuksia. Muutamaa äreää kookoskarkkimyyjää lukuun ottamatta kaikki olivat ystävällisiä. Muista ottaa vettä mukaan, sillä voi tulla melko kuuma. Suosittelemme tätä retkeä lämpimästi, erityisesti jos Puon on oppaanasi!

Honestly, I thought our tour guide yesterday was already really good. But then Kelvin became our tour guide, and I was like, “Wow, okay, he’s definitely my new standard for tour guides!” 😂 You definitely won’t get bored the entire trip with him. We learned so much, and he was genuinely so fun to be around—you’ll definitely find yourself laughing because of him! He was also super helpful whenever we had questions, and he could spot us so quickly in the crowd. He constantly checked on us to make sure we were okay. He also insisted on taking videos and photos of us, which was such a nice touch! He was very approachable and made us feel comfortable throughout the whole tour. Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this tour, especially if you get Kelvin as your guide! He really made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. 100000000/10! ⭐️😂

Poikaystäväni ja minä osallistuimme tälle yhden yön ja kahden päivän Mekongin suiston ja Can Thon retkelle ja meillä oli upea aika. Kaikki oli hyvin järjestetty, ja oppaamme oli yksi matkan kohokohdista. Hän oli ystävällinen, innostunut ja ammattitaitoinen! Yksi asia, joka sai meidät nauramaan, oli se, kuinka paljon ruokaa meillä oli retken aikana – se tuntui melkein ruokamatkalta! Vietnamin keittiön suurina faneina rakastimme sitä ehdottomasti. Meillä oli mahdollisuus kokeilla monia paikallisia ruokia ja erikoisuuksia koko matkan ajan. Venematkat kanavien läpi olivat suosikkiosamme. Nautimme myös todella Can Thon vilkkaasta ilmapiiristä illalla. Kadut olivat täynnä energiaa, ruokaa ja paikallista elämää. Toinen ikimuistoinen hetki oli lyhyt pyöräretki maaseudulla. Se oli yksinkertainen aktiviteetti, mutta se antoi meille mahdollisuuden nauttia maisemista ja paikallisesta elämäntavasta hitaammalla tahdilla. Kaiken kaikkiaan tämä retki tarjosi upean yhdistelmän kulttuuria, ruokaa, luontoa ja aitoja paikallisia kokemuksia. Suosittelemme sitä lämpimästi!