Asia Local culture Trips

There were a rapid fire of exceptional experiences. If I had to pick one, the overnight cruise on Halong Bay would be near the top. Others include: Hanoi Hilton, Saigon at Night, Hero Rats, Bangkok cruise, Angkor What, Chi Chu tunnels, and the overall food experiences. Our Tour Manager put more effort into making a wonderful time than I have ever seen in 12 Collette tours.

What an amazingly beautiful country Jordan is. I would encourage anyone to visit. The tour took in a wide range of activities- history and religion, beautiful vistas and walks, local experience such as a hammam and meal with family (many were concerned this may feel exploitive but in truth you dinned as you would in a restaurant and was a nice alternative) . The drive round the desert was breathtaking, and sitting by a camp fire as the skies darkened in Wadi Rum memorable. The tour was not unduly fast paced allowing for down time - which for me is essential as a break from work. Jordan felt safe and welcoming - sadly empty because of conflict that doesn't really touch Jordan (for tourists ) despite its proximity - so both wonderful to have places like Petra to oneself (almost) but heartbreaking to see the impact on a country and it's people.

Our tour manager, John Pham, made the adventure exciting. His insight into the 4 countries we visited was outstanding. Every place we visited was insightful and his narrative had us prepared for the visit. Water puppet show, Angar Wat at sunrise, celebrating birthdays, basket boat rides on the Mekong Delta, Chu Chu tunnels, waterfalls, floating markets, temples and the reclining Buddha were just a few of the adventures we experienced. Tour was very different than we imagined.

Severely hurt on the motorcycle (Vespa) progressive dinner … driver was inexperienced and did not lock Vespa for me to dismount - causing me to fall hard on my back on concrete with Vespa falling on top of me!!! Due to severity of motorcycle falling on top of me, I am asking for a refund of the trip!!

In a couple of action packed weeks we were able to experience the extraordinary variety of the Vietnamese landscape and culture, including beautiful coastal and mountain vistas, lively cities, colourful and inspiring temples, historic sites, engaging cultural events and wonderful food.

24/10 ----02/11/25 The three of us, two adults and a sixteen year old had the most fantastic time in Jordan. To begin with we were met at the airport in the middle of the night by our super friendly guide Zuhair. He arranged visas and had us along with another family on a minibus within half an hour. Everything was well planned from there on. The three hotels we stayed in were smart clean and efficient and the two Bedouin camps amazing. At the end of every day, the next day's agenda was explained, making the whole experience pure hassle free. The Jordanians are a very friendly and helpful *information removed by Feefo*. Whilst they do have neighbours from bordering countries who you may not wish to visit, there was no sign of tension and we were more than comfortable walking late at night down unlit streets. Everyday was a new adventure which ticked so many boxes on our list our next trip wherever will need to be very carefully chosen, as we were well and truly spoilt. My personal highlights were the Dead sea, Jerash and of course Petra. We and another guy decided to ascend the eight hundred plus steps to the Monastery which was a bit of a hike but not exactly gruelling, and well worth it for the views. Wadi Rum is such an amazing place, although we only spent less than a day there. An hour and a half open top 4x4 trip followed by the same on camelback to watch the sunset rounded of the day perfectly. Both the Dead and the Red sea were comfortable and warm to swim in. Perhaps we were just lucky, but we could not have ended up with a nicer bunch of fellow travellers in our group of sixteen. Overall, we would not hesitate to recommend this trip to anyone who is capable of walking a few miles a day, enjoys culture and history and is just looking for something a little different, well.. a lot different.