Sinh Cafe 3 day HCMC to Phnom Phen - any comments?

I found Sinh Cafe very reliable as far as pre booking, responding to emails etc and their general approach to organization excellent by any standards.

I was well pleased with thier 2 day 1 night trip through the Mekong Delta (HCMC to HCMC) and have just booked the 3 day HCMC to Phnom Phen trip for March 2009.

I%26#39;ve got the details from Sinh Cafe but other peoples personal opinion and experiences are always helpful.

Has anyone done this trip recently?

What was the hotel like in Chau Doc?

What time does it get into Phnom Phen?

Etc, etc?

Thanks in advance.

Sinh Cafe 3 day HCMC to Phnom Phen - any comments?

I too am interested in feedbacks as I plan to take this tour in February 2009.

Sinh Cafe 3 day HCMC to Phnom Phen - any comments?

I am also looking at this for March - was wondering if if actually goes every day.

thank you

Richard

Does this tour overnight in Can Tho? If so, demand a different hotel- their standard hotel is not the greatest: see my review.

Just did the 2 days/1 night Mekong and back to HCM. We didn%26#39;t go to Cambodia, but it is the same group till they splitt up. I read that you made this trip already, so you are doing most of it for the second time.

The food on the first day stop in the mekong is terrible. Only rice with some cheap pork meat. I saw that most people only eat their rice.... We stayed at the homestay wich is simple, but very nice. But if you don%26#39;t like cooked fish you get very hungry in the homestay (i don%26#39;t like fish) People in the hotel said there was nothing to do in the neighborhood of this hotel (no good restaurants/bars).

The first day wasn%26#39;t interesting. The second day we saw more interesting places at the Mekong delta.

For RichardMZ - yes they leave every day and have told me that I don%26#39;t need to pre-pay anything until I arrive in HCMC 2 days before I want to leave.

For YorkFoodie - The 3 day / 2 night tour does use the Hoa Phuong hotel but I didn%26#39;t mind it so much - see my review with photos of the room, bathroom, view from balcony etc. It is a very basic hotel but was better than I was expecting seeing the whole 2 day / 1 night Mekong Delta tour was only US$24. I have asked for a room with a fridge this time though and will probably insist on a room at the back which I found quiet enough to be able to sleep.

For rondreizer - I pretty much agree with your comments about the 2nd day being more interesting on the 2 days/1 night Mekong tour that goes back to HCMC. I%26#39;m hoping the tour that goes onto Chau Doc and up to PP will be at least as interesting.

Stekmer- it wasn%26#39;t the basicness (is that a word?) I had such a problem with, though the five flights of stairs were hard on my dodgy knees; it was the 6am wake up call from the bus station making it impossible to sleep any later, the fact that it was such a long way from the more interesting parts of Can Tho and that the breakfast was one of the few truly inedible meals we had in VN.

I empathize your problem, I would not survive in that noisy condition. I think to do as you suggested, chnge hotel in Can tho (do you experience one?) I also would like to extend one free day. If they would leave me in Vinhlong, I will find a hotel there, and will wander on my own. Then the third day they can pick me up and go back to HCM. What do you think? Will Sincafe accomodate this change? Could you describe your first day with the 2D1N with them?

I also had a look at www.ethnictravel.com (somebody mentioned that in the web) and found they are the most reasonable on the other scale. All others : Jasons3, travelindochina, anntours quoted 150$ or over for 2D1N, this one quoted $114. Although I have not experienced so cannot say anything, except that their website is nice, with the aim of travel eco ethic. Another con is that they originate from Hanoi, so how can they organize for the Delta? but the faces of the tour guide are so nice, that I like them instantly.

Any way, I saw that there are many people who would travel in Feb 09 to the Delta. May be we can form a small group (10 people the most) and pay something in between Sinhcafe and others but with good quality.

I can be the translator as I am Vietnamese with an american hub.

I take your point YorkFoodie

Five flights of stairs and a forced early morning can wear very thin very quickly. I agree that breakfast was certainly not memorable - cold%26#39;ish noodles, fried rice or bread and jam with a piece of fruit and bad coffee.

moonn60 - I was thinking the same thing (except stopping in Can Tho) You would obviously need to check with Sinh Cafe but they have tours leaving daily and criss crossing the whole area so I suspect that they may be able to accommodate a request to stop longer in a town that was on their tours circuit. Please let me know what they say.

We actually had an extra day in Can Tho (despite the hotel :-) ) and went back to HCMC with a different tour group. Others on the tour we started with stayed at different hotels so inh Cafe accommodates that change as well.