Cheap Asia Tours

• An English-speaking guide
• Accommodation: A newly remodeled hotel stay, which served free breakfast
• Number of cities : Three
• Transportation: three types of boat rides down the Mekong Delta, spacious A.C. buses, a bike tour
• Sightseeing: A floating market, visit to a rice paper and a coconut candy factory, a rice mill, a bike stroll through a Mekong village, etc….

It cost ! I don’t think I’ll be going to a concierge anytime soon.

Room accommodations for a two-day/one night tour to the Mekong Delta.

At the rice paper factory. Woman making rice paper;. Below, our guide tells us about the process.

4. Hold realistic expectations.

“You get what you pay for” is the saying about budget tours. But in Vietnam, paying for an expensive tour, doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a better tour. Whaaa?…

I took a few group tours I bought either through my hostel or a local tour agent. In all instances, I was sold a budget tour package at a much cheaper rate than travelers, who booked that exact tour through their hotel or another agent. In fact, we were on the same tour. They just paid more for it.

Of course, you have to be realistic also. If I pay for a budget tour that costs something crazy like $20 for a full day tour, which provides a hotel, I don’t have grand expectations for it outside what I paid. Although Vietnam can surprise you. It did with me.

Do you get what you pay for? Apparently, not always. Some of us cheap-o’s get more.

5. Shop around

Shop around with a few agencies before settling on one.

Get as much information as you can about what you’re being sold and the ballpark rate for it. Trust your gut. It always knows best.

6. Beware of counterfeit agencies

Vietnam has a lot of counterfeit agencies (aka copy cat agencies that steal customers from reputable agencies). For every reputable agency there’s a swarm of mock companies disguised with the same name and logo, hoping to lure in the business of unsuspecting tourists.

Sinh Tourist Cafe is a well-known Lonely Planet recommended operator that travelers go to. I booked a Sapa trekking tour with them and took a shuttle direct from the Hanoi airport to their street. Imagine my surprise, when I didn’t find Sinh Tourist Cafe, but five, each brandishing the same business sign! Two of them were located next to each other and sitting directly across of the real Sinh Cafe! Fortunately, I researched the address to know better.