Kimkim Trip Reviews

We stayed 10 days in Ecuador and 8 days on Galapagos.
All was very good.
Linda planned us the exactly trip we asked her.
The guide who went with us, Marco, was very friendly, also for trip not planned.
We went to Quito, on Cotopaxi, Quilatoa Lagoon, Baños, Chimborazo, Guamote, Cuenca and Guayaquil. A great trip !
Than on Galapagos we stayed two days on San Cristobal, one day on Santa Cruz and the last 5 days on a very beautiful Cruise.
All the accomodation of our trip was fantastic.
We're enthusiastics of this beautiful experience.
Thanks Linda !

Natascia and Giampaolo (Italy)

Our three guides and three drivers in the areas of Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, Bagan, Popa, Salay, Pindaya, Dalaw and Loikaw were all excellent. There was nothing we could fault them on. They gave us an insight into the lives and culture in each area we visited. They warmed to our Australian sense of humour and made our trip a lot of fun. All the various Hotels that we stayed in all staff couldn't do enough to please us. Our guides on the Pindaya Trek and Loikaw Village Trek interacted well and we had a wonderful time. Anne Cruickshanks who tailored our trip to suite our interests was nothing but professional in her communication skills and there was nothing we would have changed. We felt we could relax and enjoy ourselves and re charge on our annual holiday and felt safe wherever we went.
We were pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the Myanmar people.
Happy Travellers
Ros & Geoff Wilson
South Australians

Kristy was absolutely incredible! From planning the trip, to the level of communication we received during the trip, I felt well taken care of throughout the whole thing. Kristy was able to create a custom experience for a trip to Peru for my friend and I. No matter what we threw her way (new locations, different sights to see), she was able to revise our itenerary quickly each time while giving us real-time feedback on what she would recommend.

During the trip, my friend and I truly felt like we were VIP. When we arrived at each destination, there would be someone waiting for us to take us to our hotel. It was completely stress-free! The majority of the tours were private, meaning my friend and I could ask all the questions we wanted. We felt like we got the most out of each experience. The tour guides were so friendly and passionate about the history behind each sight or destination.

I would highly recommend traveling through KimKim (as long as all the agents are as incredible as Kristy). It takes the stress out of planning, booking and traveling throughout a foreign country.

5 stars all around :)

Erin was great at organising the trip and was very quick with responding to questions and requests. The guide was very knowledgable, well mannered and paced the trek well. The porters were also excellent, very friendly and worked exceptionally hard without complaints. The trip itself was very good. The circuit was a quieter than some others and the scenery was excellent. Overall the kimkim experience was very good, the staff were amazing and the trek was outstanding.

Very good experience. Bhupendra followed up all my wishes regarding the trip. I'm impressed of the scheduie we ended up with in such a limited travel period. Perfect! He also added the spice course in an indian home - that was one of the highlights of the tour. To experience real life is something I would have wanted for all "exotic" trips, but never would have asked for as part of a tour..

Only one thing that was really bad about this correspondance. I would have preferred to send normal emails. With on site web messages, I had to go to kimkim.com every time and log in. I even had to type my complete email address every time. It does not remember me, and don't allow me to paste a copied email address. Seems as cookies are deleted. At least, make sure that the site remember me.

A large part of our trip was really great. We very much enjoyed the ancient sites and safaris. The Ecolodge and hiking in the rainforest were both incredible experiences. We did have a couple things we were quite frustrated with:

Our driver for the most part was good- he got us to where we needed to go safely. I left my wallet at a hotel in a previous city and he arranged to get it back for me which was incredibly helpful. However, he kept bringing us to these terrible tourist traps where he would get a commission if we bought something. Everything at these places was very overpriced. We wanted to get a carved elephant to bring home with us and he kept refusing to bring us to other places telling us he knew of a better place in Kandy. When we got to the shop we realized it was a scam (with terrible reviews online) and that everything was outrageously priced. He also brought us to places for lunch that would feed him for free for bringing us in. It would have be okay except a few of the places were dirty with bad food and 2-3 times more expensive than normal local places.

We also had an absolutely terrible night at one of the hotels. The hotel was outdated and very dirty. There were stains on our pillows and curtains, hairs in the bed that weren't ours and a dead lizard. We asked hotel to fix this and when we returned to our hotel room the same stained pillows were put back on our bed and the lizard was placed on our table. We have never been treated this way and thought our requests were not at all unreasonable but the staff seemed to be offended at our request? So they left a dead animal on our table. I have been in contact with Sandun about this for the last month and he kept saying he would follow up with the hotel (I was under the impression that we might get a refund or something) but I haven't heard anything which is further frustrating.

Overall, the trip was great. I would appreciate more details prior to the trip. Mike was great but he wasn’t needed the entire time. I didn’t know we would have a full time tour guide. We didn’t really need that. We would have preferred 2 hotel rooms and might have paid extra at a few sites to have that. Again, we didn’t know in advance what we had. In Hanoi and Hoi An, the room was way too small for 3 people, especially Hoi An since it was 3 nights. I might have settled for a lower rated hotel and had 2 rooms. So my primary feedback is to provide more detail of what we were getting so we could have more choices. The cooking class had a half day and full day choice. I would have preferred half day.

We had a fabulous trip and were able to relax and enjoy every step of the way thanks to kimkim and Tasos. I was nervous at first using a travel service that I couldn't find many reviews for, but it couldn't have been better. The planning process was easy and fun, with an email exchange with Tasos to find the right mix of active/relaxing/cultural activities. He found great hotels for us and arranged all transfers. In the midst of planning, the ferry schedule changed and Tasos alerted us right away so we could make necessary changes to our plans. Without Tasos, we wouldn't have known about that change. Lampros, our driver from the Athens airport to hotel, was very professional and knowledgeable. We were greeted with a vodaphone card and phone battery charger in a welcome packet. We only had one day in Athens, so Tasos arranged a combined Mythology and Food Tour. Katerina, our Mythology guide was knowledgeable and entertaining. The suite with private and hot tub at Aphrodite & Venus Hotel on Santorini was beautiful with wonderful breakfast. The Wooden Boat tour with dinner/saxophone/sunset was a fun tour with guide Christina. We also enjoyed our stay in Naxos. The Nastasia Village Hotel was quaint, also with delicious breakfast and made to order eggs each morning. The host family was welcoming and helpful. The Naxos Trekking hike we took was a highlight with a guided tour just for the two of us. The day prior, the original tour guide was called away unexpectedly, but it was seemless to us as Taos made arrangements for a new guide, Matina. He offered a refund for that tour if we weren't satisfied, but that tour was a highlight of the trip. Tasos arranged for the taxi to pick us up from the hotel and meet Matina in Chalki where headed off for our hike. The taxi picked us up at the end of the hike to go back to the hotel. We had Tasos arrange all of our transfers to/from hotel/ferries and it made things so easy. We felt like VIPs when we showed up and just looked for a sign with our name on it. The transfer to the airport at the end was a little tight, but we made it (barely). The itinerary we received from Tasos about a week before departure was thorough and well-organized. It was a great reference during our trip, but just enough that we didn't have to think too much on the trip and could enjoy the sights and the company! We had a couple questions during our stay and Tasos was always quick to respond via email. I would definitely use this service again.

Ningma and Lhakpa gave me an unforgettable week heli-trekking to EBC in just a week! The highlight was the stop at Kalu Pattar in brilliant sun - I was lucky with the weather which on a short trek can make a difference but NMMT did absolutely everything possible to make it the best experience with seamless booking and organisation at every stage and Lhakpa and I had a lot of fun being first into every teahouse! A prospective client should also look into the huge array of social work and local support that these guys do. They operate a direct hands on approach and on top of ad-hoc/ regular donations, part of your trek. climbing money will find a very good home in improving the lives of the people of the lower Khumbu

The trip was fantastic driving from Rwanda through Uganda the experience seeing the people, small towns was wonderful. The Gorilla Trekking was much harder than we thought at 7,500 ft above sea level. We live at sea level. Our idea was doing the Habitational on the first day and a regular trek the following day...bad idea as we were very sore after a 10 hour up and down hills including 4 hours following the gorilla family. Following day we just bailed out of the trek as we needed the rest, yet “What an Experience” I even got false charged by the large Silver Back...a real African adventure!
The food at Nkuringo Bwindi lodge was not up to par and I’m not a picky eater so I suggest you make other arrangements at that location. The staff was very nice but even when we write everything we wanted to eat down on paper, it never was correct.... a communication problem. Even Moses our driver translated but it never worked.
The best lodge was Kyaninga. A beautifully log cabin lodge with great food and wonderful staff.
Now for Kim Kim...a great tour company which allows you to deal with the tour operator in the area your traveling in. My questions about our trip were answered within an hour which gave me a feeling of confidence about the upcoming African adventure. Our driver and guide “Moses”was with us at all times if we needed anything... he was great. Overall trip was a 9 out of 10.
Bill & Sue Gordon

Priya was very responsive to my questions and guidance. 2 days before we plan to book the trip the floods hit Kerala and we had to significantly change the whole schedule. Priya was very creative and responsive. My wife and I were very pleased with the tour. we were dependent on her recommendations to guide our experience

Petra was great and we all enjoyed that. I was disappointed with Wadi Rum and the organization/lack of information of what we were doing and its duration. For example, we were told we should leave Petra early to get to wadi rum, thinking there was a lot to do. After getting there around 11, we sat around for over an hour not knowing what was going on. We then went on our jeep/camel ride for a few hours and got back around 4 with nothing to do til dinner. Our driver told us he was picking us up the next morning around 6 to do a 1 1/2 hour jeep ride then a 2 hour hike. We woke up at 6 and then told there was a booking issue to see if we could pack up and move our stuff to a different tent. On our ride, the jeep broke down and were stuck for 1 1/2 hours before the replacement jeep came. At that point we were not in the mood to drive another 1 1/2 and hike in the heat of the day which was the whole point we left early. So when we got back we had nothing to do for the whole day and thats why we called our agent to go to Amman earlier. I just felt that if we had known how long that hike/jeep ride was and that we would be doing it in the morning, we wouldn't have stayed an extra night at the camp and went to Amman early and saved the expense of the extra car ride/hotel cost.

Zeynep helped plan our wonderful adventure. The map she provided was highlighted with sights to visit and was our bible.

Zeynep created a fantastic trip for us. The accommodations were all very nice; the detailed map was very, very helpful; and the suggested sights were mostly spectacular and unique. Our experience of Iceland was just fantabulous. I enjoyed most the west and south coasts. Although the 'golden circle' was nice, it was not as interesting and the west coast and the glaciers to the south.

I had spent weeks trying to plan a trip to maximize time in Iceland for 5 people. I stumbled across the kimkim site and was assigned Zeynep as our specialist. She crafted our trip the way we wanted and from there the arrangements fell into place (meaning Zeynep did all the work!). With my busy schedule, I did not have the time to investigate each selection - I trusted Zeynep and she did not let us down.

Everything about the trip from the moment we landed exceeded our expectations. We were pleasantly surprised that Zeynep had mapped out our route and hand wrote the particular sites that she thought we would want to see. Every day worked out perfectly. We even saw the Northern Lights which was the much hoped for point of the trip.

We especially appreciated the private transfers from the airport (Christian), the hotels (especially Skuggi - fantastic breakfast!), the car rental and the Blue Lagoon excursion. None of my group had any complaints and the only bad part of the trip was leaving Iceland. It is such a beautiful country and we were so happy with our experience there!

Jo Ann

Our guide Elayas was simply superb. We were greatly surprised and excited about the rich scenery, history and traditions in Ethiopia . Evenings of traditional dancing, and foods were an unexpected bonus. The ritual coffee ceremony almost every day was most appreciated, giving us a welcome boost. Local markets were festinating & robust , especially in Lalibela. The people everywhere were friendly and helpful.

We spent 6 days hiking around Annapurna with Sabin and it was an absolutely incredible experience! I take home memories and friendships that I expect to last a lifetime.
This was my first trekking experience and I have never had to challenge myself so much. But it was worth every painful step. The area and sights and views are absolutely stunning! My experiences meeting people from all over the world along the way will stay with me forever.
Sabin was an amazing guide!!! I don't think the experience would have been the same without him. His knowledge of the area and people seem unparalleled which made everything go smoothly and made me feel very comfortable visiting a place where I knew nothing of the language and customs. He went above and beyond in making our experience memorable, such as entertaining us with and teaching us card tricks, making lots of jokes, and serenading us with songs on the guitar. He was so much fun to be around and I look forward to our continued friendship! I cannot say enough good things about him and I hope to come back and it trek with him again!

We are so pleased to have used this service when booking our trip. Ingrid and the team delivered an excellent program that perfectly suited our travel plans. It was a seamless process and took all of the guesswork out of the holiday. Very reasonable pricing as well. Thanks so much for all your help
And support.

Ingrid was very helpful fight throughout the trip with additional requests we had. The planning and ticketing went like clockwork and was thus very easy to complete the journey. No problems were encounted.

Agnes was excellent at helping me plan my trip to Rwanda. She was helpful in answering my questions regarding which country to see the gorillas and provided several itinerary and pricing options. She even flew in from Uganda to meet me at the airport!
Jean Claude was my driver/guide. he was lovely and excellent company. All activities were well organised. Accomodation was all very nice... Villa Gorilla was awesome!!!! and the best food of the trip! Amazing staff and great location.
The gorilla trek was amazing!!! I still can't believe that I did it! Very well organised and guides and traders were great. Get a Porter!!! I didn't think it was going to be neccessary as my backpack was not heavy but they were super helpful and you are providing work for someone who might instead be poaching.
The chimpanzee tracking was fun but physically challenging. Much harder than the gorillas. Really steep hills and we had to move quite quickly to keep up with them. Definitely get a porter for this one.
Really people in rwanda are so friendly and welcoming, I cannot wait to go back another time.
A wonderful trip, thank you so much for organising such a great experience !