Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our driver Sellam was outstanding and so were Larbi and Hassan, the guide in Fes.

The riad in Fes was beautiful, but the food was awful and the owner, Assis kept promising food/meals that never came since the kitchen didn't know about it and his stuff has no clue and the cook(s) don't either. The bathroom always stank of sewage. We were in room #19.

We also were required to pay an extra $85 for a New Year's Eve Fiesta, that also did not exist and the New Year's dinner was uneatable. Plus, Assis refused to return the $85 to Larbi, Larbi nevertheless did reimburse us out of his own pocket. We learned later from another driver, that Assis did the same thing to him and his guests. We understood, that Assis took over the management of the riad only recently and that the riad before was run very well.

The main dinner course in the hotel in Rabat was also uneatable. We were the only guests and the meat and veggies were cooked in rancid, old and overheated oil. The hotel has a 4-star rating - it should have a minus 4-star rating.

Hassan and Samira in the riad in Marrakech were absolute charming and great hosts. Samira is a fabulous cook. Everything was great!

All the other places were fine. I only mentioned above the really great and really bad experiences.

We booked our Columbia trip using Kimkim. This was the first time we used Kimkim. What a great company. We will use them again. Nathalie, our specialist, was awesome. She was very helpful in tailoring the trip to what we like. The ideas and suggestions she had were great for us and our kids. We did things that even books such as lonely planet did not even list as activities. Everything we did in Columbia was great. Nathalie even called us several times during the trip to make sure everything was going smoothly.

The people Kimkim used in Columbia, from drivers to guides, were all very nice, always on time, very helpful and knowledgeable. We loved everything we did, from the beautiful Spanish colonial towns of Barichara and Villa de Leyva to the beautiful beaches of Tayrona and around Cartagena. We loved the lush coffee region and the Valle de Cocora. We all enjoyed a private coffee tasting that even our 10 and 11-year-old daughters loved and asked for more coffee! Best coffee ever. As outdoor lovers, we especially enjoyed hiking, zip lining, white water rafting, tubing on a river and mountain biking.

Thanks Carla for your guide through emails. Everything was perfect, on time and the price is reasonable. The driver also cooperative and give us lots of information about cape town. Will definitely recommend this tour.

The whole trip was wonderful. Our guide in Mandalay and (July) in Yangon were exceptional. Just one thought, 4 nights in Bagan was a bit much. Maybe adding a little more north city might be interesting. In my case, I should have done Lashio. If guides could have more info for dinner, might be helpful. Loved the country & the people. Food was good too.

Great trip! Gabor was extremely communicative and receptive and helpful in planning the Honeymoon of our dreams. There was a portion of time when some other man, Rune, was helping us, and he was awful.

On our end, we should have asked more questions about how long each car ride was going to be - we are not really car people and should have anticipated that getting around would take a while.

Our guide, Dario, was fantastic. He always arrived on time. He knew the answers to most, if not all, of our questions. He found a good balance between interacting with us and giving us space, and he was extremely kind and generous. We could not have asked for a better guide.

In the Galapagos, we had a terrible guide, so terrible that we ended up paying for an Airbnb that we never actually stayed in. He must not have checked his messages or been so organized because we sent him all details, including the address, of where we needed to stay in each night, and he just didn't have the information with him. It got to be late on the Island, and we ended up spending money on a hotel that cost $70 per night (we stayed two nights) while paying an additional $140 for an Airbnb that we never got to stay in. This was very frustrating. Another issue that happened was when he gave us his USD card to download some photos that he took of us. The minute we put them on the computer, naked photos of him and his partner came up on the screen. While we really appreciated the photos he took of us, we were not happy with what was presented to us on the screen.

Reflecting back, the Jungle and the Galapagos were the two most memorable places. We enjoyed the climate, the people, the food and the general atmosphere. The other places were nice too but the highs of the trip were the Jungle and the Galapagos.

No one really communicated with us about the potential for altitude sickness at Cotopaxi, and we had a hard time going from lower altitude to higher altitude - up and down and up and down - it did a number on my husband's body. In the future, we would do fewer places for more days. But again, this is no way the fault of KimKm, just our own way of going about planning.

Really amazing trip.

I have recently done the Annapurna Base Camp trek. From my first contact with Ngima it was so easy to arrange and Ngima answered all my questions promptly and helpfully and made the whole booking experience so problem free. The trek was everything I had hoped for and more, we were blessed with glorious weather throughout and reaching Base Camp at sunrise was a truly memorable experience. I was travelling with my son (I am 65 and my son 29) and our wonderful guide Pemba was so professional, caring and fun to be with, and very interesting explaining to us about the local life and region. He was also so supportive to me while I struggled with what seemed like endless steps to climb on some days! He coped and understood so well the differences in age and ability between my son and myself and I was so thrilled to make it to Base Camp. Our porter Pasang was also a joy, never seemed to stop smiling despite having to carry our —-hopefully not too heavy —load. I cannot recommend both of them highly enough. My one bit of advice would be—-take more cash than you think you need on the trek—-EVERYTHING is extra, drinks, snacks , loo roll, phone charging, internet when available, showers, drinking water, etc and it really mounts up .
A huge thank you to Ngima and his team, a truly wonderful experience. We were sorry to leave.

To be honest, we put a lot of trust in Kimkim as we weren't paying a great deal of attention to the finer details prior to heading OS. So in reality, it could have all gone very poorly!

Luckily for us our faith and confidence in the service was not misguided and we had a great time. Being unfamiliar with a place like Nepal can be very daunting when it comes to planning a hike / trek so we appreciated the insight and experience offered by kimkim. I would also recommend the specific hike we went on for beginners; it's low altitude and not too rough with regard to physical capability (climbing lots of steep stairs etc!). I imagine that experienced hikers could cover this distance and climb in around 2days if they were rushing it but the additional time was welcomed so we could enjoy each location and also have some rest.

We had opted for a more budget option with regard to accomodation and even then, the places we stayed were quite good. We had 4 nights in the below locations:
-Guest house in Dhulikhel; Amazing roof top view of the valley and mountains but the room was very cold and the shower cold. Beers were 600 NPR each.
-The Monastery was an overall highlight and had a superb hot shower! (it takes some working out as there are several taps which feed into the shower tap.. you'll work it out!. We had dinner and breakfast with the monks and they also had a little cafe for coffee, tea and other extras you might want. Surprisingly, there was secure and very good quality wifi throughout the location (cost 30NPR per day) no beers here of course!
-The Balthali Guest House was also very good. We had a relaxing afternoon with a few beers on the roof in the sun and then enjoyed getting amongst the local ladies to strip the dried corn for a couple of hours. The farm fresh and local food was excellent and we may have had a few too many local Rum's before bed.
-The homestay in Panauti was cool, we very much enjoyed the cooking class and the guided tour of the town. It was super cold here and the evening fire was very welcomed! The hot shower greatly appreciated before our long flights back top Australia.
All in all the trip was great fun, was well organised and our guide was great, thanks Ļāmā Ťãmãņğ Đāwâ !

We had a fabulous trip. I had asked for an active, adventurous itinerary, and that's exactly what we got. I'd have to say the highlight was river rafting, and camping on the river. It was gorgeous and fun and our guide Maurice was absolutely fabulous. He was a great guide on the river and fun companion, sharing lots of interesting things about the river, animals and Costa Rica. The food was excellent and the camp was comfortable, the rafting was exciting but we felt safe throughout.

The trip to La Fortuna was easy, and our guide Roy for the hanging bridges and waterfall was great. We really appreciated that he wasn't in a rush and that we could take our time through the woods and enjoy. He had interesting information to share about all the animals we saw.

The ziplining was fun and enjoyed by all. It was great to have the woods all to ourselves, and was a good experience even in the rain.

The only glitch in our trip was the trip from Arenal to Quepos. Initially a vehicle that was too small for our group was sent, so we had to wait about 45 minutes for a 2nd vehicle. We all fit in the 2nd vehicle, but not by much - it was very cramped, and the driver was not smooth.

Our time on the coast was lovely - snorkeling was fun, and it was good to have a day on our own. We organized a night hike for ourselves which was also fun.

We reached out to Randall partway through the trip to change our hotel in San Jose for the return. The KC hotel was not in a neighborhood where we could easily walk to restaurants, and we got hassled a bit when we were out even though it was not late. He was very accomodating, booked us in the Sleep Inn which was perfect. We were able to walk to a nice restaurant for our final dinner in San Jose. I also appreciate that he was able to hold a spot on the tour for my husband, as he wasn't sure he'd be able to join us til just a couple of weeks before the trip. Overall he was very helpful and a pleasure to work with.

I just came back from Myanmar and it was amazing!
Kimkim paired me up with Wai Lin, I couldn't have asked for a better person to help me plan my trip he was responsive, helpful and he definitely made my experience in Myanmar truly enjoyable.

KimKim and Linda are the way to go! We got the trip that we wanted, with expert advice along the way. For me the Fiords were absolutely enchanting, I could have lost myself in them. For Paul, the whales were the highlight.

We did not get to see the Northern Lights so we already figure another trip to Tromso. Besides it being magic, I got my hair cut there and love it!

Thank you

Returned about a week ago, from a wonderful experience in Nepal that will be in my heart forever. After discussing my winter trekking options with Ngima Dorji Sherpa, the owner of Nepal Myths and Mountain Trails, I decided on the Khopra Danda Trek. Every day was amazing! I was greeted at Kathmandu Airport by Tashi, Ngima's son and began my trek the following morning.

This was a solo trek for me, and I was accompanied by two outstanding people, my guide Gelu and my porter Lakpa. They made sure every day was perfect! While every day on the trail had beautiful views, the top of Khopra Danda is breathtaking. I cherish my time in Nepal! When it was time to fly back to the States, I was met earlier at my hotel by Ngima and escorted to the airport.
It was an amazing trek from teahouse to teahouse, and a great experience for me. I truly did not want to leave.

Just back from 13 days in Medellin, Tayrona and Cartagena, Colombia.
What a wonderful country, full of beautiful scenery, friendly people, good food, interesting (though somewhat tortured) history.
Of course, not all is rosy, and the guidance of the Kimkim team and Marine was crucial in keeping us safe and fulfilled.
Medellin, for example, has its rough spots, but we never felt insecure or vulnerable.
The day trip to Guatapé was great, as was city tour, Park Arvi. Staying near Parque Llera was great.
Cartagena was a great experience too, and staying at Bovedas Santa Clara allowed free access to the Sofitel, a world class beautiful resort.
Tayrona was unique as well though be forewarned, no hot water showers!
Summary.....all connections went without a hitch, all guides, drivers on time, all reservations as described. The trip was perfectly tailored to our preferences. I was very happy with the Kimkim engagement and would definitely use them again.

Ibrahim in Jordan was a fantastic guide and Mohammed was a great driver. They worked well together. We like our history so Jerash was fabulous. The hike through Dana Valley also was a highlight as was Jerusalem. Re the design of the trip, the only dud day was the trip to the Dead Sea. The hotel where we had lunch was depressing and the beach was ugly and cordoned off with barb wire.

Our winter trip to Iceland was amazing. Preeti helped us find great accomodations for our large family and tours we wouldn't have known about without her -- such as the only ice cave tour that allowed us to bring our 8-year-old. She was right to tell us that certain things we wanted to do would require too much driving and was able to suggest alternatives that fit our schedule better. We especially loved the dogsledding. There was one problem with the car rental when we arrived and we had to scramble to make new arrangements, but after the trip KimKim quickly helped us get a refund.

Trip was better than we could have ever expected. The entire process from the first messages with Bas till the fairwell hugs with tashi and Jigme at the airport and everything in between was beyond words! Tashi as a guide is phenomenal, can’t fault him. And Jigme was his perfect side kick. Nothing was too hard for the boys. Thank you for a wonderful trip!

Had a fantastic trip. Well worth it. I would recommend Kimkim to anyone that would like their trip organised for them. Andy was really easy to communicate with and our guide Dat was very knowledgeable and accommodating.

Hi
Had a good trip . Good driver and guide . V interesting tours.
Food was also V good.
Only disappoint was the second nights accommodation, described as a homestay, l have stayed in many homestays across vietnam while they are all different this one could not be described as a homestay as there was nobody living there!
Because of this although I enjoyed the tour l would not use you again or recommend you as the homestay sold was not genuine. I appreciate the original homestay was not available but the one provide was not acceptable.
Thanks jon

I reached out to KimKim because I had a difficult time planning the itinerary for our Italian vacation on my own. Giorgia did an excellent job with helping us plan. She had great recommendations for tours and things to do in Florence. She booked a small group tour of the Colosseum including the underground and other off-limit places. She also booked us for a small group tour of the Vatican. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable and seemed to love sharing the history of their city. Giorgia also booked us for a food tour in Florence. We loved trying the local foods and our guide was a lot of fun.

Giorgia had excellent communication with us and answered all of our questions. She even reached out to us during our trip to make sure everything was going smoothly.

I would definitely recommend Giorgia and KimKim to anyone looking to plan a memorable vacation!

We loved the trip to a Myanmar, especially our guides in Bagan (Ankar) and Ny Ny in Inle Lake. We loved doing the little canoe trip with Ny Ny in his village and tea with his family. Of course, Bagan was amazing.

This was a great trip, from the start of the planning to the flight home! Anne responded daily to all my questions/concerns and this made the trip planning so smooth and easy. Our guides, Lu Wine and Zawturn we incredible! They were very friendly and the trip felt more like visiting a friend who was showing us around, as opposed to hiring a guide.
We got to really feel the local scene in Mandalay! We went to local markets, spoke with Budist monks and nuns. It was great!
We learned so much about the temples in Bagan and the religion.

Also, our guides and Anne had backup plans for everything. For instance, we wanted to ride bicycles in Mandalay but it rained so we had a driver pick us up and we went to a monastery where we got to talk to a young monk who told us about Budism and what it’s like to be a monk. This is an experience we would not have had if we didn’t book the tour.
In Bagan, the weather was nice so we got to Bike, but I ran over something sharp and got a flat tire. But our driver followed not too far behind and was quickly able to meet up with us so our trip could continue. Anne and her team really thought of everything!
Also, considering the expertise, thorough planning, and great accommodations, I’m surprised the price is at such a good value!
Our guides an Anne showed us the real culture of Myanmar that most tourists I’m sure miss. If you wanted to be among locals and try local food and see places visited by locals and some tourists, then this is the perfect trip for you! I would happily book again!