Kimkim Trip Reviews

This whole trip was wonderful! Cristina was very knowledgeable and open. I requested that our trip to be manageable for my son who is 6 years old and my in laws who are in there 60s. It turned out great! We really liked our driver who brought us to the Blue Lagoon and afterwards to our hotel. He was helpful and polite. We especially liked our guide from the 4x4 tour, Ruben. He was really nice and accommodating. I could not remember the names of our guides from the Mountaineers of Iceland though but they were great too. Highly recommend to do snowmobiling with them. The hotels we stayed at were very nice and comfortable. All the staff were great. We loved our stay at the Fosshotel and Hotel Ranga( where we saw the Northern lights!) We liked Hotel Hilda too. Its was a quaint hotel near thr harbor. Overall the trip was a once in a lifetime experience. Highly recommended!
Sidenote: We went on a Game of Thrones tour and was really entertained by the guide. He was fabulous! Loved the inside jokes and his passion for the show. I wish I knew his real name. I just remember his facebook name: Swordbiter. I made my whole family join the tour ( only my husband and I saw the show) but they still enjoyed the tour.

Thank you for arranging this amazing trip! We have a really big party so there were a lot of times we had to change the reservations but Stephanie really handled all the situations well which I feel really thankful. She is also very informative whenever we asked her questions. During the trip, everything was prepared really well and we really like all the tour guides as they are very friendly, knowledgable and are really helpful to us. Overall, it had been a fun and memorable trip. Thank you again for your help and also for the chocolate!

We had the experience of a lifetime with 2 teenagers.
Chhring and the porters Kobe and Kancha deserve a special mention for their empathy when we were feeling under the weather and their changes to the trek which made the trek more suitable to our needs. When there was any issue Raj , Surendra , Mads and Chhiring could not have been more accommodating. Thank you Chhiring!
The trek was everything we could have hoped for and I am coming back to do another one once I am fitter and will be using your team!
The team are superb, we are old hippies working at home so needed the basic structure, the rest we wanted independence. The team did this and more and we will use them again.
Tansen Srinagar Hotel had the best food we have had. The Chef and owner obviously seemed to enjoy it. My only regret was that I was not able to enjoy the spectacular wine list as I was on Flagyl Without Mads and the team we would never have heard about this place.
Lumbini should be on peoples list. Driving around Ankor Wat was the same as driving around here the difference is the 35 Temples are all working with Monks in them. It is vast. We stayed at the Buddha Maya Hotel and enjoyed the luxury.
Chitwan had a good game drive.
Hiring a vehicle with a driver when there are 4 of you is cost effective and so pleasant as we got to know the drivers and would use them again.
We have not had so much family time and wish we were still there.

Kimkim organised a 16 day self drive tour of Costa Rica for my family (my, my partner, our kids 5yrs, 8yrs, 11yrs and my mum). They were extremely prompt, very responsive and personal throughout the planning. They showed great attention to detail regarding our car seats, wifi and GPS. Fabulous accommodation everywhere. We had a wonderful time. It was great to have that extra flexibility a package tour cant provide.
Marco and the team are Evergreen Lodge in Tortuguero were an absolute highlight. We loved the whole immersive experience of living on the rivers and in the jungle.
I was really glad we drove down the Carribean Coast. El Encanto Inn was great. Dinner at Sonja's home restaurant was gorgeous. We walked to a great Calypso night from the hotel and El Encanto organised all our tours. Luis escorted us to a Medicinal and Chocolate Farm in the Bri Bri reservation which was wonderful. The Jaguar Rescue Centre was also fabulous, thanks to our guide Carlotta. Puerto Viejo was a wonderful swimming beach and we narrowly missed a world surf comp. Playa Negro was sadly quite polluted but it was a great community to walk amongst. We saw several sloths up close from the road.
The drive to Sarapiqui was a big one. The Rain Forest Lodge was a bit of a let down with its Museum closed and Gallery never opened. It seemed to cater for large bus groups and wasnt quite our style. KimKim were right that we needed to stop somewhere closer than Arenal that night though so we were glad of somewhere to sleep.
Arenal Springs was luxurious. Their hot pools were a huge hit with the whole family. I wouldnt book a tour through the hotel though as they add a hefty surcharge.The local laundromat gave fabulous local advice and we had our own car. The road to El Castillo wasnt nearly as bad as the guide book says and we really enjoyed our visit to the Eco Zoo, meeting Victor and our guide Andrew. Victor's wildlife photography is stunning.
The Pacific Coast was much more commercial than I had hoped for but we were excited to see Turtles nesting there (we were out of season in Tortuguero). Pasa Tiempo was a great lodge with a fantastic shared living, dining, entertaining area. We were treated to love music and enjoyed the pool, reading and playing cards amongst others.
Monteverde and Manuel Antonio were both spectacular. It was really worth saving our ziplining for the cloud forest. 60km per hour through a cloud was truly exhilarating. The guides at Selvatura were fantastic with our family.
If you have already been to Tortuguero you dont need a guide at Manuel Antontio. I was pleased we did it independently to allow the kids to travel at their own pace. Gorgeous beach. I'd never seen a raccoon before so that was exciting! Plaza Yara was gorgeous and Roger was a fabulous host who even gave us a wee gift on departure.
Trapp Family Country Lodge was a fabulous airport oasis. Definitely recommend over a chain hotel.
Thanks for everything Kim Kim we will definitely use you again.

Thank you, Haku, for arranging this wonderful trip. All aspects of the Salkantay trek were excellent. Our guide, Rubin, was knowledgeable about all of the logistics and provided us with lots of information on local culture and customs, and plants and history.

Our first evening accommodation at the refuge at Soray Pamp was a great start. We were served a delicious lunch and the refuge was rustic but lovely. We could see Mount Salkantay in the distance. We took a day hike to Glacial Lake Humantay which was spectacular. We were welcomed back with a delicious dinner cooked by the gentleman who ran the lodge.

The day 2 hike over the Salkantay pass to Chalullay was grueling but satisfying. We arrived at Chalullay in the late afternoon. Accommodations were a bit chilly but beds were comfortable. Day 3 we hiked through rainforest cloud, a more gentle up and down hike with lush vegetation and views of the river. The evening at the Coffee plantation was a highlight. Fredy the owner and his family were wonderful hosts and the accommodations were very nice. We enjoyed the warmer climate at this elevation. With our guide translating, Fredy showed us the step by step process from growing and harvesting the coffee beans to roasting them for our breakfast. From here we started on an Inca trail with a long but not as challenging hike.

Highlights were the ruins of Llactapata and lunch with views to Machu Picchu. At the end, we took a short train ride to Aquas Caliente and Macchu Picchu. We were very glad to have the opportunity to climb Huayna Picchu on our visit to Macchu Picchu. At Nicole's recommendation, we added an evening in Ollantaytambo where we enjoyed the lively town square, local activity, and the ruins. On our return trip to Cusco by car, we explored the salt mines and a village were weaving and knitted goods were produced and sold. The knitted goods in Peru are beautiful.

We also booked 3 days in the Amazon rainforest in Puerto Maldonado, also arranged by Nicole and Haku. Our guide Efraim was excellent-- extremely knowledgeable and helpful. And Freddy, the local contact who picked us up by boat, cooked us lunch and carried our luggage through the jungle had endless energy. Our stay at Lake Sandoval lodge was memorable. Great food and service and the setting, overlooking the lake was memorable. The lake was full of otters, caiman, and fish, and at the water's edge, we enjoyed the monkeys and variety of birds.

We would highly recommend Haku to plan a custom itinerary for a Cusco based travel adventure.

Initial planning process was great - Stephanie was knowledgeable, assisting, and patient. However, the service "during" the trip was a bit inconvenient. Stephanie was hard to contact and in the moment we couldn't reach out to anyone, like the time we arrived at Uyuni but no one was there to pick us up, we waiting til 10 am local time Peru to call Stephanie, but still we couldn't reach her.

Other than that the trip was well organized with great guides in every stop. Especially our Macchu Picchu guide and Norma from Puno. Our Uyuni guides were great too.

Our trip was full of activity and adventure in Northern Peru for 2-1/2 weeks. Our guide Jhon was young and full of energy and our driver Carlos was an attentive, safe driver. In Trujillo, we thoroughly enjoyed the Sun and Moon Temples and Chan Chan. The demonstration of the straw boats and cooking class in Huanchaco was fantastic.

Heading into the Andes is spectacular. Outside Cajamarca, we loved our hike through Cumbemayo to see the remarkable Andean water works. The Revash was very interesting and we enjoyed our horse ride to the site. Visiting Miguel in his workshop and painting our own Sarcophagus was a lot of fun. Perico and Lola's private conservation property in the Utcubamba Valley was so beautiful and was a favourite of ours. It was hard to say goodbye to them and the family they had visiting at the time. Then off to Kuelap by cable car and another hike to the site...fantastic!

The biggest surprise and highlight for us was our stay at Villa del Monte in the coffee country of Rodriguez de Mendoza. We have a coffee roasting business and requested some time with coffee growers. The home we stayed at in the area was really great and the caretakers living next to the home were warm and friendly. We did an afternoon at an underground cave that was pretty cool although fitting through a small hole to start was a little scary but worth the effort. The best part for us was spending our time with the coffee farmers (owners of Cafe Monteverde) who provided us with such a detailed education of their business from the growing of the coffee at their farm (tasting included) to going to their laboratory in town to watch and participate in grading and cupping of the coffee. This was fantastic for us.

The Gocta Falls is another favourite. The hike is fairly difficult so the horses came in handy. Lunch at the Gocta Lodge is outstanding and so is the view. Our last stop on the coast was the Pyramids of Tucume and Museum Tumbas Reales with the latter being our favourite museum.

With a little more time, Jhon will get better at his English. It's good but sometimes we had translation difficulties. He is a great guide and really cares about what he does. Both him and Carlos were always available and willing to make things work for us.

Thank you Phima Voyages for a great adventure in Northern Peru!
Darlene & Gary Carlton

Myanmar Diaries represented by Wai Lin, our local kimkim specialist for our Myanmar Trip, was exemplary .... Wai Lin was highly professional, helpful, accommodating and informative, we could not have asked for better. All our guides were most respectful with very good English speaking skills and knowledge of their areas, likewise our drivers skilful and very safe, the cars in excellent condition.

Our 16-day Trip was absolutely amazing ... we were very pleasantly surprised at how totally safe we felt at all times given the recent unrest in the Northern area of Rakhine, which is well away from all tourist hot spots such as Bagan, Lake Inle, Ngapali Beach (divine), Mandalay and Yangon ... do not hesitate to visit Myanmar as it is an extremely scenic, culturally fascinating and safe country to visit, the Myanmar people utterly delightful! And incredible value for money as a holiday destination!

Do not hesitate to use Myanmar Dairies as your travel agent, you could not ask for better!

Everything from KimKim was great. I had a large group with a lot of moving parts. Andy was calm, cool, and collected each step of the way. I had some people in the group who extended their stays for private tours - Andy helped them each individually and gave them exactly what they wanted. I couldn't have asked for more. The chat setup made communication easy, payment was a simple link, and when one member of my group had an emergency visa problem, KimKim stepped in and got it done in less than 12 hours with concierges service. The entire staff is great at KimKim and they work beautifully together as a team to make everything perfect and more. I will be using KimKim again for groups in the future! Thank you, Andy!!

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.