Kimkim Trip Reviews

Chris was there to help me with everything with a fast response!

The Guides were fantastic and I was impressed Harpa put it together exactly to our needs with so little notice

The overall experience and final results were good but communication was frustrating. You do everything by internet which is fine for a young generation but for a senior generation this impersonal approach is difficult and when in transit usually without wi-fi availability it becomes challenging. Unfortunately our contact left your company at a critical time although both girls were excellent.

The overall plan was generic but the notification of pickups was and van drivers were last minute. The local transport companies and drivers you contracted were outstanding punctual and polite. In our party, 3 did not speak any Spanish and I fluent in both ended doing all the translating and acting as a guide not a big deal but if you are going to expand tourists from North America you should try to get ones with a little English.

From Pasto to Cali travel company Tierra y Cielo as well as driver Henry Patoja and guide in Medellin Maria Elena Marín were A1. Travel companies Cali Salento and salento Medellin I give a A. English guide in Salento was charming but English very limited. Your hotel choices Le park in Medellin was good and ideally situated and Hacienda Cairo was excellent and highly recommended. As a born Colombian living in Canada I was happy to show my wife and friends Colombia in a positive way and very happy with your arrangements

Over Xmas, I now intend bringing my children and grandchildren for a two-week visit and hope we can work together again.

Pick up info at each point was last minute, all else was well. Nathalie and Katheryn were good.

My itinerary was great overall. Well paced, stopped at many terrific highlights and quite achievable.
It did however feel like it was written quite generically - that is to say, just a copy paste job rather than something tailored. As an example, one restaurant in Hellnar which was recommended (and pretty much the only one for miles) was closed for the winter. This is confirmed with a search on Google, it's not a one off. I would expect this recommendation to be removed for winter trips. Mentions of daily drive distances were a bit off - example, the second last day I had to drive from Skaftafell to Reykjavik (320km, 4hr), not Vik to Reykjavik (180km, 2hr20min) as mentioned in the itinerary. My guess is that Chris used a base itinerary to build mine which is fine, but some of the smaller details were not altered to conform to mine.

My main gripe though is the choice of car hire. I should have looked more closely before agreeing, but I'm generally wary about dodgy operators other than the core Avis, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty. While it might be cheap initially, they do the hard sell at the desk on added insurances, in this case 30 Euro a day (for things like gravel protection, sand protection, reduced excess etc), which still has exclusions. I asked Chris about insurances, he said it included liability and collision and asked if I wanted any additional. Turns out that cover doesn't cover much, and it still includes an approx. $2200AUD excess. Further - the company would put a hold on my card for $2200AUD for going on 10 days after the rental has ended. This is really unsettling and not to mention an inconvenience.

While this isn't strictly Kimkim/Chris's fault, the selection of the car hire company is really important. The discussions online about the chosen car hire company are really worrying.

Chris was very responsive and answered all of my questions promptly.

Our trip to Iceland couldn't have been more perfect. To start with, it is a beautiful country and we were very fortunate to have had perfectly clear weather the entire 5 days we were there in February/March, after what we had been told was a very rainy winter. 18 inches of snow fell just before we arrived, and the Northern lights were out every night, making it a winter wonderland. That part was sheer luck, but on top of that, the trip was as smooth as we could have hoped. Our driver was waiting at the airport and took us right to our hotel which we had booked the previous night because of our very early morning arrival. The first day in Reykavik we planned on our own. The next 4 days were planned by the kimkim operator. We had private tours of the Golden Circle and the south coast, and a group tour to the Thorsmark wilderness area. On the final day we took a quick tour of the Reykjanes peninsula and then a stop at the Blue Lagoon before heading to the airport. We had 2 guides for those 4 days, and both were very friendly and knowledgeable and made everything run so smoothly that we didn't have to worry about a thing. We felt very lucky that our guide for the south coast tour had grown up in the area, and he took us to see places where his family had lived and told us the stories behind them. Although we did some of the usual tourist things, we loved also going to a few places where we didn't see another person. The hike up the mountain where his great-great grandfather had a farm was spectacular. We appreciated his flexibility in changing the plan on the last day when we were tired and wanted to get back to the hotel a little bit earlier than planned.

The only thing I would have changed about our trip was the trip to the Blue Lagoon, but that is in hindsight. We had heard a lot about it and felt like we had to go see what it was all about, but it was too crowded and too touristy for our tastes. The hot lagoon was a unique experience, but if I had to do it over again I would try one of the natural springs out in the countryside instead, and save a lot of money too!

As far as the planning process, I have tried several different online travel planning services, and I really like the way kimkim uses a back and forth conversation to plan the details. It's much quicker than other services that start with a formal proposal, which then has to be laboriously modified if you want changes. For our Iceland trip, the local operator started with a general plan, then narrowed down the details, and then presented a completed proposal. Most of my communication was with the local tour operator, but on 2 occasions when there was a breakdown in communication the Kimkim team stepped in and sorted it out quickly. I hope kimkim adds more locations to their offerings. I will use it again.

A couple of very small details that could have been improved - our trip to Thorsmark was 1-1/2 hours longer than described. It seemed as if our guide added on some things at the end to give us our money's worth, but we were tired and would have been happy to end on time. Part of the reason we were so tired was because on our hike the guide raced ahead of the group instead of going at our pace. We weren't all 20-somethings who hike glaciers in our spare time, and it isn't much fun hiking if you are worried about keeping up! A final small detail - water in the jeep would have been nice. But these were small things. Overall the trip was amazing.

Actually, very good except for day in Pandaya which we found disappointing at best. The drive was too long for relatively little to see or do. Additionally the Pindaya Inle Inn was terribly shoddy. The bed and pillows were so hard we ached the following day. The room was dark and not vey clean, and the wooden floor uneven posing a trip hazard. This is not a 4 star room...a 2 in our view.

The time lag with responses was a bit trying at times, but overall very good.

I was met at the Kathmandu airport by Raj as promised. He had a cab waiting for me, and I was taken quickly to my hotel. After I settled in, Raj introduced me to Dawa who was to be my guide for the trip.

Dawa proved to be an excellent guide. He was courteous and knowledgeable. Also, Dawa was very patient with me, as uphill riding is not my strong point. The next morning, our first ride was through parts of Kathmandu and up to the Shivapuri National park. I was able to see parts of the Nepalese culture that most tourists don't see. The ride in Shivapuri was fantastic, and I actually saw some monkeys among the trees. That night we stayed in the Shivapuri retreat where we had a nice meal of Dal Bhat with tea.

The next morning, we rode back into the Shivapuri forest, and hit some awesome mountain biking trails, making our way to Bodinath. We spent time at the Stupa until the car came and picked us up to catch our flight to Pokarrah. On the following day, we flew from Pokarrah to Jomsom for the center piece of the trip...Mountain Biking the Lower Mustang region. Once we got to Jomsom, we rode our bikes up the Kali Gandaki river to the village of Kagbeni. We stayed in a tea house in Kagbeni for 2 nights and for two days rode bikes on through some amazing high desert terrain.

After the stay in Kagbeni, we turned our bikes down the river course to back to Jomsom. One night in Jomsom, and then back on our bikes to Kalopani. Riding down the river course took us through several small villages that reflect the real Nepal. Truly a great experience. After leaving Kalopani, there was one more big ride to a point some 25 km down stream where we were met by a Jeep to take us back to Pokarrah.

Through this entire trip, everything was well planned out and prepared. The hotels, the flights, the ground transportation, nothing was overlooked. I was well taken care of. My guides, Dawa and Tendu were superb, and basically just good people to be around. The coordination and professionalism of all of the guys who handled my trip made it a great success. I will be going back to Nepal, and I will use this crew again. Many thanks to Dawa, Tendu, Raj, and Mads!!

We asked for a challenging trek- more or less two days in one- in the season at the end of the winter.
Our years long experience with Ngima Dorji Sherpa through Nepal Myths and Mountain Treks, and our guide, Karma Sherpa with whom I also are climbing many years, proved once more key to a successful and memorable week.

My guide Lhakpa was a really sensitive and thoughtful man, gave me plenty of space on my own to walk and reflect but was also companiable and knowledgeable and that made the trip even more enjoyable.

He is really accomplished and personable and I would thoroughly recommend him.

The trip was well planned! Only thing is i wished that the porter and guide where treated more as guests than employees of the hotel. In our night at dhulikhel, the employees said that our guide & porter could only eat when they ate. While we had hot shower and luxuriously a heater, our guide and porter only had cold water. The disparity was not nice to witness

Mads was patient in answering my questions, proactive, had suggestions to my problems.

It was a last minute thought about trip, however the tour got planned by Raj of Social tour through kimkim so well that it gave feel of well planned one. The tailor made trip of four day was planned perfectly with A/C car , excellent guide Mr Sushil and versatile driver Suman. It was extremely pocket friendly despite mountain view flight thrown in the package by Raj. Exposure to genuine singing bowls was a mesmerising experience among other events.

Immediate responses. Professional and knowledgeable. Listened to my wishes and added advice.

A pro. Friendly. Trustworthy.

Steve was good at arranging the trip, dropping off the Tourist Tickets at our hotel the day before our tour, and finding us a good guide. Our guide, Aldo was just great. He was flexible and agreed to take us to Pisac earlier than planned, so we could see it while fresh. When a portion of the Pisac Inca site was inaccessible, he found a way for us to see the site by entering at a different place. No, he didn't break any laws doing so. It was a beautiful day, so he arranged for us to walk down a path, through the Inca site to meet our driver in the town of Pisac. When we expressed an interest in Andean condors, he took us to a wildlife rehab center where we could see these impressive birds close up and also watch them take off and fly.

It was (almost) perfect. The guides were knowledgeable -- MauMau in Mandalay was especially warm and made me feel like a good friend, not a paying customer. The drivers were on time; the hand-offs went smoothly EXCEPT for my arrival in Yangon. That, however, has already been discussed/remedied in country. I could never recommend the overnight bus from Bagan to Yangon. The bus "shimmied" constantly in addition to driving the potholes. Most uncomfortable. I realize it was inexpensive, but not worth it.

Wai Lin was most responsive in trip planning, and got back to me right away when I got into "trouble" in Yangon. Most impressive.

Nathalie was the best. We had her redo our itinerary maybe a dozen times and consistently received prompt responses and a ton of help. Nathalie even helped us with arrangements not booked through her, like finding tickets for a football game in Medellin. Within the first ten minutes of arriving to our first destination, Nathalie called us to make sure we were okay. Everything about her service exceeded our expectations.

The Cambio hacienda restaurant staff was mostly not interested in service, the dinners and coffee was substandard and the room was in poor condition.

Katherine was very patient with us in the planning stage and equally attentive throughout the trip.

Our trips are never predictable and this trip was no exception! I generally plan my own trips from beginning to end but this time to avoid stress, I went with an agency. Kimkim was fabulous to work with and Matthias was always there to smooth out the wrinkles and make sure we knew what was happening. We absolutely loved our adventure and will definitely consider using the agency again on future adventures!

Matthias was very concerned with making sure our trip went as smoothly as possible. His communication skills are fantastic as well as his knowledge about Iceland and his ability to make sure your vacation is fabulous!

The trip couldn't be more perfect! Ngima ensured that everything went smoothly and even spent a fair bit of time with us. Our guide, Pemba was very knowledgeable and ensured we were safe and comfortable throughout our trek.

Booking it thorough kimkim was an easy and straightforward process. We love how we got a customised trip based on our interest and could communicate and plan everything with Ngima easily through the chat function.

We highly recommend kimkim and ngima's company as service and quality is top notch.

Great organization!

Chris did an awesome job and answered whenever i had a question!

Chris was incredibly responsive and helpful. Great trip, great planning, and great follow-through.

We asked a lot of questions and he patiently got responses to all, and he helped us resolve a dispute that was not of his making.