Reviews

re Japan Uncovered #16 27 March - 11 April 24

Having toured Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia with Wendy Wu a few years ago we were confident in booking this tour with Wendy Wu and we were not disappointed.
The tour is a busy one and a lot of walking is involved. In some of the castles we visited stairways were steep and slippery due to having to take our shoes off. We would say that the physical rating of 1 is misleading. During the 14 days that we toured we walked 141 kms (87.5 miles) about 10 kms (6 miles) per day which is tough on someone who is not very mobile and indeed some of our party missed out seeing some places as they could not manage the distance.
Hotels were all very good. some with lovely views over the coast and Mount Fuji. Only the 2 European chain hotels had bars (Sheraton & Mercure) but there were vending machines everywhere to purchase drinks when required.
The food was Japanese apart from a few buffets which included more European dishes. I will say that we found the meals very samey. On occasions we had the same for lunch and evening meal but there was always plenty of it and a selection of different items so you could pick out what you liked.
We enjoyed the Castles, Temples, Gardens, Bullet Train, Snow Monkeys and of course the cherry blossoms.
Our guides English was a little slow and he had the habit of repeating instructions over and over making it longer to get anywhere ie into our hotel rooms but was flexible when he needed to be.
Not a lot of free time on the tour. We were lucky to arrive at lunchtime in Osaka and so had free time until the evening meal so we took the train to Osaka Castle where we wandered the gardens. We were glad that we did as we saw more than when we returned the following day. At the end of the tour we had 2 free afternoons which again enabled us to take the train back into Tokyo Centre to wander around.
All in all a great time seeing everything that you should when visiting Japan.

Amazing holiday - thoroughly enjoyed it all and would certainly recommend.
The guides for both countries were informative, knowledgeable and very helpful. Our guide in Cambodia, Sokhoeun was fantastic, proud of his country, extremely funny, witty and made us all laugh everyday. He is unforgettable!
The hotels were well positioned and all of decent standard. The restaurants were all lovely, varied in menu choices, some extremely high standard. The food was well presented, tasty and a true representation of the area of the world.
Our group were a good mix of people, friendly and great fun to have around.
Loved it all!

Absolutely amazing lovely people wendy wu were brilliant always travel with them never let's us down great company to tour with

Disappointed with guide in Thailand.
Some hotels tired.
Thailand more developed than we were expecting

Very interesting, and wonderful to travel overland seeing the country. Our guide Pet was really amazing sorting everything out when flights were cancelled. Definitely recommend him as utterly charming and helpful

Very full on but provided a very good insight to Vietnam. Tour ****** provided us with very interesting information on life and culture covering a range of topics. The add on 5 day extension in Laos was well worth it and provided a very different and informative culture.

Totally exhausting and very physically demanding - badly planned, poor quality rooms - one had bars across the window! Long days travelling on dusty roads - extremely stressful and tiring. Food very limited
not the quality travel experience we had previously with this company

Great guide, fascinating country. Wish there was more wildlife.

The trip was well planned and executed. The guide was knowledgeable and helpful. The trip involved a lot of driving along rough roads, to get from Luang Prabang to the plain of Jars and then on to Van Vieng, which was unavoidable, but not comfortable after driving all day just looking out of the bus window.

The tour was very good and varied and a great snap shot into Thailand and Laos. However, the hotel accommodation was poor, often with degraded fixtures and insects, and certainly below Wendy Wu's pre-Covid standards.

Easy process and all information on link.

The tea plantation a waste of time . Hours journey sampled couple teas . No explanations on the tea making process or chance to walk around the plantation. Very disappointing.
Otherwise the food was good some hotels breakfast disappointing . Needed more time in some places Buddah Park . Good guides .

The person responsible for making the booking was knowledgeable and helpful.

Both our country guides were just amazing - so knowledgeable and supportive. The pace was just right in the heat and I feel like we did get a good feel of Cambodia and Laos in only a short time, thanks for our guides. Might be worth cutting a temple or two in Cambodia and switching to the bamboo railway which we heard great things about but certainly no complaints! Thank you!

The organisation and logistics of the trip, the Guide Yorke kept us informed, entertaining and very helpful. Accommodation high standard. One or two trips such as that over to Laos could be changed for more time at other places. Some long days with little time for relaxation. Overall saw all the relevant sights, gained an insight into the people, culture and history.