While staying in Hanoi for four weeks, we went on several day trips through Custom Vietnam Travel. Every one was fantastic. "Smiley" is the best tour guide we have ever had. His knowledge of Vietnam's culture and history is amazing. He also helped us to feel completely at home on the other side of the earth. We hope to someday make it back to Vietnam and we will definitely be using Custom Vietnam Travel!

If you want to experience a beautiful, culturally fascinating, and remote area of Vietnam, I highly recommend taking a tour with Smiley of Custom Vietnam Travel to North Vietnam’s Lao Cai and Ha Giang Provinces, which my wife and I did in April, 2012. Smiley is a wonderful guide with his great sense of humor. He speaks excellent English and has a good grasp of what interests tourists who wish to learn about Vietnamese life, culture and history. Smiley’s wife, Phuong, was also wonderful in making changes to our flights within Vietnam and to Cambodia. Smiley’s jeep driver did a great job cautiously negotiating the curves of the mountain roads. The presence of bordering China is strong throughout this scenic and mountainous region but the H’mong, Tay, Thai, Dao and many other “Hill Tribe” ethnic groups who live in this predominantly agrarian area have their own distinctive cultures, dress and homes. Avoiding the best known Hill Tribe town of Sapa, we saw few tourists and during the four day stretch of our trip in Ha Giang Province, we saw a total of four other Westerners. After Smiley showed us around Hanoi and arranged a wonderful junk boat overnight trip around a less tourist filled route in Halong Bay, my wife and I began our journey from Hanoi to Lao Cai, taking the noisy and bumpy nine hour overnight train with Smiley. When we arrived at 6 am, Smiley's driver was waiting with a jeep. After arriving, we glanced across the river to the China, and then traveled to the small mountain town of Can Cau for the colorful Saturday market full of food, tapestries and buffalo. We spent the night in Bac Ha and woke up to that town's famous Sunday market full of a wide array of food and wares. Go to the Bac Ha market early, before the Korean tourist buses arrive, After the market, we took a hike through rice paddies observing the hard working, cone hated woman in the fields. We then a boat trip to a nearly village for lunch (as usual during our time in Vietnam, the food was extremely tasty, fresh and bountiful), where the jeep was waiting for a long drive the Panhou Lodge, located in a jungle area near Hoang Su Phi. The lodge is French owned and seemed to have mostly French tourists staying there. The following morning we left to Ha Giang province, again getting close to the Chinese border. After getting travel permits in the provincial capital of Ha Giang, we drove on mountain road switchbacks to the town of Yen Ming, where we stayed the night is the best hotel in town, which was passable but not particularly clean. Be aware that the beds in Ha Giang hotels have mattresses which are as hard as hardwood floors, a sign that the area has yet to change their accommodations to attract Western tourists. But why should they? From Yen Ming, we traveled to the vibrant town of Dong Van, stopping first at the Saphin to see the H’mong King’s palace. Then, before reaching Dong Van, we came across a small village in the mountains where many children came running up to us, as their mothers were washing clothes in the creek. We had brought pens and clothes to hand out for just this situation, and they were well-received. After spending a few hours in Dong Van we drove to Meo Vac, where we spent the night is a wonderful room in hotel overlooking the main town park, where boys where playing soccer and a competitive women’s volleyball game was taking place. The drive between Dong Van and Meo Vac is has a reputation of being the most stunning scenic drive in the country and we were not disappointed. We loved our hotel in Meo Vac, with it’s clean and spacious room overlooking the town park and market, I woke up the next morning early to take photos of the children walking to school, shopkeepers opening their businesses, and women pushing carts full of wares. After breakfast, we returned to the provincial capital, where we enjoyed walking around the town, eating dinner and coming across a Chinese ballet troupe performing in an amphitheater. The next day we returned to Hanoi. You may wish to skip the Panhou Lodge and going straight to Ha Giang, unless you extend the stay there to two nights. It was too much extra driving for one night. I think an extra night or even two in Meo Vac would also be worthwhile, giving you a chance to relax, get a better feel for this pleasant town and spend a full day trekking in the mountains. Smiley will gladly work with you to accommodate your preferences.

This year in September I went with a friend to Ha Long Bay. Custom Vietnam Travel organized our tour and it was great. The boat "Dragons Pearl III" from Indochina Junk Co. was (except the white color they painted it outside) comfortable and the cabins clean and nice. The trip was well organized by CVT and I would recommend this travel agency to anyone. The boss is called Smiley, a truly great and knowledgeable guide.

We used this travel agent for a few times when my parents- in-law from England came over for a visit. All I can say is we really enjoyed our trips with this agent. They were really professional, very well- organised. We didn't want to follow the normal tours as other people, and this agent was so good at arranging for us a private program as we needed! Will definitely recommend this travel agent to everyone and we will for sure use this company again

In September a friend and I visited Vietnam and the HaLong-Bay. I knew already Smiley, because he arranged a trip to the BAN GIOC WATERFALL near the chinese border in 2009. It was a wonderful trip and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. I contacted Smiley this year again to organize our second trip to Ha Long Bay. He is a real pleasure to be with. He is friendly, attentive and well informed about Vietnamese culture and history. I will always contact him, when I visit VN - something I will do as soon as possible!

We found Custom Vietnam Travel through reviews on Trip Advisor and choosing to structure our holiday with them was the best decision we made for our holiday. They are thoughtful and accommodating and incredibly proud of their beautiful country. Thank you for arranging such a special trip and for making the chaos of Hanoi familiar and comfortable. Our day trip to Mai Chau was a highlight, the bicycle tour of Hoi An with the children was a delight and it was an honour to spend our last day in Saigon with Hu (Mango!) the guide who so patiently let me shop in the markets and finished over time! Smiley and Phuong, you are both one in a million and we all feel touched to have been a part of your world. Could not recommend Custom Vietnam travel more Highly

My wife and I travelled to Vietnam in August, 2008. We booked a Hanoi 1-day tour through the Hanoi Elegance 3 hotel (name changed now I think). Our personal guide for the day was Smiley. That tour is one of our great memories of Vietnam and we have stayed friends with Smiley via email and Facebook ever since. The tour was excellent, Smiley was true to his nickname, his English was very good, and we had a great time. We recommend Custom Vietnam Travel to anyone travelling to Vietnam.

My partner and I traveled from Hanoi to Sapa and the tribal villages in the Northern highlands, then to Halong Bay. Custom Vietnam Travel (Smiley) made all the arrangements. From start to finish our personal tour was a pleasure: informative, friendly, efficient, entertaining, and flawless. They even booked a flight and a car for us. The hotels and the two-day cruise boat were fine, the price reasonable, and our guide splendid. While Smiley himself was not our guide (he was busy escorting another party), we did meet him and his wife, who gave us a thoughtful gift. I can't recommend the agency too highly. Roger Porter Portland, Oregon USA

We recently traveled to Vietnam, planning much of our trip with Smiley and the people at Custom Vietnam Travel. Our time in Hanoi was specifically spent with Smiley, who owns the company with his wife. I cannot praise their organizational and people skills too highly, and strongly recommend working with this wonderful business.

Me and my father visited Vietnam last summer! It was one big adventure for us! Smiley organised the whole trip for us from the north to the south of Vietnam! It was GREAT!!! Smiley really is one of the nicest people we know. We would visit Vietnam a second time only to see him again! He took care of everything: great places to sleep, great places to eat and great places to visit! We recommend Smiley as a guide to everyone who wants to visit Vietnam!