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Worldwide recommendation

Worldwide Recommendation of TheSinhTourist

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From:Magne Skogly

To:dalat@thesinhtourist.vn Sent:Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:00:55 +0200

Subject:Hello from Norway

Thank you for a pleasant stay at your hotel.

We are back in Norway ,and it is snow and cold :-(

Hope to be back to Vietnam next year.

Greetings from the norwegian

In Vietnam, open-ended bus tickets are the best way to travel at your own pace between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and the Sinh Tourist line is widely considered the best. So widely considered, in fact, its many impostors call themselves Sinh Tourist, too. Because of Vietnam's lax intellectual property laws, it's difficult to know which Sinh is the real deal. Take the wrong carrier, and you'll get iffy service or, worse, an unexpected overnight stop at an overpriced hotel in cahoots with the bus line. "In summary," says Stuart McDonald of travelfish.org, a travel advice site covering Southeast Asia, "it is a snake pit!"

Solution: Always use the bus company's official website: thesinhtourist.vn.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/08/19/travel/popular-travel-scams-bt/index.html

From: Göran Carlsson [mailto:Goran.Carlsson@regiondalarna.se]
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 5:37 PM
To: haunhtm
Subject: SV: how are you

Thank you Helene!

We have two good reasons why we continue to use Sinh Tourism.

First that everything works very well for our groups in Vietnam due to your service during the years but also that your company are present on all places we go to which is a security and garantee for good service.

The second, and for me as important as the first, is the direct and promt service we get from our personal contact person with the company. And you, Helene, has already proved your capacity and service mind for us and our groups.

So thank you for your good work for me as responsible for planning our tours and for our groups visiting Vietnam!

Best regards,

Göran

Ps We have already started our planning for our next seoson and I will come back to you about this.

Posts: 1
Posted: 15/3/2010 - 08:05

I can recommend a good tour operator which I used just 2 weeks ago for a 4-day trip from HCMC -Phnom Penh - Seam Reap and return, both ways by bus. They are TheSinhTourist, formerly known as Sinh Cafe. Their web site is www.thesinhtourist.vn. They are a budget operation, but very popular and reliable. The trip costs about 2.5 million dong which is about 92 pounds . This is an all-inclusive price , the bus is air-conditioned, the hotels are 2-star very clean and comfortable, and the food excellent. There is definitely NO karaoke on that bus , its very quiet on board and you only hear quiet conversation. Travel times are about 6 hours from HCMC to Phnom Penh and 5 hours Phnom Penh to Seam Reap. The roads are reasonable and the ride is fairly comfortable. The return visa to Vietnam can be organised by the operator, although we had multiple entry visas which made things a little easier. The Cambodian visa is organised on the bus and will cost you USD 25 each. Whilst I highly recommend that operator, when you are in HCMC in the Pham Ngu Lao area there are dozens of tour operators who do similar tours so you can shop around, but you wont get much better value. The whole system is extremely well organised and you can see all the tour buses lined up along that street every morning setting off for all destinations.

Posts: 3
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 08:05

To: HenningWessel,

Fake or real?

There is only one TheSinhTourist in Viet Nam!!!

There are so many fake Sinhcafe in Hanoi, VietNam. That was the reason the owner of Sinhcafe has changed their name to TheSinhTourist.

Fake or Real?
Let the users answer your question.
Let you know that TheSinhTourist got many good buses so that they can run daily open bus from Sai Gon to Hanoi.
And they also got hotels in VietNam and Cambodia.
Fake or real?
Let see the service and the price of open bus.

Fake or real?
Go to VietNam first and check it...

Posts: 375
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 10:05

Fake Sinh cafe?
Having heard so much about the Sinh Cafe open tours, but just worried about the fake ones. Anyone has experiences?

Thanks.

Posts: 30
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 14:05

why you do not contact to real one ?
http://www.thesinhtourist.vn/
Good luck!

Posts: 83
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 18:05

Agree with 'greenpark' - check the real Sinh Cafe and get their address.

In Hanoi I counted no less than 6 places claiming to be Sinh Cafe over a distance of about 150 metres - all displaying the Sinh Cafe logo. There are no protections for copyright, business names etc in Vietnam so any successful business will be plagued by imitators.

The real Sinh Cafe have offices all over Vietnam but they vary considerably. I had good experiences with the HCMC office but found the one in Hue very indifferent and not at all helpful.

See my review of their Mekong Delta tour for an idea of the great value they offer.

Posts: 116
Posted: 01-May-2009 13:56

Thank you Stekmer for your interesting report (part 1 and 2) on Sinh Caf trip. We have planned to do this trip in july and your report give us precious informations. We will travel with our 2 daughters 9 and 11 years olds. I still have few questions like how large was the group travelling together? How they manage with the group for a visit? Could you explain more about the safety considerations overlooked?


Posts: 83
Posted: 01-May-2009 14:34

Thanks 'Jano422'

The group size varied each day and ranged from about 14 up to about 22 people. They combine tours and link them altogether - pretty well organized.

The safety considerations were mainly around the way boats were docked and the need to walk along narrow wooden planks or over other boats without anyone offering a steadying hand or shoulder. Some boats lacked flotation devices altogether. Having a good sense of balance is helpful.

I will try to write the rest of that trip report up over the weekend.

Thanks again for your comment.

Posts: 375
Posted: 01-May-2009 17:41

Hi,

Thank you for your suggestions. I believe Sinh cafe is very reputable but also heard on tripadvisor that it is much overrated?

Posts: 83
Posted: 02-May-2009 18:38

I have just added the Day 2 (Part 3) of the Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta trip
HCMC to PP

Posts: 57
Posted: 03-May-2009 22:15

I have used the genuine Sinh Cafe on many occasions and had nothing but great service and prices from them. I was even on a tour with them once and ran out of money to pay the entrance fee into a museum with no ATM in sight. The tour guide lent me the money without me even asking him for it, I assured I would pay him back and that I did. I am sure there are many tour companies that offer the same type of service. I believe it would be the many fake ones are who are responsible for the bad raps Sinh Cafe gets. There are many stories of scams and poor service that have been read about. At the end of the day find a company that you have heard nothing but good reports about and stick to them, it is often the unfamiliar tourist who are easily scammed!

Posts: 375
Posted: 05-May-2009 16:26

Hi,

Happy to hear good things about Sinh Cafe. Email them now. Many thanks.

Posts: 1
Posted: 06-Apr-2010 11:12

hi the link provided doesn7t work any more, so can anyone send me the link for the REAL sinh cafe. i have already paid a deposit, now i ma worried i went with the fakers!! and all the sites look legit, so that is no way to tell.. am panicking.

Posts: 1,851
Posted: 06-Apr-2010 11:18

Try this http://www.thesinhtourist.vn
Sinh Cafe has changed their name to, The Sinh Tourist. Maybe to avoid the rash of fakes, who knows. The link above lists the REAL Sinh hotels, and I've stayed at most of them, so if should be the REAL web site. Good luck, I'm sure there will be new fakes appearing soon.
EXCELLENT!

28-Aug-2010 13:58
Posts: 3
Posted: 28-Aug-2010 13:58

FYI:

Sinhsafe has changed their name to TheSinhTourist. As I know, one of the reasons is there are so many fake Sinhcafe in Ha Noi (Count not under 100!!!)

www.thesinhtourist.vn (Old one:www.sinhcafevn.com)

To: CMBurns,

I think there is no more Fake TheSinhTourist as this brand new name has registered.
16years ago, Sinhcafe developed as a coffee shop arranging tours for foreign tourists. At that time the name was not registered.

thesinhtourist
Posts: 6
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 08:05

http://www.thesinhtourist.vn/images/vn.png Posted from within Vietnam (why do we highlight this?).

REAL SINHCAFE

Dear all,

Sinhcafe has changed its name to TheSinhTourist because of a lot of faked Sinhcafe in Ha Noi.

The new website is www.thesinhtourist.vn

To Noggins:www.sinhcafevn.com was the real one. Its funny that the real Sinhcafe got the name sinhcafevn.com.vn stands for VietNam. But the faked ones got the name sinhcafe.com or sinhcafe.vn. The reason is: Real Sinhcafe didnt pay its attention to website. When the faked ones occupied the above names, Real sinhsafe had to get the name sinhcafevn.com...... Just remember now there is no Sinhcafe... Only TheSinhTourist.

TheSinhTourist (Or Real Sinhcafe) focuses on the backpacker market so the price is very competitive.

It runs daily open bus and open tour in Viet Nam and Cambodia.
You can get ticket one day before departure.

Here are its offices in Viet Nam:

1/ Head offices:
* 246 De Tham Street, district 1, Ho Chi Minh city.
Tel: (848) 38389597
Email: info@thesinhtourist.vn

smash
Posts: 162

Posted: 20/3/2010 - 08:05

hey all

I'm looking at booking a overnight trip from Saigon to Phnom Penh via the Mekong.

Sinh Tourist has one at USD35 that looks ok (http://www.thesinhtourist.vn/TourDetails_User.aspx?MaTour=%20VEctTTJQUC0wMQ==& LangID=& MaTram=TUs=).

Has the Sinh Cafe changed its name recently to Sinh Tourist? We want to arrange this before we get to Vietnam so we're not wasting our short/precious time in travel agencies so just looking for somewhere reliable to book before we go.

Cheers,
Ash

busylizzy
Posts: 390
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 07:05

Hi Smash,

Yes Sinh Cafe recently re-branded to Sinh Tourist. This was to move away from all the Sinh Cafe copycats. Their old website now redirects to a new one.

You may want to reconsider booking the trip ahead of time as it ties you down a bit much. We did an (unplanned) Easy Rider motorbike trip, then ended up extending it to take us through the Mekong Delta to Chau Doc. From Chau Doc, we took a boat up to Phnom Penh - which was much better than a bus, in my opinion (Cost = $21PP). The motorbike trip ended up being a highlight for us. Personally, I'm glad we didn't pre-book anything as it allows maximum flexibility to change your plans. Also - it's very easy to book through the agencies once you are here. I often make these bookings just a day or two ahead of time, and it's been very quick and easy.

Having said all of that, you might be on limited time or have your own reasons for needing to prebook. I can't get the link to work right now (crap connection!) - but that is definitely the correct website (ie for Sinh Tourist aka Sinh Cafe).

Hope this is vaguely helpful!
Lisa

somtam2000 Posts: 5469
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 09:05

Yeah Sinh Cafe has changed its name -- as they say on the new site:

To mark the growth of a coffee house organizing travel to become a professional travel agent, we decided to change its trademark and logo from Sinh Cafe to TheSinhTourist. Please visit new Website http://www.thesinhtourist.vn

somtam2000


Posts: 5449
Posted: 20/4/2010 - 08:05

I can not get the page you mention to load, so can notcomment on the specific trip, $35 is pretty good value -- would certainly cost you more to do solo -- but it is an easy trip. For eg bus Saigon to Can Tho, overnight there, see the floating markets in the morning then midday bus to Chau Doc, overnight there and then speedboat to Phnom Penh the following morning -- but, doing it solo would cost more than $35.

------------------------------

grasshopper322
Posts: 25
Posted: 21/3/2010 - 08:05

I've heard only bad things about Sinh Travel but have no personal experience. Just ask around

smash
Posts: 162
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 08:05

Lizzy - with only 15 nights from touch down in Siem Reap we are thinking it will work in our favor to organise things prior to leaving as we will otherwise waste time shopping around for things and to be honest I'm not one for nitpicking over $5 here and there for pretty much exactly the same product.. but thanks for the input - originally we had about six/seven weeks for this part of the trip in which case we were going to leave it 'free format'.

thesinhtourist
Posts: 6
Posted: 20/3/2010 - 08:05

http://thesinhtourist.vn/ Posted from within Vietnam (why do we highlight this?).

To Smash:

In my opinion, you can take 4 days packeage tour Sai Gon - Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - Sai Gon.
They got Vietnamese tour leader and two Cambodian tour guides. All speak English. Especially, Mr David, the tour guide in Siem Reap is excellent with knowledge about Angkor and service from the heart.
You can mail to him: angkorguide@yahoo.com

The price is 174USD/pax. (Plus 24USD for Cambodian visa, getting at Bavet border. 46 USD for reentry visa to VietNam. No photo is required)
Tour departs every Thursday
If you decide to go to Bangkok from Siem Reap (Thesinhtourist offers the daily bus), you can stop the tour at the 4th day. So dont have to get reentry visa to Vietnam.

If you decide to go to Phnom penh via mekong delta. I think you should take mekong delat 3 days 2 nights exit to Phnom Penh. From Phnom Penh you can join package tour.

Tom Lee

thesinhtourist
Posts: 6
Posted: 20/6/2010 - 08:05

http://thesinhtourist.vn/ Posted from within Vietnam (why do we highlight this?).

REAL SINHCAFE

Dear all,

Sinhcafe has changed its name to TheSinhTourist because of a lot of faked Sinhcafe in Ha Noi.

The new website is www.thesinhtourist.vn

To Noggins:www.sinhcafevn.com was the real one. Its funny that the real Sinhcafe got the name sinhcafevn.com.vn stands for VietNam. But the faked ones got the name sinhcafe.com or sinhcafe.vn. The reason is: Real Sinhcafe didnt pay its attention to website. When the faked ones occupied the above names, Real sinhsafe had to get the name sinhcafevn.com...... Just remember now there is no Sinhcafe... Only TheSinhTourist.

TheSinhTourist (Or Real Sinhcafe) focuses on the backpacker market so the price is very competitive.

It runs daily open bus and open tour in Viet Nam and Cambodia.
You can get ticket one day before departure.

Here are its offices in Viet Nam:

1/ Head offices:
* 246 De Tham Street, district 1, Ho Chi Minh city.
Tel: (848) 38389597
Email: info@thesinhtourist.vn

blubber
Posts: 168
Posted: 20/04/2009 - 3:09

Sinh Cafe has changed their name to Sinh Tourist but their address is still 246-248 De Tham in the backpackers district. We booked both their 1/2 day Cu Chi Tunnel and 1 day Mekong Delta tour and it was very good value.
Definitely recommended.

Open bus

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