China and Vietnam private tours

During a Southeast Asia cruise, I wanted to book a private car and English-speaking guide for Beijing and Shanghai in China and for Nha Trang in Vietnam.

Two weeks before departure, I went online, contacted Pauline at BeijingService.com (Beijing, China; phone 0086 10 5166 7026, fax 7036) and made arrangements for Oct. 15-16, 2011.

For $678 for two of us, my companion and I had a driver/guide, a car, fuel, two full days of touring (8-5:30), two lunches and an overnight stay in the 5-star Prime Hotel Beijing. (The port was 3½ hours by car from Beijing, and the Amsterdam was docked for two days, so it was best to stay in the city overnight.) We each tipped $20, although it was not required.

Our English-speaking guide, Mary Xie, picked us up at the ship. She was excellent. We toured the Ming Tombs, the Badaling Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace and visited pearl and silk shops, with displays showing how pearls are grown and how silk is produced.

We used the same company for a tour in Shanghai.

Our Oct. 27 day tour (8:30-5:30) in Nha Trang with Sinhcafe Travel Vietnam (Hanoi, Vietnam; phone +84 4 38364212, fax 37567862) cost $89 each, and we each tipped $10. The English-speaking guide Bei had a great sense of humor. I recommend him highly.

WILLIE KATE FRIAR
Lafayette, CO