Anyone used Bao Loc as your tour guide

Has anyone used Bao Loc from Privatevietnamtourguide. He has great reviews on Tripadvisor but then when you read further some posters appear to imply the reviews are fake as they are made by people who have not posted before. It seems a bit unfair that you can only be taken seriously if you have posted previously but any assistance anyone can give here would be greatly appreciated.

As long as you have posted before :) :)

Thanks

My husband and I just returned from Celebrity's Sinapore to Hong Kong. One of our cruise ports was 2 day stop in Ho Chi Minh City. After scouring the internet for legitimate private tour guides we contacted Bao Loc to arrange a private 2 day tour. We had read some of the Trip Advisor forum posts, most of them very favorable, and took a leap of faith and arranged a tour with him.

I am not a big contributor in Trip Advisor or Cruise Critic because we are usually “do it yourselfers” and like to venture out on our own. Unless you speak the language, know where you are going, and understand the culture it is not recommended you do it on your own in Vietnam. The cruise port is 2-3 hours from Saigon(HCMC) and transportation options are very limited and unpredictable. If this review is questioned because of my limited contributions it is because we rarely use tour guides in our cruise travels and I felt Loc deserved to be recognized for the exceptional experience we had.

We asked Loc to arrange a day visiting Ho Chi Minh City and a day on the Mekong Delta that would take us away from the crowded touristy area. There were 7 of us in our group from the ship. Loc and his driver would pick us up at the port, drive us to the Mekong Delta for a day tour there, then drive us to HCMC to our hotel for the evening, pick us up the following morning for a city tour, and bring us back to the port prior to the ship’s departure that evening. The cost for this was a real bargain compared to the ship excursions.

When our ship arrived at the port we learned that they did not dock at Phu My, where we were originally scheduled to dock, but at another port 20 minutes away. No worries, Loc had already determined, prior to our arrival, which port our ship would be at. He was there waiting for us. What a relief! Off we went in a very comfortable van to visit Mekong. It was a long ride but we saw how the Vietnamese live outside the big city. It was very interesting. Loc gave us so much information about their history, current situation and what the future holds for South Vietnam. We arrived a Cai Be in the Mekong Delta and boarded a river boat that was small enough to explore the secluded canals and big enough to hold us all comfortably. Loc knows the area very well as his grandparents lived here and he spent his summers here as a small boy. This was an amazing day full of special stops and a wonderful lunch at a small outdoor café where we rolled our own spring rolls from vegetables and seafood from the Delta.

The tour of HCMC the next day was packed with so many stops. He wanted us to see the old and new city so we could appreciate the heritage as well as the hope for the future. He definitely succeeded in showing and teaching about his city. He introduced us to Vietnamese style coffee and took us to the best Pho place in HCMC. Another plus about this tour is there were no stops at artisan shops with high pressure sales, which is very typical in that region.

Loc has such a warm friendly personality that it was so easy to be with him. He is so eager to improve on his English, which was pretty good. It was hard to say good bye to him when he brought us back to our ship. Loc is very proud of the city and country he lives in and wants to show visitors everything good about it. I highly recommend him as a guide, he is the real deal. His website is http://privatevietnamtourguide.com

My husband and I just returned from Celebrity's Sinapore to Hong Kong. One of our cruise ports was 2 day stop in Ho Chi Minh City. After scouring the internet for legitimate private tour guides we contacted Bao Loc to arrange a private 2 day tour. We had read some of the Trip Advisor forum posts, most of them very favorable, and took a leap of faith and arranged a tour with him.

I am not a big contributor in Trip Advisor or Cruise Critic because we are usually “do it yourselfers” and like to venture out on our own. Unless you speak the language, know where you are going, and understand the culture it is not recommended you do it on your own in Vietnam. The cruise port is 2-3 hours from Saigon(HCMC) and transportation options are very limited and unpredictable. If this review is questioned because of my limited contributions it is because we rarely use tour guides in our cruise travels and I felt Loc deserved to be recognized for the exceptional experience we had.

We asked Loc to arrange a day visiting Ho Chi Minh City and a day on the Mekong Delta that would take us away from the crowded touristy area. There were 7 of us in our group from the ship. Loc and his driver would pick us up at the port, drive us to the Mekong Delta for a day tour there, then drive us to HCMC to our hotel for the evening, pick us up the following morning for a city tour, and bring us back to the port prior to the ship’s departure that evening. The cost for this was a real bargain compared to the ship excursions.

When our ship arrived at the port we learned that they did not dock at Phu My, where we were originally scheduled to dock, but at another port 20 minutes away. No worries, Loc had already determined, prior to our arrival, which port our ship would be at. He was there waiting for us. What a relief! Off we went in a very comfortable van to visit Mekong. It was a long ride but we saw how the Vietnamese live outside the big city. It was very interesting. Loc gave us so much information about their history, current situation and what the future holds for South Vietnam. We arrived a Cai Be in the Mekong Delta and boarded a river boat that was small enough to explore the secluded canals and big enough to hold us all comfortably. Loc knows the area very well as his grandparents lived here and he spent his summers here as a small boy. This was an amazing day full of special stops and a wonderful lunch at a small outdoor café where we rolled our own spring rolls from vegetables and seafood from the Delta.

The tour of HCMC the next day was packed with so many stops. He wanted us to see the old and new city so we could appreciate the heritage as well as the hope for the future. He definitely succeeded in showing and teaching about his city. He introduced us to Vietnamese style coffee and took us to the best Pho place in HCMC. Another plus about this tour is there were no stops at artisan shops with high pressure sales, which is very typical in that region.

Loc has such a warm friendly personality that it was so easy to be with him. He is so eager to improve on his English, which was pretty good. It was hard to say good bye to him when he brought us back to our ship. Loc is very proud of the city and country he lives in and wants to show visitors everything good about it. I highly recommend him as a guide, he is the real deal. His website is http://privatevietnamtourguide.com

How did you pay your deposit prior to the tour? On his website it appears that the credit card option is unavailable. NEVER pay deposits unless it is by credit card. I would be leary of transferring funds to their bank account also. Lots of problems in dealing with Viet Nam operators. Too bad a few ruin it for many.

My father and I had a wonderful tour of Saigon with Loc in late March 2014. He is knowledgable, personable and we felt we really got to see the city, rather than being taken to just the tourist places. Whilst we only had a short time in Saigon, as we were on a cruise, I don't believe we could have found a better guide. Thank you Loc for our wonderful experience. I would highly recommend booking your tour with Loc.

Visiting South East Asia with Sapphire Princess we've been to HCMC for a day.

(1 day is not enough time!)

Knowing that the Port is 1.5 hour driving to the City we booked in advance a tour with Bao Loc. His colleague Khuong Duongdinh, or named "Cool", took over and did a very professional job. We have seen a bit of a big City where you need more time to spent. But the "must do" things is time enough for. Go to this Tower(financial...) on the top floor is this Restaurant with a magnificent view over HCMC!! Thank you Cool that you have us taken there.

When you are docked in Phu Muy you really need 1.5hour to go to the City. But you need (for sure) 2 hour to drive back to the Port because of the traffic in HCMC. Dont be confused now it is still fun and easy to negotiate a private tour out side the Port. But you also can book an excoursion with Princess - but more expensive.

We enjoyed our day very much!

Werner and Michel from Holland

I am leaving very soon on an Asian cruise. I emailed Loc almost a week ago and never got a response. I sent another email today. Can anyone share an ideas of prices (we are a group of 3)? We will need a van too because after the tour we need to be dropped at the airport.

I am leaving very soon on an Asian cruise. I emailed Loc almost a week ago and never got a response. I sent another email today. Can anyone share an ideas of prices (we are a group of 3)? We will need a van too because after the tour we need to be dropped at the airport.

We have just returned from our Volendam cruise and can confirm we used Bao Loc to tour HCMC very successfully. We paid USD 390 for a tour for four of us from Phu My. The email address on his website worked fine for us and communication was great. We paid a deposit of USD100 in advance by PayPal. He gets great reviews and they are justified!