Xuan Tu – Thank you!
My wife and I just returned from touring Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hoi An. Xuan Tu was our guide (friend) for the latter two cities, and we had the best time ever! First, Xuan Tu has a sparkly, fun-loving personality, and she loves to kid around – it makes for a very comfortable atmosphere. She is very amenable to creating a tour to fit your needs, whether they be history-related, shopping-related, cultural, or whatever! We asked her to show us some highlights of Da Nang and Hoi An, and to take us to some non-touristy places to see the “real” Vietnam. The tour she put together used cars, bikes, and ferries. We visited Lady Buddha, Marble Mountain, My Son, Old Town (Hoi An), and rural villages all in 1.5 days. Her knowledge of history is impressive. She has a vast network of contacts, including temple caretakers, food vendors, villagers, wood carvers, boat makers, shop keepers, etc., and it’s clear they all enjoy her company. She will bargain for good prices for you in the markets, also, and her meal choices are yummy (not yum!) – we went back to a place we never would have eaten at initially because it wasn’t a restaurant (more of a hawker market place – like Singapore and didn’t know about food quality), but it was scrumptious, and it saved us some money. We hope some friends of ours will join us for another visit to Vietnam next year, and we really hope Xuan Tu will still be available. Great guide! — Traveller: 474ord from Tripadvisor
A birthday never to be forgotten…
Xuan Tu made our trip to Hoi An truly remarkable, she knew just how to entertain and challenge us. She is intelligent and witty, the conversation was amazing! Her kindness and charm makes her a favorite of the locals so we saw the true culture of this interesting town. She understood exactly what we were looking for and delivered so much more. A really great day! — Traveller: Avanosch67 from Tripadvisor
Shore excursion from Da Nang port
Our family had an excellent day out with Xuan Tu, when our ship the Volendam called at Da Nang earlier this month. She met us outside the second port gate, about a ten minute walk from the ship, with a car and driver. We drove to Hoi An and collected bikes for a ride around Cam Kim island visiting various local places. We all had a go at rice paper making, which was fun! Back in Hoi An we had a delicious lunch and then went sightseeing around the town. Xuan Tu’s English is very good and I recommend you book a tour with her! — Traveller: lizcat1 from Tripadvisor
Vietnam with Xuan: a really good guide
We booked with Xuan because she has an outstanding reputation, and she WAS outstanding. She speaks excellent English, understands cultural nuances and reads people’s preferences well. She is passionate about her job and will tailor your day to ensure you get the best possible experience. Such an easy person to chat with and share company. We learned so much about the Vietnamese peoples’ lives. The local people know and love her, and we got to see family cottage industries in action. She brings the history and cultural stories to life, connecting the community experiences with the people’s understanding of their place in the world. She bargained for us at the craft shops and took us to eat seafood chosen live from the tanks and cooked to order. How can you do better than this? — Traveller: Colleen W from Tripadvisor
Xuan the best
I booked Xuan due to good reviews, all we can say she was excellent and gives out vast information. I informed her that 8 of us are deaf thus sign language is our first language and explained about our wheelchair user friend. On the first day, I mentioned how we communicate with previous tour guides in Hanoi and Hue, without hesitate she stopped the driver outside the stationery shop and bought two white boards and pen at her expense and bought 8 in the following day :-). She immediately writing down details of the plan, we never seen her write so fast and her English is pretty good. On the first day, she led us to a short ferry to Cam KIm island, she ensured one of our wheelchair user friend has access to the ferry, two staff from the ferry made no hesitate forming a ramp using two wooden planks, visiting the island was worth visiting. Back to the mainland, little did we know that Xuan surprise us visit a superb The Reaching Out Teahouse that employs 8 deaf Vietnamese in the heart of beautiful Hoi An, we were so excited and they did too, the tea room was so tranquil, We had their traditional tea and coffee served with super homemade biscuits. We were in awe how deaf staff communicate with hearing customers, we highly recommend anyone to go there and we became great friends with two of them whom we are now in contact. Xuan was fantastic ensuring we enjoyed the 2 days trip including My Son’s sanctuary, a vast history of Champa and Shiva, we also visited Lady Buddha on Marble Mountain in Da Nang. Thank you Xuan for being a wonderful tour guide and being a great friend, you have learnt a lot from us and vice versa — Traveller: suz1961 from Tripadvisor