Tour on September 5th

Anyone going on this tour September 5th 2020? I would love to meet fellow travelers

Comments

  • I am going on this tour July 13 2019. I subscribe to International Travel News and in the May 2019 issue on page 4 Travel Briefs it says the following:
    Komodo Island to close. Indonesia is closing Komodo Island to tourists starting on January 1 2020 in order to protect its famous endemic lizards, the Komodo dragons. The rest of Komodo National Park, which also comprises two other large islands and 26 smaller ones, will remain open. It was reported that a group had attempted to smuggle 41 of the dragons to sell on the black market , prompting the decision to close the island. The closure will also allow the dragons' population to grow.

    You might want to ask Tauck what this closure will do to the 2020 itinerary for Kingdoms & Dragons.

  • I checked several months ago with Tauck when it was first announced about the closure and it will not affect the Tauck tour at all, this is not the island we are taken to see the dragons.

  • Hi. We will also be on the September 5th tour and are very excited. We have been on Tauck tours to Australia/New Zealand and South Africa, and both were great. It looks like we have the afternoon and evening free on September 9th in Singapore. We are going to book a private "walking foodie tour" from a company highly rated on TripAdvisor that afternoon. It's 5 1/2 hours and covers several neighborhoods/cuisines. We've done these types of tours all over the world, and they are a great way to experience a city and its history, culture and food. Our tour is booked for 2 people, but I checked and we can easily add a couple of others if we'd like, so rglazer (or anyone else who may be reading this), if you are interested, please let us know and I can provide more info. Sue

  • British, found this older post and was glad to see that you and Mr. B plan on this tour. We are tossing this tour against the Vietnam/Camboida tour Tauck is offering in 2020 and not sure which way to go. Would like your thoughts on these two choices as you seem to have been everywhere! We are looking at October, 2020; when are you going? Sandman

  • edited July 2019

    Hi Sandman, we are taking this tour in September 2020. Mr. B chose it to see the Dragons. We spent 24 hours in Singapore about thirty years ago with an ex work colleague of Mr B on our way to Japan for his work. I was getting a free trip as part of the deal since he was going to be working in Japan a lot. Always wanted to go back and have Singapore slings at Raffles which was way beyond our travel budget at the time. We flew Singapore airlines in economy and the service from the flight attendants was awesome, as good as you get in business class these days.
    We took the Vietnam Cambodia and Laos tour in early 2018. A wonderful tour, Laos was our favorite. Illl try to find photos as a teaser in a moment.
    We are going to Borneo in March, so visiting that area of Asia twice in one year. Yes, travel is our guilty pleasure.

  • edited July 2019

    First photo. Oh no, there are two ‘British!’

  • edited July 2019

    Second photo. Mr B at the elephant sanctuary in Laos on the tour, just come out of the river, hence the dark water line on the elephant.

  • Thanks, British. You are my go-to source for things Tauck. We did travel on our own to Singapore and Bangkok last year and loved Singapore. If you haven't been there in 30 years, you will experience a new city. The Vietnam tour we are looking at does not include Laos, but I will look at that again. I wish I could travel as often as you and Mr. B, but work and other family obligations seem to get in the way. This is why I want to be selective as it will probably be a few years before we go back to Asia. Love your pictures and thanks for your advice. Sandman.

  • edited July 2019

    Thanks for the info on Singapore Sandman. It will be interesting to go back. As I said when we went before we were with our kids too and funds were more limited than now. The most memorable thing for the family in the short time we were there was a visit to the famous Nighttime Zoo.
    Has Tauck stopped going to Laos? It’s hard for me to look at tours at the moment because they will not load on my iPad, it’s been very frustrating. I finally emailed Tauck recently to see if it was me or them, there is a glitch with the app on iPads. So the best ways to look at tours now, is on a computer. I rarely use a computer these days and often look for tour ideas in the middle of the night.
    We have always put a high emphasis on travel, it’s a British thing, most people travel whatever their income level. It’s a result of being on a small island I guess and always been amazing to me that such a small country once virtually ruled the world and even still means that The English language still dominates. Now retirement is here, we will keep going until we can’t. Your time will come!

  • Tauck does Laos on one of the Vietnam, Cambodia tours. Looked at this and now have a third choice to decide upon. I agree with you that the Laos addition moves me back to the Vietnam tour with Laos. Nice to focus on these problems than the other things life throws at you. Did you travel with your twin on the picture you posted? Really great!

  • I believe that Tauck has dropped Laos from the Vietnam and Cambodia tour for 2020. I don't know why. I am glad that I took the tour this year, because I liked Cambodia and Laos better than Vietnam. I think that I chose this tour over the one that went to Thailand at British's suggestion, in fact. I have a similar double photo to British's photo that was taken at Ta Prohm, which is in Cambodia.

  • MCD, unfortunately, you are right! Just called Tauck and they confirmed that Laos is not part of the Vietnam/Cambodia tour in 2020. The web seems to say it is available, but if you drill down on the dates, you only see the V/C tour. Was already 98% there, but now back to looking at Singapore/Bali. Thanks for the heads-up!

  • edited July 2019

    That’s a shame! I do think that in the past few months there has been something going on in Laos that I read about, just can’t remember what. That may have made Tauck change their minds about Laos. Amazing Race featured Laos this past season and the teams sat in line to give the monks rice at dawn like we did and went the same food markets too.
    MCD, I guess the local guides taught you all the cell phone tricks like they taught us. We do panoramas and doubles and so on all the time now. So much fun, we’ve even changed hats and things like that.

  • I just got the Exotics brochure from Tauck and looked at the Singapore-Bali tour. It looks like all dates are for 24 people (small group?) tour. Am I right in my reading and does anyone have any idea why this trip is only 24 per tour? It seems to make sense when you compare the price to the longer tour from Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand, but not sure why this tour is only 24 per trip.

  • Only Tauck knows the answer. Ask them.

  • Took your suggestion and called Tauck. The Singapore/Bali trip is only small group and rep was not sure why, but said it could be because of the number of rooms they can secure at all locations on tour. I think we are going to book the Oct 10 tour, which she told me is only 22 people. Any suggestions on how to get back from Bali? Looks like we would have to fly back to Singapore or to China or Korea to get a Westbound flight heading back to the US.

  • We have not started researching yet, but as soon as it gets to the 330 days to the end of the tour we will be booking. Our strategy these days is to call Tauck to see who they use, then see what we find, if Tauck is good on price and routes, we use them but then these days we generally use Amex to book flights because we get 5x points with them.

  • groups are small due to availability , they are not big resorts.. so the number of rooms they can secure is limited. Yes, to fly back home there 'll be a stop @ either China, Korea or Singapore which since the easiest one if you are flying United A. or Singapore A. from California. I'm flying from Seattle ,so if I go Delta (using mileage ), I'll have to fly Singapore-Korea-Seattle. if I fly United although super convenient , I don't like the airline at all and will have to pay for airfare ticket. I do as British, I check with Tauck and them I book on my own... always get great $$.

  • Hello mil. I can now tell you our flights for our trip to Singapore this year. We are flying Qatar airlines from Philly, our nearest airport to Doha and then Singapore. On return we fly Bali to Doha and then to Philly, business class. We just used this airline for the first time to our Africa tour and we loved it. We have only been flying business class regularly for a couple of years but so far, it’s by far the best. You get a cubicle you can completely shut off from the aisle. You can also order the food whenever you want and whatever order you want. Coming back I Decided to sleep first and eat when I woke up later, I’m convinced that’s why I slept much better than I normally do on flights. Then later I had Afternoon tea compete with warm scones and clotted cream. We were provided with pajamas. Since as Alan S always teases me, will come in handy for our upcoming tour of Borneo since we don't own any, we have a couple of nights there with shared sleeping in a longhouse I think. Yes, I know, TMI 😜

  • SnJ (Sue) sorry it has been so long since my original comment. Please tell me more about this foodie tour. I would like to join you. Have you heard from anyone else on this tour.

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