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No one can take care of their clients like what we have done for our clients because we want you to be happy and come back with us again.

You are dealing direct with the people who provide the actual services and not through a "broker" who is selling someone else's tour because we are located in Nha Trang City.

- Our tours are highly recommended to be well-organized and very good services of guides, transport, tours, etc.

We provide you professional and accessible tourist services with special care for people with special needs: people with disability, slow walkers, wheelchair travelers, aged people, family parties during your travels to improve full comfort and safety. Our helpers will help the travelers during the visits and the sightseeing.

8:00 pick-up from the port, then tour around by bus. This is specially tailor-made excursions. Exploring the country trails, village's life, town and farms, pagoda, the best way to experience the "true" Vietnamese countryside. Through countryside trails, villages towns and farms.. This countryside tour offers you a fascinating insight into the "real lives" of everyday people who are the backbone of Vietnam . Just a few kilometers from Nha Trang’s beach front is the picturesque countryside dotted with palm trees, fruit orchards and irrigated rice paddies.

The first stop of the tour is an embroidery factory. Driving through miles of flat rice fields to a rural village, enjoy the opportunity to interact with the local people as they go about their daily lives, with farming and cottage industries as their primary source of income. The village path leads us to the home of one family who weave mats from rushes which grow abundantly in the surrounding area. Two people working together will weave just four mats in a day, which will be taken to the local market and traded for food and other essentials.

Pagoda Orphanage: where it shelters and cares for over 120 abandoned, orphaned or street children. They range from several months to 9 years of age. The children of the orphanage are taken care of by a group of Buddhist nuns and volunteers. Their goal is to provide the children with a safe and caring environment which lessens their misfortune and gives their lives greater purpose and meaning. Being a private organization, the orphanage is trying to provide its children food, shelter, health and education. The nuns and volunteers at the orphanage have devoted their lives for the wonderful mission - helping the orphans.

Rice paper making: One of the most typical food from rice steamed and processed into round piece dried in the sun on the bamboo brackets that are on sale in the inns or shops.

Conical hat making village: Conical hat making village: Manual skill work by women, it's also your gift for your friends when toward home.

Posted by MaseratiCruiser
Dung Pham is a very professional tour guide in his country that has been sought after by many foreign dignitaries worldwide. Members on this board should be honored to be given his assistance and expertise. I have researched and was provided references before I made arrangements for a tour with his company. He comes highly recommended by all in the know.

A group of tourists on the Zanndam Holland American Cruise Ship on 10th March 2012 posted on tripadvisor by janeannevans1@btinternet.com

This was a great day out. a fantastic guide, visited an embroidery factory, an orphanage, various industries, noodle making, rush mat weaving, conical hat making, had a lovely lunch by the river in a very clean and welcoming restaurant, then on a boat down the river, visited a pagoda, a real good value for money day, in a lovely air...

Group of 41 tourists on the Diamond Princess on 8th March 2012 on Nha Trang Tour written by fsilverman@cruiseshipcenters.com

Thank you Dung.. we got home late last night … enjoyed it all….

Fran Silverman - Burday

Cruise and Vacation Specialist

My wife and I had a wonderful time on Feb. 22 , 2012 and thank you so much for your patience, kindness and efficiency. We saw so much and could not have done so in such short time without your efforts. May I suggest you increase your price? That amount is far less than what cruise ships charge plus you provide much more value and visits. You should get more and the cruise ship passengers can easily pay the very small increase.

We were on the same tour with wristband and we are in total agreement. Pham is such an engaging person who provides great service in his tours. It was raining when we got there and he even provided us with yellow plastic bags to put on our feet so our shoes wouldn't get mucky as we walked about. I have fond memories of us all walking around with yellow bags on our shoes. The local people had a laugh on two with us!! The cruise line shortened our day in port by an hour (it was already a short day there) and yet Pham got us to all the places we were supposed to go. Must have been a hard thing to do with 21 adults!!!
You won't be sorry going with him. posted by jdiacon@telusplanet.net

Our tour of 22 with Mr. Pham on Feb. 22 with Oceania was terrific! Putting aside the specific stops, the price, value and visits and presence of Pham were far better in every respect than what the cruise ship offers. I can heartily recommend thinking about this for your stop www.nhatrangrivertour.com . My only complain is that he is too cheap. He should charge more as the tour is not only a fantastic value but the experience is truly memorable. The two of us loved it!

I would echo the recs on Mr. Pham's nhatrangrivercruise tour. Posters above nailed the points visited, the orphanage is one such stop. There is a web site posted at the orphanage which affords the opportunity to contribute after the visit. Kids seemed to like lollipops some in our group handed out but pencils or class room materials might be a better if you are inclined to give something tangible. Cash is appreciated as the nuns can choose how to best spend it on the orphans. Mr. Pham's tour was excellent and the day was one of the highlights of our Asian cruise!

Hereby a group on the Zanndam Holland American Cruise Ship on 13rd February 2012 posted on tripadvisor.com by pmmh@comcast.net

What a great time we had on this full day tour! We visited some of the cottage industries - mat weavers, conical hat makers, and rice paper makers (used in making food rolls), We visited an orphanage, had lunch at a riverside restaurant, and returned to the city of Nha Trang by way of a motor boat. We also visited a beautiful embroidery factory and saw the historic Cham towers. We could not have asked for more!.

We also used Mr. Dung Pham for our Nha Trang Tour from our Holland American Cruise. Great tour guide who took us around Nha Trang to give us a good sampling of the attractions and life in Nha Trang along with a river cruise. We would recommend them highly.

Hi: I've just got back to my home address and found your e-mail. I don't bother with e-mails whilst I am on holiday. My husband and I did enjoy the tour very much and found your guide to be very knowledgeable and charming. Her English is very good. Please pass on my thanks to her. I think we saw a little glimpse of the life of the people in the countryside around Nha Trang. The restaurant was authentic and food light and tasty. The toilets were a little messy by Western standards but I have had to use worse. Overall the tour was excellent and I would be happy to recommend your company.

Group of Polish on the Diamond Princess on 21st November 2011 written by an@star-polska.com.pl

Dear Mr Dung,
Briefly-Everything was well organized we were impressed. Your country marvelous and the trip exciting. We enjoyed it so much. Especially thanks to our guide, she was professional and very open to us. Pass very warm regards from us to her and tell -she was like a Good Ghost for us, she will stay in our best memories from all those ours cruise trips- again we appreciated very much. Some of us will come back to Vietnam, myself with our kids to Vinpearl. It will be great pleasure to meet you again. For your information I will strongly recommend you to the Warsaw travel office Marco Polo( Polish main agent for Princess cruises) as a serious partner for further polish visitors coming with this travel agency to Nha Trang .
Artur with Polish Group

Group of 30 tourists on the Diamond Princess on 1st November 2011 guided by Mr Dung Pham

Hi thank you so much for sharing your insight and lovely country with our group. It was the highlight of the cruise. We learned so, more than other tours and people that we later talked too. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE VEGETARIAN FOOD. Since more Westerns are eating less meat, you might use a check box, so that you could preorder with the cafe. We are still in China so will put you on the cc boards again. I am planning on doing this cruise again, in March and again in April. going China to Singapore-Singapore to China. I will write you up on the boards. Will also take your tour again, and maybe you can arrange another tour of us for the second time. Again, I will be in touch. Janet Harvey

“Great Variety of Sights”

We were on a ship that stopped at Nha Trang and rather than take the ship tour a group of us arranged a tour through dung pham. What a great day we had!
They picked us up on the dock after we tendered in and our first stop was the embroidery factory. I at first got concerned that we were going to be trapped in hard sells throughout the day, NOT SO. The factory was very interesting and I still am amazed at the tiny stitching we saw upstairs. Next stop was a temple overlooking the river and it was quite interesting, gave a really good view of the river as it flowed into the ocean. After a short stroll through some eye opening back alleys, where we passed people eating lunch and a wooden boat building shop, we hoped on boats and did a river tour upstream for about 30 minutes. We finally stopped and offloaded at a rickety wooden boat dock, pretty cool, just what you would imagine for this area of Vietnam. We got to go to an orphanage to see some small children in school where we dropped off some donation supplies we had brought. We even got to meet the 80 year old creator of the orphanage. Then it was lunch on the river on an open air patio. The rain came while we were eating but we stayed dry and the meal was very good though they did include some french fires with the rice, fish and soup? We then went by a large Budha, visited a conical hat making factory then a rice paper and noodle making factory. This was done while driving back roads through the rice fields. Our day ended with a stop at the indoor market PHEW! A busy day and very interesting.

Group of 29 tourists on the Diamond Princess on 1st November 2011 written by neil@farmtec.biz

Neil & Lesley Bartholomew

Nha Trang River tour was the best of whole cruise!

OCT 2011 had over 40 people from Diamond Princess take the full day tour. Yes, we had to provide passport info. It's required another country's procedures. Many of us said that it was the best tour of all taken during the cruise. We saw the countryside on our travels to the stops: local small enterprises: hat weaving, rice noodles, embroidery. We had a fun boat ride and lunch outdoors on a patio over the river. Food was great! We visited an orphanage. The children were lovely. (Take any school supplies you can fit in your luggage with you, your bag will have room for the souvenirs you buy on the cruise, right?) Mr. Pham was most attentive to our group. Five stars!

Janet notesfromjh@yahoo.com

On 27th October 2011, everybody in my 5 groups led by Pauline Hall, Karen Perales, Leslie Wilson, Larry Faragher, Barbara on the Amsterdam was so pleased. lwilsondanells@gmail.com

The tour was well planned and proved to be a highlight for our entire cruise. The embroidery factory was beautiful. We saw the children in the orphanage, visited a number of families in their home and watched them doing their craft, including hat making, mat weaving, rice paper making and others. Lunch was spectacular in a lovely restaurant on the river. The van was comfortable and had good air conditioning. The driver and the guide were excellent.
Below is the description of the full tour and contact information for dung Pham.
www.nhatrangrivertour.com

Leslie Wilson

Hereby posted by peralka@msn.com

We were in Nha Trang on the HAL Amsterdam (Oct. '11). There were 3 Cruise Critic groups (10 - 12 people in each), who participated in the Nha Trang Special Countryside tours, booked through Dung Pham. Each group had a different English-speaking guide - all of which were excellent. We were all able to travel in comfortable, air-conditioned vans. The feedback from participants was excellent. Our groups of highly experienced travelers, really appreciated the opportunity to see the real Viet Nam!
As for the weather, it was HOT! Humid, too. Can you imagine how delightful it was, when our guide walked us into the courtyard of the Buddhist orphanage, and Mr. Dung Pham was there, handing out bottles of icy water & frozen face cloths? That was just one example of the excellent service we received. I would definitely recommend this tour operator!

Karen Perales

Group of 12 tourists on the Diamond Princess on 20th October 2011 posted by schuettinger@cox.net

Mr. Dung, even though it was raining, our group of 12 had a wonderful time. We were able to see how the average Vietnamese families live. The embroidery factory was amazing and the skill of the women creating the beautiful art in silk was just fascinating. Our river boat ride was truly an adventure in the rain but stopping along the way to drink fresh coconut milk that had just been hacked down from the tree made the trip worthwhile and the lunch was delicious. Seeing how well the orphans were cared for made our hearts glad. The stop at the ancient house with its native outdoor furniture and the tea ceremony with cakes was an unexpected treat. The guide helped me to purchase some pearls in the Dam Market which was greatly appreciated. I would highly recommend your tour to anyone who is interested in seeing the “real” Vietnam.

Sincerely,

Sandra Schuettinger

USA

Group of 18 tourists on the Diamond Princess on 20th October 2011 written by murphy1525@gmail.com

Dear Dung Pham; My wife and I agree that we did more in one day on your tour, than we did on any other tour. The orphanage was wonderful. Merry Christmas from Carolyn and Gordon

Madam Narelle with 44 tourists on the Sun Princess who joined a river cruise with us on 6th October 2011 . ( The second time with us )

A good trip had by all 44 pax in Nha Trang and very inexpensive tour. Dung and his wife were very helpful to the aged or disabled people which really showed how kind these people were. I highly recommend this tour company as twice round we were given a day to remember

Dear DUNG
THANKS AGAIN FOR A WONDERFUL TRIP. EVERYONE THOROUGHLY enjoyed you tour. Everyone couldn't stop talking
about it and what a good day they had. I was very glad everyone had a good time. I was very tired the next day as it was a big day for me now that I find it difficult to walk because of the stroke but I wouldn't have missed doing it for the world. Thank you once again for the gift. Say hello to your wife for me. She is very kind. Hopefully next time I come you will have a new addition to the family.
Regards,
Narelle

Madam Narelle with a group of 43 tourists on The Sun Princess on 28 August 2010 - Nha Trang Tour ( The first time with us )

Everyone enjoyed your tour very much and all had a good time. Thank you for a good day and I will surely recommend your company as it was from other fellow travellers who had used you before that I got our email address from

Posted by James Cruising Retired Army ( the second time on the same tour ) Jjamess40@aol.com

I have used Dung Pham services twice when I was private shore excursions in Nha Trang. Both times we had to provide all the above information prior to our cruise. Mr Pham has a very good tour set up and it is a lot better than what the Diamond Princess has for half the price. I was the travel group leader from my last cruise and I took 26 people on this private shore excursion. I had to go to each person and get all the information and sent it the Vietnam.

Today turned out to be a real good day even if we did have rain. Larry said he enjoyed today’s private shore excursion very much. Every one of my travel group came to me and said it was a real nice tour of the city and country. We did have some problems this morning as we met up at 7:45 AM and while I was trying to get everybody together they also started giving out tender tickets at 8 AM. Sherri took her entire family to the Explorers Lounge and got each of them a ticket. When it came time to get on the tender I was able to talk Sherri to use her Elite card to take her husband and two kids off and she gave me her tender tickets which worked good as I gave one to Larry and the other two to another couple that did not have tickets. We were all able to get on the same tender which worked out good. It takes about 15 minutes for the tender ride into the port. When we got off the tender my travel guide was waiting for me with my name on his sign. We had 24 in our travel group and we had a 33 passenger bus so we had plenty of room. You are not going to believe this but I had the same guide as we had in 2008. I also found out he was the boss and the person that I had been corresponding with the last 4 months. Our first stop was the Embroidery Factory as last time and I think everybody enjoyed seeing just how it was done. From there on everything was changed around. This time we first drove thru the city and then out into the country. We went to an old house in the country and we had a chance to walk thru the house and then we all set at three tables and had a plate of fruit and green tea. The only thing different is then offered cold beer and soft drinks for a $1. After this we drove thru the country more and stopped at a place where they made the comb type straw hats. Several people in our group bought the hats to bring home. From there we made another stop at a place that made rice paper and also rice noodles. Both of these places were new to me and I did not stop at them before. Then we went to a place that made straw mats and this place I have visited before. During this time it started raining lightly. From there we went to lunch at a Restaurant which was located alongside the river. This is where Jim and I ate on our last visit. The food was real good and they kept bringing it and we had more than enough to eat. Everybody said then enjoyed their meal. Jim, the cold beer and soft drinks were still a $1 as last time. I had to take a break to recharge my laptop battery so I will try to get this finished now. After we ate out tour guide called on his cell phone and order three boats for our travel group. We loaded up and let me tell you this was not as easy as you think. We made it on okay but then we made our next stop at the coconut island it was raining and their dock was not the best in the world. I made it off and back on but it was hairy. I was hoping Larry and I could pull some coconuts down from the trees but they do not do it that way anymore and one of the young boys climbed the tree like a monkey and brought down a coconut. From here we continued our river cruise and at the end we got off at a dock near the Cham Temple which is a lot of old ruins on top of a hill overlooking the bay and Nha Trang. From there we got into the bus again and drove to the Dam Market. I have been there before and they have all kinds of things for sell. This is where Jim bought a Rolex for $10. I passed by some and their starting price was $25 so you see you can get them down. We spent an hour at the Market and everybody was buying all kind of things and came to the bus loaded down. After this we returned to the port and we said good bye to our travel guide and driver. As I said everybody had a good time and when traveling there is nothing a person can do about the weather. It is 7:50 PM now and my back is starting to hurt so I am going to close this out and get it on the wire so that you will have it this morning. Tomorrow is another big day and we do have an early start.

James

Hereby posted by tourists on 6th June 2011 on Legend of the Sea gary.dean.h@gmail.com

When I booked a tour with Nha Trang River tours I had second thoughts. I thought what if they don't show up? What if I am late and they leave? The tour went off without a hitch and it was fantastic. Mr Huy gave us a real insight into Vietnam and it was one of the best tours we have ever been on. Our guide really cared about us having a great experience. He constantly took our picture and during lunch he had the driver order while he showed us other things during the 15 minute wait for the food. I felt that was above and beyond the call of duty. Highly recommended.

My group also used Mr Dung Pham in June 2011 (sailing on Legend) There were just 6 of us (4 adults and 2 kids) We had a fabulous time. He was good. The Buddhist orphanage was a great place to visit. My kids were scared stiff. Haha. I told them I would leave them there next time, if they weren't good.

Hereby posted by tourists on 26th April 2011 on the Diamond Princess linleela@gmail.com

Dear Dung Pham....
I will write you more later but wanted to tell you that EVERYONE on our tour yesterday enjoyed it THOROUGHLY.....Huy was an excellent guide, each place we visited held interest, and we were all delighted to experience the beautiful countryside of Vietnam and be with the gentle people.

I highly recommend Nha Trang River Tour www.nhatrangrivertour.com nhatrangrivertour@yahoo.com We anchored at Nha Trang April, 2011, were met by a friendly, knowledgeable guide, and spent a wonderful, busy day. The tour began with a visit to an embroidery “factory” in the heart of neat, clean, orderly Nha Trang: the exquisite work produced by the young women and opportunity to see their methods and working conditions was very interesting. Then we began exploring the countryside, visiting several cottage industries (including rush mat making, conical hats, rice noodles, soft and dried), driving through rice paddy areas in various stages of cultivation including harvest, a Buddhist orphanage at a pagoda. Members in our tour had brought a large suitcase filled with toys for the orphans: it was a delight to see their excitement with these treats; we also peaked in on the classrooms of the older children and met the nun who supervises the orphanage. Fresh fruit was served in the tropical patio of a 200-year old home (typical of that era), now converted to a restaurant; later, we enjoyed an excellent lunch at a riverside restaurant followed by a river cruise passing colorful fishing villages and ending at Po Nagar Cham Towers (6-7^th century) which we explored. On our way back to the ship, we stopped at the long, tropical beach that Nha Trang is situated on. It truly was one of the highlight days of our 32-day cruise, and I recommend Dung Pham and his team.
Linda Manoll

We had a wonderful excursion and everyone said it was the best so far on this trip. Loved it!

Janice & Joe Ventura ( Our tourists on 26th April 2011 on the Diamond Princess )

Hereby posted by our tourists on 14th April 2011 on the Diamond Princess clark_t_benson@yahoo.com

Dear Mr. Pham,
You created a marvelous tour for us. We really saw how the people live and loved the lunch. We'll always recommend your tour. It is unique!! I'm thankful we took it.
With kind regards,
Judy Benson

Hereby sent from my iPad by our tourists on 14th April 2011 on the Diamond Princess betterbuys@aol.com

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our tour with you and you were very professional and courteous to everyone in our group. My wife kept bragging on the care and respect you and your lovely wife took assisting the elderly (especially the lady with the walker, we all affectionately called 'Mum') the entire day. We all hated to hear that you lost $500 on the previous tour because of inclement weather and the ship's tenders not being allowed to dock. We would like to add this was our favorite tour of our trip...much better than the many ships tours which we paid much more money for!

Here by posted by our tourists on 14th April 2011 on the Diamond Princess thelatters@bigpond.com

Hello Mr Pham
The tour itself was fantastic and we enjoyed all the stops along the way. We thought it was excellent value and greatly enjoyed lunch and the boat ride too. We would have no hesitation in recommending your tour.
Kind regards to you and your lovely wife,
Annette and Ray Latter

Hereby posted by our tourists on 14th April 2011 on the Diamond Princess helenbrookfield@msn.com

Hello Mr Dung Pham
We thoroughly enjoyed our day with you and the rest of the group. Especial highlights was the river-side lunch and the river cruise and the morning tea in the 'local's house. The mat weaving and the conical hat making were excellent too, as was the embroidery factory and the rice noodle factory. It was all excellent, as was your and your wife's care for us all and my elderly mother (the lady with the walker called 'Mum"). I have posted a good recommendation for your tour and hope this helps with ongoing business - which you most honorably deserve. I will also do what I can to help you recover the lost port fees for the previous trip. Please accept our very best wishes for a happy and prosperous future,
Helen & John Brookfield - Australia

Hereby posted by our tourists on 12th March 2011 on the Marry Queen 2 steve@oimages.co.uk

would like to say we thoroughly enjoyed your tour of Nha Trang. Probably the best tour of the whole cruise.
And what an excellent, friendly and informative guide. Especially loved the Cai river trip and the 6 course meal at the riverside restaurant.. Happy to recommend your company to any interested travelers (just ask them to email me).
Regards
Stephen

Hereby posted by our tourists on 12th March 2011 on the Marry Queen 2 rpiraino1@roadrunner.com

I have given your card out and recommended you to at least 6 people. I hope they all take your tour because it was the best tour of my entire 16 day cruise. Please keep in touch.
Linda Piraino

Our ship stopped for the day in Nha Trang. We had arranged a private tour in advance with Mr. Dung Pham of www.nhatrangrivertour.com. He provided a driver with an air-conditioned SUV and a guide for the day. We were joined by three Canadians, Paul and Barb Thorburn and her sister Pat. The per person cost was well worth the price.
Looking at everything around, you wouldn't think that this is a communist country but it is. There are "patriotic posters" and billboards all over the place, most with the hammer and sickle and a few with Ho Chi Minh. I asked the guide whether the government owned the land that has homes and farms and he said the plots are privately owned. Our guide said he was born in 1979 and didn't know anything about the war fought here.
First stop was at an embroidery factory right in town. There were numerous ladies working solo or in groups of two to four to eight embroidering a single item. It is something to see a group of 6 or 8 working on one piece with 2 or 4 on each side. How they keep track of the detail they are working on in conjunction with the others is beyond my comprehension. They demonstrated the whole process from the pencil drawing, poking it with holes on top of the cloth to be embroidered, then doing the actual work. Their work is truly amazing, the finished products look like paintings, the work is so fine. All the sales ladies are dressed in beautiful local dress. The prices were reasonable with framed 1' by 1' items going for about $50 and large 2' by 2.5' ones going for $100 to $200 depending on the amount of stitchwork on the piece. Next we headed across the Cai River into the countryside. We drove through a lot of small streets with small homes. We finally arrived at an open house where a single family makes "sticky noodles." There were the mother, a son, and two daughters working (the men here seem to sit around in small shops drinking tea in glasses and shooting the bull). They take the rice, shuck it, then let it soak for two days before making it into rice flour and ultimately the noodles. Each person has their single job. The rice flour is then made into a paste, then heated on the hearth, then poured into the noodle maker. The noodles are then cooked in hot water, and finally laid out to package. The noodles are made daily as the day's production has to be used that day. They produce hundreds of kilos of the noodles to sell to restaurants and consumers. The fire is made from burning the rice husks. These people were very industrious working at a fast pace. In the same neighborhood we next visited a place where they make rice paper. They make a paste of rice flour then feed it through a large machine where the rice paper is formed in sheets about 4 feet wide. As it comes out of the machine it is laid unto wooden frames and cut the length. The room was very hot as the machine burns logs to heat the flour mixture and lay it out. Women then carry the wooden frames outside to set in the sun until dry. We rode a short distance and stopped at a rather primitive looking residence. We went in and the 61 year old widow makes coolie hats from reeds to support her 9 children. She sells them for $3 each and produces as many a day as she can. We left there then headed over to a farming area where they raise rice. They can grow rice 10 months a year there (only missing October and November because that is the very wet season). The rice is ready for harvest in 3 months time. Then we stopped at a 200 year old Vietnamese house that we were able to walk through. Afterwards, the hostess provided us with various local fruits to enjoy while most of us drank green tea (a couple of us had a "333 Beer" which is made in Saigon). The house has a living area, a small Buddhist shrine room, the men's room where the males sit and sleep and the women's room where the females stay and sleep, and a kitchen. The house had beautiful gardens and a sitting area outside where we ate the fruit. Next stop was another open building next to a stand where the men gather while their women work. Inside the building there were two women weaving reed mats on a rudimentary loom. One feeds the various colored reeds into the loom on a stick then the other moves the loom tool. They sat my wife down torun the loom so now she has another trade that could support her if she chose to stay in Vietnam. They sold the mats there with the small ones 1' by 1' going the $3 up to the large about 3' by 6' for $10. We then went to a Buddhist orphanage where they care for 100 young people from a few months old up to 16 years old. It was a very beautiful pagoda and shrine. The orphanage was built in 1988 and is privately operated. After this busy day, we stopped at a floating restaurant for lunch. I was able to try most of the plates as they included tasty but chewy beef, breaded shrimp, as well as fish that I passed on (I am a very finicky eater). The others thought everything tasted great. After lunch we boarded a small boat that carried us down the Cai River to the Cham Temple. The Cham people were the original inhabitants of this area of Vietnam. They now mostly live in the mountains and are just one of the many minorities in the country. The temple is quite old, about 1000 years old. After this we headed to the marketplace for a bit of shopping. The overwhelming percentage of the people travel by motorbike, the streets are very crowded with them. We noticed many young girls on them with masks over their face, long sleeves, and gloves which seemed unusual in this hot climate. Our guide told us that they do that to keep themselves as light as possible. He said dark skin is considered "dirty" and the sign of a field hand or farmer whereas light skin connotes success, an office worker. Overall, Nha Trang was a great port and Mr. Pham's service provided a very interesting day tour.

38 Tanya Stars from the Diamond Princess on 8^th December 2010 posted by tmullock@optusnet.com.au

Nha Trang is a coastal city on the south central coast of Vietnam well known for its pristine beaches and friendly people. In recent years it has become an important tourist hub for cruise ships, one of which we were traveling on. Not wanting to be part of a ship guided tour with 50 to 60 other travelers, we took a chance and contacted the Nha Trang River Tour to arrange for a more private and personal offering of Nha Trang. It turned out to be one of our better decisions in our recent Southeast Asia vacation. Nha Trang River Tour (NTRT) is a mom and pop tour company owned by a Mr. Dung Pham, but don't be deceived by its small size. It offers first class services. Being locally owned, Mr. Pham has established working relationships with many of Nha Trang's attractions. These arrangements provide unique opportunities for his guests to explore intimately the people and the processes involved in producing such iconic Vietnamese goods as silk embroideries, conical hats, rice noodles, earthen stoves, and rush mats. A short ride into the countryside will provide never to be forgotten sights such as a two centuries old traditional home, rice paddies, fishing villages, and temples. Back in town other choices included the quintessential market place, numerous restaurants featuring local cuisines, and five star hotels lining the 3-mile long seaside Tran Phu Street. In short, whatever anyone might like to see and experience in Nha Trang can be accommodated by Mr. Dung Pham and his company. After deciding what we wanted to see in Nha Trang, making our arrangements with NTRT proved to be simple. Mr. Pham was always prompt to reply and communications was never a problem. Returning to the dock in time for our departure was never in doubt. Anyone wanting an option to the typical cattle mass of s ship tour would be wise to check out Nha Trang River Tour on their website. Although small in size, they are sure to provide a quality service at a fair and reasonable price.

We recently toured Nha Trang when the QM2 called in there on her world voyage. We were a little unsure of this port, so I did a search and found that Dung from www.nhatrangrivertour.com seemed to be very highly recommended. We ended booking with him via his website, and everything went very smoothly via email from the start. Due to a change in numbers, our tour was slightly changed from the one we booked as was the meeting arrangements, but again all this was agreed to before arriving and all arrangements went very smoothly. Our itinerary included a visit to an embroidery factory, a rice noodle making family/home business, another rice paper/family home business, a conical hat making family, a visit to a typical Vietnamese house, lunch, river cruise, a visit to local orphanage, a visit to a local temple, and visit to a local market, before finally returning to our tender port well in time for our return to QM2. While Dung himself didn't take the tour (he was busy with another tour but we did end up meeting him at lunch), both the driver and tour guide were excellent, and made the tour great fun. The tour guide's English was excellent. The tour itself was amazing. I initially thought why would I want to see a rice noodle making family, or a conical hat making lady, but everything was so interesting. The thing that made it so amazing was meeting real local Vietnamese people in their traditional environment, and seeing the contrast between our own lives and theirs. The Vietnamese people were so friendly and welcoming, and the country side we drove through was just so beautiful. Vietnam is an amazing country, and her people so friendly. So much so, that we want to go back to Vietnam and spend more time there. This is in part due to the wonderful tour that Dung arranged for us, and Nha Trang became one of the highlights our our cruise. Along with many others on cruisecritic, we highly recommend Dung for any of your tour requirements in Nha Trang.

18 American tourists on the Diamond Princess on 14^th October 2010 proactiv@pacbell.net

Nha Trang was a real pleasant surprise and one of the best trips while on our Princess Asia cruise. We did so much compared to the cruise trip's tour. Our tour with Nha Trang River Tour included a combination of the countryside and the city tour with a visit to the silk embroidery store, the pagoda, a NICE cruise up the Cai River, fresh coconut milk at a local farmer 's house, a visit to the Ancient House, a rush mat weaving place, the orphanage plus lunch on the river! At the orphanage, I donated a play parachute and the kids went wild over it! It was a GREAT combination of every thing we wanted to see and the swim in the ocean wasn't bad either! We LOVED Nha, our local tour guide and he spoke PERFECT English! I recommend Nha Trang River Tour as your personal guide while you're visiting here.

We stopped in Nha Trang this past April, on the Diamond Princess. Nha Trang was one of the highlights of the cruise. We booked a private tour with www.nhatrangrivertour.com - our contact was Dung - e-mail: phamtoursvietnam@gmail.com We were extremely pleased with the tour, the private guide and driver. We chose the "Special Countryside + City Tour", rather than the tour that included a boat ride. We had a group of over 200 passengers and most of them also booked with nhatrangrivertour... and were also very pleased.

Thank you so much for arranging such a great tour of Nha Trang for us! You spoke excellent English and were so knowledgeable of every site. We thoroughly enjoyed the embroidery factory, children at the orphanage, family home, Cai River cruise, Ponagar Temple, handicrafts (I wore my cone hat gardening), and delicious lunch. This tour was the best we had in the 8 ports the Diamond Princess visited.

In April 2010 we called into Nha Trang on the Diamond Princess having prebooked a River Cruise with Mr Dung Pham of Pham Tours Company. We were a group of about 16 in total and had a wonderful day trip with Mr Dung who speaks good English. The highlight of the trip which included lunch was a visit to an orphanage. It was proably the best and most memorable tour of the whole cruise. They need passport details in advance and through cruise critic try to contact any fellow passengers who would like to take the trip with you in order to create a viable group. Overall excellent trip and thoroughly recommended. Contact details:
www.nhatrangrivertour.com

John (UK)

We arranged two tour groups with Mr Dung Pham of Pham Tours Company during our recent BATS Cruise on the Diamond Princess, one group did the Nha Trang River Cruise Tour with Countryside option, the other did the Hot Springs option. Both tours were OUTSTANDING! All Vietnam Visas were handled by the Diamond Princess automatically for ALL passengers. All passports were stamped and entry cards provided for all without any action on our part. We did have to send detailed passport information for all tour participants to Dung Pham ahead of time

We were in Nha Trang this month and had a fantastic tour including lunch and fruit for morning tea. The highlight of the tour was a trip to an orphanage. Dung had suggested we bring sweets/candies for the children which we did but one clever lady had her grandchildren give her toys for the children; I wished I had done the same thing instead of bringing candy. We were with Dung from 9.00 am to 3.30 pm and the trip included a river trip as well. I also started with a group of 8 and we finished with 32! As soon as it became "my" group Dung forwarded enquiry emails to me; so I could "approve" them. It is a requirement that the travel agent get a permit and do require the information as stated in other posts. We had no problem with that at all. Some South American countries are the same; that is just their requirement.

Beryl

Wanted to drop a note and Thank You for a wonderful day in Nha Trang! Your tour really really one of the highlights of our entire trip to Asia! "Huy" was the best tour guide we had on our entire trip! He was nice, funny, and very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed our day with him. Please tell him "hello" from us. It was also a pleasure to meet you in person at the riverside restaurant! I got a great photo of you, which I am attaching to this email. I'm also attaching a few photos of Huy & a photo of the two ladies who wove the grass mats. They were SO nice. Please give them our regards and our sincere. Thanks as well! Thank you again, Dung. We hope to see you in Nha Trang again in the future. We loved Nha Trang !

We recently arranged with Mr. Dung Pham for two groups, one with 24 and the other 30, from the Diamond Princess to participate in his Nha Trang River Cruise tours that include either a Hot Springs visit, or Countryside tour. Both tours included visits to a children's orphanage, embroidery paintings work place, rice paper factory, rush mats family business, visit to family home, Cai River cruise, lunch at a local seafood restaurant, a stop in a ancient home for fruit snack and drinks, and stop at the Dam Market. Excellent buses and english speaking guides provided a lovely experience to see the Nha Trang seaside area. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Nha Trang and the tours provided by Dung Pham. Dung may be contacted at www.nhatrangrivertour.com

April 20, 2009: Nha Trang was a tender port, which means the ship anchors off the coast and all passengers must take a tender boat to get to shore (about a 10 minute ride). We had booked a tour with Mr. Dung Pham of Pham Tours: www.nhatrangrivertour.com We were on the first tender and got into Nha Trang about 9:00. We met our guide (holding the Carole Jeffery sign) and first had a short tour of the oceanography museum. They do a lot of research and there was one huge room with nothing but jars of specimens of every fish variety you could imagine. Then the 8 of us boarded the A/C van for a ride through downtown Nha Trang. The beaches were beautiful! Next we took a boat ride on a very old boat that held just the 8 of us plus our guide. Our guide was very nice. The 45 minute ride was fun and cooling. We stopped at a family's house for coconut milk. They had many coconut trees and chopped the tops off the coconuts while we were there and we drank from the coconuts. The family's water buffalo was wandering around the yard - no fences - but he didn't come over too close to us. This family had no electricity or running water. They got water from a well. Very primitive, but the family was very nice and very clean. Then back on the boat--next stop another house where they served us fruit and green tea. Toured the house--bedrooms had just enough room for a bed. Because the husband and wife were "old", they had separate bedrooms Kitchen was very primitive. They had a small spigot for water that was very low to the ground and I found them sitting on the ground washing the tea cups that we had just used. Not too sanitary, but too late--we had already had the tea. Next we visited an orphanage. The nuns care for about 100 street children that were abandoned or given up by parents because they couldn't care for them. Ages from about 4 to 12. The kids sang for us and then we handed out candy. I had packed 300 lollipops in my suitcase for this and they were a hit. The kids knew how to say "What your name" and "how old you". They all wanted to have their pictures taken and then look at the pictures on your camera screen. We then went to a riverside restaurant for lunch--spring rolls (very good), cucumbers in a light broth (pretty good), mackeral with tomato sauce, squid with vegetables, rice, and freshly picked bananas. We also had the local beer (Saigon beer). I have tried some really different foods on this trip and so far, so good. Another stop--rush mat weaving. The ladies were weaving placements or sleeping mats on a large loom. We got to try our hand at this putting the rushes into the loom. Let's just say I won't be quitting my day job. Then on to the most amazing embroidery workshop. The pictures that these ladies turn out are simply unbelievable--they look like painted pictures but are all done in embroidery thread. Then to the PoNagar Temple (100 steps up) with wonderful views of Nha Trang. The complex originally included 8 towers, 4 of which still stand. The temples were built at different times, between the 7th and 12th century. Final stop was Dam Market for souvenirs, but we didn't buy anything. On the way back to the port we stopped at the beach to walk in the sand and take photos.

We are back home after a great cruise of Asia. One of the highlights of our trip was the visit to Nha Trang and our tour with your company. I wanted to thank you for arranging our tour. The van, driver and guide were excellent and we saw many areas of everyday life in Vietnam. The visit to the orphanage was the high point of the day. We also enjoyed the fine lunch on the river side. I will be recommending your company to other American travelers to your country. Thank you once again for a very pleasant experience.

We had booked a tour for 8 of us that was really fun and interesting. This is a tender port but we had no problems getting tender tickets for the first tender. The beaches and manicured trees are really nice. We boarded a riverboat for our trip down the Cai River, with views of houses on stilts, fishing boats, rice paddies, rickety bridges, before stopping at a coconut island. The family here chopped off the tops of fresh coconuts and we had coconut milk. Then back on the little boat to visit a family house and have tea and fruit. We also visited a house where they were doing rush mat weaving. You could try your hand at the weaving (but don't quit your day job). We then visited an orphanage where the children sang a song for us and we handed out candy. I had packed 300 lollipops in my suitcase for this. Priceless pictures of the children! After all that it was time for lunch at a seaside restaurant included spring rolls, cucumber soup, squid with vegetables, mackeral in tomato sauce, rice, and fresh bananas. Not quite finished with the tour yet! On to the most amazing embroidery workshop/store here is definitely the place to buy first-class souvenir picture if you need something for your house. Some smaller pictures were $120 to $180 and larger and more complicated pictures were much more. These embroidered pictures of flowers, Vietnam life, or people looked like paintings and were very intricate. We also visited the PoNagar Temple (about 100 steps up to the temple), with wonderful views of the harbor and fishing boats below. Final stops at the Dam Market for souvenirs and the beach to walk in the sand and take pictures. The boat portion of the tour was only about 45 minutes. We actually enjoyed it because it was so hot. The boat takes you to coconut island, around the harbor/fishing boat area, and then to the place where you have a snack. Also you see some of the houses on stilts by the water, a rickety bridge, rice paddy, interesting scenery from the boat. You get on and off the boat at coconut island and the house where you have a snack. I think some of the tours did the reverse of what we did and they did the boat portion at the end. I don't know of anyone who just did the land only portion. The company told us to try to be the first off the ship, which we were. We were on the first tender and met our guide a little after 9am. We were back in plenty of time to walk around. Since you are doing a private excursion, you can tell the company when you want to return to the port. We actually had time to stop at the beach and take pictures. We didn't spend much time at the Dam Market as we were really not looking for souvenirs. I believe the last tender was to leave at 5:30pm (it is only a 10 minute or so tender ride).

Dear Mr Pham,
We are home from our Asia tour and just wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed our tour of Nha Trang - what a beautiful city! We enjoyed our guide, Nha, and the driver. We also appreciated the riverboat driver and enjoyed the coconut milk at the island. The lunch on the river was delicious and I was happy to be able to thank you in person. It was a pleasure to do business with your company.
Thank you,
Karen Meier

Now back in the Enland after a wonderful cruise on Diamond Princess between Bangkok & Beijing . The highlight during our time away was in Nha Trang , Vietnam guide Toyah. The entire tour was excellent & our visit to the orphanage in Pagoda was most memorable & will never be forgotten. Thank you Dung & Toyah for your services.

I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our day in Nha Trang. The tour was excellent and we saw a lot in the short amount of time we were there. Your company does an excellent job of providing an itinerary that is extremely interesting and provides great value for the price of the tour. I did post some photos of our tour on my web site and referenced your web site. Again, thank you for a wonderful day in Nha Trang.

Our next port of call was Nha Trang. Originally it was for a group of 6-8 of us but word got out and the group kept growing. We called a halt to it at 18 as it was becoming too large and unwieldy. I had arranged a private tour with Dung prior to our trip via the internet. He owns and runs his own company called Pham Tours, also known as Dung Tour. We highly recommend his services, having utilized them on a one day tour for a group of 18 in Dec, 2006. He was professional, thoughtful, informative. His rates were very reasonable. He speaks fluent French and English and is a native of Nha Trang. I would recommend me this to anyone going to Nha Trang. Dung picked us up at the port as arranged and we proceeded to an embroidery factory where we could watch them work with no pressure to buy, we visited a temple, took a river cruise, went to a coconut plantation, rode a horse drawn carriage, visited a private home with beautiful wood carved furniture, ate lunch at a restaurant by the river, and took us to a Spa for the afternoon and waited for us at the Spa then back to the ship. We used American dollars the entire time we were here and it was no problem. We had taken a lot of ones with us and it worked out great. The Spa included a mud soak, thermal springs soak and a 1 hour massage. The price was unbeatable and Dung was outstanding. I wish we could have had him on our entire trip. He can be emailed at phamtoursvietnam@gmail.com I have included this as I found him was from another cruise critic referral and he was even better than we had hoped for. If you want a private tour tailored to exactly what you want, with an English or French speaking guide, this is the man for you. He knows all the back ways into everything. We never waited in line for anything and felt like we were citizens who knew all the ins and outs of being in Nha Trang, Vietnam. It was a fantastic time and everyone in our group (18 of us) thought it the best excursion of the entire cruise. We will definitely contact Dung if we return to Nha Trang.

Took a great 1 day tour in Nha Trang. It's a bit different to what most of the tour operators in town offer. Dung from the tour company allowed us to combine the Nha Trang River Cruise and the Nha Trang Countryside Biking Tour into 1 day. On the day, he was happy to suggest attractions and let us decide on those we did and didn't want to see. He also made provision for 1 of our party to be collected from our hotel mid-way through the tour. This tour gave us a good dose of culture and allowed us to see behind the beach and the tourist strip of Nha Trang. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend this company to other tourists.

We took a 1/2 day tour while in Nha Trang with nhatrangrivertour.com We arranged this ahead of time via the internet. Mr Dung met us at the dock as arranged and we proceeded to an embroidery factory where we could watch them work with no pressure to buy, a very old home where they made some of the most beautiful woodwork where we had a very light snack, a Hindu temple, a walk through small back streets of Nha Trang, a river tour/trip up river in small boats, a motorcycle and/or cart ride Someone (my wife, Patty) refused the pre-arranged cart and requested a motorbike, babbling something about inhumane donkey or horse treatment. Dung got out his cell phone in the middle of nowhere, and within minutes a few motorbikes appeared and off we went through the countryside (never mind the inhumane treatment of overloading those poor motorbikes with three people on each! What can I say, I love motorcycles.) to a sedge mat operation run out of a family's home. We then returned to the river for lunch at a restaurant alongside the river (no one wanted the snakes in a jar) and then a tour of an island with fresh picked coconut drinks. It was a fantastic time and everyone in our group (18 of us) thought it the best excursion of the entire cruise. In fact many in the group said they would never again take a cruise line excursion. I highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Nha Trang.