I was very careful with my selection of tour agencies because of the horror stories I read especially with tours to Halong Bay where actual boats differs from photos, the number of passengers exceeds the maximum size and itineraries that differ from those given.

However, despite asking all the right questions about the tour and itinerary, I still got cheated by Threeland Travel.

I chose Threeland Travel because I liked:

1) the itinerary (which later turned out to be a complete lie!),

2) the boat - I was shown some nice photos and told that I will be boarding either a Haiau or a An Duong boat (but we actually boarded a 2 star tourist boat called Yen Ngoc 2 which, as our tour guide agreed, is one of the ugliest boat in Halong Bay).

3) the fact that I was promised I do not need to kayak to Luon Cave, but will instead go on a small bamboo boat that will be rowed by someone else (I was later told by the tour guide on the boat that we can only go to Luon Cave by kayaking, and they do not offer the ‘small bamboo boat’ service!).

When I saw the van we’re in picking up guests from hotels bearing the fake Sinh Café open tour signs, I knew it was a mistake. But I didn’t expect it to be that bad.

The itinerary given by Threeland Travel, which I was very pleased with, is as follows:

Day 1: HANOI - HALONG (L/D)

08h.00: pick up at hotel and transfer to Halong.

12h00: Boarding boat and start cruise.

13h00: Have lunch.

13h30: A fantastic cruise in Halong Bay visit Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi Island, Sail Island, Sung Sot cave and a swim at Titov beach.

19.30: Dinner after that fishing or relax and o/n on boat.

Day 2: HALONG - HANOI (B/L)

07h00: Have breakfast. Then cruise to visit Man's head Island, Tortoise island, Visit Luon cave, Bai Tu Long Bay.

10h00: Check out

11h00: Have lunch

11h45: Arrive Halong wharf, bus transfer back Hanoi.

Unfortunately, the actual itinerary turned out to be completely different.

I did not go to Sung Sot cave, Titov beach, Luon cave or Bai Tu Long Bay. Instead, I went to Thien Cung and Dau Go caves, Van Gia floating village and stopped at Catba Island for pick up and drop off. I was totally disappointed. If I had wanted to go to all those places, I could have just taken a 1 day trip with other agencies (Note: All 1 day trips go to Thien Cung and Dau Go cave, 2 day trips go to Sung Sot cave).

I complained to my tour guide, from South Pacific Travel JSC – the actual company behind the tour. I told him that the whole tour is a complete lie. I showed him the itinerary I was given and he was as surprised as I was because he said ‘we don’t go to all these places’. He said travel agencies and hotels send people to them and sometimes itineraries are cooked up to promote the tours (except that mine was cooked with totally different ingredients!).

It turns out that Threeland specializes in private tours. They do not organize their own group tours, but instead send people to join other agencies. As such, the itinerary and quality of their group tours are highly questionable.

Note: Both Threeland Travel and Sinh Café open tour (the fake one) uses South Pacific Travel. So beware of all these 3 companies.