“Thank you for the best trip ever. We greatly value your commitment and excellence as a birder and guide. The trip you put together for us was exactly what we wanted - diversity of geography and habitat, with great birds and other surprising animals. The wealth of information about birds, other wildlife, the environment, history and culture that you shared with us made the trip very special indeed. We also enjoyed your company and sense of humor, and felt well cared for throughout the trip. Until next time.”
Pat Balko & Pat Dufort, New Jersey, USA (January 2012)

“Last day in the field today and travelling back tomorrow. Many thanks for the great trip and organisation. The trip worked out very well.”
Dave Sargeant, Chiang Mai, Thailand (January 2012)

“Our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia was a great success and a vacation-of-a lifetime experience, far exceeding our expectations. The success of our trip was due in a large part to the suggestions and recommendations you gave to us. We were especially impressed with the quality of service everywhere we visited, from the hotels and restaurant to the guides and drivers. I have travelled to 18 countries in the pursuit of birds and have never enjoyed more the food, culture, and people, as I did in Vietnam and Cambodia.”
Peter Metropulos, San Mateo, CA, USA (December 2011)

“We really appreciate what you were able to do for us and would recommend Vietnam Birding to anybody over here that wishes to go birding in Vietnam. Thanks again.”
Mike Woodworth, Nanaimo, BC, Canada (December 2011)

“It was a great trip despite the rain and thank you again for the excellent organisation.”
Jon Hall, New York, NY, USA (December 2011)

“Thanks once again for such a marvellous time (both birding and in general) at Cat Tien, and thanks also for helping me out with the flying visit to Cuc Phuong. Hopefully I will come back some time to explore Dalat and maybe Cat Tien again, at a better time of year perhaps, as well as possibly exploring the shorebird sites you mentioned. You certainly got me interested in visiting Dalat. Needless to say I will contact you if this ever turns into reality. So thanks again and have an excellent 2012! ”
Peter Humphrey, San Francisco, CA, USA (December 2011)

“Our Vietnam Birding trip was a great success! Everything went smoothly from the beginning to the end. Guides and drivers were all in the right places at the right time. Accomodation was very good in all places. Birding was even better than our very high expectations, with only two "misses", Orange-necked Partridge and Pale-capped Pigeon. Guides/rangers/drivers were very competent, nice and helpful all over, as were all people we met both in Vietnam and Cambodia. Once again, the trip was a success! Thank you very much for making this trip possible.”
Lars Göran Nilsson, Lars Gezelius & Ann-Christine Wiklander, Sweden (December 2011)

“Many thanks for the birding weekend. All arrangements worked fine and Luyen was very good. The trip list for the one and a half days was 82, including 68 that I saw myself, 9 heard and 5 leader birds. Good but fleeting views of Grey-crowned Crocias, Collared Laughingthrush and Slaty-backed Forktail. The weather and time of year weren’t ideal, so I’m hoping to come back later in the winter or spring”
Geoff Bennett, Singapore (November 2011)

“I would like to thank you for the tour you organized for us. We had 17 great days. Even the long journey from Hanoi to Hue was not a problem, as this 500 km drive was a photographer’s paradise for us. Minh was super, Tu in Hanoi and Nam in Saigon were very helpful and of course you, personally, were present, through mobile phone, during all the tour, taking care of details. Thank you for everything”
Petros & Loukia Triantafillis, Athens, Greece (October 2011)

“Just a short note to say we had a great 2 day birding trip to Bach Ma with Minh. It was lovely to have a guide who knew the park and its history so well – it was one of the highlights of our trip. Thanks for organising it at such short notice.”
Kate Adams, UK (September 2011)

“I would just like to thank you for arranging for Luyen to take my wife and I out birding this week. During the day we spotted 49 species and heard another three, which I think was pretty good for a day! We got three of the endemics - Vietnamese Cutia, Vietnamese Greenfinch and Grey-crowned Crocias. We found Luyen a very able guide who knows all the tricks of the trade to boost our chances of seeing good birds.”
Simon Phillips, UK (August 2011)

“It was a very nice tour well organized. The weather was good and the hotels were clean and comfortable. Minh was the perfect guide, friendly and helpful and we spent three nice weeks with him. Thank you for your perfect organization.”
Thierry & Marie-Andrée Bécret, France (July 2011)

“Dalat was excellent, many thanks for sorting once again”
Chris Gooddie, www.pittasworld.com, UK (June 2011)

“A big thank you for your organization and company”
Nigel Marven, www.nigelmarven.com, UK (April 2011)

“We really enjoyed the experience. Everything worked – we were collected everywhere as promised, fed housed and watered also as promised and were taken to all of the appropriate sites. I wouldn’t have the slightest hesitation in recommending the services of Vietnam Birding to anyone wishing to organise a birding trip to Vietnam. In fact, other than for the most hardy, determined and highly skilled birder (i.e. most of us) such organisation is vital if any birding success is to be achieved, and we did achieve a fair amount.”
Alf & Jeannine King, UK (April 2011)

“Just a quick line to thank you for an excellent tour of your adopted country. Everything went fine and we had a very enjoyable time seeing some very good birds. Your company (and stories) were much appreciated as were those of Minh and Luyen. Keep up the good work and hopefully our paths will cross again in the not too distant future.”
Graham Speight, Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK (March 2011)

“We had a marvelous trip and are now mostly recovered from our jet lag. Thanks again for all you and Minh did to make our time in Vietnam memorable, pleasant, and educational. It’s an amazing country with some pretty cool birds.”
Greg & Sandy Mico, Portland, OR, USA (March 2011)

“Sandra and I are back in Sweden some weeks now. We just want to take the opportunity to thank you for nice days in Cat Tien. It was a fantastic trip and the guide was actually brilliant. And not only in birds - although not a biologist, he knew a lot about the plants and insects, etc.”
Leif & Sandra Andersson, Töreboda, Sweden (March 2011)

“The main VENT Vietnam tour concluded on a high with a magnificent farewell dinner at the Metropole. I can't recall a happier ending to a tour. Everyone was thrilled with their time in your adopted country; in fact most of us were moved to tears. In good part this was thanks to you and Dong and Minh and the outstanding drivers. Thanks a million for all your patience and help. As you may have guessed I am completely enamoured of Vietnam and look forward to leading this tour again next year.”
David Bishop, Tour Leader, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, Austin, TX, USA (March 2011)

“Dear Richard, at last a big thank you for organising our trip to Vietnam and Laos. It was brilliant and I really appreciated the efficient organisation from all the guides and drivers. For me it was a wonderful country to travel in. I loved the food and some beautiful hotels with very good service. The combination of birding and a chance to see Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi and have cultural and city tours included was great. We saw some wonderful birds and it is very hard to pick out the highlights as there were so many. I wore my Vietnam Birding cap with the Grey-crowned Crocias throughout and will be proud to wear it again. With very many thanks for a great trip.”
Tony & Celia Sawbridge, Yorkshire, UK (February 2011)

“I would just like to say a 'big thank you' for your company and expert guiding during our two week stay. We really appreciated your birding expertise and knowledge of the country's politics, history and culture which was fascinating.”
Mike & Stephanie Brown, Reading, Berkshire, UK (February 2011)

“First of all, thank you, everything went really well and was well organised! I saw all the target species, Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pitta, White-rumped Falcon, the 2 ibises, Pied Harrier, Bengal Florican, Siamese Fireback, Germain’s Peacock-pheasant etc., 56 lifers in total! As for the mammals, we did better then expected. We saw 27 species including Black-shanked Douc Langur, Buff-cheeked Gibbon, Irrawaddy Dolphin, Eld’s Deer and a bag of squirrels and bats.
I am sure I’ll be back soon, hopefully with a group.”
Gerald Broddelez, Eke, Belgium (January 2011)

“The trip was immaculately organised - all the guides, pick-ups, internal flights etc., worked perfectly. We were very pleased with the package Vietnam Birding put together for us - you clearly understand Vietnam, and were able to construct an itinerary which matched our requirements, making sensible use of internal flights and road transport while helping us avoid some of the pitfalls we didn't know about.

We were really pleased with your choice of hotels where the welcome added to our enjoyment. Your choice of non-birding excursions was spot on. The Bassac cruise was well worth it - a really peaceful way of seeing the Mekong. We also very much enjoyed the cookery class in Hoi An - and judging by the popularity, we're confident we had the best available course. We'd not realised just how diverse, culturally, climatically and scenically, Vietnam is. There is just tons to see, and we clearly missed a lot, but I think we saw most of the best bits, thank you.”
Andy & Sue Mendus, York, UK (January 2011)

“Thank you very much for arranging the trip. We really enjoyed the plan and the hotels and resorts were great. The Majestic had a wonderful feel and a lot of interesting history. The Meking Delta, Hoi An and Hue were brilliant and Hanoi is a really interesting place and the Halong boat trip was so worthwhile.”
Mark & Colleen Jagusch, Sydney, Australia (January 2011)

“Let me start by saying a big thank you for the excellent organisation and execution of our recent trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Daphne and I had a really great time and saw some excellent birds. Minh was an excellent guide and great company and the fact that everything went to plan and we were met everywhere was really great. Again, many thanks for organising it for us.”
Dick and Daphne Yates, Gloucestershire, UK (January 2011)

”Thanks for the arrangements of our birding visit. Everything worked as was agreed and on time. In some countries timing is not so sharp. We saw 267 species of which 180 were new for me.”
Kim Söderling & Hilkka Lampen, Helsinki, Finland (December 2010)

“We had a wonderful time birding at Cat Tien National Park. Our guide was outstanding. We saw about 80 plus species of birds. One of our highlights was watching a male and female Siamese Fireback interacting in the jungle. I'm interested in bird photography and came home with numerous great pictures. We would highly recommend Vietnam Birding.”
Ron Schwadron & Debra Walther, Washington, DC, USA (December 2010)

“This was one of the best birding trips of my life, and I have been all over. You will not regret using his services. He knows all of the best wildlife reserves and parks like the back of his hand. This goes to the level of the best tree to wait under. One of his many specialities is the laughingthrush family. These are almost impossible to see by oneself, but Richard knows where they are and how to call them in. He is also superb on endemics, including the Grey-crowned Crocias, his logo bird. I saw many wonderful pittas, broadbills, and woodpeckers with his help. He can design a trip including very early rising, night trips for owls and nightjars (I missed a couple because I didn't get up!), and a wide variety of habitats. He is also great on suggesting Vietnamese food and restaurants.

I give Richard Craik very high marks on birding skills, travel skills, and people skills. My trip was a joy in every regard.”
Peter & Diane Vennema, Santa Fe, NM, USA (November 2010)

“Sean and I completed a 17-day birding trip with Vietnam Birding in November 2010. After a long flight we were greeted by Richard Craik in Ho Chi Minh City and as a relaxed introduction to Vietnam, moved to the Mekong Delta and stayed on the Bassac, a wooden rice barge which was a fabulous gastronomic experience (as featured on Rick Stein’s recent Far Eastern Odyssey series). We then moved to Cat Tien National Park, Dalat and Cuc Phuong National Park for birding and rounded our trip off with an overnight cruise on the Emeraude on Halong Bay for a wonderful and luxurious conclusion to our trip.
As a credit to Richard as organiser the logistics of this trip were spot on. The guides and chauffeurs were all extremely helpful and polite. The birding, food, hotels and culture and the whole experience of Vietnam is something we will never forget. We will be back!”
Joanna Greenwood & Sean Johnston, Yorkshire, UK (November 2010)

“I departed Vietnam last week after a fantastic week and a bit. I must thank you again for your pre-trip advice, sorting out my transport and stay at Cat Tien National Park, but particularly the leech socks!”
Clayton Burne, London, UK (November 2010)

“Just a quick note to thank you for arranging my birding trip to Cat Tien National Park. It was marvelous. My guide was just exceptional. The Forest Floor Lodge was wonderful and I would like to come back. I got to see 80 species, of which the majority are lifers, and many others were heard. The highlight was the Green Peafowl.”
José Cordero, Atlanta, GA, USA (December 2010)

“I was really happy with my trip, as far as the arrangements goes I have only good things to say. Mostly good weather and I am glad I had a guide in Dalat. Luyen did a great job and he is also very nice company. The hotel was nice too.”
Peter Schmidt, Uppsala, Sweden (November 2010)

"Just got back from two fine days of birding at Cat Tien. Thanks again for making the arrangements, all of which worked smoothly. Quan was very reliable and a good driver. Duyen certainly knows his birds and gave me a very full day and a half of guiding. I managed to see 76 species and heard many others. I think my favourite was the Heart-spotted Woodpecker, although the Orange-breasted Trogon was a “heart-stopper” too. I’ll look forward to returning in the not-too-distant future and perhaps take a bit more time, see Dalat and other places too."
Geoff Bennett, Singapore (September 2010)

"My wife and I have just completed an eight day birding trip to Cat Tien National Park, Di Linh, and to the Dalat area with Richard Craik, whose company Vietnam Birding, made all the arrangements. We were impressed by the professionalism shown. The pre-trip package gave us detailed information as to what we could expect in Vietnam, with reference to travel, birds, and to conditions generally.

Richard is a fluent speaker of the Vietnamese language. His knowledge of the country, and its birdlife and wildlife, is first class. Add to that his amiable nature, and his willingness to ensure that every effort was made to seek out "That Bird", meant good birding. To this one must add his skill at finding good food and beer. We had a great week."
Roger & Linley McGlashan, Melbourne, Australia (April 2010)

"We all must say thank you for organising and guiding such an excellent trip. You found us so many of the key species, your skill with calls and knowledge of habitat is incredible. Good hotels, good food and good company on top of excellent birding - it has been one of the best."
Chris & Mavis Hendley, Martin & Judy Sell, Hertfordshire/Berkshire, UK (March 2010)

"Thanks for the wonderful arrangements! My family really enjoyed the trip and had a wonderful experience. Duyen and Luyen were really good guides to have, showing us the many birds that can be found at their respective sites. Thanks to Luyen, we saw four out of five of the Dalat endemics and saw glimpses of the last one, Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, at Ta Nung Valley. There's really nothing more we could ask for, bird-wise. Once again, thanks for the trip and hope to use your service again in future!"
Jia Sheng & family, Singapore (January 2010)

"Very memorable and fruitful first trip to Vietnam and it’s all due to you. Many thanks for taking good care of us"
Yong Yik Shih, Ng Chay Tuan, Ang Seok Hian Samantha, Tan Ju Lin & Low Chaun Shwa, Singapore (Dec 2009)

"Many thanks for organizing this private birding trip to Cat Tien and the Da Lat area. Nollie and I had been birding in India, Thailand and Malaysia before but this trip still produced 55 lifers for us, many of them being of high quality. Like the peacock-pheasant and the bar-bellied pitta in Cat Tien, and the crocias, cutia, tesia, parrotbill and the four laughingthushes in the Da Lat area. This trip brought us over the 4000 mark on both our life lists.

Transport and accommodation were well organized so we could spend all our attention to finding the birds. Apart from the birds, we liked this country for the great people and the great food. Finally I understood why everybody who comes back from a holiday in Vietnam is so enthusiastic about this country.

We will certainly be back to ask you to arrange a similar trip to the North of Vietnam."
John & Nollie van der Woude, Amsterdam, Netherlands (December 2009)

"Thank you for everything during the trip. I really enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing you in southern Vietnam in the near future!"
Shunji Usui, Tokyo, Japan (December 2009)

"Thanks again for a great trip. I enjoyed it from all angles and came away with some great new birds. I look forward to the time when we can next get out there together again."
Simon de Albuquerque, Singapore (October 2009)

"Thanks very much for your guiding, we had a very good trip. I will tell all of our friends to contact you if ever they intend to bird in Vietnam."
Nicholas Barden & Lise Laflamme, Quebec City, Canada (October 2009)

"Back again for more. Great 3 days in Dalat. Despite the weather making seeing the birds difficult, we still managed to see lots of birds and the Grey-crowned Crocias were very special. Thanks again – as usual you were patient, cheerful, professional and everything was sorted. See you again."
Robyn Rayner, Sydney, Australia (September 2009)

"Thanks again for the Cat Tien arrangements. We really had a wonderful time and it is so far one of the highlights of the Vietnam part of our trip. We will definitely be recommending Vietnam Birding to our friends who come this way!"
Mary Kelly & Rick Lowerre, Austin, TX, USA (June 2009)

"We had a really wonderful four days with you and I particularly enjoyed myself - as you were probably aware. Though I'm not good at it all I do have enormous fun in my birding. It was great too to see the other side of Vietnam. I am already thinking of where to go next and am interested by lots on your website and your mention of northern Cambodia sounds very tempting."
Robyn & John Rayner, Sydney, Australia (June 2009)

“Many thanks for setting this trip up for me. I leave Vietnam with 50 new species, many of which are very hard to find anywhere. I had a great time, and would happily recommend your services.”
Philip Johnson, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA (May 2009)

“Just a quick note to say thanks for sorting all the logistics on my recent Cat Tien trip. All worked well. I found Bar-bellied Pittas without any trouble, saw 10 in total, but Blue-rumped was tougher, as expected. Thanks again for your assistance, I'll be in touch next time I head to Vietnam!”
Chris Gooddie, www.pittasworld.com, UK (March 2009)

“Richard, our guide and the owner of Vietnam Birding was just wonderful. Our trip was beautifully organized, weather was better than we expected, birds, although difficult to see, were seen in good numbers with stellar views of many of Vietnam's special birds.”
Nancy & Robert Dean, Bradenton, FL, USA (March 2009)

"The trip was extremely well organized with somebody always ready to lend a hand when it was needed, be it at airports, for transportation, at hotels. Although Richard himself was not available for our trip, we were very pleased with the local experts who accompanied us at Dalat and Cat Tien: great birding skills, good English, and good company.

Although I'm living in Vietnam, I had no idea there were easily accessible areas here with such great habitats and good birds. Vietnam Birding highly recommended to explore them!"
Douglas Graham, Hanoi, Vietnam (February 2009)

“This is quite late but I wanted to let you know that our trip to Vietnam was fantastic. In fact, it was my most enjoyable holiday in many a year. The hotels you set us up with were fabulous, especially the Majestic in Saigon and the Victoria Angkor in Siem Reap. Wow!! The transport was very good, with very good people as drivers. I wish we could travel with you every year and hope to do so again in the future. Thanks again for such a great trip!”
John Cooper & Suzanne Beauchesne, Errington, BC, Canada (February 2009)

“Thanks again for all of your help and kindness. It helped make my Vietnam experience very pleasant and frustration-free. There will always be fond memories. I will definitely send people your way if they need any help with a trip to Vietnam.”
Pete Loncar, Montrose, CO, USA (February 2009)

“Thanks for arranging the trip it was excellent, saw all my targets.”
Graeme Wright, London, UK (April 2008)

“Thanks for everything, really enjoyed the time. Will keep in touch and again thanks for a really excellent time.”
Mark Jagusch, Sydney, Australia (April 2008)

“Thanks for the great trip you put together for us. There is always a bit of risk when arranging travel to a place you do not know with firms you have no experience with but any concerns we had concerning your services were completely unfounded. The arrangements were everything you promised, your ability to help us find the birds wonderful and the demeanor with which you ran the trip delightful. Please feel free to use me as a reference to anyone who might have questions.”
David Hartwell, Minneapolis, MN, USA (March 2008)

“I have told birder friends that if they are looking for Vietnam specialties, they can find no one better than you to help them.”
William Riley, New York, NY, USA (February 2008)

“All in all, a splendid trip, and we'll try to send more business your way. Lots of birds, nobody got sick, fantastic food, a superb leader - one could hardly ask for more.”
“Thanks so much Richard. I realized – as did we all – just how much you did for us and how much you contributed to our group by being part of it and leading it. You rank way above – plus you know the birds.”
Julian & Kathy Donahue, Los Angeles, CA, USA (December 2007)

“A fantastic trip - with the temples of Angkor a high point (one of many) for me! Our guide at Angkor, Sophoan Rath, was especially good - we highly recommend him for future tours. He was able to show us a large temple some miles out in the country, which was much appreciated and a bit of an extra effort for him.

We are still amazed that everything, and I do mean everything, worked so well - right down to the flights home …Thanks again, Richard, for a wonderful adventure.”
Paul & Marcia Secord, Pasadena, CA, USA (December 2007)