Our
tours and cafe are recommended by the Lonely Planet Tibet
(8th edition, April 2011). (Page 33 and Page 73)
COMMENTS FROM OUR PREVIOUS
GROUP MEMBERS FOR THE TOUR ARRANGED BY SPINN CAFE, LHASA ,
TIBET
The trip was absolutely wonderful and we had such a
great time. I can honestly say that Kalsang was the best guide we could have
possibly hoped for - he was so patient, knowledgeable and so calm in a
potential crisis, when Holly had to be get down quickly off Kailash when she
got a bit of altitude sickness.
Also, Pasang (our driver), was really good, he was
also a great companion throughout the trip (especially during the Kora around
Mt Kailash - which I ended up completing in two days due to Holly's altitude
sickness). They both worked really well together, and seemed to be a great team
- I think if you could pair those two up more often, that would be great.
I would 100% recommend the same driver to other
travellers. The driving was excellent, he was really patient and careful. The
driver and guide worked really well together, they really got on, and listened
to each other (and us).
The tour guide Garong (Kelsang, aka Garong) was
excellent, and would definitely recommend the same to others (it was a real
adventure through a true wilderness). The guiding service again, I could not
rate highly enough.
Your handling of the tour was also higher than five
stars. Your advice for the trip and the time in which you responded to my
initial emails made me choose you (all the other agencies that I contacted took
sometimes days to get back to me, as opposed to you, who responded to me within
the hour).
In a very challenging environment, you were able to
provide excellent service. It is everything we could have hoped for.
The whole tour was brilliant. We loved Kailash and
would recommend anyone to go and visit the area. What really made it was the
great company provided by our guide and driver. It was sad to see them go at
the border.
The weather was perfect, the guiding and driver was
perfect - we could not have hoped for a better tour. Anyway, thanks again to
you and Oat for organising this, and I wish you well in the future.
Alaric Parsons and Holly Matthews (United Kingdom)
We have just arrived back from China. The Tibet section
of our travels went very well, but only because of the help of Kong at Spinn
cafe. He was terrific and helped us beyond the call of duty by arranging train
tickets for us and changing the schedule when we were held up for a
day...nothing seems to be too much trouble for Kong and he speaks fluent
english which is a huge help. It also helps to have a friendly face in Lhasa
who you can ask about anything, from the restaurants to local prices etc. I
cannot reccomend Spinn Cafe highly enough... thanks Kong for all your help and
friendship... long may you prosper.
Simon and Carol (Johannesburg, South Africa)
We just came back from Tibet and used a company
called Spinn cafe . They were really good , replied to all our enquiries
quickly and were reasonably priced. We had a brilliant Tibetan guide and can't
speak highly enough of them.
Jubob66 (Manchester, United Kingdom)
We miss you, too! We loved our experience in Tibet
with you and am happy to share comments. We would absolutely recommend our
driver Pempa, he is more than full marks!
He was a wonderful, safe driver, always very pleasant and helpful with
luggage, getting in and out of vehicle, stopping whenever and wherever we
wanted a photo op, and even giving Ethan a hit of oxygen at EBC! I saw him checking out the vehicle every
morning before we left; we always felt safe with him. He was terrific - I hope you use him
again and often!
Likewise for our tour guide Kelsang, full
marks+! He was very knowledgable
about the culture of Tibet; we learned so much from him! His manner is delightful - he has a
great sense of humor, was always patient, very professional, kept all the
permits and paperwork well-organized, and
moved at a good pace for us. His love for Tibet and the Tibetan people
was such a joy to be part of!
Anybody would be lucky to have him
as a tour guide.
Kong, it was a very lucky day for us when we chose
you to arrange our tour. I
contacted a number of agencies at the start, and did as much Internet research
as I could. Something about you
grabbed me from the start.
Objectively, I was impressed with your prompt responses, cool website,
obvious knowledge and the fact that you use Tibetan guides/drivers. I reviewed posts you had made on Lonely
Planet Thorntree and found you were always intelligent, well-spoken and to the
point. I loved your story - biking
to Lhasa. And there was something
intangible that sealed the deal; I can only say that your personality comes
across in your written communication and you are truly such an interesting and
unique person that I just felt you were the guy for us. You are far more than a 5 stars in our
book! You run a very professional
and impressive business.
What we liked most in this tour? Allegra -
"Everything!" Ethan
- "I really liked seeing the monasteries and seeing Pazu Kong!" William - "The drive through the
Himalaya and the grand monasteries." Laurie - "The warmth of
the Tibetan people, the cool, fresh mountain air, and sunrise at Everest."
PS: Laurie’s family also posted the following
comments to Tripadvisor.com.
l
We
just returned from our Asia trip, spent 10 days in Tibet in June. We used Spinn
Cafe and can enthusiastically recommend Pazu Kong. As you may be aware, the
timing in June was precarious at best, and, in fact, we literally got one of
the last permits issued the evening of June 13. The next day, permits were shut
down. Through it all, Kong was immediately responsive, optimistic yet
realistic, and encouraged us not to give up even when our original date to fly
from Beijing came and went. He stayed on top of the situation and, when we got
our permit, moved very quickly to overnight the paperwork and arrange travel to
Lhasa. The trip was flawless - great guide, great driver, both Tibetan. Kong is
a real gem, and it was a joy getting to know him. We hope to return to Tibet
and look forward to working with him again!!
Laurie, William, Allegra and Ethan Hill (Florida,
USA)
I would recommed
the driver to other travellers. He
was very jovial and friendly and made the experience enjoyable. He drove slower than everyone else on
the road, but consequently, I think that made him a better driver and I felt
safer. I don't think there was a
time where I think I was afraid of his driving.
I would also
recommend the tour guide to other travellers. She was a little shy, but was incredibly
knowledgeable about our trip and what we wanted to do. She was very friendly and loved learning
about us and vice versa. I had a
lot of fun talking with her and learning about
Well, personally,
my
I had full trust
in you, I felt that our communication was good. If there ever was a miscommunication, I
think we both cleared it up quickly.
The communication I had with you was another reason as to why I chose
you to arrange our trip as opposed to someone else.
The thing I liked
most about our tour was hanging out in
If I were to do
this tour again, I probably would also mainly just hang out in
Thanks again for
everything you did for our trip, it was greatly appreciated! Hopefully, we can come back again
sometime!
Sunil Gopal (
We both really enjoyed
the tour. The driver we had was really good. It snowed near the lake so
conditions were bad but he was very careful and we felt safe at all
times. We would score the driver 5 (out of 5).
As for tour
guide, we both loved Tenzin Sangbo. He was brilliant! He was polite,
considerate and very knowledgeable and understands the needs of the customers.
We would definitely give him the highest score possible.
We are also
really pleased with everything you did as your replies were fast and to the
point when I was making enquiries and asking prices, itineraries etc. I
honestly cannot fault anything about you're services. It has all been top
notch.
I can't tell you
how much we have enjoyed the whole experience.
Alison Heywood (
Firstly, many many
thanks for organising such a wonderful trip for us all. We really appreciated
the flexibility, warmth and helpfulness you offered us. As you said, it is a leap of faith
paying money to someone you never met - fortunately you put our minds to rest
on the first night when you kindly arranged some alternative accommodation for
us!
I'd be more than
happy to provide a reference for any other travellers interested in your tours
or be quoted on your website if you so wish.
Many thanks
again, and I hope you have many successful years ahead introducing people to
the wonderful places in
We enjoyed
travelling with the driver - he was friendly, patient and fun to be be
with. We had no complaints about
his driving.
Tenzin was an
excellent guide and mixed humour with a good street sense and an incredible
knowledge of buddhism, we would definitely rate the service as a 5/5 and
thoroughly recommend him to anyone else considering a trip to
Your handling of
the tour was excellent, especially the flexibility you provided, as undoubtedly
the most difficult thing for us was deciding what was practical, as we had no
prior experience of
Wendy Kelly (
Very competent
driver, especially over such demanding terrain near Mt Kailash. A real
character also. Highly recommended. 5/5.
We couldn't have asked
for a better tour guide, he was informative, sensitive to our needs and
requests, reliable and had an excellent command of the English language. Again,
highly recommended. 5/5.
From my
perspective, arranging the tour was a fairly painless process, your
correspondence was first class, you accommodated our preferences, and were on
always on hand to support us or respond to a change in circumstances. We went
with Spinn Cafe on strong recommendation from a friend and overall, the service
we received was excellent, much better than I had anticipated 5/5.
To be honest, I
was surprised by the professionalism and ease with which everything was
conducted.
What I like most
are the Kailash and Namtso, our pseudo-fame, the jaw-dropping landscapes, your
card tricks, the overall learning experience; culturally and intellectually.
It was sad
leaving
The tour was
perfect in everything - length, locations visited, the tour guide, planning.
Daniel Rowe (
We love the entire arrangement and suggestions by
you. We love
Thank you so much for your help! Without your
assisstant, we can't have this memorable trip~
Iris Yip (
The driver was polite and a capable driver. He obviously has a lifetime of
experience driving the
When we got to Namtso lake my wife's sister and
husband were having altitude sickness - nausea and headache - so our driver valiantly
drove us back to
Yes, we would recommend Tenzin Yangchin. We liked her a lot. She was always helpful with a smile.
You were number 1 (that means Rating 5, the
best). I chose you after searching
online and reading people's comments on Lonely Planet. I had also contacted I think it was ***
in
What I liked was having our hotel walking distance to
your cafe. I always felt we could
get in touch with you easily if needed.
That's a good feeling when you come to a new place and know nothing.
Jan Yan (
Good to hear from
you.
General comment
on the tour arrangement: overall we were very happy with how you organized our
trip to
l
Quick
and straight forward, common-sense reply to e-mail
l
Buying
the plane tickets for us
l
Giving
us several options for the tour that were customized to our specific requests
(we only had 7 days in total for
l
Answering
your phone even late at night and taking care of any issues in a professional
manner. We both appreciated how quickly you responded to my call about the
issue and the honesty/transparency.
l
The
international dinner in
Our driver drove
very safely and responsibly and was flexible in terms of driving times (when to
depart, how long to drive every day) which we very much appreciated.
Yes, we would
definitely recommend the same guide (Ngawang Rinchin) to other travelers. He
was very responsive to our needs, went 'beyond the call of duty' many times to
fix any possible problems we might have. He was also very friendly and likable.
His knowledge of the places we visited was very good.
We chose Spinn
Cafe to organize our trips because we could find no negative reviews on Spinn
Cafe on sites such as Tripadvisor and your site was also recommended a few
times in different posts on Tripadvisor related to
Overall from all
this info we got a sense of honesty about your site and we trusted we would not
be scammed if we selected to book the tour with you. We are glad we did so.
Hmm...nothing
really big comes to mind as to what you can do to do the trip better, which is
a good thing I guess. :)
Pistol (
Greetings from
The driver was
great, he had an excellent attitude and was eager to please.
Penpa Tsering was
an excellent guide. We all loved him.
You solved any
minor problem that arose. You looked after us well and treated us with
friendliness and respect. You were flexible with the schedule. I am very happy
with everything.
I can't think of
anything to make the trip better at the moment. I think you're doing things
well. You already have the backpacker market cornered, I think, as other tour
agencies are so much more expensive (and they deliver less flexibility and
personal touch). Keep doing what you're doing!
Overall, I am
very satisfied with the trip. I think you have an excellent business model that
will really appeal to the non-package tourist types.
And, I think you
should take control of the weather in future and make sure that it is always
clear at EBC! ;) Just kidding!
Cheers!
Robert Wilson (
Our driver was
awesome! 5/5! He always drove got us safely from A to B no matter how bad the
road conditions were. He was very skillfull.
Tenzin also gets
a 5/5 from me! I think we have already told you on the phone we are happy for
him. He was really knowledgeable and gave us a great insight into the
fascinating Tibetan culture! I wish him all the best for his future.
We chose you
because of the reccomendations on the LonelyPlanet Forum. The service was
great, especially the birthday cake for Wei!
It’s hard to say
what I like most in this tour, probably everything? Maybe: Mt Everest Base
Camp, especially the stay in the tent. Our host Norbu made us feel so
comfortable.
Thanks for organising everything, we sure had a great trip! I will
certainly reccomend you to other travellers!
Isabel Frenzel (
Driver is great!
Very good driving skill and can take up long hour drive. Very dedicated.
Tour guide:
very good knowledge and good English.
The Everest Base
Camp was no doubt the highest point in this whole trip. The weather helped a
lot. Hanging up the prayer flag was so unforgettable. I like it. You can
recommend other tourists to do the same.
Vivian Long (
Kris and I just
got back to the
The driving was
excellent, we felt very safe the whole time and we arrived on time or early to
our destination every day. I would give our driver a rating of 5 (5 is the full
mark). I was happy Kris and I could speak a little Mandarin so we could talk to
him.
Tenzin was a
wonderful guide. He was very friendly and obviously knew a lot about Tibetan
Buddhism. He could always answer our questions. He told us a little about his
life growing up in
I think you did a
great job - in fact, I was in contact with a few other tour companies based in
Thanks again for
a wonderful tour!
Kris Bahlke (
The driver is
good, I never felt endangered and he was extremely nice and fun.
Yangchin was very
good, she's usually very knowledgeable.
Facebook and a
random youtube video talking in Cantonese to a reporter helped me to choose
Spinn Cafe to organize my trip in
I think you
handled it well, I had a lot of fun especially in
I'd say 4, it
would be a 5 if that permit issue didn't worry me as I know mail in general can
stall for ages, so preferably I was expecting the permits to arrive at the
hostel before I even arrived.
You've been
extremely informative.
I can say
You're welcome to
come to
Gabriel Zi-hao Lai (
I appreciated the
skill of our driver, who always made us feel safe along often narrow and
treacherous roads. He drove carefully and, when necessary, slowly. Though I
wasn't able to communicate with the driver because of the language barrier, it
was clear that he cared about our comfort and health during the trip.
There's no
question that Tenzin Sangbo is a terrific guide, very knowledgeable about
Tibetan culture, history and religious practices and always eager to help. I
was surprised to learn that he was only 24 years old -- his competence, street
smarts and maturity led me to think him much older.
During my trip, I
relied heavily upon his expertise, especially since I over-estimated my ability
to handle the difficulties of acclimatization, attributing symptoms of altitude
sickness to caffeine withdrawal! It was Tenzin who alerted me to my condition
and who made sure I received proper treatment so that I could continue with my
trip. I really don't know what I would have done without him. I recommend him
as a guide without any reservations. He more than deserves his bonus.
What I liked most
in this tour is Tenzin's willingness to ensure that our trip went smoothly and
the care that was expressed by everyone involved - from Tenzin, to the driver,
to even the owners of the nomad hotel, when it was clear I was unwell. I
appreciated everyone's concern.
I am very pleased
with my experiences with you and Spinn Cafe.
Thy Phu (
We were very
satisfied with the driver. The ride was smooth.
I would like to
recommend the same tour guide to other travelers. I think she is very nice and
she is familiar with Tibetan culture so that we could know more about
interesting things about Tibetan culture. ex. why Tibetan women wear different
colored dresses.
We like the
flexibility of your tour arrangement. My husband and I was hesitating before
the trip because we had limited vacation time, only 2 weeks. We had a lot of
plans within the time frame.Most of
the Tibetan tours offered by other travel agencies are at lease 6 days
but you could offer us something shorter.
The thing that I
like the most in this tour is that we had a lot of free time so that we were
able to do a lot of things by ourselves.
We both had a
great time in Tibetan, even it was a short trip.
I appreciate you
for everything in this trip. I wish you the best in you endeavors.
Charles Rooney (
Our drivers were
really great! We are very glad to have them as guides. They were very friendly
and we felt really safe with them. We would recommend them at anyone who would
like to travel in
We greatly appreciated
Lobsang’s services. She was really nice, helpful and accomodant. Maybe an older
guide with more experience would be better for older people but it was perfect
for us, crazy young French people! And we would surely recommend her to
friends!
We are very
grateful for your help on the tour arrangement, because you granted all our
requests and accommodate to all the changes we asked! At first we wanted to
find the cheapest travel agency, you were the cheapest, and your service was
perfect!
It was good that
you let us see and choose the hostels.
We would like to
thank you again for your help on the handling of our tour. Everything was
perfect and we really really enjoy this trip!
We wish you the
best for the future!
Ivan Artuikh (
Corentin Aulagne (
Clemence Buisson (
Laurent Courtois (
Eva Fernandez (
Thomas Gelez (
Kevin Thibout (
The driver is
very good and always shows up early.
We're amazed by
how flexible and accommodating our guide is. He's very knowledgeable about the
places we went to as well as other things related to the Tibetan culture.
Like I mentioned
when we met, I think your service is very professional. I think your very
detailed and timely response to my information request was the deciding factor.
I also appreciate your flexibility in terms of accommodation arrangements. My
wife is relatively picky about accommodation, and we really appreciate your
flexibility.
I think your
travel service is perfect, and we really appreciate all your help. We look
forward to visiting
Johan Sulaeman (
I was really impressed
with my driver. He was friendly, knowledgeable and drove very safely.
My guide was
still good. His knowledge of Buddhism was very useful for me in monasteries.
I chose you
because you came well recommended. I think your handling of the tour was good,
considering the difficult circumstances. You were always quick to reply to my
emails, and honest in your replies even when you couldn't deliver (ie the
Chamdo permit).
Daniel McCrohan (
The driver was
excellent. He was very kind and careful driver with a sense of humor.
Your handling was
great and very helpful. You'd been very responsive, informative and interactive
in the tour arrangement. I liked the way how you tailored the itinerary to suit
our needs. I chose it because you're highly recommended by some friends and the
way that we interacted through Gmail.
I think your
service was excellent, and you were fast in replying our emails too. You were
very kind to buy medicine (for attitude sickness) for us when we just arrived.
Yet it would be better if you can enjoy the sunrise with us in Pabongkha
Monastery, and will be even better if you could send the photos to us! :P
Thanks so much
Pazu for bringing us this lovely trip! Keep enjoying everything in
And thanks so
much for the company and wonderful memories. Truly, we didn't feel that you're
doing any business. You've been so sincere and enthusiastic. Truly some nice
friends to enjoy
Riding bicycles
with you and Oat, hospitality and beautiful encounters under such sacred and
magical skies were what we enjoyed most in
Keep enjoying
your magical life in
Catherine Lau
(Faculty of Law, the
Bonnie Chung
(Faculty of Law, the
The driver took
me to airport, very nice pleasant and most helpful with luggage, a good driver,
a big hug. I wish I could have known a bit of Tibetan language.
Excellent tour
guide, so nice, courteous and polite and very knowledgeable about history,
culture, etc. Vbery pretty and
intelligent.
Kong, you were
very patient with me and all the delays about getting a train ticket. I
appreciated. I chose your agency on
website after typing solo travel
I like everything
in this tour:
Jeannie Perreault (La
The driver is
fine, with occasional stops for us to take toilet breaks and he seems more than
happy to stop along the way for us to take photos. He is also experienced
enough to navigate through the dark moutainous trail with the help of our guide
when we requested him to drive straight from Kailash to Saga which took more
than 10hours of driving.
We are very happy
with the services of our tour guide Tenzin. He is sincere. He makes effort to
ensure our needs are met therefore making this trip a memorable one.
I thought that
throughout the arrangement of the tour, we were able to get precise and frank
responds from you within a short period of time which makes the arrangement
easier.
I personally
appreciate the dinners gatherings which you have arranged when we gotten back
to
I find that the
little arrangement like welcoming us at the airport with the white scarf,
arranging a meeting with us prior to leaving for Kailash, passing us a set of
map and oxygen canister each and of course our favourite Spinn Lemonade have
made me feel very welcoming.
This is something
which i have not experienced with other agency.
I chose Spinn
because I feel comfortable with it when we first enquire on the tour. You are
also very open about the cost of the tour and knowledgeable when handling with
our queries. I think mostly importantly is that Spinn is able to portray to
clients that it is reliable.
I also like the
flexibility of our itinerary, the randoms stops along the road for
photo-taking, the welcoming feeling from you and your staffs as well as our
guide and driver & all the people we have met.
We enjoyed our
Definitely I will
recommend your service to other people.
Ong Jun Quan (
Hola Pazu!!!
Greetings from
We had a
wonderful journey to
It was great
meeting you, I hope we can keep in touch and that you keep updating us with
your videos so we can continue laughing! Alejandro says hello!
Ana Sagastume (
The driver is
very experienced and practice safe driving (unlike majority of the other cars
on the road). He is flexible and is willing to driving more than 12 hrs and
able to take on difficult road at night (10+pm to 11+pm) in order for us to
reach a town where we can stay (we decided not to board at the tent at Lake
Mansarovar after our Mt Kailash trip, and going straight into 1 town, hence
such long drive).
He is also able
to understand Chinese and communicate with us in Chinese, telling us some of
the history and stuffs together with our tour guide. He took the initiative to
help us carry out bag when he see us carrying it, not many drivers has such
kind of initiative. Very happy go lucky, thus it makes the overall trip an
enjoyable one. I would definitely recommend the driver for long trip like us
(given his excellent driving skill and knowledge), and for older travellers
that may not know English very well, he will be of a great help.
As for the tour
guide, I would recommend Tenzin to other traveler, given his age (same as us!),
he is surprisingly well verse in many things, from political to history, myth
and legend of
It is really
thoughtful of him. He continued to fulfill his duty as a guide, which is very
remarkable. Also, unlike other guides that may want to earn more commission, he
didnt take us to shops that sell expensive tourist-ish stuffs, but bring us to
shops that we want and also restaurants that we want. During the drive at
night, he even went down the car to guide our driver because there was no
street light and it was very dark. He definitely put us first instead of
himself. He will ensure that he helped us resolve difficult issues/problems
before he take his rest (albeit a really LONG day).
For all these, I
suppose Tenzin do deserve a rating of 5, and definitely deserve the extra
commission (money). It a form a appreciation for all the hard-work he did.
We got to know
Spinn Cafe through Lonely Planet forum. We were looking for a trustworthy agency
which we can trust in this tour arrangement, and your reply in Lonely Planet
forum attracts us to book you since you know better than anyone how traveling
etc works and the difficulty traveler may faced traveling in Tibet since you've
experienced it first hand yourself. We would recommend your service to my
relatives and friends definitely. :)
We also like the
flexibility to change the itinerary as we like in between the tour, it’s a
private tour, so I dont have to tolerate other people’s slowness etc, guide and
driver being extremely accomodating, able to experience the other side of tibet
which I believe large tour wouldn’t be able to. Most imptly, traveling in a way
not many people is able to in normal tour group.
Celestal Lee Xinying (
Mei and i reached home yesterday morning in good health. You
know, we already start missing
Somehow, I feel glad that we had made the right choice of stayed in
Comments for the driver Kelsang:
●
Very experince driver with good driving skills
●
Know the routes well
●
Able to provide estimated time frame and
distance from one place to another
●
Very helpful in looking for the right hostel
and negotiate for the best room rate for the group
●
Stopped at many spots without fail whenever
requested by the photography mania
●
Can speak in Chinese language rather well
●
Played good
●
Overall comments: Highly recommanded for other
travellers
Comments for
the tour guide Tashi:
●
Very helpful, patient, pleasant and caring
personal
●
Always tried his best to provide informations to
his clients
●
Tried to get information from
others whenever in doubts eg: monk in-charge of the chapel
●
Know well about the needs of his clients such as
places for filling our stomach and best place to sleep from our very limited
budget.
●
Passion to teach people about his language,
religion, and cultural believes
Comments for the tour coordinator Pazu Kong:
●
Reply to client's enquiries promptly
●
Provide very clear and transparent information
and quatation
●
Able to give good advise or his personal
opinions
●
Has good communication skills esp in English is
a vast advantage to deal with foreigner travelllers. My personal experience, I
had gone through a lot of hassel as tried to understand feedback/reply
from some agents and the information provided were usually not specific.
●
Willing to take his efforts to follow up
cases before finalized everything though the requests from client
changed from time to time eg: changes of length of tour, visit spots, numbers
of tour members, and permit application process.
●
Some hiccups did happened during the tour.
However, prompt actions had been taken and problems solved.
●
Overall comments: You did it well. Keep it up.
What I like most of this tour is the warm hospitality and sincere
friendship from Pazu Kong. And what I didn’t like is the rules and regulations
for
Khoo May Pin (
Sorry for the late reply. Been real busy with life in
The tour guide is generally good. The sharing of her life experiences
with us also made the trip more interesting.
The driver was very nice and would give suggestions to make our road
trip more comfortable. He would also slow down when we wanted to take pictures
during the road trip and even helped us "bargain" at the restaurants
where we had our lunches. He was attentive to our needs; at some point in time,
even more than our tour guide.
Actually on our first day of arrival, we were quite surprised that
you didn't ask us to pay immediately. Weren't you worried that we wouldn't pay
you? Haha. But anyway, probably the culture in
As I have mentioned when we met up, I first chanced across your
website via Google and decided to give it a try after reading positive feedback
from many customers on the website. Overall, I'm pleased with your planning and
handling of our situations.
Agnes Ye Zhengyu (
I would recommend the same driver. His driving was very good and
efficient. I would rate him 5.
Our tour guide Karma was fantastic. He’s multi-lingual, very
knowledgeable, and would go out of his way to help us. I would again rate him
5.
Kong - you did a great job. 5. I’m told you came highly recommended.
I loved
Richard Fields (
Our driver our tour guide were very good. I chose you because you
were recommended by Jim and Helen.
Everything was good.
Brian Cheadle (
Thanks for helping me to organize my tour in
I rate my driver the highest point of 5 and I would recommend him to
the other people. He is a friendly person, a responsible driver, and always
kind toward other people. He has no complaints about making frequently stops for
me to take photos and always energetic during driving. His driving skill is
good and he drives very safe.
I rate my guide the highest point of 5 and I would recommend her to
the other people. She is very familiar with all the hotels and travelling procedures
in
Your handling of the tour arrangement is excellent (5 Points).
Everything is very efficient and I got my questions anawered very quick. I will recomend you to my friends.
Eric Yau Kin Kei (
I'd recommend the same
guide and driver. We know that it is very hard to drive on off road so we
recommend our driver for the long trip that we had.
I'm satisfied with the way you organized our trip and already recommended Spinn
Cafe to another travelers.
What we like most of the
tour is that it’s dependably arranged, you’ve delivered all the necessities.
Hana (
My tour guide Penpa Tsering and the driver are
excellent. I was very happy while in their company. By all means, they have
done well. Thanks! It was nice meeting you, I would recommend Spinn Cafe
anytime, any day.
The driver is careful in his driving, he follows
the speed limit, and is very good.
And I can fully recommend my guide Penpa
Tsering. He is young, enthusiastic, has a sense of humor, and very attentive to
what I am saying and very kind.
Your handling of the tour was perfect, and thank
you for helping me all the way. You were very responsive and very nice. Like i
said, it was Hana who recommended me to Spinn Cafe.
Nice meeting you Kong, it was a pleasure to have
been your visitor and your friend while in
I salute you, you are a super cool guy, howI
wish your book was translated in English for us.
Next time you find yourself in
If you can get access, you may visit my site at
:
1) http://ongcho.multiply.com/photos
2) http://ongcho2.multiply.com/photos
Oh well, if you don’t know it yet, Spinn cafe is
a very well regarded site and more power to you.
John
Ong Sy (
Greetings from
Patrick
O' Riordan (Director Singapore,
The driver drove very very good , not too fast
and not made me fear at all ka. : ))
The tour guide is very nice and take care us
every moment : )) plz say to him "Thank you so much miss my guide ka : ))
and thanks for sent my postcard ka".
Your arrangement is great !!! and thanks you so
much for change a itinerary with out any change : ) . The reason for choose
your tour coz you keep replying my email and a price is reasonable.
Everything perfect for me : ))
Passaporn Shompoopun (
For personality and efforts he made to please me, the tour guide
would get full marks. He is a very good and nice person. I also had many laughs
with the guide which made this trip fun!
You did a fabulous job arranging the trip, I decided to choose you
for your honesty. This was apparent in your writing with advice about other
tour organizers.
Marisa de Jong (
Overall great driving of the driver, and the
tour guide is a very good and responsible person who takes good care of his
clients.
You had a very detailed Q and A at your website,
which gives us confident to choose you to arrange the tour. I think you made
good arrangement with the transport and accommodations. Overall it was a great
trip, real good experience.
Basically, I only have good comments regarding
this trip.
I think your cafe made it extra special where we
are able to meet other tourist in
Chong
Zheng Feong (
I found the drivers very careful and
responsible. The tour guide is excellent, he was very open and frank, had a
good sense of humor and understood western idiosyncrasies well. We could know
that he understood what we wanted to see and do. He was always prompt.
I chose your service because of a personal
recommendation. I enjoyed your tour arrangement because it was so flexible and
personalized. It kept us out of buses and down on the street level.
All seemed to go smoothly.
Grant Bickel (
I just wanted to let you know how much we
enjoyed our tour. The driver is good and I gave positive feedback for our tour
guide and would like to rate 5 for him. He is great at his job, insightful, knowledgeable,
informative, helpful and kind.
Thanks again and we will make sure to recommend
you to our friends and comrades who are thinking of visiting
Novita Utami (
The driver is good and the tour guide is great,
he has a lot of knowledge about the history and eager to learn any culture.
We are also satisfied with the way you handled
our tour, we think you gave us details info which help us in
Eva Ali (Eva Ali (
It was great to have the chance to know some of
the secret corners of Jokhang Circuit with you, including the nunnery (best
place in
I think you provide great service. I think you
are very professional and responsive and I would definitely want to use your
services if I went to
I felt you treated us as friends and not only
clients and I hope you continue to be so personable when your business grows
and you have less time (as I'm sure it will grow!).
Thanks again for such great times in
Marion Khamis (
Drivers did a good job. And the tour guide was
very good. He had a sense of humour that is important for some westerners (I
liked it). He was also very polite, helpful and seemed sincere. We were more
than happy to tip him at the top end of your recommended range.
You came well recommended and we appreciated
your knowledge and personal attention to our problems.
I liked the Spinn café – the ambience and the
music.
Thank you!
Malcolm Griffiths (
A belated 'Thank You'! We had a great time in
Our guide, Migdon, was very helpful, pleasant
and easy to work with.
I recommended your services to a young Belgian
couple we met in Dunhuang - I hope they contact you!
Dennis Nicoll (
Five points to the driver and full marks to the
tour guide as well.
We decided to join your tour through the
recommendation of our friends, full marks to your service too.
Cultural social and monasterial facts were well
explained. Thanks for all your help and we are very glad and fortunate to be
able to visit
Alfred
Pawelek (Belitz, Polland) and Mary Pawelek (
Full marks for the driver and tour
guide. And full mark for your service as well. I booked with you because you
gave me the best price, the best service and you'd been recommended by a
friend.
The lakes, the landscape and the
people were amazing, also, the nunnery was great because we saw them chanting/praying
and they were very welcoming!
Thanks a lot for the great time, I
recommended you to plenty of people in
Wiebke Dittert (
We will give our driver a rating of 5
(out of 5), the best driver!!!
Lobsang was the best guide we could
ever have, he knows a lot of Tibetan culture, people and religion. He did more
than a normal guide. I have travelled very much and I never had such a guide,
he became a good friend. He's what we like most in our tour indeed!
Your arrangements and patience were
excellent. Thank you very much for everything!
Javier Beltran from
We would recommend both the driver and
the guide - they both went above and beyond, we will give them a rating of five
out of five. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and kind, and also a lot of
fun. I was really happy with your
service - you always answered quickly and let us know any alterations right
away....I found your details on thorntree when researching the trip. ? Learning
about
Adrian Young (
Sarah Warren (
I was very happy with the arrangements
by Spinn cafe and found my Tibetan tour guide Tenzin to be thoughtful,
informative and helpful. I had booked a no guide day to wander
My driver was also excellent, very
good driving skills, patient with photography stops and a pleasure to share
long trip on dirt roads with.
Kong, you have made sure everything went
well clearly communicated requirements and plans adapted to changes in a
pleasant competent and efficient way and does great card tricks. .
What I liked most in this tour was
spending time with the tour guide and Tibetan people.
Thanks again Kong, I wish you all
Peace, Happiness and Prosperity.
Steve Burger,
www.globalfolkart.com/
Global Folk Art
Our trip was fantastic, I
would highly recommend the driver, my only regret was that he didn't speak English
and I didn't speak Tibetian, but he was really great. I would have loved to get
to know him better, 10 stars to him.
Same same with the guide, he was also
fantastic, 10 stars to him too!!! The guide was extremely knowledgeble and
flexible with our time.
The package that you offered was great
for individual travellers, good price, flexibility, great service, specially
the magic tricks!!! I will definitely recommend you to fellow travellers.
Thanks for the great trip!
Trish Brown (
The driver was very good. He was very
friendly and most importantly he was safe. He followed all traffic rules and at
all times I felt comfortable with him. He was also very attentive in terms of
thinking of what we would like to see - such as the first night drive to the
hotel, he pointed out the
To be honest, I normally hate guides.
However, Tenzin, was quite an exception. He was genuinely kind and
accommodating throughout our whole trip. He was also very polite and
considerate. If all tour guides could be like this, I would be very
happy. I would recommend him for your future clientele.
From day 1 of being in contact with
you, I have felt quite comfortable in my dealings with you. Your blog, news
articles, and cafe allow people from far away to feel that your services and
business are legitimate.
You were very considerate in thinking
of and preparing our needs related to expectation of accommodations and
adjustment to altitude.
Communication was always very clear. I
appreciated that you would send emails with final quotes and clarification on
matters. Everything was quite transparent.
Besides the fantastic scenery and the
culture, what I enjoyed about the tour was that our schedules/plans went
smoothly. When we needed to change a plan, it was okay. Flexibility was
probably what I appreciated the most.
You should be quite proud of the
services you have offered us.
Michele Tung (
Yoland Wang (
Dominique Speekenbrink (the
The driver drove without fail whole
way, even understood English quite well and was on the good mood all the time.
I enjoyed our trip and I'm quite happy how everything went. I think that you
made really good job, organizing the permits really fast and also your
personality was great. You would have been great guide too. :)
Maria Laitala (
It may have been the most incredible
tour ever for me... and I appreciate how quickly you managed to organise
everything for us and how fabulous it all was.
I really hope to come back through
Lisa Honey (
All in all a fantastic trip and thanks
for handling it all in such a nice and patient manner - we really felt well
taken care of by you.
Katrine Skipper Pedersen (
I enjoyed every bit of the experience.
I suppose we could have packed in a bit more with the time we had, but given
that it's our first time and not knowing how AMS would affect us, the slower
pace suited us well.
Thanks very much for helping us with
the planning, and your hospitality - we like the Strategy Game very much and
guess what? I just bought two sets, one for Bee and one for myself.
We enjoyed the trip very much and will
certainly recommend you shd any of our friends want to visit
Chng It Soh (
Tan Bee Hong (
Firstly wanted to say we really
enjoyed our trip and for all the difficulties was definetly a trip of a
lifetime and one I will not forget. Being able to organise through you was
great as gave us much more freedom to do what we wanted to and not feel forced
to do what the agency wanted to do. I guess it meant we could still remain a
little independant!
The price was also great as was
considerbly cheaper then any other tour (maybe you are too cheap!!)
About the driver, I would recommend
him, felt safe the whole time, although we did notice he was slower on tarmac
roads and much faster on gravel, we therefore think he must of been a rally car
driver in a previous life!
About the tour guide, Gonkom, was
pretty good, he came across as young and was very much on our level, as I saw a
lot of the other tour guides and they seemed very boring. So for young
westerners would recommend him.
The break down of pricing was great as
well as really saw the cost. I liked the Rama Kharpo Guesthouse in
Overall we had a great time and was really
happy with booking it though you and not some faceless agency, it was really
easy to correspond with you and you always answered all my questions.
I will of course recommend you to any
friends I know planning a trip. If you pass by
Leo Frankel (
Caroline Frankel (
We really appreciated you getting out
of your way to help us. Like arranging us a biking tour with Oat, which was
nice.
The driver was very fine. He was
always on time and drove very carefully.
The tour guide has good knowledge of
history and religion, good info for hotels/restaurant/places (outside
The Barkhor area tour you gave us at
the end was very nice, simple, funny and interesting.
We are sure you are gonna succeed with
your
Thank you for all your help, time and
the movies you gave us. Please visit us, when you and Oat come to
Shanghai/Taicang.
Thomas Maurischat (
Paola Pastor
We did the Lhasa-Kathmandu trip with
the agency Spinn Cafe in
The guide we had spoke very good
English and had a lot of extra information. Also we could wander around alone
in
The driver we had was very very good. He
did not speak English, which was a shame, because I had the impression that he
had a lot to tell. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. he told us many many
things about the Potala. I think he was very clever, this helped us very much.
I would recommend him to other travelers.
I would also highly recommend Spinn
Cafe.
Oliver Ramseyer (
www.vadrouilleasiatique.blogspot.com
The driver drove very safely and
responsibly for the duration of our tour, we can recommend him to other travelers.
You also gave us the best tour of our
trip.
Kong's Service: 10/10- You were
incredibly communicative and tried everything to make the tour enjoyable for
us. We'll recommend contacting you to anyone who is considering coming to
Derek Hazard (
Andrea Hazard (
Lamu was a great guide, quite knowledgeable
and great insight as well. As for the preparation of my trip, I have no
complaints whatsoever. It was excellent! You were very transparent from the
start, from the payments, restrictions, breakdowns.
Your transparency was what made me
decide to book it with you, and it was fairly priced. Everything was done
according to specified plan, and I cant recall any deviation from the
originally specified plan.
Other than experiencing
After all, great travel is always
accompanied by the "making friends category". It's a great
thing you have the cafe, Kong.
To be used both for marketing and
making friends.
I'm thinking of going back, really.
When I was in
I haven't found one. I'm definitely
doing the Shigatse, Gyantse, Everest Base Camp next time.
Thanks too for everything. :) And
hello to everyone!
Anne Astorga (
We're Back in
The consistency of the tour was very
okay, there was no communication problem at all. What we like most in this tour
was your personal input and flexibility of the program. But time went by much
too fast, we would like to add more time.
Once again we want to thank you so
much for everything.
We saw on your Facebook page that Jim
and Helen still had a great time with you after we left. Glad we met them.
We're still busy with filtering our
more than 4000 pictures. I hope to put some of them on Facebook soon. In the
meantime I'm sending you already a few pictures of our trip with Oat along the
riverside and the old village.
Hugs and greetings,
Marion Ceunen (
Driver Nyima was fine, he speaks
little English but we have an English speaking guide. He was a good driver,
quiet and friendly. Tour guide Tenzin was also okay, friendly and his English
was ok.
We had no communication problems,
communication with you was excellent and you were also very prompt in answering
our emails.
We also appreciated the phone calls
from you when underway.
What we like most was the scenery and
the impromptu times we spent with you in
Jim den Hartog (Leidschendam, the
Helen den Dekker (Andei, the
Hope everything is ok at your place,
thanks for sending us the DVD and I will pass your contact data in the next
days to one or two friends who're planning to go to
Our driver was very friendly and
attentive. He had a relaxed way of driving. The tour guide was very educated in
Tibetan culture and religion. He could tell us a lot of interesting and funny
stories and we could enjoy a lot of entertaining sightseeing tours. The guiding
service was excellent.
We really appreciated that your door
was always open for us not depending on the daytime! ;) Thanks for helping us
to organise the flight back for Tobias. The tour arrangement was consistent,
there were no misunderstandings and our tour guide was very open for
spontaneous changes in the day's programme.
We appreciate the kind-heartedness and
openness of our tour-guide, and it was the highlights of our tour to see the
Florian Franke (
Sven Joerg Knueppel (
Andreas Lars Wachaja (
Tobias Glasenapp (
I liked the driver very much,
especially because he seemed to be in for jokes and didn't complain once when
we asked for our 100th picture-stop. Our tour guide knows a lot about
Tibetan culture and religion and he seemed to enjoy all our questions; like
trying to win a debating 'game' like the monks do.
I'm very satisfied about our tour. And
I like the fact that along our way we could change our plans. I appreciate the
possibility to change our itinerary on our way.
Thanks for arranging our tour; I'll
recommend Spinn Cafe to other travellers!
Tamara van Driel (
I already recommended you to other
travellers who were interested in
Driver Pasang was really nice, he
understands english well (he is just to shy to speak it). He is reliable as a
driver and drives very safely.
Our tour guide Tsering is very
friendly and keen to share his knowledge. if he is not sure about a naggy
question from me, he can say that he doesn't know the answer - which I prefer
rather than telling me some wrong stories. He knows a lot about Tibetan Buddhism
and the fact that he was in a monastry for some time makes it authentic what he
says.
I liked the variety of sites we
visited and foremost
Christian Zehnder (
Your handling of the tour was
excellent. No complaints. We decided to choose you because an
acquaintance of ours put us in touch with you.
Joanne Curtis (USA)
Very good driver and he's also a good
mechanics. He is a very responsible person, not driving too fast like some of
the other drivers and risking the lives of passangers. He also was very well
informed about the road condition on every part of our trip, plus he was very
easy going.
Our tour guide Jorden (real name
should be Droten) can tell a lot of every single monastry and hotels, He had a
very broad knowledge about each monastry and of course Tibetan tradition. He
has been also quite easy going, always eager to help and make the trip perfect
for us.
I would rate Spinn Cafe the highest
score because you have been solving all problems on time, there were a lot of
explanations in the itinerary. You was recommended by a friend of us, your
price were compared to two other agencies almost the same.
I like most about the hiking around Mt.
Kailash, Sakya, Lhasa, Shigatse (in that order).
That's a great idea and surveys like
that usually help to tailor good trips. I think everybody has their own taste/opinion
about how the trip should be tailored. If you find ways to make as individual
as possible and with the driver + guide being flexible (like we experience) your
tours also in the future will be quite a success!
Axel Thomsen (Norden,
Germany) and Silvia Lotze (Bad Muskau, Germany)
I found the driver personable. He was
punctual.
Both Adam and I were very happy with
our tour guide Yangchin. She fit perfectly what Adam and I were looking for, and
we enjoyed spending time with her during our travels. Whenever we asked
questions, she readily answered and provided what we were looking for. We found
her to be a great match for what we were looking for and would ask for her
again.
I'm very happy with Spinn Cafe and
your service. We appreciated your efforts to help us find alternative lodging. And
you were always available. We picked you originally because you provided very
clear and helpful information on general touring in Tibet, and you seemed like
you would be flexible. Your cost was reasonable and matched the service well. Your
promptness in communicating both before we booked with you and after were
appreciated.
My favorite part was the day trip out
to Drigung Til and Tidrum. We both appreciated the flexibility, calmness and
knowledge of our guide. If we do the tour again, we would definitely take more
time, and travel further out from Lhasa.
Overall, we were very happy with the
tour services you provided.
Michael Gerhardt (Colorado,
USA), Adam Crenshaw (Wyonming, USA)
I will give the driver score 4 because
I think the driver is capable of doing his job. He is familiar with the route
very much.
The tour guide is a sanguine and
outspoken girl. She can take care
the tour and handling all the matters.
In short, we are satisfied for her service.
I think you did a fantastic job on the
arrangement of our trip. I’ve heard about you from Paulianna whose co-worker
took a Tibet trip in April. In addition, I also knew you from a travel forum. I
like you to provide a lot of useful information, opinion and photos to anyone who wants to go to Tibet. Finally,
I like your flexibility on handing our trip.
I hope I could have a longer leave so that we
could see more view points/places in Tibet because she is a pearl of the
western part of China.
Chan Ming Tsai (Hong
Kong), Carrie Wong (Hong Kong), Warren Chan (New York, USA), Bryan Chan (New
York, USA)
We highly recommended the driver. Experienced
& responsible driver. He is more than just a driver to us. He was there
with us when the guide could not be with us.
The tour guide service is good enough.
Haha, of course, you’re the best
comparing to what I’ve read from others. Give yourself a bonus or a pat on your
back. Most importantly, we could deal with you directly in Lhasa if there’s
anything amiss, but so far so good. Your tour has no uncertainty for customers.
Love your clear layout of your quote. Others may be cheaper but there are other
costs that have not been factored.
We enjoyed the whole experience. We
would like to come back again!
Lilian Lee and
Edward Lee (Wellington, New Zealand)