Myanmar & Vietnam with Ceylon Express International

Varini de Silva of Ceylon Express International (9542 Dumbreck Dr., Huntington Beach, CA 92646; 800/423-9566, www.ceylonexpress.com) created an independent month-long trip to Asia for my wife, Barbara, and me. Land and internal air for the Feb. 19-March 19, 2007, trip cost $13,500.

Ceylon Express, using ground operators Rainbow Travel (Thimphu, Bhutan) in Bhutan and Indochina Services (San Francisco, CA) for the rest of the tour, went out of their way to give us a great itinerary that included all of the highlights.

The guides were there when they were supposed to be, the hotels were great and the land tour operators were super. We had a guide and driver in every city, and someone was waiting to meet us on every arrival.

We started and ended the tour in Bangkok. We spent nine days in Myanmar, where the hotels and the food turned out far better than we expected. The people and the temples are beyond my ability to describe.

We had five days in Bhutan, a place with warm, caring people and a wonderful culture. At a temple festival we had a chance to meet and chat with the new king, who was very gracious.

We spent seven days in Viet Nam, traveling from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. I felt a little uncomfortable with a constant reminder of the damages done during what the people kept calling the American War.

We have used Ceylon Express and Varini de Silva before, and she has never missed. Our trip went off without a hitch.

STEPHEN J. BASEMAN

Sarasota, FL