It’s Crowded but, what do you expect it’s Easter holiday. Lots of people are traveling all at the same time. On top of that, if you travel in a tour group it might feel even more crowded, but for us it’s worth it. Why, exposure and cost. Tracy and I decided to go to Gam Zhou China. As an English teacher here in Hong Kong, I’m pretty much limited to traveling on the holidays. Tour groups’ leaders pick the best sites to see and make all the travel / accommodation arrangements for their clients. As clients, we get exposure to many of the top ranking places for the areas we are visiting. In the past, I used to think that service would cost too much money and would not be worth it. Now after multiple trips with Big Line and a few other tour groups, I have changed my mind. Here’s a link for our Christmas Holiday in Harbin China. We had snow on Christmas day :). Here’s a link for our Stay At the Silver Crystal Hotel also in China. All three of these trips were taken with Big Line. Our first one the Silver Crystal Hotel was in December of last year.
Advantages
Big Line has been perfect for Tracy and I. We have really enjoyed delicious food and great accommodations. We have not needed to worry about directions, tickets, timing, pricing, etc… Our tour group leaders take care of all of those details for us.
Disadvantages
However, there are a few downsides. For example, the tour groups are generally pretty large and you have to stay together. Sometimes, you get stuck with people who are not really pleasant or who just don’t want to talk. In addition, there isn’t much flexibility with the scheduling. You have to attend the activities they plan for you when they plan them. I want to be careful here, as it might sound like I am complaining. I’m not complaining. The reality is if we were in charge of all of these details, I don’t think we would feel relaxed. It would cost us more money and a lot of time. Because tour group makes the arrangements in bulk they are able to get much better deals than we would be able to get on my own.
The Language
Then there is the elephant in the room that many foreigners prefer not to talk about. It’s language. I wish I could tell you that my Cantonese and Mandarin are strong enough to handle all of the interactions with our tour guide. Unfortunately, they are not. I would not have been able to handle everything on my own. I am still dependent on my wife for some translation. For most foreigners these kinds of trips aren’t possible because we lack the language. I know it’s not a popular thing to say, but I think it is true.
Grateful
In our opinion the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Our tour guides have all done a great job. We are very grateful.
Interested in other travel adventures we have gone on. Last Summer we went to Seim Reap Cambodia. In my blog and videos I describe our adventure in detail.
