I'm still fuming about my experience with Pegasus Touristique's excursions in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Don't waste your time and money on their tours here!
After a long flight to Vietnam, we arrived in Nha Trang and were greeted with a transfer from the airport and a shuttle to our hotel. The Pegasus guides met us, helped us get settled, and drove us to our hotel.
The next day, we had a meeting with the 'hotel guide' who was supposed to brief us on our stay in Nha Trang, the excursions we'd booked, and basically serve as a lifeline for Russian tourists who'd booked with Pegasus. Only five out of 12-15 people showed up for this morning briefing, and I'm not surprised – we were all pretty skeptical. The hotel guide, Andrei, spent 10 minutes doling out basic info about the city and country, then proceeded to sing the praises of Pegasus's excursions, claiming they were full and unique. We fell for it and ended up buying...three excursions at a time, since it was cheaper than booking each one separately.
Warning: The cost of the Dalat excursion per person was $37, which was $7 more than what we could've booked directly at the Russian Information Center.
Our first excursion was to Dalat. The hotel guide assured us that everything I'd asked about was included in this excursion, which we'd booked.
From back in Russia, I was looking forward to seeing the Ponagar Waterfall and taking the electric carts down to it, visiting the Dalat Temple of the Broken Pottery, coffee plantations, and Crazy House. The hotel guide told us that everything was included in this excursion.
But when it came down to it, we only got 45 minutes at the stunning Temple of the Broken Pottery – it was woefully inadequate for a site of this caliber. Want to take some photos? Forget it, because you won't have time to explore all the amazing galleries.
Temple of Broken China We then strolled around the central square. It's a small garden with a political figure, also a shopping center in the shape of an artichoke and a pond. The idea behind this stroll was to time it right for the tasting program.Tea and coffee tasting – that's where we spent a lot of time. All for the sake of a professional salesperson pouring 'buy this, buy that' into our ears. We dined like a crowd, tasting tea and coffee. It was tasty, of course, but pagodas are more important to me.
Also part of the program was a visit to the train station. An old train station with a steam train for photo shoots.
That's where we waited out the rain, and the guides offered to buy us some souvenir coins. Boring. It was there that I found out there wouldn't be a waterfall and that our hotel guide had lied to me. I was extremely upset!
Just imagine spending precious time on a dull walk around the garden and strolling around a shop where they try to sell you things. By the way, the prices for tea and coffee there are lower than at Aroma House. That's a plus.
Crazy House is a cool place, and the Vietnamese Gaudí, the architect and owner, was even there.
We dropped by to take a look at another pagoda, which we spent 25 minutes on. It was interesting, but Pegasus again didn't allocate time for the educational part!I wouldn't recommend visiting Dalat with Pegasus if you're a pagoda and waterfall lover. For comparison, those who visited Dalat with the Russian Information Center saw the waterfall, rode a sled, and spent at least an hour walking around the temples. We asked, 'A whole day' in Dalat with Pegasus is half a day. At 15:00, after a decent lunch, we headed back to Nha Trang. By 18:00, we were back in the hotel.
Our second excursion was supposed to be a tropical paradise for $72 a head, but what we got was a bit of a letdown.
We were expecting a private beach with white sand and palm trees, free booze, a seafood buffet, and even a crocodile as the main event. But what we got was a bit of a mixed bag.
From the boat ride to the beach, everything was pleasant, with snacks and fruit to keep us going. We arrived at the beach around 10 am and spent some time lounging on the sunbeds. The included food and drinks were a bit of a surprise - we got wine, local rum, beer, and some pretty mediocre fruit smoothies. For a snack, we had a sandwich.
The main meal started at 11:30, and the crocodile was cooked to perfection.
The seafood buffet was a bit of a disaster, though. We had to catch our own seafood and hand it over to the chef to grill for us. Unfortunately, he didn't quite get the hang of it, and most of the pieces were overcooked and tasted bitter. I had to ask for seconds about four times before I was satisfied. I ended up skipping the bitter bits altogether. And to make matters worse, they didn't even have the promised shrimp and scallops. I made do with some oysters, but they just can't compare to the real deal.
The water and beach were nice, I'll give them that. But the beach was pretty small, and the snorkeling was a bit of a joke. The coral reef was protected by some pretty aggressive fish, and we ended up getting bitten a few times. Pegasus didn't mention anything about the aggressive wildlife, either. The kayaking, on the other hand, was a lot of fun. But for $72 a head, it was a bit of a rip-off.
And of course, the 'full day' turned out to be more like half a day - we left around 3 pm. Five hours on the beach for $72? That's just daylight robbery.
Our third excursion was supposed to be to the Young Bay crocodile park, but they ended up canceling it altogether. They even gave us our money back. The 'discount' they offered was a bit of a joke, too - buy three excursions and get the third one for $10 off per person. So they basically took the cheapest excursion and gave us a 'discount' that way.
We ended up taking a moped to Young Bay and exploring some of the places we wouldn't have seen on the bus tour. Thanks to Pegasus's poor organization, we got to see some of the real gems of the area.
I've got to say, the excursions with Pegasus were a total disaster. The actual tour itself was pretty good - the flight, accommodation, breakfast, and airport transfer were all fine. But don't even think about booking the excursions. Thanks to Pegasus, my husband and I got to experience a real adventure, and we even managed to bond over our shared frustration. We ended up renting a moped and navigating the crazy Vietnamese traffic - a true test of our relationship.