SMILE of ASIA

…is a truly independent travel organisation, founded by tour leader, art lover and lifelong orientalist Dirk Van Der Stockt, on the basis of his twenty years experience of North, East, South and Central Asia. The SMILEofASIA's passionate approach to small group exploration ensures that ‘travellers‘ don’t just visit a country but really experience it – in style and with a fair amount of comfort. To do this SMILE of ASIA utilises an extensive network of local contacts ‘on the ground‘ – the descendents of the pilgrims, poets, merchants and explorers in whose footsteps and wheel ruts we follow!  This working partnership underpins our ‘ being in the right place at the right time ‘ - approach to travel – it is the experience of our crew, local guides and drivers that defines SMILE of ASIA's experience.

SMILE of ASIA 's  founder
DIRK VAN DER STOCKT ( also known in asia as  - ' JOHN ' )

travel philosophy ...

Since the wheels first started turning in Summer 1999,  SMILE of ASIA has become its own unique kind  of ‘travel club for the culturally inquisitive’, bringing together old friends and independently minded singles, honeymooners and retired couples. 

Today, on many of our departures, 60-70% of the group have travelled with us before and/or have been recommended by veteran travellers, who typically are continuing ‘journeys‘ with us that go back many years. 

There’s no big advertising campaigns or ambitious marketing strategy. We just let people tell other people what they have been up to, and so, in terms of much of our programs, quite literally let the interested people decide the direction SMILE of ASIA goes in.

YOUR JOURNEY & WHERE IT ALL BEGINS...

Unlike many of the trips found in the brochures of mainstream tour companies our journeys are never bought ’off the shelf’. All our itineraries continue to be researched and developed right up until we release dossiers and prices just 6-12 months before departure, ensuring that we stay in touch with developments in-country, and are able to include what is new and/or recently discovered. 

The fact that we are fine-tuning our journeys at the same time as you are planning yours also means that we are able to ‘tailor-make‘ the day-to-day detail of each tour according to ongoing feedback from those who have already travelled with us, as well as in response to special requests from would-be travellers. Many of these little extras never make it into print but make it into our itineraries (as revealed by a telling image and quick caption in the post-journey postcards that we post on this website!).

Client Comments

The Journeys…

GETTING THERE… 

SMILE of ASIA’s journeys of a lifetime are ‘land only‘, and as such exclude international flights to/from the start and end point of the published itinerary. This allows travellers – who originate from many different parts of the US, Europe, Africa & Australia, as well as various cities worldwide – to book the type of plane ticket that suits them best (including their own particular choice of stopovers), using and/or earning frequent flyer points with their preferred airline. 

For some departures there is the possibility of joining a ‘group flight‘. This is where travellers are able to take advantage of a seat allocation with a particular airline, by booking through TOC’s recommended flights agents in their respective home country.

‘Group flyers‘ have the added bonus of their group leader ‘door-to-door‘, in that they are met at a specific airport the day before the official ‘group rendez-vous‘ and accompanied back to their home country after their TOC journey has officially ended – all at no extra cost.

THE TRANSPORT… 

Our transport may in fact be a bullet train or a tram, a jeep or even a camel... sometimes 4-wheel drive, sometimes four hooves! In order to gain a more in-depth and personal experience of life in our host country we also use – as and when appropriate – public buses, private mini-buses, private taxis, landcruisers, cable-cars, horses, ferries, boats, and even a submarine, and when there is something to see ‘off-road‘ we mostly will explore by foot.

Destinations and Departures

THE ACCOMMODATION... 

Whether it be the centrally-located (3-4 star equivalent) tourist hotels in major urban centres, or the more characterful, traditional guesthouses and small boutique hotels in rural towns and outlying villages, travellers invariably start and end each day somewhere that is clean and comfortable, where basic needs are well taken care of – even when camping. Single supplements are not compulsory on any of our trips but are available for those who wish to be guaranteed a single room. Otherwise we will arrange for anyone travelling solo to share with another member of the group (of the same sex) at no extra cost. In the event of there being no suitable ‘second person‘, SMILE of ASIA will cover the additional costs of a single room.