Most Inspirational Moment
The guided tour round Kathmandu with Suresh, the trekking with our guide Bikash and the Bahari Lodge in Chitwan.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Poor group leader. Not one of the 'expert named guides chosen for their expertise and spoken English' that we had been promised. Gave out no information on culture, politics, history, religion etc. His English was fairly poor and his communication and organisational skills were poor meaning that we constantly had to ask him to clarify meeting times, flight transfer arrangements and other daily details.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Temper your expectations of how much of the Annapurna Range that you will see. Pollution is bad and unless there is rain during the night to clear the pollution out of the air and on the basis that it is not cloudy then you may see the Himalayas some of the time but by no means all the time. Ensure that what you have asked for (such as 2 x twin rooms at each location) is what is delivered. We ended up with 1 x twin and 1 x double at each location which meant me having to share a bed with my adult son. Not what I had requested. How difficult is it to get the administration and basic requests right? If you have any trips changes - make sure you get the real reason why they have been changed. Our initial hotel in Kathmandu (a 5 star hotel) was changed to the Hotel Mulberry which was no better than a UK 2 star hotel and the reason given was not credible. Ask about the road conditions on the land trip from Chitwan to Kathmandu. We were told that we weren't flying because of the regular delays at the local airport. Instead we were told that we would have a leisurely morning in Chitwan and a scenic 5 hour trip back to Kathmandu. In the event we had to be breakfasted and ready to leave at 8am and did not arrive at the hotel until 4pm. An 8 hour journey on appalling unmade dusty roads for over 75% of the journey being bounced around like a fairground ride. Even local airport delays would not have amounted to an 8 hour delay. It meant basically losing one whole day of our holiday. Cost cutting?? Think very carefully about what you expect from a 'premium' holiday and the additional cost to you above a standard trip. There were many areas of the trip that came nowhere near 'premium' and that was really disappointing as my family had saved up for this 'trip of a lifetime'.
Reply from Exodus
We are grateful to you for taking the time to submit a review, Sally, and are pleased that you enjoyed the trekking and the lodges. On the other hand, we are incredibly sorry that you felt it did not live up to its premium description in several areas, as this is not the type of feedback we like to receive. The tour leader assigned to your group has a wealth of experience leading group tours and was selected for his strong language skills and charismatic personality, so we do regret if this was not evident during your trip. We always act on the feedback we receive and, following your helpful comments, we are currently considering whether your leader is suitable for future Exodus departures. Regarding the changes to your tour, these were made with our customers’ best interests in mind, although we admit that certain decisions backfired and we will endeavour to learn from them to ensure that future departures of this tour run more smoothly, in keeping with our expectations. We hope to be able to resolve your concerns via direct correspondence and would sincerely like to regain your trust on a future Exodus trip.
-Sarah Puttnam, Product Manager