Most Inspirational Moment
Variety of sites. Food. Weather. Golden temple. Kyoto. Tokyo
Thoughts on Group Leader
A pleasure to be with.
Reviews
Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers
Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It’s the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you’re interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.
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Reviews
Highlights of Japan
Great holiday. Great guide.
An amazing holiday!
A holiday of contrasts -the hubbub of Kathmandu, the magnificence of the Annapurna range and the luxury of the Bahari Jungle Lodge in Chitwan.
We had a superb tour guide in Kathmandu who was happy to answer any question and who took us to see the living goddess! Our original hotel was very average but we were moved to the much more upmarket Yak and Yeti for the final night, which was the original hotel when we booked the trip and is now advertised for future trips.
I really enjoyed the trekking experience, the scenery was spectacular, the lodges were very comfortable, the food really good and the staff excellent. Our guide and porters were amazing, it was very sad bidding them farewell.
Chitwan was a complete contrast, much warmer, very luxurious. We were kept busy there. The jeep safari was my favourite, fortunately we did this early in the morning when the park inhabitants are more lively. To get to the National Park we simply took a boat across the river from the lodge, so easy! We didn’t see a tiger but saw several one horned rhinos, including a mother and calf whom we observed for some time. It would have been great to have one more day there to chill, to enjoy a dip in the pool, to sit on our balcony of our lovely ‘hut’.
Our last full day, the ‘approximately 5 hours’ on a coach turned into about 8 hours on a holiday, a day when traffic is much quieter than normal. We did not arrive in Kathmandu until about 4pm, it left little time to do anything before our farewell meal. I would have preferred to pay a little extra to fly! It was a disappointing end to our holiday.
Most Inspirational Moment
Getting up before sunrise each day to see if we could see the mountains, which were obscured by cloud later in the day. Our last morning of our trek granted us a spectacular view, which lasted until our departure from Pokhara.
Thoughts on Group Leader
This is a large part of the reason why I did not give the trip a 5 star rating. A premium adventure is supposed to have an expert named leader, there seemed to have been a change at the last moment about which we were not notified, and ours was neither. He was a very pleasant, kind individual and got us from A to B with no problem. However, he had not led a group for four years, hence he was a little out of practice and his English was somewhat rusty, which led to much confusion. On previous trips we have had some excellent Exodus group leaders from whom we learnt so much about the country we were visiting, unfortunately we learnt more in a day with our excellent Kathmandu tour guide than we did in the whole trip with our group leader.
The "undulating" hills of Central America
Absolutely loved it! From the trip itself to the friends we made on it and the Exodus teams on the ground in each country, this was an adventure of a lifetime and no better way to dip your toes into Central America than by bike. The trip was executed daily with an efficiency of a Swiss clock by our guide Roberto. The bikes were comfy and looked after meticulously by the team. Cycling is the main event here and the heart of the trip was the breath taking views of volcanos, wildlife and rainforest.
Most Inspirational Moment
There are many moments that will stay with me forever. From the molten magma of the Masaya vocano, cycling through Omepede and jumping into the much needed fresh springs to cool off, to the adventurous Arenal rainforest. However, aside from the beautiful nature and wildlife, what exceeded my expectations was meeting the locals who shared their livelyhood. I learnt so much about fruit, cocoa and coffee, farming, exporting and exploitation. I truelly had an educational and fun experience. Memories I will take with me forever.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group lead was Roberto and we couldn't have asked for a better person to explore Central America with. His passion, love and respect for all people shines though. What was booked as a mere vacation turned into a shared group ever lasting experience. Due to unforeseeable political issues we were faced with disappointment of not being able to complete the cycle in Panama. However Roberto re-routed us at the drop of a hat, kept our spirits high and made sure we went home with incredible memories. His experience in looking after a group and familiarity with the mountains is unsurpassed. My fondist and funniest memory will be Roberto's description of the "undulating hills"- :) come prepared for some hot steep climbs!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Its going to be HOT, so bring light airy clothes that dry quickly, a cap and something warmer for the mountains. Consider taking most of your cash with you for the trip, as at times it can prove difficult to find an ATM which dispenses USD.
Annapurna Sanctuary – magnificent!
This was a wonderful trip, very well organised and made even better because we had such a fantastic group and such magnificent scenery with great weather – my expectations were exceeded! Anish and his team of guides and porters were brilliant all the way through, always helpful and cheerful. Early morning tea was always a pleasure to be greeted by smiling faces. The teahouses were better than expected – basic twin rooms but always Wi-Fi and electric for charging, sometimes a hot shower. We shared quad rooms in MBC and ABC. The food was delicious, lots of choice and the guides did a great job taking our orders for every meal.
Most Inspirational Moment
Sunrise at Poon Hill and arriving at Annapurna Basecamp – stunning scenery. We had a brilliant and fun last night with our porters and guides – lots of dancing and singing.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Anish was a brilliant leader, always calm and helpful and always checking everyone was comfortable and happy. Coping with 13 of us and keeping on eye on everything could not have been easy but it was obvious he had great team leading skills.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Be prepared for steps – every day! Read the trip notes fully, they are very helpful in terms of the kit required.
Wonderful adventure through Jordan and Eypt
This trip included exploring ancient cities, hiking the back trail into Petra, walking through the desert, a nighttime hike of Mt Sinai, swimming in the Red Sea and a visit to the pyramids and sphinx.
Most Inspirational Moment
I loved the Wadi Rum desert and the hiking into Petra via the back trail. The desert was so quiet in the morning and the star gazing was some of the best I've ever seen.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Nidal Al-Ateag was our guide in Jordan. He was a lot of fun and always made sure we had the best view of the sites and plenty of time to explore. Ahmed Salem was our guide in Egypt. He was very knowledgeable about his country's history and the different regions we visited.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Enjoy every part of this trip! There is so much crammed into it and you'll keep wishing you had more time at a site or activity. But then your off to the next part and you start getting excited for it. If you only have one trip to do in the Middle East.....this is the trip to do! There is so much history and culture included, you will not be disappointed.
Peru
Very well organised , introduction to altitude was staggered and well coordinated .
Most Inspirational Moment
One day Inca trail to macchu picchu.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Excellent group leader , very knowledgeable , went above and beyond to ensure we experienced Peru at its best , was always there to answer questions , reassure explain.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Book it , trip of a life time
Annapurna Sanctuary – magnificent!
This was a wonderful trip, very well organised and made even better because we had such a fantastic group and such magnificent scenery with great weather – my expectations were exceeded! Anish and his team of guides and porters were brilliant all the way through, always helpful and cheerful. Early morning tea was always a pleasure to be greeted by smiling faces. The teahouses were better than expected – basic twin rooms but always Wi-Fi and electric for charging, sometimes a hot shower. We shared quad rooms in MBC and ABC. The food was delicious, lots of choice and the guides did a great job taking our orders for every meal.
Most Inspirational Moment
Sunrise at Poon Hill and arriving at Annapurna Basecamp – stunning scenery. We had a brilliant and fun last night with our porters and guides – lots of dancing and singing.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Anish was a brilliant leader, always calm and helpful and always checking everyone was comfortable and happy. Coping with 13 of us and keeping on eye on everything could not have been easy but it was obvious he had great team leading skills.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Be prepared for steps – every day! Read the trip notes fully, they are very helpful in terms of the kit required.
Annapurna Premium Tour
My family saved up money to have a holiday of a lifetime. We were promised in the brochure and online that this was a Premium holiday with 4/5* hotels, an expert guide and superb mountain views. This was not the holiday we received in many areas. Some parts such as the trekking and lodges were excellent but as you will see below in my comments a lot fell short of what we had paid for and I would not book another ‘premium’ holiday with Exodus again.
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
A busy but very worthwhile week exploring the Pearl of Arabia
I very much recommend this one week exploration of the cultural and ancient heritage of wonderful Oman. It’s a busy tour but all forms of travel and accommodation are very comfortable. The people we met throughout the tour were all proud of their heritage and extremely friendly. Oman is a very safe country. The itinerary is varied as are the fabulous landscapes encountered. Most meals were included and of good quality…plenty of affordable, tasty food to be had in local cafes/restaurants …avoid branded “western” restaurants which are very expensive. Our guide, Zubair, was very knowledgeable, very funny, worked hard and was clearly a great ambassador for his country.
A lot worse that we had expected
The guide was not experienced. An example was he did not give details of where the group should meet up and at what time when visiting a temple on day 2. One member of the group got lost. We wasted time looking for her and then time when she managed to contact the guide for him to go and get her. The guide had little knowledge and essentially managed to get us from one place to another. He read short extracts from a book (2-3 minutes) at each site, in very broken english, which was not detailed and provided no further information than reading the placards at the shrine / museum we were at. Save for the ryokan in Yudanaka, the accommodation was of a much worse standard than the cost of the holiday warrants. Ryokan at Takayama (which is 2 star) was unacceptable level given the price paid. It is simply unacceptable for seventeen people to share 2 toilets for 2 days (there were 4 toilets, 2 male and 2 female unless you went to a different floor where there was another 2). It was rundown and the food was below par. The sushi was frozen, which you would not expect in Japan. The description in the itinerary was misleading. The visit on day 2 to historic Gion did not take place in the early evening as suggested but instead at around 3 pm and the guide simply pointed down a street and said there were no Geishas. Because this was done earlier, we then went to Nijo castle, which we should have gone to first, and it was closed as the guide took us there after 4 p.m. That was a wasted afternoon of travelling rather than an interesting day of culture. Day 8, there was no stroll at night to the castle. Day 10 there was no evening orientation tour of Tokyo as suggested.
Most Inspirational Moment
The snow monkeys in Yudanaka where good.
Thoughts on Group Leader
The guide was not experienced. An example was he did not give details of where the group should meet up and at what time when visiting a temple on day 2. One member of the group got lost. We wasted time looking for her and then time when she managed to contact the guide for him to go and get her. The guide had little knowledge and essentially managed to get us from one place to another. He read short extracts from a book (2-3 minutes) at each site, in very broken english, which was not detailed and provided no further information than reading the placards at the shrine / museum we were at.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Do not book this trip, it is a waste of money.
Reply from Exodus
We would like to thank Parwinder for his review, although we’re very sorry to hear of his disappointment with his departure of Ancient & Modern Japan. Parwinder’s leader underwent a thorough training program before first leading for Exodus at the start of this year, including shadowing one of our most experienced and well-performing Japanese leaders, and the feedback he received previously from the two departures he led personally was very positive. We are, however, aware that this leader received more disappointing feedback from Parwinder’s group, and upon being made aware of this we immediately contacted our local manager in Japan. Our local manager has conducted detailed follow-up with Parwinder’s leader and, since Parwinder’s trip, he has received further instruction and has led another departure with success. Overall, the scores our leaders receive for our trips in Japan are high, averaging 4.20 out of 5 from our customers who have travelled this year. We, nevertheless, regret that Parwinder did not have a similar positive experience, and recognise that his leader’s poor organisation on this occasion led to some frustrations with the itinerary, which we find from experience is structured well and accurate to the trip notes.
Regarding the accommodation on this trip, we feel that the description in our trip notes sets our clients’ expectations appropriately. Accommodation in Japan is extremely expensive and we feel that this trip provides good value for money; each property is clean and comfortable and the stays at ryokans serve as a way that our customers can experience traditional Japanese life. We would point out that the other clients on Parwinder’s trip rated the accommodation very highly on their feedback forms, though we are sorry that Parwinder did not have such a positive experience.
We are in touch with Parwinder and hope to be able to promptly resolve his disappointment to his satisfaction.
– Kelly Reid, Exodus Product Manager