Expert Insights

September 11, 2013 Rice & Shine: One Day in Hanoi City, Vietnam

Read time – 4 minutes Daily life in Hanoi begins early – the inhabitants seem to rise with the sun. I too was here early, a day before the start of our itinerary, and determined to discover all I could. Explore Hanoi City You can wander to each of the five distinctive districts with ease,...

September 11, 2013 Hanoi Streetlife

Read time – 1 minute Fragrant wafts of lemongrass, ginger and chilli envelop my nose and tease my taste buds as I wait for my bowl of aromatic pho ga to cool. Sitting outside on a plastic chair of questionable quality and stability, I’m almost too close for comfort to the frenetic mix of scooters,...

September 11, 2013 Self-Guided Cycling in Burgundy

Read time – 2 minutes Ever since his early days working as an Exodus overland driver, Phil Normington has travelled extensively. Perhaps surprisingly, some of his favourite trips have been not so far from home. Over many years working at Exodus, I’ve tried many different styles of holiday – overland expeditions, trekking in the Himalayas,...

September 11, 2013 Weird and Wonderful Wildlife Facts

Read time – 3 minutes Planet Earth is teeming with wildlife; big cats prowl African savannahs, birdsong symphonies ring out from rainforest canopies, whales breach at the ends of the Earth as Mountain gorillas beat their chests from an East African jungle nest…our animal kingdom always astonishes and amazes us. There are millions of different...

September 11, 2013 Tackling Altitude On Everest Trek

Read time – 4 minutes “Chickole, chickole” were going to be the wisest words I would hear on my Everest base camp trek. Meaning “slowly, slowly” our guides Lakpa and Nima would repeat them every time we hoisted our packs on. With every inch the trail snaked higher into the mountains, the closer their words...

September 11, 2013 Cross Country Skiing Holiday in Norway

Read time – 1 minute Norway: in summer, a lush mountain arena bedecked in tiny wildflowers. But once the skies expel millions of frozen flakes, this landscape is a shrine to pristine winter white, like the Christmases you dreamed of as a child. Norway in Winter Gliding through this landscape on skis, as the locals do,...

September 11, 2013 Kerala – God’s Own Country

Read time – 2 minutes A gentle voice coaxed me from outside my cabin on board the Kerala houseboat. A faint knock accompanied the words, “good morning – tea or coffee?” Already awake, I had been lazily gazing through my cabin window since the first blush of dawn. Watching Kerala wake up, palm trees swaying...

September 11, 2013 Bear Watching in Canada’s Great Outdoors

Read time – 3 minutes Vicky bears all about her recent wildlife adventure in Canada’s great outdoors hotspot, British Columbia… “CAUTION: BEAR IN AREA” proclaims the yellow and blue sign on the jetty. The boat’s engine is cut. We drift full of anticipation. I am not the only one scanning the forest ahead, half expecting...

September 10, 2013 Egypt Family Holiday

Read time – 2 minutes “After we have seen the Mummies can we see the Daddies?” asked my son on a recent visit to the British Museum. By the time I had finished explaining that Mummies actually had something to do with bandages and dead, rich people rather than ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’ his attention had...

September 10, 2013 Finding Shangri-La in Nepal

Read time – 4 minutes Let me start by saying “Namaste” – a Nepalese greeting, and a word which will always conjure up my fondest memories of Nepalese culture. It translates as ‘I bow to you’, just one facet of the respectful way the Nepalese treat all forms of life. Nepalese prayer wheels For years...