Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

There were lots of highlights but the less obvious was the beautiful seaside resort of Kas where I had a day to relax and explore on my own and the lovely Islamic town of Konya. The floodlit mosque was stunning as was watching the sunset at Pamukkale with wine provided by our tour leader!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Emir was a lovely man and very knowledgable about all the gods and extensive history of Turkey as well as being fun.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared for 38C+ heat in August, take appropriate clothing for mosque visits, including headscarves for ladies, long trousers for men. Last 2 road journeys are long - ours were 9 hours plus including toilet and lunch stops. Driver is obliged to take at least a 45 minute break for Tachograph reasons so take plenty of music or reading material.

Most Inspirational Moment

The underground city of Derinkuyu and Cappadocia.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Atahan did his best. His knowledge about Turkey was impressive and his organizational skills really good.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing the candy mountains at Pamekalle and paddling in the warm spring water.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ali was very informative amd knowledgeable about the history of all the places we visited. He was always considerate towards all the members of the group and treated us all equally.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Wear long sleeves and long trousers for the Lycian way walk in Kas and be prepared for a spot of mountain climbing!

Most Inspirational Moment

Too many to mention.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent knowledge and very good English, very professional.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don’t expect great hotels and be prepared to carry/drag cases around now and then.

Suggestions

I would have been prepared to pay a little more for better hotels.

Most Inspirational Moment

I think the best was when some of us visited a local hamman. It was very old but very beautiful inside the building. After being steamed, scrubbed and pummelled I realised that this is what people had been having for centuries, and now I myself had been able to participate in the experiance. being a bit of a history buff I loved the fact that I had been able to continure with a practice so old.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent. I have travelled the world and before only 2 group leaders had made anygood impression, one in the Dolomites and one in Uzbekistan. Our tour leader was Ali Kartal and he has now joined as one of the best.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be aware that you do spend a lot of time in a coach. However, your compensation is that you see a lot of the countryside and visit some wonderful sites.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing Galipoli and gaining a greater understanding of the battles fought there. Generally getting a sense of the ancient history of this part of the world Experiencing the power of nature at Cappadocia.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ali was excellent! He’s knowledgeable, organized, personable and has a brilliant sense of humour. He’s also wonderful at managing a diverse group - although we regularly told him we were his best group ever.

Advice for Potential Travellers

To understand the pace and how that, more than anything else will be challenging. I would also suggest that walking poles could be offered as a suggestion in the trip notes for anyone who may need than. This is relevant for only a few days.

Suggestions

This trip was invaluable in teaching me how to determine which types of trips to book in the future.

Most Inspirational Moment

The Wow moment was the Roman theatre at Aspendos,

Thoughts on Group Leader

Aysenur Geng was excellent, her depth of knowledge was incredible and her organisational skill very good. Personally I did have some problems with her pronunciation of English

Advice for Potential Travellers

be prepared for anything

Most Inspirational Moment

We were blown away by the “Cotton Castles” and, of course, Cappadocia and the underground dwellings. The rock formations in both those areas are really unusual and beautiful. Unfortunately the group was not able to take the balloon ride at Cappadocia because of weather conditions.

Thoughts on Group Leader

We had just finished a tour of Sri Lanka with an outstanding guide so maybe it made us more dissatisfied with the guide we had on this trip. Her English was difficult to understand and her explanations more convoluted; she was often repetitive. It took up too much time at the site which could have been spent exploring. It might have been better given on the bus. A couple of times we wanted to stop for photographs, but told it was too dangerous or cost money when there was an obvious pull off or we would have been glad to pay. We did not really learn about other aspects of Turkish life, the politics, religion (except for Sufism) and culture.

Advice for Potential Travellers

We suggest that if you take this trip, you spend a few extra days in Istanbul before or after exploring Topkapi, Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Dolmadahce Palace and various other museums, plus hanging out with the locals.

Suggestions

Couple of the hotel rooms were so small we had nowhere to put our suitcases, and one had no hot water, another no separate shower, might be better to charge a little more for the trip and provide slightly better accommodation. A leisure level trip is likely to have more senior people on it so I think it would be better to have a more senior guide.

Most Inspirational Moment

Having been steeped in ancient history from an early age I was amazed to find myself in Troy and to realise that it was a very small small acropolis but with great influence both geographically and historically.

Thoughts on Group Leader

I have been on many Exodus trips and generally have admired the leaders. This time though, Tolga excelled all my previous experience. Knowledgeable and caring about his country and caring of his guests ---and a gastronome who led us to all the best eateries [all Exodus clients seem ready for the next meal].

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do take the trip. One tip is that in terms of cash, it is better to put money into your back account at home and to use the many ATM's available everywhere. There are far more ATM's [and they are open all hours of course] than there are exchange outlets.

Suggestions

Exodus are so reliable-- trustworthy in all circumstances. On this trip we had to be diverted because of unrest in Ankara and it happened calmly, seamlessly and very satisfactorily.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were very many inspirational moments including our visit to 'tremendos' Aspendos with it's 'stupendos' theatre, the spiritual experience of a performance by Whirling Dervishes of the Sema ceremony and exploring the superb city of Hierapolis which was completely unexpected above the travertines of Pumakkale. But for us, the most inspirational moment was undoubtedly in the peaceful setting of Celaleddin Rumi mausoleum in the Mevlana Museum in Konya.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Absolutely superb! He worked so hard to assist each one of us whenever he could and with great wit and humour in order to make our trip as enjoyable as possible. What a gem you have there. It was a great pleasure to meet him and share the journey with him and our fantastic driver - Unal - who was such a gracious traveling companion too. Unal was always there to pick us up on time and handle all our luggage and often went out of his way to assist us. His negotiation of rush hour traffic, especially in Ankara and Istanbul with patience and no little skill was exemplary.

Advice for Potential Travellers

We would probably advise potential travellers on this trip to extend their stay in Istanbul by a day before or after the tour, though we did get to see some of the many places of interest in this great city.

Suggestions

I could go on and on about all the incredible experiences we had on this trip - I could not recommend it highly enough. Best to go and do it for yourself - you won't be dissappointed.