Reviews

Fellow travellers make all the difference

First time, out of 6 Exodus trips, I was on my own but once again the like minded group were great. We had great fun while taking in the history and scenery that Jordan has to offer. The guide “Sammy” was exceptional in his knowledge of Jordan which made the history more engaging when sighting. Hotels used had good rooms with comfortable beds, however, breakfast was very limited in selection in most of them. Food in general was not brilliant, with rice, chicken and goat as staple diet. Snacks during cycling brilliant. Bikes were very good and you always had the support vehicle if problems. Overall, you need to see Jordan by any means.

Coach trip with a bit of biking bolted on??

Have done quite a few trips with Exodus before and all have been generally well organised. I felt this trip was really organised as a coach trip with a bit of cycling bolted on and its a shame the trip leader didn’t double up as the cycle leader. I was hoping for a fair bit of cycling on this trip but found myself being led to local mosques (it was in the itinerary therefore we must do it, come rain or sunshine) for a “tour” which I was’t really interested in.

The quality of the bikes used weren’t fit for purpose (Exodus, you need to get new bikes for his trip!!), and they were certainly not the front suspension bikes advertised in the trip notes. In fact, given the amount of steep downhill riding, it would be very helpful to have bikes with functioning brakes (my rear brakes could be fully engaged and I’d still be able to push my bike forward!), or even better, with disc brakes. It would also be useful to have bikes that would change gear under pressure (i.e. when cycling uphill). I understand that bikes on these types of trips are heavily used, but that doesn’t mean they should be badly looked after. Finally, on the subject of bikes, the bike mechanics on this trip were also pretty awful – I had a bike that would not change gears on the uphill (see point above) and when I asked the mechanics to look at this, their answer seemed to be to spin the peddles, change the gears and tell me there was nothing wrong (or worse still, that I didn’t know how to ride a bike).

Most of the cycling was pretty great, its a shame there wasn’t more of it. The only gripe I had about this was that the coach would literally trail behind the last rider by only 2 – 3 meters and if you are the last rider, that is not a pleasant experience!!!

The trip leader was fairly knowledgeable, though very repetitive, and a little confusing with his plans at times. I also wish trip leaders on these types of trips would actually recommend nice places to eat, rather than to suggest always eating in hotels – I had high hopes for the food in Jordan but unfortunately I only had one memorable meal. That brings me onto lunches and snacks…. We were asked to cough up 45 JD at the beginning of the trip for lunches and tips for the hotels – this was significantly more than the trip notes suggested (20 – 25 JD) – this covered us for snacks (biscuits and dates and 5 lunches (mainly pre-bought sandwiches). When asked if it was necessary to provide money for snacks (I had brought a lot of my own), I was told it was mandatory, not optional as the trip notes stated.

Quality of the hotels was generally fine. Wadi Rum is an “experience” if you’ve never done that type of thing before. If you have camped out in the desert before, then its just another forced night out in a random campsite. In Morocco last year I did a night out in the desert in a similar camp – the folks running the camp then at least tried to entertain us with local music, but there was no such thing in Wadi Rum – the trip leader and staff disappeared straight after dinner.

Finally, the transport used was kinda dirty, and I mean chewing gum stuck on the back of seats dirty – the coaches could certainly do with a bit of a clean.

Most Inspirational Moment

The day of cycling across the desert - the scenery is amazing, though there are a few steep hills which are quite hard work when your gears don't work!!!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very knowledgeable but a bit too repetitive and talked way too much. I've also never felt so controlled by the trip leader on a trip before.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are wanting a cycling experience, there are better trips out there. If you're interested in culture and are happy to have a trip leader talk to you for ages at a time, with a bit of leisurely cycling thrown in, this trip might be for you.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Denise for her feedback, although we are very sorry to hear that she was disappointed in the quality of equipment provided for the trip and other aspects of the itinerary. We have contacted Denise on an individual basis, but would like to confirm that a new bike fleet has been purchased and these will be used for Exodus trips from March 2018.

We have also reviewed the set-up of snacks and lunches to ensure that this is communicated clearly to clients in an appropriate way.

There is normally a performance of Rababa and dancing at the Wadi Rum camp and we have discussed this with the Bedouin Camp owners to reiterate what our clients and Exodus expect as part of this experience.

Monica Princic – Product Manager for Jordan

Trip of a lifetime!

What a way to see a stunning country! Cycling in the heat of the desert, walking through the Siq towards the Treasury at Petra, sleeping under the stars in Wadi Rum. I’d always wanted to go to Petra, so in trying to build a holiday around some time in Petra, it made perfect sense to pick up a bike and see the country rather than sitting in a stuffy coach.

In a word - excellent!

Great value for money. The trip was superbly organised by local guides, in the case of my group led by Zuhair, ably supported by Abeed’s bike team. The visits to towns were not too long, and there was plenty to visit and see outside of the major centres. The full commentary by Zuhair – including an exhaustive geopolitical and historical narrative on the last few centuries of regions – was a bonus, as was the 2-hour camel ride near Wadi Rum and a swim in Dead Sea (both included in the price). I would certainly recommend this trip.

Excellent Trip

It was awesome. Sami was very knowledgable. He in Petra, he guided us through paths not common to tourist. Another perspective to look at Petra with incredible view. Weather was hot but the hike was worth it. Good to go during cooler periods. Everything was excellent. However, it would be good if we can have the city tour at the start of the trip imstead the end as by the time we get back from Aqaba, the momentum of the trip kinda drop. Nonetheless, an excellent trip!

Good holiday, Rubbish Equipment

Excellent holiday. Hotel wasn’t bad, Equipment was crap, we had a bike mechanic that didn’t care and didn’t know what he was doing. Should of better bikes and if we had more people on the holiday, then I wouldn’t know how they would of coped.

Most Inspirational Moment

Went to Petra to see all the temples.

Thoughts on Group Leader

I've had better before. The first group leader never rode with us

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take more money for the add ones.

Reply from Exodus

We would like to thank Neil for his feedback, although we are very sorry to hear that he was disappointed in the quality of equipment provided for the trip. The safety of our clients and quality of our bikes and equipment are of the upmost importance to us, and we will be investigating the issues Neil has raised in order to ensure all equipment meets the high standards we expect from our local operators.

 

Monica Princic – Product manager for Jordan

Petra & Wadi Rum by bike

A fast paced trip but combining the cycling with sightseeing was fantastic.

Petra & Wadi Rum By Bike (and Minibus)

We enjoyed the tour and all of the historical sites that we visited; we also enjoyed the recreational trips to swim or see the desert. I enjoyed the cycling and, as a regular rider in the UK, I did not find any of it difficult. We did not find the heat a problem but we have had regular holidays in Greece.
All of the Jordani people we met were friendly and helpful; some enthusiastic marketing of goods and services but nothing aggressive.

Wonderful in large parts

Jordan is an incredible place in many ways and this trip was very well-organised to show us as much as possible. However, there were some things that let the trip – and us – down. As a keen cyclist I was disappointed with the actual distances we ended up cycling in this trip, they were never as long as the trip notes said they would be. Unfortunately the pace was also frequently too slow and there was only one cycle guide which meant the trip couldn’t cater for different abilities. On other trips I’ve done there have been two, sometimes three guides to help people going at all speeds and this was a real downside here. It was very hilly in parts, which I enjoyed mainly, but it might not suit everyone. While our guide Wael was very informative, funny and good company, there were times when he seemed disorganised and he left us to go on another trip before seeing us back to the airport. A real disappointment was the snacks – basically we hardly had any! Strawberries on one day and a box of biscuits was passed around on a couple of days but then on both occasions disappeared, never to be seen again. We had dates precisely twice. Overall I thought this was really poor, especially as we had each given 30 Jordanian dollars towards snacks etc at the beginning of the week and 10x 35 is 350 Jordanian dinar which is early £400! We definitely didn’t get value for money there at all. There were no cold drinks and when I asked we were promised we would stop and get some but that never happened. Another problem is the trip notes – the costing was out on everything. They recommend to bring about £350 – well I ended up having to take out another £300 over the trip and that was without buying anything major. Jordan is very expensive, especially if you drink alcohol – about £6-8 for a beer or glass of wine. Also all of the trips cost more than the notes said and I didn’t do many of them. Exodus needs to update all of this asap. On the plus side, Petra was breathtakingly beautiful and inspiring, Jerash was also amazing and the desert was special too. It was a nice group of people and I am glad I experienced Jordan – it felt completely safe and most people were friendly and warm.

Jordan was great - the cycling was not!!

We loved Jordan! The itinerary was very good – we got to see and do a lot in our week, a great variety of sights and experiences. Having been on several cycling holidays (with Exodus and other companies) we thought we knew what to expect. We did NOT expect the first 2 rides to be all fast downhill (with the exception of the last couple of miles) on bikes with terrible brakes. I like to earn a downhill and whizzing downwards concentrating on where I was going meant that I didn’t really appreciate the view and the bad brakes made it hard work! The 3rd ride was truly awful but not normal itinerary ride so no comment. At last, the 4th ride was as we expected – some up, some down, lovely views, camels running down the road in front of us, a baby donkey running alongside us and a picnic at the end of the ride, perfect! The last ride was just a short, flat and fairly boring ride to the desert camp. The cycling element also made some of the other things a bit rushed. On the whole the cycling felt a bit ‘tacked on’ and not a cohesive part of the trip!