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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14440 Reviews
4.7 out of
5
Reviews
Cerian Mellor
Reviewed April 2018
What are you waiting for, just book!
Beautiful scenery, wonderful people, tremendous food and days packed with activities and smiles. Traditionally, as an independent solo traveller, I wasn’t sure about a group trip. But, attracted by the idea of a cycling holiday and in need of a hassle free adventure in an amazing location, this seemed like the perfect solution. It absolutely did not disappoint.
From the friendly and efficient booking process, through well organised travel and transfers, to an immediate and warm welcome upon arrival, the Exodus arrangements could not be faulted. The cycling built up over the first few days allowing acclimatisation to sun and saddle, so whether good cyclist or weekend warrior, this trip is very achievable for those with a general fitness. Son Nguyen and his team offered superb support throughout the trip, and facilitated access to local people and experiences that are mostly not afforded to two-week tourists tied to hotel chains, bus tours or backpacker haunts. Vietnam has so much history, culture and culinary delight to offer and being part of a great group of like-minded people, game to try as much as possible during their adventure, made this trip just perfect. Thanks Son and crew, for making us so welcome in your country!
Most Inspirational Moment
So many moments stand out that it would be unfair to say which was the most inspirational. Hanoi is a magical city I shall undoubtedly visit again for its vibrant life, but it might not have been appreciated so much without having passed through beautiful, tranquil countryside full of colour, laughing children, and stunning scenery. The camaraderie around achieving the 100km mark and the 10km Hai Van Pass was a highlight too!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Son did a great job at bringing Vietnam to life for us. Patient, organised, thoughtful and a good leader even when the weather meant changes to the plan - to us it felt seamless, and there was a smile & laugh for every occasion. He also did a good job of pricking our environmental consciousness with good reminders about single use plastics - keep up the good work!
Clive Okill
Reviewed April 2018
Walking in the footsteps of the Incas
It was the first time we toured with Exodus Travels and was one of the most marvellous trips I have ever taken. The scenery was breathtaking, the guide was outstanding, the trip organisation was beyond reproach, and the best thing I can add to that is that my wife and I are now planning our next holiday (possibly to Vietnam) with Exodus travels.
Most Inspirational Moment
Climbing up 'Dead Woman's Pass' and seeing the spectacular ruins of Machu Picchu in the mountain mists below us.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader, Rolando Saico was simply outstanding. Helpful, courteous and knowledgeable in every way. His assistant on trip TPT 180405 Javier I think that's how you spell his name) was also very good.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Go with Exodus Travels. But if you take the Inca trail and especially the High Inca trail, take good care of your knees. As a trail, it's not too difficult but there are lots of steps which can tax your thighs and knees and if you are not familiar with high altitudes then pace yourself as oxygen levels are reduced.
Jane van der Ploeg
Reviewed April 2018
Beautiful sea views. Wonderful people
This is a self guided 6 day walking holiday. You stay in a wonderful hotel the whole week on a half board basis.
Most Inspirational Moment
The views and the colours of the sea are mindblowing.
The location of the hotel cannot be beaten. We were right next to the sea.
We found the people charming, gentle and friendly.
Blue Hole Park - red cardinal birds and resident white eye vireos
Spittal Pond - peaceful nature reserve
Crystal Caves - fascinating and awesome stalactites and stalacmites
Gibbs lighthouse - panaramic viesw of the whole island
The history of the islands is very interesting - it was uninhabited untill 500 years ago
Thoughts on Group Leader
Tim was very informative and enthusiastic about his adopted homeland. To be honest we just got on with it - and this is what the set up was. We had no problems so we didn't need to contact him after the first meeting.
Advice for Potential Travellers
To be honest Bermuda isn't, in my opinion, a natural choice for a walking holiday. It is 24 sq miles with 64,000 inhabitants ( and their cars). Everywhere was pretty busy and you're never far from the noise of traffic. However we did find a few oases of quiet. ( Helped by the excellent walking notes).
Beware the cruise ships which disgorge up to 3,000 passengers at a time. They fill up the buses, which then don't stop if you're not getting on at a terminus. Other that this the included travel pass was great.
Bermuda is eyewateringly expensive - cheapest bottle of quaffing wine from hotel list was $45 + 17% gratuity - about £40. They add 17% on to all bills. A simple lunch set us back $50 - no alcohol.
The meals at the hotel are good, but the dinner menu didn't change for the week. I am vegetarian. However they let you mix and match and also choose stuff off the lunch menu - or cobble something together with a couple of sides.
There's a fridge in the room so you can stock up with pre dinner drinks if you want.
Money is easily available.
The day you leave you have the whole day free, so you can fit in a couple of bits you missed during the week - or loaf around the pool/beach.
Joyce Cheyne
Reviewed April 2018
Awesome adventure
If you want to see the best of Borneo this trip’s for you. Beautiful country, great food, lovely friendly people and oh boy did we see wildlife! So many highlights. The incredible proboscis monkeys were hilarious and so much fun to watch, silver leaf langurs including a mum and baby, red leaf langurs, long tailed and pig tailed macaques, pit vipers, monitor lizards, orang utans (of course) in Sepilok and also in the wild (very special moments), Bornean sun bears at their rescue centre (definitely worth a visit), mouse deer, Northern Bornean gibbon family in the wild (utterly brilliant to watch), Bornean colugo (flying lemur – which isn’t a lemur), red giant flying squirrel which we watched flying with a beautiful sunset backdrop – really special, slow loris, leopard cat – what a find! – sambar deer, loads of frogs, lizards, the most amazing insects ever, a huge 3m long salt water crocodile, baby salt water crocodile, flying lizard, bats galore in the most amazing caves at Mulu and Gomantong which also has the swiftlet nests and of course the bat exodus from Deer cave at sundown, had the most amazing experience watching Borneo pygmy elephants swimming in convoy across a river, young ones too with trunks up, heard them trumpeting and watched two mums with young ones feeding right at the water’s edge – so special. Then there’s the birds! Hornbills galore, eagles, hawks, Buffy fish owls, sunbirds, kingfishers, broadbills, storks, egrets, flycatchers, bee eaters, flowerpeckers, bulbuls, kites, sandpipers, herons, doves, mynas and more. The bird watchers were very happy. Night walks and the night drive were a revelation, so much comes out at night from scorpions to stick insects. Not scary at all just fascinating. Boat trips were excellent, saw so many birds and monkeys in the trees.
Loved staying in the longhouse, an experience not to be missed. The Borneo Rainforest Lodge in the Danum Valley was exquisite, 5* in every way; the rooms, the food, the attentive staff, the massage, the local guides, the drivers who also spotted wildlife and the red leaf monkeys in the forest having their breakfast at the same time as us.
Most Inspirational Moment
Watching the wild gibbon family and orang utans in the Danum Valley was pretty special. It was a hike to get there but the guides pace the walks so well pointing out all the wildlife, birds and important trees/foliage used in cooking and medicine so always interesting, worth every step.
Watching the pygmy elephants swimming across the river in convoy, trunks up, babies in tow and feeding at the water's edge while others were trumpeting was an extraordinary experience.
Bat exodus from the Deer Cave in Mulu was pretty special, waves of bats that went on for ages.
Watching the flying squirrel. An experience I'll probably not repeat.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Superb trip and we were very fortunate to be in the hands of a truly exceptional trip leader in Rony. He went the extra mile every hour of every day to make sure we had the trip of a lifetime and he succeeded. We all trusted Rony completely, he earned that trust daily.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Do everything! Even if you don't particularly like insects or bats by a few days in you'll love them, they're so incredible.
Drink loads of water! Makes all the difference in the heat and humidity. I was a bit worried about that before I went but it's fine, doesn't stop you walking up hill just take your time, everyone did. There's plenty of air-con or fans to give you a break from it.
Trip notes advise cash to take. I adopted an orang utan at Sepilok, had a fantastic massage in the Danum Valley, went snorkelling, bought a few souvenirs and still came home with £120. Rony found us great food and beer at local prices so it's very cheap to eat. He also told us the best snorkelling trip for value for money.
Take videos on your phone and camera. They are so good to watch when home and convey behaviour that a photo doesn't.
Get your laundry done it's so cheap. Got all mine done before I came home for £4 and that was with a tip! (Not at the Sheraton!)
Susan Keane
Reviewed April 2018
Mules carrying luggage
Although I’ve been back home a while. I still have memories of seeing a mules loaded up with our heavy suitcases. Their legs buckling underneath. A taxi brought some of our group up the mountain so it was possible to transport our luggage down in a vehicle. I still don’t understand while animals are used to do this. It’s not quaint – it’s abuse.
PleAse look at PETA. In Jordan a collapsed horse carrying suitcases is kicked in the face by its owner. It’s time to stop this abuse. Please check no animals are used on your next holiday.
Sorry Exodus but you did not change the situation in Morocco when I complained.
Most Inspirational Moment
All of it except the use of mules.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Great
Advice for Potential Travellers
Check no animals are used on your trip. We saw donkey viciously kicked by member of staff on trip to Roman site. He worked at the site.
Reply from Exodus
We sincerely regret that Susan’s experience in Morocco has left her with such disappointment with the use of animals on the tour and has highlighted the animal abuse present in Jordan; Exodus does not use horses on our tours in Jordan due to their known mistreatment. We do, however, use mules in Morocco as it provides local employment and the environment is different to that in Jordan. Our local partners in Morocco are part of an initiative in the High Atlas to create awareness amongst local people about mule care and have held workshops for muleteers from a number of local communities in regards to mule care and welfare in association with a British organisation. Whilst we cannot control the actions of locals not working with Exodus we are confident that this training is helping to spread further education to muleteers and encourage care which puts the animal’s welfare as a priority. Exodus leaders are tasked to report any animal cruelty that they may see whilst on our tours, and they request that certain muleteers are not used on Exodus tours should they witness any cruelty towards the animals.
Tom Harari – Product Manager for Morroco
andrew longley
Reviewed April 2018
Everest Basecamp & Back
Amazing experience! Loved everything minute of it from Namche to basecamp and back. Our Guide Bikash was fantastic, creating a great group atmosphere and taking care of everyone with professionalism.
Most Inspirational Moment
Reaching Basecamp
Thoughts on Group Leader
Bikash was a great leader
Ted Cornell
Reviewed April 2018
Amazing Trip!
The trip was really amazing. The itinerary was perfect, with long and short rides, a variety of interesting places to see and to stay. The group was very compatible, and we elected to eat all dinners together. As said at our final meal, we really became a team over the week having fun together and looking out for each other. Our leader, Michele, was terrific and kept us all together with friendly and upbeat manner.
Most Inspirational Moment
There were several high points, including touring Matera and Lecce and staying in a trulli and a farm house, as well as the views of the coasts.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Michele was the best! As a leader he kept us together in a friendly, gentle way and was always upbeat and positive. He knew all of the cultural attractions, and would stop to show them to us on the way or walking around town after dinner. Michele also arranged some great dinners for us. He really made it extra fun for all of us.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Good idea to spend an extra day in Matera and Lecce, lots to see there.
GILL BLACKGROVE
Reviewed April 2018
A great week af culture and long journeys
The trip involves a lot of travel, but the Sahara and Gite experiences were worth it. Take the itinerary with a small pinch of salt [which the food also needs] and enjoy the experience.
Most Inspirational Moment
sleeping out under the Sahara stars, with Bedouin musicians softly drumming me to sleep.
I loved the gite too - Walking up to the gite, especially along the river and seeing the villages as we walked. I chose not to go on any walk and enjoyed relaxing in the superb views - the 3-4 hour walk came back in 5 hours......
I enjoyed the ad-hoc school visit too.
Ait Ben Haddou at sunset was beautiful
Thoughts on Group Leader
Abdul was fun and funny - though his timings and distances were more Moroccan than British. the Hamman at the gite was "just next door" and turned out to be 10 minutes up a very narrow rocky pathway - hazardous as we came down in pitch dark, some people in flip flops.
He was full of enthusiasm and organised us well.
Advice for Potential Travellers
ITINERARY - go with the flow as far as itinerary and trip notes and timing are concerned.
MONEY - We arrived on a Saturday and could change no money until Monday, so I'd advise you to change some money at least on arrival or before you travel. I also lost £150 somewhere between arrival and Ouerzazete [day 1 and day 2] - could have been carelessness, but it was probably stolen. No ATM anywhere would give me money, so I had to borrow.
Although we ladies had a huge hilarious laugh at the hammam experience, I'd not do it again - I can scrub myself thank you and am not one who enjoys the stripping off / manhandling experience.
Anonymous User
Reviewed April 2018
Costa Rica Family Adventure
Family adventure trip – you moved on every couple days so you needed to pack wisely. There was a lot of boat trips and travelling around the country. There was a huge amount of wildlife to see so a pair of binoculars is good. Highlights were Tortugero National Park – truly remote location, beach at Cahuita and seeing Buttercup.
Most Inspirational Moment
White water rafting at Sarapiqui - instructors were great - really good with the kids and great lunch provided afterwards.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Jorge was inspirational - his knowledge of the wildlife was exceptional. He was great with the kids.
Advice for Potential Travellers
A plastic poncho - raincoats even the highest tech do not shelter you or backpacks enough from the torrential downpours, and invariably it takes jackets a long time to dry out.
The luggage is packed onto a minibus so we found that smaller wheelie cases worked well.
Paul Clifton
Reviewed April 2018
Trails of Vietnam 1st - 14th April 2018
Overall, this was a very enjoyable and active trip which enabled us to get a good undersanding of the different areas and lifestyles of the people from the hill-tribe villages in the north down to the islands and floating market traders in the Mekong Delta.
Unfortunately, we were all disapointed when we were told that we would not be allowed to stay on our boat in Halong Bay overnight and would not be able to enjoy the planned kayaking around the islands. We had not made aware that this could happen.
Following on from this we had a full day in Hue when it rained the whole day, whilst we did visit the Imperial Citadel and Thien Mu Pagoda (in the rain) it prevented us cycling to other planned places of interest.
Once we had flown south to Ho Chi Minh City and the weather improved (+35C) our moral was restored and we enjoyed a very active and varied 2nd half of the tour.
Most Inspirational Moment
Visiting the two hilltribe settlements of Sung Village and Đá Bia village in Hoa Binh Province. and meeting the Dzau Tien and Muong people. So welcoming, uncommercial, natural and friendly.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader was Phi Hoang. Very nice guy, very knowledgeable and passionate about his country and culture.
A minor criticism would be that he could have provided more information on interesting buildings and points of interest during the many long and tedious bus journeys we undertook. I suppose to him they are just everyday buildings but to us tourists they are all very interesting pieces of architecture and culture.
Also, as I have noticed on my previous trip to Cambodia the guides always seem to take the tourists to the more upmarket, European, trendy and very expensive restaurants (by local standards). Personally, I would prefer to try the more authentic, local cuisine and more "street food". On one occasion, our guide wanted to take us to a restaurant by taxi which we could have walked to faster. When he called taxis to take us back to our hotel after our meal, we refused and said that we wanted to walk a little after our meal. We are all grown adults and do not need to be chaperoned.
Advice for Potential Travellers
I would advise potential travellers to try to add a couple of days onto the start and end of the trip if at all possible as this gives the traveler a little time to acclimatise and to get over some of the jet lag before starting a fairly intensive travell programme.
On this particular trip, I would advise travelers to ensure they take something warm to wear on the overnight train journey with the Reunification Express from Hanoi down to Hue. The air conditioning is absolutely freezing and cannot be controlled from the cabins. The four people in our cabin froze and struggled to get any sleep.
