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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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57 Reviews

4.5 out of 5

Reviews

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

Absolutely stunning. I’m still overwhelmed by the experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

Waking up in the yurt camp, with the sun peeking through tiny gaps in the felt roof so it seemed we were looking up at the starrry night sky.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Exceptionally well informed. Nazim could answer any questions and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of Central Asian and European history. He took great care with our safety and ensured that the group stayed together despite the fact that some of us were not as foit as he was! Sometimes he didn't appreciate that we would have liked a bit of space to do our own thing eg eating a picnic in the park.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Watch out for the very oily food and take plenty of Immodium with you! The temperature in September was ideal, but nights are starting to get cool (especially when eating outdoors) so take a fleece or similar.

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

A very well structured and organized tour through a country still seemingly struggling to modernize and improve the standard of living for it’s citizens. Although the people are not overtly religious, Uzbekistan has some of the most beautiful mosques and madrassas I’ve seen throughout my travels through the muslim world. The country’s infrastructure needs improvement and it’s currency (Som) desperately needs notes in much larger denominations for ease of USD/Euro/GBP exchange. The country is immaculately clean and I felt safe at all times. Cuisines other than Uzbek and Russian are difficult to locate outside the larger cities, so this is not really a tour for the discerning pallette. The Uzbek people are lovely and eager to make friends with foreigners. Handicrafts (Embroidery,wood carvings,ceramics, etc.)of very high quality abound for haggling, (Sorry Dr. R. ur haggling skills needed UN intervention!!!)  

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing the beautiful,well maintained, and  clean (unlitered) cities and environs. The people seem to take a genuine sense of pride and responsibility for their environment (homeland).

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader (Johnnybek) was very knowlegible. He was organized, well-mannered, and managed all 16 personalities of our group without hardly any difficulties.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Discuss the "black market" currency exchange  process with your tour leader before exchanging large amounts of USD. Euro, etc  at the hotel or bank rates!!!!   There are great "price fixed" handicraft shops just outside the registan ensemble in Samarkand ( In diretion of the bazaar) for those travelers who would rather not haggle for souveniers!!!!  Wifi  was available in most of the hotels.

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

The trip ensured we saw all the main sights with a knowledgeable guide and also had plenty of time to take photos.  I felt comfortable and safe throughout the trip and our guide was very helpful.

Most Inspirational Moment

I enjoyed Khiva most, being a very well preserved walled city the visual impact of the history associated with the country is hard to miss.  I also enjoyed the Kazak singer at the camp fire in the Yurt camp, apart from experiencing this specific type of music the setting made us all relax and feel how special the simplicity of the night was.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader was very good.  He was very relaxed, fun and nothing was ever a problem.  He was very knowledgeable about the sites we were visiting and gave general information and advice to help us enjoy our stay in Uzbekistan. 

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a safe country where female and single travellors should feel safe.  I would recommend taking a sleeping bag liner to the Yurt.  Only a couple of times were we required to wear modest clothing to visit some holy places, clothes covering womens elbows and knees was needed.

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

A well constructed tour, culminating with the visit to Registan Square in Samarkand.  The hotels were adequate and the local food passable.  Each of the towns Khiva, Bokhara and Samarkand have there own individual attractions and were well worth visiting, particularly when one reads into the turbulant history of the region.  An excellent and eye-opening tour.

Most Inspirational Moment

Perhaps the first sight of Registan Square was the most inspirational

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader, an Uzbek national, had a good knowledge of the region and organised the tour well

Advice for Potential Travellers

It seems that the whole road between Khiva and Bokhara is being upgraded at present - be prepared for a rough ride. Always take the group leader's advice on suitable places to eat

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

A very good trip, with the right balance of sights, free time and experiencing the culture.  The monuments were impressive and it was interesting to see how Soviet rule still cast a shadow 20 years after independence. 

Most Inspirational Moment

Overall the most striking experience was to see how friendly the people were.  Happy to chat to visitors, have their photo taken or just smile and wave.  The two days in Khiva were probably the highlight of the trip, specially wandering around the town after the official sight seeing.  The locally produced art and crafts were impressive, good choices and reasonable prices.  What was noticable was that stall holders didn't hassle potential customers too much.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The tour leader was very knowledgeable and gauged the mood of the group well.  He was flexible to meet the group's or individual's needs and adapt the schedule, when it became necessary (e.g. delayed flights)

Advice for Potential Travellers

Great place to visit, take plenty of cash for those souvenirs and pack a few cereal bars - food was a bit repetetive...

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

Great trip, my only regret being that I wished I’d taken it a little earlier in the year when it wouldn’t have been quite so hot, but wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

Most Inspirational Moment

It's incredibly hard to pick out anything above everything else - highlights include the women's hammam (heaven itself after the previous day's long bus ride!), getting used to a wodge of local currency and just the whole 'wow factor' of most of the places we visited. Even after days of mosques, mausoleums and madrassahs, Uzbekistan still seemed to have something to make you take a mental step back!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Having read a previous review, I'd had some qualms about what this trip would be like, but our group leader was more than up to the challenge - nothing was too much trouble for him, which was no mean feat for a group where a third of the people were vegetarians in a resolutely meat-eating culture! He always seemed to strike the right balance between being involved enough in what the group was doing but also letting people go their own way at times, while still being there for an emergency translation when our haggling skills fell apart...

Advice for Potential Travellers

The trip notes do not lie when they talk about long bus rides and anyone taking this trip needs to realise what's involved - the longest one is a bit of a killer mostly because of the poor condition of a significant portion of the road, though our driver was excellent and it never felt unsafe. Vegetarians should resign themselves to a limited menu and fill up on the first course salads (which are usually fantastic) when they can! Approaching this trip with a flexible attitude towards food is key. 

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

Some amazing sights punctuated with some fairly long bus journeys.  Hotels better than I expected, although food was at times a bit of a challenge.

Most Inspirational Moment

A lot to choose from, but the desert fortresses were much better than I'd expected (monumental in a desert landscape) and the silence and brilliant skies and solitude of the yurt camp were to be savoured.  The blue tiled architecture is fantastic against a blue sky - the photographers in our group had a field day.  There's a lot of history here and very little evidence of the nastier sides of the regime picked up on in pre-holiday reading (no soldiers/tanks etc). 

Thoughts on Group Leader

I think we may have been both lucky and unlucky here.  Our leader had excellent knowledge (mentioned by name in the Lonely Planet guide) but wasn't used to leading groups - she'd been given the gig at the last moment and was struggling with it a bit e.g. there was never a welcome meeting as she felt uncomfortable with holding one, but that meant she never really found out the temperature of the group and what it wanted.  As a group we needed more advice on places to eat and she didn't seem to acknolwedge that lunch existed!  Pretty clear she wasn't one of the usual leaders though so probably (?) not representative.  It didn't spoil the holiday but was a frustration for some.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Veggies really should stock up on supplies or reconsider Uzbekistan, it is a concept that doesn't really compute!  Otherwise, just the usual safety stuff - no one on our trip was affected by tummy troubles, but we were all taking sensible precuations, and take plenty of entertainment for the long road trips.