Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

After we arrived on Saturday, we went from Alberobello to Noci for the New Wine Festival, held on the streets of the town. I really liked being part of the crowded streets, trying the wine, craft beer, roasted chestnuts (a feature of the festival) and great food from all the stalls laid out. Bands were playing and there was street entertainment, like performers doing fire eating! The local people are really friendly and I enjoyed being part of a genuine, event.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Marinella is very good. She helped us with the language and explained the local food dishes to us. She kept the itinerary rolling and got us out of scrapes, where we did not quite know what we were doing! She was very diligent in organising our trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a really good Autumn trip. Really relaxing and warm, when the UK gets cold and wet. The walking is easy but inspiring through crossing olive groves, vineyards, and amongst the trulli (cone roofed houses) of the region. It is on this basis, it should be booked.

Most Inspirational Moment

..walking on the Hejaz railway..

Thoughts on Group Leader

excellent

Advice for Potential Travellers

...do it all

Most Inspirational Moment

The temples of Angkor especially Angkor Wat and getting a real understanding of the 'Pol Pot' Regime in Cambodia.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Chai the 'General Manager' is very professional, well organised and has very good inter personal skills. Fully supportive of the all group members and equally his support teams. It is not easy leading 18 travellers through 3 countries and having different support teams but Chai made it look and feel 'seamless'.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are not a regular cyclist but are reasonably fit and want 'an Asian experience' do not hesitate to consider this tour as 99.5% of the cycling is flat or on only very slight inclines although be prepared for the heat.

Most Inspirational Moment

Though not for the faint-hearted, the magnificent and rugged landscape, the tough/arduous trekking, and the tranquility of the journey allows you to put things into perspective. This, combined with a fantastic group of people, made for a most enjoyable and memorable trip.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ngima was an inspirational leader, always there with encouragement and humour to ease our journey. Ngima kept us informed throughout our trek and, along with his chief and assistant guides, made this a hugely memorable (and educational) experience for our group. (I think a special mention for the porters and Yak driver is in order; these guys, through their hard work and efforts, made the logistically challenging task of moving sixteen people's kit look easy. The work that the whole team put in made this trip a seamless and enjoyable experience. Well done all!)

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a tough but rewarding trip that is both physically and, at times, mentally demanding. While the group interactions and dynamics can help with mental side of things, the physical is something only you have control over; preparation is key to ensure that you are prepared for (and adapt to) the tough trekking and altitude that you will encounter. Without a doubt I think almost all of my group found the trek difficult at one stage or another, but the fitter and more prepared that you are the better and more enjoyable the trip will be.

Most Inspirational Moment

Being on my own for 10 mins when I got off my bike to walk down a particularly steep track in the Sierra Maestra mountains. The other more experienced, braver mountain bikers rode down of course & I was left briefly on my own. Tropical rain was pouring down as I slithered down enjoying the beauty of the surroundings; an old man in a sombrero was walking slowly up hill pulling a donkey on a rope. He smiled & said ''Hola" as we passed. It felt a surreal but a magical moment.!! Cooling off with a swim in the Carribean sea after some very HOT cycling. The smiling friendly faces of children waving as we rode through villages. They had so little but always looked happy.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Erik was excellent. He was a fount of knowledge about his country and enjoyed discussing the history and current situation. He had a good sense of humour, brilliant English and was very encouraging. He had almost endless patience with a very diverse, mixed age group of clients. Lots of fun.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Hand washing facilities are not great - I wished I had taken alcohol hand cleansing gel as some more experienced travellers did. Quite a few of our group experienced travellers diarrhoea. The group leader was very keen on bike safety, sun, hydration & mosquito safety but I was too slow to realise the risks of brushing my teeth with tap water & eating the peel on some of the delicious tropical fruit provided. . . The leader did tell us later that quite often clients got tummy problems for whatever reason so perhaps a bit more advice around this included in trip notes would be valuable for people planning the trip. Another traveller provided me with immodium which was invaluable when the bus journety has to continue. . . And another had antibiotics in case of such a situation - between them they saved my holiday!!

Most Inspirational Moment

The whole trip was an amazing experience and also a challenge that won't be forgotten for a long while to come. The Gokyo lakes are beautiful and definitely worth seeing. The Cho la pass is a hard day of walking and scrambling but The achievement of finishing it is worth it. The leader, the guide and assistant guides and also porters were all fantastic and a credit to Exodus and couldn't have been more helpful throughout. The accommodation on the whole was as good as could be expected for the height and accessibility and all the staff were helpful and welcoming everywhere we went.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader was excellent, he couldn't have been more helpful, friendly or knowledgable about the trip, nothing was too much trouble day or night.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This trip is not for the faint hearted, it is very hard walking/scrambling on a couple of the days and much harder than the normal Everst base camp trek.

Most Inspirational Moment

The sight of "the fifteen" - one of the sets of Moai on Easter Island. Sunset in the Atacama and dawn in The Torres del Paine were others.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Alex worked so hard for us both to make sure we got the most out of the experience but also sorting out any niggles along the way. He was well informed and seemed to love sharing his country with us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Try to include Easter Island, it is an amazing place. Don't count on the penguin trip, it wasnt possible for us and apparently this is common. Be prepared for a lot of travel but it is worth it as you see so much. There are a lot of variations in temperature so layers work best. Carry snacks and a drink as there were sometimes long gaps between meals.

Most Inspirational Moment

It was the good following the not-so-good. Having bounced onto a rock (did I mention there are a few there?) on a decent on the third day I wisely, I think, and for the first time on any trip, took a ride in the support vehicle to the next village. The inspirational moment was, having ridden down the remainder of the trail, found myself, with others in the group, sporting one of those unstoppable grins that you get after skiing down a fast long snowy piste.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent. Tirelessly maintaining bikes; fixing punctures in flesh and egos and tyres (is there no alternative to conventional pneumatic tyres on this punishing terrain?) and always giving guidance and advice about the next section of dried-up riverbed to be ridden. Liz often gave the opportunity to push a bit harder and was disappointed, I think, that none in the group - even the resident triathlete - was prepared to get up the extra hour and a half earlier to climb the 600m to the start of the day's ride!

Advice for Potential Travellers

When it gets technical and/or steep and/or there's a sheer drop then do concentrate, but otherwise, don't forget to look around and enjoy both the views and just being there - it's too easy to focus down to the track ahead. None of the group took their own bike. The 29" wheel Genesis hardtails have seen a lot of trail but are well maintained- the advantage being that the bike is well maintained for you and don't have to take any spares. I'd recommend taking SPD equivalents and shoes, though in one or two runs with near shear drops you might want to unclip. . I booked an extra couple of nights stay in the Hotel that Exodus use in Agadir. It's very cheap and in my case, still included the airport transfer. With the weather as it was (unbroken sun, 24degC late November) I should have stayed the week! If you're into cycling ;-) you can hire bikes locally (see the hotel notice board) and cycle up into the local hills, or to the bars and restaurants in the marina.

Most Inspirational Moment

There was too much going on to say that any one 'moment' was the most inspirational. Reaching the summit of the 2nd peak; wondering if the tiger was stalking when we saw the very recent paw print; the beauty and scale of the Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar Temple; the calm of the backwaters from the houseboat; the amazing murals of The Mattancherry Palace; and of course the amazing Keralan food!!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Santosh was fantastic. We were a small group of 5 Brits of similar age - a possible challenge for any tour guide, however San read us all perfectly. He showed great judgement where he 'rewrote' the trip agenda to suit the weather, which washed out two of our campsites. He improvised on a 'day off' with a really interesting jeep tour of a tea plantation and 'found' hotel rooms for us all. His knowledge and experience as a guide, gained over many years of working with tour companies, was extensive and he carefully explained as we went along and also answered the many questions we had about life in modern India.

Most Inspirational Moment

I can't limit myself to one single sight. Instead, I will pick the day when we visited the Seljalandfoss waterfall (it was fascinating to walk behind this waterfall), the green house project for the best tomato soup lunch ever, the stunning Gullfoss waterfall, the hot spouts at Geysir, and finally walking along the fault line of the tectonic plates at the national park. It was completely dark for this last stop but we did the short walk as a group and had some fantastic laughs along the way.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ibi was fantastic. Her style was very much understated but she made sure we knew what we needed to know, without "being on top of us". She was always on hand if we needed extra equipment, e.g. letting us know when we would need the (Exodus supplied) spikes for walking.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The only downside for me is that there was limited opportunity to explore Reykjavik itself. We drove through it early morning when everything was shut and I would love to go back and see more. Therefore, adding on extra days at the start or end of the trip would be a good option.