The Tien Shan

All your gear is carried for you on this trek; you carry only a daypack. During the trek we use porters to carry the baggage, as the trails are unsuitable for animals or vehicles. For these reasons we have to apply a strict weight limit for personal baggage.
Apart from the clothes you are wearing or anything you have in your daypack, we must insist on a maximum of 9kg per person in the bag you give to the porters to carry.

Rebecca Caldicott - Customer Operations

This trip is based on full board throughout. The variety and availability of food in Central Asian cities has greatly improved over the last few years but do not expect too much. The food on trek is generally very
good but occasionally subject to some local shortages. We will generally have a picnic lunch and a hot meal, based on soup or stew with meat and vegetables in the evening. Vegetarians can be catered for but the
variety is very limited and we suggest you bring some of your favourite snacks to supplement your diet!

Rebecca Caldicott - Customer Operations

Due to the economic situation we strongly advise taking your personal spending money in US Dollars cash or Euros cash (USD are generally preferred) with plenty of small denomination notes. No other currencies are widely acceptable and will attract a poor rate of exchange.

Any US Dollar bills issued before 1990 were not readily accepted last year, nor were dirty, torn or written-on notes. It is still difficult to change Travellers Cheques, and credit cards are unlikely to be of any use at all
in most places.

Nick Nicolsky - Product Manager

Exodus will provide all the water while on trek (bring your own water bottle) and, whilst the water we provide is suitable for drinking, you may wish to be extra safe and treat it with your own water purification tablets. The EU banned iodine to be used to purify water in 2009. The cheapest alternative is to use chlorine tablets. The major difference is that chlorine doesn't eliminate giardia. Biox Aqua drops or tablets are the best available alternative for sale in the UK as they kill giardia and crytosporidium.

Rebecca Caldicott - Customer Operations

If you are used to walking with poles then you can take them with you. They are not essential though and the walk is manageable without them. It is personal preference but do remember to pack them as part of your main luggage to be stowed in the hold.

Sharmil Goswami - Sales

You can find a comprehensive article covering this matter here: http://www.himalayanrescue.org/hra/article.php?sno=9

Alex Doaga - Exodus leader

Please visit the Exodus Travel Guide to Kyrgyzstan where you can find out what plugs they use, as well as more detailed Country information in the menu on the left of the page

You can view the Grading System for our Walking & Trekking programme online.

All the staff at Exodus share a passion for adventure travel, and are always happy to answer any questions you may have. You can find an expert for the area you are interested in here and can contact them to get further information. If you don't see your specific country listed, please email customerops@exodus.co.uk and they will get the answers you need!