Reviews

Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers

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14440 Reviews

4.7 out of 5

Andy Longden

Reviewed December 2019

Another tick on the bucketlist! Outstanding hiking holiday in a very beautiful part of the world.

An expensive holiday, and a long way to travel, so it needed to be good. It was! This trip manages to efficiently fit in the trekking highlights of Patagonia with some sightseeing. Add on time to explore Buenos Aires and the optional trip to Iguassu Falls and you have a really well balanced, satisfying holiday.

We found the hiking to be easier than expected, but we did have great weather. We were surprised how busy the trails are – this is not a holiday for those seeking solitude.

Accommodation was relatively basic, but functional and adequate throughout. The Refugios in Chile are of a high standard – much better than European mountain refuges. Food throughout was excellent if you eat meat, possibly less so if you don’t.

Most Inspirational Moment

For us the hiking in El Chalten ranks amongst the "best of the best" in the world. The day walk to the Fitzroy viewpoint was absolutely sensational, with the trek to Cerro Torre base camp only marginally less so. Completing the W trek was also very satisfying. Finally, the extension to Iguassu Falls was an amazing way to end the holiday - very well managed and a great experience. Don't miss the boat ride!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Tomas is a "people person" with a big warm heart. He managed a large and varied group with great skill, and as a result everything worked well. The Chilean trek leader on the W trek set an erratic pace (very lengthy stops), spent a lot of time on his mobile phone and didn't allow people to walk at their own pace. We'd rate him as a leader as very average. In contrast the female leader in El Chalten, Aime, was exceptional - as good as any leader we've ever had. Only one negative for Tomas which I will repeat here since he didn't react positively to my complaint - it is highly dangerous for a guide to make lengthy commentaries whilst wandering around a bus travelling at 70 mph. He did this repeatedly and for long periods. He needs to know that it has cost him a nomination for "leader of the year" from us.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Pray for good weather! We were very lucky, as weather will likely make or break the trip given the cost and distances that need to be travelled to get to, and around, Patagonia. You need to be prepared for anything, at any time, as the local climate is notoriously changeable. This will also affect how the grading of the walking feels. Our weather was very mild, so the grade of hiking did not feel like a 5, but we could see how that could change. We'd recommend extending the trip to ensure you have time to recover from the lengthy flight and to see Buenos Aires - which is a lovely city - and also to visit Iguassu Falls on the optional Exodus extension. This was outstanding.

Joe Doucet

Reviewed December 2019

Outstanding trip

This was a full packed trip , informative trip led by Mohammed Tefa whose in depth knowledge, and leadership style made the trip a wonderful experience.

Most Inspirational Moment

Abu Simbel

Andrew Patchett

Reviewed December 2019

A birding bonanza

This was the most wonderful adventure and our experience was just as all previous reviewers, simply amazing.
Lots of great scenery, beaches, forests, countryside and birds. Lots and lots of the most amazing birds.
Costa Rica is green for a reason so be prepared it can rain a lot at any time but it is always warm/hot!

Most Inspirational Moment

Watching the turtles hatch on Tortuguero beach and seeing the amazing Resplendent Quetzal in Savegre Cloud Forest at such close proximity.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Andreas our group leader was one of the best we have travelled with and we have had a few! His patience, knowledge and enthusiasm was just simply amazing and never seemed to be phased by the groups constant questions. Our trip had a birding bias and Andreas’s ability to locate, see and identify them was just simply amazing. We would not seen a fraction of them without his expert knowledge and guidance. Thank you!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Costa Rica is not a cheap country so be prepared for normal UK prices or above however the food and drink are really good with lots of fresh local fare. Just the best. The coffee it goes without saying is fantastic. ( We liked the iced coffees the best. Mmmmm!) ATMs are safely available so no need to carry lots of cash and dollars are always used with change given in local currency. You can also pay on credit card everywhere and great internet access even in the remotest of stays. How do they do it! Everyone says it,however it is worth mentioning, you do need a lot more travelling clothes than you would normally take. When washed they do not dry quickly because of the humidity. A fold out umbrella is an essential item. We found sealed bags for cameras etc useful and check your ‘bins’ are sealed, they may steam up inside otherwise! It is all about the beautiful green countryside, so clean and litter free. This is a very different Central America more akin to the North and generally you will have no language barriers at all. Try to get a direct flight! Going via Miami is a complete nightmare with immigration, lines, and just general inefficiency with little or no signage. In our experience you need at least 3 hours between flights if you do and that will be tight. It was a real challenge and took the edge of what was an amazing adventure. A great pity. However ....... Go and enjoy!

Miriam Carpenter

Reviewed December 2019

Fabulous holiday

How many times can I say the word amazing?
We had high expectations of this holiday & we weren’t disappointed. It’s a busy holiday, moving on every 2 days, but there was time to relax in the afternoons & it meant that you feel you’ve seen so much of this varied country. The drives are about 4 hours, broken up with stops in interesting places, & the views are always amazing.
We saw so much wild life, and the atmosphere in the rain forests was a great experience

We had a couple of good fish meals at restaurants but Costa Rica isn’t really a ‘foodie ‘ destination. Prices are similar to England.

Most Inspirational Moment

Boat trip on the Laguna at Tortuguero was magical. The atmosphere of the rainforest at Aquinas lodge was special, especially on the night walk At every location, there was so much wild life. Particularly loved seeing the colourful birds, especially the flocks of toucans and the resplendent quetzal, and the iguanas, and of course the sloths and howler monkeys.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Johnny Villalobos well deserves his tour leader of the year award. He is a naturalist to his very core, and his passion is infectious. he is incredibly knowledgeable, not just about the wildlife, he told us so much about the history, the politics & the economics of his country. On top of that he’s warm & friendly, he’s witty & he is very humble.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Pack light, there’s some hoofing your case around but pack wisely as you’ll go from a hot & humid rainforest where you want to shower hourly, to the cool mountains where you need a jumper & jacket. All within a 4 hour drive. Beg steal or borrow a good pair of light weight binoculars. Set up a WhatsApp group to share photos with your group

Richard Christie

Reviewed December 2019

Walking the quieter circuit brings its own reward.

This is a fantastic trek through scenery varying from: farmland, forests of pine trees, walking along river gorges beside foaming rivers, through villages full of character and smiling children and finally beside amazing snow clad high mountain peaks. All of which we did with very few other trekkers.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking up to the Larkya Pass as the dawn slowly broke behind us revealing snow covered mountains all around.

Thoughts on Group Leader

As always Valerie looked after us really well and added that bit extra to the enjoyment of the trip. This time sharing her experiences of climbing Manaslu by reading excerpts from her diary of the trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I was pleasantly surprised with my first experience of a lodge (Teahouse) based trip. Remember you need to budget for buying your own lunches and evening meals on this trip but the food available is tasty and the choice varied enough to cover most desires. if you need a 'pick me up' along the way then try the Apple Fritters with Custard! Although the rooms in the lodges are basic they were all clean and the beds comfortable. Remember a supply of wet wipes for the nights when it is too cool for a proper wash.

Pagan Dave

Reviewed December 2019

Fantastic Trip

My first trip to Nepal and what a great experience. Beautiful countryside and views, had a fantastic time and now want to go back to do some of the trekking mountains. Watch out its addictive!

Most Inspirational Moment

Being surrounded by famous mountains, crossing the tall suspension bridges with yak trains carrying supplies up the passes, amazing!!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Experienced nice guy, took good care of us, firm when he needed to be but shared our enthusiasm for the experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Yep, silk sleeping bag liner very useful, fingerless gloves for the cold evenings in the tea houses, tracksters worked great during the day and for the evenings too, merino wool thermals were absolutely brilliant, wool jumper better than synthetic fabrics for keeping smell free, cards for the evening, good (compact) camera for the scenery not my digital SLR! I used Diamox and was glad I did, no altitude sickness problems. In November it took clothes a few days to dry so pack enough. keep your bags within the weight limits, our porters had to carry our bags so please be considerate. Trek wasn't as physically demanding as I expected, get fit before you go and you will enjoy it more.

Martin & Margaret W

Reviewed December 2019

Vietnam Adventure

A good start with the best coffee i’ve ever had by the lake nr Hanoi Hotel
The holiday was extremely varied, showing so many aspects of Vietnam – chaotic cities with ‘formation dancing’ motorbikes ignoring most traffic lights but managing never to collide – the peace and quiet of Halong Bay and the Mekong Delta.
The hotels and their buffet breakfasts were all top class, the ‘homestay’ was more like a basic ‘eco hotel’ , was in a peaceful spot and had bikes you could borrow.
The original itinerary bike trip in Hue was discontinued, but made up for in Hoi An, with a ride plus a coracle and boat trip and the bonus that bikes could be kept for the rest of the day.
I took advantage of this whilst Margaret went for the best massage she has ever had!
The Reunification Express was very comfortable and could only be improved on if you were allowed to hang out of the doors or ride on the roof.!
I could have done without the CuChi tunnels and would have preferred a 2/3 hr walk in quiet, scenic countryside as an option.
All in all – A great holiday with a great group.

Most Inspirational Moment

Bits of every day really

Thoughts on Group Leader

Phuong Le (pronounced 'Ful') was lovely - excellent English, always there and approachable, great sense of humour. Her organisational skills were outstanding - Bus, boats, train, bikes,restaurant tables, takeaways, always appeared as if by magic. She even managed to time the odd heavy downpour for when we were under cover. She gave us in-depth talks too, on subjects like driving, marriage etc

Advice for Potential Travellers

Our group used many different airlines, so check the options. We used Thai Airlines via Bangkok which looked considerably quicker than others.

Raji Rajasingham

Reviewed December 2019

An informative week

The trip was packed full of activities, which was great, but it could benefit from the odd afternoon of downtime here and there to take a breather and reflect on the activities and places seen. It is a comprehensive tour of the ket sights of Jordan – loved the the inclusion of both the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. Petra was, of course, without a doubt the highlight of the trip, but little Petra was lovely too and the night in Wadi Rum viewing sunset by four wheel drive and sunrise by camel (optional) was great fun. All in all a good trip, which I would recommend.

Most Inspirational Moment

Climbing up past the monastery to sit on the rock's edge and take in the view plus having tea and enjoying the view at the High Place - both at Petra.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Organisationally competent, but extremely and unacceptably rude and unprofessional in his behaviour - he stood up in a restaurant and shouted at me all because a few of us wanted to clarify what the facilities at Wadi Rum and at the Red Sea beach were going to be like. He was incapable of providing simple answers to simple questions and saw any request for information or question as an opportunity to attempt at being comedic, which frustrated many amongst the tour group, and led to others just not asking anything.

Graham Dobbie

Reviewed December 2019

A Fantastic Holiday

In the first week, great nature trips in Borneo including Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and river trips/night walks in the jungle. In the second week, fascinating journey round some of the Peninsula’s towns and cities finishing with a relaxing couple of days at the beach resort in Langkawi.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing three orangutans in the wild and also the numerous night walks in the jungle where we saw flying squirrels, various other mamals and brightly coloured birds.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Aldrin for Borneo and Apit for the Peninsula were both superb.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Definetely do the night walks in the jungle. In the River Lodge wellies and leech socks are available to hire (for the time that you are there (a total of MYR 10)). It saves you having to worry about leeches and cleaning your shoes! If you think that for the internal flights you will have excess baggage (above 15 kg) then speak to Exodus about the possiblity of increasing this before you leave the UK.

Terry Knowles

Reviewed December 2019

Wonderful experience

This was our first organized cycling trip, and it was very enjoyable. The group was larger than I expected (18, whereas I had thought we would be about 12), but everyone got along well and our tour leader, Tung, was very efficient and attentive, friendly, patient and entertaining.
There was also more city riding than I expected, through some rather hairy motorbike traffic and roundabouts. Tung and Lee, our tail gunner, shepherded us through them, but it took some guts at first to weave through the scooters and cars and buses. Note that red lights apparently don’t apply to motorbikes; they just sail on through. We got used to it after a couple of times and in the end it was rather exhilarating. Some riding on main city streets and bridges, too, and through towns and suburbs. All in all the tour was a bit more urban than I’d hoped. But I suppose if you want to see all aspects of Vietnam… Riding through the rice paddies and the countryside and along back lanes, on the other hand, was quite enchanting. Little children ran out to call “Hello!” everywhere.
I see this tour is rated as 3/9 for activity level. I would say more 5/9, and that’s without the (very enjoyable, if you’re up for it) 10-km uphill ride one day. On the other hand, the bus is always available and there was no shame in taking a day off.
We missed the Whale Island tour because of a typhoon, but Tung and Exodus rearranged everything seamlessly. The Halong Bay overnight boat tour was a real delight, as was the overnight train to Hanoi. And Hoi An and Hanoi were wonderful, particularly the pedestrian streets (no motorbikes!) on the weekend in Hanoi.
We could easily have skipped the boat trip to the overcrowded beach and hike up to the viewpoint on Halong Bay, however, and the kayaks were uncomfortable, at least for the person in the stern with no back support.
The meals were good, even for us vegetarians, the bikes were clean and very well maintained, and there was lots of juice and water and fruit provided at the frequent rest stops. Nice that they didn’t insist on handing out plastic bottles of water! The bus was comfortable and the driver and bike mechanic were friendly and very competent. Definitely a 10/10 for organization.

Most Inspirational Moment

One day they drove us up to the top of a mountain and let us off to ride 35 km downhill. Just fantastic!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Tung was terrific. Tireless, funny, patient, informative, enthusiastic and efficient.

Advice for Potential Travellers

See above regarding the activity level. Take a look at the distances to be covered every day and make sure you're comfortable with that. You may want to bring a small bike bag (e.g. to fit on handlebars or under the frame) for suntan lotion, camera, etc. Padded bike shorts a must, although they provide optional extra padding for seats.

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