Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Lots of stunning views of the volcanic scenery

Most Inspirational Moment

The off trip visit to the Akrotiri excavation site of a buried Minoan settlement on Santorini plus the visit to the Santorini Museum of Prehistoric Thera. All the excavation finds are housed in the Museum.( I did this instead of the trip boat trip around the Santorini Caldera). Also the deliciously cooked octopus at the tarverna on Paros.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Thanos has a wealth of knowledge of the island's history plus an extensive knowledge of flora of the islands. All of which he imparted, to the group at regular interval and was never seeming not to be able to answer the most obscure questions. He ensured the group was well catered for at the local tarverna's' that the group ate at. Plus ensure the group exited the ferries in a timely manner. All this meant that trip ran seamlessly thus providing an very enjoyable experience.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The walks on Paros & Naxos are on country paths with mixed under foot conditions, the same applies for part of the Santorini walk. Thus good walking foot wear is essentail plus I found walking poles usefully on the uphill and down hill sections of each walk. I noted that in 2019/2020 brochure that the Santorini boat trip has been replace by free time in Fira. I would recommend the visit to the Akrotiri excavation site, which is being classified as "The Pompeli of the Aegean". While it is not as extensive as Pompeli, it is covered by a very interesting building and can be easily reach on the local bus in 20 minutes from Fira. You will be required to get your luggage on and off the Ferries via the rear loading ramps. So you need wheel luggage that can be pulled along or travel light so you can carry your stuff. Large items of luggage are stored on the car deck of each ferry.

Most Inspirational Moment

Views from the headlands looking at the crashing waves

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take your waterproof trousers - I had mine ready to pack and left them in the bedroom!

Most Inspirational Moment

Too difficult to choose one moment or place as it means "downgrading" all the other equally great places on this trip. If I have to pick one great one...….. its too hard! I can list the bottom ones - Zingaro walk could easily have been left out - not a great walk; the Mt Etna walk was a stroll on a windy hillside and didn't give any feel for Etna, its there to pass the time while any of the group do the optional summit excursion. (My following tour was a week walking on the Volcano trip so its not that I don't like walking!) All the rest of the itinerary is equal first.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Tiziano and the driver Allesandro were both great. Good company, very cheerful, very helpful. Tiziano was always available and preceded each free time with an orientation tour and suggestions ending at the coffee shop where we could find him with any questions (we also had his mobile number)

Advice for Potential Travellers

If like me you are a bit fed up of long bus journeys on similar tours then this tour is great for you, the 14 days allocated means there are no early starts or long bus tips, I think the longest was 3 hours the rest were really short allowing enough time for a short sit down before another wonder around. The expert guides were all excellent. There is a lot of easy walking but easy really depends on your view of walking I guess. I don't want to steal another travellers comments but his app after about 10 days told him he had walked 70km - sounds like non stop walking but it really didn't feel like it -don't be put off you can walk around a lot or not according to your preference - the coffee shops are great!

Most Inspirational Moment

The night sky at the Sanctuary was as expected - the clearest and brightest I've ever seen. You almost can't see the asterisms for so many more stars are visible in between the main ones!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Chandra, was excellent, always helpful in good mood and full of laughter.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do some training beforehand and get walking poles if (like me) have problems with your knees. Going down the many stairs which are higher than usual can get very painful. Pack a lot of versatile layers as the temperature varies between +32 in Pokhara to -7 at the Base Camp. I went in October and did NOT have a down jacket and could just about manage at the base camp while wearing literally all the layers I had with me - no need to pack unnecessary extras.

Most Inspirational Moment

Cycling against the clock along the coast at sunset to catch the boat to Whale Island, making it up the Hai Van pass in extreme heat and humidity, cruising in Halong Bay and generally taking in Vietnamese rural life as we pedalled through the countryside. Also truly special was the evening with a local family who cooked us about 8 courses, chatted with us and entertained us with music, including a song sung by their 5 year old grand daughter.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Special praise goes to our amazing guide Linh Vo - so experienced, knowledgable and attentive he shared his fascinating personal and family life story and against various odds cycled for the national team. A lovely guy who worked tirelessly to organise us, meet our every need and keep us safe and well prepared. We gained so much insight into Vietnamese culture, society, family life and the history and politics too but always in an approachable manner - he regularly entertained us with interesting stories, jokes and even songs. We always felt safe with him in traffic and he was on the ball at all times ensuring no one was left behind. He even dished out pushes up the passes to those in need of one! We especially loved that he organised home cooked food to help local families and took us to unusual spots not seen by many such as the most flamboyant cemetry we have ever seen.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Travel light, we took too many clothes, no need to take snacks as the guides source a lovely variety, no need for a head torch a phone will do. Take only day-long suncream - the humidity will sweat off anything else. If you want any clothes copied or made in Hoi An take pictures or a sample with you as you won't have long to decide on options. Stay on in Hanoi if you can to soak up the mad, noisy, colourful and fascinating old quarter. Above all else, just go!

Most Inspirational Moment

The way the group bonded and joined together to make sure everyone completed the cycling days with support from the more capable cyclists and the Exodus team.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our team leader, Linh Vo, made the trip. His honest and knowledgeable insights into Vietnam's history, culture, social and political issues together with his endless enthusiasm, humour and organisation skills meant that we learned so much about the country and its people during our 2 weeks with him. Linh went out of his way to make sure we all got the most out of our holiday and was available to answer any questions or concerns we had. He took us to some fantastic local restaurants, arranged for us to eat with local families and made sure we had plenty of snacks and drinks during the cycling days. We will be keeping in touch with Linh as he became someone we consider to be a friend as well as our guide and we hope to meet up with him in the future on another Exodus trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't take too many clothes with you, you will only need half of what you think you will need. We packed fairly light compared to others in the group and still only wore about half of what we packed. Take it easy on the long cycle days as the heat and humidity will test even the strongest of cyclists.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing Everest for the first time.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very good leader,very attentive,very informative.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Listen to the guides,their experience was invaluable.

Most Inspirational Moment

On day three of the trek we were up at 5:15 and drinking an early morning cup of black tea, we were pleased to see clear skies after the previous nights thick mist. The whole group walked to a low knoll near the camp site to watch the sunrise and see the view of the high Himalaya. As the sun rose the horizon lit up. To the north Kanchenjunga rose high above the cloud, as the sun hit the mountain it lit up and glowed. To the west in the far distance there were three mountains that looked close together, the first of these to catch the sun was Everest closely followed by Makalu and then Lhotse. We were standing at a height of approximately 3500 meters, a reasonable height if you were in the Alps, I was stunned by the thought that these summits were 5 kilometers higher than us; awesome a sunrise I will never forget.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our guide/group leader Sonam was fantastic, nothing was to much trouble, his organisational skills were excellent and he made everything work like clockwork. He had a great sense of humour and I shall always remember his infectious laugh that brought a smile to everyone’s face. He showed huge respect to the local people and customs and was an excellent ambassador for his country and your company If I were to rate him on a scale of 1 to 10 I would have to say, in the words of the bass player in the film Spinal Tap, he goes up to 11. A great guy and an excellent guide/leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

My main bit of advice to potential travelers would be, don’t be put off by the long days travelling. The end result is definitely worth it. Be prepared for any weather conditions you can think of because chances are you will get it. There were a few changes to our itinerary that Exodus informed us of before we left. One of these was the 1100 meter climb to reach the top of the ridge. Don't be put off, take it easy drink plenty of water and enjoy the journey.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing Galipoli and gaining a greater understanding of the battles fought there. Generally getting a sense of the ancient history of this part of the world Experiencing the power of nature at Cappadocia.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ali was excellent! He’s knowledgeable, organized, personable and has a brilliant sense of humour. He’s also wonderful at managing a diverse group - although we regularly told him we were his best group ever.

Advice for Potential Travellers

To understand the pace and how that, more than anything else will be challenging. I would also suggest that walking poles could be offered as a suggestion in the trip notes for anyone who may need than. This is relevant for only a few days.