Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing wild orangutans

Thoughts on Group Leader

Both were excellent. They were fun, organised and knowlegable. Jeremy seemed to have boundless energy and took us to so many different types of restaurants for evening meals.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Wear a jumper and trousers for the train, it's cold. Try not to take too much luggage - with a ferry, a train, a plane and lots of minibuses, you have to move your bag a lot. Most of the time we all wore shorts. You will need long trousers or smarter wear for the roof top cocktail bars. In religious places any extra clothing was provided. Take binoculars for the wildlife. Extra layer at night needed in longhouse, it was colder at night than anywhere else and only a small cotton cover provided. Take an umbrella for downpours in cities. If you like to make drinks in your room all places had a kettle but not all provided tea bags/ coffee. Insect repellent is required but insects are not as bad as other places we have been. Do take up the offer of wellies and leech socks in the rainforest, leeches did try to get us!

Most Inspirational Moment

Getting to the top of mount Vihren. Not keen on heights when feel exposed and the last 200m is a scramble using hands up limestone slabs. Sense of achievement was great and the views made the effort worthwhile.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Vladimir was excellent had a detailed knowledge of the areas we were walking in. He had plenty of stories to tell about beautiful Bulgarian ladies! He was concientious and was always looking out fof members of rhe group. Cajoling people on when they were falling behind

Advice for Potential Travellers

This is a challenging trip. If you regularly walk in the mountains or do lots of calorie burning exercise should be fine but due to the terrain 2 days walk are tricky. The longest day walk whilst long is not particularly hard. There is not a lot of time for relaxation on the trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

I guess it has to be the gorillas - being so close and watching while they just got on with their lives. The babies were adorable and the silverback huge, but they seemed very peaceful.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Jacob was really great, as were the other members of the team - KFC, Stonecold & Dolly. They looked after us really well and bought great calm and humour to the whole trip. In many ways they made it possible for us to have the great time we had.

Advice for Potential Travellers

I considered taking my walking gaiters but decided against it - almost the first thing Jacob said was "I hope you all brought you gaiters for the gorilla trek"! In fact we did well using two pairs of socks with the long pair on the outside and trousers tucked into them. It worked out fine. Do use a porter for the gorilla trek, it makes life a lot easier just having your bag carried, and the occasional hand up, but it also brings much needed employment to the local community.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing a Machu Picchu as I have wanted to visit it for some years now.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sabastian was really good . He is a credit to Exodus. He explained things all the time about the trip and what was going to happen. He handled all the changes caused through the strikes and had regular meetings to inform the group. He chose lovely restaurants to have our meals. He would find out answers to anything you asked if he did not know the answer straight away. He had arranged for the doctor to come to the hotel when my husband got ill. He came to the hospital that night and came back with me in the early hours of the morning. Because the tour had a free day in Cusco the next day ,he accompanied me to the hospital in the morning and the afternoon . He then arranged for someone else from Exodus to come to the hospital and help me and my husband for the week he was in ICU.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take the tablet for Altitude sickness it may help. Nobody knows who is susceptible to altitude sickness until they actually get it. If you get any signs of it tell your guide and accept help. Read all the joining instructions and make sure you take everything that is recommended it will make your journey more comfortable.

Most Inspirational Moment

The number of big cat sightings, which was due to the spotting skills and patience of the guides.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Paul Goldstein is a legend. Inspirational and great fun, you learn so much just from being with him.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Get on the next plane out. You won't regret it.

Most Inspirational Moment

Difficult to pin down any particular moment - walking in the completely unspoilt, non touristy (difficult to find these days!) Albanian mountains was certainly inspirational.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Arvil was an extremely pleasant and well informed leader who spoke English fluently. However there are 2 points I would like to raise regarding his decisions 1. For reasons which were never made clear the already scheduled long drive from Valbona (Day 6) to Berat was extended to go via Dourros on the coast (his home town I believe). There appeared no good reason for this. This made it an extremely tiring day of almost 12 hours arriving at Berat at 1900 where we were, after checking into our hotel, taken off for a guided tour of 2 of the oldest mosques in the country (on the itinerary for the following day). Most of the group including myself were too tired to either challenge this or declined this tour. 2. On Day 5 the option to do the full length of the White Circle was not given. Although I was perfectly happy to walk only as far as the ridge and back down the valley, I know that at least 2 of the group was very disappointed not be able to be given this choice. Again no reason for this was presented by Arvil.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are not fit and a seasoned walker this trip will find you out!!! The Exodus rating of 3 Moderate is a little understated I would say. The mountain walking in this programme is really wonderful but if you are not already a regular walker and unfit think twice about this. Having said all of the above I would highly recommend this programme if you like unspoilt untouristy places - go now before its too late!

Most Inspirational Moment

Probably climbing the singing sand dunes. The views were astonishing.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Odka was wonderful. She never stopped smiling and she was always looking after us and ensuring we were comfortable, well-informed, well-fed and well-watered.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The website explains that there is a lot of travelling involved with this trip. That is inevitable, given the size of the country and the distances between the various places to be visited. What is perhaps not made clear enough is the fact that the journeys in the desert are almost entirely off-road and the distances make in necessary to travel at quite high speeds. You can be hurtling along at 50, even nearly 60, m.p.h. for many hours on packed sand, gravel or stone with bumps, jumps, swerves and sudden braking. After 10 or 11 hours of this, we felt shaken, not stirred, and had aches and pains to remind us of it. If you go on this trip, you will see some remarkable places and have some wonderful experiences. But do be warned about the discomforts of the travelling. Everything else was good, great, often excellent.

Most Inspirational Moment

Everyday brought something new so difficult to pick one moment, the walks offered varying amazing views of the alps and paragliding on the day off was unbelievable.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our leader tom was brilliant, full of stories, great knowledge of the local area and around the world, and a very friendly guy.

Most Inspirational Moment

My favorite moment was picnicking in a field of wild flowers in Italy .

Most Inspirational Moment

I liked the undulations of the day around Trakkai as knew I would get lost and didnt have to save any energy for other rides! Enjoyed seeing how fast I could go. Really enjoyed the beauty of Palmse. The day at Jurmala was good as we had free time and loved the dachas.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Lina was excellent, organised but friendly. Her sharing of her personal experiences of life in Lithuania brought the whole trip alive. She has an extensive factual knowledge of the Baltic and found some great places for us to eat.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If I had known that a cycle pannier was provided, I wouldn't have brought a cycling rucksack. Water was also provided so a single water bottle was fine. The trip notes said that there should be time to look round Tallinn but the Exodus flights were an evening arrival. Some of the group arrived a day earlier to see the city which was a good idea.