Essential China

“This trip exceeded our expectations. We went on the last trip of the year in mid April which I thought may be risky weather wise. Despite my concerns was still there was plenty of snow and temperatures were sub zero. We had the advantage of daylight from 5am to 9pm. We had some sunshine and some fresh snow (often lots of both in one day) which was lovely. The weather made for mixed riding conditions, from easy to ride hard pack, to fresh powder, which is more challenging. Technically, the most demanding element is the fresh snow (even though the snow mobile grooms the tracks first). There were plenty of comedy slow speed tumbles but no-one gets seriously hurt. Physically, there are some long gentle, and short steep, climbs but nothing too demanding. There are plenty of breaks and no-one gets left behind. The last ride to the visitor centre is the most demanding but also one of the most rewarding. The logging lodge accommodation was in a secluded location 45 minutes drive from Oulanka base camp. We had a small group of only 5 so we all had our own rooms. The logging lodge was great for our small group and felt very homely with it's wooden interiors and log burning sauna. The food was always excellently cooked, locally sourced stuff. Lots of elk and warming soups with berry deserts. Having a small group who got on well made the experience more personal and very enjoyable. Though I'm sure the bigger groups had a great time too. On our free day we did the full day husky ride. This was a little pricey but an excellent experience.”

“Exodus have put together a packed itinerary which gives you the opportunity to see all the key cultural sites and much more - the nine day trip which included seven full days in the country allowed this without us having to stretch our work leave beyond a single week. Despite the huge amount of ground covered, we always had plenty of time to explore and do justice to the places visited.”

“Excellent holiday, great guide, lovely bunch of fellow cyclists. Lovely views, cycles were great and the route wasn't as hilly or as hard as expected. Shame we lost a day to the rain but at least we got a cycle in the morning and the villa in the afternoon was lovely.”