Asia Adventure Trips

The trip to Sri Lanka and The Maldives lived up to my expectations. The itinerary in Sri Lanka was busy but it meant we covered a great deal of the country and saw some wonderful sights. Our tour leader, Ash, was passionate about his country and helped make it the experience it was. Continuing on to the Maldives provided a relaxing week with dome super snorkeling. Our guide, Moosa, was efficient in making sure we got the most out of the experience and he and the crew of Gulfaam really looked after us all.

One of my best ever cycling holidays lead by a brilliant local team (Vini and Arun) headed up by the amazing Safi. It was good to experience the chaos of a city in Mysore with crazy traffic and cows in the road. Fort Kochi, which is a world heritage site, was laid back with lots of interesting things to see on our day off the saddle and lovely boutique shops where there was no hassle from vendors! The night on the converted rice barge was lovely and relaxing and so nice to float past everyday life on the river. Cycling along the coast, it was good to see fishermen hauling in their catch and to paddle in those warm waters. I particularly loved waving at friendly locals as we cycled by (and them waving back) and the school children so excited to see us and practice their English. Apart from the climb up to Ooty which is optional, I felt this holiday should be rated a difficulty level of 3 rather than 4. Once you've finished the Western Ghats, the cycling is very flat. Added to all that, we had a truly lovely group of fellow cyclists on the holiday who all helped make this such a pleasurable trip.

We had the most excellent tour guide for our trip in Sri lanka. Viraj could not have been more helpful, attentive and knowledgeable about every aspect of life, politics, food, religion, family etc. He was also charming, amusing and kind. He included extra stops to enhance the immersion into the Sri Lankan way of life, always consulting our opinions as to if we wanted to stop or not. It was a very full on tour but made smooth and achievable by his attention to details every step of the way. So pleased he took on all the tipping, even the washrooms. The trip in the Maldives was splendid, we didn't need as much attention from the leader as we were on the boat, but the whole crew were fabulous. The leader took sooo many underwater photos, 50-60 a dive making the snorkling experience even more memorable.

This was my first experience with Explore! I travelled with three other friends and we had a wonderful time. I would definitely consider another tour with Explore! in the future.

The trip was well planned and the tour lead Viraj was excellent. We saw a huge amount of Sri Lanka with lots of additional detail from a local perspective. Full on as per the trip notes! Lots of early starts which made the best of our time. The holiday was wonderful. To provide constructive feedback, The hotel in Anuradhadura was called Lakeside, but the lake was not in view, only accessible via a garden, locked gate, over a road etc, the paths to the rooms were not lit and were of various gradients and steps, I'm afraid an accident waiting to happen. No hot water, inadequate A/C and security lights left on all night outside our room meant little sleep. I understood that negative feedback on this hotel had already been offered to Explore, it really was disappointing. An incidental finding was the change in hotel on arrival, an 'upgrade' we were told, in Negombo We decided to stay on in Sri Lanka and had booked the original pre upgrade hotel on our last night and found the Earl's Regent superior to the Jet Wing, in rooms, facilities and beach side location, and staff attentiveness. The time in Kandy was too short.. we arrived late afternoon, virtually at dusk and so trying to see the temple was a flying visit. It could have done with more time. The trip from Kandy to the coast road Near Columbo to get to Galle was hard work, very slow and little to see. We later went on a similar route from Nuwara Eliya to the same location via Kigulgala, which was stunningly scenic with tea plantations and wide ranging views, would recommend a change in future trips? Opportunity here for a tea plantation safari which we loved. Overall an excellent trip lots of happy memories and experiences. Thank you

This is a great trip - really varied in terms of what you see and do and also in the places that you stay. It certainly covers the highlights of Northern Thailand. Our tour leader, Champ, was excellent. Very friendly and good at keeping us updated as to what was happening each day. He took the time to make food recommendations at most restaurants and took us around food markets telling us what was what - invaluable local knowledge. If you want to experience Thailand than I can recommend this trip. It has given me a taste of the country and I'd definitely like to visit again.