Asia Local culture Trips

Excellent tour - not for the faint hearted- 9 flights and 104 miles of walking on uneven ground was worth the sights and history we covered. From Petra to Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea in Jordan to the pyramids and tombs in Egypt, every day was filled with new discoveries. The bazaars were a tour unto themselves. Riding camels at the pyramids and seeing King Tut's mummy inside his tomb along with the New Egyptian Museum were just a few or our adventures and worth every penny.

A fantastic way to see an awful lot of Vietnam in a short time. The itinerary is full-on but not overwhelming - the Exodus rating of easy/moderate is about right. There's enough time for chilling and recharging your batteries and no pressure if you want to opt out of any activities. Hotels are generally of a good standard - all clean and comfortable, a few niggles, but nothing too serious. The homestay in the Mekong Delta was more basic but again clean and comfortable. The Vietnamese people are extremely welcoming and hospitable. Overall, an excellent introductory trip.

This was a good way to get a flavor of India in the north/northwest. It would be impossible to see "everything" given that "India isn't a country...it's a CONTINENT!" (per our guide). But this trip allows one to see several cities and towns, has a mix of city and countryside of the area, many forts, the Taj, and plenty of good food. Recommended.

Japan has been on my bucket list for the longest time. This is my third Contiki trip. I’m still very happy and grateful that I had the opportunity to do this trip, because it’s proven to be the best one I’ve done so far. Shout out to Renee for being an incredible tour guide manager, as well as the amazing group of people I traveled with that made this trip impactful.

This has been an amazing trip, can't recommend it enough, especially if this is your first trip to India, it's a great introduction to get your bearings. Our trip was nine days and we covered a large geographical area in a relatively short space of time to see the sights in Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthamborne, Agra and Varanasi. To do this we travelled in a private minibus which was really comfortable and also took the public train to Varanasi and Delhi, the train was also really comfortable, spacious and clean , we also had a couple of small boat trips along the Ganges which were really special, so there was a good mix of transport it wasn't all minibus. The sights you see on this trip are stunning, and there are just so many to see. This is a busy trip but that's the beauty of it, you will get to see so much. The hotels we stayed in were of varying standards but mostly very good: Jaipur, Agra, Ranthamborne and Varanasi Hotels were all great and the breakfasts and evening meals in those hotels were really very good indeed. We were taken to some fabulous restaurants to eat in the evenings and the food everywhere we went was delicious and we didn't worry about what we were eating as every place we ate at had been vetted by our excellent tour guide leader. The group we travelled with were so much fun, we all became good friends by the end.

We loved this trip. Yes, some of the hotels were pretty average, yes a few didn't have hot water, and yes some had extremely inefficient staff, but that's not what you are going for. We got to visit the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati which should be on the itinerary. Each place we visited throughout the trip was very much worth the time and effort to get there. Even on the long drive days the stops didn't feel like just fillers that you might get somewhere else. Kaziranga National Park was a lovely day and we saw a lot of elephant and dozens of rhino. So much more than we thought we might, and at a lot closer quarter too. The trek down to the root bridges at Cherrapunjee was another highlight. It is a big effort as described in the notes and in other reviews, but worth every step. They are remarkable. We walk a lot, but never previously used walking poles, however, we did on this day and I'd highly using them. The hotel there is lovely with great views over the Sylhet plains into Bangladesh. Hornbill Festival was incredible and a massive highlight. Our guide, Pema, got us to the festival nice and early and we were able to experience all the tribal groups entering the arena to take their places, all singing, chanting, drumming. Absolutely wonderful and an experience we will remember for a long time. And a second day to fully absorb it. Amazing, loved it! The Majuli Island stay was another totally different environment. The ferry to and from is a great experience. The temple visits were beautiful and a contrast to the full on craziness of Hornbill Festival. It was also really lovely to be able to walk through small villages and meet local people. The day at Longwa village was another extraordinary time. Meeting the ex headhunters, a wander through the hilltop border village, a great lunch in a longhouse. So different from anywhere else we've been. And the last night in a lovely old colonial tea bungalow and time meeting the ladies picking leaves on the plantation was a lovely treat. Things don't work in this part of the world as you may be accustomed to, but just go with it and this trip will reward you with some extraordinary experiences.