Andes Cultural, religious and historic sites Trips

We covered a large area but had time to see the things on the itinerary except Istanbul, where I booked an extra day before to see all the sights there. Good company, 16 of us: 8 from UK, 4 from USA, 4 from Australia. The tour leader, Mehmet, was very knowledgeable and friendly. Things in Turkey have come a long way since I was last there with Explore in 1989, the variety of food has really improved. The weather was pleasant, being that time of year, but the day before the end there were thunderstorms in the evening then a 5.6 magnitude earthquake at Canakkale to liven things up!

We had an amazing trip to Sri Lanka. Our guide Ash was amazing and very knowledgeable about wildlife, history and the culture of his country. Sri Lanka was full of highlights and we would recommend anyone to visit.

Sri Lanka is a truly wonderful country to visit. We enjoyed every part of the tour and it was fantastic how our guide made sure our son got to have the most exciting experiences. Highlights of the trip were spotting elephants, river rafting, lions rock at sunrise, the game safari, drinking tea and tasting the delicious local food. The Sri Lankans made us feel very welcome and our local guide Ash was brilliant, very informative and made sure we were well looked after.

It was unfortunate we couldn't visit Otavalo due to riots but we had more than acceptable alternatives Also unfortunate we got stuck for 6 hours due to an RTA on the approach to Banos as Banos seemed a lovely little town which we didn't have time to explore Neither incident could be helped - just the joys of travel Everything else was great and Fabian was a fantastic tour leader

The tour was nice but one thing that needs to be tweaked is the visit to the thousand tori gates. We were given just a little over an hour at this site and would have loved to walked the whole loop. This is a famous site and even just 1.5 hrs would have given those who wanted to do the whole loop enough time. Also, when talking about Hiroshima, you have to mention the horrible things that happen at Pearl Harbor also. If we are going to recount historical events, we need to be balanced and paint a complete picture. When discussing the bombing, it was as if the Japanese Emperor had done nothing. It was an odd conversation and awkward.

Beautiful scenery. Loved the boat ride in Portland. The tour manager was great. She had music and films on the bus. She gave us insights about where our next stop was. There was a fun stop at Ben & Jerrys. The Von Trapp property was also nice. Mount Washington was an exciting addition. All in all it was a great trip.