This was two trips joined together and I need to review them separately:
Overall Conclusion:
1. Kyrgyzstan: Superb guide, wonderful scenery and an itinerary that provided full access to that wonderful scenery. I would not hesitate to recommend the Kyrgyzstan leg of this trip to a friend.
2. Uzbekistan: I would be less likely to recommend this trip to a friend.
3. Explore UK back office. Excellent. I had 4/5 phone calls and 2/3 email communications. All responses were swift, helpful and friendly and I felt the administration was very professional. I would not hesitate to recommend the Explore Company to a friend.
This recommendation would be attached to the advice that it is likely that the trip will be discounted by 10% or more over Christmas or one of the other sale festivals. Therefore I recommend that my friend does not pay the headline price for an Explore trip.
More details on each trip below:
Kyrgyzstan:
1. Aysulu was our guide and superb. She did a briefing at least daily when everyone was there and she had our attention, breakfast or dinner. Communication was clear, simple and consistent, I had sufficient time to plan food and personal administration because I understood clearly what was happening. Aysulu asked for feedback , I think, three times on the trip, including her own performance. I admired her for that. Plus if there was an issue she immediately did what she could to resolve it.
2. Itinerary: I enjoyed the picnics with magnificent vistas. The yurt camp was wonderful. The Uygur dinner would have been a fabulous memory except that it was at the end of a very long day and most people wanted to be in bed. Moving it to the second day in Karakol would have improved the experience for me.
3. Accomodation/Food: Yes it was basic but generally clean and OK. The food worked well in (effectively) home stays because we all had a fixed menu and it was quick, hot and there was something for everyone.
4. Trip notes are around ten years out of date and require a refresh. The notes state you must bring USD , that there are few ATMs and that few vendors take credit cards. None of that aligned with my experience. I did bring USD but that was a translation cost I had no need to incur. I did not spend or exchange a single USD . That was because ATMs are in every town and all the restaurants and supermarkets we visited accepted credit cards.
5. I came for the scenery and the trip delivered beyond my expectations.
Our guide inserted a Golden Eagle demonstration into the itinerary (extra cost but very minor AUD15? ) . This replaced the second swim in the lake and was magnificent and created a wonderful memory for me.
Uzbekistan:
1. Maftuna was our guide. My wife and I were both sick during the trip and Maftuna was very helpful in getting access to a doctor and then finding us the medication. I am very grateful to her. Because of this and other things she helped us with I am very positive on the contribution she made to our experience.
2. The food. Uzbekistan restaurants seem to have a Soviet era service culture ie no service culture. Service was slow, food was cold or lukewarm, people received two courses while others sat waiting with a glass of water.
We had much better experience when we did our own thing. For a group perhaps pre-ordering is the way to go.
Alternatively bring a book, deck of cards etc..
3. The yurt camp I would remove from the itinerary. I am not sure why it’s there. Uzbekistan does not have the nomadic culture that is clearly still present in Kyrgyzstan. I imagine that it is a nod to the Silk Road, except we’ve seen the caravanserais and trading halls which are fixed locations. The dinner at the yurt camp was the worst food of the trip. The bed at the yurt camp was the most uncomfortable bed of the trip because the mattress was a solid piece of wood. The desert is dull, the camp is crowded and has a fixed brick built toilet blocks and shower blocks and a solid brick structure of a canteen. I didn’t understand why we were there and it seemed a day wasted. It was a rather shabby setting.
Compare and contrast with Kyrgyzstan where the lake views and hills and animals made a splendid authentic experience.
4. Accomodation. Aside yurt camp I was very happy with each locations chosen accomodation.
5. Uzbekistan is effectively Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. I signed up to the Uzbekistan tour for the Islamic architecture. Each of those three cities are very attractive and worth a visit. The architecture was a little less than I had expected and I was troubled by the extent to which ancient original features had been restored, renovated or rebuilt. Perhaps I’m overthinking it, after all UNESCO did give Bukhara World Heritage listing and I appreciated my visit to each of these places.
6. If you are inclined to make your own arrangements organising your own trip to Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand looked quite straightforward. If I had my time again I think that is how I would visit Uzbekistan. If I had my time again I would certainly take the Explore tour to Kyrgyzstan and I feel very positive about my experience with Explore the company.
