Asia Cultural, religious and historic sites Trips

Had a fantastic trip - Dean our guide was knowledgeable and approachable and thoroughly good company. The group of sixteen got on well together. The itinerary was excellent with a good balance of guided activities and free time. We covered a lot of ground from city to city but hardly scraped the surface of such a wonderful country - so much more to see and do!

Jordan was epic — and completely safe. Now is the time to travel - there are very few tourists and the country needs our support. I can’t fault the itinerary, and it was the only one I could find with two full days in Petra — absolute winner! Because of the timing, we were the first group to only have Petra by Night as our introduction, and I’d totally recommend it. After being mesmerised by the Treasury, my personal favourites were Aqaba (shopping heaven) and the Dead Sea — it was great to temporarily shed a few years and feel youthful again. If I could tweak anything, I’d swap the return to Amman for a night at the Dead Sea. Our guide Abdallah was amazing — a pleasure to learn from his knowledge and passion. Tips for travellers: You don’t need a Jordan Pass. If you’re Australian, expect to be surrounded by Brits — embrace it and enjoy the banter. There’s an option to donate clothes at the end, which is a great touch. A good level of fitness is needed to really enjoy the ruins and natural landscapes.

I went to Jordan because my husband wanted to see Petra, but the country had so much more. The people, the culture and the history from over 9000 years before. Our guide was excellent, thank you Mo. You were kind, made history accessible without overwhelming us with information. Well worth arriving a couple of days before to get a feel for Amman and the people. and R&R at the end at Aqaba and Dead Sea was most welcome(safest snorkelling trip we have been on)

My first holiday with Explore and certainly not my last. What a wonderful experience and with a great knowledgeable leader. Pace was full on as described but that meant we packed more places into our time there. If I had to find a negative it would be the standard of breakfast in our Petra hotel ( Edom). There wasn't enough variety compared with the other two hotels we stayed in.

The organisation of this trip by Explore! was second to none. From booking a night pre tour, right to the end, everything just worked. Mo, our tour leader was friendly, knowledgeable and always willing to go the extra mile. The Toledo Hotel in Amman was a great start, the Edom hotel in Petra was of a lower standard but still clean and comfortable. Salem camp in Wadi Rum was much more comfortable than I'd imagined and the My Hotel on Aqaba was great. We saw wonderful things and Mo organised restaurants and side trips, such as camel ride and snorkelling in the Red Sea. The coach was the most luxurious that I'd ever been on! Al in all a fantastic adventure

Thank you to all concerned for a great trip Food and beer prices need doubling as service charge 10% and VAT 18%. Night under canvas listening to animal noises ruined by local very loud party until 2am Lion Rock. the walk into the rock itself is not easy as very uneven ground and lots of steps. definitely need walking poles if at all unsure on balance. Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya. Lots of staff but very slow service in bars and restaurants. 2 nights in Galle with own time to explore old town would have been much preferred to 2 nights at Bentota. Jeep ride around Colombo started well, but monsoon rain meant that we were all drenched, and commentary stopped. street food was just picked up from 3 men standing in side street. I had images of a street food market. the food itself in a cardboard box was just rice with a small amount of chicken, and a sweet sauce and chilli sauce, finally eaten in our hotel room. A sad end to a great trip