Reviewed 22 Nov 2010 by Sarah Webb
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Visit to Petra - something I've always wanted to do and the scenes were breath taking. It was a lot bigger than expected - we covered 16km in the day (walking) and there was still plenty we missed.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Make sure your fit enough for some parts of Petra - the steps are steep and there are no handrails - we saw a couple of accidents when there. Make sure you take a torch - good for some of the castles
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
No not really. we stayed a local hotels, but due to the nature of the trip (covering many miles etc) we used cars and the drivers etc don't have a clue about rubbish - they threw it out of the window.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Very good. It would have been good to have had consistent quality in hotels - some were good, some not so...
Read the operator's response here:
We always try and educate all staff on the importance of environmental awareness. For this particular area we will ensure we cover more of this in both our training and our daily email to our operators in both countries. Glad that the client had a very good trip with us!
Reviewed 18 Oct 2010 by Steff Lewis
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Nearly getting locked in the souk in Aleppo. We got let out the back door by a small man with a very big key.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Take plenty of US dollars. They are really handy for spending, and there is so much to buy.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Benefited local people - yes. Minimised impacts on the environment - not so sure. We stayed in standard hotels, travelled around in a standard bus. I'm not sure it was that environmentally friendly.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
It was brilliant. There was the odd dodgy hotel, and we visited a couple of places that weren't nice. But most of it was absolutely brilliant.
Reviewed 03 May 2008 by Eleanor Williams
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Sitting in a cafe in Palmyra, watching Man Utd v. Barcelona! Which I really wouldn't have expected to be the highlight but the locals were so friendly and welcoming, despite communication being solely by names of football teams and players.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Factor 50 sunblock isn't strong enough!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
More so in Syria than Jordan. In Jordan, we were in minibuses rather than on public transport and I felt that we were isolated from the actual culture.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Wonderful!
Read the operator's response here:
While in all of our destinations it is our intention to enable our travellers to mix as much as possible with local people, on occasions we do need to use private rather than public transport. This can be for a number of reasons but is usually related to the fact that public buses don't always serve the routes and destinations that we visit on an itinerary, or do so too infrequently or at too awkward a time to make the trip viable. This is particularly the case in Jordan where for example to go from Wadi Musa to a desert camp in Wadi Rum would not be possible by public transport.
We do nevertheless always try to use public transport where possible as we feel this offers our travellers an excellent insight into local culture as well as great opportunities to meet and interact with local people - one of the highlights of any trip.
Reviewed 20 Jul 2008 by Angela Beckett
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Petra and Palmyra.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
The local guide in Jordan was superb. Not so in Syria. However, the sights are so wondrous it was still a brilliant experience.
Reviewed 14 May 2007 by Carla Todescato-Pellis
I had a wonderful time in Jordan and I will definitely book another holiday with you. Since I didn't have time to plan my holiday and didn't have enough time to travel the country with local means of transport, as I usually do, I decided to join a group. I would describe myself as sociable but still I only had travelled in a group once before and it was awful.
This time was different: we started as a group of five people: from the start we understood each other perfectly. When the rest of the group joined us in Aqaba, I mingled with a few more people of the other group, that left me with at least seven new friends from four different countries. Matt, Naim and Alah , the tour leader, the local guide and the driver, did a terrific job.
To your questions
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The most memorable part of my holiday was (needless to say ;-)): Petra
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Tips for other travellers: if you expect an higher standard of accommodation book a luxury travel instead of blaming your tour leader !!!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Minimized impact on the environment: yes
Beneficial to local people: to some extent
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
****: you get four stars. Thanks again for an unforgettable experience
