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the trip was a introduction to the region , leaving you wanting to return and explore further
I it difficult to identify one moment as each of the three countries were so different , it was more like 3 holidays in one.
Rit was a very good leader and his relaxed Thai style made him very popular with the group
add a few days on to each end of the trip so you can see more
Cycling trip starting in Thailand via Cambodia to Vietnam. Culture stops at Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh and Saigon. The cycling was back to front with long distances at the start of the trip when I (this was only me, I think!) was struggling to adjust to the high (37 degree) temperatures. It was always possible to stop riding and take the bus, but I didn’t feel good about it. I did enjoy the trip immensely once I’d acclimatised and loved the stops at Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh and Saigon. The quality of hotels in these places was really good, too. Would do this trip again in a heartbeat.
Affecting, rather than inspirational, were the Killing Fields and S21 Prison in Phnom Penh. I'm still thinking about it and reading what I can to make sense of the senselessmess of it. I was very proud of myself the day I managed all the cycling and completed a distance of 82km. This was the best group I've travelled with on Exodus: everyone was so nice.
Chai was the most organised group leader I've come across on an Exodus trip (I've been on more than ten). His belief in communication as the most important aspect of managing a group describes the essence of his approach. He engaged with all 18 of us, was professional, knowledgeable and a pleasure to spend time with.
Do this trip. I used Tahi Baht in Thailand and US dollars in Cambodia and Vietnam: this worked well. The hire bikes have drink holders, so bring a flask rather than a backpack bladder (less hot to carry). A loose shirt to wear over the top of a cycling vest/shirt is very useful (sun, modesty, etc). As a diabetic and vegetarian, I needed to avoid the rehydration salts and brought Marmite and V8 to compensate. There are very good veggie restaurants in Siem Reap and Saigon.
This trip provides good balance between cycling and sightseeing. The cycling is mostly on the flat, with no real hills to speak of, and at manageable distances with regular snack breaks, at least every 10 to 20km or so – if you are averagely fit it won’t be highly challenging, though there are a couple of longish days towards the start. The sights are really worth seeing though – Angkor Wat being the obvious highlight. Ho Chi Minh City is also a great place to visit – it is changing so fast!
I am not sure about "inspirational", but for me the most fun cycling was in Vietnam where the route passes alongside a river marking the Cambodian border, and where the people - young and old - seem so genuinely happy to see the group passing through the village. The War Remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh City and the Killing Fields & S21 jail in Phnom Penh are disturbing but essential to visit to start to try to understand the recent violent past. In both places, they have made a real effort to document and explain exactly what went on in the hope that it won't happen again.
Chai was superb. Nothing was too much trouble for him, and he did a great job of keeping the group together, managing three different teams, handling all of the paperwork and border-crossing formalities, and explaining everything that we were about to do (often multiple times over). He really cares about and takes pride in doing his job well and he is incredibly patient. He's also a really nice guy. I managed to mislay a couple of personal items on one of the buses and he has made it his mission to get the returned to me in the UK. I have to also mention the Thai team, in particular Mr Black and his two sons - lovely people with a real passion for cycling (and, in Mr Black's case, photography - he took loads of photos and videos and loaded them up on to memory sticks for us just for fun, in addition to driving the support vehicle and keeping everyone topped up with water).
Siem Reap is busy so if you are not confident cycling in traffic, jump on the bus for the first and last stretches of the cycling days in Siem Reap. There is a great big Tesco superstore (yes, really!) just across the road from the hotel on the second night, where you can stock up on all kinds of things you might have forgotten, and food. They have an in-store pharmacy and electrical goods section. The hotel on the second night isn't great but it is clean and does the job. We found that the water tended to be lukewarm in all of the Thai hotels, much better in Cambodia and Vietnam. We still haven't worked out why the hotel in Siem Reap played nursery rhymes as background music in the communal areas the whole time were there. We took the option to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat - which is fine, but don't be under the illusion that you will have the place to yourself - there were hundreds, possibly thousands, of people doing exactly the same thing!
A great way to see the three countries visited – up close and personal. Cycling off the beaten track in Thailand takes you to places other visitors don’t usually see and allowed for everyone to cycle at their own pace (be that racer or not). Cycling in Cambodia on the other hand is somewhat of a different nature, particularly in Siem Reap. We really enjoyed the exhilaration of dodging the traffic including mopeds riding the wrong way up your side of the road. Viet Nam was different again with endless over excited children running out to wave and say hello..makes you feel like royalty with all that waving 🙂
Realising how lucky we are to be born in Europe and not experiencing the many hardships that continue to this day in Cambodia even twenty years after the end of the Khmer Rouge era. How do they keep smiling? We were also very impressed by just how much you can load into the trailer of a moped and still ride it!
Our tour leader, Is, was really great - no one in our group has enough good things to say about her good grace and smiles and organizational skills keeping 18 cats herded in the same direction for two weeks. Also, not really a group leader, but the local cycle team in Thailand were also really great - the set up of all the rest stops was superb with lots of fresh fruit and cold drinks and all sorts of nibbles.
Echoing some of the other feedback, padded shorts and a gel saddle are a must! Be prepared for the hideously long travel day from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. They dug up the road two years ago, all of it, by the look of it, and apart from a couple of 500 metre stretches, have not remade it. So, that day, it took us over 9 hours and not the 5-6 it says in the trip notes. Don't indulge too much in snacking at rest stops as you always have a big lunch too and it feels really bad leaving food on your plate because you weren't hungry any more!
A very well organised trip, with good accommodation and food and great guides.
Staying in the homestay on the Mekong Delta was great, especially the cooking and the singalong with our Vietnamese guide.
Our group leader was very knowledgeable, funny, extremely helpful and great at anticipating potential problems and resolving them before they occurred.
Travel light if you can and make the use of local laundry services (typically 1-2USD per kg)
Good
Angkor Wat & the killing fields was necessary viewing
Very good
Take gel saddle and shorts
We really enjoyed our holiday, our guide Is was excellent, very well organised. There was very littl hanging about The cycling in Thailand was excellent fun as very quiet roads where we could all go at our own pace, race if we wanted to or in my case bring up the rear. Roads were busier in Cambodia and Vietnam but was still great but we could not split into groups so much. I was a bit nervous about keeping up but it was nearly all totally flat and I found I could manage the distances much easier than I had thought. Bikes were excellent but please, please take padded shorts and a gel saddle cover, hardened cyclerswere struggling without. No need to carry a bag whilst cycling as a vehicle follows you around and you just need to take a drinks bottle. food was really good and as a vegetarian I did not have any problems. If anything there was too much food which was particularly true in Vietnam where we were given large lunches which we felt rude not finishing but they were just too big. Although lunches not included you do not get a choice of where to go so I actually think he rip would be better if lunches were included since there is no choice anyway. hotels were a very good standard, much better than I was expecting. The only downside to the holiday was the time in Phenom Penh which was quite a stressful place to walk round and except going to the market I could not find anything to do in our free time and I also found the home stay to be very different to what I was expecting. I was thinking it would be a quiet retreat but our guide cider to do karaoke very loudly from his laptop. it was great fun but not a quiet retreat, we also had a en suite room and it was just a bit strange! great holiday though and I would recommend it.
of course the temples and Angkor but also finding out I could cycle really fast on the flat, ( living onDartmoor I am normally rather slow)
great
As above padding for your .butt and a drinks bottle
This trip has so many positives it is hard to list them all but here goes;
Organisation from Exodus pre-travel was excellent as was the slight changes I made to my trip to accommodate onward travel to Hanoi.
The guide was amazing and her humour and attention to detail made it all run really smoothly.
This type of holiday allows you to see at first hand real people and observe their sometimes simple and challenging lives, you would never see this in a coach or car.
The bikes were were good quality and sized accordingly. Roads and tracks were easy going really, some shallow inclines and easy off-road. The issue i guess is the heat when cycling rather than the distance. This is compensated for by regular pre-planned stops and plenty of fluid and nutritional snacks, provided by the kitty.
The support crews were the unsung heroes really, they made it all work so easily and despite most of them not speaking any English they were always happy to help. It was this whole package that made the trip work so well.
The hotels we stayed in were o0n the whole very good and the food was good too. We chose as a group to eat together each night which was a good way to unwind from the exertions of the day!
A group holiday required a bit of give and take and that means being a bit laid back, group dynamic is everything to a successful trip. Our group was great ans we all got on really well and helped each other when required.
The trip itself offers quite a variety of experiences such as remote farming and fishing communities, temples (plenty of those!), some ‘nightlife’ such as Pub Street in Siem Reap and equally tranquil moments in really remote places. The variety is there too as each country is different in many ways and it is this that you will remember most.
Well 2 things really; firstly the many children we met and saw, they are so happy and so keen to shout 'hello' and 'high-five' as you ride by. It was this interaction which I will remember for a long time as this is such a contrast to other countries I have been too. The other was the guide in Phnom Penh who explained his personal experience of the Khmer Rouge and the civil war, it was incredible really the way as Buddists they are able to forgive and move on rather than take revenge on the persecutors. This act has allowed the country to move forward rather than end up divisive and embittered. I felt this was something we in the West need to think about a bit more.
Our leader 'IS' was the key part of this trip, as you would expect of course, however she was more than that, she was special. Why/ well because she had infectious humour, was a good sport and really cared about us, both individually and as a group. Safety and getting the best from our trip was always in the forefront of her mind, she also was thinking ahead all the time. Guides on these type of trips need to be resourceful and never can switch off. The others guides who joined us in both Cambodia and Vietnam to support her were also very good and added considerably to the knowledge we gained about these respective countries.
Go with an open mind on what you will see, I saw much more than I expected too. You will get a group experience and this is great especially if you are traveling as a single person. Karaoke was our group bonding event, but don't worry its not compulsory!!! Don't take any super-smart clothes, you won't need them and they take up valuable luggage space! Sun protection essential as is mozzie spray but they were not a real problem for us in Nov/Dec. The snacks provided for the group out of the kitty are adequate but only take your own if you are partial to them. I took a small and cheap bag to attach to my bike handlebars, this was great for carrying a camera and money etc, better than a rucksack, worth the investment. If you taking a special saddle or pedals they are easily changed by the bike crew. Padded shorts are essential also, some took a gel seat cover as well. Food is generally cheap as are drinks, bill sharing for meals is much easier and saves time when paying too. Clothes washing is easy and cheap too so no need to bring enough for 2 weeks. Bring hand gels and use common sense with hygiene and you will have no problems, the guide will advise as well. A small and easily set-up camera is best while traveling, I took 2 one on the bike and one in the van. Plenty of opportunity to buy cheap clothes and quality goods made in Vietnam.
I thought the whole of the trip was excellent and very well organised. Nee and all of the staff in the 3 countries visited gave a very good service with a smile. Nothing was too much trouble. Nee made the trip memorable.
..The visit to Angkor Wat and the cycling in Vietnam.
Excellent
The flight to save the 6 hr bus transfer was worth doing.
A two week cycling trip through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Cycling through the rural landscape of three contrasting countries with an excellent back-up team. Visiting Phnom Penh and Saigon, two vibrant cities in SE Asia. Staying in a homestay on the Mekong Delta.
Nee was absolutely first class. I have been on a number of trips with Exodus and she ranks as one of the best!
Take your own gel saddle if you have one and also take some toe clips or pedals with cleats. The mechanics will put them on your bike very quickly. Don't bother taking any energy drinks or snacks, they are provided for you at every stop. Don't forget sun tan lotion and mosquito repellent.
We would like to thank Kevin and his travelling companions (below reviews) for their reviews. We were pleased to read that they really enjoyed their trip and found Sutinee to be a great leader, and we can fully understand their shock in learning that she will no longer be leading trips for Exodus. Sutinee has been leading our trips for a number of years and we have received excellent feedback about her so the decision that has been made was not taken lightly. Whilst we are confident that it is the right decision in the circumstances, this is a hugely disappointing situation for everyone involved.