Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the Taj Mahal in all its majesty
Thoughts on Group Leader
Mayank was clearly not new at this role. He was very knowledgeable in many aspects and topics of India , where I was able to learn a lot ( whether I retained the information is a different story) . As he was mentioning the different religions in India, he did mention a bit of personal information where he said he considered himself Jain. This on its own did not bother me. In fact, it helps develop a connection. However when he said they are considered the ‘Jews of India’ and more specifically businessmen mentality, this is where I feel he may have overstepped. The reason I say this is what followed a couple days later. In Varanasi, there was an option in the morning to see a Buddhist temple. Myself and a few others were not interested in joining the group so we asked if it was possible for Mayank to book us a tuktuk. He went ahead and kindly did that for us. From my recollection, we did not clearly tell him what we were doing because we didn’t know what was there. There was mention of maybe going into the old town, but nothing was set. We assumed everything was fine on his end as he booked the tuktuk. We ended up getting a very kind driver who asked us where we wanted to go, we said maybe some shops. We went to a couple warehouse shops where we made purchases and then walked around the Muslim area to see people shopping in preparation for Eid. It was a fantastic morning!!! Mayank ended up finding our about where we went and that we made purchases. He ended up getting upset and short with our driver, on two occasions, the second one which we were witness to. He appeared rude and demeaning to our driver, as our driver told us what he said ( we had the same driver the following day to drive us to the boat tour on the Ganges). Basically Mayank asked why he took us to these places and that he wasn’t supposed to go there. After this, there was a sour taste in my mouth towards Mayank, unfortunately. I felt he was just upset because he lost money as we purchased things at places he didn’t take us to. This is something a businessman would be cognizant of.
Advice for Potential Travellers
This was my first trip to I did so other than reading reviews here I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d say pack light, bring reachable clothes that retail odor (you don’t have much opportunity for washings), bring tummy meds just in case, always carry tissue/toilet paper and sanitizer. The week is jam packed filled with so many great sights and experiences - take advantage of everything!! No regrets! It was so memorable! Am already thinking about returning to India
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Reply from Exodus
We would like to thank Hannah for her feedback and are delighted to read that her holiday was memorable and that she enjoyed the cultural aspect of the trip. We are sorry that she had a disappointing experience with the leadership on this tour as at Exodus we take great pride in our tour leaders. Mayank is recognized as one of our top leaders and consistently receives positive feedback from our customers. Over the past six months, he has maintained an impressive average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars and we apologise that Hannah’s experience did not align with this standard.
Regarding the shopping trip, we acknowledge that there may have been some miscommunication. On speaking with Mayank, he explained that the local tuk-tuk driver was instructed to take the guests to a particular market close to the river which we often recommend to customers as it is a safe and reputable area. It seems, the driver may have misled the guests that this market was closed and took them to another local area of his own recommendation. We’re really pleased that this was a positive experience for Hannah and they enjoyed the Muslim market however, it is not always the case and there have been occasions where rogue drivers have their own agenda and guests have a more negative shopping experience. Mayank was concerned with the driver that he had lied to the customers and spoke with him about the matter to ensure that it did not happen again. Mayank would not have benefited from any shopping commission for this independent excursion whether the guests had visited his suggested area or not, that was not the issue he had with the driver it was related to his concerns he mislead them for his own agenda and did not want it to happen again.
We appreciate the time Hannah took to share her experience and hope to have the opportunity to welcome her on future trips with us.
– Sarah Puttnam, Product Manager
