Expert Insights

September 10, 2013 Pilgrim’s progress

Winding between the jagged spires of the French Pyrenees before threading its way west across Northern Spain to the Atlantic Coast, the Camino de Santiago is well and truly scuffed by the footprints of time. The Camino de Frances, The Way of St James, El Camino de Santiago, or simply The Way, this historic trail...

September 10, 2013 Your Words, Not Ours: Maglic Moments in Bosnia

Maglic Mountain is the highest peak in Bosnia & Herzegovina, overlooking neighbouring Montenegro. Five-time Exodus traveller Terry Mullan set out on foot to discover this beautiful, though sometimes overlooked, Balkan country… Hikers on Maglic In November 1993 I sat at home and watched on the BBC evening news as the Old Bridge in Mostar crumbled into...

September 10, 2013 Best Things to do in China

Read time – 2 minutes As we flew into sleek, space-age Beijing Airport, I was eager for a taste of everything China had to offer. In my world this is the perfect type of travel – you arrive starving, have enough time to delight in the nuanced flavours of each region, and digest the atmosphere,...

September 10, 2013 Rock of Ages: Jordan Explorer

Read time – 3 minutes The thing about winter in the UK is that it is cold. Freezing cold. On the spur of the moment after trudging through the snow to my office I booked A Week in Jordan. It sounded so perfect. Only five hours away from the UK, yet 15 degrees warmer. Jordan...

September 09, 2013 Cycling in Kerala and Southern India

Read time – 2 minutes Cycling brings you much closer to the action than sitting on a bus looking through a window and in Southern India, there is no shortage of action along high streets, back-roads, highways and backwaters. Kerala Highlights Although there were many, the main highlight for me was the incredible climb up...

September 09, 2013 Yellowstone Wildlife Trek

Read time – 2 minutes The mist filled the hill-folds like honeyed candy-floss, its ethereal softness tinged golden by the rising sun. It wasn’t even 6 am and our van was, it seemed, the only vehicle on Yellowstone’s Grand Loop Road. The only vehicle, yes – but not the only thing. “Bison!” A huge male...

September 09, 2013 Hot Air Balloon Ride in the Masai Mara

Read time – 3 minutes Over the past two weeks, I have journeyed through three countries on an Exodus overland truck. It had hauled its way up and over a volcanic national park, carefully negotiated primitive hillside roads, slalomed perpetual potholes and weaved around myopic cattle. I have sat beside a family of mountain gorillas,...

September 09, 2013 The Best of Ladakh Cuisine

Read time – 4 minutes There was a sticky area on the white dusted top, a treacherous crust and the sides crumbled easily. But enough of the chocolate cake. High altitude trekking in Ladakh shouldn’t just be about food, but somehow the rarefied air heightens one’s appetite and as ever food eaten after exertion, especially alpine food...

September 09, 2013 Eye for a bargin

Read time – 3 minutes The ground pitches and rolls beneath my foot. I capitulate precariously, grasping a rough knotted rope to maintain my balance. Fortunately it is stretched taught and holds my weight, allowing me to steady myself and clamber onto dry land with an undignified lurch. A week on the waves has clearly...

September 06, 2013 The Benefits of Responsible Tourism

Read time – 2 minutes Chris Haslam is an award-winning journalist, and currently the Chief Travel Writer at the Sunday Times. This article originally appeared in an Exodus brochure. There’s a school of thought that suggests we should be taking fewer flights, travelling less and spending our holidays at home. Its proponents say that travel for its...