Anyone used Intrepid?

[suzieq]

Hi guys,

Planning next trip and wondering if anyone has done any small group/adventure tours with either Intrepid or Gap Adventures? Would be interested to hear any stories.

Thinking about doing Nepal, Mongolia or India..... or even a combination of a couple of places over a period of 6-8 weeks. Has anyone visited any of these places and would you care to share your experience?

cheers

Suzieq

 

[Rob Williams]

I trekked Nepal for 5 weeks 2 years ago. Life altering experience!
I did it solo - just hired a guide and set off. Stayed in tea houses along the way and had a terrific time. Never got sick as I was very careful with food and always treated the water I drank, even if the tea house owner claimed it was boiled.
The highlight was Everest Base camp (there's NOTHING there, by the way apart from a couple of helicopter wrecks) and Gokyo Peak.
Go for it. Just go during the good trekking seasons.

 

[wish-ga]

I have used Intrepid for part of a China trip. Your tour is only as good as your guide and no guarantees who he/she is. On our tour were others who'd had WONDERFUL experiences with Intrepid, the China tour was not one of them.

Our guide would go MIA. Never told us what her room # or phone # was. Her room was booked in her Chinese name (that she wouldn't tell us) but we only knew her Western name - conveniently. Our fellow traveller wanted to phone her elderly (90 yo) mother, another lad had an account pin that had fewer #s than the atm allowed. Our 'guide' would not help these people.

T'was interesting though to see a local up close and experience the cultural differences.

Intrepid is not so much an organised tour as a little help for those who prefer to backpack. Intrepid appeals in countries where noone speaks English and all signage is in non-western characters. I did some scootin' here and there on my own but chose Intrepid because I had heard raves about them. They get you place to place but don't babysit.

One good thing that remains with me from my Intrepid travel in China is that I carry chopsticks with me so I don't need to use the disposable ones - saving the world and all that.

Despite my experience I have heard good things from people who have been to Thailand and Vietnam with Intrepid.

 

[caz]

We have been on several intrepid trips and totally agree they are only as good as your guide. they are a great way to travel as it is like back packing but the running around and organising is done for you allowing you to enjoy yourself. You really can spend as much or as little time apart from travel time with your group. A great leader can mean an exceptional trip a poor leader means you just have things organised and do you own thing.
I would go again if we didn't have kids, after our last trip I spent so long organising things and with intrepid it is just done so it does save you so much time. If you are time rich I would probably go without a group but if you want to pack as much as you can into your time I would recommend a group.