What you say about us

Alan Coward & Janet Weymouth October 2009

John Wilton & Clive Yeomans September 2009

Alan & Guida Demange August 2009

Jackie Westwood & Sue Hutson June 2009

Doug & Mary-Beth Maclean: June 2009

Dear Joanne;
Obviously we are back safe and sound here in Canmore (Canada).
Jet lag is now behind us. 
I want you and your company and boss to know, that I am totally impressed and thankful that I booked all our arrangements through the Russia Experience, you met our requirements, and all you said would be done was done and done very well, we were totally impressed and happy, and felt extremely lucky we were not being led down the train platform by a person with a flag or silly hat! The ndependence was exactly what we wanted and it worked 
very well.
Every driver met us. Every guide was brilliant (exception see below).  It really was incredible how well it worked and how comfortable we felt. So my complete congratulations to you all and your company be assured  I will recommend you given the opportunity.
Guides, in St Petersburg, we were met at our fabulous hotel, 
location, appointments, breakfasts, were great, by Maria, I am sure its not her Russian name, but she was young, historically aware,  personable, we really enjoyed her company and knowledge.  In Moscow, again the hotel was fine, except for a plastic toilet seat that cracked and broke and they never replaced it in three days, and the hotel manager was a bit of a jerk, but the staff was really good, food excellent, and location perfect. We enjoyed walking through the Asserbyjhan (sp) market to the metro, and enjoyed having all the small food shops and stores available. The guide was a young guy named Ilya, he and my  wife got along famously as they were both history buffs, and we had a  great introduction to the metro, downtown, Kremlin. He was really 
good, smart and interesting.
In Irkusk we met (?) her name escapes me right now, but she was great  too, calm, generous, and we enjoyed the ride to Lake Baikal,  incredible, good little hotel, nice walk and introduction. Again we  really enjoyed her company although brief. In Ulan Bator, we were met by Gerlee (jenny which we never called  her), she was our absolute favorite, very smart, interesting, caring,  she made sure our every need was taken care of, and made sure safe  and good knowledge was provided, the ger camp visit with her was  fabulous, the camp incredible. We really enjoyed her company. She was 
over the top in terms of assistance.
Finally Beijing, we were met by Johnny (english name for sure) nice  guy, he got us up and out of the incredible busy train station, we  were dusty, dirty, and needed a shower badly, the train across the  Gobi hit a dust storm! But we did not go to the hotel, we went first  to a "tea ceremony" it was really odd, and although interesting we were barely in the mood, plus in the end its about what you buy. He appeared and disappeared then was back at the end, after we bought 
two boxes of tea  get out of there,  that tea was $71. usa dollars,  we saw the same tea later, for a quarter of the price.
It was to be the first of two tea rip offs, the second being our fault.
The hotel was great, location perfect, tickets for our next train  were there. So Beijing was just great, we took our selves around and  loved it.
Then of course we were o our own in Hong Kong, but I have to say the  train reservations you made were brilliant, it was the most clean  wonderful train, great private cabin, and comfort. Sadly though we  did witness the train crash in Chanzou station as we pulled through  there , four hours late,
obviously caused by the crash.
My only other slightly negative comment, (other than the guide as  mentioned above) is that care must be taken with the train from  Irkusk to Ulan Bator. It has become a "trader" train due to bribery I  assume, many traders are shipping goods in cabins and in the  hallways, its likely cheaper than freight shipping. But as a tourist,  paying to ride a train for a different reason, I felt our privacy was  really abused, by noisy, parties, smoking every where, and in general 
a "mess". Some of them were highly loaded from the get go, and some  were quite dangerous, as they did steal money and a passport in the  next compartment, then proceeded to threaten the husband and wife for  more money.
So I would advise caution in your booking on this train, some friends  from Holland were in the back of the train and it was better we were  two cars from the engine, maybe that was the problem.  Of course taking care and just doing your own thing in your cabin was fine. We had a nice father daughter combination from Holland in with us, they were glad it was us, because previously 6 traders were in their compartment, lucky the father was able to move them out finally by  complaining to the car woman, whom I believe was in on the bribes  too. She charged us for using hot water!

Anyway, if thats all the negative I have to say you can see its not  much, obviously Russia Experience did well for us, our sincere thanks for all your help.

Terry & Madeleine Kay: June 2009

Madeleine and I had a truly wonderful time on our holiday to Russia Mongolia and China.

We are so grateful for the fabulous itinerary that involved us going to so many lovely places. The train journeys and hotels were great, the guides were exceptional and we were extremely impressed with all the planning that your company did on our behalf. Hitherto we had only travelled as far as Barcelona – but this was a 30^th special anniversary trip! Me being able to speak Russian helped – and also this helped in Mongolia as they use the same Cyrillic script.

In particular the young people we met were so enthusiastic and positive - both locals and fellow travellers - which encouraged us to feel a lot more hopeful for the world. The Mongolians are lovely people- we loved being there in such a wild and dramatic but peaceful place. And we also especially loved Beijing, which is just breathtaking for both its history and for its vibrant and exciting present. We found much to admire about Chinese society which took us by surprise. It would be hard to highlight any one part of the holiday as we loved it all BUT one thing is clear – the Russian Experience team (and you in particular, Karen, for helping us dovetail the programme to reflect our wants – made the trip a delight by being so good administratively) – the arrangements were absolutely brilliant!

All the best to you and your colleagues from 2 very satisfied and very happy travellers.

Darryl Kilvington: May 2009