Intrepid Travel

I had one of the absolute WORST experiences of my life on an Interpid trip in Croatia. Our tour guide/​skipper was literally DRUNK everyday from 7am on. One night he was drinking on the boat with his friend and I informed him the water faucet was not working. He was absolutely insane on me screaming, lunging at me and knocking stuff over. It was terrifying. The girls and I on the boat had to run off I was afraid to return until a few hours later. The skipper himself also left and didn’t come back to the boat until the next day. no apology, nothing. I’ve been trying to get reimbursed and Interpid refuses to. (not only was my trip ruined, but I had to leave early and pay for a hotel). Interpid basically told me they «conducted an investigation» and essentially said this event never happened, based on talking to the staff and travellers. Ironic as the only «staff» was the skipper himself and I asked the others from the trip and heard Interpid never even reached out to them! ABSURD. I’m actually now seeking legal options. Save your $ and don’t put it into this scam.

A decent tour, but average in most respects. Great tour leader knowledge & interesting tours. But… they really cut corners on a few hotel choices. In other words — a few hotels were cheap. No fans (in super hot weather 100 degree weather) and a couple of them were located far away from city centers & any activity spots. I recommend them, but with some reservations.

Horrible company. IT canceled a trip to the 10 day Galapagos/​Equador less than 7 days before the tour left the USA. Dozens of customers stranded and without any recourse.
Even with trip insurance, we’re out hundreds of $ for unusable airline tickets, before/​after hotels, etc.
NEVER USE THIS COMPANY !!!

I used Intrepid maybe 4 times. The trip to the Galapagos was the most
outstanding– well planned, good local guides, a nice mixture of various
ages in the group, and friendly people from various countries. It was incredibly relaxing and beautiful (even though I did hurt my back by falling on slippery stairs at their facility). Great hikes, bike rides, and one crazy boat ride where the captain drove too fast, and I was shocked that one of us didn’t go flying off the boat (think one of the locals did). The scenery and wildlife and sea life was amazing!
My trip from Rome to Paris had many Australians, and a couple New Zealanders.
I felt the most antagonism from the young Aussies and New Yorker through their arrogant attitudes, and cruel comments. There were a couple nice middle aged Australians, and the New Zealanders were a lot of fun. The locations were pretty fabulous, except that it was hard to understand our Hungarian guide at times. She also met up with her boyfriend in Switzerland, where she quit guiding the trip. Her boyfriend hugged all the ladies when he arrived, except for me, the oldest one.
My trip from Vienna to Budapest was just amazing. it was well planned, and the
tour guide and other patrons made it exceptionally fun. There was maybe one young Aussie lady who didn’t care for me, the American, but I just loved the other Australian ladies and we saw wonderful sites and got along great! The Czech Republic was beautiful!
Budapest to Dubrovnik was a very interesting trip, and had some beautiful highlights, but some of the young people were mean, and the English tour guide was
quite rude and arrogant to me as an American. It was a tour that involved several
wartorn sites with histories of terrible battles and killing atrocities, but also left me
with a terrible feeling of unrest and conflict just by the group– creepy

I wouldn’t use them again.
1. Intrepid uses non locals /​country natives to lead tours. This means, you can get someone from Spain, living in Spain, doing a tour in Morocco even though he does not speak Arabic. I’m not comfortable with that. Now, neither I nor my tour leader can speak the language… why am I there with him?
2. Tour Leader vs Tour Guide. When I read Intrepid’s trip notes, «while not a tour guide in a traditional sense». In my naiveté, I thought that meant, they’d be sooo much more. Ha! The first orientation meeting, our tour leader explained he was not a tour guide. He does not know stuff about every city, don’t expect it, it’s not what he’s here for. WHAT!!! Why did I pay $ 5000 then? I could book hotels and train tickets on my own. The reason I wanted to go with a tour, and especially a local guide is to get insider information, local information that I might not read about on the internet. Our guide was not very knowledgeable. For example, in his hometown of Valencia, he took us on an orientation walk and pointed to the Town Hall and said, this is the town hall. That’s it. I could have read the sign on the building if that’s all I wanted.
3. Anti-​American sentiment. I was told Intrepid is an Australian company and that’s why the tour I was on had 5 Ausies, 1 New Zealander, and me, the American. I was told Americans are arrogant, demanding, not smart, not worldly… All the while one Aussie said Mexicans speak Mexican. Whose the dumb one now?! Most of them were well traveled but only with Intrepid so they didn’t learn much from guides pointing to buildings, naming them, then walking away. The Anti-​American sentiment got so uncomfortable, that I had to confront two of my roommates and ask them what was going on.
4. Accommodations: We stay at 2 star hotels. This means rooms smell like smoke even if they are non-​smoking. There may be hairdryers (or maybe not), the A/​C won’t work, lots of street noise because our discount rooms face the street, and no elevators.
You do not get good value going on Intrepid tours.

Just a complete disappointment.
They sold me a comfort level, 3 – 4 star tour, and by the time I arrived to my destination they switch me to a 2 – 3 star! I got 1000 of rashes all over my body first night in the hotel bed that was under construction and woke up with fever. The tour leader informed me there is no 4 star hotel in this trip. Next day I split and they don’t want to pay my money back.
I am taking them to court.
JUST EVERY ONE SHOULD KNOW THAT INTREPID’S LICENSE IS SUSPENDED AND THEY CAN NOT DO BUSINESS IN LOS ANGELES/​CA. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH WAHT THEY SOLD YOU, YOU CAN TAKE THEM TO COURT BUT BY LAW THEY CAN’T EVEN DEFEND THEM SELVES BECAUSE THEIR BUSINESS BY LAW IS NOT RECOGNIZABLE. YOU CAN CHECK THEIR STATUS UNDER THE SECRETARY OF STATE. GO TO: http:/kepler.sos.ca.gov and type Intrepid travel incorporated. Under status it will say sos/​… my lawyer informed me it means their license is suspended due to not paying their taxes. I am taking them to court and I am thinking of a class action law suit. You can ask your credit card to not pay them because they can’t charge your card if their business is suspended.
They are making $ 400 million a year and still very cheep. They need a wake up call.
So good luck trusting this company.

My daughter and I traveled to India on an Intrepid tour through this office. I received great support in selecting the trip, and answers to my multiple calls. When I had to reschedule our trip due to visa problems, this office continued to be informative and supportive.
The trip to India was great! I enjoyed the mix of nationalities and age groups. Our guide, Tony, was attentive, organized and funny. The group members were friendly, on time, and supportive of each other. We stayed in some awesome heritage hotels, did some camping, and ate great food at restaurants Tony suggested.
Someone told me that Australian companies did the best tours of India, and so I chose Intrepid for that reason. It was great advice!

Review is regarding my recent Intrepid trip to Cambodia (Trip Code: TKAS-​O. Package number: 3 879 160). Long story short: I spent an estimated extra $ 378 going through Intrepid, which added no value and, if anything, was an increased hassle.
Cost: The cost of the package for my brother and I was $ 716. But to the best of my knowledge, Intrepid didn’t offer me anything that I couldn’t have gotten by making the same reservations at any hotel for half the price. In fact the hotel that I was staying at the night before the tour started, offered almost exactly the same package for $ 90 per person (for the tours, not including the hotel).
Our Intrepid tour and tour guide seemed like what thousands of other were using through out Siem Reap [Speaking of our tour guide: he was extremely polite and nice, but his English skills were only proficient. I understood maybe 70% of what he said, and after a while I just stopped asking him questions about the temples we were seeing because he either did not fully comprehend my questions or I didn’t understand his responses. Eavesdropping on other tours, I think our tour guide had slightly above average English skills compared to other guides, but there were guides I heard that had a much better command of English).
During our tour, I asked our guide how much the exact same tour would cost a friend if he wanted to do what we did, and he quoted us $ 125 per person. A room at the hotel that Intrepid booked for us during our stay was being quoted for $ 44 per night (double occupancy). So according to my math we could have paid: $ 250 ($ 125×2) + $ 88 ($ 44×2) = $ 338 by arranging this ourselves, which in a place like Siem Reap with so many tour operators is very easy. Intrepid earned over a 100% margin for providing what exactly? Again, there was nothing special or unique about our experience that dozens of other tour operators could have easily provided.
What adds to my disappointment is that paying the extra amount actually did not make my trip any more convenient. If anything, going through Intrepid increased my inconvenience. My brother encountered several difficulties trying to save his country of origin on your website. This created hassles in accessing the itinerary. Also, we didn’t receive any final confirmation about the pickup place, whether we would be picked up at our hotel or a pre-​determined place. No one answered the local number we were given either the night before our trip or the morning of. My brother and I were nervous that no one would pick up us, and were already making arrangements for a plan B. Add to that the simple hassle of printing out vouchers which were never asked for, and my brother and I were constantly asking ourselves why we went through Intrepid.

Dear Intrepid,
I have been on a previous trips with your company, and have heard other recommendations on Intrepid and I must say it is unfair to rate this trip as one, since my experience in Egypt was exceptional, in comparison to Jordon’s portion, which was highly inadequate.
Egypt — Our guide, Ahmed Badr was professional, well-​mannered, punctual and extremely knowledgeable. He accommodated our requests and constantly asks for our feedback to enhance our trip. He is always concerned on our health and well-​being, and educates us on any local scams or things we should be alerted of. He knew every site we visited, and goes above and beyond to give all of us the best experience at each site. He accommodated us for different meals request and catered to our needs while some were unwell, to as far as escorting us in the busy traffic of Cairo when we requested specific local foods and pharmacies. For the Egypt portion of this trip, I feel Intrepid and Peregrine has provided fantastic services and I would rate the overall experience excellent (5)
Jordan — Our guide Riad (did not provide last name or feedback cards) was not on par with what we have experienced. He was unprofessional, discourteous, and unorganized. Riad has dismissed some of our questions /​requests and gave responds such as «I know what’s best». He preferred conversing with the driver and ignoring the group as we pasted by many sites unless a question was prompted. Our days have started late in the day, and took many breaks between travels because him and the driver wanted tea /​smoke breaks, which consistently are 20−30min long resulting in shortened time at our inclusions. On one occasion they have asked the guest to wait while the driver and Riad had breakfast immediately after we have started our transit, lasting 40 min long. There were no options advised or feedback requested for meals, only based on what Riad has decided. He was little help when our hotel room was inadequate, and we sorted our issues directly with the hotel management ourselves. His knowledge of the sites seem to be of more personal stories of what has happened in his past tours rather than of true historical facts.
Jordan’s staff Riad and the driver has no respect for non-​smokers and have often smoke within close proximity of the group, even during guided touring. It was extremely unpleasant to deal with the second hand smoke and listening to him simultaneously.
Ahmad from Egypt was extremely courteous. He only took smoke breaks during our free time and have always attempted to step away from the group because he has asked for our feedback and is highly aware our group is non-​smokers.
We had opportunities to experience Egypt’s culture and interact with local Nubians, and experience their way of life. It was a very good experience similar to my previous trip with Intrepid in East Africa, and also one of the highlights that I look forward to during my trips.
Our guide in Jordan however, have not mentioned even the slightest interaction with vendors and locals, dangers or alerts during our stay in Jordan. His only advice was to withhold from purchasing anything as he will bring us to a «bazaar» store which will have discounted Dead Sea products. But on the day of our leave, we have realize he has brought us to a store which as marked up prices of the same products we found at the airport by 250%. We strongly feel that our trust on the guide was deceived.
The inclusions during our stay in Egypt was spectacular. We had sufficient time at each site as we set our days off early. Ahmad consistently asks for how much time we would like at each site, giving us the best experience especially with his vase knowledge of all the sites. We arrived also early enough before the temperature of the heat rises in midday which we were very thankful for.
The inclusion within Jordan was poor. Since we started our transit mid day with multiple breaks, we ran shortage of time in Aqaba and took away from our time to enjoy the town and beaches. Riad did little and superficial guided tours, and unable to answer some of the questions, which were usually dismissed by his own assumptions of «I think this happened».
There was no updated modified itinerary sent to us prior to our trip which left us confused. However, Ahmad was very helpful in explaining the changes, and provided an extra day in Cairo which we found fantastic.
As this is a continuing trip, we expected the guide in Jordan to contact us with optional activities during our first day. There was no contact from the guide, recommendations and activities to do on our arrival. Since our tour started so late on the 2^nd day which depleted our day when we arrive at Aqaba, we felt there was a big gap between Egypt and Jordan.
Please let me know if you can help resolve the issue. We have attempted to email your company several times without response. Also a review was filed online with similar information.

This happened:
Enough said.

I LOVED INTREPID and not only would travel with them again, but would recommend to anyone. Actually, that isn’t true — if you are not up for an adventure, not patient, not willing to meet new people from all over the world, expect 5 star accomodations, or hate being the only American on a trip — then don’t bother. If you are adventurous, love trying new things, not afraid to get a little dirty, flexible, patient, and up for anything, then Intrepid is amazing. I have read reviews on here where people complain about being the only American and felt that Americans were getting bashed because we are fat and lazy and snobby… guess what? We are! Especially when large groups of Americans travel together — which I have done — and it is miserable. Constant complaining about anything and everything gets old. I loved being the only American — my companions (Swedes, Irish, German, Australian, and British) loved making fun of how I pronounced things, or how I referred to things. This is what makes it fun — I made fun of them too! Being able to share political, national opinions and differences make dinners and long walks all the more exciting. I would hate traveling with people that are all like me — boring! The Europeans I traveled with didn’t complain about ANYTHING! I made friends for life on my Food trip to Vietnam. And a few of us went to Cambodia together afterwards and had an equally fun time. I found the whole process of booking my trip easy, the website is great and very informative. As a seasoned traveler, I have learned you have to roll with the punches. Some of the reviews I have read tell stories of things that sound like were preventable — bad guides and other nasty situations — and that is too bad. My guide, Tho, was amazing and we still communicate via email and Facebook. Next time I go to Vietnam, I plan on meeting up with him again on my journey. Intrepid was excellent and I am in the process of planning my next trip with them!

I recently completed Intrepid’s Great Indochina Loop, a thirty day trip from Bangkok to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia and finishing back in Bangkok. In short it was wonderful! We had three separate guides, one for Thailand and Laos, one for Vietnam and one for Cambodia. All three were great and special in their own ways. They clearly loved their respective countries.
Our group ranged in age from 19 to me (64). There were three married couples, one on their honeymoon. Nationalities were Irish, Canadian, Australian, New Zealanders, British, Trinidadian, Dutch and me, the lone American. The age differences were never an issue. Certainly the younger ones liked to go out and have drinks at the end of the day, often staying out late. But that was no skin off my nose. As long as you show up on time and handle your own stuff I don’t care what you do.
We saw and experienced many things that I’m sure I’d have missed if I had travelled alone. The guides without exception were extremely conscientious. Safety was always a priority. But they also emphasized showing respect for each culture and nature, for example asking us to wear appropriate clothing when visiting temples and sacred places. It was just a superlative trip in all aspects and I couldn’t have been more pleased.
Now a few words for some things I’ve read on other Unilocal reviews. In particular I read one American say he or she felt harassed by comments from other nationalities with regard to our role in the Vietnam War. I too received some good natured jibes about it. But here’s the thing: People from other countries in the world are under no obligation to kiss our spoiled, pampered American asses. We as a country brought death and destruction of untold proportions on this region all based upon a lie. Maybe individually we had no hand in it. But in a sense I did. I was in the US army towards the end of the war. I fully expected to be deployed there. I was trained for it and prepared to do my duty. But it wasn’t my destiny. When I went to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City it was a hard time for me. In fact, a lady from New Zealand came up and asked me how I was handling it. It was tough. But I «owned it.» As Americans I think it’s a good thing to be faced with the consequences of our leader’s and country’s actions. Get out of your protective bubble. For their part, the trip guides, all aware that I was American, publicly emphasized that the war is in the past; that people hold no Ill will towards us.
All that aside, Intrepid showed me to be a first rate company. I heartily recommend them and can’t wait to travel with them again.

My trip was under rated 1 star. I had a trip with this company 3 years ago when I traveled to Mexico. We are about 16 people age from 30 to 60. The problem we had was a local guide keep changing transportation method saying, we can save time using private van instead of public transportation. and were collected more money place to place. Also, He borrowed a quite bit of money from other traveler to buy for another hotel instead of hotels which is already printed to the travel itinerary. The young British traveler were very worried to get her money back from him. About the hotel, hotels in Mexico is already super cheap, but then we were stuffed in a small room so he can save money. I guess what ever he save is his own salary?. I don’t trust this company again. I never had this kind of trouble with GAP travel.

We used intrepid travel to book a 4-​day safari in South Africa. I think the price and easiness of this was good but I do have some complaints:
1. It seemed like the turn over of their employees was frequent and there were times where it was months before my email was answered. We booked the safari about 3 months before the trip and before we paid, the emails were answered almost immediately. But as soon as we paid, the emails took longer to be responded to.
2. The PDF that they send you is kind of inaccurate. They tell you to bring scarves and gloves and not to book anything the day you come back because you can arrive back to Jo’Berg late, which is not true. We went in January 2014 (the summer in SA) and you definitely do not need scarves and gloves — it is really hot. I suggest just purchasing cargo pants (that could become shorts) and some safari shirts (that absorb sweat) and are sold in many malls in Jo’Berg. Most of the time you will want to wear shorts, which there are mosquitos they don’t really bother you if you use mosquito repellent. I would also suggest buying a safari type hat because the sun is really strong and it can burn your head and face. Also, on the day you come back to Jo’Berg from the Krueger you will be in Jo’Berg by 5pm and you can always talk to the people at the lodge if you need to leave a bit earlier, they will set that up.
3. Make sure that you are out 20-​mintures earlier waiting for the Intrepid van to pick up from the hotel (or airport) because they are very on time (even early) and might not know how many people they are picking up and might not wait for you. Lucky enough we came just in time but the driver thought he was only picking up 2 people but it ended to be 4, he would have just left if we came down a minute too late.
I would suggest booking a safari/​lodge straight with the lodge – the one we stayed at is called Thornhill Lodge and they were amazing. But intrepid can also be easy to deal with (and might be cheaper – not sure).

My experience was absolutely horrible. In brief, our captain was detained by the port police for over 7 hours. Myself and another traveler had to go to the port and vouch for Intrepid. They had no representative on the ground. We had to secure another boat because the boat owner and the third party boating agent were in some kind of tiff. The new boat was smaller than the minimum enumerated on Intrepid’s trip notes. To top it off, in the new boat we had to share beds with complete strangers. Our itinerary changed, not because of weather but because of the boat fiasco, and we were not allowed to extend the trip an extra 2 hours to see more islands. The docks, with the exception of one island, are very remote and expensive to get to. According to one local in Santorini, the Santorini dock is a «fishing» dock. While there we had to park next to another boat and climb over it to get to land. Our captain had absolutely no ability to manage the personality’s on the trip. There is much more but I already sent a 4 page detailed review to Intrepid and am very tired of discussing it– I just wanted those of you looking at Intrepid to be fully informed. The result of that review was a week and a half of waiting for a customer service manager to offer me a ton of excuses, a $ 400 (not even half the trip price) US refund and a $ 250 US promo code for a future trip. There will NEVER be a future trip on Intrepid. My advice: think really hard about how you want to spend your vacation and your hard earned dollars!

I think that Intrepid has a wonderful idea but it does not work well for all people. I have been on three trips with them. My first on in Southeast Asia was good, however the group I was with left a lot to be desired. Our leader tried his best but could only do so much. I am an American and like the idea of traveling with other nationalities. I have to say I constantly had «American bashing» from others. I felt alienated and bullied, by others comments ranging from how stupid American people are, how loud and fat, obnoxious, etc. and in the next sentence how they want to visit this country. It is so insulting and I don’t think many American people would bash these other countries.
My second trip was to Turkey. It was much better. Our group leader was attentive and we had a wonderful time.
My third trip was to India. It was a group of only women and our leader was amazing.
There is a lot of partying that goes on in these groups. Because of the price and the time of year, there are many college age students on these trips. I am much older and felt like the parent sometimes. If possible it would be good to get a heads up on who is on the trip so you can get a sense of the mixture of people.
If you are not from America, what you see on television is not an accurate portrayal. New York is not Gossip Girl, we are not like Kim Kardashian, do not wear all designer clothing and are far from stupid!

Cancelled trips :(
I’ve booked three trips on Intrepid, the first was okay, but they cancelled the second two on me! I won’t try them again. This last time, they cancelled because not enough people had signed up, and they didn’t seem to care at all that they left me in a lurch with plane tickets I can’t refund! they expect you to not have booked any flights or hotels until two months before the trip — which is fine if you have tons of flexibility with your time and money. But I don’t!
anyway, the first trip was okay, but I’d recommend to steer clear unless you really don’t care if you get cancellations.

I’ve explored architectural wonders, eaten camel, alpaca, raw lamb, and guinea pig, camped out under the stars in the Sahara, and shopped in plenty of souks, mercados, and bazaars with Intrepid. I’ve made friends all over the world and have had amazing adventures and journeys that I’ll never forget.
Some backpacking snobs turn up their noses at the mere thought of tour groups, but these ain’t your average tours. They are an Australian-​based company, and groups are small (~12 people max) and primarily made up of backpackers of all ages from all over the English-​speaking world. They are great if you’re uneasy about traveling alone, or would just like to travel with some new friends. I probably wouldn’t use them for first world nations that are easy to get around in (namely, most of Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia), but for developing countries they are fantastic. They take the hassle out of your trip by planning itineraries out thoughtfully and arranging all accommodation and transportation, and their trips are extremely efficient if you have limited time off and want to see as much as you possibly can. The American booking office in Boulder is always super friendly and helpful. Traveling with Intrepid is just a tiny bit more expensive than budget travel alone, but you’re paying for convenience and expertise. To me, it’s well worth it. They are relatively inexpensive compared to most tour operators, and a great value for your money. One caveat, though: it helps to go into an Intrepid trip with an open mind and an adventurous attitude. If you are expecting 5-​star treatment and are not willing to rough it a little, this isn’t the company for you and you should probably stick to your Caribbean resorts and cruises.
That said, Intrepid really tries to take you off the beaten path and into more remote regions. They include home stays when they can so you get to experience village life and local culture firsthand. As an added bonus, they are environmentally and socially conscious and all about responsible, sustainable travel. They help out local economies by patronizing independently-​owned hotels and restaurants, and they even help locals through various charities and foundations. With them and their amazing local guides, I’ve experienced places and cultures at a depth that I never would have stumbled upon traveling independently. Since I only get two weeks off a year to experience as much of the world as possible, they are currently my preferred mode of travel. Intrepid is awesome, and I highly recommend them to young people and the young at heart. Next trip: the Serengeti and Zanzibar!

(For some reason Unilocal has removed my original review…)
After much ado Intrepid refunded half of my trip costs. While this did not make a bad trip OK, it was a satisfactory adjustment.

My original review of Intrepid still holds true.
They have since moved from Venice, CA to Boulder, CO. This review is based on my recent experience traveling to Northern Thailand w/​my mom and sister.
I was very much looking forward to this trip for months. I read the Trip Notes over and over to make sure we’d be prepared for the 3 day hilltribe trek. I went over the notes with both my mom and sister, making sure they would be ok with the hike and all of our other activities. My mom is no spring chicken, but she has climbed mountains before in high elevations. My sister would bike for hours to get in shape. I had been going to the gym everyday for months. We all thought we’d be ready for the hike. Well, Intrepid seriously misstated the ruggedness of their hilltribe trekking. The first day consisted of a 10 – 14 km hike with 3,000 feet elevation gain in a jungle. It was about 90 degrees and 100% humidity, so that much elevation gain in a slippery jungle doesn’t make for a fun time. Especially when the trail runs on a cliff parallel to a rocky river. This became almost fatal when my sister slipped on the trail. Luckily, someone had built a bamboo rail right where she slipped, and if she hadn’t grabbed hold of the rail with her left hand, she would have fallen straight down 60 feet into the river. My mom had a rough time with the humidity, and had to stop frequently to catch her breath. Day 2 of the trek was better, as we contoured along some coffee fields and didn’t walk as far, but the heat was exasperating. Day 3 was nice and cool, but the steepness of the trail was insane! It must have been a 50 degree decline, and deeply rutted from mudslides due to heavy rain. My sister had to have help getting down, and my mom twisted her knee. This trek was much more of a death march than anything else.
Besides the trekking, lots of our long-​distance «local transportation» was via songthaew.
It’s a novelty at first, cramming 11 people into the back of a pickup truck, breathing in diesel fumes. But when you do this EVERY DAY for at least a 2 – 3 hour stretch, it gets to be very uncomfortable. We’d get wet from the rain, coated with dirt from the roads, and covered with black soot.
Also, when an activity is optional, it should be optional, right? So after our group went to a waterfall, there was an optional excursion to a tiger temple. 6 of us didn’t want to go. But did we have a choice? NO. We had to join them in the songthaew for a 45 min ride to the temple, then wait around for another 45 min while the 5 people in our group went and petted tigers. We didn’t pay to sit around on this trip, that’s why some activities are optional– to let others who don’t want to go not go. But we had to go. LAME.
Would I travel with Intrepid again? Maybe. I had a great time on my first trip, and traveling with Intrepid with my mom and sister gave me a different perspective of the company. Intrepid is geared towards those traveling on a budget, willing to handle hard beds, rats and bugs in their hotel rooms, roughing it in the jungle, cold water showers, uncomfortable transportation, and it is a crapshoot who ends up in your tour group. In my last group, my boyfriend and I were the youngest and the oldest was in his 60s. This time around, my mom was the oldest and 80% of the people were barely 20. This caused problems, as many of the young’uns were disrespectful and rude to my mom. Next time, I’m going to take a more luxurious vacation that includes an air-​conditioned bus.