Disappointing experience with Explore.co.uk for Jordan trip

Trip to Petra, Jordon in Feb 2008. Also featured in gumtree at http://forums.gumtree.com/topic168519.html
and Trip Advisor forum at
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293985-i2131-k1900749-l11663616-Spice_Trails_of_Petra_very_disappointing-Jordan.html#11663616

I joined this trip and, by and large, enjoyed it. However, I have some feedback for explore.co.uk which I am still waiting (via email from them).

Firstly, I was very disappointed by an unexpected change in the itinerary. I chose to take this trip in February rather than March partly because I knew a trip to Kerak (the crusader's castle) would replace one of the walks where there was a risk of flash-flooding. Having read up about Jordan beforehand, I was keen to visit Kerak. On the morning of the day we were due to visit Kerak (in fact, as we sat on the mini-bus ready to depart from the hotel), our tour leader Ibrahim announced that we would be visiting Dana nature reserve which was little-visited by tourists and highly recommended by him. He asked us not to share this as "the office" would want us to pay extra.

As he made to sit down, I raised my hand and asked if the scheduled trip to Kerak was still going ahead, as it had not been mentioned but that I was looking forward to it. Ibrahim said to the group that no, it was not possible to do both and that he recommended the nature reserve because of the beautiful landscape we could walk in, with much birdlife - while Kerak was uninteresting, very ruined and not possible to do more than look at the outside. Based on my reading, I felt the verdict on Kerak (which is visited by many other Explore tours!) was rather harsh, but was wary of damaging my relationship with the tour leader, who had so far seemed outspoken and decided on other matters. He added that it was possible to visit another castle on the way, which was much less known by tourists and equally interesting. At this stage, in a rather tense atmosphere, Ibrahim asked the group if they wanted to visit the nature reserve, or miss it out. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority voted for the nature reserve!

Given the nature of group tours, I decided to accept the change with good grace, but personally don't feel that I should have been put in a position where the itinerary could be changed like this without a logistical reason (e.g. weather, illness, etc). What if I'd been on a tour with a group of desert hiking enthusiasts who had persuaded the tour leader to stay longer in Wadi Rum and miss out Petra? Smile Essentially, I missed a day of the tour I had paid for.

Having accepted a democratic decision, I was eager to make the most of the day. But the 'beautiful, unspoilt' nature reserve was down in a valley, while we stayed on the hill-top and walked through a mostly-derelict village before having an over-priced lunch in the only cafe and visiting a craft shop aimed firmly at tourists. Ibrahim made no secret of the fact that the cafe owners were his friends. For JD10, we balanced plates of meze on our laps in a basic cafe; the next day, we paid the same for two courses in a nice restaurant, where the meze represented only the starter! The 'replacement' castle was basically a pile of rubble with a few structures remaining, unlike Kerak which I now know is much better-preserved.

Needless to say, after the day just described, the entire group were rather suspicious when Ibrahim made suggestions. There were some gentle but wry comments about which restaurants his friends owned, and whether any unscheduled stop involved a tourist shop! But for me, it was too late to prevent the disappointment and quiet frustration described at basically wasting a day of a holiday I had saved up to enjoy.

Secondly, our group were generally outdoorsy, practical, easy-going people. But we all found the nights camping hard going because of the temperature (especially when snow settled on high ground). The site at Petra was particularly cold, not helped by holes in the tent and very limited space to sit together by the fire in the evening. We raised this as a group before and during our first day in Petra, but we had to endure a night camping before someone (at "the office") agreed that we really needed to be in a hotel in those winter conditions, given the basic camping equipment we had been provided with.

Anyway, as I say, I'd be cautious about recommending this trip, or Explore, to my friends. Thanks for an otherwise good trip.