Critique of ’Stans & South Caucasus tours

My husband, Greg Fearon, and I visited five of the ’Stans plus the South Caucasus, April 12-May 25, 2016, on back-to-back tours led by JMG Tibet Tours (www.jmgtibettours.com). The company’s Caucasus tour was featured in an article written by an ITN subscriber, a group member from a previous tour (June ’16, pg. 43). I must report that I could not have had a more different experience than what was reported by the other subscriber.

Our tour leader for both tours was the company owner, Jeff Garrett. On the first tour, which covered Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, there were eight group members, while the second tour, visiting Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, had a total of 21 members, larger than the company’s usual small-group size.

We had received an email from Jeff on March 15 with a list of the tour members on the Caucasus trip. He wrote, “… even though there are 21 in all, there will be two vehicles and two guides. This way, we will not have one crowded bus or 21 people trying to crowd around one guide.”

Jeff rode in the same bus throughout the Caucasus trip. Because I felt that communications were not being shared between the buses, I requested that Jeff split his time between the buses. He said he would, then did not follow up.

On both tours, there were few or no scheduled bathroom stops during the bus rides; we had to ask for them. On one long, 10-hour drive in Uzbekistan, we made just one stop… by the side of the road, not at a proper bathroom.

I’m sure if someone was really suffering, we would have made another stop (at the side of the road). Our guide said that the gas station bathrooms were worse than stopping along the road. Nevertheless, for the women, there were no bushes where we stopped. At the least, portable privacy arrangements (a screen?) could have been provided.

In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the local guides were knowledgeable, engaging, professional and obviously trained. However, I felt the guides in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, while knowledgeable, did not give a comprehensive picture of the countries. I felt similarly about the guides on the South Caucasus tour.

In Azerbaijan, on the second tour, a supervisor from the local tour company accompanied us on almost every outing. On one trip to a museum, I stayed back, sitting in the back of the bus. The supervisor did not see me, and I witnessed him yelling at one of the female guides. 

On another occasion, the supervisor lit into our guide in front of all of us for a good two minutes. I went to Jeff and told him to stop the supervisor from yelling at the guide, and he finally “cajoled” him to calm down.

Also, in Georgia, somehow our main local guide got the idea that the second guide was badmouthing him, and at one stop, when we were moving from taxis to the two buses, he started yelling at her in front of all of us.

In the article written by the other subscriber, an unedited copy of which Jeff sent to us before our tour, the author wrote (regarding a trip to Mestia, Georgia, which included an overnight train trip), “… we enjoyed a delicious dinner… before heading to the train station to board our night sleeper train to Zugdidi. The gentle rocking of the train and the clicking of the rails made it easy to sleep.”

I did not have the same impression of the train ride. 

The conditions we could expect on board during our two scheduled nights of train travel were not well explained in advance. The train was easily 60-plus years old. The accommodations on board were cramped, and the berths were very uncomfortable. The toilet in our car was dingy, with dirty floors, and the sink did not have running water.

I did not find the rocking to be gentle. The train stopped six to 10 times through the night with a jarring clank. There was little sleeping.

Lastly, there was no farewell dinner, and no tour-evaluation forms were provided.

We had complained throughout the tours to no avail. After the second tour, five of the group members and my husband and I wrote a letter to Jeff detailing these problems and others that we experienced. Although Jeff replied and concurred with many of our complaints, offering some apologies, he felt it was not his “normal experience.”

PATRICIA KUTA
Santa Rosa, CA

ITN emailed an edited copy of Ms. Kuta’s letter to Jeff Garrett, owner of JMG Tibet Tours (jeff@jmgtibettours.com), and received the following in replies.

I appreciate the opportunity to reply to Pat Kuta’s letter. I will first say that I always endeavor to improve and upgrade each successive tour as time goes on, and it is my goal that everyone thoroughly enjoys my tours. 

Regarding the tour members traveling in the second vehicle in the South Caucasus, whether it was at our hotels, at our meals, at tour sites or at stops while driving, I actively engaged with all 21 tour members throughout the tour. On that tour there were no long bus rides (each drive between stops was never more than 2 or 2½ hours), so even though I never rode in the second bus, I was available to all of the 21 members of the tour quite frequently.

There was not a communication problem between the two vehicles, as both guides had phones and were able to communicate back and forth when necessary.

That Caucasus tour was the only time I ever had two buses, and I will always have just one vehicle on all future tours, so this will not be an issue again.

Regarding the 10-hour bus ride in Uzbekistan, first, I must point out that it is normally a 6½- to 7-hour ride, but a border crossing was closed for renovation/modernization, which necessitated rearranging the itinerary. (The border crossing is now open again.) 

Second, every tour company operating in Uzbekistan (including MIR Corp. and others) takes this long drive between Bukhara and Khiva, and they all have had the same “pit stop” dilemma. It has been unavoidable.

I would tell everyone that there were very limited good bathroom stops but that if someone had to make a “pit stop,” we would accommodate them at the soonest and best place available. We stopped four or five times during that ride.

Happily, a new café (with Western toilets) has opened on that route, and I have added another regular pit stop at a village cantina. Also, a high-speed railway has opened in Uzbekistan between Samarkand and Bukhara, eliminating a 4½-hour drive there on the “Five ’Stans” tour.

Regarding the guides, unfortunately, in Azerbaijan, there was a problem between the owner of the company that I use there and one of his guides, and he yelled at her. This behavior is unacceptable, and it is certainly not the norm. I told him that he should not have embarrassed the guide by yelling at her. This supervisor does not accompany my groups any longer.

Pat is also correct that there was friction between the two local guides in Georgia. This was indeed unfortunate and I was not happy about it. However, I did not see or hear their argument (Greg Fearon told me about it later), so I could do nothing about it when it was occurring. With only one vehicle and one guide in the future, that will remain a one-time event.

In addition, I have changed to a different local company in Georgia and Armenia, and neither of those guides are in the mix. On my last two tours, everyone was thrilled with the new guides in those countries. (With my new partners, I now have control over the vehicles and guides that I employ.)

Regarding the overnight train ride in Georgia, I had told virtually everyone ahead of time (including Pat and Greg), during phone calls in the US, that the compartments were not roomy and to not expect a first-class train like in most of Europe. The compartments were clean, however, and the conductor in each car would bring clean basic sheets and pillow cases. 

There was a Western toilet in each car. Unfortunately, the conductor might not have cleaned it after each usage in the middle of the night. If a faucet didn’t work… this is in a remote part of the country, and sometimes things don’t work.

The clanking referred to was at stops where there was a coupling or uncoupling of cars.

The vast majority of tour members enjoyed the train ride for what it was. Many slept fine, some slept average, and, unfortunately, some got a poor night’s sleep. I slept average.

The train’s destination was Upper Svaneti, where there is a unique UNESCO World Heritage Site at the town of Mestia, and taking this train was the only way to see it without wasting two days traveling on buses or trains during the day. 

However, due to road construction between Zugdidi and Mestia and Ushguli making a visit impractical, and in my ongoing effort to improve my tours, I have eliminated Svaneti from the itinerary, meaning we no longer take the night train. In its place, I have added three stops: Kutaisi (with the UNESCO site Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery), the ancient cave city of Vardzia and the Rabath fortress at Akhaltsikhe. This is a permanent change.

Regarding tour-evaluation forms, being that I am the owner of JMG Tours and the tour leader, I have, instead, always encouraged my clients to come to me personally with any problems/complaints/improvements they might have. However, in the absence of evaluation forms, I completely understand the need of those tour members wanting to outline, and put in writing, the several problem issues that arose during the course of the tours. I also realize that there are those who feel more comfortable putting something in writing than speaking to me directly. Therefore, I now hand out evaluation forms to everyone on all my tours.

As for farewell dinners, we did not have one at the end of the ’Stans tour because of a 3:30 a.m. departure from the airport. After the tour’s first eight days, however, we did say good-bye to our guide in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan by attending a show at a philharmonic hall and having a special dinner with a folk-group performance. We also had a dinner/folklore show in Khiva, Uzbekistan.

On the South Caucasus tour, in addition to having a dinner and performance on the last night in Georgia, for the last night of the entire tour, May 24, a dancing show with dinner was arranged in Yerevan, but with a 4:25 a.m. departure from Armenia the next day, there were tour members who did not want to venture out or go far for the last dinner, including Pat and Greg. Instead, I took them and perhaps 10 others to a restaurant near the hotel for a nice dinner that night. I told everyone that they could order whatever they wanted as part of this included meal.

Being that I understand Ms. Kuta’s point, and despite early flight departures, I now have final farewell dinners on both tours in addition to other special dinners.

JEFF GARRETT, JMG Tibet Tours, 6001 Falls Circle Dr., Ste. 301, Ft. Lauderhill, FL 33319