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DearMsBozanic,

Thank you for providing us with feedback regarding your recent trekking holiday to Nepal with Exodus, although I
wasbothconcernedandsorrytolearnthatyoubecameillduringthetrekandthatyouhaveremainedunwellonyour
returnhome.Ihopethatyouarenowstartingtofeelbetterandthatyouhaveaswiftandfullrecovery.

It was concerning to read that you have had to visit hospital since your return home and that you may need to
return for more tests. As I am sure you will appreciate, it is not uncommon for people to feel poorly whilst
travelling to some of the destinations visited on our tours, but it is rare that we receive reports of clients having
been unwell for such a lengthy period of time or having to have tests after a tour, so we are genuinely sorry that
this has been your experience.

We recognise that this has led you to question what caused you to be ill and that you suspect that it may have
been linked to the water you drank at Gorak Shep. It is often very difficult to ascertain exactly where and
howpeople have become unwell, and whilst it is possible that it was the water which led you to be ill, we feel we
should mention that maintaining hygiene standards on treks in Nepal is always a challenge and it could have
resulted from food or food preparation hygiene, cross contamination or an issue resulting from the bathroom
facilities. It is very rare that we receive reports of clients becoming unwell purely as a result of the drinking water
during any of our treks in the Everest region; indeed we have not received reports to indicate that this occurs any
more frequently than on our other tours where clients purchase bottled drinking water. I have, however, raised
your feedback with our base manager in Nepal, Valerie, and our health and safety specialist, Charlie. Valerie has
explained that the bottled water which is sold in the Everest region is made using water originating in rivers,
which is then UV treated in Namche; she has explained, therefore, that the general consensus amongst those in
the region is that this bottled water is not necessarily safer than using a UV steripen. Whilst we are unsure what
type of purification tablets you used during the tour, Charlie has explained that chlorinebased water purification
does not kill parasites such as those which cause Giardiasis. Whilst iodinebased purification does, such tablets
are no longer available for sale in the UK. We would expect people to have access to boiled water on this trek
and we normally find that the use of this water, combined with water purification tablets as appropriate,
adequately provides people with safe drinking water.

Further to your feedback, we have asked the product manager for Nepal to add additional details and advice
about water purification into our trip notes. Given the rarity of reports of people being unwell from water on this
trek, we do not currently believe that the right course of action would be to change the advice in our trip notes
with regards to the use of bottled water as there is a distinct lack of recycling facilities in the country and this
would compromise our stance on using environmentally sound practices whilst in Nepal. We hope, however, that
altering the trip notes helps show that we have taken your feedback seriously.

Charlie has also logged your sickness on our health and safety database to try to identify patterns and to
endeavour to prevent future illness. She has assured me that she will keep a close eye on future feedback and
additionally Valerie has asked all her leaders to keep a record of any clients becoming unwell with upset stomachs
or nausea to see if this will help identify if there is any pattern in where people may become ill and to help
pinpoint whether this could be caused by the water at certain lodges. Whilst we appreciate that this does not
alter your experience, we hope this demonstrates that our teams in London and Nepal are taking your comments
seriously. We regret the understandable disappointment caused by being ill; we realise that this must have been
both very uncomfortable and extremely inconvenient during your long journey home.

On a more positive note, I was pleased to read that you found the trek to be a beautiful and challenging
experience, and that you found your tour leader, Shailesh, to be professional and an excellent leader. We
endeavour to give praise where it is due so we have asked Valerie to share your comments with Shailesh as we are
sure he will be delighted to read your kind comments.

Pleasedoletmeknowifyouhaveanyqueriesorwouldliketoprovideanyfurtherfeedback,otherwiseIwouldliketo
takethisopportunitytothankyouforprovidinguswithyourfeedbackandforbringingthismattertoourattention.I
hopethatyoursymptomsarenowsubsidingandthatyoumakeafullrecovery.

Kindregards,

Lucy Crabb
Senior Customer Services Executive

t+44 20 8772 3912 elucy.crabb@exodus.co.uk w exodus.co.uk