Tour leader - David B. · Tripsider.com

Last seen 8 days ago
Hello, my name is David
On Tripsider.com since March 2020
On Tripsider.com since March 2020
6h.
The average response time to messages in the chat
Verified
27 reviews

Since early childhood I have been traveling in the North Caucasus, I have been to Dombai especially often. I know all the most beautiful places of this region and discover it for my friends.

David confirmed
Personal E-mail
Documents
Phone
Best Price Guaranteed
Secure payment
Without intermediaries
6h.
The average response time to messages in the chat
Verified travel expert
27 reviews
David confirmed
Personal E-mail
Documents
Phone
Team
Meet the friendly team. These guys will make your trip unforgettable!
Susanna
My name is Susanna. I'm a Travel Girl organizer. In tourism 15 years. I have visited 19 countries. I love Caucasus very much and want to invite you to explore the most delightful corners of our regi... +more
My name is Susanna. I'm a Travel Girl organizer. In tourism 15 years. I have visited 19 countries. I love Caucasus very much and want to invite you to explore the most delightful corners of our region. I am sure you will love the Caucasus as much as I do! hide
David
In the field of tourism since childhood. I have hundreds of tours under my belt and thousands of grateful feedback from tourists. My goal is for people from all over the world to come to the Caucasus ... +more
In the field of tourism since childhood. I have hundreds of tours under my belt and thousands of grateful feedback from tourists. My goal is for people from all over the world to come to the Caucasus and see all the beauty of the nature of our region, feel the local flavor and taste the local cuisin hide
Expert Tours
Dombai trekking tour.Reload
Tour Guaranteed
Mountain
Russia
7 days (June 15 – 21 and 15 more dates)
4.6 (27)
$683
$98
Rating 4.59 (27 reviews)
About the tour: A magical ride! It's all great. Nature, air, beauty! Thanks to Alexander for the excellent organization of the tour. Special thanks to Tatyana Borisovna for all the goodies we were fed. Read more
About the tour: Dombay tour The reboot took place on October 09-15, 2023, guides Sergey and Nikolay
1 The mountains are beautiful! The views are fascinating and conquer forever. Medium-difficulty routes, a lot of relatively long hill climbs, but it's worth it:)!!!!
2 The tour organization definitely needs to be improved If you are an independent and responsible tourist who just needs to show you the destination where you are more interested in the company, then the tour will suit you. If you want real accompaniment and a sense of comfort and safety, your expectations will most likely not come true But so as not to be unfounded:
3 A group of 23 people with completely different physical training is a lot to go to the mountains. A string of people stretched out very much, and sometimes you can't see people walking behind or behind
4 There is practically no historical background, interesting facts, legends about the places we are in and which we pass. And there is always not enough information - to tell us when, how many and what climbs await us, what height we will climb, etc. - this did not happen, and there was really not enough
5 Entering the route is 20-40 minutes late due to the delay of the guides The group has gathered at the scheduled time and is waiting for the guides to leave for either to resolve the issue of food on the route
I'll be a bore, but in my opinion it's unacceptable for a guide who takes 20+ people of diverse training to the mountains to be “sore” in the morning and save the entire route with beer. This is not only personal safety, but also for the whole group!
Issuing passes at the checkpoint and filling out documents is a waste of 30 minutes of daylight, although it was possible to pre-fill in the participants' details the day before
After a shared lunch on the route and dinner, mass poisoning occurred in the hotel dining room - half of the group could not get on the route the next day The rest of the poisoning “caught up” the next day Neither the guides nor the organizers did anything for those who were poisoned The guides themselves asked for enterosgel from the band members It's great that the group united to exchange medicines and advice - what helped anyone, but an elementary first-aid kit with sorbents should definitely to be with guides In fairness, it should be noted that this is a standard situation in Dombay, but even so cheaper sorbents must be accurate!
About accommodation:
I categorically do not recommend the White Nights Hotel in the off-season, there is no heating, the room has only an electric heater, the tiled bathroom has a direct 'refrigerator'
Hot water - if you get it, but in our experience - there is no hot water at all after 21 hours, but they may offer you a basin and warm the water in the kettle. But if, after all, a basin is not your option, getting up at 6-45 am with an alarm clock is guaranteed to allow you to use a hot water shower
In general, if you are not a demanding and independent tourist, then the tour is suitable. But the mountains are really beautiful!
Read more
Travel expert's answer: Good afternoon Galina! Thank you for leaving your review We are very sorry that this situation has arisen and you were not satisfied with the tour. We always try to do everything possible to ensure that our tourists are satisfied with the quality of travel arrangements During trips, our guides always tell tourists about the history of the republic, its interesting legends, and safety. They give instructions on how to behave correctly, at what pace to walk, how to breathe, etc. Also, in the tour description, we pre-specified information about the number of hours on the route, as well as the mileage of each day. In the group chat we create a week before the start of the tour, a program was additionally sent with a detailed description of each day Our guides always have a first aid kit in case of poisoning and other unforeseen circumstances (it is replenished before each new arrival) Yes, unfortunately, the whole group was poisoned during the tour. Initially, everyone thought that the problem was in the water from the running water, the media also wrote about this Our guides took measures to ensure the safety of tourists, they purchased bottled water for drinking, as well as for canteen staff to cook with clean and safe water During and after the tour, we conducted an investigation to find out the source of infection, we contacted Rospotrebnadzor for explanations It turned out that the poisoning was not due to water, but to beef meat, it was infected due to livestock disease (specifically for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic) After finding out, we fed tourists only lamb and chicken, and fish We are very sorry that this situation happened, but it did not depend on us, we could not predict believe that mass poisoning is going to happen Our guides provided medical care for tourists who sought this help According to information from guide Nikolai, he personally delivered absorbents and thermometers by numbers almost every day The delays were mostly due to the fact that the guides were waiting for the Khychins to be ready and due to mass poisoning (tourists gathered longer in the morning and sent private messages to the guide about it) Regarding the delay at the checkpoint, passes are issued only on site, it is impossible to issue them in advance This delay was once during the tour during the route to Alibek Falls Dombay itself does not have gas or central heating, all hotels are heated either on wood or on fuel oil. Therefore, they do not have time to warm up Unfortunately, this is Dombay's problem as a whole. We will try to take into account your recommendations when further planning the tour in order to improve our service As part of the tour program, on the second day, we hold a Caucasian dinner for tourists to get to know each other better, unite and relax. Dinner is a feast with food prepared personally by the guides: barbecue and vegetables on the grill, ajaspandal salad Guides set a table that often includes alcoholic beverages for tourists who want to relax. That evening, some part of the group did not want to leave, asking continue the feast Because of this, the guides went too far with alcohol and felt bad the next morning. For their part, when they learned that the guides we drank beer on the third day in the morning, we reacted negatively to this situation, it was unacceptable for us! Guides Nikolay and Sergey were interviewed, they were punished with financial withholding for their misconduct, and one of the guides was dismissed. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and for leaving a negative impression of the tour. We will take into account your recommendations for improving our work so that such cases never happen in the future Read more
About the tour: The group ended up with 23 people, yes, there were 2 guides, but they went everywhere in large crowds. This increased the waiting time everywhere, and in general influenced the atmosphere Read more
About the tour: For our family, this tour was not as active and intense as we would like it to be. I would say this tour is more for an age group but not for young people! We met you well, the dinner with the band, with David was gorgeous, the beginning promised to be dynamic, but... City tours with another guide (Victor) were boring, lacked young energy, dynamics, more activity and more places to see to complete the experience of cities. If you walk around the park, see it so thoroughly, and not just drop by and walk along the edge of Kislovodsk Park, all excursions were limited to arriving at the hotel by 18.⁰⁰, although there is enough time until the evening to see something else. The guide was “afraid” to overwork and stay. Every evening after 18.00, we ended up inventing and trying to fill our leisure time and perception of a positive vacation, but these are additional expenses, since there is nothing within walking distance from the Musk Hotel to relax, we always had to take a taxi back and forth to Pyatigorsk. And a tour for a minute is not cheap, considering that you also pay for meals yourself! For that kind of money, we spent much more active and better vacations in the South Caucasus and all-inclusive meals, and if necessary, we found an opportunity to add activities at will, and were not afraid to overwork, in short, this is called customer focus! In all the cities where you stayed, we were in hotels by 18.00, so don't forget to think about your leisure time after the tours! The Max Hotel itself is gorgeous, especially breakfasts, but the downside is the remoteness from the city. The hotel in Nalchik is normal, I liked the pool, and in the evening you can somehow pass the time in warm weather. But the Gorsky Dom hotel in Dombay is the worst, the breakfasts are not tasty, the hotel's level leaves much to be desired, the rooms are very small and uncomfortable! Read more
Travel expert's answer: Good afternoon, Maria! Thanks for your feedback on our tour! Thanks for the comments you noted! This helps us become better)) We will definitely take into account and take measures to improve our journey. It should be noted that you are really a very active tourist!)) As a rule, most of our tourists return to the hotel after excursions on this tour and only have energy left for dinner)) The tour program is designed to include tourists of all ages: young people, families with children and older people. To keep everyone interested. Previously, the program was more extensive and, due to numerous requests from tourists, we reduced it and replaced some excursions so that people could have both free time for themselves and for rest. As for the park in Kislovodsk, it is really very large. Two days aren't enough to explore the whole area. Therefore, as part of the tour, we show only a small part of it. The cost of the tour is due to the expensive accommodation at the MASK Hotel. The hotel has proved to be a reliable partner. Our tourists have never received comments about the hotel, always only positive reviews and admirations. Therefore, it was decided to continue to accommodate tourists there. In this regard, the cost of the tour also had to be increased. As for the hotel in Dombay, we will definitely take your comment into account. We rarely accommodate tourists at this hotel. This mainly happens when there are no rooms in other hotels in the same price range. Unfortunately, this was the situation on your tour dates. Thanks again for choosing us! And we wish you great trips! Read more