Quintessential Highlights of Bhutan One-Week Tour

We are a retired couple from the USA in our late 60s.  We recently returned from a fantastic five-week tour of India and Bhutan (four weeks in India followed by a week in Bhutan) arranged through this agency, a truly first-rate company.  Our travel planner had assured us that our tour would be the "trip of a lifetime," and we were not disappointed.  We are veteran travelers and usually tour on our own (renting a car) in Europe–and even in Japan.  Our instinct was that we should not attempt this in India–and we were certainly right.  

We began our search for a tour company by looking at small-group tours, but these did not offer the length of stay we had in mind.  Figuring this would likely be our one trip to India, we wanted to spend at least four weeks and to include as many destinations as possible.  We also had the idea of extending the trip by an additional week in Bhutan, since relatives had been there and loved it.

We soon discovered that there are a number of companies offering personalized tours for individuals or small family groups, and that such individual tours are the preferred way to tour India.  Having surveyed a number of such luxury tour providers online, we selected three of the top companies and solicited proposals for a three- to four-week tour of India hitting as many of the must-see destinations as possible.  We then studied the proposals and followed up with lengthy phone conversations with representatives of the three companies, including our travel planner. 

Through this process (which required a good deal of study and work on our part), this travel company emerged as far and away the best choice.   First, their pricing was considerably lower than the others.  Equally important, of the three company representatives we interviewed, our travel planner was the only one who truly listened and understood our travel style and what we wished to accomplish.  He has far-reaching expertise of the many varied destinations in India and helped us put together an itinerary that was ambitious in its pace but not exhausting.  He rightly advised allowing sufficient time at each destination to relax as well as to cover all the major sites.  He was also attuned to our budgetary concerns and helped us to tailor a selection of hotels that kept expenses under control without sacrificing quality or style.  

One advantage of our selection process was that it helped us become aware of the breadth of possible destinations in touring India, since each proposal contained at least two or three suggested destinations that weren't mentioned in the others.  Having a list of recommended destinations was a boon in narrowing the focus of our study of the vast amount of information online and in travel guides.  We were thus able to sort through the possibilities and select those that were most interesting to us.  We worked with our travel planner to expand the itinerary he had proposed to include such places as Ranthambore and Madurai, as well as the one-week extension in Bhutan at the end.

After we signed on with this travel company, we remained in contact with our planner, working out numerous details regarding hotels, internal flights, and the like.  We conferred mainly by email, but occasionally talked by phone to discuss more complex matters.  Throughout, he was always responsive.   We were very concerned about setting the specific dates of our travel, since we wanted to be in Punakha, Bhutan for a festival in early March.  This was not easy, since the dates of that festival were not yet firm.  Our travel planner called contacts in Bhutan to make sure that we would likely be in Punakha on the right dates (and we were).  He recommended a mix of premium and luxury hotels that he felt would offer a special experience (and they did).  He took care of booking our seats on the internal flights.  He tweaked our itinerary at the last minute to include visits to museums and other sites that we had read about and wanted to see.

This travel company's mission is that their clients "experience destinations rather than visiting them," and certainly our tour was rich in personal experiences that made us feel a true connection with Indian culture.  The excellent guides and drivers are essential to this experience.  All the guides were fluent in English and very knowledgeable about history, culture, and current events (both in India and the USA).  We felt we were able to get to know them personally, and we were particularly fascinated by the variety of people who served as our guides.  They represented a range of ages, ethnicities, educational and professional backgrounds, political and philosophical viewpoints, and even genders (one guide was female).  Getting their takes on people, places, and events offered a real cross-section of society.  And we had the feeling that most of our guides enjoyed getting to know us as well.  We didn't get to know most of our drivers so well, since they generally spoke less English.  On two extended segments of our tour, however, our drivers served as guides as we traveled around a region.  This worked well, and we developed a special bond with them.  The guides and drivers were consistently attentive to our needs and adapted readily to our interests and touring style (frequent stops for photo ops was a must!).  It was always easy to fine-tune the daily plan (to include a particular site, activity, or restaurant, for instance).

A particularly invaluable aspect of the the travel company's tour is that a company representative is at the airport or station to meet clients upon arrival at each destination to assist with luggage and transportation to the hotel.  Similarly, at departure the company representative is there to assist at the station with boarding trains, or at the airport with passing through security and checking in for flights–often a complicated process.  This service worked nearly flawlessly.  Just once there was a glitch when we had trouble finding the travel company representative upon arrival.  I simply called our planner (who picked up instantly), and he put us together with the representative within a matter of minutes.

Just a word on the hotels:  For budgetary reasons, we had selected a mix of four-and five-star hotels.  All were truly fine, and some were spectacular. This travel company has great knowledge of hotels across India, and those they offer their clients are integral to the experience.  In certain instances, our travel planner steered us to a particular hotel that he thought was special and worth the extra money–and he was right in every case.

We fell in love with India–and Bhutan as well.  When we planned the tour we thought it would be our single trip to that region.  In thirty-three days we covered an amazing number of important and unique destinations.  We now realize, however, that India is a huge, immensely varied country and that there is so much more for us to experience.  We may very well make a return trip.  If we do, we will certainly book our tour with this company.  This great company offers its clients excellent personalized tours at a price that, considering the exceptional quality of the services, is remarkably fair.

This travel agent did a great job from the first day we communicated though to the end of our trip.  All was executed as agreed to.  Her recommendations, guides, useful travel notes helped make our trip so memorable.  We traveled to Mumbai, Varanasi, Sarnath, Agra, Jaipur, Chhatra Sagar, Udaipur, and Delhi.  We had the perfect timing to participate in the Diwali Festival in Udaipur which was colorful and wonderful to see the local customs surrounding this event.  We then traveled onto Bhutan.  Sitting on the Northern side of the flight from Delhi to Thimphu gave us a birds eye view of Mount Everest - spectacular!!  The food on the trip was over the top wonderful.  The drivers & tour guides our travel agent arranged were top notch, polite and friendly - all our needs were and more.  We stayed at all 5 star hotels which was the only way to go - we should have scheduled more time to take in this one of a kind worldly hotels.

This travel agency is based in Siem Reap, Cambodia and run by an American as well as talented Cambodian staff. It was planned relatively late compared to the departure date as a solo trip because a previous trip taken with my spouse got interrupted and I had some extra time.

The bottom line is that I was very happy with the trip and would gladly use them to plan travel to this region again. Below, I describe more specifics about my view of their services, including one preventable hiccup. Despite this one glitch (that was far from a major tragedy), it was a terrific and memorable trip with high-quality accommodations, guides, and planning.

Accomodations

The hotels they suggested in each place were excellent choices. The hotel in Kathmandu was a historic and interesting building with character but also had all the mod cons and was an oasis in a very chaotic and dusty city. In central Bhutan, the choices are more limited but the places they picked fit my needs and budget well and were fine for me. I loved the hotel in Siem Reap. Amazing service and luxury in a central location.

Guides and Drivers

The guides and drivers in all places were very good to super. I had been to Bhutan before. The country has first-class guides and my guide was even better than the guide on my previous trip. Just a really nice guy who did his best to show me an area of his country that was new to me. He was very good at organizing yet also able and happy to fit in additional stops on the fly, assuming they were feasible. The guide and the driver also found very good places to eat - a big improvement over my travels 10 years ago. It was an honor to stop and have our picnic lunch at the home of my very kind and good driver. On our more difficult hike, they were extremely patient and very helpful with this in-shape American 50-year old who isn't quite used to the air or such steep uphill climbs.

My guide in Cambodia was also excellent. Both he and the driver showed and taught me more about their country, as well as giving good advice when I wanted to spend some time navigating Siem Reap on my own. A real highlight was when a Khmer-American who is an expert on Angkor gave me a tour and accompanied me to lunch afterward.

The guide in Nepal was fine, though not quite as fluent in English. He was a bit younger, though still knew a lot, and it was interesting to get a youthful perspective on the country. The car was a relatively aged Fiat but in good condition and the driver was excellent. My impression is that Nepal is a bit more difficult for tourism and I didn't see tons of other tourists going around in massively better vehicles (car import taxes are extreme) or with better guides. Like all of my guides, he took far better photos with my camera than me (and he was thrilled to play with it).

Itinerary and Responsiveness

Originally, I had thought of going to Laos but was happy they steered me to Nepal instead. It was a whole lot more interesting than I expected - I was more keen in Nepali history and culture than trekking. I'm glad I went because it was both interesting and fit in well with the rest of my itinerary as Kathmandu is one of the places you can stop at on the way to Bhutan.

The itinerary was generally put together very well. The amount of time in each place was really just right. I had been concerned that I would not have enough time in Bhutan's Bumthang Valley but they got it exactly right and the plan was very good.

There was only one major hiccup. I had expressed concern about spending a night in Nagarkot, a hill town in the Kathmandu Valley, with great views of the Himalaya because the smog in the valley prevents views in the season I was traveling according to Lonely Planet. Unfortunately, Lonely Planet was right in this case as the smog killed all views even in fine morning weather. Getting to the hotel also proved one of the more unpleasant and long car journeys. The ride back turned out much better, as we broke it up by visiting Bhaktipur before returning to Kathmandu.

I was pleased they left appropriate (but not ridiculously long) amounts of time for flight changes within Asia, as this prevented worries over making flights and gave me time to store and to retrieve a bag with souvenirs in the Bangkok Airport (very easy, btw). When I was able to take an earlier flight to Siem Reap, they arranged to have me picked up at that flight with no problem at all.

Additionally, during the planning stage, the agency was very responsive to my wishes yet also good at making suggestions and explaining alternatives. My travel agents kindly hosted me to a fun high tea in Siem Reap.