Bhutan Festival & Sikkim Tour:TID 598 (Mar 22-Apr 07 2013)

Dear Ugen,Jim and I have traveled to 106 countries. The Bhutan Festival & Sikkim tour we booked through you was fantastic and ranks as one of our favorites. It was truly a journey of discovery.The small group size (9 pax) was manageable and made for a more personal experience.We were pleasantly surprised with the quality and abundance of food along with the choice of accommodations. All were more than we had expected.Penjor, our Bhutan guide, was one of the most considerate, caring guides we have ever met. He handled everything so smoothly and efficiently from personally seeing that we were settled in our rooms, calling ahead from the bus about our meals, to freeing us from a road jam in the mountains. He went above and beyond what was expected. He is a gem!!Nema, our India guide, was a great disappointment. He was very aloof and cold. Although he traveled in our vehicle every day, he never talked to anyone unless someone asked him a question.Moreover he was at times very impatient and rude. For example, because he walked very fast, he had a habit of explaining things before all the members of our group caught up to him. When I asked him to repeat what he had said, he snappishly said “Well, you weren’t listening were you?” I was very offended and told him I couldn’t possibly have heard him since he began talking before our half of the group had even gotten close to him.Additionally, he always appeared in a hurry to leave the group at the door of each hotel and never stayed to make sure that we were all checked in. In fact, the two English ladies on our tour had a problem with their room at one stop and no one could locate Nema. Even the hotel desk could not reach him and had to call the India office to get a message to him to return to the hotel and help correct their room situation.And unlike Penjor, Nema never called the hotels during the day to make sure the correct number of single and double rooms were available. Neither did he call ahead to check on lunches, which resulted in our showing up at one location to find that no meal had been prepared for us. This resulted in a long delay before we could eat while the restaurant began cooking for us. This is inexcusable.

Except for Nema, the tour of India was was wonderful. And the Mayfair Hotel was a luxurious way to end the tour!!
Thank you again for the opportunity to experience your beautiful country and the pageantry of the Paro Festival!
All the best,