Darjeeling in the Himalayan Foothills

Good afternoon Gentlemen: Maurice and I arrived home safely, tired, a bit jet lagged, but still excited from a very exhilarating trip to India. Our time in India was fun-filled and a very rewarding experience. Nazir, thank you for the way you handled our travel arrangements with such precision. Our flight through Paris on Air France was perfect and uneventful. Dropping in on the group at the Lodi Garden was an added bonus to the evening. Thank you for adding that personal touch to the agenda. Rajeev, your administrative quality is impeccable. I am very pleased with the precision and accuracy with which you handled all the issues and fine-tuned every detail for each member of the group. Mahi, thank you all your help. You went above and beyond the call of duty to make the trip a pleasant experience for everyone. Exchanging cultural stories with you made us feel at home. We thoroughly enjoyed our daily personal chats with you. We admire your pleasant personality and calm spirit. Together as a team you have made our trip something that will be remembered and cherished for a long time. Hope our paths will cross again sometime soon.

Incredible India really lived up to its name!  There were many hilites: Our first time riding a camel (and probably the last!)  Helen got thrown off part way up but only a bruised bum.  A couple rides in a camel cart was interesting and much safer.  Seeing a leopard quite close after it had recently killed a cow, and later seeing it in the rocks washing its face (just like a cat).  Of course, the Taj Mahal at about 8.30 AM in a good light after the early fog had disappeared. Visits to a craft village and a farm family.  The many forts and palaces from the past.   Our hotels were very good; we were upgraded a couple times so that they could give us twin beds.   Our guide was competent and dealt with the challenges of India quite well.  The money problem didn't affect us as we used our 500 rupee notes with vendors.  One day I hope to get back to India, perhaps in the northeast with Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal.  Thanks for giving us the opportunity to see this fascinating country.

Hello Nazir, We loved our trip!!!. So sad to leave but ready to come home. We loved all our guides and drivers. We especially appreciated having the same driver for consecutive days (Suresh and Suki were our driving heroes!!!). Accommodations were fantastic. The professionalism and organization of everyone were outstanding. We felt well cared for in a foreign country. We were so happy to start in the south and be able to ease into India and then travel to the north. I cannot even begin to describe India to folks here. I loved seeing so much and on my next trip would love to stay longer in certain places. We loved Cochi and Munnar in the south. In The north Varanasi, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Deogarth, the walk thru recycling in Mumbai and dinner with a psychologist in Udaipur were highlights. Of course the temples, the forts and palaces were amazing. Our guides were so knowledgeable and informative. The history, religion, spirituality, politics all were so fascinating to learn about. The opportunities to walk and eat outside of hotels were wonderful I wish there had been more. It's actually hard to identify highlights as every day was full of new experiences ones that were easy and beautiful as well as those that were more difficult to experience. All created a unique experience and a glimpse at a unique country. I speak for all three of us in thanking you for creating such an amazing experience. It truly was! Namaste,

FEB, 28 2018: I wanted to let you know that I was very pleased with the tour. The arrangements were excellent. Ashish was an excellent guide. I thought it was very well planned, with appropriate down time but busy schedules. The hotels were all very comfortable and well located. (I was annoyed that Hilton didn't offer free wifi in the rooms but I joined their Hilton Honors program and got free wifi from that.) The buffet style meals were perfect for our needs. It is surprising how quickly wifi has become a must have for most travellers. Keeping the group size small made it easy for us to move as a group. I had never seen the technique of having hawkers bring their wares to the bus, where we could buy or not, without haggling. This was a clever way of minimizing people wandering off for their own purchases and bargaining. The arranged shopping opportunities were also very good. High quality merchandise was offered. It also seemed to be value for money. I look forward to having the opportunity to travel with Explore India again. Joan

I apologise for taking so long to get back to you after our trip to India. I want to thank you very much for having put such a wonderful trip together for Janine and me. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole adventure, the time in Kashmir was magical as were the visits to Jaipur and Agra. I can't think of any part of it that in retrospect we would have done differently.

Seeing as how we have just completed our third trip to India (April 2019) with you we are running out of wonderful things to say about you, Explore India and the fantastic trip we just had! India really is new sights, sounds, smells, chaos, people everywhere, cows in the streets etc but it is all fascinating! Your commitment to detail is greatly appreciated. We stayed at beautiful ( the Taj Lake Palace hotel) hotels, ate wonderful India food and were treated royally. Thank you! Ravi, our tour guide, was outstanding and there are not enough words to say re how our bus driver drove through the traffic and kept us safe. His assistant was very attentive supplying water and snacks and keeping an eye out for all of us. India would love to have more tourists so we will definitely recommend Explore India to anyone who might think about taking a trip. Thank you again Nazir for a wonderful trip. Can’t wait for the next one! Joan and Tom Tomlin Langley, B.C.

Hello Rajeev, Thank you for meeting us at the Delhi airport, for arranging some sightseeing tours on Day 1 and Day 2 (early arrival in New Delhi) prior to commencement of organized tour, for obtaining foreign exchange for the Canadian $ and for everything else that made our trip so enjoyable. The trip exceeded our expectations and we know that this is due mainly to the excellent service rendered in all fields of the tourist business. We wish you continued success and good luck in your role as Head of Operations at Explore India. Yours sincerely,

At last I sending you some feedback re our trip. As I said on the phone we were very pleased with experience. We were very impressed with our 2 drivers, Balvinder and Kool, as well as the 3 men at the houseboats. all were very pleasant, helpful and knowledgeable. My personal feeling is that 1 day long drive in kashmir was enough as the roads do not make for a relaxing experience, however we really enjoyed the day trip to Sonamarg. The vegetable market was wonderful. The guide we had in Varanasi was good with the information he gave us, however, The stop at the Bird Sanctuary was really nice and I wish we had been able to have more time there - I know it was an added stop at our request but I think it was very worthwhile to include it in the tour. All the hotels were very good, the Jaipur Marriott was outstanding. Would certainly recommend your company to others.

greeting and saying goodbye was also excellent. Our group of 19 was so manageable that we got extra treats of walking the backstreets of Varanasi and extra rickshaw. I can't tell you in words how much I saw nor its effect on me. I now know more of India and have a deep respect for the people culture and their respect for their heritage. Thank you for this memorable adventure. Yours truly

Thank you, Nazir.  Our entire experience in India has been amazing.  You have some very special people working for you. And I sincerely hope that they are appreciated.  In particular, I have to mention Raj and Arvind. As you know, Shirley and I arrived two days ahead of the rest of the tour group.  We met with Raj who became like a big brother to us.  With our safety in mind, Raj continually checked on our well-being, made some terrific suggestions including restaurants and even arranged for us to meet with a numerologist, which had been on our wish list for India.  He was always asking us if we were happy and if there was anything else he could do for us.  He arranged taxis, made some excellent suggestions and went out of his way to make our dreams a reality.  We felt very safe. Arvind was an excellent guide.  He gave 150% to everything he did.  There is no doubt in my mind that this part of our tour would've been entirely different and not nearly as spectacular had it been anyone different. Arvind was more than a tour guide.  He educated us on the history of India, the poverty, spirituality, rituals, food, the different religions and much much more.  His day was never over.  He was always planning more than was included on our agenda.  Surprises and extra activities – he was a very generous man.  Very trustworthy and honest. he managed to please everyone on the tour which is no easy feat. I cannot say enough about Arvind.  He made our whole trip. Another guide worthy of praise is Lo Chen on the Darjeeling portion of the trip.  A very gentle and caring man.  He was so amenable to suggestions and also went the extra mile to show us the highlights of this part of the country.  Very knowledgeable. I had a fantastic trip.  I loved India and I hope one day to return. It has a very special place in my heart. I hope that my comments will be helpful to you and please pass on my thanks to Mandira who always responded quickly to any questions we had and gave us lots of interesting information before we left. Namaste,