Information on Hotel used in the Packages

• Check-in time at Hotel will be 1400 Hrs & Check-out time will be 1100 Hrs. All the bookings are non-transferable & all in-house hotel rules will be effective during your stay. As imposed by the Government Valid photo ID for all members staying at the hotel is mandatory.
• We have selected, combined & graded the hotels in a manner, so that you get similar standard of services & facilities at every destination / place of retirement.
• As the area is backward it is quite obvious that the constructions of the hotels are unplanned. This further means that almost all the selected hotels are located in the city centers. These hotels may have the view of the building in the front, beside or behind them. As the services are under mark for the area and as mentioned above, we have made our hotel selection on the basis of SERVICES provided by them.
• For Extra Person Sharing the Room & Child with Extra Bed, almost all the hotel of our area provides MATTRESS and ROLL OVERS as a supplement to Extra Bed.
• In our area almost all the hotels do not have lift, so you will have to climb stairs to reach the rooms. Incase any of you have problems with blood pressure, breathing, knee & heart or if you cannot climb the higher floors, we will request you to report this problem immediately so that we are careful in assigning Hotels which will be more convenient than the ones quoted/reserved for you.
• In a hilly area scarcity of water & electricity is a natural phenomenon. Everybody buys water for their day-to-day needs & have learnt to live even without electricity. In case of Load Shading, kindly bear with such situation. To overcome the water crisis certain hotels have fixed schedule for supplying hot & cold water. We strongly regret the inconvenience.
• Hotel in Deluxe and Standard Category have system of providing room heater on request & extra payment. This payment is not included in the cost & the you will have to settle it directly with the hotels before check-out. The charge varies from INR 150.00 to INR 200.00 per room per night.

Information on Transportation used in the Packages

• The vehicle used will not be at disposaland will be exclusively used for the group as per the itinerary only (on point to point basis). It will change sector wise.
• As the area is backward & due to unwritten syndicate rules your vehicle & drivers will change for every transfer & sightseeing. These drivers come from remote places and are not educated in tourism etiquette and some of them do not know how to speak & behave. Kindly request the guest to be soft & gentle with their drivers.
• Often in past guests like you, have been misguided by such drivers. We would like to inform you not to listen to such people & reconfirm whatever they say with us.
• As the vehicles & drivers change always we will request you to be very careful with personal belongings. Once left in the vehicle there is almost nil or little chance of getting them back.
• Certain sightseeing is totally controlled by the syndicate and we do not have any say over such services. We will request you to bear with such uncalculated situations. There we will guide you on such services e.g. Tshangu Lake, Nathula, packages to North Sikkim etc. Especially while using such services you will have to be gentle in dealing with the drivers as due to lack of their exposure to the tourism industry & practices they sometimes tend to get annoyed and may misbehave.
• Since Nathula is a restricted area and gets sealed, without any notice, for security reasons. In such case your tour will only be till Tshangu Lake and there will be no refund for unutilized services.
• Due to shortage in space for parking, please be informed that you will have to be ready on time & wait in the lobby. Due to uncalculated situations the vehicle reporting may get delayed. We will request you to bear with us and as soon as vehicle arrives you will have to get in, within few seconds, before the policeman blow his whistle.
• Due to vehicle-parking difficulty in the whole area, most of the areas are restricted to entry of vehicle & specific time is allotted for entries. Kindly follow the time strictly as given to you. Incase of delays the vehicle will have to leave the hotel area without you & get parked in a parking area. In such a case, you will have to be transferred in a Maruti Van FOR WHICH THE COST WILL HAVE TO BE BORNE BY YOU & WILL HAVE TO BE COLLECTED DIRECTLY FROM YOU.
• Due to specified time for entry many of times your connecting destination vehicle may not be allowed to enter the town / hotel area. Under such circumstances you will be transferred from stand to the hotel in Maruti Vans for which the driver of your connecting vehicle will make the payment.
• INCASE you are opting for Luxury vehicle (Innova / Xylo / Scorpio) As per the unwritten syndicate rule; INNOVA will do the main transfer & sightseeing of Kalimpong & Darjeeling only. Gangtok, Lachung & Pelling sightseeing will be done by NON AC Tata Sumo / Mahindra Maxx / Hard Top vehicle which may have front / side facing seat. Gangtok sightseeing will be done byNON AC Maruti Van / Similar (one vehicle for every 04 paying Pax).
• As per Motor Vehicle Act capacity of an INNOVA is 07 pax including Adult or Child. Also while opting for INNOVA please inform the guest to travel light with minimum baggage of one piece per person. However for comfortable & safe traveling it is advisable to fit in 05 to 06 adult in a Innova.

Information on General Operations

• The area is backward but rich in Nature and the facilities available cannot be matched to those available in the Plains and other developed destinations. We strongly regret this constraint of the area.
• Please note that our Executive will hold placard as advised by you, just outside the only exit gate of Bagdogra Airport.
• Incase you are arriving at NJP Railway station which has 03 entry & exit gate, please be informed that you will be meeting our Office Executive at the old exit gate (which happens to be the main gate which houses the Army Counter) holding placard in you name / or as advised by you.
• It is to be noted that incase, you are arriving by train in the late evening / night & are departing early morning, it is mandatory for you to spend a night in SILIGURI. In such situation of late arrival & early departure, if you have not opted for a stop over package at Siliguri, then you will have to wait at the Waiting / Retiring Room of the station. Our Executive will be meeting you at 0600 hrs in the morning for the meet & greet and arrival transfer. This has been planned keeping your security factors in mind.
• In case of any Flight / Train Cancellation has effected the operation of the Tours then the Company will not be responsible for the same and the cancellation policy will be applicable.
• Tour start and end from Bagdogra (IXB) Airport / New Jalpaiguri Railway (NJP) Station. The 1st Day tour Meal starts with Dinner at the booked hotel & ends with Breakfast at the booked hotel, on the last day for all the bookings on MAPAI. For APAI 1st Day tour Meal starts with Dinner at the booked hotel & ends with Packet lunch from the booked hotel on the last day.
• Sikkim & Darjeeling is a hilly area & change is weather is a regular feature. It is advisable that light layer clothing should be carried always. In winters it is advisable to carry heavy woolens.
• Landslide is a common occurrence in hilly areas. EXPENSES INCURRED FOR DIVERSION, DUE TO THIS OR ANY OTHER REASONS WILL BE COLLECTED DIRECTLY AS PER ACTUAL EXPENDITURE INCURRED.
• Kindly be informed that we make contingency plans so that the sightseeing points do not fall on a closing day. Incase due to inevitable situation if the sightseeing falls on a closing day, it will have to be left out & cannot be carried forward to the next day. If you are taking the left out tour on the next day they will have to pay the extra against the vehicle charges.
• Sightseeing point remains closed on State Government & Bank National Holidays. The points which are closed
• ON SUNDAY, STATE GOVERNMENT & BANK NATIONAL HOLIDAYS are Research Institute of Tibetology, Handicraft & Handloom Showroom and Flower Show in Gangtok & Tibetian Refugee Self Help Centre in Darjeeling.
• ON THURSDAY, STATE GOVERNMENT & BANK NATIONAL HOLIDAYS are Padma Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.
• Weather in the hills is unpredictable. We have kept your sightseeing related with nature, like Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, flexible. This is done, so that the chance of good view of Sunrise becomes more probable. When we call for such change we will request you to take it sportingly & without any apprehension. Once Tiger Hills sightseeing is decided which will be done before 5 P.M. no changes will be allowed. Incase of any changes it will be treated as cancellation without any refund. Changes after 5 P.M. cannot be accommodated as the allotted drivers leave the Operations premises by 5 P.M. & are not contactable. By Default the vehicle will report at 4 A.M. in the morning, whether you go for the sightseeing or not for any reason or eventuality (which could be because you wanting to change after 5 P.M. or bad weather or heavy downpour) the bills will be raised against us. These rules are formulated by the local syndicate which is very strong. For further clarification please contact the emergency numbers given to you.
• People with knees, heart & blood pressure problem & having children below 05 years should avoid going to Nathula, Gurudongmar & Yumesamdong (Zero Point) as it could be of high risk & medical facility are also very poor.
• High Mountains sightseeing like Tshangu Lake, Yumthang Excursion, Gurudongmar Excursion has to start early in the morning so that you come back early. This is designed for your security as in the afternoon the weather gets cloudy & foggy throughout the year.
• Due to non availability of night life the whole area goes to bed early & wakes up early. We request you to go to bed on time so that next day you can start your tour early.
• People availing the services to Nathula, Tshangu Lake & North Sikkim (Lachung, Yumthang Excursion, Yumesamdong (Zero Point), Katau, Lachen, Chopta Valley & Gurudongmar Excursion) are requested to bring along with them :
  • a) 04 passport size photograph of each member traveling whether Adult or Children with their name written behind each photograph.
  • B) Photo ID proof in original of each member traveling whether Adult or Children. C) list mentioning the Name Age & Gender of all traveler family wise. Also note that incase of more than one family traveling together, please segregate the photograph & the photo copy of the Photo ID, family wise in a separate envelope. The smaller envelope holding the details family wise will have to be put together into bigger envelope for all families and then sealed with UD Number written on top. For North Sikkim it should be a separate envelope & for Tshangu Lake it should be a separate envelope.

After reaching Gangtok this document has to be handed over at the hotel counter & the information on doing has to be passed over the telephone to us.