It was an awesome trip, but take time to read my review. I am writing bit long.
Firstly, I thank the tour executive to get us in contact before the trip started. We had his contact number and he...
asked us to contact if any help was needed. fortunately, we didn't need it as every thing went smooth.
Second about the cab driver. The driver contacted us a day before trip and gave information about where to alight the bus in Shimla as we had to get down bit before the Shimla's ISBT. We had to wait there for some 15 minutes in freezing cold at 5:00 AM in morning. But he was there soon. Also remember, when you are out for sightseeing, don't expect the driver to be your guide. He just drops us to a particular location and picks us up once you contact you have seen the place. There is no particular amount of time allocated to a place. The driver never accompanies with you to guide the place. We have full privacy to roam around. He just tells the name of the place and some advice of what to shop there and what not to. So if you are planning for trip on this platform, ensure you have acquired enough information of the place and you should decide of how much time you will be giving to a particular place. Do use internet sources to study this.
I felt the time given to sight seeing was less. So I would recommend you to allocate 2 days for Shimla. We had allocated 1 day. So missed some places. Also, 2-3 days in Manali is fine. We were there for 2 days and that was fine we felt.
Next about the adventure activities. These are at your cost and are also bit costly. The driver just drops us at adventure park and you will have to decide if you want to take the adventure ride or no. In Kufri, near Shimla, the adventure costs(Per preson costs mentioned everywhere) Rs. 700 and fun activities cost Rs. 700 but the combo costs Rs. 1000. On the other had, in Manali, at Himvalley, the adventure activities cost Rs. 150 but you will have to take this along with cultural activities costing Rs. 200. So you will get more bunch of activities at Rs. 350. But at Kufri, you can enjoy adventure activities in mountains while in Manali, you will be doing same on flat land. Choice is yours.
About the shopping. It's better to shop in Manali's mall road than shopping in Shimla. We ignored driver's advice but later realized that Shimla's mall road shopping was bit costly. I would recommend not to shop in Shimla.
Finally coming to hotel. As we all were pure vegetarians, we faced no problem in both the hotels: Hotel Greenview in Shimla and Hotel Silvermoon in Manali. But the hotel Greenview in Shimla is far away from city of Shimla. First, when we looked that there is nothing much adjacent to hotel, we got feared as there were ladies accompanying us in trip. But the Hotel staff was friendly and later made us feel safe. There is no such problem in Manali as hotel Silvermoon is in bit crowded place. But the problem in this hotel is we were allocated the 4th floor and there is no lift in this hotel. Rest, the rooms and services in both the hotels was good. The breakfast and dinner served in both the hotels was good. As the lunch is not included in the itinerary, it depends on outside hotel how the food will be. This didn't disappoint us much except once while on way to Manali from Shimla.
About the volvo, the first trip from Delhi to Shimla was booked by agent at HRTC volvo, Himsuta. We would had missed the bus but hopefully got it. We had to run at ISBT, Kashmere Gate a lot to board the bus as we got late due to traffic. If you are boarding any bus, ensure to be present at least 20 minutes before the departure of bus to avoid hassle. Also, there is less flexibility due to the bus being the government one. While returning from Manali to Delhi, the bus was operated by private operator. And also, we were there before time. So had to face no problem.
Finally I would like to thank entire team of Noth India tours and travels for amazing trip. I would surely recommend others for the trip and even book any other trip through the agent next time.