Ravangla Tour Packages

all service was worth the price. I would definitely recommend Sierra vacation for future travel.

aily changing the cab inspite of advance booking. 4. Cab interchange in mid way of the route. Nathula Pass Visit, Tsongmo Lake, Baba Mandir, Ravangla Buddha Park, Zero Point Lachung

, rather than my requests, Mr. Amol from Round the Corner (RTC) frequently communicated with me to design an itinerary which was confortable and covered major locations while providing adequate rest beteen different travels. It must be noted that the hill roads and times indicated by google maps are grossly wrong - atleast in sikkim. The roads Google shows often are not motorable and times indicated are short by 2 hours. Trust the Driver and no one else. We had planned for Bagdogra-Gangtok-Lachen-Lachung-Gangtok-Pelling-Bagdogra. Just 2 weeks before our trip, there was a Dam burst in upper Sikkim and major floods. After waiting for a few days to assess the situation, He called and we decided to change the itinerary to leave out the flood affected Lachen/Lachung and added Darjeeling instead. Once the trip started, his colleague - Mr Progess Bhujel took over the coordination. He would call daily to check how we were doing, provide detailed plan for the next day, send driver details and also share tips about local attractions to see. On his own he would also arrange call to hotel at the destination city so that we could pre-order our dinner while were still in the car. This way we would have dinner ready by the time we reach the hotel, since most hotels stop taking orders by 8:30. Such care! The hotels provided by them were very good. They were no-frills hotel but the rooms and maintenance was excellent!. In Gangtok the room had a view of the entire valley. In Pelling Kanchanjunga was clearly visible from the room balcony from very close. We could see Sunrise over the peak right from our bed !, the same was the case with the hotel in Darjeeling. Excellent choice of rooms! Since we were travelling with kids he was more concerned about them getting motion sickness than were, but thanks to half tablet of 'Avomine' in the morning, neither my wife not kids had any problems. For the trip to Nathula pass, permits have to be made. He asked us to send a copy of our documents a week before the trip. So the permits were all prepared and ready when we came. So when we went to Nathula, the driver just stopped for 10 minutes at the permit office, picked up our permits and we were on our way - while we could see several other tourists and cars waiting anxiously and lining up for theirs. Good planning by RTC! I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the Drivers and cars changed with each leg of the journey. I feel this was actually good - because this way the driver was not away from his home for too long and in some cases could go to his home at night after dropping us off at the hotel. The drivers and cars provided were also very good. The roads are narrow and curvy and ofen have space for only one vehicle. The drivers were polite, very experienced and would not show any sign of road-rage/un necessary overtaking. Instead would halt some distace away from the narrow spots to allow the vehicles coming in opposite direction to pass, infact even got down to help other drivers stuck on the road. We saw this civilized driving in most divers in Sikkim - which is a stark contrast to the crazy driving in Mumbai. In one leg of our trip we had to go from Gangtok-Namchi-Ravangla-Pelling. While most of the roads in Sikkim are quite good and well mainted, The one from Ravangla to Pelling is bad and almost a big crater and landslide ridden dirt road right at the edge of the cliff. By the time we left from Ravangla it was already dark (it gets dark by 5:30 PM), but the driver was extremely skilled and drove through that road with great skill and even helped a fellow driver change his tire on the way! Hotel Reviews: Gangtok-Alpine Hill retreat. The Hotel is a simple, clean and well maintained hotel with a decent restaurant. The room provided had an excellent view of the entire Gangtok Valley. The staff was very attentive and courteous. The common areas were very aesthetically decorated and gave a feel of the Tibetian vibe. The Hotel is on a quite road a bit away from the main city center, but is still fairly well connected. Gangtok city itself is very beautiful with lots of tourist attractions. I will not list the attractions here - you can see them in other blogs. The city has well maintained roads and is very clean. Pelling - Rufina Palm Bliss: The Hotel is a simple, clean and well maintained hotel with a decent restaurant. The room provided had an excellent view of Mt. Kanchanjunga from our room balcony from very close. It seemed not more than 50-60 km from there!. We could see Sunrise over the peak right from our bed! Pelling is a tourist city full of Hotels and restaurants, still very well maintained and clean. Darjeeling - Sumitel Suites: This hotel is actually a part of mall by the same name. Its rooms, restaurant, lobby etc are spread across various floors of the mall. The Hotel is a simple, clean and well maintained hotel with a decent restaurant. The room provided had an excellent view of Mt. Kanchanjunga. Darjeeling city by itself was bit of a turn-off, possibly because we were coming from Pelling Sikkim which was gorgeous!. Darjeeling has narrow roads, excessive traffic, one way roads, haphazard construction and occasional piles of trash. The famous 'Toy train' was the biggest turn off for me. It was exhorbitant - Rs 1000 or 1500 per person depending on whether you choose Diesel or Steam engine. Frankly it doesn't matter. while inside the train you don't see the engine, and several trains travel together, so you can always take photos with steam engine of another train at the stops. Strongly recommend advance booking through IRCTC, else you may not get it at all - over the counter. The Train would surely have been excellent in olden days as it could travel along the mountain edges - BUT now there is rampant construction on either side of the railway track, so the Mountain/valley is hardly visible, there are shops almost touching the track. Sadly the Toy train experience has been reduced to a Kolkata Tram. Avoidable. We did not do the ropeway, possibly that may be better. The 'Tea garden' visit was just a 100 m walk on a trail littered with packets of eatables and some tourists taking photos in local costumes. For most other attractions, the parking is far off/ or have no parking, so one has to walk long distances - so not suitable for older parents. the attractions themselves are very good though, especially the Zoo and montaineering institute, tiger point.

xplained lot of things about local culture and traditions of Sikkim. Best part of trip was Nathula and Zero Point. We have covered Namchi, Temi Tea Garden, Ravangla as well. These are must visited places. We missed Lachen and Pelling this time. Darjeeling was not good. Traffic was chaotic. Overall, it was good experience. Thanks Jeremy to make this trip unforgettable.

to his known restaurant telling us that there were no shacks nearby when there were many, despite of us repeatedly telling him to stop in between as we were hungry. Then then reluctantly stopped near a shack for us to eat post we pointed one to him asked him to stop in a more affirmative manner. Not a good experience but still didn’t report it to the agent since it was handled before it got worse. Day-3 – Again a Not at all great Xylo, with a polite driver who was not willing to on the AC despite of us requesting him repeatedly. At first he said cannot on AC as it’s a hilly region and it puts a load on the engine when traveling up hill, which was ok with us. When we reached the plains, we again requested him to on the AC as it was burning hot, at this he said there was no AC in the car. This was a bad experience for us as after paying such an amount, don’t expect such bad conditions for travelling. We were all sweaty and sticky by the time we reached Ravangla from Gangtok. I gave a peace of my mind to the lady Neeta in the agency regarding this, since the agency has been sending substandard cheap broken down vehicles to us when we could have gotten Innova’s which are far better vehicles and with better equipment and less body roll for hilly region. Day-4 – Worst Experience in Darjeeling, we missed Tiger hill viewing because of bad weather. Then we started our travel at 9:00 AM (I told the driver, beforehand we will come at 9:00 AM and he was ok with this), we went to Batasia Loop, which was Great, then we went to Zoo, Mountaineering Institute and Bengal Museum of Natural History (all located in the same place). It rained when we were there and we took shelter near a shack, we had our lunch there, bought an umbrella there and then proceeded with the visit. For this we were told that we took extra time by the driver and he on his own decided to skip the other places in our itinerary i.e; Tenzing Rock, Tibetian Refugee Center and Japanese Temple and Tibetan Peace Pagoda and proceeded directly to the Tea garden. I told him we wanted to visit the other places. He then in haste showed us the Tenzing rock from the car without stopping we saw Tenzing rock as we drove by. He kept saying everything closes by 4:00 PM we are late because we spent too much time in other places, then post our pushing agreed to take us to Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda as it was closer to our hotel. I complained to the agent while with him in the car, they came back as saying no one ever misses any place in our itinerary, how did you miss it. The driver is saying the trip was supposed to start at 8:30 AM, you came at 9:00 AM etc., but I told them he was ok with it. I told him in advance, we will come after breakfast. And they kept saying we can’t do anything now driver is not listening to us. Later the driver, when we are visiting the Tea garden cribbed about us to his known people in the shack. I went there and explained to them and Driver, the situation and requested the driver to complete the Itinerary for which he agreed to take us to the Japanese Temple at least since it was closer to our Hotel. I told the agency, when they asked for money, I paid as they wanted and how much they wanted without any questions. When it came to delivery of Service, why so many nuances and conditions? And why was I not told about the 4:00 PM closure time and driver conditions. If I have paid the agency to take care of my travel, why am I dealing with the driver and his tantrums? And it’s not a small amount, Rs, 42000 for 5 days taxi. Day -5 – I called and I called and texted the agency for the Driver details as I was not sure if it would be the same driver or a different driver, nomrally it has been a different driver each day, they didn't pick my calls or answered my texts. What if I was calling for an emergency or an issue, no call back, no revert, nothing from the agency. Then I called the Driver from the other day and he confirmed. Same Driver, Same vehicle, pleasant trip to Airport The Agencies view was, my final day in Darjeeling so their service is over. Bottom line…. If you have time, do it yourself. Talk to the Taxi providers, Do a little research, fix the prices, set expectations and travel with ease. Because if you have to manage the drivers since you are travelling with them, do it yourself rather than paying extra to a third party who is sitting pretty at a far away location and does nothing to help.

p was excellent, giving us a memorable trip. This trip was one of the best trips I had ever had. My special thanks go to Mr. Subhankar Rajak (contact no: +91 86176 95749). I really appreciate this friendly nature and suggestion provided on the hotel selection. Everything was looked after carefully and the trip was very well organized. He worked on making our you’re memorable. He provided his best services in terms of good Hotels, expert drivers, and comfortable transportation. As per my requirement, I requested a 4-star hotel with having an awesome view of mountains having snow. I really appreciate it, he arranged/suggested his best. Our stay at Magpie Pachhu Village Resort in Pelling and Silver Star Boutique in Darjeeling was also very comfortable. The latter even provides spellbinding mountain views. Lachen and Lachung hotels were average but the view from my room was awesome. When I woke up in the morning, I saw snow mountain having yellow lighting from the rising sun on that. I have no word to explain that beauty. TSOMGO LAKE & BABA MANDIR, NATHULA and TASHI VIEWPOINT in Gangtok, numbers of Waterfalls, GURUDONGMAR LAKE, KALA PATHER in Lachen, ZERO POINT & YUMTHANG VALLEY in Lachung and Ancient ruins in Pelling (NAMCHI CHARDHAM RAVANGLA) have a beauty that goes beyond words. Sunrise at TIGER HILL Darjeeling has an awesome experience having no words to explain. Even the camera couldn’t do just what they looked like in real life. Our time here was amazing and I would like to thank Mr. Subhankar once again for making all the arrangements and giving us a comfortable trip. He always treated me as a brother and called every day for trip details and take feedback on the trip. Make My Holiday Tour And Travel is so good and works transparently. The response received from them is appreciated. They work hard to make their customers’ trips memorable and easy. I definitely recommend “Make My Holiday Tour And Travel“ to people who are looking forward to visiting Sikkim in the most cooperative and friendly way.

in the pre-decide itineraries. Nishant’s team wasn’t present there physically but they tried their best to solve any problem thrown to them. Positives - There was road construction work in progress, causing difficulty in connecting the Gangtok hotel. On request my Gangtok hotel was changed for last 2 days. North Sikkim driver, Prithvi, was very professional, thanks to him we met a local family and got to try local cuisines. East Sikkim permit was not granted due to snowfall, they gave alternatives to choose from Namchi & Ravangla. Negative - Lack of coordination among the team members :( But that can be understood as they are constantly connected with several travelers at the same time.... some need rescue, some has hotel problems, some car problems. Idea is, if you face any issue, immediately highlight to the team and they will solve it for you :) Snowfall in Lachen !!! Professionalism of North Sikkim Driver :)

cious and hygienic. Although, we faced some issues with hygiene and cleanliness in one of the hotel in Pelling but Dhiraj & Niraj immediately acted on that changed it for the next day which was appreciable. Dhiraj was in continuous touch and made sure that our trip is going smoothly without any issues. However, I have few suggestions which can make trip more enjoyable (I feel): 1. We started our trip with some of the amazing places Nathula Pass, Tsongmo Lake and North Sikkim and then the rest of the Sikkim. Since we covered the highlight of trip in the beginnning, later part like Namchi, Ravangla & pelling felt a little unjustified. Therefore it will be good if people can start their trip in reverse :D 2. It will be good if tourist can get same vehicle and driver for whole trip. Now I know that North requires a bigger vehicle and hence is okay to get a different vehicle and driver but it will be better if we don't have to change the vehicle and driver on a daily basis. 3. We got bored in Darjeeling as there was nothing to do. Therefore, I expect that you should tell people about this suggest alternative places while designing an itinerary. Then it is upto the travellers if they want to consider the suggestion or not. Overall, it was a great experience and a big thank you to Trip2Hills for organizing everything for us.

ged the trip to RAVANGLA BUDDHA PARKA which was worth spending. Also thanks for Booking Hotels of our choice of the Jain Hotels groups. We enjoyed a lot.Thanks all

ntioned only transfer. We went to Ravangla Buddha Park and almost wanted to go to namchi. both of which fall on route from Gangtok to Pelling, Again in Gangtok half day trip to Tsongmo Lake and rest of the day left idle. To visit rest of places, we had to pay extra. Such finer details which are most important were not communicated to us. THE BEST PART WAS THE DRIVER- CHANDAN- FULL CREDIT TO HIM FOR SHOWING US ALL THE PLACES AND HE HAD GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF SIKKIM TOURISM. THE RATING 5/10 IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR CHANDAN ONLY. THE WORST PART MAYEE- TOUR COORDINATOR AND DEVLINA BOOKING AGENT. Both at Pelling and Gangtok they have not made any reservation and no bookings were made in our name. And we had to wait in freezing temperatures while Hotel reservations were being confirmed. Each time for 15-20 minutes, before i had to call Devlina again and point her about the lapses in service. Luckily at Kalimpong we had a reservation in our name- This after a stern talk to Devlina. Coming to Mayee- she was to coordinate with us by 10 pm the day before (if im not wrong about the timings) about the next day schedule including the timings of check out from hotel. only on first day and the next i got updates. Rest of the times we had to communicate with CHANDAN and get the timings. Again full credit to CHANDAN for taking good care of us for the entire trip. But that should not cover up the lapses on part of tour coordinator- whose job was to communicate with the guests, which she failed to do so and I believe she was the one supposed to confirm room bookings before we arrived at the destination. That to this being off season and in Pelling, we were among the 2 families staying at the hotel. In Gangtok there were 3 other families staying in the entire hotel. In Kalimpong we were the only guests staying in Hotel- Such low and off season also we were made to wait for room reservation. NOT ACCEPTABLE. But the hotels provided were good and met the needs of our travel. NB: i have seen some reviews where one particular guest was hurled abuses (Reason - what ever it may be) DO NOT do this with me for speaking up the truth honestly.