Kesari Tours — Torture trip to northeast india

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Disappointment with Kesari Tour of Arunachal, Assam and Meghalaya To The Managing director / Chief executive Kesari Tours PVT. LTD. Dear sir, (Sub: Disappointment With Kesari Tours “Amazing North 16/11/15 to 25/11/15) Further to your tele talk some o[censored]s had with your shri Shreyas on 21st November expressing our utter displeasure at the way this tour has been organized, we wish o bring to your notice the following issues/facts which have made us extremely unhappy and angry. We hope Mr Shreyas has conveyed what transpired during our tele talk with him to your good self. At the outset we want you to know that most o[censored]s have travelled with Kesari Tours within and outside India on several occasions in past, in fact some have never travelled with any other tour operator and have been loyal customers of Kesari till embarked upon this tour to our misfortune. When we booked our tour we were provided with itinerary and were told that Quality of hotels in Arunachal Pradesh was not of Kesari standard. We paid the tour amount on the basis of this trust that we then had in Kesari. Our trust now stands shattered. A : ITINERARY No one was informed about extent of arduous travelling involved on winding and bumpy roads through mountains nor were we made aware of altitude of the places. Most o[censored]s are senior citizens or nearing 60 yrs. We were on road for almost eight and a half days of ten days travelling on winding and bumpy roads in chilly weather. We wondered whether we came for sightseeing or just travelling from one place to another. getting up at 4 o’clock in morning leaving hotel at 6 am, travel 150 to 200 kms almost every day only to be lodged in another hotel in the evening. Were Your planning team not aware that it dark after 5-30 in the evening and no sightseeing is possible in north east states?.Itinerary planning was atrocious eg: From BHALUKPONG to KAZIRANGA is only 54 Kms.as was given in itinerary given to us but instead we were taken to SHILLONG from BHALUKPONG (284 Kms) and brought to KAZIRANGA from SHILLONG (254 Kms)wasting 2 days in travel. This change in itinerary consumed 2 valuable days and physically exhausting travel. There were no washroom facilities during journey especially for ladies. Where facilities were available though unsatisfactory one had to climb 20 odd steps up and down. You could have given some idea about the difficulties they may encounter .Are you blinded by your desire to somehow organize the tour with no concern to ladies As per the itinerary provided to us at the time of booking or embarking on Day 6 ie Saturday 21st nov we were to proceed to Kaziranga from Bhalukpong (54 Kms). On previous night on 20th nov we were told that we have to proceed to Shillong (284 Kms) instead of Kaziranga. That meant we had to travel at least 7 to 8 hrs more adding to the already existing tiring schedule wasting one day. No acceptable explanation was given to us. There was no force majeure situation or natural calamity which compelled Kesari to change the route. We hear that there was a goo[censored]p in hotel booking. In the process we had to unnecessarily travel additional 600 kms, waste two important days on road sacrificing sightseeing and get up at 4 am and start journey at 6 am every day for four consecutive days. Who other than Kesari do we hold responsible for this avoidable route change which resulted our being in shillong on Sunday when Don Bosco High Tech Museum is closedapart from this we did not visit a picturesque spot for angling and picnic enrout to Bhalukpong. The time taken from one place to another was much more than indicated in kesari bulletin. B :HOTELS AND ROOMS IN ARUNACHAL PRODESH In extreme cold weather hotel rooms were not provided with room heaters or electric geysers or heaters. At Bondilla even hot water was not provided for bath..Rooms did not have cupboards to keep clothes. We were accommodated in Buddhist Monastery which has only basic things. Bathrooms did not have towels in Hotels in Tawang. Electricity used to go off in all the three hotels in Bondilla, Tawang and Bhalukpong. There was no alternative arrangements like generators .and we had to spend one whole night at -3 degrees C temperature without heater and geysers. All o[censored]s are around 60 years of age. Can you please tell us whether any of your tour planners or representatives had seen the hotels or facilities prior to planning? Do you feel such service can be accepted by paying customers? If you have relied solely on your agent or contractor or his subcontractor are you not answerable to us? C: FOOD After we landed in Bondilla we were told that food arrangement has been subcontracted to third party. This came as a shock to us. Did you provide a list 0of your expectations as per Kesari standard to your subcontractor? If not WHY? We were served only rice /rotis with limited vegetables(2 tea spoonful)for dinner at Tawang. On two occasion only puris and chole was served for breakfast. Packed lunch (Tawang and Bhalukpong) included only rice and vegetables. There were people who did not eat rice ( DIABETICS) ore deep fried puris for medical reasons Don’t you feel that patrons should be offered at least one choice and not compelled to eat what is served? Food provided was worse than what is provided in prisons or orphanages. We did not expect this from Kesari Tours D: TRANSPORT AND SAFETY Do you check prior to hiring the vehicles if these vehicles have required registration and valid documents and permission to ply on roads of all the states where tours are arranged? Obviously not. Today our vehicle s were checked in SHILLONG by RTO police only to find that vehicles did not have valid documents. Drivers managed by paying bribes. If this were not accepted our vehicles could have been detained and we would have lost precious time and day who then would have taken the responsibility? None of the vehicles had safety belts. We fail to understand how Kesari can have such disregard for safety of their tourists? How can you be so careless towards our safety knowing fully well the road conditions and arduous travel on tne route? We saw two accidents . cars speeding off the road and going down the valley In case of any mishaps causing grievous injury due to absence of safety precautions who would take the responsibility? This only shows your scant concern regards safety of tourist. You are risking life of your patrons who have trust in you by your carelessness. To be honest we can go on and on to express our unhappiness at the way we were treated on the tour. You may find the letter harsh but we have on option to give you real idea about the torture we underwent. We hope you understand the gravity of the situation. If you cannot take care of your clients please do not organize such tours and risk your well earned reputation. Please do not take this letter lightly. We want a detailed reply covering all the above points and the action you propose to take in respect of compensating us for spoiling our holiday which we were eagerly awaiting. Also suggest that urgent measures be taken to ensure that other tours to North East states be properly planned and gullible tourists are not subjected to hardships and incur damage your reputation. We await your reply at the earliest Yours sincerely DR. Subhash Oroskar Mob: [protected] [protected]@gmail.com