2 independent reviews for Binsar to Jageshwar trekking holiday, India
Reviews for Binsar to Jageshwar trekking holiday, India
Janet Potts review 11 Oct 2019
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Waking up in the tented camp to see the sunrise on the Himalayas has got to be a highlight, really breathtaking and we heard leopards roaring at night although we didn’t see any. We added on a 3 day trip with a driver and guides to see Delhi, Agra and Jaipur which was definitely worth doing. We felt we couldn’t go to India without seeing the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Amber Palace, Floating Palace and Lotus Temple just to name a few of the places we visited.2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
If you want to see as much as you can you need to accept long drives and train journeys. Leave Western values at home. Accept that when you are out hiking up in the Binsar and Pindar valleys the guest houses and bathroom facilities are basic. Women need to be conservatively dressed with knees and shoulders covered and if you are fair haired you will get a lot of attention. Take a head torch and Life straw water bottles and hand sanitiser. We didn’t get sick at all! Tipping is customary and although each tip is only a pound or two it does add up. Basically anyone providing any service will expect a little something.3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
The Binsar valley is a wildlife sanctuary no animals can be shot. Local guides and porters are used and the villages all benefit from tourism. For the Binsar and Pindar trip all tipping is done at the end of the stay and then is shared out among the communities. The hotels we stayed in have replaced single use plastic water bottles with bottled filtered water in glass bottles (we still decanted that into our life straw bottles). There is still a lot of work to be done to reduce rubbish though.4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
An excellent experience. The operator went out of their way to ensure we had a wonderful trip. They had to customise the trip to suit our needs ( we even changed our itinerary half way through our trip) and we had phone calls to check everything was ok, texts giving us our drivers name and phone numbers. Nothing was too much trouble and they were always available to help.Fiona Waldon review 18 May 2017
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Although we did have extra days booked through our tour operator, a day trip to Agra to see the sights including the Taj Mahal, 2 day stay and safaris at the Corbett National Park and a stay in Naini Tal which were all wonderful the main part of the vacation which was walking and staying in the villages of the Binsar Forest Reserve in the foothills of the Himalayas was really memorable, the people were very welcoming, we got invited to a traditional wedding which was great fun, the food was really good and the wildlife, particularly the birds, were fantastic. We had 2 lovely guides who were great company and very knowledgeable. We shall remember this vacation for a long time and would love to go back.2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Our tour operator had organised a great itinerary for us but I think it would have been useful to have had either a local sim card in our phones or one with internet. We just had our simple UK phones which were expensive to use and we did need to check up with our tour operator every now and then about what time and when we were doing things. If you have the choice May is probably not the best month to go it is a bit too hot to get the best of this trip but this was the only time we could go and still had a wonderful time.3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I certainly think the villagers in the Binsar Forest Reserve benefited from travelers coming to stay, they had lovely guest houses for us with comfortable bedrooms and washrooms all built with help from our tour operator. This gives them an income to enable people to stay in villages which are declining due to lack of income. The Binsar Forest reserve have very good policies to reduce environmental impact and conserve all the local fauna and flora. Our tour operator have encouraged them to help the villagers by building walls or fences to keep the wild boar and porcupines from their vegetable plots.4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
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