Sikkim Saga

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• RATES ARE DYNAMIC AND SUBJECT AVAILABILITY. IT WILL FLUCTUATE AS PER HOTEL INVENTORY, FESTIVAL PERIOD, PEAK DATES, CITY SOLD OUT DATES,ETC…..
• Given cost is estimated, based on lowest hotel rates existing as of now. We Don’t Hold Any Confirmation For Hotels. It’s Subject To availability at the time of booking. Any difference in cost shall be borne by Passenger.
• Check-in time at Hotel is 1400 Hrs & Check-out time is 1100 Hrs.
• Your tours and transfers are based on tour itinerary & not at disposal basis.
• Your Itinerary will be strictly on timings.
• Room Rates based on Standard Rooms. Supplement cost will be applicable for Valley Facing / higher category rooms.
• Breakfast will start from Day 2 of the itinerary.
• Services will be given in exchange of Original vouchers/Itinerary only.
• Portages and Driver Tips are extra
• Optional sightseeing has to be booked in advance on your own by paying an additional cost.
• There is No Refund for unutilized Service
• All cost are per person based on twin sharing
• Car cost is counted as per children & adults sharing a car
• On hilly areas, the CAR AC will not work.
• During sightseeing, the vehicle will go up to permissible point only, from that point any arrangement to be made all extra expenses shall have to be borne by the passengers.
• Extra bed in the room means only extra mattress.( Folding beds)
• Any govt. tax levied must be borne by the passengers only.
• Preponement / Postponement of the journey is not allowed. It will be treated as cancellation & accordingly the cancellation charges will be applicable.
• If accommodation is not available in the identified / specific hotel for the particular package tour due to reason beyond our control, we shall make our best efforts to shift the clients to hotel maintaining / having more or less the same standard. No complaint or claim shall be made by the client in this respect. 
• If any airline is delayed or canceled, Flamingo Transworld Pvt. Ltd. is not responsible for any compensation for hotels, meals, sightseeing or any other claim.

Guest must know the following points about the Operations

Few Words on Operations

Note on Hotel used in the Packages:

We have star category hotels in our area which is not to be compared with the Hotels of other developed destinations.  For the understanding we have termed  

• ‘The Area’s Best Hotels’ as GRADE A2+, A1+ & A, whose services are similar to Three Star Hotels.  
• ‘The Area’s Second Best Hotel’ as GRADE B, whose services are similar to Two Star Hotels.
• The Area’s Third Best Hotel’ as GRADE C, whose services are similar to One Star Hotels. 
• The  Area’s Fourth Best Hotel as GRADE D, whose services are similar to Budget & Tourist Class Hotels.
• Check-in time at Hotel is 1400 Hrs& Check-out time is 1100 Hrs.
• We have selected, combined & graded the hotels in a fashion, so that the clients get similar kind of standard in 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 good hotels are 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 in the area and as mentioned above, we have made our hotel selection on the basis of SERVICES provided. 
• 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 the guest have to climb stairs to reach their rooms. Incase the guest/s have problems with blood pressure, breathing, knee & heart  or if they cannot climb the higher floors, we will request you to report this problem immediately so that we are careful inthatgning Hotels which will be more convenient than the ones quoted/reserved for them. 
• 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, please advice the guest/a s to bear with such situation. To overcome the water crisis certaischedules have fixed schedule for supplying hot & cold water.
• Hotel in C & D Category have a system of providing room heater on request & extra payment. This payment is not included in the cost & the user has 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.

INBOUND CLIENTS NOTE:

• NRI, OCI, PIO Card holder & Foreign National are not allowed to visit Baba Mandir&Nathula Pass. 
• They are allowed to visit till Tshangu Lake, with a valid permit. They also have to be 02 & above is number to visit Tshangu Lake. 
• For getting the valid permit these guest will have to bring with them their valid passport & visa / OCI / PIO Card. 
• They will also be required to bring along with them 08 passport size photograph for processing their permits into Sikkim, Tshangu lake, Lachen&Lachung. 
• There will be an additional cost for processing the permit & making the tour applicable. 

Note on Transportation used in the Packages:

• The vehicle used will not be at disposal and will be exclusively used for the group as per the itinerary only (on point to point basis).  It will change sector wise.
• As the vehicles & drivers change always we request you to inform the guest to be very careful with personal belongings. Once left in the vehicle there is very little chance of you getting them back. 
• As the area is backward & due to unwritten syndicate rules your 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. Often in past guests have been misguided by such drivers. We would request you to inform the guest not to listen to such people & reconfirm whatever they say with your File Handling Executive (FHE). 
• Certain sightseeing is totally controlled by the syndicate and we do not have any say over such services. We will request you to inform the guest to bear with uncalculated situations. Their FHE will guide you on such services e.g. Tshangu Lake, Nathula, packages to North Sikkim. Especially while using such services they 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. 
• Due to shortage of space for parking please inform the guest that they will have to be ready on time & wait in the lobby. Due to uncalculated situations the vehicle reporting may get delayed. We will request the guest to bear with us and as soon as vehicle comes it will pick them up in few seconds time 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 request the guests to follow the time strictly as given to them. Incase of delays the vehicle will have to leave the hotel area without the guest & get parked in a parking area. In such a case, the guest will have to be transferred in a Maruti Van FOR WHICH THE COST WILL HAVE TO BE BORNE BY THE GUEST & WILL BE COLLECTED DIRECTLY.
• 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 to the hotel in Maruti Vans for which the driver of your connecting vehicle will make the payment. 
• OFF BEAT CIRCUITS “SOUND OF SILENCE” - The Vehicle provided on the above Itinerary will be on Disposable (Tata Sumo / Similar Thought for all brackets 2 to 08 pax). Here the local sightseeing of Gangtok, Tshangu, and Pelling Sightseeing will be done by the local vehicle of that area.
• Incase the guest is opting for INNOVAas per the unwritten syndicate rule of our area it will be used for main transfer for all destination and sightseeing of Kalimpong& Darjeeling. In certain areas INNOVA are not available & due to non availability /limited availability (during the peak season), as a substitute we will be providing Tavera / Qualis / Scorpio / Tata Sumo / Mahindra Maxx which could be having front / side facing seat. However for Gangtok sightseeing, as per the unwritten syndicate rule, the guest will be provided 01 Wagon R / Alto / Indica on every 04 heads.
• 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.  

Note on General Operations:

• Please note that our Executive will hold placard as advised by you, just outside the only exit gate of Bagdogra Airport.
• Incase the passengers are arriving at NJP Railway station which has 02 entry & exit gate, please inform the guest that they will be meeting our Office Executive at the old exit gate (which happens to be the main gate also) holding placard in their name / or as advised by you.
• It is to be noted that incase, the guest is arriving by train in the late evening / night & are departing early morning, it is mandatory for them to spend a night in SILIGURI. In such situation of late arrival & early departure, if the client does not have a booking, then the client will have to wait at the Waiting Room at the station.  Our Executive will be meeting the guest at 0600 hrs in the morning for the meet & greet and arrival transfer. This has been planned keeping security factors in mind.
• Tour start and end from Bagdogra (IXB) Airport / New Jalpaiguri Railway (NJP) Station. The 1st Day tour Meal starts with Dinner & ends with Breakfast on the last day for all the bookings on MAPAI. For APAI 1st Day tour Meal starts with Dinner & ends with Packet lunch 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 inform the guest 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 the guests are taking the left out tour on the next day they will have to pay the extra against the vehicle charges as advised by the File Handling Executive (FHE).  
• Sightseeing Points remains closed on State Government & Bank National Holidays. The points which are closed are Research Institute of Tibetology, Handicraft & Handloom Showroom, Flower Show in Gangtok& Padma Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Tibetian Refugee Self Help Centre in Darjeeling. 
• Weather in the hills is unpredictable. We have kept the guest 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 our Executives call the guest for such change we will request you to inform the guest to take it sportingly & without any apprehension. Once Tiger Hills sightseeing is decided between the guest & FHE which will be done before 5 P.M. no changes will be allowed. In case 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 the guest go for the sightseeing or not for any reason or eventuality (which could be because of the guest 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 FHE. 
• People with knees, heart & blood pressure problem & having children below 05 years should avoid going to Nathula, Gurudongmar&Yumosomdong (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. 
• 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. Kindly inform the guest on this constraint of the area. 
• There will be no refund of any unutilized service in part or in full what so ever may be the reason.

The following points are to be noted about the above mentioned Itinerary: 

1) GANGTOK

• Gangtok early morning three point sightseeing will of 03 hrs from 0530 hrs to 0730hrs covering Tashi View point, Ganesh Tok& Hanuman Tok.
• Gangtok Half day sightseeing will be of 04 Hrs from 0900 hrs to 1300 hrs / 1400 Hrs to 1800 Hrs  covering Rumtek Monastery, DroulChorthen, Research Institute of Tibetology, Directorate of Handicraft & Handloom, Flower Show & Nam Nam View Point.  
• Gangtok Full day sightseeing will be of 06 Hrs from 0900 hrs to 1500 hrs  covering Jhakri Falls,  Rumtek Monastery, DroulChorthen, Research Institute of Tibetology, Directorate of Handicraft & Handloom, Flower Show & Nam Nam View Point.  
• Tshangu Lake excursion will be of 5 Hrs from 0900 to 1400 hrs. 
• Supplement for Baba Mandir for 01 to 03 Pax (Maruti Van) will be INR 400 &04 to 08 Pax (Hard Top/Jeep) will be INR 800
• Nathula operation is subject to road condition and availability of permits as only limited permits are issued 48 hour prior to the schedule tour. Nathula service cannot be availed on Monday & Tuesday. . Nathula is NOT ADVISABLE to children below 5years & guest having problem with blood pressure, knee & heart. 
• Supplement for Nathula will be (INR 4500 to 7000 per vehicle) by Hard Top Jeep. For Nathula only 08 Pax including children are allowed per vehicle. 
• Since Nathula is a restrict area any time army can seal for security reasons. In such case tour will only be till Tshangu Lake and no refund will be allowed for unutilized services.
• Tshangu Permit are issued one day in advance in between 1400 Hrs – 1600
• Please be informed that from 01/12/2008 any tourist who is visiting Tshangu Lake, Nathula or North Sikkim (Lachen, Lachung, and Yumthang) will have to carry (compulsory) following document. 
• Photo ID proof (issued by State / Central Government of India) of all Adults. (18 Years & Above). 
• 04 Passport Size Photograph of each member

• The guest will have to carry the original ID Proof on their tour. However for processing the permit in advance we would request you all to send us the following information 15 days prior to the arrival 

A) NAME, AGE & GENDER B) CONTACT NUMBERS C) ADDRESS    D) 04 RECENT COLOR PHOTOGRAPH OF EACH MEMBER E) PHOTOCOPY OF ONE VALID PHOTO IDENTITY PROOF

2) PEMAYANGTSE (PELLING)

• Pemayangtse half day sightseeing will be of 04 Hrs 0800 to 1300 HRS covering Darap village, Rimbi water fall, Rimbi Hydro Project&Kechopari Lake.
• Pemayangtsesightseeing will be of 08 Hrs 0900 to 1700 HRS covering Darap village, Rimbi water fall, Rimbi Hydro Project&Kechopari Lake,  KanchendzongaWaterfalls, Yuksom.  
• Pemayangtse walking tour covers the two famous landmarks- Rabdantse&Sangachoeling will be of 04 hrs (Walking Tour)

3) DARJEELING

• With the Darjeeling itinerary we can have a joy Train ride accommodated (Subjected to operational Condition) for INR ….per person for the Railway Ticket + INR …. For the vehicle for Hotel – Railway Station – Hotel transfer) TIME: From 1000 to 1200 Hrs or 1250 to 1450 Hrs.
• Darjeeling early morning sightseeing will be of 03 Hrs from 0400 to 0700 hrs covering Tiger Hills, Ghoom Monastery and Batasia Loop. 
• Darjeeling half day sightseeing will be of 04 Hrs from 0900 to 1300 hrs or 1400 to 1800 hrs covering Japnest Temple & Peace pagoda, Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Tenzing&Gombu Rock, Tibetan Refugee self-help Center & Tea Estate.
• Darjeeling Rock Garden sightseeing will be of 04 Hrs from 0900 to 1300 hrs or 1400 to 1800 hrs covering Rock Garden & Ganga Maya Lake. 
• Mirik excursion along with visit to Pashupati Nagar (Indo – Nepal Border) will be a full day activity from 0900 Hrs to 1500 Hrs.
• For your sightseeing in Darjeeling Peace Pagoda & Japanese Temple are included instead of Ropeway &Lebong Course which is closed.