So it all started here, I and my friends wanted to go for an exciting trip. So visited geographic tours and saw some exciting offers. We were pretty interested, so we have made our payment. We were 12 people in total, and our journey started from Delhi with a Volvo bus. But for our bad, the vendor has done over bookings, and two of us were standing on the bus even after our booking was confirmed!
After sometime, the vendor has somehow managed to get our seats, that too besides the driver in his cabin!
Finally, after reaching Manali, we thought our trip might be exciting from here. After getting down at Manali, we were searching for the vendor for more than an hour, and finally, we got him, now we were heading on to our hotels. But for our bad again, we had a problem with the accommodation!
It was mentioned in the terms that the room was on double sharing and triple sharing basis, which means only three people were permitted in a single room. Now the vendor told us we can’t do anything now; please adjust and accommodate four people in one single room!
Two of us were sleeping on the bed, and the other two were asleep down on the floor! We paid Rs.32,500 just to sleep on the ground! We were 12 people in total, so we paid a whopping amount of Rs.3,90,000!
That was our worst nightmare ever! It was a round trip which includes Manali and Leh, but the vendor told us that we cannot proceed with the Manali’s bike trip because there are some disputes happening.
But in reality, there was nothing like the vendor told us, we could have gone to Leh from Manali on bikes, but the vendor just denied it because it cost him more for the transportation.
Things started getting worst, it was mentioned in the terms and conditions that we will be provided with oxygen and first aid kit! But they didn’t provide us with anything. We were not even provided with Breakfast, which was included in the package.
Then we started from Manali early in the morning for Leh, but for our bad again the vendor didn’t even get the permit for Rohtang pass! We stayed in tented accommodation that too without hot water facility, just imagine how bad our situation was!
Though it was assured to us in the mail, we didn’t even have a backup vehicle for any immediate medical assistance. We somehow started in the morning and headed to Sarchu, we had a halt over there.
Sarchu is a place where the oxygen levels are just 35%, where as human body needs 85% of oxygen. I was all awake in Sarchu because I was so scared that I didn’t have enough of oxygen, because of which my lungs got spoiled, and now the air doesn’t go into the lungs.
From Sarchu we started to Leh, and then the oxygen levels have dropped drastically. I had a severe a headache, and dehydration started. I told him I am unable to breathe, please stop by a medical shop so that I can buy some oxygen bottles.
He denied it so rudely and said, I cannot stop you can buy one when I would stop in the next destination! So then I headed on to a Military camp and took some oxygen. The military people told me that your oxygen levels are too low, you just cannot go up.
You need immediate medical assistance, go and admit in a hospital. So we had no accommodation booked in Sarchu, we stayed in a local Dhaba and paid some money. So somehow we have reached Leh, but the operator didn’t book the hotels!
Somehow after sometime, the operator has booked the hotels, but for our bad, our group of 12 people was segregated. We didn’t stay at a single place, 4 of us were at one hotel, and the remaining were again accommodated in two different hotels. We all were separated, there was no unity at all, and there was no point of us going to the trip together with our friends.
I had a severe cough, and then I was shifted to the hospital, and then hospital people told me that some water has gone inside your lungs. The doctor suggest me to take complete bed rest for three days!
He told me that it all happened because you didn’t take oxygen at the right time, now where ever you travel you should carry oxygen. There was no care taker present in the hospital, I requested the vendor to arrange someone I am ready to pay them.
My friends had called the operator and asked him where are you, he told he was with me, but in reality, he was not present with me! I was all alone for three days, and everyone proceeded for the tour. When I came back after discharge, I didn’t have any accommodation.
Finally somehow found a hotel and stayed on sharing basis. Then I have told the operator kindly book a flight for me tomorrow, I need to go back to my home. He took the money from me and made a booking for the day after! Suffering like this for one more day, I stayed there with all my expenses.
I came back to Delhi and went to another hospital, he told the same thing that, as you didn’t take oxygen at the proper time, now oxygen is not going inside one of your lungs.
All in all, our experience with geographic tours has been really bad. We would definitely not recommend geographic tours, though we have paid so much of money, the service was really bad!
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