Dear All,
I have to contact you immediately to let you know what a wonderful trip I have just had with Bales to Tibet. It has literally been the holiday of a lifetime and I am greatly touched by my experience. I want to thank all of you that have contributed to putting this together, cheerfully arranging my upgrade and always being at the end of an email to answer all my questions.
A big thank you goes to Rabin from Yeti Tours in Kathmandu who travelled with us for the complete tour in Tibet and looked after us magnificently everywhere we went always being there when needed to help and assist and proficiently guided us around the sightseeing on return to Kathmandu. It is also thanks to him insisting on a Tibetan local guide that we had the pleasure in meeting Nawang who was exceptional in his knowledge of all the monasteries, their contents and detailed information on Buddhism. How fortunate we were to have him for he has spent some time himself as a monk in a monastery receiving teaching from the lamas. His knowledge was outstanding and on more than one occasion expertly arranged to visit monasteries when the monks were holding their worship and chanting complete with drums cymbals and horns. He also took us to a number of Tibetan Restaurants for lunches with excellant food and a great time was had by all. No tour should visit Tibet without Nawang!! He is a gem!
Bales Tibetan Tour is outstanding. Everywhere we went was a highlight but perhaps one journey to remember was the drive through the country areas to the Meditation Cave of Milarepa and Padmasambhava at Kyilkhar. We were able to see the country Tibetans toiling in the fields as they harvested their barley crops. They are indeed very beautiful and spiritual people.
Bales certainly represents Britian for tours to Tibet for we didn’t bump into one other British Group but many European Groups and some American.
I must also compliment Jet Airways on their service to Premier and First Class passengers. On the return transit at Delhi I was met at the door with my boarding card for the onward flight, my hand baggage carried for me as I was escorted to the Executive lounge. On arrival at Heathrow a buggy was by the aircraft with a passenger agent holding a board with my name on it and I along with a couple of other passengers was whisked along in the buggy to the arrivals immigration hall. I hadn’t requested any of this it just happened and of course made my trip even more enjoyable and special.
This is my 3rd holiday with Bales (previous ones China and Nepal) and I commend you on your first class product. I am sure I will be travelling with you again in the future. As a single, and slightly elderly person travelling alone I feel confident and safe in your hands. Again thank you for a lovely holiday.
My warmest wishes and thanks to all who contributed towards my tour, Dave, Daniel, Lynne, Rabin and Nawang,
Arminell Wreford
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I am ony too happy for you to use my feedback on my Tibetan Holiday. I might add that 3 other members of the group John Farquharson and Mr and Mrs Middleton (from Ireland husband works in China) sang your praises of your professionalism. We all agreed you are a first class tour operator and what we liked so much was the way we could email you after making our reservation and discuss any questions etc we might have. I think John had done tours of Laos and Cambodia with you and has now wetted my appetite to include those countries on my list!!
I have a little more feedback I can give you that might please you. I did the Everest Flight optional tour in Kathmandu for the second time having done it on your Nepal In Style Tour in November 2008. This time around it was even better as the pilot took us even closer to Everest and flew amongst and over some of the snow capped Himalayan peaks. That was enthralling. However what I actually want to tell you is, that Rabin discovered on the first morning flight we (Mr Middleton and I) were booked on, had been given mediocre vewing seats so he, Rabin refused to accept them and insisted on us being booked on the next flight 30 mins later with the best seats on the aircraft Row 9 the last row. We had a completely clear view and took many photos.
Another comment... I was impressed with the Dhulikhel Mountain Resort...very nice and friendly atmosphere. A waiter acted as a guide for a 2 hour hill walk for me alone in the afternoon which I enjoyed. I liked the food very much. We had western cuisine very nice chicken the first night and steak the second with vegetables. Having had a lot of spicy food during the tour it was a nice change to have a plainer meal. Vegetables were lovely and at breakfast they cooked us all eggs fresh how we wanted them scrambled omelette or fried etc At the Chinese Hotels in Tibet there was mostly only boiled eggs so it was a refreshing change to get a choice! Toast was always fresh and warm. Service was impeccable. I actually prefered Dhulikhel to Dwarikas Himalayan Resort where I stayed in 2008. Dwarikas Kathmandu though is a lovely hotel with beautiful rooms. The 9 course Nepalese meal was very flavoursome but not too spicy...greatly enjoyed.
On the way back to Kathmandu Rabin took us into The Cottage Emporium a huge place with a large choice of beautiful top quality handicrafts ranging from statues prayer wheels conch shells and daggers to jewelry Tibetan carpets Kashmir sweaters pashminas and throws. We all succumbed and bought something! 