Discover Darjeeling and Bhutan

On the whole a great itinerary. I would drop the Sunderbans though, since the chance of seeing any wildlife while sailing for hours up and down the middle of the river is unlikely, especially since the animals are behind a fence. We had an excellent tour leader, Kiran who is warm, very informed and energetic and who certainly went that extra mile in solving problems and caring for everyone. The local guides who travelled with us were also great, as were the drivers. The hotels in India were the Summit hotels, an Indian chain. They are clean and quite well organised. However since those in Sikkim were out of town we were forced to eat dinner in the hotels which produced the identical menu. It would have been better to have spent the bits of free time we had in Sikkim in the towns themselves.

On the whole a good trip but some things could have been better,towels in some hotels were threadbare and dirty. Also the night under canvas seemed unnecessary and uncomfortable otherwise the tour was interesting but in my opinion relied too heavily on the monasteries and not on other historical buildings, otherwise very interesting and memorable for many reasons

This was a wonderful tour with a great itinerary and I really enjoyed the contrast between Kolkata and Bhutan, although wouldn't have liked to start in Bhutan and end in Kolkata! I felt the accommodation was significantly better than expected and manageable even when hot water supplies were tricky. Our local guides were great, but the trip was really made by our Explore guide, Kiran Deo Bhatt, one of the best I've encountered in the 30 years I've been travelling with Explore. Kiran offered us so many extras on the trip, and managed the complex logistics confidently; he made sure we crossed borders with relative ease, always supplied the info we needed on timings, temperature, weather, dress requirements etc, acted as our food critic and waiter, ensuring we all got food we enjoyed and paid our bills efficiently. He managed a tips kitty for us, exchanged our currency at excellent rates for us, and was incredibly helpful with any health issues we had, translating for pharmacists to make sure we got the treatments we needed. When a distressing accident occurred to one of the group early in the tour, he did the right thing, leaving the rest of us in the capable hands of the local guide and ensuring our fellow traveller got the right hospital treatment, for which we were all relieved. He was unfailingly cheerful and contributed so much to our enjoyment and understanding of the cultures we experienced, patiently giving us the time to enjoy the sights on the itinerary, but getting us in time to all. Kiran set up a WhatsApp for us and contributed by taking great pictures for all of us. I was very touched that he got up at 5.30am to ****** me to the airport and make sure I knew where to go; he also checked the WhatsApp to make sure we all got home safely. We couldn't have had a more caring, generous and enthusiastic tour leader- he's a treasure!

What we saw and what we did led by our expert guide was very special. It was the sheer variety of the experiences. The stand out being the walk up to the Tigers Nest Monastery. But for me the walks we did through villages where we saw real life going on was just as special. Bhutan is a special place, full of wonderful people, surrounded by amazing scenery. Accommodation there was of a very high standard. The icing on thd cake was seeing Mt Everest as we flew to Kathmandu. A special holiday full of great experiences.

Would recommend this tour to anybody. There were just so many different experiences involved. Personally I found a couple of days on a boat in the Sundarbans the perfect antidote to Kolkata - just don't rely on seeing any tigers! The overnight train journey is, as the Explore blurb says, a rite of passage when visiting India - and people were pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the toilets! We were unlucky in being accompanied by mist whilst in northern West Bengal and Sikkim, meaning we didn't get to see Kanchenjunga until we passed it on the flight from Paro to Kathmandu. Bhutan was as wonderful as I had expected - so serene and laid back and I loved the night's "glamping" next to a river. I personally found a day in Kathmandu at the end of the tour to be quite adequate, although several others stayed on for an extra night or two. The tour is, as described by Explore, "full on", with early mornings on the majority of days and a couple of SERIOUSLY early mornings - all for good reason. Having the start of our tour coinciding with the Durga Puja Hindu festival meant that Kolkata was even more hectic than usual, noisy prayers (via loudspeaker from a neighbouring village) disturbed the morning peace in the Sundarbans from 0340 and our drive from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling took twice as long as usual. Our tour leader, Udaya, was fantastic and had the patience of a saint. Our local guides Naren "Modi" in northern West Bengal/Sikkim and Jigme in Bhutan were also excellent, as were our drivers. The climb to the "Tiger's Nest" monastery was possibly the highlight of the tour and an afternoon tasting session in a local artisan brewery was the perfect way to celebrate it!