Our Services

Our Services

As well as tours to the Buddhist holy sites, we also offer a range of additional services related to these tours. Please look through the following links to see what we can offer you.

  1. Meet & Greet
  2. Accommodation Booking
  3. Car and Bus Rental
  4. Air Travel and Ticketing
  5. Train Travel and Ticketing
  6. Passport and Visa Assistance
  7. Travel Insurance

1. Meet & Greet

We can arrange for someone to meet you at your port of arrival, such as Delhi International Airport or various train stations, and can help you with your onward transportation to the holy sites. We can do this in a variety of ways, such as booking onward internal flights or trains for you, or by transporting you by our vehicle to your destination. Most of our pilgrimages tend to start at Sarnath, so we can easily arrange transport to Sarnath from anywhere in India. For someone to meet you and put you on a train to Sarnath from Delhi, can be discussed prior to your arrival. Exact quotations of train fares or flights will be given on request. Please contact us for this.

2. Accomodation Booking

Although accommodation will all naturally be booked for you and included in the fee for your pilgrimage, we can also book accommodation for you in other places during your stay in India. The Travel Advise page provides detailed information about the accommodation you can expect on a pilgrimage itself. The accommodation does vary in standard and comfort between our budget and luxury tours, so please take this into consideration. The budget accommodation in India can be very basic indeed, but is very affordable and safe, so there’s no need to worry. You could always ask to transfer to a luxury hotel whilst on a budget pilgrimage and pay the extra charge, plus a booking fee, if you find the budget accommodation too basic. We can try to accommodate everyone’s needs, so please contact us to discuss this.

 3. Car and Bus Rental

We understand your needs and if you require a taxi to visit a museum. Travel from one place to another and require a chaufer driven car or coach then we are here to assist you. There are all kind of vehicles from 4 seater car to 45 seater coaches. Whether at airport pickup or visit to a distant sestination. We will provide you safe and reliable services.

4. Air Travel and Ticketing

There are a number of budget airlines available in India these days, so it’s possible to get some reasonably priced seats on some routes. They are CONSIDERABLY faster, as you may imagine, than going by any other method (compare travel from Nagpur to Mumbai: by train, 16 hours; by air, 1.15 hours).

We have in-house experts to book air-tickets for domestic or International travel. Air travel in India is generally painless and uncomplicated for internal flights, although it can sometimes be a bit of a pain when waiting for internal transport between terminals if you are transferring from an international flight to an internal one, for instance. They won’t have such a sense of urgency to get you there, so this can be stressful for some foreigners! (Inevitably, you will get there, but it can be slow. You could get a taxi or auto-rickshaw to the other terminal if you were extra worried or in a rush – this usually won’t cost more than 250 rupees).

Also note that your baggage allowance may be slightly less on internal flights. On a recent trip, a guest was allowed 30Kg from the UK (which she used fully), but her internal flight, on a different airline, allowed 20Kg. As luck had it, they didn’t notice or didn’t mind and it all went smoothly, but it could be a problem! In any case, we ask that our pilgrims travel lightly, as much as possible, to make the journey easier. A 30Kg suitcase might not be the easiest of things to transport around! Please get in touch if you need to book tickets.

 

5. Train Travel and Ticketing

The best way to get around India is probably by train (and air although we naturally prefer non-air travel, as we have concerns about the environment – but that’s our choice!)

Travel by train is often long and trains get delayed – don’t be surprised if your train gets delayed by several hours! In fact, be surprised if it isn’t delayed by several hours!! It’s not necessarily that bad, but take it into consideration. You’ll certainly see more of India if you travel by train and you get a bed to sleep on (albeit not very private). Indian trains have several ‘classes’, including just sitting coaches, non-airconditioned ‘sleeper’ coaches (fold down beds for night-time use, although upper bunks can be used any time), air-conditioned ‘sleeper’ coaches and first class compartments with private facilities (although not quite what we might call ‘1st class’ in the west!!). The AC compartments are certainly quieter than non-AC compartments, as there are double glazed windows, which there aren’t in non-AC, but they can be more boring! If you have dust allergies, we also highly recommend that you travel non-AC. Bedding is provided in AC and whilst it is clean, the blankets often contain dust and this can be very problematic if you suffer in this way.

It is ESSENTIAL that you book your train in advance when travelling long distances in India, unless you don’t want the guarantee of a place to sleep at night. Trains are always full, often months in advance, so it’s highly advisable to get your ticket well before your date of travel to India. We offer this service to you and will ensure that you get guaranteed seats, and beds, on trains, in your preferred class – as long as we too receive some notice prior to your travel, of course! We are authorized ticketing agent for booking train tickets for Indian Railways.

6. Passport & Visa Assistance

In order to travel to India, you must have a valid VISA to enter the country. This must be obtained online (https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/index.html ) before you travel. We offer free advice, by email, for people who need to get a VISA prior to travel. You may need some information from us to help you fill out the forms too, such as addresses in India where you will be staying. We will help you all the way with this process.

If you are visiting Lumbini (in Nepal) as part of your pilgrimage, you will require multiple/double entry Indian Visa. Also need a Nepalese VISA. Nepali Visa can easily be obtained at the border to Nepal, so there’s no need to get this in advance, unless you’re travelling in Nepal prior to your pilgrimage of course.

Indian nationals intending to visit Sri Lanka, Thailand or any other country require a passport. We assist for error-free applying for passport. Also assist for applying for overseas visa and Travel Documents attestation service. Please contact us if you require help or further information.

7. Travel Insurance

We offer International travel insurance for all your travel needs. We are in partnership with Thomas Cook Insurance Services, the global partner in travel industry. Non-Indian guests are advised to buy a Travel and Health Insurance with appropriate riders in your own country. Indian guests travelling outside India mandatory require overseas travel insurance. If you need more information then just drop us an email and we will get back to you.