Best tour with Payless - We had a very good holiday well organised by Payless yours and had a very good reliable driver that could communicate with us and saw and enjoyed the culture of the places we have been will recommend anytime

Lifetime experience India and Nepal - That was a tour of our lifetime. We had a great time bothin India and Nepal. Saw wonderful places and colours of India. We definitely recommend this travel agency. Look no further!

Best memory with bholu and payless tour - We had a great trip there was just so much too see .you really get to see so much in a short time .we highly recommend payless tour and our driver bholu who yook a great full us All the different guides were was as well and very knowledge Thanks to payless tour and neeraj and our driver bholu

The India and Nepal Road trip- a must!😃 - We have just come to the end of our travels with Payless India but more importantly with our Driver Mithun. We travelled through India and Nepal with the best travel Buddy, Driver and guide. He ensured we got the most out of our trip, every need and request was met with courtesy. We saw the most amazing sites, and have lots of pictures for our memories. I think it would not have been the same without the trusty and reliable Mithun. I would definitely recommend this trip to see the sights of both India and Nepal, we appreciated the flexibility to change our itinerary to see a place in the mountains, both Payless and Mithun were great putting everything immediately into place for us. There were long hours on the road but we stopped when we wanted and saw the most amazing countryside, definitely better than flying! Our biggest highlights were shopping in Jaipur, the amazing Taj Mahal in Agra which also gave us our funniest moments being robbed of our bananas by a monkey. Myself and Mithun laughed a lot about that incident, obviously no one was injured. Chitwan, Pokhara, our flight to Everest. To be honest I could go on. Thanks Payless for your prompt and efficient service. Thanks Mithun, it just wouldn’t have been the same without you, you have a great sense of humour and your local knowledge was brilliant, we particularly enjoyed some of the restaurant recommendations. Susan and Richard Ireland and UK

Fantastic Dream tour. - The driver went out of his way to show us beauty of India and Nepal. Our itinerary was very demanding but very varied and interesting as well. It was a pleasure to travel with Vivek since his driving skills are impressive. We're very satisfied with the tour and will recommend Paylesstoursindia to our family and friends.

It's essential to pick to write tour company, when visiting India - Seen a lot of good places, essential to any trip to India and Nepal. Will reuse their services anytime I come back to India.

Remarkable tour - Great tour with a tailored itinerary and a remarkable driver. We loved overall service, accommodation and Paylesstoursindia customer contact. India and Nepal are outstanding and unique! We will recommend this travel agent to every traveller.

Great value tour - impressed. - Just coming to the end of our 17 day tour of India and Nepal with Payless Tours India, we couldn't be happier with the package. We chose to do the private car tour which made it very flexible for us - Neeraj was easy to work with in organising the itinerary and other administration. At each site visited, we had very competent local guides join us to explain the history of each location. The highlight for us was to see the Taj Mahal and Mt Everest but there were many other amazing things. Travelling by car, and avoiding internal flights meant some long days driving but we had the benefit of viewing some locations free of western tourists. A special thanks to Mithun, our driver and companion. He was exceptional in his awareness of our needs, offering helpful advice and suggestions and ensuring we got to see the maximum number of places in the time available. His good humour, infectious laugh and positive outlook were very much a bonus. We would have no hesitation in recommending this tour and Payless Tours India as a very good company with whom to work.

The highlights were the street markets in Delhi & Kathmandu, Taj Mahal (of course), & the Amber Fort & Palace at Jaipur. - India is fascinating but so busy. A guided tour is the way to go. We chose Payless Tours with Mithun as our driver, and were very pleased with both. Good itinerary, good guides, good hotels & restaurants. Mithun is an excellent driver (most important), great knowledge of India, totally reliable & honest. I enjoyed our political & religious discussions. I throughly recommend Payless Tours with Mithun as your driver.

Interesting Itinerary Marred By Communication and Coordination Issues. - Summary: We recommend this tour from Payless Tours which offers a wide variety of experiences in both India and Nepal. However, the tour may require more guest involvement than a typical guided tour. We had quite a few communication/coordination glitches during our tour which were resolved satisfactorily but caused us unnecessary stress. Highlights: - Rickshaw ride in Old Town Delhi. - Seeing the Taj Mahal. - Getting an Ayeuretic massage in Kharjaro (optional recommendation from driver Sanjay). - Seeing the Himalayas (including Mount Everest in the far distance). - Unexpected Tuk Tuk ride in Varanasi (Guide took us by Tuk-Tuk to Aarti giving our driver a break). - Being able to make real time changes with Payless (we opted for 2 nights in Pokhara instead of visiting Chitwan since we read that you don’t see much on the half day safaris). Lowlights: - Arriving in Delhi at night and having our driver (of unknown name) drive for 15 minutes before confessing he did not know where our hotel was. Google Maps (and Google Fi) on our phones got us there. - The Aarti experience in Varanasi. We arrived in Varanasi too late for the Aarti on the day of arrival. We were told that instead of the boat ride in the morning along the Ganges, they were going to combine the boat ride with the Aarti experience in the afternoon of the next day. We were excited as we thought that was going to be a good way to be able to view the Aarti (since the priests are facing the water when they perform the ritual). However, the “boat ride” in Varanasi turned out to be a combination of Aarti Experience/Ghat Explanation/Hindi Sermon. We could only catch an occasional glimpse of the Aarti (in the far distance) because our boat was the last one to leave shore and so you had about 50 boats between you and the shore. Additionally, after the Aarti, the Ghat tour consists of the boat cruising up stream while the tour guide uses a spotlight to show you the Ghats (its at night and you can’t see much) while explaining everything in Hindi. Then you have to listen to a 30 minute sermon (also in Hindi, of course) and get sprinkled with “holy” water before they take you back to shore. - Upon arrival in Kathmandu, checking into the hotel and being told AFTER check-in that we can’t get the keys until we pay the bill since Payless forgot to pay it. We paid for the room and notified Payless. Neeraj had the driver reimburse us . . . 15,000 Indian Rupee (after we left India and did not need any more Rupee) but ended up paying us the equivalent in US$ when I complained about it. - On departure day in Kathmandu, having our local guide* who AGREED to pick us up at 11:30AM in a car, arrive at 11:50 on his motorcycle. No other vehicle in site. The small car he had arranged (we each had one checked bag and one carryon but not enough room in trunk so we had to place one of the checked bags in the front passenger seat) and driver showed up around noon. We DID make it on time for our flight but we were at the end of the queue at the check in instead of the front. * Our designated driver transferred (with our agreement) responsibility for getting us to the airport to the local guide so that he could leave for home (India) the afternoon after our last tour in Kathmandu. Minor Irritations: - Having 5 different drivers for our tour - we were supposed to have one. - Having our repeated requests to change our 500 INR notes into 50 and 100 INR notes ignored. One driver DID trade us several thousand INR in 200 INR notes for our 500 INR notes which, as he said, is better than no trade at all. And our guide in Agra (Jeet) DID help us get a nice collection of small (10-20-50-100) notes. We gave up trying to get smaller notes and ended up not tipping people we wanted to tip because we had no small bills. - Being provided with small sealed water bottles only on the first day or so of the tour. We had purchased a case of 1 liter water bottles for use in the hotels and I guess the drivers figured we could refill from our bottles. Which we did but the daily water bottle was supposed to be provided. Reality is that it is better for the environment refilling our small disposable bottles with the larger bottles so we shouldn’t complain but the issue is worth noting. - Having our requests to have “western style toilets” for stops ignored. Sometimes we got them, sometimes we didn’t. But if you gotta go, you gotta go. - Getting scammed by the operator (Ele Jaipur) at the Elevago An Elephant Sanctuary in Jaipur. Our driver suggested the Elephant Sanctuary (and it is a legit operation in that it is run by the government and you pay a fee to enter). However, the contractor inside the park is unethical. - Going to the Aarti in Varanasi and being told once you are on the boat that you have to pay for it. We did. Shortly thereafter, the guide came back and said that was a mistake and reimbursed us. - Showing up for the boat ride in Pokhara and being told by our driver that we have to pay for it. We showed him the list of included activities from Viator and after a call to Payless, the driver came back and paid for a boat trip to the temple and back. - Paying for a couple of meals/drinks for either guide/driver unintentionally (the driver/guide did not offer to pay and we did not want to anger anyone as the costs were reasonable) and not even being thanked for it. Minor Enjoyments: - If we had to pay for a toilet break (usually 20 INR), our drivers usually covered the cost since we had no small bills. - Driver Sanjay suprising us with a big basket of snacks for our drive to Varanasi since we would not have time to stop for lunch. - Enjoying the Masala tea at the toilet (“wash room”) breaks courtesy of driver Sanjay. He really liked stopping at small shops and we never had the small bills to pay so he paid for us to have tea. - Guide Raj took us to Nagarkot on our last full day in Kathmandu so that we could see Mt. Everest (teeny tiny on the distant horizon but we saw it). Recommendations for Payless Tours: - Make it clear who to contact if there are issues. Sometimes we dealt with Neeraj, sometimes the driver of the day. - Make sure the driver knows what is included and what is optional. - Do the morning boat ride on the Ganges to show/explain the Ghats. If English explanation not available, make that clear up front. - Offer travelers an option for viewing the Aarti on shore or on boat. Boat probably has better view IF you get one that leaves early. Maybe a high cost option for a location with an unobstructed view. Recommendations for Future Customers: - Double check hotel names and addresses before traveling. - Convert the tour listing as provided into a day by day listing. - Do research for the different locations BEFOREHAND so that you can make informed decisions about what to see/do and what to skip and then coordinate with Neeraj and/or assigned driver. - If you want an elephant experience, research before hand as it may require an additional day in schedule depending upon activities planned and operator you deal with. - Don’t assume your driver has a broad English vocabulary. They will understand the basics and, depending upon who you get, possibly a lot more. - IF you go to the Elephant Sanctuary in Jaipur and do any of the expensive options (they are ALL expensive), pay by credit card. They will try hard to get you to pay cash (of any currency) or go to ATM. I figure they are probably skimming the cash off the top and using a credit card makes if harder for them to pocket the money as there is a paper trail. Additionally, be careful as they will show you a price in INR but then tack 5.3% onto it and charge you in US$ (but it is not obvious on the receipt). General Comments: - This is NOT a big budget operation like Colette or Intrepid so expect some hiccups along the way but it is also a much more personal and rewarding. - You pay for the entrance fees. The note for $200 for entrance fees on the website is approximate. We thought we were suppose to give the money to the driver at the beginning of the tour but quickly found out that is not the case. - We loved seeing the daily life outside the car window - People, people everywhere: buying, selling, waiting, walking, resting, washing, talking on the phone, eating, drinking, driving, riding, and unfortunately, . . . begging from you, especially at toll booths on the highways. - We tipped the drivers more generously than the guides as driving in the big cities and between them required a lot of skill while the guides basically just regurgitated memorized information and did not have to deal with horrible traffic. That is not to discount the guides as all of them were good at their task. - Don’t believe the Google Maps estimate for driving times between towns. Traffic and obstructions and road work add substantially to the drive time. - DON’T be surprised by all the traffic driving TOWARD you on the divided highways. The median strip merely means that MOST (>50%) traffic will respect the law (drive on the left) but quite a few will drive on the right as it is more convenient for them to get to their destination. - Most of the guides/drivers have “recommended” stores/restaurants in the big cities. Usually fine to take their recommendation but feel free to choose a different place or decline all together. - Our understanding is that ethical elephant parks do not even offer a ride on the elephant. The operator at the Elephant Sanctuary does offer elephant rides and has Howdahs already attached to some of the elephants. I believe the ethical operators only do full day experiences and no rides. - ATMs in India are limited to 10,000 INR per transaction but you can do multiple transactions per day up to 50,000 INR total. - Upon arrival at the India/Nepal border, there are separate lines for individuals and for groups exiting India. The group line is always quite long but you should be able to go to the front (without your driver) and tell them you are individuals and get processed out of India quickly. - For the Nepal visa, it was sufficient to do the online visa for that particular entrance station right before you arrive and show the confirmation number on your phone as you pay right next to the visa office. You do not need a paper copy. If your application date is too old, they have a computer right there that you can redo the visa application on and take a picture with your phone of the confirmation and show it at the payment window. - For the Nepal visa, make sure your currency is pristine – A gentleman was denied his visa as his $100 US bill had a very slight tear on it. We bought some clear currency holders from Amazon to protect our bills during our travels which worked good.