点评:Overall we were very satisfied with our one-week trip around Kerala through Cholan Tours/Indian Panorama. I felt the company took our interests and requests into consideration when building an itinerary and we were happy with the price we paid.
DRIVER: We were with Mr. Shafi all eight days and we couldn't have asked for a more professional, kind, and helpful driver. It was clear he had years of experience showing foreigners around Kerala and we felt lucky to have him. Towards the end of the trip my husband got sick and he took us to a clinic he trusted from prior trips and took care of us to the best of his ability (stopping for frequent breaks, recommending foods that would be easy on our stomach, etc). I would definitely recommend Mr. Shafi to others!
AGENCY STAFF: We planned our trip a little last minute, with only a month's notice, but Christy at Cholan Tours was able to put together a great package for us in that time. I was happy to see that different staff members checked in with us throughout the trip, both in-person and over WhatsApp. I felt like if we did have issues that needed to be addressed, I had an opportunity to bring it up.
PRE-DEPARTURE BRIEF: I wish the pre-departure packet they gave us was a little more tailored to our location, or better updated. For example, the packet said all money exchange places in India basically offer the same rate, so we don't have to worry about shopping around for the best rate. However, that turned out to definitely not be the case at the airport exchange booth. We got a horrible exchange rate.
ACCOMMODATIONS: We asked for mid-range hotels and I think that we got what we expected. Our home stay in Fort Cochin and houseboat in Alleppey were the two highlights of our trip. However some other hotels sometimes lacked hot water or had some "quirks" to them.
翻译:总体而言,我们对通过 Cholan Tours/Indian Panorama 安排的为期一周的喀拉拉邦之旅非常满意。我觉得公司在制定行程时考虑到了我们的兴趣和要求,我们对支付的价格感到满意。
司机:我们和 Shafi 先生一起度过了八天,我们找不到比他更专业、更友善、更乐于助人的司机了。很明显,他有多年带外国人游览喀拉拉邦的经验,我们很幸运能有他。在旅行快结束时,我丈夫病了,他带我们去了他以前旅行时信任的一家诊所,尽其所能照顾我们(经常停下来休息、推荐对我们胃口好的食物等)。我肯定会向其他人推荐 Shafi 先生!
旅行社工作人员:我们计划行程有点晚,只提前了一个月通知,但 Cholan Tours 的 Christy 能够在那段时间内为我们制定出一个很棒的套餐。我很高兴看到不同的工作人员在整个旅程中与我们进行沟通,既有面对面的,也有通过 WhatsApp 的。我觉得如果我们确实有需要解决的问题,我有机会提出来。
出发前简介:我希望他们给我们的出发前资料包更适合我们的位置,或者更新得更好。例如,资料包说印度所有的货币兑换处基本上都提供相同的汇率,所以我们不必担心货比三家寻找最优惠的汇率。然而,事实证明机场兑换处的情况绝对不是这样。我们得到的汇率很糟糕。
住宿:我们要求住中档酒店,我认为我们得到了我们期望的。我们在科钦堡的寄宿家庭和阿勒皮的船屋是我们旅行的两个亮点。然而,其他一些酒店有时缺少热水或有一些“怪癖”。