Asia Safari Tours

It was a great tour, taking in all main cultural sites plus and lots of national parks which is what we were looking for. Private guide and chauffeur very good, friendly, and well organised.Sri Lanka really is rich and diverse country. If there is any criticism it’s that there were occasionally too many destinations in the schedule and some of the lovely accommodation was a bit hard to find/too far out of town meaning one arrived after dark with no time to enjoy it. However, once we realised this we cut a few stops out giving us a little more recovery time. Thistour would definitely keep any nature lover very happy.

When you picture an Asia landscape with abundant wildlife, sweeping plains, rich culture, an island vibe, great food and restaurants, rolling hills, and beautiful beaches. you’re picturing Sri Lanka. Its outstanding beauty and breathtaking vistas are only enhanced by the warm, friendly people we met. Everything, from the landscapes and wildlife sightings to the accommodations, exceeded our expectations, and we can’t wait to return.

So this is a difficult tour to rate. I have given 5*, because ultimately I really enjoyed the experience and it was due to my driver modifying the itinerary along the way. However, it wasn’t without issues. I knew before going that it was basically a private tour, however I wasn’t expecting quite so much downtime. I expected long travel days 4-5 hrs, but at one point became frustrated that I was virtually just going from hotel to hotel, without a lot of sightseeing/activities. Once I expressed this to my driver, he then arranged side tours along the way, which turned the whole trip around for me. Temples, a train ride, stepwells, small guided tours, which I was happy to pay a little extra for. Many of the actual ‘inclusions’ simply didn’t happen. The train ride/activities at Deogarh Mahal was not included because I was staying at Sardargarh (some distance away) instead, which had no inclusions. Instead I opted to pay extra (2000 INR) to be taken an hour away to do those activities. Similarly, there was no safari or cultural activities at Castle Bijaipur as stated in my final paperwork. Although a beautiful property, I actually wouldn’t include Castle Bijaipur on the itinerary. It is very remote (nothing to do, other than visit a small village) and it was difficult to get assistance from the staff. Again the bedroom was charming and character-filled, but impractical & uncomfortable. Extremely hard bed, a/c broken, very dark inside. Most of the accommodations were lovely heritage style properties, however they all showed signs of needing maintenance eg dampness, sheets worn through etc, so if this is an issue for you, consider upgrading to 4* or 5*. Most rooms did not come with a bar fridge and cleanliness/hygiene standards are definitely different to western hotel standards. This did not bother me too much, but may some people. Most hotels have a boiler system in the bathrooms that need to be turned on 15mins before using, so be sure to ask how to turn it on if you can’t get hot water. All in all, I loved the whole experience and felt completely safe travelling as a solo woman and was happy to head out at night in a tuk tuk or uber to dinner or sightsee. Many thanks to my wonderful driver, Ranveer who understood I was needing a bit more activity during the days, advised me along the way and who also ensured I was looked after when I fell ill in the last days. He assisted me in getting to a hospital, waited the few hours I was there and arranged for me to have access to a hotel near the airport for 4-5 hrs to rest before my late night flight. He was always gracious, professional, conscientious and is the main reason my rating is a 5*.