We need a place to put all our gripes about the trip. Especially those about our travel agent. The reason I want to put them here is so that all the issues I have are not flying around in my head and affecting the trip in a negative way. Plus, it's good reminders for when I plan another trip. So this blog entry is likely to grow throughout the trip (hopefully not too much!).
Rant #1: When I was picking up the tickets, i.e. 1 week before we were due to leave, we were told that the African Safari we are going on requires us to bring our own sleeping bag and mat... Um, what?... Now, that would have been nice to know BEFORE we booked the thing. That should have been in our agent's spiel for example " This is a great trip but are you willing to bring your own..." instead of "Oh, by the way..."
Solution: We already have some mats and we will buy a cheap sleeping bag in Hong Kong and then get rid of it after if we have too much luggage. Bit of a pain , but achievable.
Rant #5: Geckos tours do not have any included meals and the tour guides do not accompany the group to optional activities, which is not made clear in the trip notes. Also, there are many extra costs that are not indicated in the brochure, which you become aware of only when you have paid in full. We feel we have not been given clear information about tipping (e.g. "You can tip if you want to" with no guidance as to how much) and hotel quality (3 star is not equivalent with our previous experience of 3 star). We took the India Golden Triangle Tour and didn't see any of Delhi because our tour guide scared us into staying indoors and didn't turn up for two appointments for sight seeing.
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Rant #2: It was perhaps the wrong choice to go with the manager of the Travel agency. Now you night think you are getting the best qualified person. However, in our case, our agent usually wasn't in the office because of "meetings". Also, managers seem to have this urge to get to the top, and may have just a little too much ambition.
Solution: Next planning of a large trip, I will ask for two travel agents to know all details of my trip. That way if one is "out", I can defer to the other.
Rant #3: Our agent didn't reply to our e-mails. So we didn't know if he had received them. This led to him "not getting my e-mail" for my pickup of the tickets asking for an hour earlier (because I had plans later with a friend). Luckily my friend could re-schedule at last minute and come earlier (As in "He hasn't turned up can we do dinner now?"). He wasn't ready at the original appointment time either.
Solution: Ring and see solution to #2.
Solution: Get opinions of two Travel Medical Centres. It was lucky that I lived in a different city to Mum so we were forced to get two opinions. That way I could relay all the good advice to Mum that I was getting. We also probably discussed the medication more too.
Rant #4: Mum's Travel doctor was absolutely terrible. He gave her no choice in the Malaria tablets and gave no details on when and where to use them. Also, there was no discussion on which injections might be good and why. No vaccination plan.
Rant #5: Geckos tours do not have any included meals and the tour guides do not accompany the group to optional activities, which is not made clear in the trip notes. Also, there are many extra costs that are not indicated in the brochure, which you become aware of only when you have paid in full. We feel we have not been given clear information about tipping (e.g. "You can tip if you want to" with no guidance as to how much) and hotel quality (3 star is not equivalent with our previous experience of 3 star). We took the India Golden Triangle Tour and didn't see any of Delhi because our tour guide scared us into staying indoors and didn't turn up for two appointments for sight seeing.
Solution: Don't Travel with Geckos again.
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