Grand Tour of South India - Private Tour

The order of events and sightseeing may vary according to local conditions or for operational purposes. The schedules of the domestic airlines in country are subject to frequent changes. For this reason, we have indicated approximate times only. Your local guide will inform you of any schedule changes as they are informed of them. The driving times listed are point to point and do not include the duration of excursions or stops en route. Some road construction and/or weather conditions may lengthen the driving times. Our intention is to adhere to the day-to-day itinerary as printed; however, order of events and sightseeing may vary according to local conditions.

Important: Please note that all mobile phones are banned from India’s National Parks and Tiger Reserves. Phones will need to be left at the hotel when you are on safari. You will still be able to bring cameras into the parks and reserves to take photos.

If booking more than 12 weeks before departure a deposit of £295.00pp will need to be paid at the time of booking with the full amount payable at 12 weeks prior to departure. The deposit applies to adults and children. If you are within 12 weeks of travel then the full balance of the holiday will be payable.

A visa is required for entry into India. British Citizen Passport Holders will need to obtain a tourist visa. You can apply for an E-visa no more than 30 days in advance. Your E-visa must be valid for your whole trip so please ensure the expiry date is for the whole duration of your stay. Alternatively you can visit The Indian Visa Application Centre in London: 142-148 Goswell Road, London, EC1B 7DU. We also work closely with The Travel Visa Company who will be able to arrange your visa on your behalf. Please call them on 01270 250 590 and quote 'Mercury Holidays'. Additionally, you will need to complete an e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before your arrival. This can be done on the Indian visa website: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival/. Additionally, you must complete an Ebola Self-Declaration Form before departure. This form can be completed online at https://airsuvidha.civilaviation.gov.in/. Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months before you enter India. Visa requirements are subject to change and obtaining a visa is the responsibility of the traveller and not Mercury Holidays. We recommend you check with your destinations' Tourist Board or Embassy prior to departure for the most up to date guidelines regarding visas and passport validity.

Please note we will require your APIS/Passport information at least 2 months in advance to pre purchase your Safari passes, this can be uploaded via our website on "Manage My Booking".

We strongly recommend that you and all members of your party are suitably insured as soon as you book your holiday. It is a condition of booking that you must have suitable travel insurance. It is important that you purchase travel insurance that suitably covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking. To assist you with this, we have arranged travel insurance in partnership with Holiday Extras, including up to a 20% discount, which is given to all Mercury Holidays customers. To arrange your insurance with Holiday Extras, please visit https://www.mercuryholidays.co.uk/info/insurance for more details. Please ensure you provide us with the name of your insurer, policy number and their 24 hour emergency contact number as soon as possible. Mercury Holidays will not be liable for any costs incurred by you due to your failure to take out suitable travel insurance from the date of booking.

It is your responsibility to check any health or vaccination requirements applicable to your booked arrangements. We can only provide general information about this. Health and hygiene facilities and disease risks vary from country to country. You should take health advice about your own needs as early as possible and in good time before your departure. Sources of information include; www.fco.gov.uk, http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/, www.hpa.org.uk, your General Practitioner or a specialist clinic.

All our tours feature a “Tour Pace” to help find the right holiday for you. To travel on any of our tours requires unaided mobility and the ability to stroll around the sights, climb stairs and get on and off coaches and boats. The tour pace is rated Active due in large part to the length of the tour. A good level of fitness is required as you may be on your feet for approximately four hours in a day, though this will be interspersed with regular breaks and will vary from day to day. You will be walking around the sights, and you will be getting on and off coaches, trains and boats and climbing steps which may be irregular. You will stay in variety of hotels throughout the tour. Our guides will always endeavour to provide the highest level of service and assistance; however, they cannot be expected to cater for customers who are unfit to complete the itinerary. Early morning trains and flights depending upon the schedule and some early morning sightseeing’s are also in this tour.

The currency in India is the Rupee or Rs. The Rupee is a closed currency and officially you are not allowed to take any cash out of India. US Dollars and GBP are also widely accepted in India should you wish to keep an alternative currency on you. There are restrictions on taking Indian rupees into India. Visitors, including tourists, are not permitted to take any amount of Indian currency into the country. You can take cash or travellers' cheques (in pounds sterling or another foreign currency) and/or a bank card with you and exchange or withdraw rupees once in India. Cash machines will also be available throughout the tour in order to withdraw money in your local currency. It is important that you budget carefully and ensure you have the right form of currency before you arrive in the country.

As normal practice you may be asked for your credit card details on check-in at the hotel in order to cover any extras incurred during your stay. If you do not have a credit card, you may be asked for a cash deposit. MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted in hotels as well as American Express.

You will need to take some extra money with you to cover any personal purchases, such as souvenirs, laundry, extra drinks and snacks. Approximately £400-£500 per person will be sufficient for the duration of the tour.

It is customary to tip your guide and driver. This is at your discretion, but we recommend you allow approximately £4-£5 for each guide and £2-£3 for each driver per person per day. It is asked that you tip in pounds and not local currency, please do not give coins as these are difficult to exchange. Your guide will also ask you for £1 or £2 a day to add to a kitty this is for the porters, waiters etc throughout your tour.

This is a fully escorted tour. A national guide will meet you on arrival and accompany you throughout your trip. In certain cities, local guides will join you to provide expert insight based on the sites visited.

For private tours, you will travel with either a Driver Guide or a Driver plus local guides. They will accompany all sightseeing. Private tours can depart any day of the week, subject to transport schedules and attraction opening times. These tours follow the brochure itinerary unless otherwise advised and include all listed meals, sightseeing, and excursions.

**Trains **

During your tour you will be getting on and off several trains. You will be booked in Air Conditioned Chair Car carriages. Seats recline and there is overhead space for a bag. Bathrooms are at the end of each carriage but toilet roll and hand sanitiser is advised. Trains in India do vary to the UK in terms of quality. Some trains can be disrupted by heavy fog and your tour guide will let you know if anything changes.

**Safari Vehicles **

Your safari will be taken in a canter, this is a large open roofed truck that seats up to 20 people. Safari drivers take you to areas of the park where wildlife are more likely to be seen but as with all wildlife experiences nothing can be guaranteed. Please note that many paths inside the park are bumpy and dusty.

Your accommodation is selected for convenience, location, comfort or character. Hotel accommodation is generally rated as local three to four-star standard, but please note there is no international classification system for hotels, and differences in facilities and quality do exist between the UK and India. All group tours hotels have private bathroom facilities and air conditioning, where needed. Rest assured that all accommodation used by Mercury Holidays is regularly inspected by our staff and partners to ensure that standards meet your needs.

A triple room is available but please note that this will be a twin room with a fold away bed for the 3rd passenger.

During this tour you will have a night’s stay on board a traditional houseboat as the best way to experience the backwaters of Kerala. The houseboats are built using traditional methods and there is no standardised design or layout. Your group will be split across a range of houseboats each one with between one and six bedrooms. Some will have a single deck consisting of bedrooms and a seated dining area, others may have an upper deck as well. The simple bedrooms feature en-suite and air conditioning but of necessity do not have the same comfort/facilities of a hotel room.

The crew on the ship will prepare your meals in a traditional Keralan style and are employed from the local villages so their English is basic. The guide will be available but as the group is split he will not be on your houseboat at all times.

Breakfast is buffet-style and is always a combination of Indian and western style. Lunch is typically a buffet of mainly Indian cuisine. Dinner is served buffet-style or as a set menu, also featuring Indian dishes. All meals on the boat are served in the main deck dining room.

Please contact Customer Experience for questions about other dietary requirements or allergy information. Vegan, vegetarian and non-spicy meal options are available, all meal requests need to be sent over to our suppliers before travel.

It is not recommended to drink the tap water, even in developed countries water may contain unfamiliar elements that can cause upset stomachs. In less developed countries water is not filtered in the same way, so to ensure your comfort and well-being.

There are some dry hotels in India, and some hotels where alcohol can be consumed on the premise but must be brought in from outside. Your guide will pre-warn you of this and if anyone in the group would like to purchase drinks before getting to the hotel then we will arrange for you to visit a local shop and get what you need wherever possible.

Dry days are when the sale of alcohol is not allowed. Most of the Indian states observe these days on major national festivals/occasions such as Republic Day in January, Independence Day in August and Gandhi Jayanti in October. Dry days are also observed during elections in India.

During visits to Churches/Temples please note long trousers or skirts should be worn to cover knees, Long sleeved tops should be worn to cover shoulders and ladies should bring a scarf to cover your head.

Please note that plastic bottles are banned in the national parks so keep a reusable water bottle for your tour.

Please note that all mobile phones are banned from India’s National Parks and Tiger Reserves. Phones will need to be left at the hotel when you are on safari. You will still be able to bring cameras into the parks and reserves to take photos.

On your arrival in Chennai you will be met by a representative from our local agent, Jayasree Travels & Tours, holding a sign displaying: “Mercury Holidays”. The Mercury Holidays/ Jayasree representative will show you to your transfer vehicle. Your guide will be able to answer any queries you may have.

If you need to contact Jayasree Travels and Tours, during your stay the details are: Jayasree Travels and Tours:

341-Ground Floor Lado Sarai New Delhi 110030 Contact number: +0091 9526188860 / +0091 995 898 8719

Emergency contact information

Telephone number 24 hr: Biju Unnikrishnan +0091 952 618 8860, Ms Jayasree Vikraman +0091 974 700 5888, Mrs Samitha Azhar +0091 974 471 3380, Mrs Rekha Anil 0091 9744813380 , Mr Amit Bhardwaj +0091 995 898 8719

E-mail: biju@jayasreetravels.com

• Sunglasses, Sunscreen and hat in summer
• Comfortable walking shoes
• Warm clothing and thermals in winter
• Camera and charger/ spare batteries
• Loo paper for public WCs
• Binoculars
• Mosquito Repellent
• Personal toiletries and first aid kit containing travel pills, rehydration powder, plasters, stomach settlers, antiseptic creams, aspirin etc
• Antibacterial hand gel
• Long sleeve shirt and long trousers
• Swimwear
• Plug Adaptor - The voltage in India is 220 Volts with plugs and sockets having either grounded 3 pin connections or ungrounded 2 pin connections
• Should you plan to use your own hairdryer, travel iron, video camera, battery charger, electric shaver etc, it is advisable to bring a multi adaptor