I opted for Tour #9(14th to 19th May’13 of Panicker travels and booked it for my family of five( Mother, wife and two children) at their office in Chennai. (Beware of another tour operator - Chennai Panicker’s operating from the same Prince plaza building in Chennai). I included airport pickup / drop, hotel booking, local sight seeing and Agra trip also through them and paid money in full before starting the travel.
Travel: Talking about this tour # 9 which is Delhi, Amritsar, Mandi, Manali, Rohtaang pass, Chandigarh and return to Delhi which is 6D/5N duration, all along the ISUZU bus travel was very comfortable and the driver(Mr.Daya Kishan) was driving the bus at steady speed and with utmost safety. Especially he had to negotiate tight spots on the road uphill to Manali and which he did fanatically. Their entire group of travelers appreciated him.
Guide: We were lucky to have Mr. Yadav as our guide - who with his friendly approach, good people skills and knowledge of places became a darling of everyone. He was delightful to say the least and he never was pushing us but, going along with us. He made the entire trip a wonderful experience. He did some fun activities inside the bus and kept the entire journey enjoyable.
Hotel & restaurant: The night stay halts and restaurants where we had food are all decent, good and famous restaurants. We had comfortable stay, good food(especially south Indian food)because all the 35 travelers in the bus were from South India.
Places: Some of the highlights of the trip are evening parade at Wagah border, white river rafting on Beas river( never miss this), snow at Rohtanng pass
Overall: I thank Panicker’s for their good service, punctuality, like-able hotel/restaurants and safety.