Trip Includes
- Accommodation on double occupancy basis
- Three meals a day.
- All transfers and tour by a private vehicle.
- English speaking local guide.
- Sightseeing admission fees including special permits.
- Boating trips and jungle safari activities as indicated in the program
- All transfers and tour by a private vehicle.
- Special permit
- Service of internal airfare reservation (fare is not included)
Trip does not include
- Accommodation and services in the gateway city such as Delhi or Kolkatta.
- All airfares (Internal airfare from Kolkatta and Delhi is expected between $150-$200)
- Drinks, tipping and other expenses of personal nature such as laundry, phone etc.
- Extra expenses or loss due to nature and unforeseen events such as flight cancellation, delay, illness, civil unrest, inclement weather etc.
- Travel Insurance.
- India visa
Indian Visa and permits
You need to obtain Indian visa beforehand as India does not grant visa upon arrival. Indian visa services have been outsourced to Cox and King Global Services.
You can also apply eVisa online. Visa application must be submitted in the time window between 120 days and 4 days before arrival in India. Visit the Indian Government's Official Website for eVisa application.
Admission to Arunachal Pradesh requires Special Restricted Area Permit (RAP) which will be arranged by us in advance. For the RAP application, we need copies of your passport and visa and 04 passport type pictures. Arunachal Royalty to the Government $50 per person is included in the trip cost. Minimum group size must be two persons traveling together.The neighboring states of Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland no longer require special permit for admission effective Jan 01, 2010, with exception to Chinese and Pakistani nationals who still need to apply for permit beforehand.
Trip Difficulty:
Arunachal Pradesh is a mountainous state and there are hardly any plains except some valleys that makes travel challenging and time consuming to get from point to point. Majority of the state is inaccessible or difficult to reach and infrastructure is very poor, in fact the state is very neglected due to it's proximity to the Chinese border. Road condition varies; at some places road can be of very bad condition, particularly during the monsoon time. During dry winter, the road condition is normally better.
The trip involves some long day drive and it can be exhausting! There are no strenuous activities but you need to walk while visiting tribal villages. If you are not leading an active life, it's advisable that you start some exercises to keep yourself fit.
Accommodations:
In the towns where choices are available, we use superior hotels, three or four star by local standard. You will have private en suite bathroom with running hot and cold water. In the tribal belt, accommodation will be very basic. Do not be confused by their names! Hotels are small, some have only five or six rooms, but rooms are clean and have attached toilet but may be without western style shower. Hot water is provided in bucket for bathing. Except in the towns, toiletry supplies are non-existent. Please, bring your own towel, shampoo, conditioner and other supplies that you need.
Meals:
The trip features three meals a day. Indian, Chinese and various tribal vegetarian foods are served. You may miss western style dishes. In order to supplement with the calorie, you may want to bring some dry foods like energy bars, dry fruits, coffee etc. along with you.
Transportation:
We use top of the range and well maintained cars such as Toyota Innova, Chevrolet Tavera or Tata Spacio driven by reliable drivers for all transfers and sightseeing. The vehicles are comfortable, well maintained and air conditioned but for the climate of Arunachal, we don't need to run air conditioning. Drivers are courteous, friendly and well experienced in the mountainous road of the Himalayas.
Guide
We are accompanied by a local East Indian Guide who is trained and proficient in English. Most importantly, our guide is friendly, flexible and committed to deliver the best services and personalized care. Your guide will make sure that you have necessary permits and vouchers, coordinate with drivers for day planning, deals with check posts and help you check in the hotels.
A typical day of the trip:
Usually around 9 am, our guide and driver will show up at your hotel to take us on the trip. We visit the monasteries, temples and other sights for about 3-4 hours, depending on the agenda of the day and we will have lunch break between 12 noon to 1 pm. After lunch, we will have a couple of hours more to recover the remaining sights of the day and the tour concludes usually by 4 pm. We will be brought back to our hotel or our driver can drop us somewhere on our request. While we visit the monasteries, or temples or other attractions, we will have plenty of time to take photos, interact with the locals and do bargain shopping. Before the guide and driver leave us for the day, we will discuss the schedule of the next day.
Important Note:
Arunachal Pradesh has everything to offer to the visitors but luxury. So, travelers seeking luxury accommodation must think twice before deciding to go on this trip. The tribal people of Arunachal Pradesh are also shy and some travelers may feel unwelcome.
The best time to go
Arunachal Prdaesh is a North Eastern state, with a wide range of places, and thus diverse range of weather conditions. While the southern plains adjoining to Assam are warm and humid, the northern parts adjoining to Tibet are cold! The temperature varies with the altitude. However, the most places that we visit on this trip are best visited during the dry season which is from October through March. The weather in summers is still mild. We certainly want to avoid the rainy months of July, August and September when there are landslides and floods and travel becomes very difficult.
Here is the average temperature.
Summers-April, May & June High 95 °F and low 68°F
Monsoon-July, August & September High 84 °F and low 65°F
Winter-October through March-High 59°F and low 41°F
If you can, it's best to go at a juncture when winter is gradually bidding farewell and the summers are arriving. In the month of April-May, the temperatures are moderate, neither too warm nor too cold. You can enjoy the bright orange sun set against a royal blue sky.
Booking
When you are sure you are traveling, please don't delay in booking. Timely made booking helps to secure reservation in preferred hotels and flights. A deposit of US$300 is requested along with complete trip application form and passport copies.
Balance payment is due 90 days prior to your departure. Depending on the number of applicants, we may set an early payment date. Credit card payment attracts additional fee.
Cancellation Fee
- 90 days prior departure: Administrative fee US$ 150 per person.
- 60-89 day's prior departure: US$ 250 or 25% of the land cost whichever is higher.
- 45 days to 59 days prior departure: US$ 450 or 50% of the land cost whichever is higher
- 30 days to 44 days prior departure: US$ 600 or 75% of the land cost whichever is higher.
- Less than 30 days: 100%.
Travel Protection Plan
While we and plan do our best to make your trip smooth and seamless, there may be chances of unforeseen events and conditions such as illness, accident, inclement weather, and flight cancellation or missed connection or loss of baggage etc. that may cause interruption or delay or total cancellation of your trip putting your hard earned travel investment in jeopardy. It’s also possible that you may need medical assistance, emergency evacuation or medical transportation when you get ill or involve in an accident when you are traveling in remote areas. Far & High's Tour cost does not cover any of these expenses or losses and so we strongly recommend you that you should protect yourself and your travel investment against those unfavorable conditions.