Disappointed
I met Jawed — the owner of Dreamland Treks and Tours — when he organized a wonderful trek for me in the Zanskar Valley in 2008. And again in 2010, when I trekked the Markha Valley.
So I was quite disappointed that, despite our long-term relationship, as we stayed in touch on various social networks, the level of customer service I received was very poor.
* A few days before departure, I asked him by email for some last-minute advice about equipment — how cold it was going to be in the remote locations of our tour, whether a sleeping bag was advisable, etc. But I got no answer, and in fact I could have packed my luggage better.
* He wrote that he would pick me up at the airport on arrival — quite customary in these situations — but he never showed up. He said he’d had an emergency, but he could have sent one of his company’s drivers, or at least dropped a note letting me know I had to manage on my own.
* I asked to have a fluent-English-speaking driver, which he swore I would have. But on the first day of my tour — a day trip to some local monasteries — he changed his mind and sent another driver, who didn’t speak English, with a smaller car where I kept banging my head against the roof.
* The second day we were to start the “real” trip, heading through Khardung La and down to Nubra. We agreed with the driver to leave my hotel at 7:30, in order to arrive in time for the sunset light (I am a photographer, and can’t miss the “right” light). But the evening before departure, Jawed called me at my hotel, saying that “we” had forgotten to prepare the permit for the inner regions we were going to drive through. I could not believe it! Is there anything more basic, for a travel agent, than preparing travel permits? He even argued that “we” — meaning he and me — had forgotten the permits, as if I, the client, an Italian photographer, could be responsible for preparing them, apart from the fact that it was clearly stated in the letter of agreement. We could only leave at 10:30, and the sunset light was compromised.
* During the trip, three of the four accommodations we stayed in were not what he had stated in his previous emails. The tour was agreed upon, and partially paid for, by the end of June, so I can’t explain the changes, other than to assume he was saving money on my hotels — seriously compromising their comfort and cleanliness, and harming the quality of my stay. For the kind of accommodations I stayed in, it would have been better to have my own clean bed sheets and my own bathroom towels, just to give an idea.
I presented these observations to Dreamland Treks and Tours before submitting this review. He rejected all my observations; he believes there was no mismanagement and that everything was fine. Evidently, this is how he treats his clients — something worth keeping in mind, should you consider hiring his services.