DON’T USE Travel Trikon – Here is Why

Here is the letter I sent to the owner of the company. His only response was he would look into the matter and that he cannot afford to give me a 50% refund (Whatsapp screenshots available at the end of the letter).

Manoj ji,

I am really sorry to inform that I am not really happy with the quality of service offered by Travel Trikon and I am quite sure many of my trekmates would agree with me on this. Among the many trivial dissatisfactions that I have had, I would like to point out a few which disturbed me in particular:

a) I am fit, health wise speaking. Although there is no mention on the level of trekking experience required to undertake this journey, I remember you telling me on phone that anybody who does not have serious health issues can join. I go to gym and yoga classes. I function quite normally in life with no breathing or stamina issues. However, trekking is not an activity I undertake often. Hence, I was trudging along the steep slopes slowly, due to the terrain quality and breathing issues I experienced there. I believe that this trek in particular is NOT at all meant for beginners. I found your team to be surprisingly overpriced…and understaffed, with one of the two assigned guides falling ill on second day and the other one lacking empathy for a beginner trekker like me. According to him, I am the ‘slowest’ trekker he has met in his entire life. In all my trekking journeys no trek leader commented on my performance like this.

He acted quite cranky all the way and truth to be told I cannot blame him either when he is the only one guiding the entire team. During my journey as well as the return, often, I was left behind and the tour guide would walk much ahead, leaving me, as if he was in a hurry to finish the trek. This is not at all what I expect from a ‘professional trek lead.’ If not for the assistance offered by India hikes and another trekking team, I would have been buried under 12 feet snow. Right during my return, I noticed another tour guide offering exemplary assistance to a lady who is as slow as I am and I am equally surprised to learn that their rates are much lower than yours. In spite of promising medical first aid, not even oxygen cylinders were provided at high altitude; to quote your professional trek lead, they were ‘not needed’ and having breathing issues is ‘normal’ trade-off of Himalayan trekking.

b) Food was average at Sankri but it was very bad on the mountains. Except for one proper dinner, mostly we had Maggi and Nutrela. This is not the kind of food I expect from a 10k trip. Your ‘professional trek lead’ was very arrogant about it and said that we should eat whatever is available up there, as if he was doing us a favor!

c) We had to accommodate ourselves quite uncomfortably in a small tent meant for only two people; we were forced to accommodate three of us in each such tent. Needless to say, I could not sleep at all. Neither was there enough protection from cold for us in the tent at night. I must say I had better experience from Rs.5,000 treks.

d) I am also shocked to learn that you never attend any of your treks personally. This is shocking to me as I have undertaken 3 treks before and in each of them, not only I got better support and food but also met the admin; needless to say, none of them cost me more than 5K each.

I have been thinking of posting this review on all my social media platforms as well as websites like TripAdvisor, as a way of warning others from traveling with Travel Trikon. This is what your ‘professional trek lead’ suggested as well. On second thoughts however, I have decided to drop this issue and forget about it if I get at least 50% of my money back as compensation. I came to this conclusion after doing my homework which has led me to believe that you have not spent more than 3-4k per person on this trek. Needless to say, I am never going to travel with your company again or recommend it to anybody, but at the same, if I am compensated as requested, I would refrain from posting my negative reviews online. We are both self-employed so I don’t really want to damage a fellow businessman’s reputation unless I have no other choice. I have no formal complaints to make against any of your staff because I believe you are more to blame for my bad experience than they are..

Thanks for reading. I would like the 5K refund to be paid within the next 72 hours to my bank account.

Ariindam

Here is one defensive, condescending reply full of lies I got from the company, as a response to my Facebook review. Of course I had told the lead multiple times about my breathing issues which were ignored, as were similar requests made by my trekmates. This is definitely not my first Himalayan trip, of course.

“1. Whether you go to a gym or any other classes it doesn’t matter. You should read the itinerary first properly. Not a single piece of equipment was carried properly. Yes we did noticed you were slow, struggling to walk every time in simple words you were not fit for this event. Our Lead had told you earlier that in Kedar Kantha where timberline is up to 12K feet we don’t require oxygen, but for your kind information we were having oxygen. When we asked everyone is everyone fine why did you not inform our lead if you were struggling for breathe ?
Our professional trek leader came back to take you all the way to the juda when you where coming down that time you won’t say anything.

2. Regarding the food. What do you expect at such height. We gave you roti,sabji,rice,dal and sweet dish. If you are expecting some fancy item I’m sorry to say it won’t be possible. If it would be a favour i would have given you only chai and biscuits.

3. The tents which where placed are for 3 people and where not of twin sharing.

4. Firstly it was your first Himalayan trek. So without knowing the services and qualities what the 5k service provider give and what we gave you will definitely find the difference.”