Countryside India

1) How long has Countryside been in adventure travel?

Countryside Outdoor Programmes Pvt. Ltd. started in 1993 by outdoor enthusiasts for whom designing various outdoor programs was a natural extension of a passion for outdoors. Years of tramping in areas of wilderness, mountaineering expeditions, including one to the world's third highest mountain, and experience in Outdoor Management Development Programs provided a sound base for setting up Countryside.

Countryside offers tours that take you away from the normal tourist haunts, to remote, un-spoilt places. The tours are exclusive and carefully designed to accommodate people with various needs and aspirations. The tours are a judicious mix of comfort and challenge. Our commitment is to give you a memorable experience to treasure.

No Problem, our trips are designed for all kinds of traveler who have little or no experience in the outdoors. But certainly few tours, which are physically challenging are not recommended.

4) If I have a substantial amount of outdoor experience, is there a Countryside tour that's right for me?

Definitely, we have various grades of treks to suite your requirements. Please refer to our brochure and the trip itinerary to choose an ideal trip. If you would like to have more information about the trips or you would like to speak to us, please feel free to call our office or write a mail to us.

Most of our tours are carefully designed and are fit to be undertaken by anyone with a average physical fitness. All the tours are rated with grades, from soft to strenuous allowing you to choose a suitable tour. Regular exercise before the tour for few days on recommendations with your physician & physical trainer would help you enjoy the physically challenging tours.

On most our tours the average group size is 15-18 pax, in fact we prefer to travel in smaller group size. But on certain easy tours the group size can go up to 30 pax.

COUNTRYSIDE organizes regular ‘refresher’ courses for its guides / tour escorts wherein we review, upgrade and redesign existing safety systems in an effort to make all our programmes safe; these are supplemented by annual first aid programmes.

If the specified dates do not suite you or you would like to have a variation in the itinerary we would be pleased to customize a tour to suite your requirements. However the cost for such tour will be reworked depending on your requirements.

Countryside team of escorts /leaders comprises of professionally trained and experienced mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts, experienced in various aspects of the outdoors & travel. If you are a small group our local guides/ escorts / leaders / drivers are efficient knowledgeable & experienced.

We try and incorporate most of the costs of transport, food and accommodation and avoid out of pocket expense while you are on the tour. However we would advise you to read the tour information thoroughly to know the exact inclusions.

Countryside Backpacking Tours B are on Bed & breakfast basis in hotels & guesthouses.

In the cities the accommodation is in neat & clean good hotels. In remote places the accommodation will be in neat & clean guesthouses with basic facilities. We try and provide best possible camping arrangements on twin sharing basis…. in comfortable camping tents, dining tent, separate kitchen tent and dry toilet tents. All these facilities would vary depending on the nature of tour & they are specified in the tour details.
Countryside Backpacking tours B, include budget hotels & the facilities & amenities are basic.

We try and make camping extremely comfortable by providing foam mattresses and pillows (unless specified). All personal luggage is carried by porters / mules (unless specified). Our camping & cooking staff set up the camp and prepares meals for the group. While on tour, our leaders try and fulfill your day-to-day needs even during your stay in hotels, guesthouses, etc.
Countryside Backpacking tour B are without any luxuries of pillows, foam mattresses & dinning tents. The participants are expected to enjoy the experience of roughing out!

Food during the stay at hotels / guesthouses is usually pre – decided & food during camps will be simple sumptuous vegetarian & non-vegetarian food. Most of the meals will be with a choice for continental, Chinese or Indian food.

We will try and accommodate your special dietary requirements provided we are notified will in advance.

You will be able to shower and do laundry only during your stay in hotels / guesthouses. This will not be possible while camping.

16) Are there any hidden costs that are not included in the cost of your itineraries?

Our tour costs mainly exclude the airfares, airport taxes, insurance, evacuation, personal medical expense; expenses of personal nature and Government service Tax wherever applicable. All costs includes / excludes are mentioned in the detail itineraries.

In case of trekking tours, basic exercise like, brisk walk or light jogging before the tour is recommended after proper consultation from physician.

Upon registering for the tour you will receive a detailed tour itinerary along with a comprehensive kit list that is recommended for that particular tour.

All travelers are recommended to buy insurance from their country of residence. For Indian Nationals, there isn’t ant travel insurance available for travel within India. We also advice you take a insurance for evacuation & medical emergencies.

20) Will my friends and family be able to contact me during my tour? Alternatively will I be able to contact anybody whilst on the tour?

We will try and pass on numbers of hotels, etc wherever possible for your family members to get in touch with you. Alternatively they can be in touch with our Mumbai administrative office for group information.

We can assist you with your train and air bookings by charging an additional service fee. We do not have an in-house train and air-ticketing counter; we have a network of agents through whom we get these bookings done. Alternatively you may contact these agents directly.

You can register for a tour by sending us a completed booking request form* along with initial deposit of (non refundable) amount of 20% of tour cost, in addition to the charges such as air, rail fares, etc.
*Link for booking request form.

Non-Refundable amount of 20% of tour cost, in addition to the charges such as air, rail fares, etc along with completed personal information form.
50% of the tour cost to be paid 45 days before date of departure &
Balance 30% of the tour cost to be paid 15 days prior to the departure.
The tour will be considered confirm only if there is no default in the above payment procedure

24) Can I pay in cash, cheque, US dollars, and credit?

Cash
By cheque / Demand Draft in favour of “Countryside Outdoor Programmes Pvt. Ltd.” payable in Mumbai.
Direct to our HDFC Bank account number 5412820000165.
For international fund transfer,

STATE BANK OF INDIA, MAHIM BRANCH CODE 3837
VIJAN APARTMENTS, L.J.ROAD,
OPP: PARADISE CINEMA
MAHIM, MUMBAI 400016. INDIA

CURRENT A/C NO. 01000005579

COUNTRYSIDE OUTDOOR PROGRAMMES PVT LTD
35 WAWDA BUILDING, 252 L.J.ROAD,
OPP: SENA BHAVAN, SHIVAJI PARK
DADAR, MUMBAI 400028.

25) Many activities are weather dependent, what happens if I’ve paid for an activity that has to be cancelled due to bad weather?

In case of activities, we try and refund the amount but in case of any third party involved it may depend as per their conditions. In case of any hotel / transport / air & rail reservation, we may or may not be able to refund or adjust the amount, since it would be considered as a no show / last minute cancellation.

The minimum number of people required to make a group feasible is usually small for most of our scheduled tours. Hence the chance of a tour getting cancelled is rear. However if we need to cancel the tour due to not having the requisite group size we would keep the members well informed (minimum 30 days in advance, unless specified).

CANCELLATION BY YOU:
In the event of any cancellation by you, the initial deposit amount paid, shall stand forfeited and further cancellation shall be levied as per the following terms:

46 days before date of departure: 20% of tour cost + Air / Rail cancellation charges
45 to 31 days before date of departure: 50% of tour cost + Air / Rail cancellation charges
30 to 15 days before date of departure: 80% of tour cost + Air / Rail cancellation charges
15 to 0 days before date of departure: 100% of tour cost + Air / Rail cancellation charges (Will be considered as no show)

CANCELLATION BY ‘COUNTRYSIDE’ & REFUNDS

‘Countryside’ reserves the right to cancel a tour if the minimum numbers of persons as specified, do not book on the tour.
‘Countryside’ reserves the right to refuse or cancel any booking if we consider it necessary. In such cases, we shall refund all the money that you have paid.
If cancellation or alteration by COUNTRYSIDE OUTDOOR PROGRAMMES PVT. LTD. is caused by events including war or threat of war, strikes, civil strife, natural disaster, technical or political difficulties affecting air or ground transport, or events amounting to force majeure, this will naturally limit our liability. If such events occur before the departure date, we will do our best to make alternative arrangements.

We hope to have replied to all relevant questions about your Travel. Should you, however, have any query, please forward the same to us and we will reply at the earliest.