Terms & Conditions

About these terms

These terms govern every tour, transfer and travel service arranged by Kashi Experts, B-1/152, Assi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh - 221005. In them, "we" and "us" mean Kashi Experts; "you" means the person making the booking and everyone travelling under it.

By paying an advance you accept these terms on behalf of every traveller in your group. Please make sure they know what has been agreed, particularly the cancellation terms.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under Indian consumer law that cannot be limited by agreement.

Enquiries, itineraries and quotes

Enquiring is free and carries no obligation. Sending us your dates does not hold anything, and asking for changes to an itinerary costs nothing however many times you ask.

• A quote is valid for <b>7 days</b> unless it says otherwise, and assumes the dates, group size and hotel category it was written for.
• Prices shown on this website are starting prices per person on twin sharing, for the smallest comfortable group. They are a guide, not an offer.
• Itineraries on the site are how a tour usually runs. Yours is rewritten around your dates and pace, so the day-by-day plan may differ.
• Nothing is held or reserved until an advance is paid.

Confirming a booking

A booking is confirmed when both of these have happened - not before:

• You have paid the advance of <b>{{advancePercent}}</b> of the total (<b>{{peakAdvance}}</b> for peak dates such as Dev Deepawali, Diwali, Ram Navami, the Magh Mela and the Kumbh).
• We have sent you a written confirmation listing your hotels, vehicle, inclusions and final price.

The balance is due <strong>{{balanceDue}}</strong>. For bookings made inside that window, the full amount is payable at the time of booking. If the balance is not received on time we may treat the booking as cancelled and apply the cancellation terms below.

Pay only into the account named on our official invoice. We will never ask for an OTP, a card CVV or a net-banking password, and we will never ask you to pay into a personal account. If in doubt, call +91 73888 50395 before transferring anything.

Prices and what moves them

Once we confirm a price in writing, we hold it. Before that, the same trip can be priced differently, and it is fairer to say why than to pretend otherwise.

• <b>Season</b> - the same room costs several times more during Dev Deepawali or a Mela than in July.
• <b>Group size</b> - the vehicle and guide are shared, so a larger group lowers the per-person price.
• <b>Hotel category</b> - the biggest single lever in any quote.
• <b>Government charges</b> - a change in GST, toll rates or state permit fees after confirmation may be passed on at cost, with the paperwork shown to you.

Everything a package includes and excludes is listed on its page. If something is not written under inclusions, please assume it is not included and ask.

Cancellation and refunds

Cancel in writing - WhatsApp or email is fine - and the charge depends on how much notice we have. The reason is simple: hotels and transport are paid in advance on your behalf, and closer to departure that money is gone.

Peak-date bookings and any specially reserved item - a Dev Deepawali boat, a festival room block, a chartered flight - are <strong>non-refundable once confirmed</strong>, because they are paid for outright at the time of booking. We say so on the quote before you pay.

• Approved refunds are paid to the original payment method within <b>10 to 15 working days</b>.
• Bank charges and payment-gateway fees are not refundable.
• Train and air tickets refund under the operator's rules, not ours - usually IRCTC or the airline.

Changes to a confirmed trip

<strong>If you change it.</strong> Date changes, added nights, extra travellers and hotel upgrades are usually possible and we do not charge a fee for rearranging. You pay any difference in supplier cost, and where a hotel treats a date change as a cancellation, the terms above apply.

<strong>If we change it.</strong> Very occasionally we have to - a hotel overbooks, a road closes, a driver falls ill. Where that happens we provide a comparable or better alternative at our cost and tell you as soon as we know.

If a change we make materially reduces what you booked and no acceptable alternative exists, you may cancel that portion and receive a refund of the unused part. That is the limit of what we owe in such a case.

Darshan, temples and what we cannot promise

This matters more on a pilgrimage than on any other kind of trip, so we would rather be blunt than reassuring.

• Temple opening hours, queue lengths, VIP or assisted darshan availability and aarti timings are decided by temple trusts and the district administration. They change at short notice and we have no control over them.
• Temples may close or restrict entry for festivals, VIP movements, security or maintenance without warning.
• Boat services suspend when the river is high or the administration orders it, particularly during the monsoon and on festival nights.
• Dress codes, photography bans and rules on leather, phones and bags are enforced by each temple. Being refused entry for not observing them is not a service failure on our part.

What we do promise is preparation: we plan your day around the hours that historically have the shortest queues, our representative walks you to the correct gate, and if a darshan genuinely cannot happen we will rearrange the day to make the best of it.

We are a travel agency, not a temple authority. Anyone guaranteeing you a specific darshan slot for a fee should be treated with suspicion.

Hotels, transport and other suppliers

We select and book hotels, vehicles, drivers, guides and boat operators on your behalf, and we choose them carefully - almost always ones we have used repeatedly. They remain independent businesses, responsible for the service they themselves provide.

• Hotel check-in is normally 12 noon and check-out 10 a.m., unless your confirmation says otherwise. Early check-in and late check-out are requests, never guarantees.
• Rooms are allocated by the hotel. A specific room, floor or view can be requested but not promised.
• Vehicles are provided for the itinerary agreed. They are not at your disposal 24 hours a day unless your package says so, and drivers must observe legal rest hours.
• Star ratings in India are not consistent between cities. We describe hotels by what they are actually like, and are happy to send photographs before you confirm.

What we need from you

• <b>Correct details</b> - names exactly as they appear on the ID being used, and accurate ages. A mismatch can mean refused check-in or a cancelled train ticket, and correcting it later is at your cost.
• <b>Valid documents</b> - a government photo ID for every Indian traveller, and passport plus valid visa for foreign nationals. Obtaining these is your responsibility.
• <b>Punctuality</b> - sunrise boats, darshan slots and trains do not wait. Services missed through late arrival cannot be refunded.
• <b>Honest fitness information</b> - tell us about mobility limits, heart conditions or anything that affects walking and steps. We will plan around it; we cannot plan around what we do not know.
• <b>Respectful conduct</b> - these are places of worship and living neighbourhoods. We may end a trip without refund in cases of behaviour that endangers or seriously offends others.

Events beyond anyone's control

We are not liable for failure to provide a service because of events outside our reasonable control. In this part of India that realistically means flooding of the ghats, extreme weather, earthquake, epidemic, government restrictions or curfew, strikes and bandhs, road or bridge closures, civil unrest, or the cancellation of trains and flights.

Where such an event stops a trip, we will do what we practically can - rearrange days, find alternative transport, negotiate with hotels - and we will pass on any refund we actually recover from suppliers. We cannot refund money that suppliers keep, and we cannot compensate for consequential losses such as missed onward flights.

Travel insurance

Our packages do not include travel insurance, and we strongly recommend you arrange it - particularly for medical cover, trip cancellation and lost baggage. Foreign nationals should not travel in India without medical cover.

For anything involving physical activity - rafting at Rishikesh, the Kamadgiri parikrama, hill climbs at Rajgir or Hanuman Dhara - please check your policy actually covers it.

Our liability

We accept responsibility for arranging your trip with reasonable skill and care, and for the acts of our own staff. Where we are found liable for a service we arranged, our liability is limited to the amount you paid us for that service.

We are not liable for loss or damage to personal belongings, for injury or loss arising from your own acts or from the negligence of an independent supplier, or for indirect and consequential losses. Nothing here excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud - Indian law does not permit that and we would not want it.

If something goes wrong

Tell us <strong>while you are still travelling</strong>. Almost everything - a room that is not what was promised, a driver who has not arrived, a guide who is not up to standard - can be fixed within the hour if we know. It usually cannot be fixed a fortnight later.

• Call the 24x7 number on your confirmation, or +91 73888 50395, at the moment the problem arises.
• If it is still unresolved after the trip, email info@kashiexperts.com within <b>30 days</b> with the details and any photographs.
• Escalations go to {{grievanceOfficer}} at the same address, and we respond within <b>{{responseDays}}</b>.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of India. Any dispute arising from them is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts at {{jurisdiction}}.

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. We may update these terms; the version that governs your trip is the one published when you paid your advance, and the date it was last revised is shown at the top of this page.