Testimonials

Bhutan, Sacred Land

Françoise

The Dragon Kingdom

Bhutan, Sacred Land

DIDIER

The Dragon Kingdom

Great trip to Bhutan;

Guillaume

The Dragon Kingdom

A very high quality trip to Bhutan. It's a magnificent country that the proposed route covers very well. Vintage Rides' local organization is very good, everything runs very smoothly and the motorcycle/mechanical aspects are very well managed. One point for improvement would be to leave the main road that crosses the country from west to east more often, perhaps for a detour to the north / the peaks, which could have brought more variety to the route. Another point for improvement is the dubious management of the end of our stay and our return to Paro. The proposed itinerary made no provision for dealing with possible weather difficulties on departure from Yonphula airport, which locals know to be unreliable (planes only land there with perfect visibility). We found ourselves in this situation. Without asking our opinion, the organization chose to make us cross the country by car overnight. This meant over 500km of mountain roads at 30-40km/h, with drivers falling asleep at the wheel (the Bhutanese make this journey in two days, they told us at the outset that it wasn't possible), fog, heavy rain and landslides (members of our group walked in front of the cars to clear rocks that had just fallen onto the road). A mind-boggling and unacceptable level of danger that seems to be explained only by vintage rides' desire to preserve its margin (we would logically have missed our return to Delhi) at the expense of participants' safety. As a young father, I can't accept finding myself in this situation through the fault of others, and can't recommend traveling with Vintage Rides. On the other hand, if you're old, your children are independent and you're looking for adventure/potentially dying in unusual circumstances, then Vintage Rides is for you!

Overall, I’m satisfied with my…

Flavio

The Dragon Kingdom

Overall, I'm satisfied with my trip. I was able to travel with some very pleasant fellow travellers, and enjoyed the scenery and the encounters with the local population. The downside of the trip was the last leg, where, against all safety considerations, we had to travel for almost 19 hours on roads that were often broken, all night long, with thick fog, landslides and driving rain all night long. What's more, the drivers of the 3 cars making up the convoy drove for 19 hours non-stop. They were heroic, as we had to wake them up several times. The passengers in the first car had to get out in the middle of the night to clear a road blocked by large stones. Your Lyon team's decision shows a total lack of judgment. How can you make 9 people, plus your staff, drive in bad weather, at night, without taking into account the safety of your customers? What's more, it shows a total lack of knowledge of the country, because anyone in the know knows that the local people don't travel at night. When night falls, they park their cars on the roadside and wait for daybreak to continue their journey. . As a former private banker, I fully understand the economic imperatives involved in running a business. Your team's primary goal was to get us on the plane to Paro at all costs. This was to avoid paying extra nights and the $200/day tax plus extra airfare. But a serious company like yours should have understood that the safety of your customers is more important than a few thousand euros. Like most of the participants, I would like to receive a written explanation of this unfortunate affair. I think an apology, better training for your teams and possible financial compensation would be most welcome, Kind regards, Flavio Mossi

Bhutan is a truely fantastic trip…

Philip

The Dragon Kingdom

Bhutan is a truely fantastic trip - I'm sure it will be one of your more popular trips. It is great riding on good tarmac ... until you come across a landslide and the road is washed away and you ride in gravel and mud. The scenery and temples and villages are excellent. The 'European' menu in hotels is bland - the 'Indian' menu much much better. The Bhutanese people are so calm and helpful and are a pleasure to meet. No one tries to sell you anything - you have to ask, it is great.

From arrival to departure the whole…

Paul

The Dragon Kingdom

From arrival to departure the whole experience has been the best adventure

Good start to the trip but the…

Jean-Lucl

The Dragon Kingdom

A good start to the trip, but the last two days turned into a nightmare with a lot of risks taken by the group, due to a lack of anticipation of the situation on site by the VR team in France. I hope to have a VR contact to talk about it.

Bhutan, Sacred Land

Jean-Yves

The Dragon Kingdom

The kingdom of the dragon

Sandra

The Dragon Kingdom

Bhutan, Sacred Land

FABIEN

The Dragon Kingdom