The money

Payments and prices

What a price is built from, the currency it is quoted in, the dates money moves on, how to pay safely, and what to read on your quote before you do.

In force from 20 September 2026 Last changed 20 September 2026

The short version

Prices are in Indian rupees unless your quote says otherwise, and every line on a quote carries the date its rate was checked. A journey is confirmed with a deposit, normally 30 percent of the total, and the balance is due 45 days before the first day of travel, by bank transfer or card. A journey confirmed inside 45 days is paid in full at confirmation. The pounds and dollars shown on this site are a conversion at a rate stored here, not an offer.

What a price is built from

A price is an addition, not a guess. We ask each house what your dates cost, each transport company what the driving costs, each guide what the days cost, and each permit office what it charges. The design and the running of the journey sit on top of that. The total is your price.

Every quote shows those lines separately, with the date each rate was checked, so you can see where the money goes rather than take one figure on trust. What it costs sets out in full what a journey includes and what it leaves out, and this page does not repeat it.

The dates money moves on

  1. While you are deciding

    Nothing to pay

    There is no deposit to begin planning and nothing is booked until you say yes, so the plan can change as often as you like at this stage.

  2. The day you accept

    The deposit

    Normally 30 percent of the total. The journey is confirmed when it reaches us, and the written confirmation follows with the day-by-day plan.

  3. 45 days before the first day

    The balance

    The rest, by bank transfer or card. We write to you before it falls due rather than letting a date arrive unannounced.

  4. Confirming inside 45 days

    Paid in full at confirmation

    A journey that begins in less than 45 days is paid in full when it is confirmed, because every supplier behind it is being committed at once.

How to pay

By bank transfer or by card. The account details and the card link come with your confirmation, from the address you have been writing to.

Two things are worth knowing. We do not publish bank details on this website, and we do not change them in the middle of a booking. If a message appears to come from us and asks you to pay somewhere new, or asks you to hurry, stop and telephone +91 86178 24110 before you send anything.

If a card payment carries a charge from the payment provider, we tell you the amount before you pay rather than adding it afterwards.

The currency you are quoted in

Prices are in Indian rupees unless your quote says otherwise, and the invoice is in rupees too.

Some suppliers price in another currency. Lodges in Bhutan and Nepal often quote in US dollars. Where that happens, the rate is fixed on the day of confirmation, so the rupee figure on your confirmation does not move afterwards with the exchange rate in either direction.

The pounds and dollars shown beside rupee prices on this site are a conversion at a rate stored here and checked on a date. They are there so you can judge the size of a journey, not as an offer. Your quote, your confirmation and your invoice are in rupees, and your own bank or card applies its own rate on the day you pay.

Why a quote has an expiry

Every quote is valid for the period stated on it. It is not a countdown designed to hurry you.

A quote expires because the things inside it move. Houses publish new tariffs. A season fills, and the room category we costed is no longer the one you would be given. Entry and permit charges change. A supplier that prices in dollars sees the rate move.

When a quote runs out, nothing is lost. Tell us and we check every line again, then send it back with a new date against each rate. If nothing has moved, neither does the price.

What is quoted or paid separately

Some of what a trip costs is not ours to charge. It is paid to somebody else, or bought by you.

  • Flights and insuranceFlights are yours to buy, or we book them on request and pass on what the airline charges. Insurance is between you and your insurer, and we ask every guest to hold it.
  • Add-ons you chooseA helicopter, an extra night, a day you decide on once you are in the hills. Each is quoted before it is booked, then added to your balance or settled on its own.
  • What a house charges at its own deskDrinks, laundry, the spa, a heater or a lit fire in an old hill house. These are settled with the house when you leave rather than through us, except where a house folds them into its tariff.
  • Festive and seasonal supplementsSome houses charge more over Christmas and the New Year. Where your dates touch one, the supplement is on your quote as its own line. What it costs lists the ones we know of.

Read these on your quote before you pay

  • The nights, and where they areFirst night, last night, and how many nights sit in each place. It is the quickest way to catch a plan that drifted during a long conversation.
  • Each house, with its room and its mealsThe room category and the meal plan you are being priced for, house by house. A different room category is a different price.
  • The car, the guides and the permitsThe days the car runs, the days a guide comes, and the permits your route needs. Permits and visas explains which ones those are.
  • The date each rate was checkedEvery line carries one. If a date looks old for a season that is filling, ask us to check it again before you pay.
  • The cancellation terms under each houseThey are written in before you pay for a reason. Those are the figures that would apply to you, and Cancellations and refunds explains how they work.
  • Every traveller's name as the passport spells itPermits are issued against the name on the document, and a mismatch becomes a problem at a checkpoint rather than at a desk.
  • The balance date45 days before the first day of travel, or now, if you are confirming inside 45 days.
  • The total, and what it does not includeThe last line of the quote and the list beneath it. If something you expected is not named there, it is not booked.

If anything here is unclear

Write to [email protected] or call +91 86178 24110 and ask. We would rather answer a question now than have you find the answer in a document later.

Ask us a question

Plan my journey

Tell us the month and we will plan around it

Four lines are enough to start: when, who, how to reach you, and the trip you picture.

  1. A reply within 24 hoursFrom a designer in the hills, not an auto-reply. If your dates are tight, the reply says so.
  2. A day-by-day draftEvery house, drive, guide and permit on its own line, with the date each rate was checked.
  3. Change anythingAs often as you like, before anything is booked.
+91 86178 24110 Message a designer Support 24×7, every day of your journey
With country code if outside India. Either this or email is enough.
Who is coming, the pace you like, the occasion. A sentence is fine.
Add more detail
Their ages help: add them in your note
Permits in Sikkim and fees in Bhutan depend on it
A week in the hills starts around ₹1.4 lakh per person, and Bhutan around ₹3.25 lakh.
Calls from our office, 8am to 9pm IST (GMT+5:30)
Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Gangtok, Pelling, Bhutan, Nepal

No deposit to begin, and nothing is booked until you say yes.