The last few trips we have organised have been quite an eye opener for us as we have avoided holiday packages and gone in search of somewhat more customised experiences.

All this came about as a result of travelling on a package tour to Nepal and India some five years ago. There was nothing wrong with the tour mind, except that it was expensive and the person we thought was our guide turned out to have little knowledge of either country and was there primarily to shepherd us and carry our passports for us.

On our package, travel arrangements were dealt with by local operators who clearly knew their business and had designed the itinerary, booked the accommodation and transport, recruited English speaking guides, (real ones) and done all the other work necessary. Our package seller in New Zealand had simply located the local operator and, presumably, worked with them to design the tour and add their mark-up. Oh and of course recruited (and paid for) a New Zealander to ride herd.

Now if, like us, you feel able to carry your own passport, the package tour adds little or no value and substantial cost. Worse yet is that you travel at the pace of the party and can neither dwell on the interesting parts nor skip the boring bits such as visits to carpet/jewellery/craft