Individually organized journeys include: all hotel bookings, breakfast daily, some additional meals (depending your destination and daily itinerary), international and domestic flights within Asia and the Middle East, service of the private guides and drivers, airport transfers, all sightseeing with entrance fees, and bottled water during all excursions. Not included are: visa fees, travel insurance and gratuities for our ground staff. We do not include international flights from and to the U.S. Should you need assistance with your flight bookings, please contact Keiko Bernardi at our ticketing agency, HTT Travel, at (617) 868-8883.

Travel insurance is not included in your trip price. We strongly recommend that you consider purchasing trip cancellation and interruption insurance no later than three weeks after paying the trip deposit. We will send you the travel insurance brochure in your welcome package. You may also visit the insurance company’s website at www.travelinsure.com.

Most destinations in Asia and the Middle East do not “require” vaccinations; however, the Center for Disease Control will have the most up to date information on “recommended” vaccinations available on their website at www.cdc.gov/travel.

All passports must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your return date to the U.S. If visas are required, there must be enough empty pages in your passport so that the visas can be stamped in your passport both prior to the trip and during the journey in case of a “visa on arrival.” Visa requirements will vary from country to country. Authentic Asia will provide you with the necessary visa forms and documentation that will allow you to obtain your visas prior to your departure from the U.S. at the country’s respective Consulate or Embassies. If you are traveling in one of our group tours, we will obtain the visa on your behalf. The cost of the visa fee is included in the group trip price. Please refer to the individual destination page for more detailed information on visa requirements.

Authentic Asia provides both options to our travelers. We look forward to discussing the option of your individually designed trip and itinerary, during which you would be accompanied throughout by a private guide and driver. All accommodations, domestic flights and sightseeing activities would be included as well. Additionally, we will provide you with a list of dining and shopping recommendations, as your daily itinerary is completely flexible.

The Terms and Conditions that will be sent to you provide you with our trip cancellation and trip interruption policy which is as follows:

• Notice more than 5 weeks prior to departure: A refund less $ 150 cancellation charge.
• Notice between 5 and 4 weeks prior to departure: A refund less 50% of trip price.
• Notice between 4 and 3 weeks prior to departure: A refund less 75% of trip price.
• Notice between 3 and 2 weeks prior to departure: A refund less 90% of the trip price.
• No refund shall be issued if cancellation is received less than 2 weeks prior to departure.
• No refund shall be issued after the tour has commenced. No refunds shall be issued for occasional missed meals, sightseeing tours or any unused services.

Once you have registered for a trip, we will send you information on travel interruption and cancellation insurance which is being handled by Travel Insurance Select.

Authentic Asia does not obtain the actual visa for the traveler unless it is a visa on arrival, which requires an approval letter. We will however, provide you with the necessary visa forms and instructions on how to obtain your visa.

Once your registration and deposit has been received, AUTHENTIC ASIA will send you a welcome package with details on how to prepare for the journey including information on visas, currencies, packing lists, inoculations, reading material and more.

AUTHENTIC ASIA has been organizing tours to Asia for over 15 years. We will be happy to supply you with a list of references.

The physical nature of our trips very much depends on the destinations and ranges from easy travels to extended hiking excursions. It would be best if you contacted us at tel. 888-586-9958 and we will be happy to discuss the day by day activities with you in detail.

We will be happy to discuss your private tour with you to the destination of your choice. We will design an itinerary around your needs, interest and budget. All individual tours are accompanied by private local guides.