Dec 11, 2006 11:04 AM
17305 Views
Hi,
Recently I planned to travel to Shirdi, but was not sure which travel agent bus to use for this. As this was first time travel for me in a Volvo, I was confused about travel mode decision as I wanted to travel with comfort. I was aware of just Neeta Volvo's to Shirdi. Same day I saw Raj national express advertisement in newspaper, with their website mentioned and option to book tickets online.
I tried couple of things, googled for Neeta travels, with no luck as I was unable to get any website for them and then browsed through Raj website. The webiste was good and then I searched for the ticket availability and prices for the same. Though it seemed to be a bit costlier than Neeta, but to avoid going to a travel agent to book tickets, I choose the option of booking it online and carry my eticket to travel.
Ticket booking was easy process with a great option, I was able to even reserve my seats (this was only seen before in online airlinhe booking).
The start poing selected by me was Bandra East, I arrived there on time, and the bus was on time. Only issue was the time mentioned online was the time for the bus to start from Borivli. So we had to wait for the bus to start at 10:45 PM from bandra instead of the mentioned 10:00PM on my ticket. Seats were comfortable, atleast they looked to be more comfortable than the neighbouring Neeta buses throughout the way. Water and a travel kit were given before the bus left Mumbai boundaries. The travel kit was with a night band for a good sleep.
The bus stopped at around 5 places to pick up people before leaving the Mumbai boundaries, which was a bit annoying, as I was of the view that Raj buses have some fixed stops (3 in Mumbai). Once the bus left Mumbai, it was a pleasent journey, with just one stop at Nasik as mentioned on their website and it reached Shirdi half an hour before time. There was one more stop for people to eat something.
While returning back the bus again started at time and journey being comfortable we reached back safely and with ease. The drop facilities were better as they dropped people as close to theiir place as possible on eastern express and western express highways.
The staff was well dressed with good way of speaking. They were helpul too. The biggest relief to me was the punctuality of the buses. I hate travelling and reching the destination late.
The only issue I faced was the non working TV. But I didn't feel the pinch a lot, as I slept my way back. During this trip I left my blanket at the starting stop in Shirdi, which I felt I will never get back. I had to follow up with Raj travels for this, but finally I was able to get back my blanket from their bandra office.
Overall it was a good experience, and I advice people travelling to try Raj National express, to know the difference and have a better experience travelling.
