indianapearl

I'm two weeks home from my second trip to India. My first visit was in 2009 with Mr. Pearl while we still lived in Indiana. This time my travelling companion was my 39-year-old son (hereinafter known as NOS - Number One Son) and our point of departure was Austin, Texas, where we all now live.

Because NOS is an elementary school teacher, our available travel dates were driven by the school district's calendar. We hoped to outrun the monsoon (which starts in the south) and to stay in the cooler hill stations where possible.

Here's our itinerary:

Delhi
Jaipur
Amritsar
McLeodGanj/Dharamsala
Shimla
Haridwar
Ranikhet
Delhi

I'm still muzzy-headed, so will fill in the details a bit at a time.

Kathie

Looking forward to reading your report, Indiana.

thursdaysd

Me too! Especially the Dharamsala and Shimla parts.

indianapearl

Travel arrangements:

Flights:

We had enough points on United for one business class round trip (rolled over from Continental) that would expire in 2016. Mr. P spent hours on the phone and was able to book Austin-O'Hare-Delhi for me - United to Chicago, Air India to Delhi.

NOS and I were not able to travel together for silly bureaucratic reasons (something about "time over water"), so he flew Austin-Houston-Munich-Delhi with United to Munich, then Lufthansa to Delhi. We paid full fare business for him.

NOS and I WERE able to fly back to Austin on United Delhi-Newark-Houston-Austin.

I was apprehensive about Air India as had I read horror stories of overflowing toilets and other unpleasantness, but the flight to Delhi was uneventful. Although the plane was old and the seat didn't recline completely, it sufficed.

NOS had a seat that reclined completely on Lufthansa.

We flew Delhi-Jaipur and Jaipur-Delhi-Amritsar on Jet Airways.

Ground transport:

Our friend, Ramesh Meena, Feast India/India by Car and Driver, provided us with a car and driver for our time in Jaipur and from Amritsar to Delhi.

rhkkmk

great start

indianapearl

When Mr. P and I travled to India in 2009, I studied trip reports on Fodor's beforehand trying to decide how to travel - group tour or on our own? One name came up a number of times, a young man named Ramesh Meena who was just starting his own tour company called India by Car and Driver. All the evaluations for him were great, so I made a leap of faith and asked him to drive us.
Serendipity! We all got along famously and Ram was a conscientious, honest, and safe driver over 17 days on the road.

Ram's Jaipur-based business has thrived since 2009 and we have remained in contact through the years. Naturally he was my first resource as I planned the trip.

I had an itinerary in mind and Ram helped me be realistic about what could be accomplished in just two weeks. I chose most of the hotels and Ram made some wise suggestions in a few places. I made a few poor choices in terms of quality, but "I did it my way""

indianapearl

Hotels:

Delhi (arrival): Eaton Smart Hotel (in IGA)
Jaipur: Marriott
Amritsar: Hotel Ista
McLeodGanj/Dharamsala: Bella Heights
Shimla: Honeymoon Inn
Haridwar: Haveli Hari Ganga
Ranikhet: Holm Farm Heritage
Delhi (departure): Maidens

Ram recommended the Marriott in Jaipur, the Honeymoon Inn in Shimla, and the Maidens in Delhi and all were excellent.

I chose the Eaton because NOS and I arrived about eight hours apart. Since we were flying to Jaipur the next morning, it seemed silly to leave the airport and return. The hotel was clean and quiet and the staff were very helpful. They met me when I arrived, then trotted off that evening to pick up NOS. The only complaint is that it was like getting Fort Knox - security checks galore. Once I arrived in the domestic terminal, I was not allowed to return.

The Jaipur Marriott was excellent - close to the airport and a serene oasis - good food in the restaurant, an infinity pool, and a swimming pool with stone elephants on guard.

The Ista in Amritsar was also fine, although not quite as luxurious as the Marriott. Mr. P and I stayed at Ranjit Svaasa in 2009. It's a fine heritage property, but I worried that the power would go out, so opted for the modern Ista this time.

The Bella Heights in McG/D awful, more suitable for backpackers. It was quite shabby, looked like it hadn't been painted since Independence. Food was terrible and lukewarm, so we only ate there once. They never made up the room or gave us fresh towels. Power went out several times each night. Thankfully A/C was not necessary. The ultimate insult was when they didn't have change when we paid the bill - only a few hundred rupees - obviously a cheat and a scam.

The Honeymoon Inn was a charming place at the top of the mountain in Shimla. The only difficulty is its inaccessibilty. We arrived in a torrential rain, parked as close to the entrance as possible, then began the ascent. Vija found a man to carry our bags on the top of his head to the reception desk while I slowly made my way up the rear. Oxygen at 8000 feet is in short supply! Monkeys jumping on the roof at dusk and dawn made me laugh.

The Haveli Hari Ganga in Haridwar was excellent - an old home modernized elegantly. Has to be reached by tonga during the last stretch, but well worth it. Wonderful food, all vegetarian, manager extremely welcoming. Most guests come to bathe in Mother Ganga and participate in Hindu rituals. No booze.

Holm Farm Heritage had been recommended by friends, but was disappointing. Once an elegant lady, she is in need of a facelift. Rooms not very clean, no one makes the bed, no fresh towels, beds as hard as a board, leaking roof. Food the same - stuffed parathas and yellow dal ad nauseum. We were stuck there for three nights because of severe storms. Most expensive hotel in the itinerary . . .

Maidens is near Delhi University in a lovely colonial building. Excellent service, peaceful, quiet, clean.

progol

Wonderful start -- looking forward to following this!

indianapearl

Adventures:

Our plan was to fly to Jaipur the morning after our arrival in Delhi. Unfortunately Jet Airways did not cooperate. Sat on a prop plane for about an hour, then were told the plane was non-functional. Back to the terminal where we were sent to the lost baggage claim department. Chaos ensued!!! Everyone began screaming at the baggage claim attendants - "I work for an airline and we always have a back-up plane!", "Do you know who I am?" and other silliness. NOS and I sat quietly for about an hour until the madness died down, then finally approached the desk and got reticketed.

In other such situations, I've been directed to the ticket counter in the main terminal. For some reason Jet Airways sent us to the baggage claim, so that each ticket that was reissued had to be obtained by the agent in a multi-step process.

We finally reached Jaipur about 6:00 pm and were met by Ram and Vija with garlands of roses. We settled into the Marriott for a quick freshening up, then went out to dinner with Ram and his friends and family, a barbeque restaurant on the roof of a nearby mosque. As we settled down for our meal, the evening call to prayer came from the mosque. NOS said later that his hair stood on end when he heard it and he knew he "wasn't in Texas anymore."

indianapearl

Not on he roof of the mosque, the restaurant is NEAR a mosque.

CaliNurse

LOL, Indiana--a restaurant atop a mosque. Now that's an idea for some entrepreneur!!

Glad the Ista was ok! We stayed in June 2010 not long after it opened, with the new mall just across the driveway. The hotel was lovely, sparkling, and with the ultimate requirement--great air conditioning!!
I think it was you who told us about your great guide who'd been recommended at Ranjit's Svaasa, right? She recommended her brother, who was excellent!

What was the area like around Maidens? There's a small guest house across the road called Sham Nath Villa which sounds great for future trip. I usually stay in South Delhi, so would love your take on the Maidens area.

Bella Heights--well, chalk it up for your son to have experienced a different side of India!! For anyone reading this who might want an alternative, we stayed at Chonor House. Definitely not as inexpensive as many McLo places, but filled with charm and "character" with a little terrace overlooking the Dalai Lama's temple/apartments compound

indianapearl

calinurse: the area around the Maidens was pretty luxurious for Delhi - near the Delhi U. campus with lots of mature trees in the area. Seemed like an oasis after a ten-hour drive from Ranikhet.

indianapearl

Jaipur: Two days spent at Amber Fort, City Palace, and the Jantal Mahal observatory on Day One, Monkey Temple and shopping at FabIndia on Day Two. Had warned NOS beforehand that Indian people were very curious and friendly to westerners and that they would ask to have their photo taken with us. "Bhai!" Finally after the second or third request, NOS said, "OK. Your turn!" They were momentarily startled, but got right into it. Have several photos of nameless young men from all along our route.

NOS was adamant that he didn't want to take the canonical elephant ride to the Amber Fort, but was in for a surprise when Vija coaxed him out of the car for a photo just as a herd of elephants came around the corner of the village on their way up the ramps to the fort. He was suddenly engulfed in elephants, but took it all on stride. Vija also showed us a hidden stepwell in the village, secret and lovely.

Vija left early in the morning to drive to Amritsar to meet us there when we flew in on Wednesday, so Jile Singh was our driver. Tuesday is "Monkey Day" in India, the day of the week dedicated to Hanuman, the Monkey God. Our trip to the temple happened to fall on a Tuesday, so the place was packed with devotees. The temple is about 10km outside Jaipur in a lovely spot. A stream splashes down from a mountaintop into several manmade pools and many folks were bathing. Of course, the monkeys were nearby, but were fenced off from the bathing pools. We met a kindly old Brahmin whose entire life is dedicated to the care and feeding of the monkeys. He refused to take any money! Huge bags of cucumbers and ladyfinger bananas are hauled in and we took turns feeding them to the little gods. They seemed quite docile, although one baby jumped on my knee when I didn't move the food fast enough to suit him.

Did some great shopping at FabIndia, then had dinner at the home of a young man Mr. P and I met in 2009. He and his wife have a newborn son, so we had the opportunity to meet the whole family including the dear grandmother who came from Haryana to see her new great grandson.

thursdaysd

Good for NOS not wanting to ride an elephant - turns out it's bad for them.

indianapearl

Amritsar:

Flew in from Jaipur via Delhi and were met by Vija. He took us to Hotel Ista, then out to Jallianwallahbagh, the site of the horrific massacre of hundreds of unarmed Punjabis by the British. Then as now it was a garden where families came to relax and enjoy nature. Hard to reach by car, so Vija hired a tuk-tuk for the last stretch. More young men seeking photos . . .

Next morning we headed to the Golden Temple of the Sikhs - which was the point of the whole trip to Amritsar. The courtyard outside the entrance has been paved with white marble since 2009 and all the shabby buildings nearby are gone. Vija commented that gentrification (my word) was destroying the historical nature of Amriitsar. The worship service was as profound for me when I visited in 2009, as well as a visit the massive feeding operation.

That evening Vija took NOS to the Wagah border ceremony, too hot for me, but NOS loved it. We now realized that Vija is a saint!

thursdaysd

Have they cleaned up the Jallianwallahbagh site too? It was pretty shabby when I was there in 2001, only the flame looked good.

indianapearl

thursdaysd: Jallianwallahbagh looked much like it did when Mr. P and I saw it in 2009, not particularly shabby. It was much more crowded because NOS and I visited in the evening - many post-prandial visitors, families with children and, of course, lots of requests for photos. "Bhai!"

indianapearl

Dharamsala/McCleodGanj:

Long drive through the plains, then the Himalayan foothills to Dharamsala/McCleodGanj. We arrived in the midst of some sort of Tibetan Buddhist festival on a Saturday. It seemed as if everyone in India had converged on this one little town with narrow, narrow roads. It took us an hour to go one km. In typical Indian fashion, the men got out of their cars to reconnoitre and scream at each other to no avail. We finally got to our guesthouse, the dreadful Bella Heights - dirty, crummy food, little electricity, atrocious service. I chose this place, so have no one to blame but myself. It had a tiny balcony with a view of Hanuman ka Tibba, a glorious massif to the east. We had the best views of the Himalyas here.

Each morning the nuns and monks would trek from the monastery in Dharamsala to the temple in McCleodGanj, about a 20 minute walk, where His Holiness did teachings in conjunction with the festival. It was so crowded we never reached either the temple or the main monastery, but did enjoy roaming the streets of McCleodGanj. We feasted on wonderful stuffed paranthas from a take-out place Vija found near our nasty guest house. Even had to buy my own TT in the marketplace!

This is a very scenic location with great potential for travelers. Just make a better choice of housing than I did and avoid festivals on the weekend. Given the narrow roads, there's really no margin for error.

indianapearl

Shimla to Haridwar

Departed McCleodGanj for the long drive to Shimla for a one-night stop on our way to Haridwar. We arrived once again in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the middle of a torrential downpour. After masterful driving by Vija, we finally got to the parking area of our hotel, the Honeymoon Inn, which was situated quite high up on the side of the mountain.

The rain had stopped enough to make the long trek from the parking lot to the hotel manageable. Vija hired a local man to take our bags which he piled on his head and we began the ascent. Monkeys scampered along the path beside us and were chased off with shouts of "huhn, huhn."

The hotel is lovely and well-maintained with stunning views of Shimla and a pleasant garden. More stairs to the reception area, more stairs to the elevator where our room on the top floor was situated . . . Although I'm in good shape for a 71-year-old woman, this hotel is more suitable for the physically fit. The altitude at about 8,000 feet means lower oxygen content to breathe.

NOS decided to take a tour of the town after we got settled. I stayed put, had a delicious dinner accompanied by a bottle of Kingfisher. He said it was a pleasant town center, clean and welcoming, and he pondered how the Brits managed to trek everything back and forth, year after year, during the time of the Raj.

At dusk and at dawn, monkeys pattered around on the roof . . .

Kathie

Sorry you had a bad guesthouse, the "dreadful Bella Heights." Any info on how you chose this - were there great reviews on TA or something - so we can learn from your error?

Enjoying your report.