Egypt2008

We are scheduled in Nov for Heart of India with OAT.

Now we are thinking we should have taken the pre or post trip.

Any suggestions? Openings still available.

OAT, PRE TRIP Bhutan or POST TRIP Kerala & Cochin

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arkay

We took the Heart of India trip in Feb/March 2006 and took the 8 day pre-trip to Bhutan and loved it! We did not take the post-trip as we didn't want to be away from home that long.

Don't miss Bhutan! The highlight of the entire trip was the hike to the Tiger's Nest. Go for it!

Egypt2008

Thanks ARKAY

We booked the trip almost a year ago and just thought we should have booked the pre or post. At this time, the cost has gone up considerably and we thought it would be interesting to see the contrasting India - southern India - but were disappointed on hearing and seeing the quality of the house boat for 3 nites - no air conditioning.

Right now we are only going on the regular tour with the Pushcar Festival at the beginning.

arkay

I hope you enjoy India as much as we did. I envy your opportunity to go to the Pushkar Festival. We wanted to include a festival in our India itinerary but were not able to book a date that included the pre-trip to Bhutan and a festival date. Since Bhutan was a priority we opted for the pre-trip over a festival.

If you can afford the pre-trip I highly recommend it. Bhutan is a delightful country to visit.

ateabag

Hi, I am booked also for the Oat India doing the pre & post trips at this point in Jan. The info on the houseboats has been conflicting & I as well was concerned with the AC. Last year, I believe Oat's website stated they were air conditioned, this year I saw something about fans. I made a couple of calls to clarify & the last one stated that the boats themselves are not air conditioned but assured me the bedrooms were. Is this accurate? Can anyone clarify this? Has anyone done this extension? Thx again!

southeastern

Here would be my thinking....it's a VERY LONG flight. Do you plan to return to India? If not and you have the money, I say go for both. We are doing an OAT Red Sea in Jan. and adding the post because we won't be headig that way again. Too many other places to see to return at this point in time.

ateabag

Thank you for your reply. I agree with what you are saying but would like to know what I am signing up for. 5 nights on a houseboat w/o AC in the heat might affect the general enjoyment of the post trip. Anyone done the post??

thursdaysd

I haven't done the OAT post-tour - one tour (Thailand) with OAT was more than enough for me, but I have spent time on a houseboat in Kerala without AC. During the day, when the boat was moving, I didn't miss it, but at night when the boat stopped it did get hot! The experience was wonderful, and shouldn't be missed if you're in southern India, but I thought two nights were enough - five sounds like overkill.

Egypt2008

We leave with OATs for India next month; we booked this over a year ago and we wanted the Pushkar Festival included.

I feel it will be very good.

In this month's issue of FROMMERS BUDGET TRAVEL they list 40 great trips but the trip recommended this month is the OAT trip we are taking to India.

It should be fascinating.

Anyway, we got all the clarity we needed and decided against the post trip (the boat IS NOT air conditioned). I get hot very easy and 5 nites on board would be a killer for me personally. Maybe in the future they will get better accommodations with a better boat. All OAT's ships are so outstanding; we always hope there is at least a week of cruising on every tour we book.

We wish we had waited for the newest tour of Egypt that takes in Jordan and Israel too but we just did Egypt with OATs this past May.

We love the opportunity to visit all these wonderful countries - appreciating coming home to the GREAT USA.

Kathie

Please do report on your trip!

Robbietravels

Personally I'd e bored on the houseboat in Kerala for 4 or 5 days. We did 1 1/2 days and one night on the houseboat and it felt enough to get a taste of life on the backwaters.
I don't think Kerala or Cochin will change too much in the next few years. In Bhutan, change is coming by leaps and bounds. Having spent 11 days in Bhutan last year, I can't recommend it too highly. The scenery is stunning and the traditional culture rich; Buddhism permeates every aspect of their daily lives. I say go now.

FOOTPRINT

You may take a pre trip like
this :

2 Night at Kolkata
3nts/4days : SunderBan cruise
6 days : Sikkim -Darjeeling -and from there you may enter to Bhutan by Road via Border Phuntsoling .

POST TRIP : LUXURY TRAIN GOLDEN CHARRIOT BANGALORE - MYSORE-NAGARHOLE -HASSAN-HAMPI & END AT GOA WITH 4/5 DAY BREAK AT GOA