India: A dream trip meets reality for me
Jan 25th, 2015, 10:27 AM
#21
Really enjoying your TR. As others have said, the things you point out as issues are what one hears about, but really rarely do I read about it in a TR. So it's informative to hear these aspects of your trip. Seems like everyone just raves about India and I have always wondered if the dirt, poverty etc bothered people.
Jan 25th, 2015, 10:39 AM
#22
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Annhig, My wife and i used Legends and Palaces for a 17 day trip to India (part of our 2006 Around the World Trip) and recommend VP Singh without reservation. He is the very best.
As for hotels, you do not have to use the recommended hotels; you are free to choose any hotels you want, from no-star to 5-star. Just a function of what you wish to pay.
I found VP and his company to be excellent, fair and extremely reasonably priced.
He will work with you to customize your trip. Except for one hotel we found his recommended hotels to be very good to excellent.
As for hotels, you do not have to use the recommended hotels; you are free to choose any hotels you want, from no-star to 5-star. Just a function of what you wish to pay.
I found VP and his company to be excellent, fair and extremely reasonably priced.
He will work with you to customize your trip. Except for one hotel we found his recommended hotels to be very good to excellent.
Jan 26th, 2015, 08:07 AM
#24
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annhig, I would contact them for pricing. We ended up around $145/person/day. They'll work with your budget. And as Jerry said, you can tell them which hotels you want, you just won't have the "benefit" of them being ones that they have a relationship with. I am not saying they did a bad job with hotels for me, just that I should have been more (at all) involved.
cold, since I heard you are a dead ringer for Brad Pitt I assume the papparazzi does grate on you. No, seriously, I get what you are saying. We don't mind the clandestine pics but it could get on one's nerves, especially because it contributes to the feeling like one is a particularly amusing and more-intelligent-than-expected animal. That, along with the back and forth of this oft-repeated dialogue:
Observers: "hi."
Us: "Hi" [waving]
Observers: [excited giggling and poking of friends in the manner of, "Hey, they know how to talk!!!]: (much more enthusiastic and loud) "Hi."
Us: "Hi"
[repeat many times, sometimes with, "where are you from" thrown in but more often just the repeated greeting].
Some pics (none with us in them....sorry, I'm surprisingly private for a woman who told you I had a UTI on this trip).
https://sharedonfodors.shutterfly.com/pictures/926
cold, since I heard you are a dead ringer for Brad Pitt I assume the papparazzi does grate on you. No, seriously, I get what you are saying. We don't mind the clandestine pics but it could get on one's nerves, especially because it contributes to the feeling like one is a particularly amusing and more-intelligent-than-expected animal. That, along with the back and forth of this oft-repeated dialogue:
Observers: "hi."
Us: "Hi" [waving]
Observers: [excited giggling and poking of friends in the manner of, "Hey, they know how to talk!!!]: (much more enthusiastic and loud) "Hi."
Us: "Hi"
[repeat many times, sometimes with, "where are you from" thrown in but more often just the repeated greeting].
Some pics (none with us in them....sorry, I'm surprisingly private for a woman who told you I had a UTI on this trip).
https://sharedonfodors.shutterfly.com/pictures/926
Jan 26th, 2015, 09:06 AM
#25
great pics, Schlegal. That budget is more or less what i try to work on i.e. about £100 a night.
Did you find the length of your trip ok? too long, too short? were there things that you would drop, or spend longer doing? [sorry to bombard you with Qs]. How far in advance of the trip did you start planning?
Did you find the length of your trip ok? too long, too short? were there things that you would drop, or spend longer doing? [sorry to bombard you with Qs]. How far in advance of the trip did you start planning?
Jan 26th, 2015, 09:24 AM
#27
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I believe we booked our flights in August and then contacted Legends and Palaces shortly thereafter. I like planning and don't want to feel rushed to finish things up at the last minute.
I think our length of trip was fine. You can certainly do more than we did without rushing--a large part of the time was taken with the trekking portion (basically a day on each end for travel) so if you left that off you'd have a LOT of time to divide between the cities.
I do not recommend going in December or January if you go to the north because the cold and fog aren't very pleasant for sightseeing.
I think our length of trip was fine. You can certainly do more than we did without rushing--a large part of the time was taken with the trekking portion (basically a day on each end for travel) so if you left that off you'd have a LOT of time to divide between the cities.
I do not recommend going in December or January if you go to the north because the cold and fog aren't very pleasant for sightseeing.
Jan 26th, 2015, 10:09 PM
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Thanks for posting such wonderful photos Schlegal1. I'm really enjoying your TR.
I am currently planning for 6 weeks in India during Feb-April 2016. The trip will be mostly wildlife with cultural sights in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur beforehand. Legends and Palaces have provided a good quote and some additional itinerary suggestions - we'll certainly book some of the trip with L&P.
Annhig - did we meet at Mbalagheti Camp in June 2008?
I am currently planning for 6 weeks in India during Feb-April 2016. The trip will be mostly wildlife with cultural sights in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur beforehand. Legends and Palaces have provided a good quote and some additional itinerary suggestions - we'll certainly book some of the trip with L&P.
Annhig - did we meet at Mbalagheti Camp in June 2008?
Jan 26th, 2015, 11:15 PM
#31
treepol - did we meet at Mbalagheti Camp in June 2008? - i'm pretty certain we didn't. Perhaps I have a [fodors] doppelgaenger, but so far as i know, i've never been to Tanzania, not even in 2008.
Jan 27th, 2015, 05:29 AM
#33
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This is a very interesting TR and thanks for taking the time to post it. My wife is Indian and we have been there 7 times together and thru your words I recall many of our own experiences, the good and the bad.
If you ever go again to Delhi I recommend seeing the Lotus temple and seeing the home of Indira Gandhi which is a shrine to her life now. It is very moving.
We too used Mr. VP Singh on our last trip and your description of how well he takes care of things mirrors our experience with him.
Yes one of the downsides to India is the substandard sanitation and unfortunately my wife became ill there. We flew to Bangkok after India and she had to be hospitalized for practically the entire week we were there. It was some horrible GI bug but she fully recovered and is fine now. The point is such poor sanitation can lead to serious illness. This too is an unfortunate part of going to India. Sometimes being careful is not enough. This is why for anyone going there I think you need travel insurance with medical coverage as much as you need a passport. We did have it and it covered her bill in Bangkok. Just a word to the wise for anyone going abroad.
If you ever go again to Delhi I recommend seeing the Lotus temple and seeing the home of Indira Gandhi which is a shrine to her life now. It is very moving.
We too used Mr. VP Singh on our last trip and your description of how well he takes care of things mirrors our experience with him.
Yes one of the downsides to India is the substandard sanitation and unfortunately my wife became ill there. We flew to Bangkok after India and she had to be hospitalized for practically the entire week we were there. It was some horrible GI bug but she fully recovered and is fine now. The point is such poor sanitation can lead to serious illness. This too is an unfortunate part of going to India. Sometimes being careful is not enough. This is why for anyone going there I think you need travel insurance with medical coverage as much as you need a passport. We did have it and it covered her bill in Bangkok. Just a word to the wise for anyone going abroad.
Jan 27th, 2015, 06:30 AM
#34
very good point about the travel insurance, jacket, and I'm glad that your wife is now fully recovered. I have suffered from that sort of thing, albeit not so seriously, on almost every trip we have taken, including Australia last year, apart from the one to Sri Lanka. Perhaps I was just lucky, or more vigilant, who knows.
Jan 27th, 2015, 08:46 AM
#35
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Annhig:
Actually we flew thru UA and a week B4 we left I took an insurance policy they offered thru Allianz for $50.00 and it saved about 6k. You can but it directly from them as well and their service was excellent. It was very comforting to hear the rep say they had worked with the hospital she was in B4.
I am a nurse w/ 35 yrs. experience and to me their care was excellent.
Perhaps luck goes to the vigilant.
Larry..
Actually we flew thru UA and a week B4 we left I took an insurance policy they offered thru Allianz for $50.00 and it saved about 6k. You can but it directly from them as well and their service was excellent. It was very comforting to hear the rep say they had worked with the hospital she was in B4.
I am a nurse w/ 35 yrs. experience and to me their care was excellent.
Perhaps luck goes to the vigilant.
Larry.
.
Jan 27th, 2015, 09:45 AM
#36
jacket - the vast majority of Brits on holiday will have travel insurance. it's a hangover from the days when we all went on package holidays which required you to be insured, usually with them and at a high price. Nowadays we just buy an annual world-wide insurance policy that will cover us for cancellation [due to the death or illness or our nearest and dearest or other unavoidable problems] and medical Xs including repatriation. the policy we like includes disruption cover due to volcanic activity as well.
We have however just hit a snag with our renewal - the company we like doesn't cover Cuba, which is next on our list.
sorry for the diversion.
We have however just hit a snag with our renewal - the company we like doesn't cover Cuba, which is next on our list.
sorry for the diversion.
Jan 27th, 2015, 10:01 AM
#37
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<i>Agra</i>
We were not able to take the expressway from Delhi to Agra because of fog. They were worried about our safety at such high speeds in the thick fog and whens someone is concerned for my safety, I listen. So what was supposed to be a 3 1/2-4 hour drive became more like 6 hours. I was also worried that the fog would prevent our really even seeing the Taj Mahal (luckily NOT the case).
We arrived in Agra ready to go on our day tour. We didn't want to miss out and basically checked into our hotel and then got rolling. Straight to the Taj Mahal.
Wow!
What an incredible site. I could not take my eyes off it. It was foggy but that did not at all diminish my enjoyment of this gorgeous structure. It was also crowded as many Indians were traveling because they were off for end-of-year holidays. Again, that didn't detract <i>except</i> for the part when we walked through the tomb-replica room where it was packed. I would have gladly skipped that part because while the inlay work is beautiful it was an uncomfortable experience of pushing and shoving and standing squished up next to people in a dim room until they tell you to get out so the next group can shove in. Then there was more pushing and shoving to get out. I wouldn't in a million years take a kid under 10 or an adult with mobility issues through there on a busy day. But our guide said it is not usually that busy.
We took a long slow meander up to the building because I just kept drinking in the view. Then we donned our shoe covers and walked around on the platform and into the replica room. It's funny how many of the people who ask about my trip think the Taj Mahal is a palace and want to know all the details about what it is like inside. Our guide here was great and took tons of pics for us of us together in front of it and when someone traveling alone asked him to do the same for her he complied with multiple pics. He was a really patient man and sweet--later when we exited the Red Fort and the touts were selling glossy guidebooks we were getting into the car and he took one's books, popped into the car and said, "This man wants me to ask if you will buy these, now you say, "no" and he won't bother us anymore." So we said, "no" and then he got in the car and explained how he gets grief from the touts all the time and figured out these prevents them from harassing both him and his customers. There were a couple other moments like that where he was clearly being sensitive to feelings on all sides that endeared him to us.
Our next stop was the Red Fort. There are pesky monkeys all over the walls and grounds and they are very skilled at harassing people. They know that there's often food in the bags people carry. So we watched as one monkey went right in front of a woman and scared her into dropping her bag, which the monkey snatched up swift as lightning. Monkey tore into the bag and found, disappointingly, plastic children's toys. The woman's son, who looked about 3 years old, burst into the saddest tears that a monkey had stolen his toys! Oh it was pitiful but funny (since we knew he'd get the toys back as soon as Monkey lost interest, which he did).
I love monkeys but I know they are a nuisance. Anyway, the site was great. The huge stone tub with floating stairs carved into it was the coolest feature. But hearing about it's history was from our guide fascinating and we enjoyed the site.
We stopped at a marble inlay gallery to see the method for doing the inlay work we had seen at the Taj Mahal. The pieces were gorgeous. Some of the work was so fine that it looked painted rather than inlaid. I wasn't particularly fond of the look of the pieces as far as use for tables and we didn't need something like a trivet or lazy susan, but then my husband said, "you know, we are about to redo the porch, what if our builder incorporated one of those big rectangular panels so that we got sunlight behind it during sunset." Well then we start looking at the panels in ernest. Then we have narrowed it down to three. Then I'm saying it's too expensive. Then my husband is saying, "we'd be taking home a little piece of the Taj Mahal." Then they are charging our credit card. I keep teasing my husband that his line was like a slick salesman, but it was so slick even the salesman knew not to use it on us. The piece arrived the week we got home and I love it and will be excited when we get it put into place. It's a garden scene.
That was all we saw <i>in</i> Agra. We also visited Fatehpur Sikri on our way to Jaipur the next day. The same guide was with us. One of his best skills was the ability to reimagine the forts as they would have been during their use and to paint a vivid picture for us. My own imagination was also aided by having read <i>Beneath A Marble Sky</i>, the fictionalized account of the building of the Taj Mahal.
<i>Hotel in Agra- Mansingh Palace</i> - Loved this hotel. It was a really nice, comfortable place. Staff were excellent. Our room was quiet and warm (central heat!). We ate dinner here and it was delicious (a la carte, there was also a buffet that we did not try). Location was really close to the Taj Mahal, too, so if you do end up doing a sunrise view of it then it would be an easy jaunt.
We were not able to take the expressway from Delhi to Agra because of fog. They were worried about our safety at such high speeds in the thick fog and whens someone is concerned for my safety, I listen. So what was supposed to be a 3 1/2-4 hour drive became more like 6 hours. I was also worried that the fog would prevent our really even seeing the Taj Mahal (luckily NOT the case).
We arrived in Agra ready to go on our day tour. We didn't want to miss out and basically checked into our hotel and then got rolling. Straight to the Taj Mahal.
Wow!
What an incredible site. I could not take my eyes off it. It was foggy but that did not at all diminish my enjoyment of this gorgeous structure. It was also crowded as many Indians were traveling because they were off for end-of-year holidays. Again, that didn't detract <i>except</i> for the part when we walked through the tomb-replica room where it was packed. I would have gladly skipped that part because while the inlay work is beautiful it was an uncomfortable experience of pushing and shoving and standing squished up next to people in a dim room until they tell you to get out so the next group can shove in. Then there was more pushing and shoving to get out. I wouldn't in a million years take a kid under 10 or an adult with mobility issues through there on a busy day. But our guide said it is not usually that busy.
We took a long slow meander up to the building because I just kept drinking in the view. Then we donned our shoe covers and walked around on the platform and into the replica room. It's funny how many of the people who ask about my trip think the Taj Mahal is a palace and want to know all the details about what it is like inside. Our guide here was great and took tons of pics for us of us together in front of it and when someone traveling alone asked him to do the same for her he complied with multiple pics. He was a really patient man and sweet--later when we exited the Red Fort and the touts were selling glossy guidebooks we were getting into the car and he took one's books, popped into the car and said, "This man wants me to ask if you will buy these, now you say, "no" and he won't bother us anymore." So we said, "no" and then he got in the car and explained how he gets grief from the touts all the time and figured out these prevents them from harassing both him and his customers. There were a couple other moments like that where he was clearly being sensitive to feelings on all sides that endeared him to us.
Our next stop was the Red Fort. There are pesky monkeys all over the walls and grounds and they are very skilled at harassing people. They know that there's often food in the bags people carry. So we watched as one monkey went right in front of a woman and scared her into dropping her bag, which the monkey snatched up swift as lightning. Monkey tore into the bag and found, disappointingly, plastic children's toys. The woman's son, who looked about 3 years old, burst into the saddest tears that a monkey had stolen his toys! Oh it was pitiful but funny (since we knew he'd get the toys back as soon as Monkey lost interest, which he did).
I love monkeys but I know they are a nuisance. Anyway, the site was great. The huge stone tub with floating stairs carved into it was the coolest feature. But hearing about it's history was from our guide fascinating and we enjoyed the site.
We stopped at a marble inlay gallery to see the method for doing the inlay work we had seen at the Taj Mahal. The pieces were gorgeous. Some of the work was so fine that it looked painted rather than inlaid. I wasn't particularly fond of the look of the pieces as far as use for tables and we didn't need something like a trivet or lazy susan, but then my husband said, "you know, we are about to redo the porch, what if our builder incorporated one of those big rectangular panels so that we got sunlight behind it during sunset." Well then we start looking at the panels in ernest. Then we have narrowed it down to three. Then I'm saying it's too expensive. Then my husband is saying, "we'd be taking home a little piece of the Taj Mahal." Then they are charging our credit card. I keep teasing my husband that his line was like a slick salesman, but it was so slick even the salesman knew not to use it on us. The piece arrived the week we got home and I love it and will be excited when we get it put into place. It's a garden scene.
That was all we saw <i>in</i> Agra. We also visited Fatehpur Sikri on our way to Jaipur the next day. The same guide was with us. One of his best skills was the ability to reimagine the forts as they would have been during their use and to paint a vivid picture for us. My own imagination was also aided by having read <i>Beneath A Marble Sky</i>, the fictionalized account of the building of the Taj Mahal.
<i>Hotel in Agra- Mansingh Palace</i> - Loved this hotel. It was a really nice, comfortable place. Staff were excellent. Our room was quiet and warm (central heat!). We ate dinner here and it was delicious (a la carte, there was also a buffet that we did not try). Location was really close to the Taj Mahal, too, so if you do end up doing a sunrise view of it then it would be an easy jaunt.
Jan 27th, 2015, 10:08 AM
#38
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That's good info Ann. Oddly my personal insurance was contacted first and declined foreign coverage which the Allianz rep said they would do so then their policy kicked in. About 6-8 weeks after we returned guess what happened? I got a check from my primary carrier for 90% of the bill or around $5200.00. Sometimes you just get lucky!
Also consider www.insuremytrip.com.
Larry..
Also consider www.insuremytrip.com.
Larry.
.
Jan 27th, 2015, 10:34 AM
#40
still here and drinking it in, Schlegal. how can you describe the Taj Mahal if not as a palace? I suppose it's a mausoleum - has anyone ever lived there?
amazing that you could buy something from the Red Fort to put in your garden - did it arrive in good condition? I'm always worried that anything I ask to be shipped will end up in pieces - though I suppose there's less chance of that with a rug or a carpet!
amazing that you could buy something from the Red Fort to put in your garden - did it arrive in good condition? I'm always worried that anything I ask to be shipped will end up in pieces - though I suppose there's less chance of that with a rug or a carpet!
