Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - India Trip Rreport

Since I have taken advantage of postings on both this board and the Africa board (we took 2 trips to southern Africa) it is time for me to share!

My sister and I got back from our first trip to India on April 14 - wow! what a trip. We had orginally planned to go last October, but I changed jobs and moved, so we postponed and went April 2.

Based on postings when I first planned the trip I went with Compass - but I began to get nervous about my choice as I read later postings. However, they were very good, and when we had to change our return to Delhi from Udaipur (due to a flight cancellation) a driver and greeter were there to meet us and get us on our outbound flight. (Thanks, in part to my being able to call on my mobile phone which drives me nuts at home but behaved like a dream in India).

We started in Delhi and spent 3 nights at the Park Hotel, which I would not recommend due to the disco which seems to resonate through many of the rooms (we moved up 2 floors, but still heard it).
Lots of sight seeing and shopping - and we had a great experience in Old Delhi when a Jain festival/parade came through. We were asked to join in the dancing and were showered with blossoms. On the shopping - at all of our stops we had to repeatedly tell the guides where we wanted to go- in talking with others, it seems that this is common. We were told that the guides have required stops, and that they try to keep clients out of the markets for safety reasons - I don't know if this is actually true.

Our driver through-out the trip - Monhender Singh (sp?) was fabulous - the more we got to know him the more fun we had.

We drove to Agra (stayed at the Taj View) - I am glad we took the long drive versus the train so that we could see more. It was very hot at the Taj - and all of that white marble was like a giant reflector - but what a sight! We also went to the fort, which we enjoyed.

The next day we drove (about 7 hours) to Ranthambour (sp?) and stayed at the Oberai Vanya Villas, which was fabulous. We went on 2 drives and saw 2 tigers each time. I also took a private yoga lesson.

Then it was on to Jaipur (again, driving) - which we loved! (and where we shopped till we dropped - we each came with an extra duffle bag, which we filled).

Stayed at the Trident Hilton for 2 nights - a nice room, but dining option in the hotel not great.

Rode an elephant up to the fort, loved the palace, and rode camels down a busy street.

Next we went to Udaipur and stayed at the Oberai again (Udaivillas). Loved the city palace (and, yes, the shopping). Our guide, Uma, was excellent.

Then, sadly, it was time to leave.

We knew it would be hot in April, so we were prepared. The tourist sights were fairly crowded, but we were told that they get MUCH more crowded. We took lots and lots of pictures, and it would have been difficult to get many of the shots if the crowds were larger ( and we would have had to wait in lines to get into some of the places). All in all, I think the higher temperatures were a decent trade-off.

As background, my sister and I are travel addicts - in the last 10 years we have gone to New Zealand twice (and hiked the Milford Track), gone to southern Africa twice (South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Nambia), taken an Alaska cruise, and spent about 5 days in Iceland (loved riding the Icelandic horses). We are both in our early 50s and work full time, so our vacation is limited. I know lots of people won't go to some of the places we go to unless they can go for several weeks, but our trips are usually about 12 days total and you can do and see alot if you plan well!