4bams

thanks to all of you who helped my family of 4 with our trip to india. we just returned from our adventure, and this will be a brief report about what worked (and what didn't)!

we used castle and king for our arrangements, and were extremely happy with how well we were cared for. mr arvind answered all my emails within one day, changed our itinerary several times as I changed my mind over the months of planning, booked our drivers, guides, hotels flights etc for me and notified us when (even last minute) the airlines changed flight times. I admit I was anxious to use a guide in another country and send some money in advance, but it worked out very well indeed.

itinerary:
udaipur- roetgargh (outisde of jodphur) - chatta sagar- pushkur-samode (outside of jaipur)- agra-varanassi-dehli

some highlights:
we stayed in fateh garh in udaipur. beautiful hotel in a palace up on a hill overlooking the lake and farmland. outside the hustle of the city, a lovely retreat, great food, stunning views.

chatta sagar: this was our favourite stop in our journey. it is a luxurious tented hotel beween jodphur and jaipur. it sits on the banks of a reservoir, and it is tranquil, lush and quiet. best food of our trip. small hotel, and you get to know your fellow guests. there is a fire pit with chairs where everyone gathers and exchanges stories before dinner, and at dinner a pot of embers is brought to sit on the floor beside you at dinner to warm you as you eat outdoors- glorious. there are 2 excursions thru the hotel (included) that fodorites will like- a village tour, which felt incredibly authentic, and not as touristic/voyeuristic as others we have done. you see an agrarian economy based on the barter system, in this more prosperous farm community. you also take a lovely walk in the huge property, with a guide, telescope, birding book etc to see the animals- wild boar, deer, and many different birds.

samode: we did not want to stay in jaipur, and so mr arvind recommended samode hotel, in the country hills outside of the city. absolutely beautiful palace, great food, lovely entertainment. the gift shop was great- the jewelery was much more to western tastes, gorgeous silver products, nicer than any we saw at the more traditional stores, and still at good prices compared to home. higher end pashminas avail there too (and there is a difference when you see them! but not cheap here)

we were not fans of varanassi at all. I was there 24 years ago, and it seems to be filthier, noisier, more crowded than ever. we stayed on the river at palace on the river. very simple hotel, well located for the ghats, simple restaurant on the roof but not much else to recommend it. we were initially to spend 2 days there, but changed our flight and only spend 24 hrs there. in retrospect that is how we should have planned it- arrive in the evening, see the ghats in the early morning, see sarnath in the afternoon and then leave. or, i think varanassi could be eliminated from an itinerary and more time spent in rajastan.

anyway, wonderful trip, the kids found it fascinating, and we are glad we went.

Kathie

Thanks for your report. You stayed at some interesting places.

Your reaction to Varanasi is different from most of the people I know. I wonder if having been there 24 years ago was the big difference in perspective.

rhkkmk

varanasi is not for everyone, but we feel it rounded out our trip.. 24 hours would work for many..

i would skip sarnath too.

i can't say enough for arvind and castle and king.

4bams

i did not want to focus on varanasi- our problem with it may be unique to our situation. it was new yrs eve, and the traffic was horrendous- took hours to get to the city from the airport. there were fireworks at night, and they were set off from either on top of our hotel or nearby- the debris rained on our ceiling with every explosion, and i was sure that we would be set ablaze! also, it is not quaint nor charming, but rather sad to see such a polluted body of water serve as the main drinking water supply to so many...


I really wanted to emphasize the other parts of the trip that we loved, and also to sing the virtues of having a tour company that can help if plans need to be changed while traveling!

rhkkmk

can you elaborate a bit more on what you did and saw.. your unique experiences..

varanasi seems to be a state of mind... you have to look past the debris, etc..

4bams

what was lovely about Chatra Sagar was the setting. the family dammed a reservoir years ago, making fertile the surrounding acreage. I believe they still have 100 acres of land, and the surrounding area is farmland. we had a tour given by one of the family who is incredibly knowledgeable and charismatic, of the nearby farms. we learned about the crops, the irrigation, the plowing, the way of life. we next went to the village, and it was like learning about a village life based on the barter system from years ago. the potter makes his clay pots twice a year, and it is his responsibility to deliver them to each of the village families every 6 months (the lifetime of the pots). pots are changed at festival time, so everyone knows when 6 months is up. he is paid in grains by each family, and what he does not need for his own use he is able to sell.

only the silversmith is paid in cash, as he has to buy supplies in town. everyone else is paid by this fabulous barter system. people use their jewelry as a bank. when times are good, buy jewelry, and wear it to keep it near you. in bad times, sell or barter for goods.

we learned about the health care/ vaccination plans, schools, barber, cobbler etc, and met lots of the locals.

the second included tour was a walk thru the lands, with another owner of the hotel, his 3 dogs (one a great dane!), an Indian helper, bird book and telescope. it was a lovely and peaceful walk, and we saw lovely birds and animals.

the tents were lovely as well, 1st class accommodation, and great food. a nice opportunity to sit and meet with other guests- there are only I believe 11 tents (of 2 pple each). the tents are along the bank of the water, and you see all kinds of deer, boar, birds across the water.

Elainee

Glad you wrote about Chatra Sagar so favorably. It was our daughter's least favorite stop in India. I think that was beacause it took so long for her to get there on terrible roads. Got there after dark, left early next morning. Not good.
We are going to be there Feb. 17. I will be sure to get there earlier, go on the excursions before we leave and have a very good time.

annhig

4bams - thanks for your interesting feedback on your trip.

how long was it, exactly, and where did you fly into and out of?

shubha_r

4bams, how long did you stay in each location ?

We are a family 2 adults and 2 kids planning a 6 night 7 day trip to Rajasthan while visiting family in South India.

We are planning Udaipur/Jodhpur/Jaisalmer

But if your itinerary is apt for us, would like to look into it.

Thanks
Kush

4bams

kush, we were 2 weeks door to door including travel from canada.
we decided to omit jaisalmer from our itinerary as it really is far, and to do it justice (ie a few day camel safari) would have eaten up too much time. we spent 2 nights in udaipur, 1 in jodphur, 1 in chatta sagar, 1 pushkar, 1 samode. it actually sounds like we were rushed, but it didn't feel so to us. (actually one of those places was probably 2 nights, but I cannot recall which). make sure you check travel times, as these are long drives even though they look short on the map. if you have young kids i would suggest less travel. my kids are university age, and they loved to see the diverse places. the only thing to see in jodphur is the fort, but its great, and we stayed outside of the city and did some village excursions.

elainee, try to arrive at chatra sagar in time for dinner. its quite lovely

aanhig, we flew in and out of dehli. we flew also from dehli to udaipur, and between dehli and varanassi.

rhkkmk

the market was fantastic in jodphur...

shubha_r

thanks 4bams.

I would have loved to do Chatta sagar, but they are closed in Aug.

I am looking in to Fateh Garh in Udaipur, if they have a suite to fit us all in.

Where did you stay in Jodhpur? We would like a hertiage/palace experience, not western style, because we do that here a lot anyways

How far is the drive between Udaipur and Jodhpur? Is it possible to fly ?

We are planning to fly to Udaipur via Delhi and need to figure out other parts of travel. If we could do a loop via either Pushkar or Samode and back to Delhi, that may work. Which do you recommend, Pushkar or Samode ?

Shubha

annhig

yes, thanks, 4bams. we are thinking very tentatively about a trip to india, having got the bug [metaphorically speaking] in Sri Lanka, so i'm very interested in seeing how other people have planned their trips.

4bams

we stayed outside of jodphur at rohetgarh. it was a lovely heritage property (though not in the same league as samode). it too offered a village tour and a jeep excursion to see the antelope etc. we enjoyed it. they have beautiful horses there and a lot of people go on riding excursions thru them (though we did not. we stayed at the main lodge (they have a secondary site)it has a nice garden and pool (which should be important in august.
the drive between udaipur and rohetgarh is about 4 hours. the great thing is the stop at ranakpur. it is a stunning jain temple that for us was a real highlight, and a good way to break up the drive. it is not "just another temple" but well worth a stop, its beautiful.

i was wrong on my itinerarty above, we were 2 nights in chattarsagar, but really only one full day (arrived at dinner the first night, and left after breakfast the second.)
I would do jaipur over pushkar. samode is 1/2 hr drive outside of jaipur, a great palace stay. however, at that time of year, there might be other heritage property options at a reasonable price in jaipur you could check out. (at xmas the rambagh was well over $1000/night and we'd need two rooms, way above our budget. samode was a great hotel experience, but we spent the day in jaipur. pushkar does not have as much to offer, and accommodation not in the same league. long drive though between jodphur and jaipur. that may be the time to fly if you could (we had several stops overnight along the way to break up the driving and see what's in between the two cities.)

are your kids young? we found that cost wise 2 rooms was not always more expensive than a larger room for 4, and 2 rooms means 2 bathrooms etc, and may work out better in the end.

I am sure in august you will have your pick of hotels and the cost will plummet.

shubha_r

Thanks 4bams.

Looks like your pick of hotels is backed up with lot of research. Very impressive.

Do you think we will be able to get better prices in August?

We are not even planning to do Jaipur. My kids are 11 & 7, so we were just thinking of focusing on Udaipur (3 nights), Jodhpur (2 nights) and possibly including Jaisalmer if it is doable in terms of travel. But don't want to crowd the itinerary too much.

Lot of hotels are asking us to rent 2 rooms, but if it is 30,000 INR per night, 2 rooms quickly add up

I am going to look into Rohetgarh.

What was your feedback on Fateh Garh? Any negatives ?

I am also looking for some heritage/palacial experiences.

I am not sure if Castle & King can just do air tickets for us, if we figure out the hotels ourselves. Need to check.

Thanks a lot
Kush

rhkkmk

take a look at ratan villas.. we really liked it.. good food too.

CaliNurse

Thanks 4Bams for sharing your informagtion!!! Now I want to go to Chattarsagar.

I as in varanasi in 1971 and the way i read its current description, it sounds like a different place. Glad to get your take on i, since you too had been before.

Thank you for a wonderful and enticing report.

4bams

castle and king can i am sure do as much or little as you want re flights or drivers or hotels. tell them the type of place you want to stay in and they will make suggestions for you. i do not think you save money booking yourself, but you can check. for sure you will be paying less in august than we did in high season over xmas and new year! but I don't know by how much.

we usually do all our planning and booking etc ourselves- this holiday is the exception, but why make it harder for yourselves in India by doing it all yourself for no real extra reward.

shubha, your kids are young, so you are right to think about experiences they'll enjoy. pools are a must, and stuff with elephants or camels or horses or tents likely will mean more to them than the hotel! long drives will not be pleasant. jaisalmer sounds great but it is not close and you cannot fly there

violetm

Re Varanasi:

We went to Varanasi as part of our North India tour in January. It was our first time there. I am so glad we went and wouldn't have missed it for the world, but I understand where you're coming from. We too had booked 2 nights there, but our flight was changed which meant we arrived in the afternoon rather than the evening which was a result. We did the Ganges sunset boat trip that evening, then again at sunrise the next morning, a quick trip to Sarnath then flew out of there. 24hrs was enough for us. We loved the bits we did but beyond that I could see no reason to stay and the streets were filthy, it being impossible to walk down the streets of the old town and not stand in piles of rubbish, cow poo, dog poo or rat poo. Our hotel (The Radisson) was certainly no haven, so while we loved seeing the Ganges, 24hrs was plenty and we were happy enough to leave. We enjoyed Sarnath as it was an escape from chaos but wouldn't have mattered if we hadn't enough time.