Lcuy's August 2005 trip to Bangkok, India, Boston, Portland and Disneyland
Nov 17th, 2005, 04:13 PM
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Lcuy's August 2005 trip to Bangkok, India, Boston, Portland and Disneyland
In 1982, I spent a year circumnavigating the globe by heading east. This time, I headed into the sunset and got home in 32 days. I needed (okay, okay. I WANTED) to escort my older daughter from Bangkok to New Delhi, where she is doing a semester abroad in India. In addition, I needed to help younger daughter settle into her dorm as a freshman at BU, and we had a company trip planned to Disneyland in Mid-September. I was able to tie all these together by adding in a week in Portland and a few days in Ventura visiting good friends.
I have a really long, detailed report on my trip. To spare those of you who don’t like all the details, here is the condensed report:
Flew from Honolulu to Bangkok. Took the airport limo to the Peninsula hotel for two nights. Loved the hotel, loved the room even more.
Flew to Delhi. Compass Tours arranged for drivers and guides all the way. Stayed near the rail station the first night, then took an early train to Agra next morning. Spent the night at Amarvilas. Worth every penny. Best hotel ever!
Drove Agra-Jaipur. Quite picturesque, but truly the road from hell. 6 hours of potholes.
2 nights at the Samode Haveli in Jaipur. A very nice heritage hotel inside the old part of the city.
5 days at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi. Wonderful hotel in a great location.
Flew to Boston. Stayed at the Onyx Hotel. Finished with a week in Portland, Oregon, two days in Ventura, CA and then 5 days in Anaheim.
So....
I knew up front that August is not a good time to go to Thailand and India, but I figure you go when you can.. Oddly enough, the weather was no worse than it had been in December. We lucked out!
I started my trip on Aug 20, flying on JAL to Bangkok. The flight was uneventful. Decent food, standard 747 seats, no personal TV screens. The layover in Osaka was boring...Not as nice restaurants as in the transit area of Narita, and not nearly as nice as the regular parts of Kansai airport.
Arrived in BKK at 11 pm. Customs was very fast. I had some Baht from a previous trip, but refilled my wallet from one of the ATMs. The taxi line was long, and I was too tired to want to argue over the meter issue, so I stopped at the limo desk and got one for 800 baht (+tolls) to the Peninsula Hotel. We flew along at that hour. I had debated staying at the Landmark again, but really felt I should try being on the river after all the discussion about it in this forum. The Oriental rooms were really high for my time period, so I got a room at the Pen for $168 a night. I really liked this hotel. Check in was simple, everyone was friendly, and although the hotel was 100% full, I felt like I was in a very small hotel.
My room was on the ninth floor. It was huge with beautiful hardwood floors and lots of silk fabrics. It had a large foyer with closets and a well stocked bar with sink and refrigerator. The bathroom was also huge with separate shower, toilet in a frosted glass stall, and of course the TV in the wall over the bathtub. I’ll have to say I loved that TV!
The bedroom had a full size couch with coffee table, a large desk with fax machine, big TV Armoire, and a very comfortable king bed and a padded bench at the foot. The curtains and lights were controlled from the bedside telephone. The view was really wonderful from the three windows. There was fresh fruit and free water in the room and it was restocked every time I left.
In the morning (Sunday), I planned to meet my daughter and her boyfriend for brunch at the Oriental Hotel. I got there a bit early, so walked over to Cotton House. I had a blouse I wanted copied, so I had time to pick out some fabrics and set a time to return that afternoon for a fitting. I also did some exploring in the shops right behind the Oriental. Loved teh little Indian fabric shop where they had some beautiful kashmiri shawls.
Met the kids inside Lord Jim’s. They had brought me a HUGE bouquet of roses and a pikake lei from the flower markets. They’d been in Thailand for almost two weeks and had discovered a lot of great places, the flower market being one of them. (Side note: They stayed at the Sanctuary on Koh Phanagan, then 3 nights at Old Bangkok Inn, then the Asia Hotel for their last few nights. They found the flower markets during their Amazing Bangkok Cyclist tour. She said it was a completely different route than our previous tour with them.)
Lord Jim’s brunch was wonderful. Having been there on Christmas Day, I worried that we’d get a much less exotic buffet in August. Actually, it was still absolutely beautiful with way more food than we could even sample. Well worth the $27!
After lunch, we headed back to the Pen so the kids could check out the rooms and the pool. From there, we took the ferry back to Cotton house for my fitting. Afterwards we caught an Oriental ferry to Taksin and rode the skytrain over to their hotel.
They were not really excited with the Asia Hotel, but I thought it was pretty nice for $36 a night. It has a Skytrain station and a bunch of shops right in hotel, and the room was clean, quiet and pretty big. They had been totally spoiled at their other hotels, though, and this room paled in comparison.
We got back on the Skytrain and headed to the night market. It was Nick’s last night in Asia, and they still had some shopping to do. We got disoriented walking there and ended up in the park. No problem, we thought, we’ll just walk through it and come out to the market on the other side. Unfortunately, there are no openings in the fences, so we ended up doing the whole loop! At least it was fairly cool, and there were lots of people in the park.
We split up in the market, and I mostly just looked. Bought a few photos and a foot massage, then headed over to Joe Louis’ to meet the kids for dinner. The food was quite good, and it was fun watching all the Thai families and couples here.
We headed home on the Skytrain, splitting up at Siam Station. When I arrived at Taksin, I somehow took a wrong turn and by the time I got to the piers, they were almost deserted. It was 11:30, so I walked back to the Shangri-la and asked if the boats were still running. The desk clerk confirmed that they were and walked me back outside to make sure I was heading the right way. This ended up being the one thing I didn’t like about the Peninsula- you can’t just go home on the skytrain, but have to walk down a dark street and wait on an empty pier late at night. I know, I could have taken a taxi, but there weren’t any around by the time I realized how lonely it was at the dock.
Anyway, all ended fine...a ferry arrived in about 10 minutes, and by then several other people had arrived.
In the morning, my daughter showed up at 7 am after her boyfriend left for the airport. We had a leisurely buffet breakfast in the hotel, then checked out. I had tried to have a late check-out ($80 extra to stay till 6pm) but with the hotel so full, they couldn’t do it. Instead, the girl suggested we leave our bags, then come back and shower in the fitness center.
We had called SJ International for a ride to their jewelry store. With the heavy Monday morning traffic, they met us in the lobby, but then we took the ferry over to their car outside the Pen’s waiting room on the other side of the river.
I love SJ. This time I didn’t have to mention Kathie, as they actually remembered us! They saw that my daughter’s ring (purchased there at Christmas) was really dirty, and scolded her before cleaning it for her. We managed to find some Christmas gifts, a gold chain for me, and some rings for my DD. We also ordered a gold baby bangle and left a ring to be repaired. All were delivered to our hotel later that afternoon.
SJ’s driver took us to the Jim Thomson house after we finished with the jewelry shopping. We had a very pleasant lunch of salads, fruit smoothly- type drinks and desserts, then enjoyed the tour and the shop. Afterwards, we walked to the skytrain and did some shopping at Central Chitlom Department store. They were having a big “Diamond on the Right Hand” promotion. We didn’t buy any, but had a lot of fun looking.
Back at the Pen, we pulled our clothes out of our bags and headed down to the fitness center. The women’s dressing room had robes, lockers, steam room, sauna, hot tub, ice bath, showers and very well-stocked dressing tables. We were down there for over an hour and were the only clients in the place. At one point, the attendant came to tell us that SJ would be a little late. Not sure how they found us, but it was nice!
Still had some time to kill before heading to the airport, so we had high tea in the lobby and listened to the piano player. Our deliveries from both Cotton House and SJ arrived, and then we took the hotel car to the airport. It was well worth it as traffic was worse than usual. I was happy to be in a nice car, since it took over an hour.
Check in on Thai Intrnl was fast and painless. We had time to do a little shopping and check our email, then paid our $500 baht airport charge and flew to Delhi. The plane was like new, and we had personal TVs and two rows of our own.
India
Customs in Delhi was painless and pretty fast, and we were able to get a limited amount of cash before leaving the area. I’ll have to say I was really, really glad that we were picked up at the airport. Chaotic is the best word to describe the place, and at 1 am, I know we couldn’t have dealt with getting into Delhi on our own.
When planning the India portion of this trip, I relied heavily on Craig and Jean’s trip report. Like them, we made all the arrangements with Durjay Sangupta of Compass Travel. He arranged drivers, guides, rail tickets from Delhi to Agra, and hotels everywhere except in Delhi, where we had already booked under a special rate I’d found earlier. I had been tracking the hotels for a while, so I was comfortable that the rates he quoted were as good, or better than I could do on my own. I was generally very happy with Compass’ services, with the exception of one horrible guide. Some other details could have been handled much better, but I think if I had known to ask for them in advance, it would have been done. Having done it once now, I would be much more specific next time.
Anyway, the Compass agent was right there at the airport and we taken to the Metro Heights hotel. We had chosen to stay here close to the rail station, as the airport is almost an hour out of Delhi and we had an early train to catch in the morning. The hotel was nothing to look at, but the beds were clean, the AC worked, and we were exhausted. For $40/ night, it met all our needs.
Up early in the morning, we were given a packet with all our hotel vouchers, our bill (to be settled at the end of the trip), and phone numbers of the Compass contact in each city. The agent walked us onto our train and found our seats- again, it was nice not to have to wander. Despite the poor signage, with the aggressive touts and beggars you don’t want to be stopping for directions in Delhi.
The train ride was quite pleasant. For the princely sum of $15 each, we had seats in the 2nd class AC car. It was very clean and comfortable. A little bit into the trip, a guy came around with hot towels and tea bag and cookies. Next he returned with containers of hot water, then came again with an airline type breakfast- eggs, meat, and toast.
In Agra, we were met in the train by another Compass agent. We went out and got into the car we’d be in until Delhi. It was a Tata.-somewhat like a Nissan Sentra. Rather small, but with good AC and a very nice driver. I had been expecting a bigger car- Craig had mentioned SUVs- but it didn’t seem worth arguing over. They took us to our hotel and we made plans to meet in a while to see some of Agra’s sights.
What can I say about the Oberoi Amarvilas?? It is absolutely the finest hotel I’ve ever been in. It is fairly small (70 rooms??), but has very grand common areas. The two main selling points are the view of the Taj Mahal from every room, and the proximity (600 yards) from the Taj. At $300 a night, I had really debated whether I wanted to stay here. Now I’d go back to India just to stay at this hotel again!
The staff were so attentive and genuinely friendly, especially our ‘butler’. All were decked out in beautiful silk outfits, and best of all, the hotel does not allow tipping of individual employees. We tried, and they turned us down!
Our room was huge with a big entry, large dressing room, and beautiful bathroom. It had hardwood floors, every amenity you can imagine, gorgeous furniture, and handmade quilts on the beds. Framed right in the middle of our window was definitely the Taj Mahal. I could have stared at it for hours! Instead, we cleaned up and headed back downstairs to meet our guide for our first tour.
We were very happy with our Agra guide. He really knew everything about Agra’s history and monuments and spoke very understandable English. He was very attentive to our needs and always made sure we got good pictures.
Our first stop was the Agra fort, then we headed across the most amazingly narrow bridge to the “Baby Taj”. Our guide was good at laying a showing the historical connection of these buildings and laying a foundation for our visit to the Taj Mahal the next morning. A quick stop to see inlaid marble being made (We knew the guides had to do this, and we allowed just one of these very fast stops per city), a stop at a ‘bank’-just a capsule room with a guard and an ATM- to get some cash, and then we headed back to Amarvilas for lunch.
We scheduled ayurvedic treatment and massages at the hotel spa for the afternoon, then ate lunch in the hotel’s casual dining room. We tried Indian and English items and enjoyed everything. Browsed the little shops in the hotel -they had some nice stuff, and in retrospect, very good prices. We then had 90 minutes of bliss in the spa. Borrowed a Bollywood DVD , then had dinner in the Indian restaurant on site. Had a great meal of thalis while listening to a drummer and sitar player. We sat out by the pool afterwards and enjoyed the lights.
In the morning, our guide arrived promply at dawn. We took one of the hotel’s free golf cart shuttles down to the entrance to the Taj Mahal. Vehicles that use gas are not allowed in the ‘green zone’ around the Taj, so you either walk or hire rickshaws if you don’t have a hotel cart. Food and items that might be used to scratch gems off the Taj are not allowed into the grounds. Our guide had warned us about the bag searches, and the possibility of pickpockets outside the gates, so we took only our cameras and money belts. On the way, he told how pollution was damaging the Taj, so the government closed down all the factories in the area. Good for the air, but created a real unemployment problem, hence the large numbers of postcard vendors.
When we arrived, there were about 30 people waiting for the gate to open. Our guide sent us ahead for the bag search while he stood in line for the tickets, then we met up in the inside courtyard. He stopped us at various spots to talk about the buildings, then we entered the main gate.
I have to say that I was brought to tears by the absolute beauty of this building. When sick a few years back, I thought I had missed my chance to ever see the Taj Mahal, so this was kind of emotional for me (and my daughter). Our poor guide wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, but was very polite about the whole affair!
We got many photos, saw the sun come up onto the Taj, and after a while our guide took off to let us enjoy the complex on our own. When we’d had our fill, we went out front to find the golf cart waiting and headed back for breakfast. We had time for a lovely swim in the pool before we had to check out and head off toward Fatepur Sikri..
Fatepur Sikri is about an hour out of Agra on the road to Jaipur. The road was very interesting- lots of cars, camels, goats, dogs, pigs, motorbikes, and women in colorful saris. Everyone in India drives like a maniac- but because everyone expects the unexpected and uses their horns liberally, it all seems to work. Because of the earlier monsoon, the fields were very green and pretty, much more than I had expected.
Fatepur Sikri was interesting and seeing it was good preparation for seeing Jaipur fort the next day. It was really hot, but our driver had an umbrella for us to use.
We left our guide outside of Fatepur Sikri, and headed down the road to Jaipur. This was where the day started to go bad. The road was horrible- potholes big enough to sleep in, the wild drivers in both lanes swerving to avoid them, and lots of trucks and animals that were bigger than our Tata. On top of this, I soon realized that our driver was very sleepy. I spent the next five hours chatting with him from my seat in the back. I’m sure he thought I was nuts, but I learned a lot about his life and family, we made it to Jaipur and his English got progressively better as the day wore on!
There was so much to see on this road...men and women patching the potholes with rocks, tree branches, and fresh cooked asphalt; school kids in their uniforms; women and children pumping water, little villages, and miles of roadside shops selling carved sandstone blocks, screens and lanterns. The problem was simply the length of the trip. I would not recommend it to any one, except that it is the only route from Agra to Jaipur. There is no train.
Anyway, we made it to Jaipur late in the day, where another Compass Rep was at our hotel. We were staying at the heritage hotel Samode Haveli, which I chose to get a little more historical feel of India and to be inside the walled district of Jaipur.
When we first pulled in, I did not like this hotel. I was hot and cranky, my neck hurt, and compared to Amarvilas, it looked a bit run down. The front desk guys were very bureaucratic types and though I never figured out the details, our Compass guy got into a big argument (in Hindi) with them and spent some time on the phone arguing further with their boss. Something about him being able to represent us properly. I really didn’t care, as what I wanted to do was switch from driving to Delhi two days later to taking the train. After a long discussion, where he convinced me that the Jaipur road was much nicer-“ one of India’s best highways, madam”- I agreed to sleep on the idea.
We were given a huge skeleton key and headed off to our room, where we used it on a big brass padlock on the out side of the door.
Once we got settled, we actually loved this hotel. We were paying $115 a night with breakfast included. Our room was around the back and faced a fountain and large lawn and hedges. It had high domed ceilings and lots of curved archways. The floors and the bath were all marble, and despite being rather plain, it was very comfortable and restful with an Indian feeling. There was a beautiful big pool, and there were big queen size lounge beds with arched stone canopies over them. The pool guys were attentive and they had wonderful fruit trays, drinks and french fries! We spent hours out there after dinner.
Dinner was a mostly Indian food buffet. You could sit inside (AC!) or out in the courtyard where there was a puppet show scheduled. We chose the dining room and felt like we’d stepped into a movie set- murals on all the walls and the waiters in costume. The food was very good.
In the morning, we again were offered a buffet. This one had more English than Indian choices.
We ate out side and were amused by some monkeys playing up on the roof.
Before heading our, we bundled up our laundry for cleaning. Sent out nearly everything once we realized how cheap it was- even had clean clothing pressed. All came back that evening - pressed, and folded with local newspaper inserts. I think we paid less than $15 for a suitcase full!
We started our tour of Jaipur at the Palace of the winds- just a photo stop from across the street. I thought I just took a snapshot, but had the video function of my new camera on. Oddly enough, this ‘mistake’ has turned out to be one of my favorite photos of the trip...There’s a shot of the palace, then about 5 minutes of our guide talking and video of the street and sidewalk. It is a really nice reminder of the sounds and more mundane views- people wandering by, a camel cart, the debris and potholes, horns honking, and our guide’s great Indian accent. We had a hard time taking photos away from the tourist sites in India. The second you stopped moving, people would come up wanting money, or just wanting to help you find “good cheap shop, mum”.
From here we headed up to the Amber fort. It was a fascinating place, and we not only got to ride an elephant, but had some time to watch them playing in the lake with their owners. Elephants are not allowed to work more than a half day at the Amber Fort, so these were the afternoon shift! We also got to see a snake charmer in action, and this time I set the camera to video on purpose!
It was very nice as the fort is at a high elevation. Not only was it a lot cooler, but you could see all the surrounding valley.
We thoroughly enjoyed our knowledgeable guide in Jaipur. He was 23, and the youngest of seven kids, mostly sisters. He and my daughter hit it off and they compared a lot of notes on young Indian vs American culture.
After our tour of the fort, we took a jeep down the hill to meet our driver. We found the car, but not the driver, so Mr. Sharma wandered off to find him, leaving us alone in the pick up area. Ouch! A crowd of beggars and touts instantly surrounded us, including one particularly aggressive old woman and a young boy. She keep begging and then bending down to stroke my ankles, while the boy kept sticking his hands out. I was glad we only had our purses, as we had them clasped tightly to our chests!
On the way back into town, we stopped to look at a castle type structure out in the lake. Mr Sharma said that it has recently been sold to a hotel chain, and would probably end up like Lake Palace in a few years. There were lots of boats out on the lake due to the high water brought by the monsoon. A little boy came up and asked if he could do some magic for us. He was so cute and his magic was very good. One trick was a shell game- using the tops of bicycle bells for the covers and coin shaped pieces of tires for his ‘coin”. All the while, he kept up a rapid patter of English- “this one goes to Delhi, this one goes to Mumbai, and this one goes to Agra”. We were happy to give him a tip, especially since he didn’t ask for one.
We headed into town for lunch. As usual, the guide and driver dropped us and then disappeared until we came outside. The restaurants they chose were always very local food and prices, but clean. We were pleased with the choices. We toured the observatory and the city palace and ran into our magic boy again. He was really embarrassed when our guide told him we’d seen his show earlier. Guess us tourists all look alike!! We all had a good laugh, and he took off.
From here we headed to our obligatory demonstration stop. It was quite interesting actually. We got to try our hand at block printing, without any hard sell, then went upstairs to look at saris. We were absolutely determined not to buy anything, but let them to dress my daughter in a sari “for a picture”. We ended up having such a good time, with her being dressed and Mr. Sharma telling us about his sisters and mothers life styles and dress that in the end we did buy one. It was really beautiful silk and included the underskirt and top for about $100 dollars.
From here, we headed to the city Palace and a couple of museums there. There was also a hall with numerous artists and their works. We shopped for a while, but didn’t buy anything.
Leaving here, we headed to the local government store. Picked out some silk scarves as gifts, and then found ourselves looking at saris again. This shop was much less fancy, and was full of men shopping for their families. We bought some more casual salwar kameez for my daughter and her sister, some adorable toddler outfits for my new grand niece, and some shawls. I bought fabric to have a salwar kameez made for only $30, which they delivered to our hotel that evening.
It was about 6 pm when we finished, so we called it a day and went back to our hotel. We had snacks and drinks by the pool, then packed and had dinner. There was some sort of celebration tonight...lots of fireworks in the distance.
The next morning we got up early to have breakfast and head to Delhi.
I have a really long, detailed report on my trip. To spare those of you who don’t like all the details, here is the condensed report:
Flew from Honolulu to Bangkok. Took the airport limo to the Peninsula hotel for two nights. Loved the hotel, loved the room even more.
Flew to Delhi. Compass Tours arranged for drivers and guides all the way. Stayed near the rail station the first night, then took an early train to Agra next morning. Spent the night at Amarvilas. Worth every penny. Best hotel ever!
Drove Agra-Jaipur. Quite picturesque, but truly the road from hell. 6 hours of potholes.
2 nights at the Samode Haveli in Jaipur. A very nice heritage hotel inside the old part of the city.
5 days at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi. Wonderful hotel in a great location.
Flew to Boston. Stayed at the Onyx Hotel. Finished with a week in Portland, Oregon, two days in Ventura, CA and then 5 days in Anaheim.
So....
I knew up front that August is not a good time to go to Thailand and India, but I figure you go when you can.. Oddly enough, the weather was no worse than it had been in December. We lucked out!
I started my trip on Aug 20, flying on JAL to Bangkok. The flight was uneventful. Decent food, standard 747 seats, no personal TV screens. The layover in Osaka was boring...Not as nice restaurants as in the transit area of Narita, and not nearly as nice as the regular parts of Kansai airport.
Arrived in BKK at 11 pm. Customs was very fast. I had some Baht from a previous trip, but refilled my wallet from one of the ATMs. The taxi line was long, and I was too tired to want to argue over the meter issue, so I stopped at the limo desk and got one for 800 baht (+tolls) to the Peninsula Hotel. We flew along at that hour. I had debated staying at the Landmark again, but really felt I should try being on the river after all the discussion about it in this forum. The Oriental rooms were really high for my time period, so I got a room at the Pen for $168 a night. I really liked this hotel. Check in was simple, everyone was friendly, and although the hotel was 100% full, I felt like I was in a very small hotel.
My room was on the ninth floor. It was huge with beautiful hardwood floors and lots of silk fabrics. It had a large foyer with closets and a well stocked bar with sink and refrigerator. The bathroom was also huge with separate shower, toilet in a frosted glass stall, and of course the TV in the wall over the bathtub. I’ll have to say I loved that TV!
The bedroom had a full size couch with coffee table, a large desk with fax machine, big TV Armoire, and a very comfortable king bed and a padded bench at the foot. The curtains and lights were controlled from the bedside telephone. The view was really wonderful from the three windows. There was fresh fruit and free water in the room and it was restocked every time I left.
In the morning (Sunday), I planned to meet my daughter and her boyfriend for brunch at the Oriental Hotel. I got there a bit early, so walked over to Cotton House. I had a blouse I wanted copied, so I had time to pick out some fabrics and set a time to return that afternoon for a fitting. I also did some exploring in the shops right behind the Oriental. Loved teh little Indian fabric shop where they had some beautiful kashmiri shawls.
Met the kids inside Lord Jim’s. They had brought me a HUGE bouquet of roses and a pikake lei from the flower markets. They’d been in Thailand for almost two weeks and had discovered a lot of great places, the flower market being one of them. (Side note: They stayed at the Sanctuary on Koh Phanagan, then 3 nights at Old Bangkok Inn, then the Asia Hotel for their last few nights. They found the flower markets during their Amazing Bangkok Cyclist tour. She said it was a completely different route than our previous tour with them.)
Lord Jim’s brunch was wonderful. Having been there on Christmas Day, I worried that we’d get a much less exotic buffet in August. Actually, it was still absolutely beautiful with way more food than we could even sample. Well worth the $27!
After lunch, we headed back to the Pen so the kids could check out the rooms and the pool. From there, we took the ferry back to Cotton house for my fitting. Afterwards we caught an Oriental ferry to Taksin and rode the skytrain over to their hotel.
They were not really excited with the Asia Hotel, but I thought it was pretty nice for $36 a night. It has a Skytrain station and a bunch of shops right in hotel, and the room was clean, quiet and pretty big. They had been totally spoiled at their other hotels, though, and this room paled in comparison.
We got back on the Skytrain and headed to the night market. It was Nick’s last night in Asia, and they still had some shopping to do. We got disoriented walking there and ended up in the park. No problem, we thought, we’ll just walk through it and come out to the market on the other side. Unfortunately, there are no openings in the fences, so we ended up doing the whole loop! At least it was fairly cool, and there were lots of people in the park.
We split up in the market, and I mostly just looked. Bought a few photos and a foot massage, then headed over to Joe Louis’ to meet the kids for dinner. The food was quite good, and it was fun watching all the Thai families and couples here.
We headed home on the Skytrain, splitting up at Siam Station. When I arrived at Taksin, I somehow took a wrong turn and by the time I got to the piers, they were almost deserted. It was 11:30, so I walked back to the Shangri-la and asked if the boats were still running. The desk clerk confirmed that they were and walked me back outside to make sure I was heading the right way. This ended up being the one thing I didn’t like about the Peninsula- you can’t just go home on the skytrain, but have to walk down a dark street and wait on an empty pier late at night. I know, I could have taken a taxi, but there weren’t any around by the time I realized how lonely it was at the dock.
Anyway, all ended fine...a ferry arrived in about 10 minutes, and by then several other people had arrived.
In the morning, my daughter showed up at 7 am after her boyfriend left for the airport. We had a leisurely buffet breakfast in the hotel, then checked out. I had tried to have a late check-out ($80 extra to stay till 6pm) but with the hotel so full, they couldn’t do it. Instead, the girl suggested we leave our bags, then come back and shower in the fitness center.
We had called SJ International for a ride to their jewelry store. With the heavy Monday morning traffic, they met us in the lobby, but then we took the ferry over to their car outside the Pen’s waiting room on the other side of the river.
I love SJ. This time I didn’t have to mention Kathie, as they actually remembered us! They saw that my daughter’s ring (purchased there at Christmas) was really dirty, and scolded her before cleaning it for her. We managed to find some Christmas gifts, a gold chain for me, and some rings for my DD. We also ordered a gold baby bangle and left a ring to be repaired. All were delivered to our hotel later that afternoon.
SJ’s driver took us to the Jim Thomson house after we finished with the jewelry shopping. We had a very pleasant lunch of salads, fruit smoothly- type drinks and desserts, then enjoyed the tour and the shop. Afterwards, we walked to the skytrain and did some shopping at Central Chitlom Department store. They were having a big “Diamond on the Right Hand” promotion. We didn’t buy any, but had a lot of fun looking.
Back at the Pen, we pulled our clothes out of our bags and headed down to the fitness center. The women’s dressing room had robes, lockers, steam room, sauna, hot tub, ice bath, showers and very well-stocked dressing tables. We were down there for over an hour and were the only clients in the place. At one point, the attendant came to tell us that SJ would be a little late. Not sure how they found us, but it was nice!
Still had some time to kill before heading to the airport, so we had high tea in the lobby and listened to the piano player. Our deliveries from both Cotton House and SJ arrived, and then we took the hotel car to the airport. It was well worth it as traffic was worse than usual. I was happy to be in a nice car, since it took over an hour.
Check in on Thai Intrnl was fast and painless. We had time to do a little shopping and check our email, then paid our $500 baht airport charge and flew to Delhi. The plane was like new, and we had personal TVs and two rows of our own.
India
Customs in Delhi was painless and pretty fast, and we were able to get a limited amount of cash before leaving the area. I’ll have to say I was really, really glad that we were picked up at the airport. Chaotic is the best word to describe the place, and at 1 am, I know we couldn’t have dealt with getting into Delhi on our own.
When planning the India portion of this trip, I relied heavily on Craig and Jean’s trip report. Like them, we made all the arrangements with Durjay Sangupta of Compass Travel. He arranged drivers, guides, rail tickets from Delhi to Agra, and hotels everywhere except in Delhi, where we had already booked under a special rate I’d found earlier. I had been tracking the hotels for a while, so I was comfortable that the rates he quoted were as good, or better than I could do on my own. I was generally very happy with Compass’ services, with the exception of one horrible guide. Some other details could have been handled much better, but I think if I had known to ask for them in advance, it would have been done. Having done it once now, I would be much more specific next time.
Anyway, the Compass agent was right there at the airport and we taken to the Metro Heights hotel. We had chosen to stay here close to the rail station, as the airport is almost an hour out of Delhi and we had an early train to catch in the morning. The hotel was nothing to look at, but the beds were clean, the AC worked, and we were exhausted. For $40/ night, it met all our needs.
Up early in the morning, we were given a packet with all our hotel vouchers, our bill (to be settled at the end of the trip), and phone numbers of the Compass contact in each city. The agent walked us onto our train and found our seats- again, it was nice not to have to wander. Despite the poor signage, with the aggressive touts and beggars you don’t want to be stopping for directions in Delhi.
The train ride was quite pleasant. For the princely sum of $15 each, we had seats in the 2nd class AC car. It was very clean and comfortable. A little bit into the trip, a guy came around with hot towels and tea bag and cookies. Next he returned with containers of hot water, then came again with an airline type breakfast- eggs, meat, and toast.
In Agra, we were met in the train by another Compass agent. We went out and got into the car we’d be in until Delhi. It was a Tata.-somewhat like a Nissan Sentra. Rather small, but with good AC and a very nice driver. I had been expecting a bigger car- Craig had mentioned SUVs- but it didn’t seem worth arguing over. They took us to our hotel and we made plans to meet in a while to see some of Agra’s sights.
What can I say about the Oberoi Amarvilas?? It is absolutely the finest hotel I’ve ever been in. It is fairly small (70 rooms??), but has very grand common areas. The two main selling points are the view of the Taj Mahal from every room, and the proximity (600 yards) from the Taj. At $300 a night, I had really debated whether I wanted to stay here. Now I’d go back to India just to stay at this hotel again!
The staff were so attentive and genuinely friendly, especially our ‘butler’. All were decked out in beautiful silk outfits, and best of all, the hotel does not allow tipping of individual employees. We tried, and they turned us down!
Our room was huge with a big entry, large dressing room, and beautiful bathroom. It had hardwood floors, every amenity you can imagine, gorgeous furniture, and handmade quilts on the beds. Framed right in the middle of our window was definitely the Taj Mahal. I could have stared at it for hours! Instead, we cleaned up and headed back downstairs to meet our guide for our first tour.
We were very happy with our Agra guide. He really knew everything about Agra’s history and monuments and spoke very understandable English. He was very attentive to our needs and always made sure we got good pictures.
Our first stop was the Agra fort, then we headed across the most amazingly narrow bridge to the “Baby Taj”. Our guide was good at laying a showing the historical connection of these buildings and laying a foundation for our visit to the Taj Mahal the next morning. A quick stop to see inlaid marble being made (We knew the guides had to do this, and we allowed just one of these very fast stops per city), a stop at a ‘bank’-just a capsule room with a guard and an ATM- to get some cash, and then we headed back to Amarvilas for lunch.
We scheduled ayurvedic treatment and massages at the hotel spa for the afternoon, then ate lunch in the hotel’s casual dining room. We tried Indian and English items and enjoyed everything. Browsed the little shops in the hotel -they had some nice stuff, and in retrospect, very good prices. We then had 90 minutes of bliss in the spa. Borrowed a Bollywood DVD , then had dinner in the Indian restaurant on site. Had a great meal of thalis while listening to a drummer and sitar player. We sat out by the pool afterwards and enjoyed the lights.
In the morning, our guide arrived promply at dawn. We took one of the hotel’s free golf cart shuttles down to the entrance to the Taj Mahal. Vehicles that use gas are not allowed in the ‘green zone’ around the Taj, so you either walk or hire rickshaws if you don’t have a hotel cart. Food and items that might be used to scratch gems off the Taj are not allowed into the grounds. Our guide had warned us about the bag searches, and the possibility of pickpockets outside the gates, so we took only our cameras and money belts. On the way, he told how pollution was damaging the Taj, so the government closed down all the factories in the area. Good for the air, but created a real unemployment problem, hence the large numbers of postcard vendors.
When we arrived, there were about 30 people waiting for the gate to open. Our guide sent us ahead for the bag search while he stood in line for the tickets, then we met up in the inside courtyard. He stopped us at various spots to talk about the buildings, then we entered the main gate.
I have to say that I was brought to tears by the absolute beauty of this building. When sick a few years back, I thought I had missed my chance to ever see the Taj Mahal, so this was kind of emotional for me (and my daughter). Our poor guide wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, but was very polite about the whole affair!
We got many photos, saw the sun come up onto the Taj, and after a while our guide took off to let us enjoy the complex on our own. When we’d had our fill, we went out front to find the golf cart waiting and headed back for breakfast. We had time for a lovely swim in the pool before we had to check out and head off toward Fatepur Sikri..
Fatepur Sikri is about an hour out of Agra on the road to Jaipur. The road was very interesting- lots of cars, camels, goats, dogs, pigs, motorbikes, and women in colorful saris. Everyone in India drives like a maniac- but because everyone expects the unexpected and uses their horns liberally, it all seems to work. Because of the earlier monsoon, the fields were very green and pretty, much more than I had expected.
Fatepur Sikri was interesting and seeing it was good preparation for seeing Jaipur fort the next day. It was really hot, but our driver had an umbrella for us to use.
We left our guide outside of Fatepur Sikri, and headed down the road to Jaipur. This was where the day started to go bad. The road was horrible- potholes big enough to sleep in, the wild drivers in both lanes swerving to avoid them, and lots of trucks and animals that were bigger than our Tata. On top of this, I soon realized that our driver was very sleepy. I spent the next five hours chatting with him from my seat in the back. I’m sure he thought I was nuts, but I learned a lot about his life and family, we made it to Jaipur and his English got progressively better as the day wore on!
There was so much to see on this road...men and women patching the potholes with rocks, tree branches, and fresh cooked asphalt; school kids in their uniforms; women and children pumping water, little villages, and miles of roadside shops selling carved sandstone blocks, screens and lanterns. The problem was simply the length of the trip. I would not recommend it to any one, except that it is the only route from Agra to Jaipur. There is no train.
Anyway, we made it to Jaipur late in the day, where another Compass Rep was at our hotel. We were staying at the heritage hotel Samode Haveli, which I chose to get a little more historical feel of India and to be inside the walled district of Jaipur.
When we first pulled in, I did not like this hotel. I was hot and cranky, my neck hurt, and compared to Amarvilas, it looked a bit run down. The front desk guys were very bureaucratic types and though I never figured out the details, our Compass guy got into a big argument (in Hindi) with them and spent some time on the phone arguing further with their boss. Something about him being able to represent us properly. I really didn’t care, as what I wanted to do was switch from driving to Delhi two days later to taking the train. After a long discussion, where he convinced me that the Jaipur road was much nicer-“ one of India’s best highways, madam”- I agreed to sleep on the idea.
We were given a huge skeleton key and headed off to our room, where we used it on a big brass padlock on the out side of the door.
Once we got settled, we actually loved this hotel. We were paying $115 a night with breakfast included. Our room was around the back and faced a fountain and large lawn and hedges. It had high domed ceilings and lots of curved archways. The floors and the bath were all marble, and despite being rather plain, it was very comfortable and restful with an Indian feeling. There was a beautiful big pool, and there were big queen size lounge beds with arched stone canopies over them. The pool guys were attentive and they had wonderful fruit trays, drinks and french fries! We spent hours out there after dinner.
Dinner was a mostly Indian food buffet. You could sit inside (AC!) or out in the courtyard where there was a puppet show scheduled. We chose the dining room and felt like we’d stepped into a movie set- murals on all the walls and the waiters in costume. The food was very good.
In the morning, we again were offered a buffet. This one had more English than Indian choices.
We ate out side and were amused by some monkeys playing up on the roof.
Before heading our, we bundled up our laundry for cleaning. Sent out nearly everything once we realized how cheap it was- even had clean clothing pressed. All came back that evening - pressed, and folded with local newspaper inserts. I think we paid less than $15 for a suitcase full!
We started our tour of Jaipur at the Palace of the winds- just a photo stop from across the street. I thought I just took a snapshot, but had the video function of my new camera on. Oddly enough, this ‘mistake’ has turned out to be one of my favorite photos of the trip...There’s a shot of the palace, then about 5 minutes of our guide talking and video of the street and sidewalk. It is a really nice reminder of the sounds and more mundane views- people wandering by, a camel cart, the debris and potholes, horns honking, and our guide’s great Indian accent. We had a hard time taking photos away from the tourist sites in India. The second you stopped moving, people would come up wanting money, or just wanting to help you find “good cheap shop, mum”.
From here we headed up to the Amber fort. It was a fascinating place, and we not only got to ride an elephant, but had some time to watch them playing in the lake with their owners. Elephants are not allowed to work more than a half day at the Amber Fort, so these were the afternoon shift! We also got to see a snake charmer in action, and this time I set the camera to video on purpose!
It was very nice as the fort is at a high elevation. Not only was it a lot cooler, but you could see all the surrounding valley.
We thoroughly enjoyed our knowledgeable guide in Jaipur. He was 23, and the youngest of seven kids, mostly sisters. He and my daughter hit it off and they compared a lot of notes on young Indian vs American culture.
After our tour of the fort, we took a jeep down the hill to meet our driver. We found the car, but not the driver, so Mr. Sharma wandered off to find him, leaving us alone in the pick up area. Ouch! A crowd of beggars and touts instantly surrounded us, including one particularly aggressive old woman and a young boy. She keep begging and then bending down to stroke my ankles, while the boy kept sticking his hands out. I was glad we only had our purses, as we had them clasped tightly to our chests!
On the way back into town, we stopped to look at a castle type structure out in the lake. Mr Sharma said that it has recently been sold to a hotel chain, and would probably end up like Lake Palace in a few years. There were lots of boats out on the lake due to the high water brought by the monsoon. A little boy came up and asked if he could do some magic for us. He was so cute and his magic was very good. One trick was a shell game- using the tops of bicycle bells for the covers and coin shaped pieces of tires for his ‘coin”. All the while, he kept up a rapid patter of English- “this one goes to Delhi, this one goes to Mumbai, and this one goes to Agra”. We were happy to give him a tip, especially since he didn’t ask for one.
We headed into town for lunch. As usual, the guide and driver dropped us and then disappeared until we came outside. The restaurants they chose were always very local food and prices, but clean. We were pleased with the choices. We toured the observatory and the city palace and ran into our magic boy again. He was really embarrassed when our guide told him we’d seen his show earlier. Guess us tourists all look alike!! We all had a good laugh, and he took off.
From here we headed to our obligatory demonstration stop. It was quite interesting actually. We got to try our hand at block printing, without any hard sell, then went upstairs to look at saris. We were absolutely determined not to buy anything, but let them to dress my daughter in a sari “for a picture”. We ended up having such a good time, with her being dressed and Mr. Sharma telling us about his sisters and mothers life styles and dress that in the end we did buy one. It was really beautiful silk and included the underskirt and top for about $100 dollars.
From here, we headed to the city Palace and a couple of museums there. There was also a hall with numerous artists and their works. We shopped for a while, but didn’t buy anything.
Leaving here, we headed to the local government store. Picked out some silk scarves as gifts, and then found ourselves looking at saris again. This shop was much less fancy, and was full of men shopping for their families. We bought some more casual salwar kameez for my daughter and her sister, some adorable toddler outfits for my new grand niece, and some shawls. I bought fabric to have a salwar kameez made for only $30, which they delivered to our hotel that evening.
It was about 6 pm when we finished, so we called it a day and went back to our hotel. We had snacks and drinks by the pool, then packed and had dinner. There was some sort of celebration tonight...lots of fireworks in the distance.
The next morning we got up early to have breakfast and head to Delhi.
Nov 17th, 2005, 05:00 PM
#3
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Well, it seems like things so far worked out with Compass. Guides can be unpredictable, of course. The road from Agra to Jaipur was not bad at all for us - maybe the monsoons take their toll - we did not have to deal with potholes, only the crazy drivers. Glad you loved Amarvilas - quite a place. Interesting about the lake palace outside of Jaipur. Sounds like you got to Amber before the incident with the elephants. Bangkok info was good too. Look forward to hearing more.
Nov 17th, 2005, 06:17 PM
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I LOVE THIS REPORT!!!!!!!!!
i have read it once and will reread it again tomorrow...fantastic...karen will read it also when she gets home i am sure....can't wait to hear more...as we are planning a similar trip for next fall, it has tons of good info for us, plus all the info we have gotten from craig and jeane....
bob
i have read it once and will reread it again tomorrow...fantastic...karen will read it also when she gets home i am sure....can't wait to hear more...as we are planning a similar trip for next fall, it has tons of good info for us, plus all the info we have gotten from craig and jeane....
bob
Nov 17th, 2005, 07:13 PM
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Lcuy this sounds wonderful - I too need to read again slowly tomorrow - you answered a post I put up a few weeks ago - on deciding whether or not to let my son do his fall semester 2006 in Darjeeling, India and all my concerns. I am still trying to decide but your posts keep making me feel better. Thanks.
Nov 18th, 2005, 03:52 AM
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Simply FABULOUS report! I Love all the details, and the fact that you were sharing it all with your daughter. My daughter and I are also very close & we're planning a brief mother-daughter trip to Israel in early summer -- after trip with husband to Thailand in Feb -- and I was so touched to read about your experience at the Taj Mahal.
Nov 25th, 2005, 04:06 PM
#12
Original Poster
I'm madly working on this. Did I mention that I had the whole report done a long time ago, and LOST it? That's why it is so hard...It's the second time, and all my receipts and notes are somewhat scattered now. 
But...I know if I don't get this done before i head back to India on Monday, it will never get finished. Both trips will merge into one and my weak brain will never know which was which!!!
But...I know if I don't get this done before i head back to India on Monday, it will never get finished. Both trips will merge into one and my weak brain will never know which was which!!!
Nov 26th, 2005, 12:12 AM
#13
Original Poster
Jaipur to Delhi
The next morning we had another nice breakfast at the hotel, then our driver arrived for our trip to New Delhi. After the Agra-Jaipur section, I was not really keen on the idea of more driving, but everyone convinced me that this highway, “the finest in India”, would be much smoother.
It was smoother, but still not what I’d call fine. Because it is the main road to Delhi, it is loaded with huge big trucks (all stating, “Use Horn” on the back end). In addition, the better condition of the asphalt allowed everyone to drive much faster. There are never any bypass roads in India, so you not only have big trucks and cars, but also motorcycles, scooters, camel carts, donkeys, bicyclists and goats on the road.
This day, though, I put my fate in God, our driver, and some Ativan (an anti anxiety drug), and all of them came through. The traffic got progressively heavier as we approached Delhi, and once we got into the south part of the city, all the trucks sort of disappeared, and the auto-rickshaws took their place.
South Delhi is not unattractive, as big cities go. The roadways are wide, and there are wide lawns and big trees along all the roads. As you get closer to Connaught Place, it starts looking more like a big city. It took another hour and a half to reach the Imperial hotel from the time we entered in the south. We said goodbye to our driver, and gave him a big tip as we’d really gotten attached to him after four days.
The Imperial was as majestic as we expected. They have a huge tall Sikh doorman in the porte cochere, and usually two or three other uniformed employees manning the doors. The lobby was not impressive upon our arrival– they were sanding the marble floors, so half of it was screened off and there was a terrible racket.
I had gotten a really good promotional rate at the Imperial off their own web site. $129 a day-including breakfast- if you stayed 4 days. Because this was about 50% off their next cheapest rate, I wasn’t expecting the best of rooms. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for the one they led us to. It was on the ground floor at the complete back of the hotel, and looked directly out onto the construction site of the new swimming pool. In fact, the workers were sitting under our window taking a smoke break. The woman who escorted us to our room also notified us that breakfast would be only by room service, and must be delivered by 6:30 am! We thought we’d heard her wrong, but no, she confirmed it again.
After about 5 minutes, we decided we could not stay in that room. We headed back to the front desk and asked for another that was not on the ground floor. The woman said they would find us another room, but told us to wait in the room for a bellman. After 45 minutes, no bellman and we were starving, so we headed back to the front desk. We told them we were going to eat lunch in the hotel, and that they could move our bags.
The 1911 restaurant had a wonderful lunch buffet. Lots of cheeses, breads, salads, seafood, fruits and fresh juices. Also hot dishes, but we stuck with the lighter stuff. During the course of our meal, we found out that our breakfast would be served here, and that we could come in anytime during normal breakfast hours to eat. Still don’t know why the girl told us the bit about 6:30 room service.
After our lunch and another trip to the front desk, we still had to wait for the original woman to finally walk us to a new room. This one was up stairs, still a long way from the lobby and looking toward the dining area below. It was a nice room- two twin beds, two armoires, and a desk. Mini bar, big marble bathroom with all the “stuff” you’d expect. Only thing missing was internet, but they had a very nice business center. Internet was very fast; 100Rs per half hour.
One big disadvantage to traveling in August (besides the heat!) is that many places use this off season to do major repairs. The Imperial was in the midst of building a spa and new pool, so the old pool was encircled with construction fencing and you had to take a long walk to get there. The walls in the hall outside our room were also being painted, so we had to dodge drip clothes and ladders to get to our room during the day.
After we settled into our room, DD took a nap and I decided to wander over the Cottage Industries Emporium across Janpath from the Imperial. When you leave the Imperial grounds, there is a large taxi stand outside the gate. The first time, all the drivers try to sell you a ride, but they didn’t bother us after the first ‘no thanks”. You have to pass a bunch of small shops where they were very aggressive, then deal with all the touts telling you that the Emporium is
a) closed, and
b) the opposite way.
Luckily I’d been warned, so it was more amusing than a problem. The same guys would tell us the same thing every time we walked by there.
The Cottage Industries Emporium is a great place. About five floors of crafts, tea, pottery, household fabrics, rugs, jewelry, clothing, art and much more. Prices are reasonable and all marked on the items. In each department, you have the salesperson write up your purchases, then they send the items to a main pickup booth on the main floor. Once you’re done shopping, you take your sales slips to the main floor cashiers, pay, then pick up your items on the way out. They take credit cards and cash. I bought some little stuff and made mental notes of things to come back for later.
That night, DD ordered room serviced, but I fell asleep before it arrived.
The next day, we had a great breakfast. Again, lots of variety and fresh foods on the buffet stations, as well as English and Indian breakfast foods cooked to order. We planned to spend the day just relaxing, so we hadn’t arranged for a car.
We walked up to Connaught Place to get a SIM card for DD’s phone, which took many more hours than we expected. T-Mobile had given us an unlock code for her phone, but it turned out to be the wrong code. We found this out after the AirTel India rep activated a new SIM card and told me it was non-refundable. She sent us on a wild goose chase to try to have someone else unlock the phone elsewhere, but we ended up just buying a new phone. Did get quite familiar with the whole area in the process.
It was really hot, the streets were dirty, and each time we stopped to figure out where we were, someone would come up in an overly friendly way while steering us to a shop. A lot of the sidewalks were covered, so they weren’t as hot, but they smelled worse! It was all very frustrating. To top it off, we couldn’t find any place to eat lunch. We ended up getting into a little spat over something stupid, and headed back to the Imperial. She did some reading and I went out to the pool. With the construction, there was only a little lawn and chair area around the pool. It was still very pleasant. There were only a few other people, and the pool men were really nice. They’d bring a cold water bottle, put a new towel on the chaise and bring over an umbrella if asked. There was a bar, but no bathrooms. The pool was the perfect temp for me and I spent quite a while in the water. (*note...new spa and pool should be done by Dec 2005)
Relaxed, DD and I were friends again, so we walked over to the Cottage Emporium. Found a beautiful sari and had the on-site tailor make her the matching top. We bought a bunch of silver jewelry and I got a beautiful moonstone pendant. They had racks of beautiful silk and cotton fabrics, so I bought some, but wished I had brought measurements of my drapes and other projects. I can’t even remember all we bought, but we spent several hours and could hardly walk home with our loot!
The next morning we had another nice breakfast at the hotel, then our driver arrived for our trip to New Delhi. After the Agra-Jaipur section, I was not really keen on the idea of more driving, but everyone convinced me that this highway, “the finest in India”, would be much smoother.
It was smoother, but still not what I’d call fine. Because it is the main road to Delhi, it is loaded with huge big trucks (all stating, “Use Horn” on the back end). In addition, the better condition of the asphalt allowed everyone to drive much faster. There are never any bypass roads in India, so you not only have big trucks and cars, but also motorcycles, scooters, camel carts, donkeys, bicyclists and goats on the road.
This day, though, I put my fate in God, our driver, and some Ativan (an anti anxiety drug), and all of them came through. The traffic got progressively heavier as we approached Delhi, and once we got into the south part of the city, all the trucks sort of disappeared, and the auto-rickshaws took their place.
South Delhi is not unattractive, as big cities go. The roadways are wide, and there are wide lawns and big trees along all the roads. As you get closer to Connaught Place, it starts looking more like a big city. It took another hour and a half to reach the Imperial hotel from the time we entered in the south. We said goodbye to our driver, and gave him a big tip as we’d really gotten attached to him after four days.
The Imperial was as majestic as we expected. They have a huge tall Sikh doorman in the porte cochere, and usually two or three other uniformed employees manning the doors. The lobby was not impressive upon our arrival– they were sanding the marble floors, so half of it was screened off and there was a terrible racket.
I had gotten a really good promotional rate at the Imperial off their own web site. $129 a day-including breakfast- if you stayed 4 days. Because this was about 50% off their next cheapest rate, I wasn’t expecting the best of rooms. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for the one they led us to. It was on the ground floor at the complete back of the hotel, and looked directly out onto the construction site of the new swimming pool. In fact, the workers were sitting under our window taking a smoke break. The woman who escorted us to our room also notified us that breakfast would be only by room service, and must be delivered by 6:30 am! We thought we’d heard her wrong, but no, she confirmed it again.
After about 5 minutes, we decided we could not stay in that room. We headed back to the front desk and asked for another that was not on the ground floor. The woman said they would find us another room, but told us to wait in the room for a bellman. After 45 minutes, no bellman and we were starving, so we headed back to the front desk. We told them we were going to eat lunch in the hotel, and that they could move our bags.
The 1911 restaurant had a wonderful lunch buffet. Lots of cheeses, breads, salads, seafood, fruits and fresh juices. Also hot dishes, but we stuck with the lighter stuff. During the course of our meal, we found out that our breakfast would be served here, and that we could come in anytime during normal breakfast hours to eat. Still don’t know why the girl told us the bit about 6:30 room service.
After our lunch and another trip to the front desk, we still had to wait for the original woman to finally walk us to a new room. This one was up stairs, still a long way from the lobby and looking toward the dining area below. It was a nice room- two twin beds, two armoires, and a desk. Mini bar, big marble bathroom with all the “stuff” you’d expect. Only thing missing was internet, but they had a very nice business center. Internet was very fast; 100Rs per half hour.
One big disadvantage to traveling in August (besides the heat!) is that many places use this off season to do major repairs. The Imperial was in the midst of building a spa and new pool, so the old pool was encircled with construction fencing and you had to take a long walk to get there. The walls in the hall outside our room were also being painted, so we had to dodge drip clothes and ladders to get to our room during the day.
After we settled into our room, DD took a nap and I decided to wander over the Cottage Industries Emporium across Janpath from the Imperial. When you leave the Imperial grounds, there is a large taxi stand outside the gate. The first time, all the drivers try to sell you a ride, but they didn’t bother us after the first ‘no thanks”. You have to pass a bunch of small shops where they were very aggressive, then deal with all the touts telling you that the Emporium is
a) closed, and
b) the opposite way.
Luckily I’d been warned, so it was more amusing than a problem. The same guys would tell us the same thing every time we walked by there.
The Cottage Industries Emporium is a great place. About five floors of crafts, tea, pottery, household fabrics, rugs, jewelry, clothing, art and much more. Prices are reasonable and all marked on the items. In each department, you have the salesperson write up your purchases, then they send the items to a main pickup booth on the main floor. Once you’re done shopping, you take your sales slips to the main floor cashiers, pay, then pick up your items on the way out. They take credit cards and cash. I bought some little stuff and made mental notes of things to come back for later.
That night, DD ordered room serviced, but I fell asleep before it arrived.
The next day, we had a great breakfast. Again, lots of variety and fresh foods on the buffet stations, as well as English and Indian breakfast foods cooked to order. We planned to spend the day just relaxing, so we hadn’t arranged for a car.
We walked up to Connaught Place to get a SIM card for DD’s phone, which took many more hours than we expected. T-Mobile had given us an unlock code for her phone, but it turned out to be the wrong code. We found this out after the AirTel India rep activated a new SIM card and told me it was non-refundable. She sent us on a wild goose chase to try to have someone else unlock the phone elsewhere, but we ended up just buying a new phone. Did get quite familiar with the whole area in the process.
It was really hot, the streets were dirty, and each time we stopped to figure out where we were, someone would come up in an overly friendly way while steering us to a shop. A lot of the sidewalks were covered, so they weren’t as hot, but they smelled worse! It was all very frustrating. To top it off, we couldn’t find any place to eat lunch. We ended up getting into a little spat over something stupid, and headed back to the Imperial. She did some reading and I went out to the pool. With the construction, there was only a little lawn and chair area around the pool. It was still very pleasant. There were only a few other people, and the pool men were really nice. They’d bring a cold water bottle, put a new towel on the chaise and bring over an umbrella if asked. There was a bar, but no bathrooms. The pool was the perfect temp for me and I spent quite a while in the water. (*note...new spa and pool should be done by Dec 2005)
Relaxed, DD and I were friends again, so we walked over to the Cottage Emporium. Found a beautiful sari and had the on-site tailor make her the matching top. We bought a bunch of silver jewelry and I got a beautiful moonstone pendant. They had racks of beautiful silk and cotton fabrics, so I bought some, but wished I had brought measurements of my drapes and other projects. I can’t even remember all we bought, but we spent several hours and could hardly walk home with our loot!
Nov 26th, 2005, 12:16 AM
#14
Original Poster
Sunday we had breakfast, then waited in the lobby for our guide and driver for the day. We first headed to the Compass Travel office in south Delhi to pay our bill (we’d paid nothing so far), then headed off to see the major sights on Delhi. Within minutes, we knew this day was not going to be as successful as previous sightseeing days. We basically had the tour guide from hell. He thought all of Delhi’s problems could be solved by sending the poor and ignorant out to the country, knocking down all the old buildings, and putting freeways everywhere. He lectured us non-stop in a loud voice, and repeated every fact four or five times, as though we were idiots who could not understand English. At first, I thought my daughter would be irritated at me for this; luckily she understood that this was not my doing. About the fourth time he told us that the poor, uneducated masses kept Delhi from looking like a proper world class capitol, she turned to me and rolled her eyes. I nearly burst out laughing.
We first went to the Bahai temple, and even here, he would not stop lecturing us. We then went to the Qutb Minar, where again he would not stop talking!! We had to literally walk off to be able to pose for pictures. He spent the whole time here trying to convince us that the place had been built by Hindus and that the Muslims re-carved the stones to make it look like they’d built it. “As further proof...” he’d preface everything. Like we had to be convinced.. When we told him we did not want to go shopping, he took us to a tourist store and said he needed to use the telephone, so we would have to come in. Right...
From here, the tour went even further downhill. I told him I didn’t want to go to the Fort, but wanted to see several other places. We drove by them, but at each, he either said it was closed or in the case of Jami Masjid, said non-muslims weren’t allowed. After the third time this happened, I asked to go back to the Imperial. Once there, I secretly slipped a tip to the driver, and got out. This guy wouldn’t quit lecturing even then, and kept trying to hint for a tip. Unbelievable!
That afternoon, we did more pool and reading and walked around for a little more shopping, and picked up DD’s sari top. It was very relaxing. We also spent some time in the business center on the internet. The girls working there were really sweet, and like everyone else in the hotel, wore beautifully draped saris everyday.
That evening, DD wanted to wear her sari for the first time, but we couldn’t get it quite right, so we went down to the business center and the girls helped her adjust it properly. They even pinned it so we could study it later! Little thing, but it endeared me to the Imperial, and India forever. For every aggressive salesperson or filthy sidewalk, there is an unbelievably kind and gracious individual.
This evening we had dinner at Spice Route, in the hotel. It is a beautiful restaurant- took seven years to build, they said. Each section looks like a different country on the spice route. We sat in what looked like a Thai courtyard. This place is considered one of Delhi’s best restaurants, so it was not cheap, but well worth the cost. DD had a Mai Tai ($12!), as her 21st birthday would happen a month later. We shared a delicious Thai style soup, indian breads, and vegetable curry. Dessert was a plate with about 8 little scoops of ice cream. All very odd sounding flavors, but wonderful!
Knowing the popularity of this place, we had been surprised to easily get reservations at 7:30, but found out here that Delhi-ites eat very late. They said the main crowd came in around 10pm and stayed till 2am “if they’re really drunk”...
Next day was another car free day. Again, we did very little. Pool time, walked around the nearby shops and market, then had my hands decorated with henna at the Hanuman temple a few blocks behind our hotel. They have tons of little tables with mendhi artists waiting for business outside the temple. We chose one where the couple manning it looked friendly. He had a photo album with all sorts of hands, forearms and feet that he had done. Cost was 50 RS for each section- my left palm was a “section”, top of hand would have been another.
It was amazing to watch the guy. He used a squeeze bag with a fine tip and very quickly drew these intricate designs. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. You have to let the henna dry for about an hour, then it flakes off . I had been told that the longer I let it sit, the longer it would last, but I had to wrap it in a towel all night to keep the flakes out of my bed. In the morning it was a rich dark brown, and I loved it! I had chosen the left palm in case I hated it and wanted to keep my hand in my pocket.
We decided we didn’t want to go out for dinner, so called room service. In the menu book, we noticed that you could order from Spice Route. Only problem was that the menu was not in the book. They suggested we walk to the restaurant, copy down the food we wanted, then call again to have it delivered. Ok..... so that’s what we did.
The food came very quickly and was just as delicious as the other. We had coconut based soup, a vegetable curry, Indian bread with dip, and some vegetables. The best was the grilled pineapple dessert; slices of pineapple rubbed with crushed cinnamon, grilled, then served with ice cream. One of the best desserts I’ve ever had. We fought over it!
We fell asleep to the news about Hurricane Katrina, which was just starting to hit.
Our last day. We had breakfast with our favorite waiter Vikan again, and said a fond goodbye. He really liked us because each day, we asked him to choose an Indian breakfast entree for us. He said many guests wouldn’t even try the Indian dishes, even though they are free at breakfast.
We had a car today. The driver was quite young, and again taken by my daughter. He had lots of questions about American kids. One thing I noticed with Indians is that they are interested in hearing about America, but not eager to act like Americans. This is quite different from say, Japanese kids who want to dress like Americans and go surfing in Hawaii. Don’t know if we just had a limited sample.
Anyway, we checked out of the hotel, said goodbye to the big Sikh doorman, and took our bags with us. First on the agenda was finding my daughter’s new home for the beginning of the semester. It took quite a while to find “The Residency”, with a lot of asking of strangers on street corners. We finally found the compound, but had to go to a building a few blocks away. Luckily, the office sent one of their employees with us.
It was quite an interesting place at the Golf Links near the Khan Market. We entered the parking area through a big gate with several “guards”. It was an older building and her apartment was on the second floor.
Inside, it was an apartment with about 6 bedrooms- each like a college dorm room with a bath, a big living room, dining room, kitchen and computer area. There were about 4 house boys hanging around. DD’s room had twin beds, bathroom, 2 desks and a closet. There was a noisy AC and a security grill over doors to a balcony. I was thinking, I could not live there, but of course the other kids hadn’t arrived and I didn’t have my “India goggles” on, or I would have seen that it was a very nice, upper middle class place. They actually rent rooms here by the night or long term for about $40 per night with meals.
We left all our bags, locked up, and headed out to the Santushti Market. Craig had referred us here, and I’d also read good things about it in my guide book. We weren’t disappointed. It was just before lunchtime when we got there, so we had a delicious meal at Basil & Thyme for about $12 dollars. Lots of women doing lunch here.
The “market” is really a walled compound with maybe 15 or 20 little cottages set among the lawns and trees. Outside the walls was another area with 7 or 8 more shops, but these were like designer showrooms. The main area had an Anohki with lots of clothing and household fabrics. Some of the other shops had quite unique jewelry, clothing, and household items. One shop was all leather items - desk sets, waste baskets, handbags, boxes, etc, another had gorgeous sterling silver jewelry, vases and sculptures. We felt we’d hit the shopping jackpot- lots of interesting clothing for my daughter, souvenirs and gifts for me, and very reasonably priced jewelry for both of us!
The driver gave us his phone number (he insisted on punching it in to my DD’s phone!), and we assumed he left during our hours of shopping, but no, he stayed right there under a tree the whole time. He really was sweet, and at the end said that since he had no sisters, he would like DD to be his honorary sister!
On our way ‘home’, we had him drop us at the Khan market. It seemed to have a lot of stuff, and we shopped a little before we walked over to the Ambassador hotel next door for dinner. We ate in their yellow brick road café- decorated with movie memorabilia. It was very local and surprisingly good.
When we got outside it was very dark, so the walk home was a bit scary as we weren’t totally sure where to go! Oops. We found it okay and after packing, took naps until our driver came back for the airport trip.
Even from this south Delhi area it took about an hour at 10pm to get to the airport. Once there, we headed for the arrivals lounge. You have to pay a few dollars to get access, but it was very spacious with lots of seats and a video of the passengers arriving from customs. We were waiting for my daughter’s classmates– I wanted to make sure they arrived before I had to leave!
They finally appeared on the video, so we said our goodbyes before I embarassed her in front of friends. From there, I made my way up to the departures hall. Chaos is the only way to describe it. Long lines to get in, and no signs to direct anyone. I was flying British Airways, and they use their own baggage x-ray, so I got in the line that travelled in a perfect figure eight (every single new person would cut in line and have to be told to start in the middle.
From the X-ray to BA check-in, there were again no signs and again each line was for specific passengers...Indian nationals , foreigners, foreigners with no luggage etc. Made for lively conversation as we all tried to figure out the system before we committed too much time to the wrong line.
Another segregated line for the security screening, and then a huge line for the gate. At some point, a BA employee came and took about 10 of us from the end of the line and told us to go to another gate very far away..It was loading a plane to Bosnia, so again, lots of questions among us. Finally, all the Bosnians loaded and they motioned us all in. Turned out we had walked miles to get in the hall way that led back to the original gate..and by this time there was no more line. Ah, India. It’s never easy, but was always interesting!
Our flight left on time despite all that. The plane was quite full, but I had two seats, so I fell asleep for most of the trip. Couldn’t tell you anything about the food or movies.
In Heathrow, I had about three hours to kill. I hadn’t been here since 1994, so prices were shocking! I found a café that took Visa cards though and got a decent little breakfast for about $10, then just wandered around looking at the bookstores and candy stores. Found several English candies that I remembered from my teen trips and stocked up on them.
From here, I went to Boston, Portland, Oregon, Ventura, and ended up at Anaheim for a company trip to Disneyland. I will post that section on the US board.
Somehow it seemed fitting to end up at Disneyland. In some ways it is a lot like India- A fascinating place if you can turn off your normal judgements. Very easy to do Disneyland, but it can also be extremely frustrating.
India was one of those places that is not for the faint of heart...It is a true third world country, no matter how many tech companies work out of Bangalore. India is dirty, smelly, and the touts and beggars can be aggravating. Transportation and utilities are iffy, the roads are bad, and the weather brutal. It is hard work to travel there
But...there is something about the place that just gets under your skin. The individuals you meet, the beautiful colors of the women in their saris, the food, the awesome buildings and scenery. I am writing this in November, three months later, and I dream of India at night. I never thought I’d get to go once but, lucky for me, my daughter needs a traveling partner again. I leave Monday night for Delhi, Varanasi, Udaipur and Ranthambore!
Promise to report back much quicker next time,
Lucy
We first went to the Bahai temple, and even here, he would not stop lecturing us. We then went to the Qutb Minar, where again he would not stop talking!! We had to literally walk off to be able to pose for pictures. He spent the whole time here trying to convince us that the place had been built by Hindus and that the Muslims re-carved the stones to make it look like they’d built it. “As further proof...” he’d preface everything. Like we had to be convinced.. When we told him we did not want to go shopping, he took us to a tourist store and said he needed to use the telephone, so we would have to come in. Right...
From here, the tour went even further downhill. I told him I didn’t want to go to the Fort, but wanted to see several other places. We drove by them, but at each, he either said it was closed or in the case of Jami Masjid, said non-muslims weren’t allowed. After the third time this happened, I asked to go back to the Imperial. Once there, I secretly slipped a tip to the driver, and got out. This guy wouldn’t quit lecturing even then, and kept trying to hint for a tip. Unbelievable!
That afternoon, we did more pool and reading and walked around for a little more shopping, and picked up DD’s sari top. It was very relaxing. We also spent some time in the business center on the internet. The girls working there were really sweet, and like everyone else in the hotel, wore beautifully draped saris everyday.
That evening, DD wanted to wear her sari for the first time, but we couldn’t get it quite right, so we went down to the business center and the girls helped her adjust it properly. They even pinned it so we could study it later! Little thing, but it endeared me to the Imperial, and India forever. For every aggressive salesperson or filthy sidewalk, there is an unbelievably kind and gracious individual.
This evening we had dinner at Spice Route, in the hotel. It is a beautiful restaurant- took seven years to build, they said. Each section looks like a different country on the spice route. We sat in what looked like a Thai courtyard. This place is considered one of Delhi’s best restaurants, so it was not cheap, but well worth the cost. DD had a Mai Tai ($12!), as her 21st birthday would happen a month later. We shared a delicious Thai style soup, indian breads, and vegetable curry. Dessert was a plate with about 8 little scoops of ice cream. All very odd sounding flavors, but wonderful!
Knowing the popularity of this place, we had been surprised to easily get reservations at 7:30, but found out here that Delhi-ites eat very late. They said the main crowd came in around 10pm and stayed till 2am “if they’re really drunk”...
Next day was another car free day. Again, we did very little. Pool time, walked around the nearby shops and market, then had my hands decorated with henna at the Hanuman temple a few blocks behind our hotel. They have tons of little tables with mendhi artists waiting for business outside the temple. We chose one where the couple manning it looked friendly. He had a photo album with all sorts of hands, forearms and feet that he had done. Cost was 50 RS for each section- my left palm was a “section”, top of hand would have been another.
It was amazing to watch the guy. He used a squeeze bag with a fine tip and very quickly drew these intricate designs. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. You have to let the henna dry for about an hour, then it flakes off . I had been told that the longer I let it sit, the longer it would last, but I had to wrap it in a towel all night to keep the flakes out of my bed. In the morning it was a rich dark brown, and I loved it! I had chosen the left palm in case I hated it and wanted to keep my hand in my pocket.
We decided we didn’t want to go out for dinner, so called room service. In the menu book, we noticed that you could order from Spice Route. Only problem was that the menu was not in the book. They suggested we walk to the restaurant, copy down the food we wanted, then call again to have it delivered. Ok..... so that’s what we did.
The food came very quickly and was just as delicious as the other. We had coconut based soup, a vegetable curry, Indian bread with dip, and some vegetables. The best was the grilled pineapple dessert; slices of pineapple rubbed with crushed cinnamon, grilled, then served with ice cream. One of the best desserts I’ve ever had. We fought over it!
We fell asleep to the news about Hurricane Katrina, which was just starting to hit.
Our last day. We had breakfast with our favorite waiter Vikan again, and said a fond goodbye. He really liked us because each day, we asked him to choose an Indian breakfast entree for us. He said many guests wouldn’t even try the Indian dishes, even though they are free at breakfast.
We had a car today. The driver was quite young, and again taken by my daughter. He had lots of questions about American kids. One thing I noticed with Indians is that they are interested in hearing about America, but not eager to act like Americans. This is quite different from say, Japanese kids who want to dress like Americans and go surfing in Hawaii. Don’t know if we just had a limited sample.
Anyway, we checked out of the hotel, said goodbye to the big Sikh doorman, and took our bags with us. First on the agenda was finding my daughter’s new home for the beginning of the semester. It took quite a while to find “The Residency”, with a lot of asking of strangers on street corners. We finally found the compound, but had to go to a building a few blocks away. Luckily, the office sent one of their employees with us.
It was quite an interesting place at the Golf Links near the Khan Market. We entered the parking area through a big gate with several “guards”. It was an older building and her apartment was on the second floor.
Inside, it was an apartment with about 6 bedrooms- each like a college dorm room with a bath, a big living room, dining room, kitchen and computer area. There were about 4 house boys hanging around. DD’s room had twin beds, bathroom, 2 desks and a closet. There was a noisy AC and a security grill over doors to a balcony. I was thinking, I could not live there, but of course the other kids hadn’t arrived and I didn’t have my “India goggles” on, or I would have seen that it was a very nice, upper middle class place. They actually rent rooms here by the night or long term for about $40 per night with meals.
We left all our bags, locked up, and headed out to the Santushti Market. Craig had referred us here, and I’d also read good things about it in my guide book. We weren’t disappointed. It was just before lunchtime when we got there, so we had a delicious meal at Basil & Thyme for about $12 dollars. Lots of women doing lunch here.
The “market” is really a walled compound with maybe 15 or 20 little cottages set among the lawns and trees. Outside the walls was another area with 7 or 8 more shops, but these were like designer showrooms. The main area had an Anohki with lots of clothing and household fabrics. Some of the other shops had quite unique jewelry, clothing, and household items. One shop was all leather items - desk sets, waste baskets, handbags, boxes, etc, another had gorgeous sterling silver jewelry, vases and sculptures. We felt we’d hit the shopping jackpot- lots of interesting clothing for my daughter, souvenirs and gifts for me, and very reasonably priced jewelry for both of us!
The driver gave us his phone number (he insisted on punching it in to my DD’s phone!), and we assumed he left during our hours of shopping, but no, he stayed right there under a tree the whole time. He really was sweet, and at the end said that since he had no sisters, he would like DD to be his honorary sister!
On our way ‘home’, we had him drop us at the Khan market. It seemed to have a lot of stuff, and we shopped a little before we walked over to the Ambassador hotel next door for dinner. We ate in their yellow brick road café- decorated with movie memorabilia. It was very local and surprisingly good.
When we got outside it was very dark, so the walk home was a bit scary as we weren’t totally sure where to go! Oops. We found it okay and after packing, took naps until our driver came back for the airport trip.
Even from this south Delhi area it took about an hour at 10pm to get to the airport. Once there, we headed for the arrivals lounge. You have to pay a few dollars to get access, but it was very spacious with lots of seats and a video of the passengers arriving from customs. We were waiting for my daughter’s classmates– I wanted to make sure they arrived before I had to leave!
They finally appeared on the video, so we said our goodbyes before I embarassed her in front of friends. From there, I made my way up to the departures hall. Chaos is the only way to describe it. Long lines to get in, and no signs to direct anyone. I was flying British Airways, and they use their own baggage x-ray, so I got in the line that travelled in a perfect figure eight (every single new person would cut in line and have to be told to start in the middle.
From the X-ray to BA check-in, there were again no signs and again each line was for specific passengers...Indian nationals , foreigners, foreigners with no luggage etc. Made for lively conversation as we all tried to figure out the system before we committed too much time to the wrong line.
Another segregated line for the security screening, and then a huge line for the gate. At some point, a BA employee came and took about 10 of us from the end of the line and told us to go to another gate very far away..It was loading a plane to Bosnia, so again, lots of questions among us. Finally, all the Bosnians loaded and they motioned us all in. Turned out we had walked miles to get in the hall way that led back to the original gate..and by this time there was no more line. Ah, India. It’s never easy, but was always interesting!
Our flight left on time despite all that. The plane was quite full, but I had two seats, so I fell asleep for most of the trip. Couldn’t tell you anything about the food or movies.
In Heathrow, I had about three hours to kill. I hadn’t been here since 1994, so prices were shocking! I found a café that took Visa cards though and got a decent little breakfast for about $10, then just wandered around looking at the bookstores and candy stores. Found several English candies that I remembered from my teen trips and stocked up on them.
From here, I went to Boston, Portland, Oregon, Ventura, and ended up at Anaheim for a company trip to Disneyland. I will post that section on the US board.
Somehow it seemed fitting to end up at Disneyland. In some ways it is a lot like India- A fascinating place if you can turn off your normal judgements. Very easy to do Disneyland, but it can also be extremely frustrating.
India was one of those places that is not for the faint of heart...It is a true third world country, no matter how many tech companies work out of Bangalore. India is dirty, smelly, and the touts and beggars can be aggravating. Transportation and utilities are iffy, the roads are bad, and the weather brutal. It is hard work to travel there
But...there is something about the place that just gets under your skin. The individuals you meet, the beautiful colors of the women in their saris, the food, the awesome buildings and scenery. I am writing this in November, three months later, and I dream of India at night. I never thought I’d get to go once but, lucky for me, my daughter needs a traveling partner again. I leave Monday night for Delhi, Varanasi, Udaipur and Ranthambore!
Promise to report back much quicker next time,
Lucy
Nov 26th, 2005, 07:57 AM
#15
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lucy...great report...anxiously await the next chapter...
did you tell durjay about how annoying the guide was?? did they (compass) provide you with a telephone during your stay?? i think i would have called him by mid-morning and told him, "this guy is driving us nuts..."... good you did not tip him..
speaking of tips....what did you give the driver for instance...as i plan my trip this is the type of thing that i am having trouble with...how much for this type of guy...also how much would you have given the guide if you liked him??
have fun the next couple of weeks
bob
did you tell durjay about how annoying the guide was?? did they (compass) provide you with a telephone during your stay?? i think i would have called him by mid-morning and told him, "this guy is driving us nuts..."... good you did not tip him..
speaking of tips....what did you give the driver for instance...as i plan my trip this is the type of thing that i am having trouble with...how much for this type of guy...also how much would you have given the guide if you liked him??
have fun the next couple of weeks
bob
Nov 26th, 2005, 08:45 AM
#16
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Wonderful report, Lucy. Personally, I would have ditched the guide rather than to endure what you and your daughter did. I concur with Bob and hope that you let Durjay know of your disappointment.
Nov 26th, 2005, 09:03 AM
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Lucy,
Wonderful report....mahalo nui loa! You have a special knack for telling a story and I love it. Maybe it will be even better in India the second time around as you now know what it's all about. Have a safe trip.
Aloha!
P.S. I wonder if frozen Zippy's chili would make it all the way to India?
Wonderful report....mahalo nui loa! You have a special knack for telling a story and I love it. Maybe it will be even better in India the second time around as you now know what it's all about. Have a safe trip.
Aloha!
P.S. I wonder if frozen Zippy's chili would make it all the way to India?
Nov 26th, 2005, 01:49 PM
#18
Original Poster
Thanks!
Yeah, Zippy's would be a winner! Instead DD requested sharp cheddar cheese, Korean Nori, and Emergen-C!
I did call Compass about Mr Mohan, and they apologized, but didn't offer any credits or additional drive time. I didn't really care at that point so didn't press the issue. Also Durjay was not in town while we were there, so I never got to talk directly with him.
I tipped the guide in Agra about 800Rs for the two half days, and the guide in Jaipur 800 Rs for the full day. Our driver for 3 days I gave about 1500Rs. 200Rs for the driver with guide from hell (maybe 3 hours) and then $500 Rs for our driver on the last day.
In their paperwork, Compass mentions they can sugest tipping amounts, but I forgot to ask before we started. I just did whatever I felt; hope it was okay. I'm hoping my daughter will know better this time.
We did not recieve a phone from Compass...I would insist on it if I was doing it again. We only had my daughter's phone the last day.
We aren't using Compass this time. I would have, but we were on such a short time schedule that I did most of the planning myself for the hotels.
Also, my daughter has a TA in Delhi that they've been using, so she booked the air and trains thru him.
All our hotels provide airport/train transfers, so our only need for cars and guides will be in Udaipur.
We'll find one when we get there, and we'll walk or use cycle rickshaws in Varanasi, as my DD has been there already.
Yeah, Zippy's would be a winner! Instead DD requested sharp cheddar cheese, Korean Nori, and Emergen-C!
I did call Compass about Mr Mohan, and they apologized, but didn't offer any credits or additional drive time. I didn't really care at that point so didn't press the issue. Also Durjay was not in town while we were there, so I never got to talk directly with him.
I tipped the guide in Agra about 800Rs for the two half days, and the guide in Jaipur 800 Rs for the full day. Our driver for 3 days I gave about 1500Rs. 200Rs for the driver with guide from hell (maybe 3 hours) and then $500 Rs for our driver on the last day.
In their paperwork, Compass mentions they can sugest tipping amounts, but I forgot to ask before we started. I just did whatever I felt; hope it was okay. I'm hoping my daughter will know better this time.
We did not recieve a phone from Compass...I would insist on it if I was doing it again. We only had my daughter's phone the last day.
We aren't using Compass this time. I would have, but we were on such a short time schedule that I did most of the planning myself for the hotels.
Also, my daughter has a TA in Delhi that they've been using, so she booked the air and trains thru him.
All our hotels provide airport/train transfers, so our only need for cars and guides will be in Udaipur.
We'll find one when we get there, and we'll walk or use cycle rickshaws in Varanasi, as my DD has been there already.
Nov 26th, 2005, 04:42 PM
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i will be interested to find out how you make out doing things on your own, with the assistance of the delhi t/a....i would love to try on my own, but am afraid that all the complications i read about, and my lack of patience, would ruin the trip for us if things went amiss.....i would just loose it...just call me laurieco, jr......
Nov 26th, 2005, 09:11 PM
#20
Original Poster
Well I would never have attempted this on my own the first time! Really, between Craig's report and Compass I felt like we had a very smooth trip. We covered all the "must sees" for a first trip, and the only glitch was the one tour guide in Delhi, and the lack of a phone. Next time I'd be real clear on how many car hours or the time span you get each day.
Since you've learned from us Bob, you won't make those mistakes!! BTW, are you still shopping around, or did you decide on a TA?
My fear with this trip is that airlines will be overbooked or winter weather will put us behind schedule.
We've buit in some clearance, but if the Varansi-Delhi or Delhi- Udaipur flights don't go, it's 24 hours till the next one. Not that a TA could prevent that either.
Since you've learned from us Bob, you won't make those mistakes!! BTW, are you still shopping around, or did you decide on a TA?
My fear with this trip is that airlines will be overbooked or winter weather will put us behind schedule.
We've buit in some clearance, but if the Varansi-Delhi or Delhi- Udaipur flights don't go, it's 24 hours till the next one. Not that a TA could prevent that either.
