Our Golden Triangle Tour
This was a wonderful holiday, full of bright, interesting and happy memories!
The
Rickshaw Ride in Old Delhi,
the Camel Ride around Satbir's village, meeting
Satbir's lovely relatives, the Hindu Blessing by Pushkar Lake,
the Elephant Ride,
The Taj Mahal,
dining with Raj's family... - to name just a few.
All amazingly close to perfection!
We felt so priviledged to be able to see many of the colourful aspects of Indian life
while feeling, at all times, very safe, protected, comfortable... It was like
being with good old friends.
There really was very little to improve... but perhaps the only thing we would have
liked
to 'rewrite' in the script of this fantastic holiday is the 'shopping opportunities'.
Visits to the 'Cottage Industry' outlets (planned by our guides), although
educational
because we were shown the manufacturing processes involved, did,
however, impose some
'pressure sales' situations which we found difficult to handle at times...
The prices in
these outlets were undoubtedly targetting at 'really rich' Westerners - no bargains
to be had in any of these places! As a result, we didn't have many
opportunities to stock up with souvenirs and presents because these were the only
shops we visited.
Perhaps it would have been nice to go to some 'real Indian' markets and shops...
Although this holiday worked out a bit cheaper than any of the similar package
holidays organised by leading Tour
Operating companies which we had researched (eg Kuoni and Virgin Atlantic), we
actually got much better
value out of it: it was a 'tailor-made' holiday. We decided exactly what day
to leave and come back, how many days to stay, what class of hotels we
wanted. We chose where we wanted to be taken, what we wanted to see, what we
wanted to do - while receiving guidance on our choices when we were unsure...
We also enjoyed the comfort of our
own air-conditioned,
chauffeur-driven car and
never had to compromise on anything or mix with a group of tourists whose interests
may have been different to ours... We felt like royalty!
I guess the 'magic formula' was finding Raj Benewal, our excellent Tour Operator / Guide. I now suspect that Raj, like Aladin, has a secret magic lamp... with a Genie inside - our wishes invariably turned to be his command...
