India Adventure 2013

I love a great adventure and the trip to India far exceeded my expectations! I had always wanted to travel to India and wasn't quite sure what to expect. This north to souh tour highlighted several cities and destinations which fascinated and intrigued me. The extreme poverty in Delhi was something to behold. The people were delightful, friendly and as interested in us as we were in them. Our tour director, Rajeev, was an unending source of knowledge on all aspects of the Indian culture and history. He deftly guided us through the buy streets, temples, places and markets. Wherever we went he made sure the day was fascinating and colorful. His spontaneity was fun and unexpected as we experienced many events and moments in the lives of the Indian people the average traveler would not be able to enjoy. If I had to choose a favorite city or experience, I would not be able to. Each day was more fascinating thn the day before! Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it did! We were most fortunate to see the famous tigress, "The Lady of the Lakes" at Ranthambore National Park. How exciting! I would highly recomend this trip to anyone who enjoys adventure and experiencing this world we share.

India golden Triangle

I presume you have seen what was written on the evaluation requested in India. The highlights were shared by everyone and are clearly obvious. We had a great group of fellow travelers. The two suggestions I have and feel strongly about are the following: 1. I know you are committed to sharing history and that is the guides forte; however with very foreign names and many sites to see I believe it would be better to distribute on the bus or prior to our trip a very basic sheet of facts about what we will be seeing. How much mythology can be internalized walking around elephanta? Also our tour guide was excellent and very personable but less focused on the social and present day issues and life of the Indian population and the hot trends in the city of interest. I suspect he was trying to be neutral but most tourists I imagine are interested in these facts - not to judge but rather to have something to understand and remember about the country being visited. He did respond when asked but we had much more past history than understanding of the thoughts of everyday Indians in each area visited. For example, What areas within India do Indian's migrate from and to. How does one present or hide ones caste status. How do the brightest students in the slums move beyond their situation. How does religious or ethnic tension impact growth economic, social, cultural. Our guide in Mumbai was superb in responding to any question we asked but we were only with her for one day and there was so much to absorb. Given the time and expense of traveling to India I truly believe at least a one day add on to tour Mumbai would have been a major enhancement to the trip - not just for those who chose the extension. Spending time in the church and synagogue in Cochin area could have been shortened so that everyone on the tour could have a day in Mumbai. Guide in Mumbai was really not necessary and repeated facts twice on the bus and once while touring. Overkill. One of the things which attracted us to Go Ahead when we wnt to Turkey is that you allow three in a room, saving the single supplement. Since I often travel with 2 others this was a bonus for us and we like rooming together. Also, including as many meals as possible is a feature go Ahead has which others do not. I know guides have our safety concerns in mind so try to orient us to what's coming next. I shared with Rajeer that only telling us what was next for that day was enough. It was too much to take in what we were doing the next day and he would need and did repeat information when it was next to explore. That might save his energy and improve group knowledge of what next. This tends to diminish when you hear too much because you are overloaded with information. I hope you find these comments helpful and would be glad todiscuss them further should you desire. i live in Lincoln MA so distance is not a problem. Tourism is a growing and competitive business and I like what Go Ahead Tours does so any enhancements might be helpful to continue to attract travelers

India: Urban and Rural

Our tour of India was an excellent blend of urban and rural sights. The urban portion was fast paced and the rural pleasantly relaxing –a good balance. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and provided a great deal of enrichment, including taking us to his own home for afternoon tea which was a highlight for most of us. The tour of Ranthambhore Tiger reserve was probably my personal favourite event. On two treks, one starting just before dawn, the other in the late afternoon going into dusk, we were able to a huge variety of animals and birds. We were able to see a crocodile crossing the lake, aiming for a large deer grazing on water plants near the shore. We sat transfixed for about five minutes as the croc swam toward the seemingly oblivious deer. At nearly the last second, the deer adroitly leaped out of the water thwarting the croc. In the park, monkeys,tropical birds and parrots abounded. The park excursion, about a third of the way through the trip, provided a relaxing break from the hustle of the main tour. We also loved the overnight houseboat tour of the backwaters of Kerela. The scenery was spectacular and we were able to see many of the river families as they went about their daily routines –children canoeing to school, women doing laundry on large flat rocks at the river’s edge and even tractors, pigs and chickens and produce being ferried along the river on a variety of styles of barge and boat. One issue there, though, was that the normal provider of the houseboats (Marvel) did not have enough boats available for our group (perhaps because it was the week of Diwali) and subcontracted to another provider whose boats were in poor repair and less well-appointed than the Marvel boats. In four of our group’s six boats, we spent the night in 88F degree temperatures and 82% humidity without the benefit of air-conditioning (broken) and with cabin doors and windows closed due to mosquitoes. So it was an uncomfortable night. It was certainly still worth the experience though. Kochi (Cochin) was a wonderful town and well worth exploring during free time. I could have used more time there, well more time everywhere. I looked up Go-Ahead’s upcoming tours hoping to find tours to other regions of India but I guess there are no others listed at the moment. I’d love to spend more time in the south and see also Bangalore, Goa and Tamil Nadu. Any chance of other tours of India being created?

India review thoughts

I would have liked a little more free time to wander. We didn't have any. We spent much too much time on the expensive shops. I think we spent at least three hours at the rug place (maybe more) and an equal amount of time at marble, jewelry etc. I also would have liked to have cut short the Kerala cruise and spend a little time in Mumbai.

India

This was an excellent tour with an excellent tour director. It was packed with great experiences every day. All the hotels were nice and very well ran; with very friendly and helpful staff. I learned a great deal about India and the people there. The people that I met in India had a great deal in common with people everywhere. They were trying to make a decent living and to get their children through college and a degree. The sights I saw were truly amazing to include the Taj Mahal. The pace is fast and India is truly the most colorful place I've ever visited. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend it highly to fellow travelers.

Grand Tour India: North to South

Excellent overview of India

Incomparable India

If one takes the definition of poetry as "seeing the old through new eyes," then India is poetry. One cannot be unmoved with India. It is a total immersion of the senses in a wonderful experience. This trip was all that I expected and more.

Everywhere you look there is a picture!

India is a fascinating place to visit-a land of so many contradictions. One truly does see India from North to South. I took way too many pictures; but there is so much to see. Our tour guide, Rajeev Kapoor, made the tour so much fun and helped us to not only see the beautiful monuments but also get to know and appreciate the people. The only negative was the trip to Ranthambore-the roads on the game drives are brutal and we saw very little game.

very interesting people

I found it was too fast a pace. Some things should have been eliminated such as the boat cruise. Since they were on stuck we could not cruise and all we could do for that afternoon was just sit on the boat. We should have been able to stay in the hotel and maybe gone swimming or to the Spa but we had to sit on a very hot boat for the day! I found the Safari not good at all. We never really saw any animal of interest and if there was one in the area it was so far away could not see it. Take the Safari off , not worth seeing.

Taj Mahal and More

I mainly went to see the Taj Mahal, since it is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. But I got so much more out of it. Seeing the people in the villages, everyday rural life, driving on a road along with camels, elephants, sheep herds, cows, overloaded trucks, women working in colorful saris in the rice fields, and many more unexpected things along the way. It was truly an incredible adventure.