Colours of Rajasthan

Most Inspirational Moment

Difficult to pick one , obviously the Taj Mahal hugely impressive but then again the history of some forts/ temples/ towns also impressive.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Gaj dealt very well with a challenging individual in the group , whose behaviour ranged from hysterical meltdown ( matching a level usually only seen in a toddler) , general passive /aggressive attitude and comments , who also had an inability to follow simple instructions regarding timekeeping and not wandering off alone - something the rest of the group complied with which then meant we spent ages hanging around waiting for said individual to be retrieved from a cultural building in order for us all to move on . Gaj remained professional , courteous , diplomatic and polite at all times despite some obvious provocation from aforementioned person. Gaj was more than happy to discuss his home nation , culture , history and current problems.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take some sweets/snacks for the minibus. Lunch en route may not happen at specific times so wise to have own supply if peckish. Take swim gear , sun screen and a hat. Go with the flow , enjoy the experiences and food .

Most Inspirational Moment

Two moments stand out for me. The first was spending more than an hour in the company of Ritthi, a large female tiger as she dozed in the sun no more that 30m from me before stalking (and not catching) two spotted deer. And then watching as she stalked and caught a wild boar. The second was when our guide, Naveen, arranged with our hotel manager in Bundi for us to watch the celebrations and ceremonies in honour of Hanuman, the monkey faced god, whose birthday it was. Bundi is one of those rare places that haven’t been adversely affected by tourism and as we watched from the side of the street we were made welcome and then became a focus of attention for those in the procession. I think I appear in more selfies than I took photos. And all the while we felt safe and comfortable.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Naveen is an excellent guide and leader. His briefings were clear and concise and any questions were quickly answered. He made sure that the group was ok at all times. As we approached each town we had a full explanation of any options and activities. At the historical sites he made sure we understood the restrictions on bags, food, and the dress codes required for respect and tradition in advance. The act that sums up his attention to us happened at the airport when the group flight people were leaving. Having dropped us off, he waited at the barriers to make sure we all got through the initial security checks for entry to the airport before leaving himself. Mention must be made of Vijay, our driver. He was a calm and quiet character who was more than capable of dealing with all the traffic conditions we encountered during the trip. For the longer journeys I was sat at the front of the bus and despite oncoming traffic in our lane, desperate overtaking by cars and trucks and one memorable moment as a lorry rushed towards us in our lane, I had confidence that Vijay could deal with it all. When I return to India, I would choose Naveen as my guide and Vijay as my driver.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Many of the days are long as there is a lot to do. We travelled in April and temperatures were reaching 35c+. In the forts and temples, there was a lack of breeze and the heat reflected off the stonework. Exodus trip notes are pretty accurate; in those temperatures you need to drink plenty and dress accordingly. In many historical sites bags are either not allowed or are subject to long security checks. Most sites forbid any food to be taken in. Religious sites require you to take off your shoes. Those in our group who weren’t wearing socks regretted it as the stone floors got very, very hot in the afternoon sun. A spare pair of socks would be a good idea for those visits. For the game drives a mobile phone will not do the wildlife justice. If you don’t bring a camera with some kind of telephoto lens, a pair of lightweight binoculars will help with watching the birds and smaller mammals. Expect to be hassled by street vendors. It’s not personal or aggressive and the best way I found of dealing with it was to politely say no/shake the head and then ignore them. It can be hard when they persist, but they soon get the message and move on to the next person. I saw people engage in conversation and regret it as the hassle continued for minutes. I saw very few beggars and the advice is to donate to registered charities rather than someone who approaches you on the street. Walking in the narrow streets can be intimidating but the traffic is not trying to hit you and the horns are there to let you know someone is approaching, not to rebuke you. Be aware of the traffic, watch how the locals deal with it, don’t do anything unexpected and you’ll be fine.

Suggestions

This is a great trip with a busy itinerary. But there is enough down time to recover from some of the longer days. The hotels outside of Delhi were much better than I was expecting – at Pushkar we all had suites that included a small kitchen and individual outdoor plunge pools. The Delhi hotels are of lower quality but fine to use as a base. Come with realistic expectations and you won’t be disappointed.

Most Inspirational Moment

The whole experience was interesting and memorable since it was my first visit to India.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader Raj was a great asset to the trip. His passion, impressive knowledge of history, his sense of humour and charm were of great value since we spent so much time together. I admired his gentle and respectful way of “protecting” us from ubiquitous and often intrusive sellers of souvenirs. I admired him also for the tactful and delicate manner he dealt with one difficult member of our group.

Most Inspirational Moment

The Taj without doubt, it cannot fail to impress, beautiful and well worth getting up very early for.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Chandresh was a good leader, kept us informed and safe especially when crossing roads in cities. He was very easy going and ready to help with whatever we needed, he took us on extra trips when we wanted to explore more. Chandresh introduced us to some lovely restaurants, arranged a cookery class when asked and looked after me very well when I was unwell. He as concerned for all of our well-being throughout.

Advice for Potential Travellers

It’s a wonderful trip, be prepared to adapt to Indian ways and customers, tipping can be a bit complicated. Be ready for some long travelling days and lots of curry, there are always regular breaks as well and you eat in some great places.

Suggestions

Thank you to Chandresh and our driver for looking after us throughout. Thanks to our fellow travellers for their good humour and company. Thanks to India for the extraordinary colourna d friendliness we found everywhere.

Most Inspirational Moment

At Bundi we stayed in the king's heritage hotel, which was round a courtyard with the royal family occupying one wing. The king (Maharao Raja Vanshvardhan Singh, and later his wife came and chatted too) came and talked to us before a lovely meal in his hotel restaurant. He was a charming young man, and spoke about his plans to renovate the huge palace halfway up the steep hill side and how as he ran farms himself that he acted as spokesperson for the farmers to his political contacts. He was very keen on promoting tourism to get money into the area to improve the infrastructure for the local people. The next day the king's assistant took us on a tour of the old palace (some has been renovated enough to visit), including accessing rooms usually closed to the public containing marvellous paintings.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our group leader, Raj Sharma, was fantastic. He was an expert in India's history and knew a lot about all the places we visited, the land we travelled through, and the peoples who lived there. He had excellent suggestions for places to eat, and what food to try. He liaised with hotels over any issues (nothing major). For example, in one of the first hotels the hot water supply was not sufficient - Raj then ensured he phoned the hotels in advance for them to check the supply in the rooms we were to occupy. Raj thoroughly enjoyed being back tour leading following the Covid break, and his desire to show us Rajasthan (warts and all at times) was evident. Raj was approachable, diplomatic, sensitive, amusing, and could "read the room" and make tweaks to the itinerary to suit our needs.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Advice : Mini-bus: There is a lot of time spent travelling in the mini-bus between sightseeing stops. Raj ensured the bus stopped every few hours, for a coffee, lunch or tea break plus use of washrooms. The locations for breaks were well chosen. Despite the totally mad (to us) traffic (it is the norm to drive the wrong way along a carriageway) we never felt unsafe on the bus - our driver was superb. Fitness: Although there are no really long hikes, there is a lot of up and down steps at times. This can seem like hard work, especially in the sun (it does get hot particularly when walking across stone floors). Money: We found some ATMs (including the airport one) refused to cooperate with our cards - Raj was very helpful getting the bus to stop at alternatives. Those who brought sterling or US dollars found it easier changing their money - there are a lot of money changing places. Hotels: We found the beds reasonably comfortable, clean sheets. Bathrooms varied from very good to ok and in one we couldn't get hot water. Not the end of the world. Several hotels had nice swimming pools - worth packing a swimming costume. Where there are two night stays it is possible to get clothing laundered (we paid about £10 for six days worth of shirts, a dress and underwear for two of us. Socks were quite pricey so we washed then in the sink!) Food: Breakfast at the hotels usually included a boiled egg or omelette, and toast, alongside a variety of rice and other more local breakfast type items. Coffee generally was instant. Eating lunch or dinner we found (with Raj's help) some really good restaurants and meals. Portions were generous, and we usually could share one rice between three people, especially if having naan as well. At lunchtime don't be worried about asking to share one meal between two if you don't feel that hungry. Per person, lunch was about R500, and dinner R750 plus beers (other beverages are available, apparently!) at about R350 (Autumn 2022 prices). Of course these vary between establishments. Sim Card: I bought an airtel SIM card at the airport (about £6) which gave pretty much unlimited calls/texts and 1GB data per day, for a month. After phoning to register it, it started working within an hour. It could have been useful in case we needed to contact Raj, but in fact I only used it for browsing the internet while on the bus! Toilets: At every stop western style toilets were available and were acceptably clean (there was a variation in this). Even when walking through a market there was a toilet block which had western style facilities and was reasonably clean (there was a small fee). You may need your own loo roll, and sometimes a small denomination note for the attendant handing out paper towels. Begging: We encountered relatively few beggars, and none were aggressive or pushy. There are a lot of sellers of (eg) fridge magnets and trinkets - some of these would make quite good small gifts. It is obvious there is poverty, and we felt a donation to a charity working to improve water supply and sanitation would be an appropriate response. (Incidently I was impressed by the number of "improved water" pumps everywhere including the countryside).

Most Inspirational Moment

The Jaipur observatory was amazing - such precision of construction.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Raj was one of the best we’ve ever had. He was extremely knowledgeable and personable. He was dedicated and passionate in promoting all aspects of Indian history and culture, and nothing was too much trouble for him. He was very perceptive and sensitive to people’s needs. There were issues with one member of the group and Raj worked hard to ensure that the group remained cohesive, and is a huge asset to this trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

The trip notes covered most of the essentials. Be prepared for long coach journeys, albeit with adequate stops and interest along the way.

Suggestions

India seems to be undergoing a lot of infrastructure development, so the roads in general were better than expected. We were fortunate to have an excellent driver who worked well with the guide, so we felt safe and comfortable throughout the holiday.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing the Taj Mahal in 'real life' was really lovely, but I most enjoyed our time in the city of Bundi with its decayed but beautiful palace and the lovely heritage hotel we stayed in.

Thoughts on Group Leader

We had an excellent guide in Raj Sharma (the best we've ever encountered) who was always willing to answer questions, offer insights and who also knew when we wanted to doze off! His sense of humour was fab and his organisational skills were very good. He was also fun to be around which is not what one can always say about a guide at the end of a tiring 2 weeks!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be prepared to find it cumulatively tiring as you pack up and move on regularly - but this is necessary if one is to see as much as possible in such a short time.

Suggestions

A well organised trip, featuring all the main sights of the region. Would recommend to anyone thinking of visiting India - especially if Exodus use our guide for your trip!

Most Inspirational Moment

I really enjoyed the visit to Bundi; we stayed and ate in a heritage hotel; had a guided tour around the Palace which is a Hogwarts-style maze of rooms and courtyards climbing up the mountain dominating the town; visited the local tea shop for Masala chai; and dodged the chaos of the market to get home for an excellent dinner...

Thoughts on Group Leader

Raj Sharma was the best guide that I think I've ever had; knowledgeable, supremely organised, and very focused on making sure the tour group is getting the best from the trip. He was open to any line of questions (arranged marriages? politics? Indian history? the caste system?) and has a great sense of humour. I'd book him again in a heartbeat, and if you get the chance see if he's free for your tour.

Advice for Potential Travellers

There's a lot of travel! We were a group aged between 61 and 72, and all pretty fit, but you have to have stamina to get through 2 weeks of pretty incessant coach journeys. And take Kindles / headphones / books... Some of the walking requires proper footwear (not boots) as it can be uneven and v dusty. ATMs can be a challenge - those who took Sterling/Dollars and converted it probably had an easier time than those of us relying on cards to withdraw cash - and forget contactless/credit cards

Suggestions

The trip made me want to visit India again!

Most Inspirational Moment

The fact that India can clean up its' act if there is a will to do so. for example, on my last visit to the Taj MahaL it was surrounded by hostile beggars making for a poor experience, and the river by the Red Fort at Agra was a rubbish dump. I have seen India grow from my first visit in 1977 to today, progress is slow but it is there!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Excellent! Probably the best leader I have encountered with Exodus recently and also over nearly 50 years of travel. His age made communication much easier for the current traveler demographic, often young leaders have difficulty with identifying the needs of older groups.

Advice for Potential Travellers

This trip features lots of steep stair climbing in palaces, many are without any safety support or space for assistance, keep this in mind when booking, maybe test yourself first. This is an 'early to bed early to rise' trip, lots of early starts to avoid heat or traffic, there is not a lot of downtime either so expect to come back tired and ready to plan a relaxing holiday. This is certainly not relaxing!

Suggestions

A tour like this is expected to be hard going, given the local conditions it is well thought out, but I did wonder if some of the long lunch stops could be reduced to relieve some of the time pressures (it would also stop folks eating to much at lunch and needing extra comfort stops later) It would be nice to build in a little more down time at the end of the day. Has anyone ever seen sunrise over the Taj without fog or smog?

Most Inspirational Moment

Ranthambore