Colourful indian holidays

Colourful Indian holidays

My friend and I have just been on a splendid round trip of the golden Triangle organised by Colourful Indian holidays www.colourfulindianholidays.com. We set it all up through emails so initially it seemed a bit of a risk but everything they promised was delivered and with exceptional professionalism and doing it this way enabled us to get closer to the real India without the hassle. We told them we wanted to go to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur and we had 6 nights - they suggested the route and the hotels and added Pushkar and Fatehpur Sikri to the itinerary and we made only one change to a hotel. We sent a deposit by Western union and paid the remainder direct in pounds to Narenda Poonia (see photo) who runs the business from Jaipur which was half way round the tour. We were very pleased, not only with the cost, about £350 each for two of us, but also with the slick and helpful organisation. The cost included all hotels for 6 nights, the use of the same English-speaking driver throughout, guides at Pushkar, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, entry and dinner at Chokhi Dhani, Elephant ride at Jaipur, pick up and delivery to Delhi airport and travel between place on train (Delhi to Ajmer) and car. The hotels they chose were not 5 star (although they could have been if we wanted) but were very clean and all had restaurants. This was helpful as we did not want always to go searching for somewhere to eat. One hotel that really stood out was the Pushkar Palace Hotel at Pushkar (see separate entry).

The holiday was really flexible in that we had an input into where we went, which sights we saw and at what time -.although I have to say the places they recommended were perfect and covered all the major sights When my friend became ill for a day we were able to miss out Fatehpur Sikri and go direct to our hotel in Agra to rest rather than having to wait for the rest of the tour. Also we were able to ask detailed questions of our guides and really get to know a bit about the Indian culture.

I would heartedly recommend using this company if you want a personalised yet economic way of travelling India. They also seems to arrange tours in other parts of India and were looking after about 5/6 tours groups when we ere there in November 08

Colourful indian holidays

Thanks for the post, Zorrothecat. I am currently looking to run a tour with CIH and working with Narendra. Have a few questions for you if you don%26#39;t mind:

1)What hotels did you stay at and what was your review of each of them? i.e. location/restaurants/cleanliness

2)What sites did you visit and how much did the entrance fees/camera fees run you as he is not including them in the tour cost?

3)Was this a private tour or were you and a friend part of a larger group?

Thanks for your help!

Colourful indian holidays

Hi

we stayed at various hotels - two nights at white house hotel in delhi (I have posted a review) then train to Ajmer and car ride to Pushkar - Pushkar Palace Hotel (posted review) then to Jaipur staying 2 nights at Fort Chandragupt Hotel which was very comfortable -in the evening we were taken to Chokhi Dhani ethnic village for traditional Rajasthani Dinner - again excellent insight into leisure time of middle class Indians. Tour of Jaipur next day - Amber Fort in outskirt of Jaipur. We missed the elephant ride t fort (as set off too late) but had another ride later. also went to City Palace, the Hawa Mahal, and the (observatory) Jantar Mantar.

After breakfast drive to Agra enroute were meant to visit Fatehpur Sikri but my freind was unwell (tummy trouble) so we went straight to Agra for 1 Night at Mansingh Palace Hotel - again excellent, 4* hotel with buffet style evening meal and near Taj Mahal which we saw before breakfast - much the best tiime

Entrances were mostly 350 rupees to all the Palaces and Fort except Taj Mahal which was 700 rupees. I did not pay any camera fees - (I don%26#39;t have a video camera just still) This did mount up but always well worth it. Meals were very cheap £2-3 each so we did not spend much extra

I went with a friend we are both 62 years old - just the two of us but he manages larger groups. the car was great and mostly the guides were good too. we had really personal service. we originally said we wanted to do to the golden triangle cities and they suggested the itinerary and I was glad they added Pushkar because that was one of the highlights of the tour. Hope I have answered your questions - please come back if I haven%26#39;t

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Would you tell me more about the guides they set you up with? You mentioned they were mostly good. I%26#39;m interested in the guides at Agra, Delhi, Jaipur in particular. How was his/her English, was s/he thorough, etc.

Also, did the driver take you to many emporium shops along the way? I%26#39;m not interested in this but am assuming we can just tell him to limit this activity.

Lastly, since you had to purchase your own entrance fees at all the monuments, would you have preferred to have them booked for you ahead of time due to the long waits in line or was this not a problem for you?

Many thanks!

The guide in Delhi was very knowledgable and very qualified . He had a degree and post grad qualification in a history related subject. He spoke very good English. He asked us if we wanted to shop and we said no. We were able to quiz him on all sorts of subjects and he volunteered general information whilst we were travelling. We went to the Red fort and he explained a lot about that , thene we could not get into the ghandi knat as it was closed. He took us to three other places and we had a lunch with him at a very respectable place. There was no queing at any of the places to pay - we went straight in

The guide in Jaipur was also very knowlegable - arrived a little late so we queued but missed going o teh elephant ride to the fort but he arranged for us to walk through the elephant shed and later to go where they were housed and to have our own ride. He took us round the Amber Fort and down a rather windy side path which other people would not have known about passed some interesting temples. we then went back to Jaipur , round the palace. there were no queues anywhere but it was early in the season. He did take us to an emporiunm but we weren%26#39;t very insistent that he should not.

In agra the guide also turned up a 15 minutes late but he knew the guards at the Taj Mahal and told us to join the queue at the front - the queue was about 80- 100 people I suppose at 06.30. There were bags searches holding it up - these security measures were not in evidence at most other toursist places - this may well chnage after the most recent bombs. this man rather hurried us around although he knew his history, He had a row with the driver as he wasn%26#39;t there waiting when we came back in hour half rather than the two hours expected. Our driver asked me to speak to Nerinda on the mobile phone and let him know that the guide wasn%26#39;t all that good . Evidence I think they they really care that the people they look after are having a good time.

It would have easy to insist we did not go to an emporium as our driver spoke english and would ahve doen what we wanted rather than take note about what the guide wanted us to do

hope this helps

the Agra

Couldn%26#39;t agree more. I have just returned from India with my wife and sister and brother in law and part of our trip was arranged by Colourful Indian Holidays. Narinder Poonia, owner and manager, proved to be a great guy who tailored our tour exactly as we requested, he even paid us a visit in Jaipur to make sure everything was going okay. Always aprehensive when booking holidays in India via the internet I was delighted to find all my concerns were unfounded. Like you I can certainly recommend this company to anyone. Our next planned trip to India will include a trip up to Shimla and Darjeeling and I will be contacting Narinder again