Highlights of East India Traveller Reviews

We spent two weeks in glorious India. After flying into Delhi, we travelled immediately to Chambal Safari Lodge where we spent three nights recovering from the flight, seeing birds, crocodile, antelopes and turtles - as well as visiting temples and village to get a f;avoir of life o the Rajasthani border. Then we travelled by car, train and internal flights down the Ganges valley and ending up in Kolkata. highlights were the incomparable and much-more-exquisite-than-photos-show Taj Mahal, the Mughal palaces, cenotaphs and frescos of lovely and delightfully uncrowned Orchha, the ‘erotic’ carvings of the extraordinary 10th-11th century temples at Khajuraho, early-morning boat trip down the holy Ganges while bein given a head and neck, then foot and ankle massages by a friendly barer-come-Maseru organise by our lovely guide. Maybe best of all, the cookery lesson and subsequent lun with Viji and her family in Varanasi, and our visit to a silk-weaving village where the men wove exquisite saris on manually-operated looms in dark rooms while the women made fishing nets and minded the children and goats, outside in the sun.

Experience travel listened to what we wanted, the kinds of things we’d enjoy, and constructed a fabulous holiday that exceeded our expectations. Everything went smoothly, from our pick-up at Delhi airport by the delightful Ram, our charming and enterprising for the first week of the holiday, till our delivery at Kolkata airport to begin the journey home. We suspect that they were let down slightly by their Indian. Partner agencies a little, when planned schedules were slightly changed to meet their need rather than ours (e.g. a swap of activities which meant that we ended up walking round a deserted Sunday market that Experience had scheduled for Saturday) but hey, that’s India!

We had a wonderful trip to Calcutta,Sikkim and Darjeeling. All the carefully planned arrangements went smoothly. Our guides and drivers were excellent: keen to introduce us to their country and people, and adaptable in meeting our interests and capabilities. Calcutta was full of interest, lively and diverse; the Himalayan foothills in Sikkim spectacularly beautiful (even if views of Kanchenjunga proved a bit elusive); the toy train in Darjeeling lived up to its billing. All hotels were excellent, with no trouble spared and fantastic views, and we finished with an unforgettable thee days at the blissfull Glenburn Tea Estate, which cannot be too highly recommended.

ETG know their stuff and it goes without saying that they get all the logistics just right and are always on hand if you need them. But above all Sarah was careful to explore what it was that we wanted from our trip and then to use her expertise and knowledge of the destination to develop a mix of interest, exploration and relaxing comfort which went beyond expectation.