LukenDC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2004
- Messages
- 4,938
I just returned from a two week trip to India. I brought my mother with me and we visited New Dehli, Agra, Ranthambhore National Park, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Calcutta. It was a wonderful trip.
The first part of the trip was a guided tour through all of the above mentioned places, with the exception of Calcutta which Mom and I did on our own. We booked the tour through Easy Tours of India and they were fantastic. The trip was meticulously planned and the attention to detail was impressive. We traveled with a small group of six other people and stayed in several hotels. An Easy Tours representative met us at each hotel and facilitated the check-in. Our guides were very helpful and knowledgeable. We were supposed to have the same guide throughout the tour, but our first guide was bitten by a sand viper and had to leave the tour. He was ultimately OK, but we missed him.
The hotels were beautiful and the security was impressive. When Mom and I went to Calcutta on our own, we stayed in an Oberoi hotel which is the brand that was attacked last November in Mumbai. A hotel car met us at the airport and before it could enter the Oberoi property, security guards searched it for explosives. We then drove to the entrance of the hotel and I noticed a machine gunners nest on the other side of the driveway. To enter the hotel, Mom and I had to pass through metal detectors and undergo a pat-down by security guards. We were then taken to a private room where our luggage was searched. Throughout the trip I saw security in camouflage fatigues carrying heavy guns and there was even a man with a sub machine gun patrolling the perimeter of the pool. Wow!
While the entire trip was terrific, two experiences really stand out. While we were on safari in the national park, a tiger emerged from the bushes a mere ten feet from our jeep. That was a real thrill! The second stand out experience was meeting the two kids that I sponsor in Calcutta. I gave each of them a gift bag filled with art and hygiene supplies and a plush Mickey. Then we took them shopping and out to eat. It was a great way to end the trip.
There was a lot of poverty and New Dehli and Agra were particularly bad. In New Dehli, the capital of the country, there was squalor everywhere and I was surprised at how pervasive it was. We saw shanty towns built right up to the walls of luxury hotels. People were urinating and defecating in the streets. The air pollution was horrible and the traffic unbelievable. Drivers do not follow the lines on the road, so they are constantly honking their horns and frequently driving in oncoming traffic. Despite its reputation, Calcutta was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and there were some modern apartment blocks and shopping centers on the outskirts of town.
I was healthy the entire trip, but Mom did get sick with a traveler's ailment. We had to call a doctor to visit her in the hotel and then have a pharmacist bring some prescriptions. The doctor's visit and medications cost a total of $17. Mom said that it was good quality care and she felt well enough to travel the next day.
Let me know if you have any questions.
The first part of the trip was a guided tour through all of the above mentioned places, with the exception of Calcutta which Mom and I did on our own. We booked the tour through Easy Tours of India and they were fantastic. The trip was meticulously planned and the attention to detail was impressive. We traveled with a small group of six other people and stayed in several hotels. An Easy Tours representative met us at each hotel and facilitated the check-in. Our guides were very helpful and knowledgeable. We were supposed to have the same guide throughout the tour, but our first guide was bitten by a sand viper and had to leave the tour. He was ultimately OK, but we missed him.
The hotels were beautiful and the security was impressive. When Mom and I went to Calcutta on our own, we stayed in an Oberoi hotel which is the brand that was attacked last November in Mumbai. A hotel car met us at the airport and before it could enter the Oberoi property, security guards searched it for explosives. We then drove to the entrance of the hotel and I noticed a machine gunners nest on the other side of the driveway. To enter the hotel, Mom and I had to pass through metal detectors and undergo a pat-down by security guards. We were then taken to a private room where our luggage was searched. Throughout the trip I saw security in camouflage fatigues carrying heavy guns and there was even a man with a sub machine gun patrolling the perimeter of the pool. Wow!
While the entire trip was terrific, two experiences really stand out. While we were on safari in the national park, a tiger emerged from the bushes a mere ten feet from our jeep. That was a real thrill! The second stand out experience was meeting the two kids that I sponsor in Calcutta. I gave each of them a gift bag filled with art and hygiene supplies and a plush Mickey. Then we took them shopping and out to eat. It was a great way to end the trip.
There was a lot of poverty and New Dehli and Agra were particularly bad. In New Dehli, the capital of the country, there was squalor everywhere and I was surprised at how pervasive it was. We saw shanty towns built right up to the walls of luxury hotels. People were urinating and defecating in the streets. The air pollution was horrible and the traffic unbelievable. Drivers do not follow the lines on the road, so they are constantly honking their horns and frequently driving in oncoming traffic. Despite its reputation, Calcutta was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and there were some modern apartment blocks and shopping centers on the outskirts of town.
I was healthy the entire trip, but Mom did get sick with a traveler's ailment. We had to call a doctor to visit her in the hotel and then have a pharmacist bring some prescriptions. The doctor's visit and medications cost a total of $17. Mom said that it was good quality care and she felt well enough to travel the next day.
Let me know if you have any questions.
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