Tour Summary – Our month in Incredible India

Well, finally back in lovely Penang and what a trip.  We walked into the condo at around 9:30pm absolutely beat. Scared the daylights out of Tania our flatmate who hadn’t seen my sms to her saying we’d landed in Penang. She wondered who was coming into her unit.

First off, some data;

We were on 2 consecutive tours.

The first was organised by Enchanting Tours (Who I’d highly recommend) and was primarily to try to find some wild tigers in India.  We had 5 confirmed tiger sightings.

We started at Delhi. (That first day was 28 – 38 deg c.)

We then trained it 320 kms to Gwalior  (Temp 28 – 45 deg c).

From Gwalior we drove to Occhre 124km (only a 2 hour stop at a temple/fort)

From Occhre we drove to Khajuraho 173km (day 1, 30 – 42/ day 2, 26 – 41 deg c)

From Khajuraho we drove to Bandhavgarh NP 261km (day 1, 30 – 43/ day 2, 30 – 41 deg c)

From Bandhavgarh we went on to Kanha  221km (day 1, 28 – 40/ day 2, 29 – 40 deg c)

From Kanha to Nagpur  279km  (31 – 42 deg c)

Then we flew Nagpur to Delhi.  1045km (day 1, 24 – 39/ day 2, 28 – 41 deg c)

The total for this trip was Train 320 kms + Plane 1045 kms + car 1058 kms.

Coolest Min 24 deg c.  Hottest Max 45 deg c.  Average Maximum Temp 41.1 deg c.

Tour 2 was Royal Rajasthan Tour.  This tour was designed as a cultural tour of India’s north west.

From Delhi we drove to Mandawa  255kms (30 – 42 deg c)

To Gajner Palace (via Bikaner) 226kms (32 – 42 deg c)

To Jaisalmer  302kms (day 1, 32 – 47/ day 2, 29 – 45 deg c)

To Jodhpur  286kms (28 – 40 deg c)

To Udaipur  265 kms (day 1, 28 – 38/ day 2, 29 – 39 deg c)

To Jaipur  394kms  (day 1, 30 – 40/ day 2, 29 – 39 deg c)

To Agra  240 kms (30 – 40 deg c)

To New Delhi 209 kms  (24 – 35 deg c)

The total for this trip was  by bus 2177 kms.

Coolest Min 24 deg c.  Hottest Max 47 deg c.  Average Max Temp 40.6 deg c.

(temps courtesy of India’s Met Bureau)

Anyway now it’s time to summarise our trip to India.  I won’t make any recommendations for anyone as you really need to read this then decide for yourself.  Stick with me. It isn’t all negative and I accept that these negatives can be what makes the difference.

Negatives first;  India is the filthiest, most putrid place I have ever visited and I’ve been to a few places. I can accept and understand the poverty and destitution but the filth is a product of the people themselves.  They like to believe (in the city at least) that they are a ‘modern, developed nation’ yet they still cling to the belief that cows are sacred. This means cows not only wander the streets but inside peoples houses, shops and parks. We were having tea in one shop when a cow walked out of the attached residence , shit in the doorway then continued on through the shop to the street & no one battered an eye lid.  If you don’t watch out you are always stepping in cow/ buffalo/ ass/ goat/ camel/ dog shit because animals can roam everywhere.  This flows on to the traffic lanes both foot and vehicular. You can be in the CBD of Delhi or a backstreet near the Pakistan border and suddenly you have to brake hard to avoid a cow because cows have right of way even on freeways.

The roads themselves are another problem. Even the freeways are bumpy.  When constucted each section is normally misaligned vertically by inches meaning you can be thrown from your seat every 200 mtrs. On the lesser roads because drivers here are morons every village has either ripplestrips, speed humps or trenches to force dickhead drivers (that’s all of them) to slow down.  On the other side of the speed problem is their penchant for just stopping and parking where they like, when they like even in the middle of the  only traffic lane.  We saw several instances where two trucks approaching one another on a single lane through a busy market place recognised each other so they stopped in the traffic to chat for several minutes with vehicles building up behind them and they didn’t give a shit and this was on a major thoroughfare. Lane markings, traffic signs, speed limits mean zip. (Many drivers can’t read anyway). The roads are chaotic and life is apparently disposable.

The country is all show and little go. Fancy hotels where the  a/c doesn’t work is SOP (standard operating procedure). Menu’s where much of the listed (non-Indian) food isn’t available is SOP. Customer safety is non-existent.  I told one hotel manager where we were staying that the only fire alarm on that wing had a flat battery that needed changing. (It was not even hard wired into this 5 star hotel’s electrics.)  He said he knew about it for days. When I asked if he’d instal a new $2 battery for the safety of the customers he just smiled and walked away.  It seems that here “near enough is good enough”.

Be prepared to be fleeced. How these poor people survive in such a high tax country is beyond me.  I have a receipt for 4 beers, 1 fish & chips, 1 steak and 1 desert. Cost = 2400 rupees. Add to that another 481.5 rupees in taxes! Another receipt for just 2 coffees (cost 380 IR) has 5 taxes/fees added to it then its rounded up to 458 IR. Thats almost 50% tax added!  Fortunately the Indian people are gracious but everyone has his hand out for your money. Every time we wanted to pee it cost 10 rupees and that didn’t guarantee clean facilities with loo paper.  Everyone wants a tip.  One fellow at the Taj Mahal literally forced himself on me, snatched my camera, took two photos with it then demanded 10 rupees for “his service”. (He didn’t get it!)  The killer is their old chestnut “camera fees” just to take a picture in the facility you just paid admission to. And video fees are beyond the pale. We saw some at over 250 IR. That’s $5AUD to take video with your own camera.

Finally, following my first point, hygene is paramount.  Shane got caught having a simple Tea Masala and was violently ill for several days. Take and use a bottle of hand sanitiser.  Drink only bottled water.

I can’t complain about the weather as that is beyond anyone’s control and a product of where we were.  Be be prepared for temps up to 50 degrees celsius in some parts.  When you’re locked into your motel room with an unusable air con system that is a killer, literally.

Now the positives;  The adverts say “Incredible India” and how right they are.

We paid for Deluxe accommodation and we are so glad we did.  Apart from two or maybe three ‘average’ hotels all our lodgings ranged from fantastic through unbelievable to luxurious.  One or two I could quite easily take up residence in permanently.

The temples, shrines and forts are like something from a story book.  (Kipling comes to mind.)  Too many of these can blur into one memory but each has its own unique features and story attached to it.  Even with torn ligaments I climbed as many steps as most (till the last day at Fort Agra) as I wasn’t missing a thing. My apologies to my fellow tour members if I held you up at some time.

Despite the negatives above the people there do try their best to serve you diligently.  With low literacy and numeracy levels I will gladly admit the efforts to satisfy our needs were brilliant (even though a lack of English led to much confusion and frustration on both sides).  And I must say India definitely punches above it’s weight when it comes to beautiful ladies.  Not just beautiful faces but the colours and grace of the sari’s are magnificent.  The art and crafts are also something to behold.  Pashminas, carpets, scarves, jewels and jewellery, marble artifacts, miniature paintings, leather goods, all fantastic.  And of course there is the majesty of the Tigers and the peacocks among a wide range of nature’s best. We were never guaranteed a tiger.  To see 5 on just 7 safaris was mind blowing.  And so close.  I have admitted in my blog that at one stage I was seriously concerned as this huge male tiger eyed me off from less than 10 meters away. We saw most of the major wildlife species available. Sambah, chittal, barking and other deer.  Monkeys by the thousands. A wide range of birdlife (wild peacocks everywhere). Elephants, camels (even rode one of these in the western desert of Rajasthan), monitor lizards, gaur and much more.  Only one we missed I had hoped for was the leopard.  But we’re happy.

So would I do India again?  Probably not but only because once is enough for me.  If I did go back it certainly wouldn’t be for the 27 days straight that we did.  It was just too much.  My frustration at having torn ligaments and limited walking ability probably tainted my view a bit but I have seen enough of India for now.  But for you the reader do not discount Incredible India as an adventure for young and old.

Cheers

Garry