Indescribable and unforgettable India. Trip to Rajasthan from 1 to 13 February 2012. A group of 7 friends (aged 58 to 66)
I chose IndiaKarni for the tour because finding it mentioned positively in various travel stories gave me confidence, and it didn't disappoint me.
The impact of India on us Westerners is strong: chaotic traffic and a constant din of horns, with which drivers communicate their movements. This means that the journey flows smoothly and safely, even though overtaking is very frequent, even in town centres with chaotic traffic, and you can come across cars, lorries or simply motorbikes (often with 4 people on board) travelling the wrong way. It would feel like being on the dodgems at the funfair, were it not that on the roads (and motorways too) you often meet carts pulled by oxen, horses, camels, donkeys, bicycles or by hand, and flocks of sheep or goats, as well as the inevitable cows that cross the road whenever they like. But there is always a smile on the face of whoever looks at you. In all this chaos it was providential to have Dara as our driver; he drove with care and skill, making us feel safe in spite of everything. But Dara was also our guardian angel, because he helped us, advised us and accompanied us, and intuitively satisfied our wishes. The light in this world comes from the women, dressed in bright colours, beautiful even while doing the most menial jobs (they belong to the untouchable caste), such as carrying piles of cow dung, building materials, bundles of firewood or large containers full of water on their heads, sweeping the street, working in the fields or painting lines by hand on the motorway. After all this you might say that the artistic beauties take second place, but that's not so: we saw palaces, forts and temples of almost excessive beauty. I will briefly trace our itinerary without comments so as not to go on too long, but it was all very beautiful and evocative. Delhi, Jaipur (where we were kindly invited to dinner at Karni's house), Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Agra. Along the way we sometimes asked to stop in small villages, and it was a very interesting experience. Finally, a word about the hotels where we stayed (we had chosen the higher-quality ones of the two options Karni offered us): all very beautiful, they were often above our expectations. We thank Karni for organising a trip that fully met our needs.
Itinerary:
ARRIVAL – 01 FEBRUARY 2012 [WEDNESDAY] AT 14:45 ON EK 516. DEPARTURE ON 13 FEBRUARY 2012 [MONDAY] AT 10:50 ON EK 511
01 February [Wednesday] – Arrival and night in Delhi – Hotel The Grand
02 February [Thursday] – Jaipur – Hotel Shahpura House. 03 February [Friday] – Amber / Jaipur – Hotel Shahpura House
4 February [Saturday] – Deshnoke / Bikaner – Hotel Laxmi Niwas Palace
5 February [Sunday] – Kheechan / Ramdeora / Jaisalmer – Hotel Gorbandh Palace. 6 February [Monday] – Khuri / Jaisalmer – Hotel Gorbandh Palace
7 February [Tuesday] – Osiyan / Jodhpur – Hotel Ajit Bhawan
8 February [Wednesday] – Ranakpur / Kumbhalgarh / Udaipur – Hotel Lalit Laxmi Niwas Palace. 9 February [Thursday] – Udaipur – Hotel Lalit Laxmi Niwas Palace
10 February [Friday] – Chittaurgarh / Pushkar – Hotel Jagat Palace. 11 February [Saturday] – Fatehpur Sikri / Agra – Hotel Clarks Shiraz
12 February [Sunday] – Delhi – Hotel The Park. 13 February [Monday] – Departure in the morning at 07:50
Written by the traveller and first published in Italian on our former Italian website. Translated from Italian.