Departure – 30 January 2011, Return – 18 February 2011. Our story: We are a couple from Treviso (aged around 50) and we did a 20-day tour of Rajasthan in February 2011.
I had booked all our hotel nights personally in advance (mostly 5-star), planned the stops myself (TCI and Lonely Planet guides) and used only the car-hire-with-driver service of the Karni agency.
We were really very happy: our driver Raju was friendly, very kind and helpful, always calm, careful and safe, so we always felt completely at ease even in India's chaotic traffic.
The car was a Ford Fiesta (a saloon, so with a large boot), really comfortable, and I recommend it.
The owner of the Karni agency is very kind, efficient and helpful, and a dependable point of reference during the trip. Even while the trip is being planned he is always ready to answer any request.
Rajasthan is fascinating and full of splendid monuments, the people are kind and there are no safety problems. We never had any kind of problem; you can visit the cities on your own without any worry, just taking care not to get run over. The only things that bothered us were the rubbish everywhere and the sometimes truly hellish traffic in the cities. So I suggest alternating the cities with a few stops in 'green' places in nature where you can recharge and get some fresh air (we didn't do it, but we missed it).
For hotels we warmly recommend the TAJ chain: they are really excellent, clean and very well kept, the staff are extremely kind and the (Indian) food was always excellent (we never had any health problems, gastrointestinal or otherwise).
We also recommend visiting the tourist shops attached to the main monuments: despite what you might think, we found beautiful and unique handicrafts, especially textiles, that you then don't find in the city markets.
Whatever you do, don't miss the Ranakpur temple, whereas you can easily skip Pushkar and the Sam dunes, which I found very disappointing.
So, to conclude: the tour and the Karni agency are highly recommended.
P.S. Remember to take out 'Mondial Assistance' health insurance.
Fabio and Patrizia
Itinerary:
Arrival – 30 January 2011 [Sunday] (at 00:45 on 31 January) on LX 146
departure – 18 February 2011 [Friday] at 09:45 on LH 763
30 January [Sunday] – Arrival and night in Delhi
31 January [Monday] – New Delhi sightseeing / Mandawa
01 February [Tuesday] – Fatehpur / Deshnoke / Bikaner
02 February [Wednesday] – Kheechan / Ramdeora / Jaisalmer
03 February [Thursday] – Khuri / Jaisalmer
04 February [Friday] – Jaisalmer
05 February [Saturday] – Osiyan / Jodhpur
06 February [Sunday] – Jodhpur
07 February [Monday] – Jodhpur
08 February [Tuesday] – Ranakpur / Kumbhalgarh / Udaipur
09 February [Wednesday] – Udaipur
10 February [Thursday] – Udaipur
11 February [Friday] – Chittaurgarh / Pushkar
12 February [Saturday] – Jaipur
13 February [Sunday] – Amber / Jaipur
14 February [Monday] – Jaipur
15 February [Tuesday] – Fatehpur Sikri / Gwalior
16 February [Wednesday] – Agra
17 February [Thursday] – Delhi (Old Delhi)
18 February [Friday] – Departure in the morning
Written by the traveller and first published in Italian on our former Italian website. Translated from Italian.