We are a couple from Rome and I must say we were very happy during our first trip to India. We planned our trip through the agency's website (TRIP TO INDIA WITH KARNI). We gave some details of the cities and sites that interested us and India Karni created a personalised itinerary for us. We left on 11 October on a Turkish Airlines flight from Rome with a stopover in Istanbul (booked privately), arriving in Delhi the following morning, where our driver Mahesh was waiting for us with our names printed on a sheet of paper, and I immediately thought our trip would be perfect. All the hotels Karni chose for us turned out to be very comfortable, equivalent to our four-star hotels, almost all with a swimming pool, spa, bar and restaurant.
Each time we arrived at a hotel we could unload our luggage and rest comfortably in our room; at the agreed time our driver Mahesh would come to pick us up and take us on a tour of the city's most important sites, very willing to satisfy our curiosity in these incredible cities (one evening our trusty driver took us as a surprise to Karni's house – a lovely family, an exquisite dinner) which I must say was fantastic. Following the itinerary designed especially for us... Arrival in Delhi, straight on to Jaipur, Amber / Jodhpur / Pushkar / Bharatpur / Fatehpur Sikri / Agra / Gwalior / Orchha / (Khajuraho – Varanasi) night on the train, a wonderful experience.. (Varanasi – Delhi) night on the train.. on a tour I will never forget.
In both Varanasi and Delhi we found Karni's local partners for the various transfers, always waiting for us with our names printed on a sheet of paper. What can I say, it was a fantastic, special trip, a driver at our disposal, our every curiosity satisfied, always with a smile, typical little vegetarian restaurants that we really enjoyed.... cows, goats, pigs, camels, people in rickshaws, in buses crammed with people, in a very fascinating chaos, I must say surprising, in this surreal, beautiful Indian reality to be enjoyed and photographed at every moment. Heartfelt thanks to Karni and to Mahesh, who has stayed in our hearts, and to all the India Karni staff – Thank You very much from Carla and Dario.
ARRIVAL – 22 September 2012 at 21:40 hrs on Jet Airways 229. DEPARTURE – 30 September 2012
12 October – Arrival in Delhi, straight on to Jaipur – Hotel Royal Orchid. 13 October – Amber / Jaipur – Hotel Royal Orchid
14 October – Jodhpur – Hotel Ranbanka. 15 October – Jodhpur – Hotel Ranbanka
16 October – Pushkar – Hotel Jagat Palace
17 October – Bharatpur / Fatehpur Sikri / Agra – Hotel Utkarsh Vilas. 18 October – Agra – Hotel Utkarsh Vilas
19 October – Gwalior / Orchha – Hotel Orchha Resort. 20 October – Khajuraho – Hotel Clarks Khajuraho
21 October – Khajuraho to Varanasi by train, night on the train
22 October – Varanasi – Hotel Ganpati Guest House
23 October – Varanasi to Delhi by train, night on the train – Hotel Florence Inn. 25 October – Delhi – Hotel Florence Inn
26 October – Our driver picks us up punctually at 3:00 in the morning; you have to be at the airport 3 hours beforehand.
Written by the traveller and first published in Italian on our former Italian website. Translated from Italian.