India Fam Trip
On March 11th I took a group of selected travel agents to India for a week on a tight schedule to see the Golden Triangle route. Our flight with Air India was a pleasant surprise as we where upgraded into Business Class, with both food and service of a good standard. Upon arrival in India, our own inbound tour operation went into overdrive with the view to impress. Four of our current executive cars turned up to transfer all 9 of us to our hotel in Delhi. So far so good!! The Intercontinental Vasant again was of a good standard and to my surprise my room looked out towards a MacDonald’s!!
The following day all four cars turned up for our tour of Old & New Delhi with the highlight being a rickshaw ride through Old Delhi. Unfortunately our “driver” Mohamed went into the back of an old woman through the back streets of Old Delhi. She as you can imagine was not too pleased and before you knew it, off came her shoe and whacked poor Mohamed several times. Not allot he could have done as the streets are so packed, but he put on a brave face and off we went again.
The following day we headed off to Jaipur to see the magnificent Amber Fort, one of my favourites and included an elephant ride to the fort. The elephants are looked after well as they are only allowed to do 5 runs upto the fort each day, so an early start to ensure we get a ride!! The palace of winds in Jaipur and the Pink palace are also a must. Jaipur is a crazy hectic place and you have to have nerves of steel to cope with the roundabouts in the city. There is absolutely no system apart from GO!! No waiting, stopping, giving way to either traffic of pedestrians. Everyone makes a run for it and somehow we get across without a scratch to our cars. Two days in Jaipur and then off to Agra – a 7 hour journey and thank God for our luxury air conditioned cars!! The highlight of our stay in Agra is the magnificent Taj Mahal. One of the seven wonders of the world. We have plenty of time for a guided tour and then time to ourselves for the usual pictures and time to spend in the gardens taking in the magnificent sight. Before we knew it we where back in Delhi for our last day to spend time at the pool, or go for a relaxing massage. But nobody told us that on our last day there was a big Indian wedding going on at our hotel and the pool was covered and tables where packed all around the pool area for the evening guest to enjoy!! Still what a trip, what a great bunch of travel agents, and plenty of laughing done by all on this superb trip to India.
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