Rajastan and Varanasi tour in August 2023
Trip to Rajasthan, Varanasi
3
/5
(Written on 12 Apr, 2024)
Tour Suggested hotels: sometimes they weren't real 5 stars and with poor services (e.g. Castle Mandawa, Rivatas Ideal). Fortunately, 2 hotels have been changed compared to those proposed by the agency (Read More) before sarting the tour (Samode Haveli and Narendra Bhawan), where in fact we had a perfect staying.
Reduce to max 2 nights Varanasi (fort and museum are abandoned and not worth visiting).
Tour payment: being able to pay by bank transfer or PayPal involves a 10% transaction and exchange fee. You should have a POS for paying the balance, as it is possible to do in India for hotels, restaurants and shops.
Communications with local agency
In some cases, guides were not full aware of the day tour and what to see.
On request, we had prompt reply from the agency, unfortunately not always in all subjects and advice (ie. guide tips, guide expense, ...)
Excursions:
Funny and beautiful camel ride, avoid Dinner at Sam Sand Dunes (low quality and cleanliness, next day we had a stomach ache)
Avoid Vishnoi village Safari: far from the city to see 3 simulations (trivial) of handicraft art.
Local Guides: in general we had informed and english speaking Guides, some cases a bit bored. Unfortunately they always proposed to visit the shops (dedicated to tourists) with which they had agreements and where the price quality was often doubtful (obviously shops where Indians never bought).
Driver: He was an experienced driver even if he drove very slow (60/70km/h ok max times even on good roads where he could go at 80), he stopped at restaurants where they charged tourists higher prices (in fact Indians never present as customers). He also asked if we wanted to go shopping in craft shops...
As far as the driver is concerned, we also appreciated his punctuality, however you can recommend or provide him with earphones for his mobile phone so that he does not get distracted while driving, for his and his passengers' greater safety.
We therefore recommend that future tourists use Google Maps reviews for the best restaurants and Uber to book taxis or tuktuks to get around independently and contact local guide at reasonnable price.
In conclusion, the Rajasthan tour was good for the different beautiful landscapes (desert, lake, hill...) and for the historical monuments (Forts and Maraja houses). Unfortunately there is no respect for the tourist and in every circumstance he is circuited by the locals in order to get as much money as possible (from tourist shops, tuktuks,museums with prices increased by even 10 times for westerners ....).