India’s Golden Triangle and Tailormade

My husband and I wanted to visit India to experience the Golden Triangle, so three months before our Feb. 18-26, 2016, trip, we contacted Tailormade Journey (25 Grangewood, Wexham, Slough, South Bucks, England, SL3 6LP, U.K.; phone +44 1753 577 330, www.tailormadejourney.com). Our correspondence was with Gouri Wahie.

The land cost of the private trip for the two of us was £1,648 (near $2,185), with six nights in 5-star hotels, including breakfast.

We were met at the airport and had the same driver for the entire trip (Delhi-Jaipur-Agra-Delhi). Rana drove an air-conditioned, manual Toyota 4Runner and, although he spoke limited English, we were able to understand each other.

To this day, I don’t know how he managed the terrible traffic without problems. He knew all the rest stops, shops and restaurants and was available to take us wherever we wanted. We agreed to have him meet us in late afternoons, after the city tours, for additional shopping and eating.

He also picked up our local tour guide in each city. All three of our tour guides were excellent and knowledgeable, with a good command of English. 

The hotels were very nice and included excellent breakfasts with broad menu selections. However, all hotels (except for the one in Delhi) were at the edge of town, and because of the constant flow of people wanting to sell things to you or guide you, we decided not to venture out past the compounds.

In Delhi we stayed at the Sheraton New Delhi Hotel (District Centre, Saket), next door to a couple of shopping malls that were very similar to American shopping malls, with many of the same stores and fast-food restaurants.

In Jaipur we stayed at the ITC Rajputana (Kedia Palace Road), which was an older, well-kept hotel. 

In Agra we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Agra (75/2 R.K. Puram, Phase-2, Taj Nagari, Fatehabad Road), near a McDonald’s and a shopping mall. However, we determined that walking to those places wasn’t possible because there were no sidewalks and there were people living in tents, with camels, dogs and other animals tied up or running around.

In our six days, we saw everything we had wanted to see except for the India Gate in Delhi, which wasn’t accessible because of a diplomatic reception. We did see some wonderful buildings and sites and learned a lot about the history of each. The trip was much better and more interesting than we had anticipated.

Some road trips were long, especially the detour we had to take from Jaipur to Agra (due to the highway being closed for repairs), where we traveled 10 miles on a terrible, one-lane dirt road. 

February is an excellent time to visit India, when temperatures are in the mid- to high 70s for a couple of hours during the day and in the mid-50s at night.

We were very pleased with the service provided by Tailormade Journey and also with the cost.

PETRA LUCHESA

Spicewood, TX