Travel Review: India & Maldives Luxury Trip, Dehli, Agra, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, Jaipur, Food & Culture

Review by traveler

bernadette g.

1.23.2019

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

India

Maldives

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Overall really great experience. The places we stayed were beautiful and perfectly aligned with our expectations. The itinerary of the sights and activities matched what we were interested in. The local agent and related guides were outstanding. We have some bumps in our trip, including a hospital visit in Delhi, and our agent was super responsive and helped coordinate ad hoc transportation. Our travel planner was great at providing input and advice around ideas for the trip and thinking about varying the transportation between cities given the drives are long and not smooth given its India. My only real disappointment was the quality of the mini-bus. We had 5 long drives between cities so this was important. The buses were clean and comfortable but the top speed was 43 kilometers per hour. Watching other mini-buses speed by us when we were on highways was frustrating and I do believe added to the length of our trips--quite possibly adding an hour to our drive from Agra to Delhi for example which is all highway. I would have paid extra for a better vehicle had I known. I also was surprised that no one noticed that we were booked at an adults only resort in the Maldives but we had one in our family under the age of 18. Luckily the resort honored our booking because they had our passports and should have noticed but that could have been a really challenge had they not given it was the holiday season.

The real question is....Would I use our travel planner again? Yes I definitely would. For me trust is most important and I trust her knowledge of India, her selection of local agents, her hotel suggestions and the sightseeing activities. I would just pay closer attention to some of the details.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Jaisalmer and Jaipur were really the big highlights for us. Taj was of course amazing as expected but these other two cities offer quite a bit of beauty and culture that represents old India. The Christmas eve gala in Jaisalmer and The Shikaar Dinner at the hotel near Jodhpur was truly special on Christmas day.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

I would move heaven and earth to add one day. We loved our experience outside Jodhpur at the hotel but didn't have the time to spend a day visiting the Jodhpur and the sites within which we regret.

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Bernadette,

I am so glad you had a great trip and would definitely book again with our company.

I know you were frustrated with the speed of the driver of the vehicle. But as I said, the cars that passed you were non - tourist vehicles. As per the highway traffic rules from one year ago, all tourists vehicles have to drive within specified speed limits. However it is only the tourist vehicles that actually follow this. All tourist vehicles now have speed controls installed in the vehicles so even if the driver tries to speed up, the vehicle will not go beyond the allowable speed.

I too get frustrated because I am used to driving faster at home. But this rule was implemented to hopefully cut down on accidents.

The vehicles that passed you were catering to locals. They do not stay within the speed limits and if stopped by the police, they pay the police off. Tourist vehicles can not go over the speed limit because of the speed control in the car.

In terms of the Maldives resort, someone there made a mistake with the original booking and not us. The person at the Maldives resort saw the passports and allowed us to book. Then in the process someone else complained when we double checked this after you mentioned this to me. I do apologize for the uncertainty this led to about the booking but it did work out.

Thank you.

Photos