Travel Designers Day 1 – West Meets East. India Tour
When one of our tour operators, Travelpack emailed to say there was a space on an educational trip of an India Tour, my answer was a resounding yes! It has always been on the top of my Travel Bucket List to go to India to experience this vibrant country. Whilst I’d booked lots of clients, I’d never quite got there myself.
The itinerary arrives the day before our departure and it is a full-on schedule starting in Delhi then on to Shimla, Jaipur and Agra, a trip that is normally recommended over 12 days we will do in only 8.
So today is the day and I arrive at Heathrow airport to meet with our guide from Travel Pack and my 6 travel buddies who we will share this India Tour travel experience. Off to a great start with complimentary entrance to the Virgin Atlantic lounge and wow what a lounge! I’ve visited many lounges but I must say the Virgin Atlantic lounge in Terminal 3 is a wonderful experience with many eating and drink options as well as the renowned spa offering many treatments, some complimentary and some with a charge.
If you travel often or are off on a long haul trip, the upgraded flights give you access to this lounge and it really is worth the consideration to start your trip on a very chilled and relaxing way. We all enjoyed a few glasses of wine and some of the light bites from the Virgin Atlantic menu, I can personally recommend the cheese on toast! Perfect with a glass of Viognier.
Our flight to Delhi is in economy class on an Airbus A330-300 with a 2-4-2 seat configuration which is comfortable for the duration of our flight. Enough legroom, excellent chicken curry for our meal and a tailwind that got us into Delhi in just 7 hours 40 minutes, 11am local time. After eating our meal, I catch about 3 hours sleep on the plane in between watching two films, one being “The best exotic Marigold Hotel”, a great one to watch on a flight to Dehli for our India Tour, what should I expect?
After collecting our luggage we head to the currency desk to change some money for Indian rupees. We are told the best rate is at the airport but we find that most of the hotels have the same exchange rate. Don’t feel like you must exchange everything at the airport. I would point out at this time that Sterling is just as good as any other currency i.e. dollars or euros.
If you are going to use a credit card in India then advise your bank as you may have difficulties if they are not aware of you being in India. For some reason, MasterCard and American Express were accepted much easier than a visa.
We are met on arrival by the local TravelPack ground agent and are given a warm welcome and a colourful scarf each as a gift. Our transfer from the airport to the Hilton in west Delhi takes roughly an hour and on the route, our eyes are opened to the sights of India, Our India Tour has begun.
What you see on the Streets of Dehli
It’s not just the volume of people and cars but the different sights that you see in comparison to the trip from London Heathrow to the centre of London. Imagine the north circle in London and then consider seeing cows and goats walking down that road, peoples washing hanging out to dry on the railings in the barriers in the middle of the road. Add to that, perfect roads that suddenly turn into potholes that we have to stop to pick a route over.
All the way into the centre of the city you can see where people have set up homes with makeshift tarpaulin on the side of the street and some that can’t even afford to do that, who just live on the streets or on the roundabouts. On one of the roundabouts, I’m left with an image of a family with the mother hanging washing on the road sign to dry and the father sitting crossed legged with a small baby of only a few months cradled in his arms and two young children of 2 and 4 years sitting either side of him. It’s hard to believe, but, that is their home.
We arrive at the Hilton Delhi to check in to the executive rooms which are very nice with large king beds, windowed walls between the bathroom and the bedroom that allows you to soak in the bath and watch the T.V. That’s if you can get hot water which seems to be a problem even in this 4 star hotel. We literally drop our bags and are off out for a sightseeing trip of New Delhi, with more surprise at the wandering cows, and this time we see goats, monkeys and even an elephant on the main road.
We arrive at “The Qutub Minar” which is extremely busy with tourists, most of which are Indian as the domestic market is the largest tourist market within India, the guide tells us the history of the monument. It is a little lost on us as by now with the heat and the lack of sleep we are starting to go into autopilot as we move around. We drive around New Delhi taking in the sights of The diplomatic enclave of Embassies and the President’s house which are palatial and with no signs of people living on the streets, rubbish or cows for that matter.
Our last visit of the tour is to The Indian Gate an iconic monument built in the centre of a park, which is full of locals enjoying their Sunday day of rest, playing cricket in the park around the monument or just enjoying the sunshine. There are many street sellers here selling fruit, candy floss, nuts and of course photographers to capture your moment under the gate and print you a souvenir. There are many beggars in this tourist area which remind you of those less fortunate but we dare not give anything to one in fear of the many arriving.
Our evening consists of dinner at the Taj Palace hotel after a tour of the hotel and the various room types that they offer, this is a wonderful hotel and one that many of my customers would love to stay in when in Indian and looking for a 5-star hotel in Dehli.
11 pm and at last we make it back to the hotel to fall deeply into sleep, only to be woken by our 5 am an alarm call. Day 2 A Tour of India