India is a fascinating country, with many important monuments and sights, but the poverty is in your face. Our time there was mostly spent as a member of a group tour. By nature, I'm an independent tourist, but sometimes a group tour has its uses: it allows you to cover a lot of ground in a short timeframe, especially in a country like India where as a first-time "independent" traveller I would certainly have encountered "challenges".
Our fellow-travellers were a mixed bunch, from Britain and New Zealand as well as Australia. The ladies far out-numbered the men. One of our number couldn't tolerate anything spicy, which in India certainly limited her eating options (but usually the restaurants were able to cater for her). Our tour guide was extremely well-informed, but we felt he could have been better in the "people skills" area and ought to have been more communicative in relation to day-by-day matters, such as plans for the day, how long each activity would take and the like. I, like most of the others, thought he wasn't up to the standard of his counterparts on previous tours we've undertaken with the same company. However, I'm conscious that I'll need to be cautious when providing feedback to the organisers, as it could have repercussions for his ability to get future assignments.
The tour we selected was marketed as a "premium" product, and this was certainly reflected in the high quality of the accommodation and meals, the small number in the group and the roominess of the bus. You see "discount" packaged tours advertised in the travel supplements of the newspapers (although perhaps not yet for India), but at the end of the day, I believe that you only get what you pay for.
Speaking of the bus, our driver had an assistant (a "bus boy"), who sat up the front with the driver in a non-air-conditioned section, partitioned off from the group and the tour leader! Seemingly this is usual in India, and even many lorry drivers have an assistant. He helped people on and off the bus, handed out the water bottles, and was a second pair of eyes for the driver in "complicated" traffic situations. However, on one occasion when our coffee break was extended for a few minutes because the driver was said to have thrown up, there was no suggestion that the bus-boy should drive.
And on health issues, it seems the driver was the only person to have had any!
I've been left with some Indian rupees. I tried to use them to make a purchase at Bangkok on our transit stop coming home but although the duty-free store seemed willing to accept numerous other currencies, it wouldn't take rupees. I'll have to see if there's anyone in Melbourne who will take them (any offers?)
Our fellow-travellers were a mixed bunch, from Britain and New Zealand as well as Australia. The ladies far out-numbered the men. One of our number couldn't tolerate anything spicy, which in India certainly limited her eating options (but usually the restaurants were able to cater for her). Our tour guide was extremely well-informed, but we felt he could have been better in the "people skills" area and ought to have been more communicative in relation to day-by-day matters, such as plans for the day, how long each activity would take and the like. I, like most of the others, thought he wasn't up to the standard of his counterparts on previous tours we've undertaken with the same company. However, I'm conscious that I'll need to be cautious when providing feedback to the organisers, as it could have repercussions for his ability to get future assignments.
The tour we selected was marketed as a "premium" product, and this was certainly reflected in the high quality of the accommodation and meals, the small number in the group and the roominess of the bus. You see "discount" packaged tours advertised in the travel supplements of the newspapers (although perhaps not yet for India), but at the end of the day, I believe that you only get what you pay for.
And on health issues, it seems the driver was the only person to have had any!
I've been left with some Indian rupees. I tried to use them to make a purchase at Bangkok on our transit stop coming home but although the duty-free store seemed willing to accept numerous other currencies, it wouldn't take rupees. I'll have to see if there's anyone in Melbourne who will take them (any offers?)
No comments:
Post a Comment