BACK TO INDIA

The Anticipation

13 September 2014

 

A year ago I was planning my first trip to India, a place I realize now, that I knew very little about. When people said to me 'Why on earth would you want to go there?" I had no real answer. Now, less than a year later,  I am planning my second trip to India and I have lots of answers. I'm sure you will hear these answers over the next few weeks.

Trip Advisor calculates that I have been to 37 different countries and covered 27% of the world so I have  quite a bit of travel experience. I have also traveled in many different ways; alone, with friends and family and with small group tours. I have stayed in family homes, tents, hostels, small inexpensive hotels, and luxury hotels and resorts. All of my experiences have been good, some fantastic, but there has only ever been one country that returning to has become an obsession....India!

Last December I remember sitting in a beach shack in Goa eating an unbelievable Prawn Marsala and thinking that I never wanted to leave this amazing country. I had been in India for a month, starting in Delhi, moving through Rajasthan then down to Mumbai and Goa. Within the first few days I knew that I'd be back...it was just a matter of how soon I could arrange it, where I would go and how I would travel. Now the date has been set...10th October....less than 4 weeks away, and plans have been finalized.

I will be traveling with my friend Diana who has never been to India before. We plan to spend the first two weeks traveling with Intrepid on their Rajasthan Adventure. I have traveled with Intrepid before and know that this will be a good way to introduce Diana to India. However, for the second two weeks we are doing a private tour with Tarun Sharma of the New Delhi based 'Adventure Holiday Tours.' http://www.adventureholidaytours.com/     Tarun has been a real find. I contacted him as a result of seeing some excellent reviews on Trip Adviser    http://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attraction_Review-g304551-d4992274-Reviews-or10-Adventure_Holiday_Private_Day_Tours-New_Delhi_National_Capital_Territory_of_.html#REVIEWS     and have been very impressed with his followup. He has been incredibly patient, answering my many, often trivial, questions with good humor, honesty and excellent knowledge. While maintaining a very professional approach he has also established an easy relationship with me which makes me feel like I will be traveling with a friend. I am especially looking forward to this part of the trip as I know that Tarun's personalized approach is going to show us a side of India that even a small group tour never could. This part of our trip will take us to the areas around Rishikesh, down to Varanasi and includes a stay in Tarun's very small family village.

Got the tickets, got the visa.....countdown time now. Watch this space !



If you have any questions please feel free to email me  nazusw@gmail.com