I last blogged to say we were on our way to an overnight train to Varanasi and would give the trip a few more days before we passed judgement overall. I can now say that the India portion of this trip was a complete failure. We lasted until the 10th and left along with the three other travellers Pat, Jessica and Kim. (not counting our leader and her ex-boyfriend, who were going to travel further after we left anyhow) So we never made it to the Pushkar Camel Fair. I have to say even if we'd gone we wouldn't have had a good time because at that point we were "DONE" with India and our tour altogether.
Although we did get swindled a few times in minor ways from the $50 at the Kali Temple to any purchase we made at white people prices, the biggest swindle of all (hence my nickname India-Swindlia) was the tour itself. Our guide touted 1st class hotels, heritage sites and lovely pools in said resorts and then we were in what I would call 2 star hotels at best. They were dirty and no pools except one. So I would say overall our trip should have cost about $2500 at the most. We had paid $8k so the big swindle was unexpectedly from our trip leader from Sacramento who put on the trip.
Everyone else I know who has gone to India in the last few years has gone with a group trip and had an excellent time. They all said..."you have to go first class so that you have a refuge from the filth and overwhelming crowds you will experience there." I thought that is what we had signed up for. Instead it was more like a group of backpackers mooking along not quite sure what there was to see. Our leader's travel book was 3 years old and she hadn't been to India for 28 years, both things we didn't know before embarking on this adventure.
A few days into the trip, I had to have a sit down with our leader and tell her it was unacceptable for us not to have local/informed guides with us to show us the sights, look out for swindlers, and that meals needed to be included for the price we paid for the trip(as we found out when we arrived that they weren't going to be!)
The 2 overnight trains were a nightmare of cockaroaches and disgusting toilets that I would rather not go into detail about as I would rather block them out of my mind. I can say with certainty that none of the other members of our group were pleased with the train and accomodations either.
The final straw for me was after an overnight, miserable train to Delhi we checked into another dark dank cold showered dirty hotel room with sheets that were so filthy we had to use our hostel sleepsheets. Thank goodness we brought them! As Kim had his cold rinse I sat there ready to cry and thinking "This was supposed to be my "Orient Express" trip as it was just as expensive and was supposed to be posh. We had never spent so much on a trip in our lives, including the 65 day trip Kim and I did in Europe back in '95. I had packed a cocktail dress and my dance shoes in case there were any live musicians at the "heritage hotels". We never needed any nice clothes and the clothes we did wear got filthy within minutes.
Ok enough griping...it was a bust...so we left. The five of us got a car (at our own expense mind you) to drive us from Jaipur to Delhi. We hired him to take us into Delhi so we could have dinner and then to the airport. We had him take us to the Imperial Hotel which was of the caliber we had all hoped to experience throughout the trip. That was where I could have pulled out my heels and dress but since no one else dressed up I just wore my nice silk shirt and Kim wore his sports coat. After the best meal of the trip we went to the airport and made our escape to Bangkok. How do you make Bangkok feel as clean as Europe? Go to India on the cheap first!
I am sorry it has taken me so long to post but I had to wait until the sting of it had passed enough to write about it.
One positive thing I will say is that the Taj Mahal was as lovely and impressive a piece of art as it is touted to be. I expected to be dissapointed and I was not! It was the one bright gem in an otherwise depressing trip.
If you want even more gory details of the day to day along with the sights we did see check out Kim's blog. http://wwfam-kstj.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-india-review.html
Coming soon....Thailand makes it all better!
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