Published on Feb, 2023
Reality Tours and Travel was recommended to us by our neighbours who have done various India tours with them 7 or 8 times over the years and have developed a strong friendship with the founder of the company, Krishna Pujari.
My wife, I and a friend were incredibly lucky to actually have Krishna himself as our guide for 3 sublime weeks.
India had never featured on our radar as a travel destination previously. It's a huge country of 1.3 billion people. It seemed so daunting.
Delhi is a heaving cauldron of masses of people, rickshaws, scooters, motorbikes, cars...and don't forget the cows wandering through the mayhem.
You can, of course, plan your own India trip and negotiate your own travel arrangements but it is just so much easier to use Reality Tours guides and simply relax knowing that your valuable time is spent enjoying the sights instead of frustrating yourself with directions and how to get from one place to another.
I don't enjoy haggling with rickshaw, taxi drivers and shopkeepers. Time is too precious. Reality Tours guides take the hassle out of India travel. They know the cities. They know the sights. They know the routes. They know the fares. They also know the value of anything you might want to purchase from street traders and shops and will ensure you're not ripped off.
For 3 wonderful weeks Krishna guided us first through Delhi, then onto Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Agra and then onto Kathmandu, Chitwan and Pokhara in Nepal.
Nepal didn't do it for us and we wished we'd spent that week instead seeing more of India.
It's hard to describe just how invigorating India is: the vibrant colours, the noise, the mayhem, the beauty...and the people.
What became so evident during our tour is that India's people, being majority Hindu, are gentle and quite special. Because of their Hindu roots, crime is not an issue in India. We never once felt threatened, unsafe or uncomfortable.
Krishna was not the only guide on our tour. Parts of our tour were joined by other Reality Tours guides either for training purposes or to introduce us to other guides who had a more in depth knowledge of a particular area. All these guides were fabulous and we' developed friendships with some like Raj who we hope to see again.
We were told that we'd inevitably get "Delhi-belly" travelling India for 3 weeks. We were well-stocked with anti diarrhoea tabs...which we never got to use. Cautioned by our guides against drinking anything other than bottled water or carbonated drinks and raw foods that might have been washed in dodgy water, all of us enjoyed the fabulous foods of India without any issues.
What a pleasure to wander the crazy markets and backroads and stop to marvel at street food cooked on massive cauldrons and pans and then have our guide purchase the delights for us to sample over and over again in each new exciting destination. Where we'd normally be hesitant in trying the street-food, Krishna made it a joy.
Travel in cities was a mix of rickshaws, taxi and metro. All of the uncertainty is removed. We simply followed our guides.
Between cities transport was a mix of train, plane (to and from Nepal) and car...all arranged and paid for by our guides as part of the tour price.
Accommodation was a mix of budget and fancy hotels, home stays and lodges - all very comfortable and charming.
I could write a book extolling the virtues of Reality Tours & Travel.
Highlights?
The vibrancy
The street-food
Wandering the streets soaking up the atmosphere
The Delhi slum tour
Cooking class in Udaipur with Shashi
Watching the latest Bollywood blockbuster movie in perhaps the best cinema in the world
The home-stays
The occasional evening meals shared by visiting a local family
The extraordinary forts
The amazing temples
Reality Tours guides...with whom you will inevitably develop lasting friendships
If we'd visited India independently I feel sure we would have been daunted, frustrated and overwhelmed. With your hand held by Reality Tours & Travel guides it's impossible to come away from India without a deep understanding of the people, the history, the culture, the food and Hinduism.
We've had the very good fortune to have travelled all of Europe, holidayed in Mexico, lived in Australia, South Africa, Canada and France...yet India has absolutely captivated us...so much so that we're already planning our next trip
with Reality Tours.
Thank you Krishna, our friend....and thank you Raj.
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