Taj Express - 8 days

I have never been to India before and must say it was a life enhancing experience in unexpected ways. I make these comments with no reference to any other experience as I have not had one. Yusef the main tour guide was experienced and knowledgable on history and current India which I think is very important to navigate in what is quite a complex country. The transport by coach was very good. I had a bolt on to the spiritual cities of the Ganges and the four hour car ride to these on the Indian motorway as I was the only one to go on this addition (the rest went to see tigers) was a little gruelling. But visit to Hadawar and Rishikesh was great. I had been late due to flight and luggage loss so I had missed the initial meeting at the hotel before we started the main tour in Delhi. I do not know what information was given there about the possibilities of dehydration without large intake of water as the weather was very hot. By the time I got to Haridwar on the Ganges I was becoming severely dehydrated. The guide there took me to the chemist for rehydration salts and I started to feel better but it took some time to recover. I enjoyed the food but I did get a bad tummy and the runs so I expect this may have contributed to dehydration. I will be aware of both these things in the future! I hope to go again before I get too creaky as I am 68. Filling in the Indian e visa was quite a chore and I had to get some help so some advice on this would be useful.

Our tour with on the go far exceeded expectations. Transport was in a modern air conditioned coach and was with us all of the way. Our guide Satendra is a proud Indian man with a passion for his country and was able to provide an understanding of the true wonder of India that will leave an indelible impression on the mind and heart. India is more than sights but an experience. The accommodation was high standard and a few stays were in ex palaces. Some like exotic marigold hotel. Our guide also attended every meal and took us to some amazing places only a local would know and to maintain safe eating of the incredible flavours of India. India can be daunting but with our tour guide our safety, care and comfort was paramount. We also did the food tasting tour in Delhi. Wow.

Yusuf was a very good tour leader who was always helpful and consisderate of individuals on the tour. He was very knowledgeable about his country and explained the history thoroughly. He would rearrange the order of the tour at various times to make the tour flow more easily for the benefit of the participants. He would provide a buffer zone from some of the local vendors for us at times which was very helpful and useful to us. I can say with certainty that he was one of the best tour leaders we have ever encountered. With our visit to India we have been to 80 countries so we have encountered many tour leaders throughout the years. Even though we were very tired by the end of the tour, it was a wonderful experience to see a small part of India. The heat at this time of the year coupled with our age lead to our being very exhausted at teh completion of the tour. Thanks to Yusuf for our pleasurable trip and great experience of India.

The tour guide, Yusuf was very knowledgeable, witty and easy to get along with. He obviously enjoyed his job and was always handy with many interesting facts about the places we visited. I would highly recommend him.

It was truly amazing. Got a real feel for India. Thank you. Could not have asked for a better guide. Yusuf Khan was amazing!

The tour was amazing, everything on the highest level, the itinerary, the accommodation, the transport, and of course the amazing knowledgeable kind and devoted guide Sat...THANK YOU we really had the trip of our lifetime - (in spite of the terrible hot weather).

Although this was an ‘express’ tour I felt we covered a lot in the time available and with the distances covered. I was surprised by the travel time for each leg of the trip - the trip notes didn't include estimated durations for all travel days. Other companies do this routinely so this is one improvement that On the Go could make so travellers have full information before they book. I note that road and traffic conditions are not the same as the U.K. and there were sufficient toilet and food stops which shows the guides’ consideration for the group. The hotel on the last day in Delhi was disappointing. The rooms were great however the location wasn’t and as there was no bar or spa at the hotel (unlike the starting point hotel) spending the last night together was not as much fun as it could have been and relaxing after a busy week would have been better with spa, or a gym! The breakfast was also poor with mostly Indian food and only bread and cereal other than this. Our guide was fantastic. He looked after everyone with great care and consideration, including finding pharmacy’s and phone shops for travellers, offering more frequent stops for those who weren’t well and re-planning portions of the trip where journeys took longer than expected or It was a foggy day. He shared some personal stories to help explain aspects of the Indian culture and provided excellent information on all aspects of history, culture, etc. There were times when Yusuf sat away from the group for meals, which we felt uncomfortable with as we wanted him to be part of the group - by the end of the week he was doing this and I think this made him feel more comfortable sharing stories with us, which was nice for everyone. My one criticism of Yusuf would be that he would often move the group on in quite a quiet manner so we didn’t always know we were supposed to follow - I think this may be down to the quiet nature of the Indian people, whereas lots of loud Brits and Aussies probably need a loud voice to get them to listen!! He was excellent at advising us on how to stay safe and not get taken advantage of by locals and stepped in several times to assist when money was stolen and people approached us. He made the trip very successful. Having water available on the bus was another added bonus as we didn’t need to find shops to buy it at - another small detail that helped make a difference to the overall quality of the tour.

Excellent tour guide. India is daunting but with Yussef in control we had the best experience possible.

I expected the Taj Express to be fast paced and deliver all the highlights in a short space of time and I was not disappointed! Our tour guide, Satendra, assisted with arranging any additional sightseeing I had planned. He is an exceptional tour guide - I had spinal surgery prior to the tour and he went out of his way to assist me in any way possible.

As mentioned at the beginning of the tour, it was very disappointing to find out that there was not a full-time tour guide. This was only informed, once I arrived, and only via a highlighting on the form. I do NOT know that there would be less than 4 and as this is such a vital piece of information, it could considered as misleading advertising as the intention of having a Group Tour is for a full-time Tour Guide. As I hope you realise, this DOES make a difference, as the full-time tour guide provides so much extra information during the transport from city to city.