My trip around north India was very well organised, hosted by Abyss Tours (Abid) and our tour leader Ibrahim, the experience was both very interesting and enjoyable.
I unfortunately fell ill after Day 1 with a bad fever and food poisoning, which could have been down to a number of things, however I managed to get myself better so that I was able to continue with the tour. I was very well looked after, to ensure that I managed to eat and drink the right things, so that I got better for the tour.
I traveled with a lovely group from Australia, very friendly and down to earth people. We had really good conversations, which made the tour more worthwhile and enjoyable.
The tour itself was very interesting; my favorite places being the tour of Pushkar Lake, the thrilling rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk market and the beautiful Taj Mahal. I also made a humble alliance with my camel and guide on a 2-hour camel ride around Pushkar, this was truly awesome!
There were a few things that I was a little disappointed regarding my trip; the first being that we never got to see any 'Tigers' at the Ranthambore National Park. This was really really disappointing, as this was meant to be one of the main highlights of the trip. We were unfortunately misinformed by the safari drivers regarding the zoning, so we missed out. Others from other tours prospered from being in the right location at the right time, so was a bit of a waste of time. The second being we never got to ride on the elephants; we were advised that we could not do so, due to indian festivals at the time. I was somewhat puzzled, as this would have been known by all, therefore I felt a little misled because of this. The others in the group shared the same sentiments, such a shame. Lastly, you have to or feel obliged/pressured to give tips to everyone that provides a service for you! In the itinerary, it specifies what you should give as a minimum, but my view is that this should be discretionary and that you should be able to decide for yourself if you want to give and how much. For this, half of my spending money went on giving to others for doing their job?
If you've never been to India before, especially if you're a westerner/foreign national like me, I would advise bringing masks with you and wearing them where you can. The air quality in India is really bad, especially in Delhi, as sanitation and hygiene are very poor.
My overall experience of the tour was good, helped by our very knowledgeable day-to-day tour guides, an excellent tour bus driver and our very attentive tour leader Ibrahim.
A well planned holiday. Available to call and help us out when needed. When something went wrong they immediately organised precautions and helped us out. For example my mistake we left the deposit at one hotel and they arranged for the money to get to us at the next hotel. Abid personally met up with us making the holiday all that more personal.