I really waffled between three and four stars for this Varanasi tour. Our tour guide, Ricky was fantastic as was our driver, Balbu. They were always on time and took very good care of us. The problem we had was the hotel. It was no where near a four star accommodation. It would pushing it to say it was two stars, even in India. We actually did other tours in India and stayed at four and five star hotels - this was not one. The front desk staff were rude, but worse, the room was not clean, there were stains on walls, carpet, draperies, anything you cold imagine. Although the sheets and towels appeared clean, they were well worn. Breakfast was included and was fine which was a plus. But the price we paid for this tour was definitely not worth the hotel stay. We did not complain to the tour operator, so to be fair, did not give them a chance to remedy the situation. However, we were also told that there were basically no rooms in Varanasi during our stay, so they probably could not have moved us anyway. Regardless, we enjoyed our time there. But I would be wary about the hotel accommodations in booking this tour.
Abhishek was a nice tour guide, very amusing and fun. He gut us wonderful seats on the roof for the Ganga Aarti for an additional fee. However, many times we felt rushed. For instance, we didn't feel we had enough time at the ghats or in the central/old part of Varanasi. He did try to wait for us sometimes, but other times he would sometimes take off into a crowd of people, and we'd have to call out after him. Varanasi is extremely crowded with tiny alleyways, so it will always be difficult regardless if who is your guide. Regardless, we felt this could have been done better.
We felt VERY heavily pressured to buy at the loom stop. They showed us piece after piece even when we told them we were not interested ("only" 150 dollars!, about 140 euros). It's very common in India for vendors to be pushy (I know this from 1 month in India), but they took this to a whole new level. After we spent about 3000 rupees there, they asked for a tip as well. I wish we'd asked to skip it. At the tea shop, they were much more polite. But they put perfume on my friend's hands even though she said "no" multiple times and even tried to pull her hand away. Though the perfume is natural, she is very sensitive skin, and she had an uncomfortable skin reaction.
I also had to heavily press to do things that were included in the itinerary, such as the street food tour and Blue Lassi shop. The Blue Lassi shop is not to be missed! The base of any lassi is very simple. What sets Blue Lassi apart is the variety of flavors you can get, and the garnishments as well! We tried a pear, pineapple, and pomegranate/apple/chocolate lassi. I LOVED the pear and pomegranate/apple/chocolate! I've been in India for 1 month and have not seen this kind of variety anywhere (Rajasthan, Delhi, UP, Goa, Bombay). Usually it's just sweet/salty plain, mango, banana, and maybe strawberry. You can also see them make the lassi out front. The food that Abhishek took us to in Varanasi was top notch!
Also, it's worth noting that we had booked train tickets to go to Agra but were not confirmed. Abhishek worked with his company, and they were able to get us confirmed tickets using their quota for 350 rupees a piece. Totally worth it, and we appreciated this a lot.
Traveler66493280227
26 Dec 2024
I took 5 days Delhi Mathura vrindavan tour package from Yattri for my family and elderly parents, it was planned well and travel provided was good. This is second time I took the package from Yattri, everything was good.