We spent ten days travelling through the golden triangle and Ranthanbore safari park.
Jeetu our driver throughout this whole process carefully navigated us along hazardous roads ...his quiet competence evident and we felt completely safe. Jeetu is also a very wise man and will give advise when asked....which I recommend you take heed. He was honest and caring. I suggest you request Jeetu if at all possible but in season he is a busy man. The car was luxurious and the whole trip affordable.
Hotels were 4-5 star, and felt about 3-4 star generally. But better than expected. Sights a bit blurred by smog...but added ambiance to photos ...:)
Guides hit and miss. They are hired through an agent (as are the drivers) but their agenda is often to get commission and tips. We were burnt on a few occasions until we realised we were on our own and to navigate accordingly. I feel if you are paying for a guide they should do just that and guide you through the process , but not process you.
Ranthambore was disappointing and not worth the 8 hour trip from hell. Can’t say some things weren’t interesting....nothing to do with animals and “tigers” , but interesting. The opportunities to see tigers happens happens on a lottery basis....the gates are selected by a government draw and if you are lucky you get the gate were there may be animals....however I believe from good advise that it depends on how much you pay. The remainder of the park had a few summer deer and odd kingfisher but all very sad. I ate a lot of dust driving in crowded Jeep bumper to bumper with many others. Totally crazy.
Than you Jeetu and Dinesh for your professionalism ....and Jeetu you are a man amongst men...thank you.
Michelle and Elke
From the moment I contacted Manohar, I was impressed with the incredible service offered by this outfit. My wife and I had a fabulous experience with amazing service at every level. Our driver Mukesh was absolutely wonderful, all of our guides just lovely, the hotels selected 5 star plus, and all airport transfer seamless. These folks literally took care of us every inch of the way. Any contact before and while in India was responded to immediately. All of this at a reasonable price. We travel extensively and have never had service quite at this level. Great, great company.
I have very positive experience with Ecstatic India Tours. We visited the Golden Triangle with the company in October, and can wholeheartedly recommend them. First, planning was easy with Manohar - he was very responsive, helpful and flexible, as I did part of the planning myself. The drivier, Ashok, was excellent and very reliable. The guides in all places were top-notch, knowledgeable, flexible and professional. We were really impressed, and it was important to us. One guide, Anand Kumar in Agra, was also an excellent photographer, so we ended up with almost professional pictures from that place. But all of them were great - Hersh, Ali, Dinesh. The entire trip was well planned, everything was on time, without delays, glitches or stress. And the cost was very, very reasonable. Thank you Manohar and the team for the successful vacation!
OMG! From the moment I made contact with Manohar, I knew this trip was going to be perfect. He took control, made suggestions, listened to what we wanted and planned the most perfect trip. Every detail from the very first minute we started planning was covered in great detail. For us, the only way to travel in India wass with a guide and driver. We started our adventure in Old Delhi, flew to Kathmandu, Nepal for 3 days, then to Varanassi, Jaipur, Udaipur, Narlai, Luni and Jodpur...16 days (could have stayed longer). Every step, stop, palace, fort, laugh & photo along the way was amazing. Each day, we couldn't believe that things could get any better, but they did. We figured out quickly that if you only toured the Delhi area, you were missing the real mysticism of India. In Nepal we had the most delightful guide called Subha. The smile and enthusiasm was infectious and we made a true friend forever. In Varanassi, we had the pleasure of touring with Robbie. Calm, quiet and collective and a guide for over 37 years, there was nothing left unanswered. We spent the longest time with Monu our driver and Daulat our guide. These 2 guys were so much fun. To cover so much territory and know so much about every place we went, still amazes us. Always surprises along the way, smiles, laughs, 2,500+ photos, what more could we ask for...priceless! Getting up close and personal with the culture, the people, the religions, the foods was absolutely fantastic and it all started with Manohar and his tremendous ability to personalize this wonderful trip. He even helped us with sim cards, communicated regularly to be sure all was going well and absolutely left nothing unturned even when our baggage got lost. Driving thru Northern India gave us a real slice of life for all kinds of people and that experience will always be a part of our hearts. We fell in love with India!! Thank you Manohar, Subha, Robbie, Monu and Daulat! We hope someday to return...thank you Ecstatic India Tours!
A friend had recommended Pushpendra's travel company Ecstatic tours for our trip to Jaipur and Agra and we are only too happy with their friendly and timely services. Very responsive and they helped us get thru a couple of hitches, always leaving us with a feeling that Pushpendra and his team would take care of our any issues in our trip offering us constructive solutions to make the best of our trip. We travelled with our parents and 2 small kids and pushpendra even got a wheelchair kept in the tempo which was of great use for my mom. Tourguides were mostly very good particularly in jaipur. Driver was okay- could have been slightly more involved but did his job. But Pushpendra and manohar took care of any problems we may have had and planned a wonderful trip taking our preferences into account at all times! Would highly recommend them for any trips at all!!
