trip to Rajasthan

flyingpig

Hello,

This is my first trip to India. Does anyone have any experiences with Namaste India Tours? Is Ranthambhor National Park worth the trip?

machadinha

They've received mostly good reports here (they used to be members). Some bad too, as such things go. They seem to book up early, so contacting them well in advance seems to be adviced.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

edwardseco

Had a friend that used them in December and was very happy..

wonderwomanusa

I used Namaste India Tours a couple of years ago (well, 5 years, actually) and they were great! Jawahar is a really nice fellow, as was my driver.

__________________
The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski

flyingpig

Thank you very much for the respond. My other question is "does Ranthambhor National Park worth the trip? Is spending half of the day enough for the park?

thanks

singsub

someone oce posted on this forum that to make a jungle trip worthwhile (er... to see atiger) one had to invest a minimum of 3 days.

machadinha

It's true: From my limited experience (I only visited one park in India, although I've planned to visit others) I'd say that the effort to get there (they're often and naturally a little out of the way, although Ranthambore may be well accessible; they're also often relatively costly for Indian standards or at least to a budget traveler, at least by way of accommodation and so on [they're not necessarily "ripping you off," there's just naturally not a lot of competition around, and those parks need to get funded somehow I guess], which I'd take as a reason to make the most of your time there, rather than to minimize it, and it's really not expensive compared to a similar experience at home) really merits to take at least a few days to up your chances of actually getting to see any wildlife or just take in the surroundings, if you're gonna bother at all. Safaris are often just once, perhaps twice a day, so to make several requires several days.

Some parks appear to be better organized and better at guaranteeing any sightings than others though, obviously. Ranthambore I can't tell you about, others can. It's popular and famous enough that a search on this site, or on the web (remember there'll be various ways of spelling the name btw, try Rantambhore etc.), should tell you something about whether it's worth to visit and what times of the year are best for it.

flyingpig

We are planning not to go to Jhunjhunu and Bikaner(included in the intinerary), instead spending sometime at the national park.

1. Is Ranthambhore National Park worth the trip at this time of year?
2. How big is the Park? and how many days should we spend at the park?

thanks

Mod Note

Hi fp. Have moved you question about Ranthambhore into your existing thread - partly to keep all the answers together plus you had already alluded to your trip to the park in this thread - (meaning the answers to your questions would be split and might cause confusion for some of our members).

flyingpig

Thank you for all of your feedback, especially you, machadinha

MrsC_772

I went to Ranthambhore at the end of February and saw tigers on 2 out of the 3 safari drives I went on. I'd say it was definitely worth it, but I know others haven't been so lucky.

I'd suggest you stay for at least 2 nights, and go on at least 2 safaris. There's a lottery for which route each vehicle takes (to avoid them all crowding in the same area), and chances of seeing tigers do seem to vary from route to route. I think it was route 3, along by the lake, where your chances were highest.

If you do go to Ranthambhore and fancy a bit of shopping, the Dastkar women's co-operative has some lovely stuff - clothes, little bags and scarves. There are 2 shops - one near Khem Villas and another one closer to the town.

flyingpig

Thanks for the info, MrsC 772. Sounds like you had a great trip in India. I do hope I'll get to see some tigers or A tiger at the national park in November.
I know this is going to sound silly but I still have to ask. Does anyone have the number of Namaste India Tours? I tried to e-mail them, but their mailling address is not working. Pls help.

thanks

machadinha

Heheh, equally silly, but I'm sure you googled them up? http://www.namasteindiatours.com/ . That's the best I have for you. (Checking now: I don't immediately see a phone nr. there either, but it may be somewhere on their site. You could try your international operator.)

Contacting India can take some persistence; people may be understaffed, not checking their site or mail, or their server may be down for a lengthy period of time, blah blah. Although I'd expect NIT to stay on top of things if they can.

What can I say, keep trying. I'd rather call to India than email if possible. (Then be prepared for possibly confusing conversations over possibly crappy phone lines. Although I'd expect NIT to be well-geared to an international market, once you get through.)

ps Verifying stuff in writing (email) after such a confusing conversation can't hurt though. A "Yes" in India isn't always a yes but may as well have been out of politeness or even misunderstanding; in the end there's no real way around this though. Again, a tour operator like this should be geared to this though & know how to fill in the dots.

flyingpig

That's a good suggestion, Machadinha, thank you. After trying many differnt ways- including google the yellow page in India and calling the local India tourist center in my area, I give up. How could one not listed their number for business???

Anyways I'd like to know is it doable to spend $30-$35/day to rent a car with a driver for 16 days in Rajasthan? Some of the tours are now charging Rs=12/km.


thanks

karuna

i have a phone number for Jawahar but note I will only give it if you really, really need it (ie you've not had an email reply for a week or you really, really can't get through)

My Namaste India Tours driver is now my bestest friend. But I have drunk too much cider right now and love everybody.

flying pig if you still have no joy let me know and I can PM/email you Jawahar's number.

__________________
Indiamike mod squad's odd bod.
I've lost my equilibrium and my car keys and my pride ~ Tom Waits

[Indian Mona Lisa by Dinesh; can't find original uploader to credit in full.]

machadinha

I've been wondering, yes. Avoiding prank calls would seem to kind of defeat the purpose

Can't help you with the rest, sorry. You'll find indications of car & driver prices if you search around this site some (take note of posting dates, some of it may be quite outdated). I've never done it so have no idea.

ps <cross-posted with Karuna>

Aww that's cho sweet!!



(What does Wub mean anyway? (--> Ahem, my first hit by Urbandictionary suggests to sodomize with a knife. No, that wasn't precisely what I was thinking of. And perhaps we need another smiley.)