We contacted Narendra 2 weeks before we planned to travel as our original plans to travel to Sri Lanka fell through. He arranged our tour without any problem very quickly on such short notice. Half of the payment was made online and the second half when we arrived in Jaipur.
We decided to do the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur) as well as Kerala for a total of 11 days. When we arrived in Delhi airport our driver, Bunty, dropped us from the airport to the hotel. Bunty was such a kind and helpful person and really added to our enjoyment of the trip. He was able to recommend good places to eat and always went out of his way to help us and provide us with information on the different areas. Narendra arranged our flight from Jaipur to Cochin and we were picked up in Cochin by another driver who was with us for the remainder of the trip.
The majority of the hotels we stayed in were very nice and luxurious. The only hotel we would not recommend was the Dunes hotel in Cochin as the room was damp and mouldy. The houseboat in Alleppey was a great experience and we would recommend it to anyone. A number of the hotels arrange their own activities which provides good variety to the itinerary.
The tour does not include the entrance fee to the various historical sites and most only take cash so ensure you take out enough money. The ATMs only allow you to take out 10,000 rupees at a time (approx €120). We enjoyed the majority of the sites including the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Amber Fort, Ghandi Memorial Museum, Qutub Minar, Humayan’s Tomb, Martial arts show, and many more. Tour guides were included in Agra and Jaipur which was great. We would not recommend the tiger reserve in Thekaddy as it was just a crowded boat ride on a river and no animals could be seen. We would also not recommend doing the national park in Munnar on a cloudy day as we could not see anything, although I am sure it is nice with better weather. These activities are optional so you can let your driver know on the day what you would and would not like to do. The driver brings you from your hotel each morning, drops you to the door of each attraction, and is there to pick you up when you are finished. Bunty even brought us to and from dinner late one evening as he had recommended a very nice restaurant to us.
The tour was great value for money and we got to see so much in the 11 days that we never would have been able to do by ourselves. We felt safe at all times on the tour and would recommend Colourful Indian Holidays to anyone thinking of travelling to India.