Mr Ajay Kunwar, our contact at Ashoka, devised a 10-day private tour through Gujarat according to our wishes: in a good private car with a responsible driver, staying preferably in heritage hotels - a mixture of 3 stars and up, with swimming pool - and an emphasis on getting to know the heritage architecture and Gujarat’s culture and nature.
Ajay communicated correctly and promptly via mail and Whatsapp. We received a detailed program well in advance. A few days prior to the start of our Gujarat tour Ajay visited us at our hotel in Jaipur with all the necessary documents and information and took all the time needed to answer whatever question we still wanted to ask.
The tour included a.o. Champaner, Palitana, Vanakbara fishing Village, Diu, Patan, a short safari in the Little Rann of Kutch area and a guided heritage tour of Ahmedabad.
Our driver drove safely through the hectic Indian traffic, stopping whenever we wanted and providing quality stops for our lunches and some information on the sights.
Highlights included the Unesco world heritage sites Ahmedabad, Champaner Archeological park and the Ran Ki Vav stepwell in Patan, as well as our stays in some of the most beautiful heritage hotels, formerly palaces of maharajas, and even, during a relaxed evening stroll, having an unplanned casual talk with royalty (Vikram, the son of the last maharaja of Jambughoda, and his wife) on their estate.
We enjoyed a lovely hasslefree tour. One improvement would have made our experience absolutely perfect: the English of our driver was very limited, which made communication at times somewhat difficult, especially on moments when for reasons of renovation or public festivities some of the scheduled sights were (unexpectedly) closed.
Ashoka Holidays proved to be a trustworthy organization, which I would happily recommend for your holidays in India.