Treasures of Central India

This tour was in line with the trip notes, visiting interesting sites in an area of India that is less touristy. The group got on well and were all experienced travellers, which helped with the smooth running of the tour. Veeru is a very experienced leader who solved any problems before we were aware of them. Hotels were at the better end of expectations. The people we met were welcoming, the women’s saris perpetually a delight, food tasty and cheaper than expected. Being invited to join a wedding in one of the hotels was an unexpected extra. You will enjoy if you are laid back and open minded about the realities of travel in India and enjoy exploring forts, temples, mosques, palaces and mausoleums. I would advise some pre tour research on Indian history and religions to help understand the context of the places you will visit.

This tour is not for the feint hearted. There are many early starts and late nights plus the modes of transport can be fairly uncomfortable. The week we had one bus it was too small. Our group of 8 plus leader were in a 10 seater - but the seats were so narrow it was extremely cramped. Temperatures were in mid 30's C and although there was good air con there just was not room to breath. The overnight sleeper's are always uncomfortable and the last train was 3 hrs late after we had go up ready for a 05.15 train. The itinerary is very interesting, but our guide was not great at explaining places to us, and never gave us heads up of what we were going to see (with the exception of the cave temples and shrines, which he repeated so many times with nothing new to add, we go bored:( The caves are incredible. Hampi is amazing, and the slums of Mumbai are fascinating and so full of smiles. India is all about sights, smells, and surprises and we certainly had one when our road was blocked by a very noisy parade, which we duly joined! We took the opportunity to have a week on a beach in Goa at the end of the two week tour, just to have a bit of downtime and chill. This is something I recommend before you have the long journey home.

This was a well planned trip covering visits to many thrilling UNESCO world heritage sites, and we learnt a lot about ancient Indian history and religions. There were many long bus journeys on very bumpy roads and 3 interesting (but very late!) train journeys to add to the Indian experience. The hotels were all much better than anticipated and all had very comfy beds and pillows, and most had good showers. We sampled delicious different local foods as we travelled. The hotel in Hyderabad was the only one that disappointed. Highlights for me were Bidar fort, the street procession we joined, the markets, and the sunset at Badami. Hampi was incredible but rather overwhelming - it might have been better to see it over two days. Western tourists were mostly absent until we reached Goa …

Love India for its people, sights and sounds. 4th visit but this itinerarys 'treasures' were many rock temples, monasteries and mausoleums and mosques/churches and became repetitive. More added local events and industries showing the peoples lives woulid have added more interest. Too long on trains too.

A very enjoyable tour with some fabulous sites: Elorra Caves, Ajanta Caves & Hampi are places everyone should have on their bucketlist. Some long travel days, especially the third train journey which was very unpleasant. The food was amazing and I found the people incredibly friendly.

The highlights of this trip for me were Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves and Hampi. There was a rather mundane section in the middle of the trip with the best bits at the start and end but even the central part was reasonably interesting. The hotel in Hyderabad was by far the worst; the one in Goa was charmingly old fashioned. The train journey from Hospet to Goa was tedious and would have been better replaced by road travel which could have included sight of Goa's beaches which went unseen despite mention in the itinerary. Our Explore Leader Satish was quite competent but I feel it was unwise for him to talk about his political and anti-Islamic opinions when addressing the group in general.

Enjoyable tour- excellent guide.