We returned from our trip Saturday April 21st, the Maharaja tour was our dream tour which we will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives. The Oberoi Hotels, transport, guides, drivers, Hi Tours staff provided services which were incredible. Radisson was not our favourite but the nights passed.

A special mention to our excellent guide Shalendar Singh who basically held our hands and showed us north India, he will be in our hearts always. Thank you Shalend. Super guy. Ashok and Harpreet our drivers were the best. Not to mention the boys in Mumbai did not do anything less, A BIG THANK YOU to all.

We had a fabulous vacation and thanking you and your staff for arranging everything cannot be said enough times. Everything from the Forts, Taj, tuks tuks, ganges ghat, horns, train ride, elephant rides, hotel staff service food boat rides etc etc... Was amazing. Your local reps. came and met with us at the Jhansi station and kept asking if our trip was going well. The Oberoi Hotels beyond words for the excellent staff/food/cleanliness/organised/the best in the world class service.

On our future trips we will have no hesitation or second thoughts in booking with Indus Travels.

Once again and many more times. THANK YOU.

Sanjay and Sirshe Charan
Canada

I am writing to thank you for all of your assistance in arranging our recent tour of India. I must admit that my wife and I were, at first, a bit apprehensive of booking an inexpensive tour over the internet. Any concerns we had were quickly dispelled. The Royal India tour was nothing short of fantastic. The accommodations, transportation, transfers from the airport, and guide services were much more than we had expected. Our tour guide Chandresh was a delight. He was extremely knowledgeable, always had a smile on his face and kind words even were faced with adversity, and provided us with many extras which were not on the written itinerary. He is a true asset to Indus Travel. Your assistance in remedying the very short layover time between connecting flights and notifying us of the change in pick up location in Delhi due to the holiday there was invaluable.

We believe Indus Travel offers exception service and value. We would highly recommend you and Indus to anyone looking to wishing to visit India.

Thanks once again.

Ray and Pam Hight

Hi Lavina,

I left a message in your answering machine. I just got back last Sunday from the U.S... It surely has been hectic for me, especially after being away from home for a full month! I am recovering from surgery now, so I am taking this time to describe our trip to India.

India was incredibly amazing! Your tour arrangements for us were perfect, to the last detail. It was good that we were able to get that second night at Ranthambore confirmed with Oberoi Vanyavilas. For Tony, the Oberoi Vanyavilas was the highlight of his trip.

Traveling India the way we did was a superb idea, thanks to you. More than seeing the palaces, forts, and temples, we appreciated the culture we experienced in such a short stay. We had a good grasp of the soul of India through our guide, Mahipal, a Warrior, and our driver, Dipesh, a Brahmin, and the different people we spoke to in the hotels we stayed in and the people we met along the way. Our understanding of the country and its people (or should I say peoples because they are so varied, and of different racial background!) has been made more profound, and we promise to return to discover more history and culture. India is a land of beauty in contrast. Seeing, among numerous other sights: a girl jumping up and down to pump water from a village well while right across the road is an Indian Oil station; a herd of antelopes (17!) dashing across a wide highway; traveling alongside a caravan of camels pulling carts; following a herd of water buffalo (30!) in traffic in a city centre as they go on their morning routine of bathing; monkeys, dogs, etc. roaming freely in city centres; tuktuks carrying 35 passengers at one time; busses packed to the roof top with others holding on to all sides of the bus; fabulous homes where the likes of Tata and Mittal live in the Westend Wood Greens in Delhi; and so, so many other sights. I have to write my journal soon before I forget.

The Oberoi and Taj hotels are fabulous, the food both in the hotel and in places Mahipal took us to were delicious, and the service was fantastic. Mahipal brought us to more places than we bargained for, and his attentiveness was sincere, and care for us, excellent. The Taj Mahal simply took our breath away at first glance, and all the other attractions were just as beautiful and interesting.

I could continue forever but I am tiring you with my superlatives.

Take care, and until our next travels……

Marissa Canada

Hi Lavina

Thanks to you and Indus Travels for this fabulous trip.The itinary interesting, hotels and transportations quite good. Drivers and guides courteous,helpful and punctual. Many awesome experiences. Train to Varanasi from Agra 9 hours delay (fog). We were taken in charge by the local guide Anup and the local driver Binod they were SUPER. A special mention to our tour guide Balbir Singh Rathore we spend 11 days with him. This gentleman is a great professional, perceptive of our needs, protective, knowledgeable (history, culture, economy), guiding our choice. EXCELLENT GUIDE. Unforgettable trip. We will return to India.

Lise the grand mother and Catherine the grand daughter.
Montreal, Canada

I am just getting home and settled after picking up my mother from a friend's in Victoria. Thank you so much for arranging such a fabulous trip! Indus Travels (or their affiliate in India) phoned us several times to check in to see how we were enjoying the trip. The drivers and guides were all thoughtful and courteous - and we really enjoyed their company. The hotels were quite good - the first one in Delhi would have been better if not by the railroad (we arrived early in the morning and had to be up by 8:30). The last hotel in Varanasi (Hotel India) was not good.

The flights were long (as one would expect), and looking back I would have stayed over in China on the way home. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone - much better than a traditional tour - with a busload of people. We got to see and experience things others have not. Amazing - I would go back (if I had the funds and time) this year!

Best to you and thanks so much for all your assistance,

Blythe Shepard
Canada

My wife and I have just completed two of your tours: Royal India and Naturally Nepal (Oct 20 to Nov 10, 2011).

Overall impression of your Royal India tour - absolutely wonderful and an enjoyable experience of a life time. What made this so? The itinerary, the selection of cities, the selection of hotels, the accompaniment of a wonderful full time professional travel guide (Mahipal Shekhawat). Everything was perfect. We never encountered a problem during our holiday. All arrangements were successfully met from the start to our farewell.

My wife and I have no hesitations what so ever to recommend this trip and your firm.

Well done INDUS !

Sincerely,

Rex & Susan Frost
British Columbia
Canada

Dear Tordes

I have provided fill out the survey questionnaire as you requested. Just wanted to let you know that we greatly enjoyed the tour. Turkey has a lot to offer in natural beauty, history and antiquities. I am very interested in ancient sites and we visited several on this tour (Ephesus, Troy, Perge, Hierapolis and others). There are many more that, unfortunately we could not visit. Their museums are outstanding, particularly the antiquities/archaeology museums. How about those unique geological formations in Capadoccia? Awesome. The shopping stops were quite interesting (although I ended up spending money buying leather jackets and ceramic art); but, also we learned how handmade carpets are made as well as ceramic and pottery. Istanbul is a crazy place. The cruise on the Bosphorus River was great.

The tour was well organized; the bus rides were pleasant and the local staff was great.

Very good hotels in every stop.

Best regards
Celso Bitdinger

I've been meaning to contact you when we arrived home. We are back to a very hectic life. We had an absolutely fabulous vacation and thanks to you. We were totally enlightened with how all the biblical sites were a part of the historical sites. The feats of building Masada, Petra, Pyramids, etc was mind boggling. The free days at the Dead Sea, the day before in Tel Aviv and the few days at the end of the Israel trip in Jerusalem were key in slowing down abit, absorbing the experience and going out on our own.

All three tours were great and we had no bad experiences. We were very pleased to see the pyramids and Egyptian Museum also.

Thanks for all your help. Having my laptop with me and your quick responses in the last minute details worked out very well. We had a fabulous time, thanks again.

Linda and Larry
Edmonton, Canada

We had such a good time that Carmen wrote an article about it that got published in the Ottawa Citizen (attached). Egypt is as safe as any other place. We were very happy with the quality of service we got from Indus' Egyptian ground people. The guide we had in Cairo was particularly informative and companionable. We liked the hotel in Cairo, loved the hotel in Luxor, and liked the boat we cruised on.

Gervase & Carmen

Hi,

India was wonderful! We had such a good time thanks to all your hard work. My daughter and I returned home this past Tuesday evening. We have spent the last two days working on our jet lag. I've been told it takes about 3-4 days to get our bodies back in sync.

First of all, we loved India. It is so different from any where we have travelled. We're looking forward to going back. The food, the people, the shopping, the tourist attractions all contributed to a vacation I will always remember.

Lavina -- you did an outstanding job in setting up the tour. Everywhere we went, we were met by a company representative who explained what we would be doing, handed over to a driver who took us to our hotel or to a representative who helped us navigate the train station or to a tour guide who provided us with lots of information. In other words, you did all the work and we just showed up.

Everyone was courteous and helpful. In particular we enjoyed our tour guide in New Delhi, Bhuvan M. and our driver, Ashok. Bhuvan was a wealth of information. We spent quite a bit of time with Ashok who was our driver from New Delhi to Agra. We were delighted to see Ashok at the New Delhi airport to pick us up when we flew in on Spice Jet.

Regarding the activities/sights on the tour -- We very much enjoyed the elephant ride in Jaipur. We felt like royalty riding up to the fort. The dance show was also enjoyable. The restaurant was empty except for us as we ate dinner and later a Japanese couple sat down for dinner. The food was delicious and the dancers entertained us while we ate. The musicians and dancers got all of us up to join them in a dance. Their young exuberance was infectious. We also saw a snake charmer!

The three of us agreed the Taj Mahal was one of the highlights of the trip. It is so much more beautiful in person that it took our breath away. The train ride was an adventure. I was a little apprehensive and it was not luxurious by any means but we felt it was a part of what made the vacation great. Just being in India and seeing everyday things like the wild driving, autos straddling two lanes and changing lanes back and forth, horns blaring, sharing the roads with cows, tuk tuks and rickshaws, horse/camel/buffalo drawn wagons full of wheat just harvested were fascinating to us. The Jaypee Palace Hotel in Agra was amazing and we agreed that was our favourite. The Metropolitan Hotel was very nice and was well situated. We walked over to Connaught Circle and Janpath, shopped and had lunch at the Imperial Hotel.

Thank you Lavina for arranging such a lovely trip.

Sharen

Hello,

We had a wonderful vacation and just returned home a few days ago. The arrangements that you and your associate made for us were excellent and went without a hitch. We loved Bangkok but it was awfully hot. Our guide, Sam, was excellent and we would have no trouble recommending him for other clients if yours.

Stay well and keep travelling

Gloria and Edgar Hift

Hello,

Has taken us a few days to get back to eastern standard time, and catch up with everything.

The trip was fabulous - very educational. We were surprise upon arriving in Delhi to find out we were the only two on the tour, but it worked out quite well, and we couldn't have been luckier. Mahipal was our guide and Narendra was our driver and both did a fantastic job. The only thing we would do differently would be to add a day of rest after Varanasi and before Kathmandu. Craig came down with a 102 fever in Kathmandu so we were greatful to have a free day, allowing Craig a day to rest in bed. The doctor the Shangri La Hotel recommended was very good, and we were ever so greatful.

We did see a tiger, only jeep out of 30 that went out that morning and saw the huge, male tiger - he came quite close and the guide and driver were so excited, along with us. One hadn't been seen for over four days.

Goa was lovely and we did enjoy the Park Hyatt - it was nice to get western food and some R&R. Must admit the Indians do love their hot spices - can't figure out why because it takes away from the natural taste of the food. The Hyatt had all homemade breads, danish, yogurt, etc. and fresh fish without a lot of spices.

We are planning to do a review on TripAdvisor because we couldn't have asked for a more interesting, educational, well run trip - everything went very well.

Thanks for assisting us with trip,
Ann & Craig

Hi,

Don't know if you'll recognize my name, but I was on the trip to India you accompanied part way. In brief, the trip through India was fabulous, very well organized I thought.

My favorite parts were the elephant and camel rides. Must be the child in me. The timing of the camel ride at sunset was SO dramatic. I'll never forget it.

It was fun traveling with you, and I thought our group was splendid.

Happy Christmas

Ruth
Saskatoon

Hi Laura!

I just want you to know that Kevin and I had a wonderful trip to India. Thanks so much for setting it up for us. Your partners in India could not have been more attentive, and Laksmi called us every day to see that we were ok and to confirm the details for the next day. All our guides, drivers and accommodations were great, we had such a good time!

I look forward to working with you again.

Kathleen

Hello Laura,

We had a great trip to all 3 countries. Transfers at the airports were excellent and the guides in Nepal and Bhutan were knowledgeable and friendly. The only transportation problem we encountered was the train from Delhi to Katni which was 6 hours late and prevented us from getting to the tiger lodge on time for the afternoon safari. The tiger lodge was peaceful and serene (only 4 guests at the lodge during our stay) and the tiger sightings were all that we had hoped for. The pooja ceremony in Varanasi was memorable. We were very happy to have added on the tiger reserve, Varanasi and Khajuraho.

Bhutan was a great destination for us as well as Nepal. The day hikes in Bhutan were great.

Thanks for putting together this trip for us - we truly appreciate all the work you put into this.

Brian

Hello,

We have just arrived home from the most wonderful trip to Turkey. We are quite experienced travelers and must admit that this tour of Turkey was definitely one of the best of all of our travels. I feel that this is in large part due to the wonderful guide, Al Tay Gur that we had the pleasure of enjoying for the past 2 weeks. He was not only very knowledgeable and informative but he gave us all a real feel for the Turkish culture of gracious hospitality. He has a terrific personality and a fun sense of humor. He takes great pride in his country and loves showing it off to his guests. That he is an archaeologist was very fortunate for us as we toured so many ruins and he was able to tell us so much about them. But more than that, he is insightful and keen at learning personalities. For example, he became very aware of our likes and dislikes so that when he ordered food for us, he remembered that my husband liked his meat rare, that another of our companions did not like goat cheese, that I liked the manti pasta, and that eggplant was a favorite of another. I felt that he took very special care of us, but I am sure that he treats all of his guests as well. Although he always maintained a professional demeanor, he became a good friend as well. I feel that he is a very special person and you are very fortunate to have him in your employ.

Sincerely,
Linda Lee
Canada

Hi Tordes,

Well, we are finally home! It really was a great trip, and we were thrilled by the excellent advice and excellent suggestions you gave to us. It was all even better because of the guides for both trips: the Cappadocia guide Fatma; and the Ephesus etc. guide Ulas (with an accent under the s). They were both really superb. We made friends with them and they with us, and have thanked them profusely.

The concept of university trained guides in Turkey is really a plus I think!

The vans were great. The drivers too.

The hotels were excellent. Overall, very very successful. And Marilyn and I are very grateful for your help and how responsive and excellent your advice has been. Incidentally, I would also say that we were impressed about the relative value for the cost the trips were as well.

We for sure will book with you in future, and have every reason to expect that we will have future opportunities to do so! And, we will recommend you to our friends!!

Thanks. Looking forward to working with you again.

Warmest best wishes,
Ron
Canada

Hi Laura,

I just would like to let you know how great was our trip to Egypt.

Your company did a fantastic job!! Very professional, very well organized, everything was on time and we had great guides for all of our tours.

We really appreciated their help and professionalism.

Please, send our best regards to the people in your Egypt offices who helped us with our trip and made it an unforgettable great and pleasant experience with Egypt!!

I will highly recommend your company in the future to people I know if they need assistance in Egypt.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

Best Regards,
Susanna

Hi Tordes,

I have been so busy that I forgot to let you know that I had a wonderful time in India. As a bonus, I saw my tiger (mission accomplished) so close up it was amazing. Also, enjoyed the Classical Tamil dancing I saw.....one day I'll send you the amazing pictures I took!!

Ayalnesh

Hi Cindy,

I guess Jill has already told you what a wonderful time we had in Egypt. I have told everyone it was the best value for money I think I have ever had while traveling. Thanks again for arranging a fabulous trip.

Penny

Canada

Hi,

About 5 weeks ago, you helped me book a trip to India for vacation with my wife. We have just returned, and I wanted to let you know that we had a fantastic time. Thank you so much for your assistance. Your India office set us up with a fabulous guide, and all of the hotels were excellent. The tents were a surprise at first, but turned out to be a lot of fun although a bit cold since it was winter.

Thanks again, I hope to be able to use your service again in the future.

Sincerely,
Bruce D. Levine, MD
USA

Hi,

We are safely home two days ago.
We had a very good trip.

Dinners for welcome and farewell were very delicious and we enjoyed both very much. The tour itineraries were well covered by varieties in history, culture and nature of South India.

We would particularly like to mention to you that our driver from Chennai through to Cochin for 14 days made our trip so memorable. He was extremely helpful and showing constant attention to us throughout the tour.

Also we would like you to know that the guide in Bangkok was excellent from meeting us through to sending off at the Bangkok airport including 2 half-day private tours by her. She made our Bangkok stay much more comfortable than expected.

Thank you very much for all your help in arrangement to make our holidays so wonderful.

Wishing you all the best,

Akiko and Jim
Vancouver, BC

Hi Ayesha,

I meant to drop you a note yesterday but a little slow going from lying among the palm trees on the dead sea to -40 in Edmonton along with the usual jet lag has been a real killer.

The trip was outstanding in everyway. Your people in Jordan were excellent, it was cool at night (cold at Petra) but with the exception of one part day of rain weather was pretty good. As it was low season everything we went to see was not the least bit crowded. At Jerash we got in between the buses so I think there was only us and about 10 other people at the site. Even Petra was way below its usual attendance, because of that we got the dean of local guides (92 years old) and quite the character. Been guiding for 40 years.

Our driver/tour director etc was Mohamad and was truly excellent. He offered us an option to go over the mountains rather than around and to visit little Petra. You go from sea level to 5000 feet so we ended up missing a bit due to low cloud cover but the visit to little Petra made it well worth it. The only day it rained was when we were at the dead sea Movenpick, we mentioned to our guide that we didnt get to go into the dead sea. He suggested we could change our last night from staying in Amman to staying at the Movenpick dead sea. We did this and since we were second time visitors in one week Movenpick upgraded us to the suites in the private pool area, you gotta love that!!! You might consider offering this as an option since the dead sea isnt much further from the airport (1 hour) than the 45 minutes from Amman to airport. I am not much of spa person but Movenpick dead sea is really a beautiful resort and although Amman is a nice city it is just that a city. Might appeal to lots of people.

Each hotel gave us an upgrade as none were anywhere near full. Le Meridien in Amman was a slightly bigger room, Movenpick dead sea first time was a larger room with a better view, Taybet Zaman gave us a suite and Intercontinental Aqaba gave us a bigger room with a better view. All hotels lived up to their 5 star ratings, Taybet Zaman was our choice and we truly enjoyed it due to its uniqueness however there is nothing to do there and it a long way from Petra. Anyone else asks for it you might warn them about that.

Sightseeing was as complete as it could be, as far as I can tell we didnt miss anything.

Services - the guide was good as you could get and the local reps especially the airport rep who met us were extremely impressive in their knowledge and the fact they seemed to know everyone who worked in the airport.

I have enjoyed working with you, my requests were always dealth with promptly and very professionaly. These days that doesnt happen as much as it should. I will certainly recommend you to anyone else I know at CruiseShipCenters. Thanks again for all your help in making this a truly memorable experience.

Ron McKay

Sherwood Park, AB

Hello Ayesha,

Yes, we had a great time on the trip. Having just the six of us on the tour in the North made it really nice. We all got on very well and had some flexibility in spontaneously stopping along the road to explore places and things not on the itenary. The pre-arranged activities were very enjoyable for the most part. The block printing and weaving exhibition were good as was the silver shop visit. We loved the camel and elephant ride in addition to the rickshaw ride. We found your local staff very good--we were met at the airports, the hotels were very good, and the drivers and guide excellent. I would certainly use Indus Travels again in the future and recommend them to anyone planning a trip. On a final note, I really appreciate your patience and guidance in helping me get this trip together.

Thank you, Ayesha! We hope to return to India in a year or two and will certainly contact you when we're ready to. Bye for now.

Sally

Hi,

Just wanted you to know that we had a fabulous time on our trip. The scheduling details were perfect. Two days in Cairo was plenty. It's a very busy city. The Admiral cruise was a pleasant surprise. Food and service was amazing. The Sharm el Sheik break was a great idea. The Jordan stay was short but worth while. The night at the Dead sea Hotel was a good thing and the extra day in Petra as well. One day in Petra wouldn't have been enough. Some hotels were better than others.

Your reps in Egypt and Jordan were very punctul and the service was excellent.
We would definately recommend you and INDUS TRAVELS to anyone thinking of travelling.
Wishing you the Best durung the Hoiliday Season.

Karine C and Mike F

Hello Azi,

Just returned from Jordan and wanted to tell you about our experiences.

We LOVED Jordan and the tour could not had been planned better, we saw a lot and all was wonderful. Your representative in Jordan is excellent!!!

The hotel in Amman [Le Meridien] was great as well as the hotel in Petra both hotels were excellent with excellent service.

Mohammed [the driver] and Suhaib [the tour guide] were super, both very knowledgeable and helpful. Suhaib really knows his country and its history, it was really great to have him as a tour guide.

The meeting service at the airport on arrival was again excellent and the departure service was also excellent, the gentleman who met us really knew what he was doing and was VERY helpful.

All in all it was an excellent experience and I would not hesitate to highly recommend this tour.

Thanks a million for all your help and I am sure I will be contacting you in the near future for our next trip...if you offer the destination we decide for next. We are looking at either China or India.

Azi, again a million thanks for a great experience.

Best regards,

Aixa Ritz
USA

Hello,

The entire tour to Morocco was FANTASTIC!!! The local setup was spectacular in planning a many splendored experience. It was everything I've ever dreamed that my Morocco would be. And then the experience was a continuous adventure. At times I was awestruck. Our driver was perfect for Yvonne and me.
Thank you for being an efficient travel agent and putting it all together with the perfect tour in Morocco. The hotels were out of this world. We both felt as if we'd seen Morocco from head to toe.

Dorothy Brown
USA

Hello Indus Travels,

Good Morning from Jaipur, India!

This trip has been the morst memorable one I have taken and it has been thru the planning
of Indus Travel and our tour guide, Kush!!!

Everyone is enjoying it immensely and the attention to detail is phenomenal. Kush has taken the
best care of us; he is like a Dad watching over all of us - we know every step of the way and
really feel we are seeing the "colors" of India...we are not tourists but travellers ...like taking
a "walk-about"...all of us have learned so much about India and about ourselves...

This is a very spiritual place and one cannot but be submerged in its life-force- the heart and
spirit of God truly lives in the hearts of the Indian people...especially the Hindus.

From my heart...thank you for everything and thank you for Kush!

Barbara Norkus

Danville, California

Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce

Hi Ayesha,

I'm sure Barb has already emailed you - We had a fabulous time in Egypt!!! Our tour director "Carter" was excellent - he took really good care of us. Our tour guides were very good, very knowledgeable!!! This was probably one of my easiest trips I've every done since everything was taken care of for us. I would recommend this trip and would go back to Egypt myself one day!!

Thanks a million....

Regards,
Monique Durant
Saint-Laurent, Quebec

Hi:

Donald and I have returned from our trip to Egypt and just wanted to drop you a line to say how amazing it was. It was everything we expected and more. Indus attention to detail was beyond expectations. Our Tour Guide, Sahar (aka Habbibi) was fantastic. It was like having our own Archeological Professor on tour with us. She couldn't do enough for us at any time of the day. She was wonderful.

The meeting with Dr. Zahi was amazing - he spoke for just over an hour and it seemed like 10 minutes - the time just flew past. I am so glad we chose this trip - meeting him was one of the highlights.

Thanks for everything - it was a trip of a lifetime.

Regards,
Cathie Gibson

Dear Azi,

How are you?
I'm still in India, in my volunteering assignment in Chennai.
I'm writing to tell you what an incredible trip we had in southern India. It really suropassed our expectations! (And as you probably know our expectations were pretty high). Every little detail was taken care of with the utmost of care. The bus, the driver and especially our tour guide were terrific! The hotels chosen were marvelous and the itinerary was well thought of (and not too crowded).

We especially want to thank our tour guide Charles, who made sure that everything run smoothely and flawlessly. His knowledge and his warm personality added a great deal to our trip.

We thank you graciously for all the great work you did. This trip was unforgetable!
We will recommend Indus Travels to anyone who wishes to have an amazing time in India.

All the best,
Namaste.
Racheli Wolfson
Toronto, Canada

Hello Azi!

Happy new year!
I would like to thank you for organizing my custom tour to Egypt. It was awesome! The best vacation I have ever had.
I loved Egypt...Its people, its culture, its history, and the supreme service of Egyptians.
I would definitely recommend Indus Travels to my friends and family!
Thank you so much!

saludos
Monica E. Mayorquin Vazquez

Hi,

Happy new year. I just wanted to let you know that my husband and I fully enjoyed our Turkish vacation and would HIGHLY recommend this tour for anyone. Your local people in Turkey were fantastic and they should continue to get referrals from Indus Travels in the future!

Cris Weisbecker
Alaska, USA

Amber,

We am back now, but I am still trying to dig out of the hole left here at work.

The trip was great. All the logistics went very well, the hotels were fine and the transportation good. Petra was a great experience. We believe that although it was a lot of work to get there, and back, it was certainly worth the effort.

Thanks for all you did for us in setting up such a enjoyable vacation. You should feel confident in using the local offices you are associated with in Egypt and Jordan. They both performed very well for us.

We look forward to working with Indus Travels again. Happy holidays to you.

Thanks,

George S. Fleetwood
President
AT&T Indiana

Azi,

Thank you for your services in arranging our trip in Egypt. All accommodations, transfers, guides, cruises, and services were exceptionally good and met our expectations. The tour guide on the cruise, Maged, was superb. His knowledge, courtesy, language skills were all excellent. He should be highly commended for his work. All of the Egypt office people were helpful especially Carter and Ehab.

John A. Eaddy MD
Knoxville, TN

Good morning Azi:

I will take this opportunity to let you know that we had a amazing time in India.
Your India office was extremely helpful and very professional. They were most accommodating to allow us flexibility in the tour days as Dr. Hoey was so ill.

They were also concerned when we were forced to change hotel rooms due to a hotel construction problem. In fact they wanted to call the hotel however I had it under control so it was ok.
We had amazing and knowledgeable guides and our driver (who stated with us all during our journey) was a gem.
All in all, our time was very well organized – my only regret was that I did not plan a longer stay.
It was to short on time – I could have stayed at least 2 more days.

Thank you for all your work in making this a memorable trip – in spite of the illness.

Dr. Alan Hoey & Mrs. Kuldeep Rai Hoey
Victoria, BC

Hi, Dal and Praveen.

I thought I would send off a few notes to you both to let you know about the trip. First of all, to Praveen, thank you so much for making everything go so flawlessly. Other than the small hiccup in Cairo re Abu Simbel – which you rectified in jig time – everything was perfect. Here’s my take on everything –

Meet and Greets at airport – all brilliant. It is wonderful to have someone look after getting visas, luggage, driver and car and getting you to the head of the queue! Recommend it for anyone in a country that you are not familiar with. Some of the other tourists were having a bit of a time in Cairo.

Oberoi Mena House – Cairo – don’t use for just an overnight. No chance to appreciate the place and also, I got there at 7 pm and had to leave at 5 am. Never saw the light of day!!! The traffic in Cairo is a nightmare almost 24/7 – and the Mena House is quite a way away from the airport. Also, the hotel is aging – needs a bit of a facelift in some of the rooms. Service was marginal – not brilliant. Would either stay closer to the airport or plan an extra day just to relax.

Abu Simbel – brilliant tour – excellent guide – Egypt Air are wonderful. Would use them London – Cairo instead of “those other people”.

Oberoi Zahra Nile Cruiser – can’t say enough wonderful things about the boat, the staff, the service and the accommodations and food. Best cruising experience I have ever had – bar none. Especially notable was the small vans and a limit of six people per group – with our own Egyptologist – and many, many private tours of the temples. Some at night – for example the Sound and Light Show at Philae – were private. Only 40 or so of us there. Amazing experiences. Security excellent. Loved having a good size swimming pool – used it twice daily. Our Egyptologist for the week – Mona – was superb.

Oberoi Sahl Hasheesh – The property is magnificent – right on the Red Sea, my suite faced the ocean and was huge, but the service was ok.

Kempinski, Amman. Service more than made up for Sahl Hasheesh experience – these people were magnificent. My driver and guide, Sam, was awesome and I covered a lot in two days. I would have loved to stay for a week – much to see, loved the people, brilliant hotel (with one of the best Italian restaurants I have ever been in). Would recommend you tell your clients to take at least four days – spend an overnight in Petra to get going early as there is so much to see and a few hours (after driving from Amman) doesn’t really leave enough time. In Petra, stay only at the 5-star hotel – the rest look a little shady. In Amman, it’s the Kempinski.

That’s it in a “nutshell”. If you need any further information, let me know. It was an incredible trip and worth every penny!!!

Cheers,
(Liz) King,
Surrey, BC Canada

Hi Peggy,

I got back from India about a week ago, and I just wanted to let you know that it was a fabulous trip. The guide was great, the group were small friendly and fun. We did travel A lot, but we also saw a lot. I would really recommend it as a good introduction to India. Thanks for helping us with all the planning. Our three day pre-trip to Varanasi was a real highlight. I hope you enjoy it when you go in the New Year.

Thanks,

Tanis Sawkins
Vancouver, BC

Hi!

Just now getting back into a routine again! Needing a vacation from the vacation - wow!- that was sure a busy itinerary, however, no way around that - so much to see and do! Abu Simbel was fabulous. Alexandria was great too! We had wonderful guides the whole way through - especially our "main" guide - his name was Ramez Gamil and at the end of the trip we felt like we were leaving a really good friend. Highest kudos to him!! Our others guides - Neven in Cairo, Amir in Aswan and the Cruise, Seewam (sp?) in Alexandria, Amal in Luxor were all really really good. As well, our guide, Tito, for the Sharm el Sheikh snorkelling tour was excellent too. All the hotels and accommodations were top notch.

Suggestion - the hot air balloon ride at sunrise in Luxor was one of the highlights for us for the trip - perhaps making it an option isn't a bad idea! I never felt nervous or scared (and I don't like heights!). The basket is large (we had 18 people) and our Captain was more than competent.
Thanks again for everything! We won't hesitate to recommend your tour to others.

Regards,
Leslie Windle

Hi Ayesha,

Thank you so much for the email. We had a wonderful time!!

The tour was fantastic. Everyone was professional, punctual, and very kind. All hotels were excellent as well. The only suggestion that we have is to be a bit more specific in the instructions for pickup timings by our guide and driver. We had a great time, thanks to Indus tours! Thanks again and I hope these suggestions are helpful.

Wanda Oliveros
Silver Springs
Maryland, USA

Hello Ayesha,

We just want to let you know how awesome our trip to Turkey was for us. It absolutely could not have been any better. All arrangements were perfect. Your local reps are great, taking great care to ensure we were all taken care of in every aspect. We had the most fabulous guide, Fatih, who was a walking encyclopaedia on Turkish history. We learned so much and saw so many amazing sights. We came away with a great respect for Turkey and its people. We were sad it ended. You may use us as a reference if needed. We met a lot of nice people from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was so wonderful to have such a diverse group. The coach was so nice as were the hotels.

Thanks again for a wonderful trip, we hope to travel with you again.

John & Linda Black
Florida, USA

Namaste:

We recently returned from our June 2008 tour of India and wanted to give our feedback about the excellent tour of India. We visited the Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Varanasi areas. Our hotels were very nice with good service. We had excellent drivers and guides. We experienced and learned so much. It was truly a wonderful and memorable vacation. After our sightseeing tours we returned to Delhi for a couple more days to relax and have free time to enjoy the city. We were able to enjoy the people, the history, the culture, the many sites and monuments, wildlife, zoos in Jaipur and Delhi, museums, rickshaw rides, an elephant ride, boat rides, a Metro ride in Delhi, Indian food and hospitality, shopping, etc. We really enjoyed ourselves and hated to leave. We would have enjoyed having more time in India. We loved India.
Thanks Indus Travels for arranging such an amazing custom tour for us.

Sincerely,
Gordon and Maribel Smith
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Hello Praveen,

We certainly enjoyed our trip to “Incredible” India. The people, as well as the historical, cultural and geographical aspects of the country, exceeded our expectations. We felt that the itinerary you put together for us, while touching on many of the highlights in India, also provided us with plenty of variety.

The food and hotels, for the most part, were very good to excellent. The only exception was in Varanasi. The drivers were amazing! We would also like to acknowledge our guide, Dubey, in Varanasi as well as Harish, the local representative there. They were exceptional.

The overall tour was excellent: a once in a lifetime experience!

Many thanks,
Marilyn and Shirley
Vancouver & Toronto

Praveen,
You must please forgive us for not responding sooner. We came home to a very chaotic situation all good but very hectic.
As for the trip, it was beyond doubt the best we have ever taken. The country and it's people were outstanding. Beautiful in color and manner that is hard to discribe.
The tour was beyond our expectations. We had good guides at every city that we visited, they were well informed and very helpful. As with all walks of life some were better than others, but all were fine.
I must compiment your local office in India for all the care and concerns that they had for our well being and enjoyment.
But the greatest compiment that I could ever give to any person whom we ever had the pleasure to spend our brief time with, must go to Rajnu our ever present and diligent driver. He made our long drives between cities a wonderful experience. We spent a lot of time together and it was always a pleasure. His driving is par excellence and his sense of reponsibility for his charges are beyond reproach.

Vincent Navarro
New York, USA

Hi Praveen,
Yes, back from India now after a truly wonderful trip. Honestly don't think I could have asked for anything to go smoother than it did. We had an excellent guide and driver, the hotels where all fine and the group got along wonderfully.

Really felt our guide Maiphal did a fabulous job - truly provided us with outstanding service.

Enjoyed the pace of the tour much more this time as well - the two night stays and travel distances worked out very well.
Actually can't think of much I'd change on the itinerary, and it's hard to pick my favorite experiences as there were so many.

The Heritage hotels were wonderful and think the group was very pleased with them. All unique with such warm hospitality, heritage hotels are definitely my preferred accommodation choice in India.

Think my favorite hotels are the Bhanwar Niwas in Bikaner (half the adventure is getting there with the narrow alleys and roads), Ajit Bhawan in Jodphur (two nights here would have been nice), and the camel camp in Osian. Also thoroughly enjoyed the two hotels in the more rural areas - Indra Vilas and Fort Chanwa. The Varanasi hotel was simple, but you can't beat it's location - right in the thick of things, too bad the boatmen were on strike in Varanasi, but did enjoy our walking tour.

I spent the weekend sorting through the many photos I took - should have quite a nice slide show by the time I'm done.

Thanks Praveen, I couldn't be happier with the tour.

Kind Regards,
Susan
Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Victoria B.C

Hello Praveen,
Yes we did have a memorable trip and greatly enjoyed it. We did have, however, some anxious moments at the beginning of the trip. Having said this, I certainly don't want to criticize your local office. I think it was just a communication glitch which was resolved.

You should have received a copy of my letter to both your Egypt & Jordan offices for all their help in getting my medications back to me, having left them in our Sharm hotel room. I can only say that their "service was beyond "excellent" and was most appreciated .
Finally, I hope my comments are helpful to you Praveen. They are meant to be helpful rather than critical. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and are very glad we did it with your help.

Kindest regards and best wishes for this season.
Frank Lindsay
Vancouver, BC

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the tour. South India was
everything I wanted it to be....just as I found Rajasthan. I love India and
I love the people. It helps to put perspective around my own life.

You were terrific, and I saw a lot of collaboration and team work - that
makes a huge difference. I also enjoyed the rest of the group. We all got
along so well together. Chindi - I'm serious about returning in 2008, so
I'll be talking to you/Indus about another tour. I'd like to spend more time
in the Kerala backwaters fishing! The houseboat was the highlight of the
tour for me. One night stays are too short, especially with the travelling.

Thanks again to both of you for a fabulous holiday.

Malcolm Ferran, Vancouver, Canada