When deciding where to go for the Chinese Spring Festival, my friend, Aaron, and I tossed around several ideas, but he was more persistent on India than anywhere else. It wasn’t at the top of my list, but I did hope to visit it someday with a couple items on my bucket list being in India. I agreed and we set off to make plans.
After initial research we realized India would be a relatively inexpensive trip, so we could afford to splurge a little and not have to go through the nitty gritty of travel but just enjoy it. We knew certain things we wanted to see and looked for options and packages that could accomplish that. After sending out requests for quotes to several companies, we received responses from just a few. One stood out in response time, professionalism, and price. That’s why we chose India by Car and Driver.
It was a good decision. They were very on top of things and good to work with. Our drivers and guides were well chosen and the itinerary was well put together. I’d recommend them.
The advantages to having a company like this and going by private car are numerous, so I won’t list them all here. However, it was nice not having to worry about how to get from place to place or missing trains or what our hotels would be like or where to go from the airport or train station. Also, going by car gives a completely different experience of the country instead of just hopping on trains because you get to see the countryside intimately. You can stop when you want. You can go places that big transportation just can’t. And, the travel time is significantly reduced from train travel.
A few things we got to see by car that we would have missed by train include people using oxen to get water from old wells, small brick factories with tall smokestacks in the middle of fields surrounded by piles of bricks, herds of goats being shepherded by women in the most brilliantly colored outfits, wild animals like a desert fox and monkeys, and so much more.
Seeing India by car definitely definitely has its advantages and all you need, according to our driver in Varanasi, Rakesh, is “a good horn, good breaks, and good luck.”
