Looking
for the most romantic way to spend our
twentieth
anniversary,
my husband, Steve, a travel photographer, and I chose
India. Like our marriage, India is a mysterious anomaly
that when taken all together is a beautiful experience,
provided you go into it with the right attitude. Leaving
aside our marriage for now, India challenges written
description, and so, if you ask me, Steve had the easier
job capturing the intense colors of Rajasthan,
Mughal
architectural wonders hanging from precipices and merchants
with sun-worn faces enthusiastically selling their wares
in street markets. He will tell you though, that the
experience was so intense, he would have had to be a
videographer as well as an historian to do the trip justice.
The country has eighteen official languages (and hundreds
of dialects), twelve religions (without counting the
tribal religions), and three hundred and thirty million
gods. A land of over a billion people that spans from
sea to desert, from jungle to city high-rises, it has
a growing middle class, a young population, and an economy
that is growing extraordinarily fast. Yet the face of
India, at least as it relates to the India tourists see,
bears a remarkable resemblance to that of its historic
past. It is steeped in a spirituality and tradition that
defines the passage of time by centuries, rather than
by decades.
One
of the most significant paradoxes that confronts the
traveler to India is the contrast of the
incredibly high
level of luxury in the hospitality industry, with the
prevailing poverty among the greater part of the local
population. The Westerner traveling to India may be struck
by the disparity between their traveling like a Maharaja
or Maharani and being surrounded by a populace, a large
percentage of whom are struggling to make ends meet day
to day. In examining this disparity, it's helpful to
consider the enormous assistance the luxury traveler
provides to the expanding economy.
India wants you and
needs you, and staying away based on perceptions of economic
disparity between the traveler and the locals, does not
help them. Rather it deprives them of one of the more
lucrative ways to make a living. It also denies you an
experience of hospitality unequalled in most areas of
the world.
The key to travel in India, wherever you may wander, is choosing
the right tour operator. India is not a country that is easy to
navigate, due to the nature of the roads (or the lack thereof),
the language barrier (English is only one of the official languages
and one not used by many locals) and the diversity of cultural
norms. I chose Greaves Travel (
http://www.greavesindia.com) and their attention to detail exceeded
my expectations. The experience was seamless from start to finish.
Expert individual planning, representatives to meet us at the airport
and at each location, drivers who have more experience than Grand
Prix racers and New York taxi drivers combined, and a significant
presence in India that seems to command getting things done.
Read about each city we visited and the stunning hotels that welcomed
us royally, as we progressed from Delhi to Agra, home of the Taj
Mahal, then on to Rajasthan to enjoy Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur.
Part 1 Delhi & the Imperial
Part 2 Agra & the Oberoi Amarvilas
Part 3 Jaipur & the Oberoi Rajvilas
Part 4 Jodhpur & the Umaid Bhawan Palace
Part 5 Udaipur & the Taj Lake Palace
