Traveler Experiences
Phyllis Sinclair (USA)
What an amazing, colorful, and interesting adventure! India has been on our “bucket list” for years, and we finally decided to go and explore! I had been collecting articles and itineraries of top cities, attractions, and hotels. I made an inquiry via Frommer’s travel website, and moments later, I received a phone call from Bharti in India with Discover Bharat Tours! She was so knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. Instead of organizing the trip myself, as I usually do, Bharti took all my ideas and plans and made them a reality. She handled all the plane and hotel reservations and organized fantastic guides and drivers in each city. The trip turned out perfectly! Everything was organized and professional. A guide and driver met us in each of our cities. Comparing the price I would have paid if I had made all my reservations—Bharti’s charge was equal to or less! I was very impressed.
Our trip started in Delhi. A representative from Discover Bharat met us at the airport in a large, clean, new car with a driver and took us to the wonderful Imperial Hotel. Our trip’s agenda was explained thoroughly. The next morning, our knowledgeable guide and driver met us, and we had an exciting day touring New and Old Delhi, visiting the top historic sights. What a change of scenery from Denver, Colorado! Our driver, Mukesh, maneuvered the traffic with such expertise—and oh, was there traffic! After two nights in Delhi, we flew to Varanasi. Once again, we encountered such colorful sights! Our guide took us by boat to view the evening ceremony on the Ganges River and then to see the sunrise over the Ganges. We spent the day touring the old city as well as the village of Sarnath.
After two days, we flew to Khajuraho and stayed at the lovely LaLit Hotel. Khajuraho is a UNESCO World Heritage site where we explored the temples, villages, and simply relaxed. After two days, we drove to Orccha and then to Jhansi. Our guide escorted us to our train from Jhansi to Agra. Even though our train was delayed, the driver and guide stayed with us and even guided us to our seat on the train. Our fabulous Delhi driver, Mukesh, met us at the train in Agra. It was so good to see his friendly face. We enjoyed staying at the ITC Mughal Hotel. Our guide met us at sunrise to view the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. We also had a beautiful dinner at the Oberoi Amarvilas Hotel on our second evening.
From Agra, we drove to Fatehpur Sikri, where a guide was waiting to explain the history of the fort. That afternoon, we arrived in Jaipur at another ITC Hotel. We wanted to meet some friends, and our driver was so willing to drive us there and wait for us as well. In the morning, we were once again met by a guide who spent the day with us. Our elephant ride was another highlight! Continuing with our two-night rule in each city, we arrived in Udaipur. We splurged and stayed at the Udaipur Udaivilas Hotel—wow! Such views and splendor. The hotel was voted #1 in the world by Travel and Leisure Magazine. Our guide for the City Palace was once again superb, and we even got to enjoy a festival with fireworks, dancing, and music.
To complete our tour of India, we wanted to relax and visit South India as well. We flew to the colonial city of Cochin via Mumbai and stayed at the Brunton Boathouse. South India is so different in scenery, weather, language, customs, and traditions. Two days later, we had a one-night adventure on our private houseboat out of Alleppey, with our chef and crew, touring the backwaters of the Arabian Sea. Our final destination was the Niraamaya Surya Samudra Resort for three luxurious nights. No forts, temples, or sightseeing—just a view of the Arabian Sea, several relaxing massages, and lovely dinners.
After almost three weeks, we flew to Mumbai, hit several highlights, had a relaxing dinner at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, and then took our midnight flight back to Denver. Everyone has asked me about our India adventure. My response has been that we learned so much about India’s customs, cultures, religions, and varied traditions in each of the different regions. There were so many colors and new experiences. The guides and drivers that Bharti selected were so prompt, professional, and knowledgeable. They answered all of my numerous questions about the Hindu religion, traditions, and history of the area. To summarize, I would highly recommend Bharti to any traveler planning a trip to India. Her care and attention to detail were superb. She checked with us daily to ensure everything was going well and listened to what was important to us. We could not have organized the quality with such ease on our own.
Mr. Makhan Gill (Canada)
It was an amazing trip, organized by Bharti of Discover Bharat Tours. From the beautiful Kovalam beaches, to the amazing overnight Boat tour to some of the best hotels I have been to particularly the Crown Plaza in Cochin. Thank you Bharti. Makhan Gill
Surinder Singh (Singapore )
I would like to thanks Discover Bharat Tour and especially the Lady (Bharti) who scheduled our trip to India’s Golden Triangle I changed several times the itinerary and Hotels she always was very professional and lovingly she made the changes asked her. She even took time Without her the trip would not have been so wonderful and we would have not gone to the places we went to. I always promote this excellent travel agency, Discover Bharat tour and… thank you so much to Bharti Pathak. Where you are, you will always be my travel agency in India
Top Notch Service"( Mr. Punitp Thakkar Dubai )
I would like to thank Ms. Bharti for providing us a 5 Star Service throughout our Stay in Gods own country – Kerala. All the resorts were hand picked by Ms. Bharti and we can say with full confidence that none of us 9 tourists were disappointed with type of property provided by Discover Bharat team and specially Ms. Bharti. Even though our plans, schedules as well as number of guests traveling kept on changing however she was very patient and provided all information in the most detailed and professional manner. Team Discover Bharat truly deserves a 5***** Rating and kudos to the outstanding journey of India they provide!!
Ms .Gail cramp(UK)
First thing we want thank to Bharti, She always was on contact and prompt answer to e-mails, texts or calls, We made several changes on our Itinerary and she resolved our wonderful experience, Also an special thanks to our driver Ambrisamresh, he was a main key on our Golden Triangle experience, He always think on safety, always on time, friendly, take care and maintain clean the 9 passengers traveler unit for our comfort, experienced, HONEST and respectfully Man, We hired tours company on a multiple destinations and usually an extra charges appears from something, And with Discover Bharat Tours 100% of what they offered to us, 100% of what we received and more, Because they are flexible with you changes, We change due to our tied scheduled and they always said yes and never ask for extra charges. Delhi, Agra & Jaipur tour guides they offer us always go on our own rhythm and with a highly knowledge of the sightseeing, Also with the opportunity to ask them to help us with the pictures. We graded this company with FIVE PLATINUM STARS. Thank you for make our vacation an awesome experience.
MS Mai Keshka (Egypt)
It was my first time to try Solo travelling and to have the tour organized for me by an agency, at the beginning I was worried about the safety , the driver, the hotels…, yet everything was perfect and accurate and as planned with them including the sightseeing, the hotels, and pick up from the airport , the driver (Rahul) was SUPER punctual, decent and helpful, and the contact person in DISCOVER BHARAT TOURS who coordinated everything for me (Bharti) was very helpful, flexible and prompt for anything I need including the flight tickets, the hotels and adjusting the plan for the sightseeing and she was in contact throughout the tour. Thank you all, you really made everything possible and accessible for me in this journey, and It is highly recommended for solo travelers.
Ms. Ali Masters (New Zealand)
I cannot fault Bharti Pathak’s organisation & care with our 28 day tour of the South India and the golden triangle. The arrangements were meticulously planned and ran like clockwork with Bharti making regular phone calls to assure everything was OK and making last minute changes when we asked for it. With the recent demonetization in India we were able to get help from Bharti to deal with this surprise.The hotels& drivers she arranged for us were good.
Ms. Lisa Wandl (UK)
Our recent trip to India was thoroughly enjoyable. Bharti was prompt, professional accessible, and very pleasant to deal with at all stages. Guides and drivers (thanks Nihal 🙂 were all fantastic. My son and I were there in the recent “cash crush” where it was extremely difficult to access cash in India (due to a recent currency change) and Bharti saved us totally by agreeing happily to allow me to pay her by bank deposit when we returned to Australia and keep the cash I had taken with me on which to survive while we were away. This had a huge impact on our whole experience! Great service and trust from Bharti- highly recommended!!!!
Mr.Kai Gleusteen (Spain)
Bharti Pathak’s frequent phone calls and her immediate responses to all our queries (even in the middle of the night for her!) were very comforting for our first trip to India, launching ourselves on a quick Golden Triangle trip without knowing where we were putting our feet. We were received at the airport, taken to the hotel, and met with Bharti the following morning. The driver was polite and efficient and stayed with us for the length of the trip. We had numerous guides, all were punctual and good, although they are often hard to understand, even though my mother tongue is English. It is very much routine for the guides, so they end up repeating the same information a million times and make you feel it a bit…and then, unfortunately, take you to the shops, whether you want to or not. There are nice things to buy but you certainly do feel pressured! (it is part of the India experience…). Bharti called regularly while we were on the tour (even provided us with a phone) and did her best to adapt the plans to our desires. For instance, we wanted to avoid the tourist restaurants, which is where the guides leave you, and we finally succeeded, which made for very rich experiences (and 5 times more economical). We know there are hygiene issues but if you are careful and conscious of what you eat (and how you eat it), there should not be any problem. We also had a driver and guide organized for a day and a half in Mumbai.
Driver was great–the guide was not the best. We noticed that the guides that spoke other languages than English spoke the language much better and seemed to tell the stories with more interest. The hotels were very good, although we did check on their ratings ourselves and did recommend some changes before we arrived, most of which Bharti organized perfectly. There was only a couple of hiccups with respect to flight and hotel booking, that she told us that it was sold out when we were perfectly able to buy the flight and book the hotel online. We never really understood why but Bharti let us do the bookings without a problem. All in all, Bharti Pathak did an excellent job.
Ms. Elisha currier (UK)
Bharat Tours delivered The golden triangle perfectly. My daughter and I had a fabulous time touring The Golden Triangle using Bharat Tours. Our driver Surender took care of us during the tour and was the perfect gentleman. We had an English tour guide at each point of the triangle who went out of their way to answer our million questions. Ravi was very informative and wise with a great sense of humour. The tour car was always clean with fresh water and the driver only ever stopped at nice restaurants/cafe maybe thats why we didn’t suffer with our stomach like other tourists. Our meals were delicious and great for choice for vegetarians ! Everyday was action packed but each evening we were able to rest in a one of the various hotels along the way. tip ..make sure to remember that the star rating is different, a four star is more likely to be a three at home.
Bharat Tours called us most evenings to check how we were getting on and for updates which was also a great touch. But it was the personal touches from our driver that really made it special. whatever we asked for we got. Not once was he ever late and he always reassured us when we were unsure of safety areas. Im sure we wore him out by the end off the week but each day he arrived with a smile. Highlight of our tour has to be the pink city of Jaipur, our guide added a treat of astrology and we haven’t stopped telling the stories back home. India in an amazing place to visit from the simple things like stopping for fresh coconuts to the stunning white marble taj Mahal.
Mr Riaz (Abu Dhabi)
My name is Riaz I planned to visit the golden triangle with my family and with the help of Discover Bharat I found the the perfect travel Agent. From the start Ms. Bharti was in contact with me. She is very courteous and helpful. We all had a wonderful trip. The vehical was very comfortable with a good driver Mr. Mukesh also very helpful. Good guides on every monuments we visited . Hotels booked wear all neat and clean. over all a good value for money. I personally recomend Discover Bharat tours whom you can trust.
Andre Mattos (Brazil)
I have been looking to visit India for quite a while. I have done a huge internet search and finally I found DISCOVER BHARAT TOURS. It was a very lucky choice. They are absolutely awesome. Bharti was from the first moment very helpful and she organized for me and my son a very safe and unforgettable trip through Golden Triangle. Everything was perfect and lovely organized. We had a great time. I strongly recommend this company!