Day 11 Hot Air Balloon

BCCanada

I just received my booklet from Tauck providing final details about the Feb 7th tour. I noticed that the hot air balloon ride is not mentioned and the heading for Day 11 has been revised to 'Explore Udaipur' instead of 'Hot Air Balloon ride'. Has anyone noticed this and/or followed up with Tauck to see if the balloon ride is still happening? The description just says auto-rickshaw ride with remainder of day at leisure.

British

If it is no longer mentioned, then I would suspect it has been removed from the itinerary for a valid reason. When we took the India tour a couple of years ago, there was no balloon ride. Perhaps Tauck did not like the operation, maybe safety. Maybe the travelers were not liking it, or maybe enough travelers were not taking the ballooon ride. Certainly by that stage of the tour, people are pretty tired and dropping out of some of the sight seeing. It is certainly very annoying if it is something you had been looking forward to. Please report back what you find out when you go on the tour. There is a possibility you may be given some money back. We once had a balloon ride with Tauck cancelled because of weather issues and we all got a refund.

joycesw

That is really a shame. This was our 4th balloon ride and was very special as it was a new thing for Udaipur (the company usually does the rides in Jaipur). What made this one so special was the novelty to the people in the villages we flew over. People came out on their roofs to wave, stopped along the roads to watch us, and when we landed, an entire village came rushing to our landing site! We were the first group to do this ride in Udaipur, and everyone seemed quite pleased. Maybe the logistics became too much. We had 3 balloons, and there were only 21 of us. Our ride was actually free, although, we had prepaid for it. I believe the Oberai picked up the tab as we were supposed to stay there but it was bought out for a wedding party (just imagine the money for that wedding). Instead, we stayed at the Taj Lake Palace (we were thrilled with the change), and the Oberai was quite generous, having a bottle of wine in everyone's room upon arrival and treating us to a cocktail party as well! Guess Tauck's business matters! Anyway, our refund check was sent promptly about a week or so after our return.

laura's portrait

I just talked with Tauck and they said that the hot air balloon ride is still a go.

joycesw

So glad to hear that as it is a very special ride! Like so many places and experiences in India, the response of the people is so positive and rewarding! Our pilot, Francisco from Spain, was so professional and so much fun!! It is a Tauck adventure not to be missed! Have I added enough exclamation marks to my post to emphasize the enjoyment of the ride??

BCCanada

Hi all, Thanks Laura&. I also called Tauck this morning and advisor was surprised at the different itinerary wording, checked with her supervisor and was told this was first time she had heard about it. They will send me a revised version and yes, it is definitely a go (per the response you got)! My theory is that previous trips had the balloon ride as an optional $250 charge and for 2017, it is included in cost of trip. They probably sent an old version of the page by mistake. This is my first Tauck trip and so far I have been very happy with their service responses.

Also thanks to Joycesw for all her valuable information about this trip. It has been most helpful.

Badmre1

Our tour booklet contains the "assumption of risk" form for the balloon ride. I expect that it is still available. I also expect that some others. like my wife will not go. I hope she can be convinced though.