India is absolutely fascinating. I have no doubt you all will thoroughly enjoy your tours. I enjoyed the Portrait of India tour and have considered booking Northern India & Nepal. I’ve told my friends I will gladly join them on another Portrait or Spotlight tour—I enjoyed it that much!
Having taken the Spotlight tour, we would love to take Northern India and Nepal for the Safari part. I remember the first tours people complained about several elements that Tauck have now changed.
India is a challenge, but you just see such incredible crazy life going on. The bus rides were some of my favorites because what you saw out of those windows, you will never ever forget.
I am so sorry to learn of your injury and I certainly hope you can take the tour. Nothing like your injury, but my little dog had rather invasive knee surgery a few weeks ago. He even has hydrotherapy sessions! Sorry to digress, but just wanted to let you know he empathizes with you and is sending well wishes and wags.
You will make that trip! We are counting on another fabulous trip review! Warm regards.
Interesting how things have changed. In a previous life I flew cargo for Air India and I was based in Bombay (Mumbai) . Late at night at Madras there were no lights on in the terminal so you had to be careful not to step on the homeless people who would sleep in the airport. I had to wake people up to get a weather briefing and file a flight plan. There were no late night nor early morning passenger flights. I did visit elephant island, and you certainly did not need a guide. I frequently had flights to Calcutta, and New Dehli, but only spent layovers in Madras (Chennai) and Bombay. Actually, we stayed at the Juhu Beach Holiday Inn which I think is a Novotel now. I spent a lot of time in India. I’m sure the tour is great, but working there is an “experience”. I once lost an engine on takeoff from Bombay, and while waiting for a replacement I registered to vote and was considering the purchase of property. (;-)
Congratulations! I can only imagine how hard you have worked with the tremendous amount of physical therapy you surely had to endure, and I'm sure your husband has been by your side all along. I look forward to reading about your adventure!
Cathy, I think and I honestly believe that you healed so well and so quickly is because you “willed” yourself to get better. You had a goal in mind which is the trip to India you are looking forward to and you reached that goal. Amen. Can you imagine how much slower your recuperation would have been without looking forward to the trip you dreamed about experiencing, India.
Please bring a collapsible cane if you can put that in your checked luggage. Canes or walking sticks really do help, and I’m sure your therapists would have recommended that. I know you’ll be fine and you know yourself how to pace yourself and rest if need be.
Just to make a long story super short, I’ve been in your shoes although in a different situation and I had no regrets. I think that’s what it all about. No regrets. Have a spectacular well deserved time.
cathyandsteve...I am so excited for you & your recovery...WILLPOWER at it's BEST! I am on this tour December 2023. Looking forward to your trip reports
As cathy knows (and others who have had injuries or surgeries such as this) doing the physical therapy proscribed makes all the difference to recovery. If you have motivation and deadline to get healed you'll work harder even when it hurts. I needed knee surgery at the beginning of 2020, but couldn't get it due to several factors until the end of Apr 2021. We were scheduled for the Switzerland Crown Jewels leaving the end of Aug. It had already been delayed by covid in 2020 so I had plenty of motivation to get walking and climbing using that new knee. The PT often hurt like hell but by Jul I was walking 3 miles a day and by Aug made the trip and did the hike down from Gornergrat.
Same here. No broken bones, but I took a chance and had elective knee replacement surgery in mid-Nov and was fully ready for J&E in March. (then, unfortunately, at the last minute ended up with another year, which stretched into two, to recover )
I hope I’m not being rude … but how did you break your femur? We had a very athletic friend who just fell down in the lift line while skiing and broke her’s.
Cathy. Someone on our tour now has one of those little seats that looks like a collapsible cane, when he gets tired, especially when we are standing still for long periods he pulls it out and sits down, maybe one of those will be useful for you on tour.
Cathy and Claudia: I am so proud and inspired by both of you. I feel your pain as I am still recovering from a total hip replacement from May 30. I was misdiagnosed prior to seeing a Specialist which set me back a bit. My hip was bone on bone and I was about to go into a wheelchair before surgery. It was so discouraging. I am now 15 weeks post surgery and still have pain at times, but at least I can walk again and am up to 1 1/2 miles a day. I am not sure I would be able to attempt such a trip. Just walking on a sandy beach for 1/2 mile about did me in this past week. I see my doctor in 2 weeks for x-rays and hopefully everything is still situated right and healing. Keeping my fingers crossed. Anyway, it sounds like you are doing great and I can hardly wait to read your reports. You ladies inspire me to push on, even though it hurts like hell at times. So glad I did a bunch of hard traveling in my younger years while I still had my original parts. LOL. Take care.
I wish you a speedy recovery. Plan a trip, any easy trip, just to have something special to look forward to. I truly think a reward at the end of the rainbow helped me with my medical issue to visualize the light at the end of the tunnel.
I have two complete knee replacements, but in California you rarely encounter ‘wet’ grass … or any grass at all these days. I do find an occasional wet spot on the golf course, but no one around here has real grass anymore … at least no ‘green’ grass. Brown grass is still seen in some places. Our other plants get watered twice a week on a drip system. Our ‘rainy season’ begins on Sunday … seven tenths of an inch is forecast … we will see.
OurTravels34: Thank you. We have taken a couple of local trips this year from 1 to 4 days. No planned activities, we play it by ear and it has worked out well. I am just happy to be walking again, even if it is only for a short distance. We always try to do some sort of short trip at least once a month which included getting married (civil ceremony). My husband was not letting me get out of marriage due to a bad hip, even if he had to carry me. LOL. You are right, though, it is good therapy to have something to look forward to.
Cathy: Thank you for your thoughts and well wishes. I went thru the same thing early on in my recovery. I didn't want to get started on opioids, so I stuck with Tylenol, Advil and Ice. I also woke up several times at night in tears, but hopefully soon this will be just a memory for you. I have wanted to travel to India since I was 5 when I first saw a picture of the Taj Mahal in a National Geographic magazine and I thought it was magical. I really would love to take either the Portrait of India trip or Northern India and Nepal, so I am very keen on reading your experience. One of these days I hope to travel there with Tauck. In the meantime I am enjoying the travel comments on this forum.
Congratulations on your marriage. My 30 year old daughter is getting married in two weeks. We tried to bribe her to have a civil ceremony and gift her the chunk of change instead of a huge huge huge super huge party. She and the fiancé would not cave in. Then I thought I would be smarter than a fifth grader and offer her double the cash what the event would cost. Again, she wanted the big party! In a way I get that every girl dreams of being a bride. Still I am in sticker shock, what weddings cost these days. It can pay for many Tauck tours. I on the other hand, had 6 people at my wedding 31 years ago, and I would still do it the same way all over again.
Just a word of caution cathyandsteve:we travelled recently with my husband just short of 4 months post spinal fusion.I wanted him to ask for assistance at the airport;of course he did not want to be wheeled.In hindsight the wheelchair at the airport would have been a good idea because some airports have never ending walkways to get from point A to point B..Even if you are able to ambulate without assistance ordinarily the extra walking that is involved in the airports may cause some problems if you are just recovering.
Please use them;you will be in better shape to take the trips on the tour.Most of the walking on the tours is stop and start ;so you are resting briefly;very different from the continuous walking in the airports no matter the pace.Bone healing takes a long time;myhusband did ok;just thankful to return home without any injury or Covid-19.
Please use the wheelchairs Cathy. You wont know how long the walks are and your don’t want to get tired halfway to your next gate. The Delhi airport is a zoo Indians have no concept of personal space, they push and shove and have no respect for women.
Agree with Cathy about rude people are everywhere;while we were walking at OHare upon our return my husband had some chest pressure and had to slow down;there was enough space to go around;but there was an elderly couple particularly the lady who was quite upset and went past us muttering something rude!If some one is having some difficulty in ambulating,I would just let them go at their pace and not pressure them to move faster;some slowing is good for everyone.Landing in an Indian airport is an experience in itself.When you walk through customs and come out suddenly you see such a huge crowd that you are not used to seeing.When I went back after a few years living here,I was truly shocked even though I grew up there.one can never get used to the pushing and shoving in lines.Big cultural difference!One more thing,Indian men are the worst culprits!
I don't recall having to upload vaccination cards for the India Visa. The only upload I did was picture and pdf of our passport main page. We got our India visas a few weeks ago for our upcoming India/Nepal on 10/5. When they email you your visa, you print that out and bring it with you, show it at the e-visa immigration booth in Delhi airport, and they stamp the official visa in your passport.
There is a health form that needs to be filled out as well where you put down the date of final vaccine shot and self attest that you are fully vaccinated. You also attest that you will bring proof that you are vaccinated to be shown if/when asked. This form you then submit electronically and bring a printed copy with you to India.
Even though we leave in 17 days for India, we've still not gotten any book...in any form...from Tauck. Looking forward to getting it as well!
My wife and I can't wait as well! Hopefully it all goes smoothly as we are the first tour out of the gate after 3 years of no Tauck tours in India/Nepal.
No, our tour starts on Oct 8th. We'll be headed home when you are arriving. Hopefully any wrinkles in our tour will be ironed out for yours. But I am not expecting many.
Chris, check your spam, or call Tauck. The three trips we have taken with Tauck since the pandemic began came weeks before.
Cathy, I know what you mean by generalizing about anyone, but in India it is a cultural thing. It has to be because of the sheer number of people. You see very few women, most are confined to the home in public places
Comments
Cathy, we all look forward to your trip report and photos. You set a pretty high bar with the Antarctic tour.
You'll be 9 days ahead of us leaving on our next adventure.
I've been fascinated with India since watching the Jewel in the Crown series ages ago.
India is absolutely fascinating. I have no doubt you all will thoroughly enjoy your tours. I enjoyed the Portrait of India tour and have considered booking Northern India & Nepal. I’ve told my friends I will gladly join them on another Portrait or Spotlight tour—I enjoyed it that much!
Having taken the Spotlight tour, we would love to take Northern India and Nepal for the Safari part. I remember the first tours people complained about several elements that Tauck have now changed.
India is a challenge, but you just see such incredible crazy life going on. The bus rides were some of my favorites because what you saw out of those windows, you will never ever forget.
cathyandsteve,
I am so sorry to learn of your injury and I certainly hope you can take the tour. Nothing like your injury, but my little dog had rather invasive knee surgery a few weeks ago. He even has hydrotherapy sessions! Sorry to digress, but just wanted to let you know he empathizes with you and is sending well wishes and wags.
You will make that trip! We are counting on another fabulous trip review! Warm regards.
He's doing great and is quite proficient at hopping along.
I don't know how challenging your tour is, but I'm sure your physician(s) will clear you if they think you can handle it. Again, best wishes!
Interesting how things have changed. In a previous life I flew cargo for Air India and I was based in Bombay (Mumbai) . Late at night at Madras there were no lights on in the terminal so you had to be careful not to step on the homeless people who would sleep in the airport. I had to wake people up to get a weather briefing and file a flight plan. There were no late night nor early morning passenger flights. I did visit elephant island, and you certainly did not need a guide. I frequently had flights to Calcutta, and New Dehli, but only spent layovers in Madras (Chennai) and Bombay. Actually, we stayed at the Juhu Beach Holiday Inn which I think is a Novotel now. I spent a lot of time in India. I’m sure the tour is great, but working there is an “experience”. I once lost an engine on takeoff from Bombay, and while waiting for a replacement I registered to vote and was considering the purchase of property. (;-)
CathyandSteve: I’m sure you will have a wonderful trip. Tauck will take you to all the right places. (:-)
cathyandsteve,
Congratulations! I can only imagine how hard you have worked with the tremendous amount of physical therapy you surely had to endure, and I'm sure your husband has been by your side all along. I look forward to reading about your adventure!
Cathy, I think and I honestly believe that you healed so well and so quickly is because you “willed” yourself to get better. You had a goal in mind which is the trip to India you are looking forward to and you reached that goal. Amen. Can you imagine how much slower your recuperation would have been without looking forward to the trip you dreamed about experiencing, India.
Please bring a collapsible cane if you can put that in your checked luggage. Canes or walking sticks really do help, and I’m sure your therapists would have recommended that. I know you’ll be fine and you know yourself how to pace yourself and rest if need be.
Just to make a long story super short, I’ve been in your shoes although in a different situation and I had no regrets. I think that’s what it all about. No regrets. Have a spectacular well deserved time.
cathyandsteve...I am so excited for you & your recovery...WILLPOWER at it's BEST! I am on this tour December 2023. Looking forward to your trip reports
As cathy knows (and others who have had injuries or surgeries such as this) doing the physical therapy proscribed makes all the difference to recovery. If you have motivation and deadline to get healed you'll work harder even when it hurts. I needed knee surgery at the beginning of 2020, but couldn't get it due to several factors until the end of Apr 2021. We were scheduled for the Switzerland Crown Jewels leaving the end of Aug. It had already been delayed by covid in 2020 so I had plenty of motivation to get walking and climbing using that new knee. The PT often hurt like hell but by Jul I was walking 3 miles a day and by Aug made the trip and did the hike down from Gornergrat.
Same here. No broken bones, but I took a chance and had elective knee replacement surgery in mid-Nov and was fully ready for J&E in March. (then, unfortunately, at the last minute ended up with another year, which stretched into two, to recover
)
Cathy - With all your new equipment/parts you're our new Bionic Woman!
I hope I’m not being rude … but how did you break your femur? We had a very athletic friend who just fell down in the lift line while skiing and broke her’s.
Cathy. Someone on our tour now has one of those little seats that looks like a collapsible cane, when he gets tired, especially when we are standing still for long periods he pulls it out and sits down, maybe one of those will be useful for you on tour.
Cathy and Claudia: I am so proud and inspired by both of you. I feel your pain as I am still recovering from a total hip replacement from May 30. I was misdiagnosed prior to seeing a Specialist which set me back a bit. My hip was bone on bone and I was about to go into a wheelchair before surgery. It was so discouraging. I am now 15 weeks post surgery and still have pain at times, but at least I can walk again and am up to 1 1/2 miles a day. I am not sure I would be able to attempt such a trip. Just walking on a sandy beach for 1/2 mile about did me in this past week. I see my doctor in 2 weeks for x-rays and hopefully everything is still situated right and healing. Keeping my fingers crossed. Anyway, it sounds like you are doing great and I can hardly wait to read your reports. You ladies inspire me to push on, even though it hurts like hell at times. So glad I did a bunch of hard traveling in my younger years while I still had my original parts. LOL. Take care.
I wish you a speedy recovery. Plan a trip, any easy trip, just to have something special to look forward to. I truly think a reward at the end of the rainbow helped me with my medical issue to visualize the light at the end of the tunnel.
I have two complete knee replacements, but in California you rarely encounter ‘wet’ grass … or any grass at all these days. I do find an occasional wet spot on the golf course, but no one around here has real grass anymore … at least no ‘green’ grass. Brown grass is still seen in some places. Our other plants get watered twice a week on a drip system. Our ‘rainy season’ begins on Sunday … seven tenths of an inch is forecast … we will see.
OurTravels34: Thank you. We have taken a couple of local trips this year from 1 to 4 days. No planned activities, we play it by ear and it has worked out well. I am just happy to be walking again, even if it is only for a short distance. We always try to do some sort of short trip at least once a month which included getting married (civil ceremony). My husband was not letting me get out of marriage due to a bad hip, even if he had to carry me. LOL. You are right, though, it is good therapy to have something to look forward to.
Cathy: Thank you for your thoughts and well wishes. I went thru the same thing early on in my recovery. I didn't want to get started on opioids, so I stuck with Tylenol, Advil and Ice. I also woke up several times at night in tears, but hopefully soon this will be just a memory for you. I have wanted to travel to India since I was 5 when I first saw a picture of the Taj Mahal in a National Geographic magazine and I thought it was magical. I really would love to take either the Portrait of India trip or Northern India and Nepal, so I am very keen on reading your experience. One of these days I hope to travel there with Tauck. In the meantime I am enjoying the travel comments on this forum.
Congratulations on your marriage. My 30 year old daughter is getting married in two weeks. We tried to bribe her to have a civil ceremony and gift her the chunk of change instead of a huge huge huge super huge party. She and the fiancé would not cave in. Then I thought I would be smarter than a fifth grader and offer her double the cash what the event would cost. Again, she wanted the big party! In a way I get that every girl dreams of being a bride. Still I am in sticker shock, what weddings cost these days. It can pay for many Tauck tours. I on the other hand, had 6 people at my wedding 31 years ago, and I would still do it the same way all over again.
Travelmaven… Congratulations on your nuptials
Just a word of caution cathyandsteve:we travelled recently with my husband just short of 4 months post spinal fusion.I wanted him to ask for assistance at the airport;of course he did not want to be wheeled.In hindsight the wheelchair at the airport would have been a good idea because some airports have never ending walkways to get from point A to point B..Even if you are able to ambulate without assistance ordinarily the extra walking that is involved in the airports may cause some problems if you are just recovering.
Please use them;you will be in better shape to take the trips on the tour.Most of the walking on the tours is stop and start ;so you are resting briefly;very different from the continuous walking in the airports no matter the pace.Bone healing takes a long time;myhusband did ok;just thankful to return home without any injury or Covid-19.
Please use the wheelchairs Cathy. You wont know how long the walks are and your don’t want to get tired halfway to your next gate. The Delhi airport is a zoo Indians have no concept of personal space, they push and shove and have no respect for women.
Agree with Cathy about rude people are everywhere;while we were walking at OHare upon our return my husband had some chest pressure and had to slow down;there was enough space to go around;but there was an elderly couple particularly the lady who was quite upset and went past us muttering something rude!If some one is having some difficulty in ambulating,I would just let them go at their pace and not pressure them to move faster;some slowing is good for everyone.Landing in an Indian airport is an experience in itself.When you walk through customs and come out suddenly you see such a huge crowd that you are not used to seeing.When I went back after a few years living here,I was truly shocked even though I grew up there.one can never get used to the pushing and shoving in lines.Big cultural difference!One more thing,Indian men are the worst culprits!
Hi Cathy,
I don't recall having to upload vaccination cards for the India Visa. The only upload I did was picture and pdf of our passport main page. We got our India visas a few weeks ago for our upcoming India/Nepal on 10/5. When they email you your visa, you print that out and bring it with you, show it at the e-visa immigration booth in Delhi airport, and they stamp the official visa in your passport.
There is a health form that needs to be filled out as well where you put down the date of final vaccine shot and self attest that you are fully vaccinated. You also attest that you will bring proof that you are vaccinated to be shown if/when asked. This form you then submit electronically and bring a printed copy with you to India.
Even though we leave in 17 days for India, we've still not gotten any book...in any form...from Tauck. Looking forward to getting it as well!
My wife and I can't wait as well! Hopefully it all goes smoothly as we are the first tour out of the gate after 3 years of no Tauck tours in India/Nepal.
Hi Cathy,
No, our tour starts on Oct 8th. We'll be headed home when you are arriving. Hopefully any wrinkles in our tour will be ironed out for yours. But I am not expecting many.
Chris, check your spam, or call Tauck. The three trips we have taken with Tauck since the pandemic began came weeks before.
Cathy, I know what you mean by generalizing about anyone, but in India it is a cultural thing. It has to be because of the sheer number of people. You see very few women, most are confined to the home in public places