The 1st 8 Days of the Portrait of India Tour on 1 Nov 23 (New Delhi to Udaipur)
From 1-8 November 2023, for 8 days, I was on Tauck's Portrait of India tour. The tour invoIved long days, incredible sights, incredible hotels, lots of non-stop action, chaos and color. This tour was unlike any of my 50 previous Tauck tours. I had to withdraw from the tour in Udaipur due to health issues and return home. Possibly as a result of the dust stirred up by the elephant fight behind me on our elephant ride in Jaipur. I heard the noise and then was surprised when our driver turned my elephant 180 degrees on a dime and charged toward the fight to end it. Each of the hotels on the tour has a seperate 4 minute or so video. Here is the You Tube link to the 24 Minute Tauck Tour Video that captures the spirit of Northern India:
https://youtu.be/5xgZmo0FYO4
Comments
imalemon5_ You captured this portion of the trip beautifully. Varanasi was so incredibly special - although I never need to experience that again. I love love love India. My countdown to return is 17 days. I'm so sorry your trip was cut short due to health issues. I hope one day you're able to return to see more of the amazing sights in southern India.
Only 50? you slacker!
A suggestion - if you have any other hotels/days to post about, you don't need to create a new thread for each one. You can post it here, in the original thread.
Imalemon5: Thank you for your wonderful overview of the first 8 days of Portrait of India. I have always wanted to go to India and although this trip is not on my horizon, this gives me a good idea of what to expect. I appreciate you taking the time to record your experiences. I am so sorry to hear that you had to leave the tour due to health issues and hope that you are feeling much better.
I had the same local tour guide in Delhi.
imalemmon5 sorry you had to leave the tour, that's one of my favorites, whatever took you home I hope you are feeling better. Your reports brought back many memories.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful video preview of Northern India. Very excited to join the December 20 group!
Question: are there any opportunities on POI to have laundry done? (Makes a difference regarding packing for the trip)
I think with two nights at most hotels that laundry service won’t be a problem. At least, I’m counting on that.
There's always the Ganges...
Very funny 😀
dwannand
There are opportunities to do laundry on this tour. My first laundry request was after leaving Varanasi. I just wanted that smell out...All of the Oberoi hotels offer laundry services
Are laundry prices reasonable?
I recall on one tour, someone inquired about laundry and the TD said it would be chepaer to buy new clothes.
BKMD
For me...the desire to have fresh, clean clothes and not taking time away from my holiday to do it myself far outweighs the cost of paying for hotel laundry services ...It's all relative (to me)--it's pennies on the dollar when compared to the cost of a Tauck tour
To answer your question: Some folks could say the price of the laundry service at the Oberoi hotel was not reasonable. it didn't bother me one bit. The service was completed in a timely manner and delivered back to my room beautifully packaged.