Portrait of India vs Spotlight on India

BCCanada

My first trip with Tauck. Debating the merits of Portrait versus Spotlight on India, both in November 2016 so have to make decision in the next day or so. Would anyone care to comment on whether the extra travel time involved in the visit to south of India (Mumbai, Cochin, Kerala) was a significant added value/special memories to the trip i.e. Portrait.

Also, there are no small group trips available at this time (2016)and wondering if anyone could comment on how large the big group travel is and whether or not I would be wise to book in 2017 instead to get the small group option. Thanks in advance for your response.

Ken from Vegas

We did the longer trip trip in 2012. A fantastic trip - one of the best of the ten trips we have taken with Tauck. The Oberoi hotels are the best ever! I would strongly recommend the longer trip. Cochin and Kerala are very different culturally from the north. Gives you a different perspective on the country. Kerala has a resort atmosphere and you have a chance to unwind and relax a bit. Much more tropical. Mumbai is fascinating. A mix of colonial architectural and bustling Indian culture. Very different from Delhi. The boat ride to the Elephanta Caves is enjoyable and just walking around in the center of Mumbai is a treat. Take advantage of the late plane departures on the final day and hire a local guide to show you around Mumbai. We arranged with another couple to use one of Tauck's local guides to show us around (you could also book with the concierge or on Viator). The tour was great. Be sure to see the dabba wallahs (lunch box deliverers) sorting their charges on the sidewalk near the suburban train station in Mumbai. Thousands of lunches being unloaded from the trains and sorted onto pushcarts and boards carried on the head. Fifteen minutes later, its like they were never there.

Given the time it takes to get to India, I would see as much as you can while you're there.

Regarding the group size, regular Tauck tours are a standard tour bus load (usually about 38 people, give or take). Howver, I don't think that there are any small group tours for the Portrait trip available in 2017, so you might as well go in November - if you can, I see space is limited. When we took the trip, the Portrait and the Spotlight tours traveled together for the first part and then the Portrait people went on in a smaller group the last few days. If they still do this your group will be smaller for those last days.

Happy travels.

joycesw

We did the Portrait trip in January 2016, and I am in complete agreement with Ken. We were so glad we visited the south. The contrast between Northern and Southern India gives one a more rounded perspective of India. While the North has beautiful forts and palaces, along with the spiritual city of Varanasi (my favorite), the South has more of a Christian and Jewish influence. Kerala also boasts a very high literacy rate, and one of the highlights was walking through a village and seeing all of the children on their way to schools...backpacks, pressed uniforms and faces smiling from ear to ear! While the touring part was much more relaxed, we really enjoyed the presentations of dancers and performers reflective of this part of India. This area was along the Spice Route, so we learned a lot about traditional spices used in Indian food. While Mumbai was, perhaps, our least favorite place, it still gave us another perspective of this wonderful country, and we did enjoy our time there.
We were part of the first group of the "new" itinerary (extended time in Udaipur and no visit to Khajuraho), so the group was kept purposely small at 21. if we had known this prior to the trip, we would have booked a later tour. While our tour group was wonderful, we are concerned that the group dynamic could be a bit skewed with fewer people. We have done 14 international tours with Tauck and have never been bothered by the size of the group. I think this is just a matter of personal preference.

Richardb

I agree with the previous two people. We did the Portrait tour and would not have missed a minute. It just seemed to us that going to India maybe a single opportunity so see as much as possible - and with Tauck you certainly do that in style. In places it was very profound and, indeed, humbling, but none the less enjoyable for that. After all, one takes Tauck tours to gain life EXPERIENCE. We too enjoyed the Southern experience at Kerala - such a contrast to the bustling big cities.
No choice for me - if you are going, take in as much as possible. The only thing we found strange was that in Mumbai when we had spare time some people went out of their way to take a cab to visit some slums - bizaar.

BCCanada

Thanks to those Tauck travellers who responded to my query on the Portrait Tour. I have taken your advice. Have now booked my flight for the Feb 7-2017 Portrait of India tour!

joycesw

Hi Carole,
We used Lufthansa. We flew out of San Francisco, business class, to Frankfort, and then on to Delhi. On our return, out of Mumbai to Frankfort on Lufthansa and then United (alliance to Lufthansa) to San Francisco. I am not sure any of those return flights help you out...I know a number of other travelers traveled directly from Mumbai to the East Coast...perhaps that might work better.

Ken from Vegas

We flew to Vegas via Newark on United - over 24hrs total travel time - brutal! However, Emirates Airlines now has flights from Mumbai to LA, San Francisco and Seattle. I think that they would be a good choice.

BCCanada

Thank you for suggestions.

Richardb

A wise choice BCCanada. This is a stunning tour which I am sure you will enjoy. We found it quite different from all the other tours we have joined - indeed, we would not do India with anyone other than Tauck. Enjoy.

British

Hello Richard! As you probably remember, I took the Spotlight tour a couple of years ago and certainly agree with you that I would not go with anyone other than Tauck for India. Having said that, friends of ours from England, a couple, were in India at the same time as us and travelled on their own, even using the train system. Another friend, female, traveled with another female friend the following year, using a private company, just them, they were escorted all over by car, staying in small Inns, they were fine and thoroughly enjoyed it. They did not see the proverty we saw, especially as they did not visit Varanasi, but they all felt comfortable traveling on their own. We were all nurses together in England and lived in an area of the country, Leicestershire where there is a huge Indian population, so we were aware of home conditions, we had to go into their homes in the community, so saw some bad conditions, but we were also aware of many of the customs and foods. Many of our neighbor's were from India and we were often gifted lovely cooked food and treats from our neighbors. My children grew up with many Indian friends and while I struggled to pronounce or remember their friends names, they of course never even noticed any difference. My daughter has since visited an Indian guy friend who now is a lawyer and living in Australia. All the more reason that we really wanted to visit India. I was sorry that time constraints did not allow us to do the longer Tauck tour but glad we were able to go before Khajaraho was taken off the schedule, so we did get an Indian train ride experience. Well we weren't hanging onto the sides of the train or sitting on the roof, but we watched all the rats scurrying about in the train station and all the porters carrying the suitcases on their heads.

Richardb

You are right, British. I am glad we went to Varanasi and Khajaraho to get the full perspective of the Country. Wherever we went the people were so wonderful - the words humble, devout and sincere stick in my mind. There is such a wide gap between the rich and the poor yet everyone seemed to accept the what life had dealt them. We were there during Diwali and the spirit of true friendship just oozed from everyone.
Indeed, our eldest daughter has married into a Pakistan family and the same warmth exudes despite the different cultures and traditions.
We are, in fact, not far from your original base, being just south of Newark, but I grew up in Birmingham during the 1940/50/60 close to growing Eastern Communities where everyone just mixed in.