Feb 02, 2017 05:19 PM
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My wife and I bought the "Exotic Rajasthan" package covering Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur in 10 days. The tour had its plus and minus points.
Hotels
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The hotels in Jaipur (Teej) and in Bikaner (Dhola Maru) were abysmal. The room from the size perspective was okay, but the walls were peeling off. Most of the electric sockets were dysfunctional, the towels were once white, lighting poor. Unpaid subscription for TV. Only one DD channel working in Teej. of course, no wifi. Food was just about ok.
From Bikaner onwards, the quality of the hotels ( Moomal in Jaisalmer, Ghoomer in Jodhpur and Kajri in Udaipur) improved dramatically. Lucky we were not doing the trip in the reverse order. Hotel Kajri was the best. In all these hotels, food price was very nominal. i would also like to give a special mention to the manager of Hotel Moomal (Jaisalmer) who was exceptional in being helpful to guests, even those who were complaining about everything (Unfortunately i did not get his name).
Transport
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RTDC seems to outsource this service to third party taxi operators. The car that we got was ok, but the driver was not good. He was not aware (at least that is what he said) of the areas to be covered in the tour. Because of this we missed the famous Deshnok Karni Mata temple on the way to Jaisalmer from Bikaner. When the same thing happened again on our drive from Jailsalmer to Jodhpur, I contacted RTDC office about it. Their response was immediate. They put me in touch with the GM, transport (Mr.Sunder Singh), who set it right with the driver. But that set the tone for the remaining part of the tour. The driver was very uncommunicative, explaining nothing of the route that we were taking, no details of the places we were visiting. He also tried to book us with guides and desert camps that we known to him.
All in all, a complete disaster. But this could be an isolated case, i do not know.
Suggestions
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In Jaipur, avoid Teej and try to get one of the other hotels ( I was told Gangour was the best)
On the very first day, go though the complete itinerary with the driver and resolve with RTDC in case of disagreement.
The day when one is travelling from one center to another, there is about half a day in spare. Most travel takes about 5 hours. I would suggest start early and reach early(our driver refused to start before 10 am and drove in such a way that we reached a bit late in the evening). if you feel like a bit of exploring, the hotels give you enough information on nearby places.
Visiting forts / palaces without someone to give background / historical information is a mistake. There are guides in all these places. One guide that we had in Jaipur was good, but that is not true at all places. They also tend to hurry one through (understandably) and also pressure direct you to shops. Alternately, hire a audio guide available at all forts / palaces. These are recorded information guide and gives one a lot of information.
