India tour with Indian Panorama

My husband and I have done many trips all over the world, and our itineraries, up until this trip, were planned by American tour companies or on our own. Finding the prices somewhat high with U.S. companies for a trip to southern India, I tried an in-country company, Indian Panorama (No5 Annai Ave., Srirangam, Trichy, Tamil Nadu 620006, India; phone +91 431 243 3372, fax 243 2874, www.indianpanorama.in).

It has offices in several Indian cities, including Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Periyar. I contacted Smitha (e-mail smitha@indian panorama.in) at the Kochi office and began planning our tour. Smitha sent detailed plans for a 22-day trip, Jan. 9-31, 2008.

The itinerary listed monuments, temples and hotels plus distances and travel times. Smitha suggested different cities and places to see from Chennai to Kochi, including Trichy, Madurai and Periyar plus one night on a luxury houseboat in Kerala. We then flew from Kochi to Bangalore to tour Mysore, Hospet, Hampi and the surrounding area. The last days of the trip were spent in the state of Goa at a popular European seaside resort.

The highlight of the trip was having our own car and driver, who was available 24 hours a day. The drivers (we had two, each for 10 days) both spoke English and were friendly and informative. They drove us safely through cities and the countryside.

Taking roads to small villages and stopping at celebrations such as the Pongal Festival (a 4-day Indian New Year’s celebration) was possible because our vehicle was small and we were traveling alone. (The Pongal Festival in 2009 is Jan. 15-18; visit www.pongalfestival.org.)

The tour price for two was $3,860, which included hotels, breakfast, car and driver. In addition, we paid $535 for both of us for our three internal flights. At each monument or temple we toured, the entrance fee and on-site guide added about 200 rupees ($5).

Tipping always seems to be an issue when traveling overseas. Indian Panorama states very clearly that wages are low in India and the tips should be calculated accordingly. The driver’s tip was 200 rupees a day, and the person who carried a bag to our room was tipped about 10-20 rupees (15¢-25¢).

I highly recommend Indian Panorama if you are considering a trip to southern India. Our driver was always punctual, the car was clean, hotel rooms were ready for us when we arrived, guides met us at monuments and temples on time, and many times a representative from the company met us at the hotel to make sure our trip was going as planned.

I could not believe the efficiency of the company. In Bangalore there was a truck strike. We could not use the car and were very quickly put on a bus to Mysore, where we were met and taken to our hotel.

If you would like more details on our trip, e-mail me c/o ITN.

LORNA TJADEN

New Hope, MN