Hello Kipper

You have traveled India a couple of times. Our DMC now has provided us with the itinerary and I am freaking out regarding the airline choices we have: Indian Airlines - not the best safety record at all:http://www.airsafe.com/events/regions/asia.htm
Indigo Airlines: I cannot find any report or info on that one.

We would have preferred Jet Air but Jet Air doesn't operate in June/July the routing we need.

Have you experienced these?

And what about Mewar Express (Train)?

Your input will be highly appreciated.

Thank you!

To India I have always used BA out of Heathrow.
Their flight schedule times fit perfect for me.

I know a number of people who fly via the Gulf & report that Emirates are great. But as time is important to me their schedules mean another couple more days off work.
I can't work the day we fly as I can with BA.
The stop over in Dubai means I miss the morning trains & have to stop over one night in the city.
We like to hit the ground running & go!

Ahhh! The trains!.....The trains!

Beware to be totally over whelmed by station life!
There will be a million people to offer their services to help & in a million different ways.
With the knowledge of your carriage & seat number they will even place you exactly on the platform to where the door to your carriage will be when the train stops!

Pasted on the out side of each carriage is a paper listing your details, name, compartment & seat number.
Do not expect too much from "First Class - Air conditioned".
If on a sleeper you will be in a compartment with others, no privacy here!
Also you only have a bunk between 10pm & 6am the rest of the time they are normal seats. You do get issued with clean sheets & a blanket.
Train toilets are rudimentary & normally just a hole in the floor!....No locks!

Never ever let your personal Hygiene lapse. no matter how swish the surroundings!
The food is fine but clean your hands! Clean your hands!
We take antiseptic wipes for our hands & use them before we put any thing near our mouths.
Germs just love door handles!
India is a wonderful experience, Fantastic place! Fantastic people!

Enjoy!

Kipper,
thanks a lot for your advise! Excellent!

Regarding the airlines: We fly out/into Germany/India on Lufthansa.

I am worried about the INDIGO Airlines and INDIAN Airlines! Indian Airlines has got a pretty scary safety record. INDIGO - I can't find any reports on that one.

Kingfisher has been mentioned a couple of times at tripadvisor.

I hate having no control here and have to trust people I have never heard of before
I feel like cargo shifted back and forth because India is a white spot on the map still - for us at least.

We are visiting the andBeyond Lodges and in between of course Taj Mahal, a Bird sanctuary and a couple of other sightseeing spots - and Ranthambore.

So I am completely depending on the travel agents advise as I have no time to cope with that trip at all........

Ah one more: Would you take malaria prophylaxis? I am always a bit on the "gambling" side and rather cover/spray instead of swollowing chemistry all the time.

As far as I understand it's not Monsoon season yet end of may till mid June............

I was told we might be facing 40°C and almost 90% humidity which alone seems to be killing........

Anyway - I have comitted and now we have to go.

For sure I'll write how it came out when I get back in mid June.

Cross your fingers.........that we see tigers

Pippa your almost certain to see tigers at Ranthambhore! But be warned it can be a bit of a rat race there!

But Believe me you will never forget your first wild tiger! The memory is there with you for ever, magical!
Our first tiger sighting was at Ranthambhore, we left London at 2230 & less than 24 hours later a tiger with a kill less than a kilometre inside the park at 0600.

Be ready for the hawkers at the forest gate where you stop! Great blokes although some are pushy! Which lodge are you staying at?

Ask for an early trip to the Taj 0500 to watch the sunrise, before the crowds arrive! I'm not one for sightseeing but a day in Agra with the early start at the Taj Mahal is one I'd recommend.

OK! I'll let you into a secret, I have a web site, very out of date, very old fashioned but some photo's of the the Taj Mahal early morning no visitors as well as Rhanthambhore & Bandhavgarh. [URL=http://www.freelife.me.uk ]Our site[/URL]
I did fly once in India, prefer the trains, and the flight was fine......The Band aid patches on the wing held just fine! Joke! Honest!

My memory of that flight was of a family group of tourists & the father was a big tall man who wore the most ornate gold & red Turban!
He towered above everyone naturally but with his turban glittering away he could be seen the length of the plane over the seats.
He was really proud to tell all, in a loud deep voice that it was the turban colours of a Rhajastan camel driver & he was very proud to have been made an honoury drover!

Pippa you'll love India!

Oooops! Sorry, kippers keyboard ranaway with itself, talking about India.

The flight was with Kingfisher, we took no tablets for India except imodium!

One warning it can be very cold early morning, sat up in the back of an open 4x4! The drivers race to get their clients to the front of the wait at the gate. Take a warm jacket!

And while talking of flights.....We once had an upgrade with Malaysian Airways, full flight & we think the reason was we had 8 flights booked with them, International & Internal for that trip.

Here are the reasons why I think we got the upgrade from Singapore to London.

Pure Kipper Charm!!!!

We fly regular with Singapore Airways, granddaughter in Australia, our flights to Africa are with partner airlines so we build up the bonus points.
At check in we were told the flight was full. It was not till we got to the gate for boarding that we were informed of our upgrade, I assume although "Cattle class" was full, business class was nearly empty with it being Easter Sunday.

Lady Kipper excitedly giggled till we boarded and then she sat with an enormous grin for most of the 12 hour flight!

I have a client who travels well & he regularly gets upgrades.
He has a linen suite especially for travelling with a shirt & tie which he swears is the reason for his upgrades.

Thank you so much for all your tips!

I would not have thought it can get cold in India in June.................Sounds like an ordinary safari

Regarding the upgrade: Decent clothing helps - no doubt about that! No airline wants an upgraded pax in bulk-pants sitting besides a white-collar-type of pax

Here comes what they have booked for us:

2 nights Ranthambore
1 night Bharatpur
1 night Agra
1 night Khajuraho
2 nights Panna
2 nights Bandhavgarth
2 nights Kanha
2 nights Pench

You should not forget that our emphasis here is on the 4 andBeyond Lodges. So anything else
is "extra".

I am curious what you say about our "virgin" trip to India.