[A Review] India Personal Tours

The quality of a guide can make or break a trip. For our 7 months, we’ve only booked a guide in three places (Northern India, Nepal, and Bhutan). We came to India with limited knowledge of the place and really wanted to dive into its history, traditions, and culture.

Hiring India Personal Tours was the best decision we made. We owe tremendous thanks to Manu, Nirmal, and Dimple for making our experience both enlightening and incredibly fun. We’re already thinking about where we want to go next in India!

 

Choosing India Personal Tours

When contacting tour companies, I kept running into similar issues: unresponsiveness and/or rigidity. Most companies struggled to respond and failed to listen to my requests. Some companies even demanded that I book everything through them. However, this was problematic since I planned to use SPG points and Booking.com to book hotels on my own.

IPT was different. Right away, the company owner, Manu, was quick to respond, super flexible, and highly collaborative when building our itinerary. “Don’t want to lift a finger” full-service? No problem. Just want a driver to get you from point A to point B? As you wish. Whether you want fancy or budget, full-service or DIY, they’ve got you covered. I settled somewhere in the middle and hired both a driver and guide, but booked hotels on my own and allotted for plenty of free time.

After a bit of price checking, I also found IPT’s rates very competitive and reasonable. On top of that, Manu’s willing to work with almost any budget. Pro tip: Companies charge per kilometer with a minimum ~250 km per day. Rates depend on location, car size, and driver’s English speaking ability.

 

Our Experience

While planning was such breeze, touring with our guide, Nirmal, and driver, Dimple made us fall in love with India.  The two of them bickered like an old married couple, laughed like best friends, and cared for each other like siblings.  Not only did we have an incredible trip, but also made friends for life!

 

Nirmal Fun Facts

  • Nirmal’s a walking encyclopedia of India’s history – past, present, and future. He knows everything about everything and makes it all interesting and relatable.
  • He’s also an Indian foodie. While we didn’t get to try his cooking (multiple sources said he’s a great chef), he ordered us the best local dishes at restaurants and got us his favorite samosas and chai in Jodhpur.
  • Touring with Nirmal felt like hanging out with a friend. We were swearing like Hindi sailors and scheming to find him a wife.

 

Dimple Fun Facts

  • Driving in India is scary, but not once did Dimple slam on his breaks or get flustered. He enlightened us with the 4 keys to driving in India:
    1. Good eyes
    2. Good brakes
    3. Good horn
    4. Good luck
  • Dimple taught himself English by reading a pocket dictionary. He’s worked incredibly hard and is seeing the fruits of labor as his kids are succeeding in school, about to embark on impressive career paths (doctor, pilot, police chief)!
  • Dimple was a stand up comic and professional dancer in a past life. Just put on Shakira and he can’t stop moving his hips.

 

Final Thoughts

This final anecdote best describes IPT’s character. At the end of our two weeks, we asked Manu to help us book some rides in southern India (after Nepal and Bhutan). After quoting us a price, Manu suggested that we book on our own because he couldn’t get us a good price in that state. In a world where everyone’s out to make a buck, this honesty and professionalism sealed our belief in the company.

 

 

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