Open Eyes

Overall, our trip was fantastic. Our local guide, Jagdish Thakur was absolutely wonderful in every way. He was knowledgeable, professional, and compassionate.

I felt that communication with Angela could have been better. There were some issues with pricing that took a phone call to iron out. She also was unclear on the registration process to see the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. It cost us a couple of hours of unnecessary waiting in a line (in the rain.) There was also a lack of communication with Jagdish prior to the trip.

It seems that the advertised itinerary was at times simply impossible to complete in the amount of time allotted. This was a yoga retreat, and we were unable to do yoga for the first week due to the schedule, and the hotels where we stayed. Seems this could have been better planned. (?)

As I said, despite these issues, everyone still had a FANTASTIC trip. Thanks so much!

Jessica Lohrey

Amit, our guide throughout the trip was an exceptional young professional on so many levels. His personality and patient disposition were indispensable in creating a relaxed and fun experience. He is very knowledgeable in the 4 major religions of India and his command of dates and facts rivals a PhD in Eastern religion. A good teacher communicates by sharing stories and Amit explained wars (political and religious), customs, cultures, gods and goddesses and historical people like he was intimately involved with each one and sharing the history of his country as if reading a novel or watching a movie. Vividly, animatedly, and with humor. We were lucky to have had him all to ourselves!. He was also a fun person and highlighted his stories with personal tales of his life in India.

DalGeet Ji was an incredibly skilled driver. His knowing the roads all over Rajisthan, especially when construction and some political demonstrations lead to road blocks, made the trip so much more reliable and safe. Again, we were very lucky to have had him. He got along with Amit so well.

Highlights for me were: (1) the night in the Thar desert with the best meal of the trip cooked by Soda and Abdul over the open fire, (2) praying in the Sikh temple and then visiting the kitchen , (3) The sound and light water show in Delhi, (3) the colors of the markets, men and women's attire, (4) the graciousness of everyone in letting us photograph them, and (5) the elegant little hotels that each had cultural character, beauty and /or historical significance.

My Mother and I spent around 10 days touring the Rajasthan area of India. We had a fantastic time.
Angela was able to customize our trip to fit the needs.. For instance we wanted to stay at higher end hotels, skip some attractions to see others, and slow down the pace a bit. She was patient with us as we had a lot of back and forth before settling on a final itinerary.
The driver we had was amazing and ensured our safety through out our trip. Our guides were thoughtful and were experts in guiding us though Indian history. We never felt pressured or unsafe during our entire time.
I’d highly recommend booking with Angela via KimKim.

We were in Delhi and Agra for 6 days. We appreciate having good hotels. We appreciate having all the transportation provided, such as transfers from the airport to the hotel. We most appreciate being about to custom design a tour that was exactly what we wanted rather than having to fit into someone else's agenda.
We love the transportation with the women cab drivers. They are excellent! They inspire confidence. I applaud their bravery.
I enjoyed meeting Anna. She was great!

Overall the planning and booking of the trip was great. I really appreciated how fast the trip came together since I started planning this trip about a week in advance of the start date.

That said, I wish there had been faster communication. It seemed to take about a day to get a response. I sense that if I had been able to jump on a call at some point we could have locked down the tour much more quickly.

Our trip to India was amazing! Everyone was very happy about everything, from accommodation, to transportation, guides, and activities.
Prashant was a really good guide in Goa and easy to get along with. Especially when everyone loves nature, as we hiked for a bit. The 2 others guides in goa were great as well (I unfortunately can’t remember their exact names.. :/ )
In Kerala, our driver Dileep was really great. He drove (frankly!) but carefully. And brought us to any places we wanted to go to, from temples sightseeing to shopping and eating in local places. He was very flexible with schedule and always was trying to please us. Thumbs up!
There was just a little confusion and misunderstanding in some part of the itinerary for the Kerala houseboat. But it all turned out well at the end.

Overall, it was a great trip and it seems impossible to choose a favorite place.

Thanks!