Our holiday in India November 2018

After our long flight from London Heathrow, what a relief it was to see our Silent Leopard representative holding up a large card with our names on it! We were quickly guided out to meet Jasvir who was to be our driver for the whole of our tour.

Our first hotel was the Maidens Hotel, a long-established Heritage hotel in Delhi.  We were warmly welcomed by its manager who made sure that our ground floor room was suitable for me with a bath and room to accommodate my mobility scooter. As a below-knee amputee, my mobility is fairly good over short distances, and I was able to walk around the reception area, bars and restaurants at this hotel. The Maidens had a lovely old-world charm and courtesy. Food was good, and we took advantage of happy-hour drinks. 

Our first day out touring took us to the amazing, richly adorned Akshardham Temple. This was quite a challenge with restricted mobility, but our guide made it as easy as it was possible to do. Supported by both him and my husband Rob, I was able to ascend the steep flights of marble steps to see the interior. They carried my scooter between them up these same steps so that I could get all around inside.

Our second tour began with an exciting trip on an electric rickshaw around the narrow streets of shops of Old Delhi. Oh wow! This had to be one of the incredible highlights of our holiday with all the sights and sounds, colours and smells that made up the unforgettable atmosphere. I felt I was part of the set of The Best Exotic Marigold hotel!

Travelling on to Agra, we visited the amazing Taj Mahal at sunset. The officials at its reception desk refused entry to my scooter, inexplicably judging it to be a security risk, so our guide, Imran, fetched a wheelchair and our dear Jas insisted on pushing me all the way himself. I was able to walk around the interior of the Taj Mahal using crutches. 

I was soon to realise on our tours that I had magically acquired celebrity status on my scooter!  Just by being foreigners, we were both of considerable interest, but on my scooter – the only one I ever saw in our whole two-week tour – we were regularly approached by charming Indian families wanting to take selfies with me! How our two daughters laughed when I emailed them with this news!

Quite a number of the sights we visited had good ramps, so I was able to be completely independent with these.

Please click here to find out more about Accessible Tours in India or contact us on 0121 374 0196.

Our stay at the Dev Vilas at the Rathembhore National Park was very comfortable with an unbelievably spacious room and very attentive staff who returned in the evening to turn down our bed and replace bath towels again. They were all dressed in traditional safari suits and berets.  This time I felt I was part of A Passage to India!

Our two visits to the Park were made truly memorable by the sighting of not only two tigers, mother and daughter, but of a rarely-seen leopard. 

We travelled onto Jaipur and stayed at the very comfortable Hilton Hotel. Our visit to the Amber Fort was truly memorable. Jas drove us as far as he could up the steep incline to the fort. (I had a sneaky yearning to go up by elephant, but common sense prevailed!) I then used my scooter to the enclosed outer area where a local guide pushed me around the whole interior in a wheelchair, leaving the scooter securely stored in an office. He was so experienced, whizzing around the ramps and shallow steps, completely barefoot!  We were also privileged to be in India at the time of Diwali and greatly enjoyed the hotel’s celebrations.

Our final journey took us back to Delhi to the comfortable Pulman Hotel Aerocity near the airport.  It was so sad to say farewell to Jas, our lovely driver who had conveyed us with comfort and safety over so many miles, many of which were through unbelievable traffic chaos where cars, mopeds, buses and tuk-tuks vied for space, weaving around cows here and there amid a noisy cacophony of horns!  We had got to know him so well and had loved hearing about his family and the job as a driver that he had done for some fifteen years. He must have lifted my scooter in and out of the car over forty times, and always with such quiet charm and kindness.

As the plane rose above Delhi, we said goodbye to India with all its colour and teeming life, its culture and its dignified and courteous people who had made us so welcome. It had been a wonderful holiday that we shall always remember.

Mr & Mrs Holman. 

Please click here to find out more about Accessible Tours in India or contact us on 0121 374 0196.

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