Was not like how it was on paper
We booked with the Formula Group for a "Golden Triangle" tour of India consisting of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur for a group of 6 people, 5 of whom had never visited India before. Although the booking and payment process were relatively smooth, the actual tour itself had many bumps. The biggest issues we faced include:
1. Our tour guide in Agra forced our group to "borrow" him INR 1500 at the beginning of the day and then never returned it or mentioned it again. We belatedly realized this was his way of forcing a tip before the tour ended.
2. Our tour guide in Jaipur made passive aggressive comments to the women in our group, such as "why aren't you asking more questions" and "I will follow you back to your home country" which them feel uncomfortable.
3. Despite the package inclusions mentioning "English speaking driver" and "mineral water bottle available in the car," our driver's English was rudimentary at best and there was no water provided in the car. Besides "hello," "thank you," and the time, he could not communicate with us.
4. We were forced to visit souvenir shops every day, which is not mentioned in the itinerary. The salesmen were very pushy and the prices of the products far higher than comparable products in the street bazaars and shops.
5. The restaurants they forced us to eat for lunch were touristy, overpriced, and not tasty.
The biggest positive we experienced is that our tour guide in Delhi was great. He was professional, honest, and efficient. We felt the most value of our time with him. If we had him as our tour guide for the entire trip, our group would have had a much better experience. Based off of our overall experience, we feel that the biggest improvement that can be made is to have one tour guide come along for the entire trip; this way there is consistency and you don't experience ups and downs based on the personality and behavior of each tour guide in each city.
Based off our experience, I would only recommend this tour to experienced travelers. You will need to fend for yourself many times throughout the tour, as a trustworthy tour guide is not guaranteed (e.g. our case in Agra).
8 februari 2025
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