Saturday 1st March – Saturday 8th March 2025

I had booked myself into a different hotel for the 2 nights before my Tiger Safari starts. I did this when I’d first arrived at the Tour Hotel, which I didn’t like at the time but to be fair I was given a different room on our return, which was better and at least I knew the area, but the new place was non refundable. So I guess I’ll have to go.

Before leaving I had a walk around the area, I wanted to get a few little bits and use the ATM and I knew where the shops etc were from walking to restaurants with the group. 

Unfortunately it’s a whole different ball game when you are on your own. Initially things were ok, a few Tuk Tuk drivers asking if I needed a lift. Then it got a little more pushy, one particular guy insisting he knew where my hotel was and that I was walking in the wrong direction, he may well have known, but I also knew where my hotel was and I knew that I was walking there a different way! I explained this calmly numerous times, he wouldn’t stop, and started to get a bit loud and pushy eventually a very nice Sikh gentleman told him to leave me alone. 

I found a shop selling spices and bought some black cardamom needed to make Masala Chia, I also got some ready mixed Masala Chia powder. I adore the Masala Chia here, it’s delicious! 😋 

I would have liked to stop for a cold drink, but there just isn’t anywhere, apart from a few random places, which are chock full of men.  

I went back to the hotel and gathered my stuff then got a Taxi to my new abode! 

The new hotel isn’t in a great area, it’s down near the train station but the hotel itself is nice. 

I have finally succumbed to the cold that has plagued everyone on the tour, so I’m snotty and have a sore throat. I decide not to do too much for the rest of the day I just grab a cup of masala chai in Café near the hotel, so they do exist in some places in Delhi!

I eat dinner in the hotel which was pleasant then went to bed.

I’m still feeling under the weather but have a plan to visit an area called Connaught Place. It’s in New Delhi and it has nice buildings with apparently some good shops and an M & S! I thought a wander around somewhere nice and having a nice lunch might cheer me up! It doesn’t. Although this area does have some branded shops it’s still Delhi and I get hassled constantly by guys asking where I’m going, telling me I’m going the wrong way, how they can determine this I have no idea 🤷‍♀️ Asking where I’m from, would I like to visit some random market, would I like to see their uncles shop, can they get a picture. 🤯 I’m a little bit over it all tbh. 

I eventually find a decent cafe, grab a well needed Lemon, ginger, honey tea and take a breather. I decide to go out again and give it another try, I know there is a pharmacy somewhere nearby and I need some vitamin C. But once again I get hassled straight away. I give up and grab a Tuk Tuk and after much discussion and showing the driver the hotel name and address in English and Hindi he says he’s good. Only he isn’t really and I end up using my google maps to direct him, he then tried to charge me more than agreed, irritating! 

I find a pharmacy near the hotel, grab the vitamin C and return to the calm of my hotel room. ☺️

I have dinner in the hotel again and prepare for an earlyish pick up in the morning to go on my Tiger Tour. 

I booked this Tiger Tour back in November, booked and paid I might add. 

I booked through a company called TourRadar, whom I’ve used before and they have been great. The Tour was outsourced to a company Called Fragrance of Taj. They had messaged me a couple of times, but over the last few weeks have been very poor at returning messages or providing the information I have asked for, things like timings, what to expect, etc. 

still, they had good online reviews so I was hopeful that all would be well.

The driver, Shubha arrived on time, so a good start. The car was nice and comfortable. Off we went. It’s supposed to be a 5 hour drive to Jim Corbett National Park from Delhi. But it took us 61/2! 😳

The car is a semi hybrid which clearly has the tank capacity of a moped, as we stopped 3 times for fuel! On 2 of these occasions it took nearly 1/2 an hour to get the fuel, then Shubha said he needed to stop for a rest, then we had a loo break, then more fuel! By which time I was tired, snotty, thirsty and hungry. 

We arrived at the hotel around 4pm, I grabbed a Masala Chai which thankfully came with biscuits 🍪😍 Then had a mooch around. 

The hotel is very nice, quiet, clean with a restaurant and even a lovely looking pool. 

By this point I had messaged with Sanjeev from Fragrance of Taj numerous times asking about timings for the Safari the next day. I then called him, he said he would send the information to me, he didn’t. 

I eventually got a brief message about being ready at 5am and that my driver would explain everything.

I went and found Shubha, I asked him what was happening. I had received 2 QR codes for Safaris, one for the morning, one for the afternoon.  Now, bearing in mind I speak no Hindi and Shubha’s  English is ok but not great and Sanjeev was less than forthcoming,  I was finally told that we would leave the hotel at 5.15am. I would do a morning Safari, come back to the hotel by 9ish have breakfast and relax then go out again around lunchtime and do an afternoon safari. This sounded great. 

I duly set my alarm and got up at the crack of sodding dawn, got ready and made my way to reception at 5.10. The hotel and reception were in darkness with nobody around. I waited 5 minutes, then a security guy came along, I called Shubha, he said he would be 5 minutes, nearly 15 minutes later he appeared, now I’m a tad pissed off.  

We get in the car, he then drives like a loon to the safari pick up point. When we arrive, he clearly has no clue what’s happening. He speaks to a couple of people, they’re also not completely sure what’s occurring with my tickets. Eventually someone comes over and explains that I will be doing a morning safari, in a Cantor (a big bus not a jeep) this will start when the bus reaches the gate, some 30 mins away and then finish around 4hrs later. I will then have to wait and do my afternoon safari on another cantor. I won’t be coming back to the hotel for breakfast I will now be out all day!!  WTF. I am not impressed. 

I have come out with a small bottle of water and no food, expecting to be back at the hotel in around 3 – 4 hours! Shubha says no worries there will be water and food. 

My seat on the bus is in the aisle, at the back. It’s cold, I have a wrap and a scarf but it’s still chilly. All the other passengers look set for winter! Sensible. 

The bus is not great, not bad, but not ideal. The guide, who isn’t really a guide, only speaks Hindi. 

We arrive at the gate, load up more passengers and go into the park. 

The park is huge, but the Cantor buses can only use 1 road, due to their size. We travel along the road, through jungle and across lots of big dry river beds, which in Monsoon season would be raging rivers. The sun is starting to come up, but it’s still cold, my feet and legs by this point are freezing 🥶 We spot a few deer and I see my first wild boar. 

There is one other western guy sitting at the front, Ramos from Switzerland, who is very nice. The driver tells me I can sit next to him, this enables me to have a better view. We travel through the park for approximately 2 1/2 hours then arrive at a station/post/ habitat thing where we stop for 30 minutes, there is a place selling tea so I grab a chai, use the rather unpleasant loo then get back on the bus. 

The bus then travels back along the same route, with a slight detour to go closer to the river briefly. 

There isn’t an awful lot of wildlife visible, very few birds, just a few more deer. 

We then arrive back at the gate at around 11.30. I’m hoping I can grab some snacks and more water. No snacks! Ramos takes pity and gives me a small packet of his biscuits. I then hang around and wait for an hour for the next Safari, which is going to be exactly the same as the first, the same route, the same sort of bus just different passengers. I debate giving it a miss, but figure I’m here and I might just see a Tiger! 

The next Safari begins, I’m at the back, but luckily not in the aisle, this bus has a few children, they aren’t thrilled to be sitting on a cold bus for hours 😳😬 and make this known quite vocally! 

We trundle back the same way, seeing the same things, I am trying to be positive and hopeful that we’ll see something amazing, we don’t. 

We have a break and return the same way, again with a short detour where we see some fish eagles. 

Just as we are crossing the last dry river bed 5 minutes before the tour ends, the woman in front of me shouts ‘Tiger’ I’m trying to see where she is pointing,  but everyone has jumped up and are also trying to see, there is a lot of noise and commotion, I’m  desperately trying to see where she is pointing, but then the moment is gone, the Tiger has disappeared back into the jungle and that’s it!! Done. 

We drive back to the town where I picked up the bus, I’m offloaded and it’s all over. 

I’m cold, tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty, dusty and a tad pissed off. 

This wasn’t the experience I had booked and paid for. 

I feel that Sanjeev has messed up the booking or forgotten about it till the last minute then cobbled something together. The driver confirms he was booked only a few days ago as was the hotel. 

There was supposed to be a trip to a museum and waterfalls, lunch, breakfast a Jeep Safari. I got none of this. I feel very frustrated and cross. I have emailed TourRadar I also sent Sanjeev a message, he’s very apologetic but is blaming the park authorities for the mistakes, which is bullshit. 

I have some food, a cup of tea a hot shower and go to bed. 😩

I wake up having had a decent nights sleep. I had confirmed with Shubha the night before that we would leave at 8.15 to go back to Delhi. 

I get a Good Morning message from Shubha at 6.30, I reply. 

I get up pack my stuff, grab a cup of Chai then go the front of the hotel at 8.15. No Shubha, I wait 5 minutes, send a message, he messages me back ‘Wait 5 minutes’ Really? Again? 

He pitches up 15 minutes later. No apology, no hello, in fact nothing, total silence. I feel an overwhelming urge to throat punch him!! I don’t, obviously, although it would have made me feel better. 😂

We drive back to Delhi in silence, he drives alternately like Lewis Hamilton then like a 90 year old blind person without an accelerator 😱🫣🙄🤦‍♀️ 

It’s safe to say The Tiger Tour has not been quite the experience I had hoped for!! 

I relax when I get back to the oasis of calm that is The Colonels Retreat Hotel. It’s so lovely, it’s where I stayed on my arrival in India. 

I make my way to the shady, flower filled rooftop, the guys bring me a delicious pot of Masala Chai and some homemade banana loaf and peace returns. ☺️

I spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on my blog, checking emails, organising onward travel plans and then have a very tasty dinner and sleep. 💤 

After a delicious breakfast back on the rooftop I am going to be heading to my next and final hotel here in India. I am spending it at an airport hotel, not ideal but practical for my morning flight, I don’t want to be battling through Delhi traffic in the early hours, that would be too stressful. 

I grab a taxi and make my way to Areocity and my last Delhi hotel. 

What can I say, the place is a complete shit hole. It bears absolutely no resemblance to the photos online, the room is not great, the nice restaurant does not exist at all instead they show me an eating place in the basement that is rank, dirty, smelly and full of flies! I am beyond pissed off. The guy at reception keeps asking me for payment, I’m not giving him shit. I confront him and ask why the hotel is nothing like the the hotel advertising, he can’t answer. Then more men appear from somewhere, all just standing around listening to me get more irate. Then some big bloke appears, he seems to be the owner, again I ask what the hell is going on, he says there is a restaurant, I explain that I wouldn’t call that a restaurant and it is nothing like the picture on their booking.com site, he says that the restaurant is in a different hotel, not really very fucking helpful. We have an ongoing argument, then he agrees to move me to another hotel, which he promises has a restaurant. (Tbh,mits nothing to do with the restaurant, it’s the fact they have outright lied!) By now there is myself and about 6 men all crowded into the small reception area, a tad intimidating. 

I go back to the room get my stuff and try to find an alternative hotel, but short of paying £150 for a Holiday Inn or a Radisson, the rest are much the same. I go to the owners new hotel, it’s probably worse, if that’s possible. I agree to stay, then take myself off for a short stroll along the chock a block 3 lane highway that’s directly in front of the hotel, no path. I find a big Radisson Blu Hotel 5 minutes away and shelter there for the rest of the afternoon/evening before returning to my hovel, barricade the door and try to sleep. I don’t sleep, too much noise, men shouting, lots of people going past my room! 

I’m up and left by 5am. I’m happy to be at the airport and on my way to Thailand. 

A rather unfortunate and unpleasant end to my time in India. ☹️

I will need some time to absorb and reflect on all of my experiences of India. It is a country like no other I’ve visited. 

Apologies for the miserable tone of this blog! But it’s not always sunshine and samosa’s! 

I will leave it there. 

Next stop Thailand. 🇹🇭 

Have a great week. 

🩷💜❤️💚🧡

Books read.

The Great Alone. Kristin Hannah. Other great story from this author. I really enjoyed her books. 

The Midnight Hour. Eve Chase.  A reasonable read, nothing remarkable.