"They who travel with us, speak for us"

From: Nell McInnish <nell.mcinnish@andavotravel.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2018 11:29 AM

Subject: RE: India Trip

Riz - - The trip to India was just perfect:  great accommodations, wonderful guides, special services and attention everywhere.  The people in charge of our adventure - - Parvez in Delhi, the guides in each city, and the driver (Mustafa) between cities made the journey an exceptional experience for us each and every day.  Your company did an outstanding job of working out a perfect itinerary in under two weeks!!!!

India is just a sensory overload!!!  This is my third time in your country and each trip seems better than the last.  I certainly plan to go again if at all possible.  The sounds, sights, tastes and smells are so wonderfully foreign to our American senses.  We loved every minute of our travels through the countryside and in each of the cities we visited.  And, to make for a spectacular day - - -we even got to see the gorgeous tigers at Ranthambhore!!!!

Thanks for all your help in putting this together for us.  Kudos to your team in India!!!

Nell McInnish, Andavo Travel

Dear Exotic Journeys International Group,
Re: Everest Panorama- Trek to Everest Base Camp

Willy was most attentive, accomodating and punctual to our needs.
Vehicles and drivers were excellent.
Kathmandu hotel very good and sightseeing excellent.
Wonderful trek. Good amont of hiking time each day. Spectacular views.
Trekking guide, HIT, was the best. Our porters, Deepa and Ahjun, were excellent, always polite, patience, and very helpful.
Great teamwork made a wonderful trip for us.
Would highly recommend.

Thanks
Natalie Bradford, Diana Paul and Michelle Masuda
Juneau, AK 99801
April 29, 2017

Dear Amber and Sharon,
We are loving the trip! (Sikkim and Bhutan- 15 Days)
Thank you for arranging it. Local tours and guides are fabulous.
Highly recommend this itinerary for clients and friends.
Actually I think going to India before Bhutan is a better itinerary and I am glad that is what we have. 

Best regards 

Selma and Raymond Weisbein
Coral Gables, FL 33143

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 9:23 AM
Sent from my iPhone

On Tuesday, March 21, 2017 2:27 PM, Ellen Premack <xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

Re: Cuba Trip

Usha,
I am writing to tell you that the trip to Cuba was excellent, exciting and top notch.  Thanks to you and Irene for so much planning and accommodating the logistics!  It went off so well that I had to thank you immediately!!!  I do appreciate your hard work and  just want to say thank you, thank you and more thank you!!  You are appreciated!!
Kindly,  Ellen

Sent from my iPhone

On Thursday, September 22, 2016 11:33 AM, Mike McCleskey <ooooooo@earthlink.net> wrote:
(on a tour of Greece and Turkey)

What a day!
The hotel is the Hagia Sophia Hotel (Istanbul). Hagia means “holy” and Sophia means “wisdom of God.”  We are just a few meters from both the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia Mosque. Your guide arranged for us to have a Turkish bath a facility built in 1556 by Sultan Suleiman for his wife. My attendant spoke perfect English and called be “Your Highness.”   Cheryl’s experience was similar in a separate set of rooms. I have been made to feel as a sultan! 

What an afternoon!
Thank you Exotic Journeys for a most memorable experience.

Cheryl and Mike McCleskey
Calabasas, CA 91301

Dear Exotic Journeys International Group:
The country (India) is fabulous...may be the best trip of my life.

David Stern
Annapolis, MD 21403

Dear Raj,
I wanted to thank you for a very well organized trip to India in December 2013. Apart from a glitch at the Udaipur hotel (which was fixed rather quickly), everything went as smoothly as possible. It was a fascinating experience, which was enhanced by the fact that we went "off the beaten track" for a good part of the trip.

On a somewhat related note, I was also wondering if you could help me out with my upcoming trip to India in February. This is a business trip (to Kolkata), but on the way back I would like to spend some time in Varanasi, which was too complicated to do with my family in December.
Thanks.

Alex
--
Dr. Aleksandar I. Zecevic
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA 95053
01.08.2014

Hello Raj and Usha Ahmed,

I want you to know that we had a very exciting trip to India. The hotels were great, really very high end, and the guides and drivers provided us with the ability to see a lot in a very short time. We could not be more pleased with the arrangements.

I want to say again that the guides helped make the trip very informative. They told us about their family life, their wife and their children, and about the politics of government. I definitely would do this trip again and have recommended it to a friend of ours.

I took more than 900 pictures which I have reduced to the best 300, the best 125, the best 35, and the best 5. I will publish a book of pictures with descriptions of what we saw.

Thanks again for making this trip possible.

Regards,
Joel Winett (and Ruth too)
Framingham, Massachusetts, USA

12.23. 2013

Hello all!

It was such a fantastic vacation, we so enjoyed having Usha with us.  You all deserve great praise for a job well done.  Great hotels, new food taste treats and amazing sights to behold.   Thank you so much for this opportunity to travel.

I must add that Raju did an absolutely perfect job with our trip: Departed Feb3, 2013 to Delhi, overnight at the Oberois, then two nights each in Kathmandu, Varanasi and Khajuraho........all great connections, and we were met by local guides at the airports, hotels were very good----and the best food was in Kathmandu---Russian and Continental Cuisine---we had (NOT all at once, of course) Swiss Fondue, smoked salmon, French Onion soup, prosciutto and melon, and Lobster Thermidor at the restaurant attached to the Hotel Yak and Yeti  (seriously, that is the name).  Then we met up with the "rest of the group"----I think Mark and I did fine with some occasionally cranky travelers. 

Many thanks,

Bernice and Mark Scott
Stratford, CT

Raju, thanks for the information, and happy holidays to you as well!‚ .

I actually sent you an e-mail from India, which perhaps you did not see.‚ I must tell you that the trip was absolutely spectacular, and truly the trip of a lifetime.‚ If I could do it over again tomorrow, I would without hesitation.

My guides were excellent, and I especially enjoyed Janesh in Delhi.‚ My driver, Rakesh, was outstanding, and I enjoyed his company.‚ I felt like we were old friends by the end of the trip, and we had tea together before he dropped me at the airport.‚ The hotels, the service, the way everything was coordinated, could not have been any better.‚ Many thanks for a truly wonderful experience.‚ Also, the Oberois were simply indescribable, and I have never had better service at any hotel I have stayed in throughout the world.

I just sent you the e-mail I sent back on November 7th, so you could see my thoughts at the time.

Again, many thanks.

Regards,

Andrew

Andrew Rosenzweig
Scottsdale, AZ 85259

Irene and Alex Shaland, Cleveland, Ohio
editor@globaltravelauthors.com
shaland@sbcglobal.net

Itinerary: Delhi-Varanasi-Khajuraho-Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur-Aurangabad-Cochin-Mumbai
Time frame: 13 days

This note is to express our deepest gratitude to Exotic Journeys and, especially, Mr. Raj: your ability to listen and understand, your professionalism and patience are truly unequal in the industry.

In our lifetime of travel around the world, never was an itinerary so intense in a country so vast was organized so brilliantly. We mentally prepared ourselves to “Indian” time, plane delays, monuments closing - but everything worked as if on a military schedule. I imagined Mr. Raj as a Maharaja of Tours sitting in his Chicago office and directing the winds and rains, plains and trains of India to meet our super-tight schedule. We never lost a minute but gained the universe filled with beauty and smiles, sophistication and uninterrupted thousands-year-old traditions – the civilization of India.

We want to make sure we give our special thanks to Mr. Sandeep Sharma, General Manager of the Heritage Journeys in Delhi, Exotic Journeys’ partner, who –as we felt – became our attentive friend, following our progress throughout the country and making sure that very day was nothing less than perfect.
  
(Irene Shaland is a free-lance art and travel writer)
http://globaltravelauthors.com/

Dear Raju,

Our travel experience with EXOTIC JOURNEYS was EXCELLENT from start to finish.  We had a wonderful time, and your arrangements were all just what we wanted.  Each of our tour guides, and each of our drivers, was great, and each of the agents who met us at the various airports and arranged for the various cities was excellent also.

The trouble with the cancellation of the KINGFISHER AIRLINES flight was, of course far beyond anything that you could affect.  Luckily for us, we were able to arrange an alternate flight, and the very fine work of your local agent was a great help in that regard.  His name was GIREESH.

If we had one criticism, it was that the hotel in VARANASI was not as nice as the others we stayed in -- - however, we did understand how difficult it was for you to arrange a hotel in that city, so it was not a problem.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

With warm regards,

ROBERT BUDNITZ
Berkley, CA 94720

Hi Raju,

Thanks for the great itinerary. All went well in India, and my friends and I enjoyed all the sites. Also, Gian is a wonderful, reliable driver.

Many thanks!
Taylor

Taylor Marcus
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418

Raju,

We're back! We had a wonderful trip! Thank you for all your work involved in making our Egypt experience a memorable one! You have great people in Egypt (but you know that!) who really made us feel welcome, safe and accommodated us at every turn. They too, have really good people working for them in the way of guides and drivers.

We saw and did soooo much more than we ever could have on our own. It was a bit strange for us 'ole seasoned travelers to have someone there at every turn, but considering where we were, it was the only way to go! We could never have done and seen all we did in the time we had without them! Good people!

Both Kristofer and Hanna really enjoyed the trip and they learned a lot. Both of them enjoy history so this was a great "being there" school field trip.

I have lots of pictures! If you need anything please let me know. I'll be sending you some in the near future, once I get "back-in-the-saddle".
I'll give you a call sometime next week. Many thanks from all of us!

We are soon ready to plan for India and Nepal!

Mike, Lena, Kristofer & Hanna

Michael Klondaris
151 South High Street
Warsaw, IN 46580

Raju, a quick note to let you know your agents here have been great. Sweety has been exceptionally great. Her knowledge of history and her knowledge of where to get the best photos has been wonderful.

Dan

Daniel L. Dardanelli
Campbell, CA 95008

Dear Raj,

Got back from Korea yesterday.‚ It was a good trip and everything went smoothly, except for the long layovers in Japan.‚ China Airways really let us down.

James took good care of us.‚ The hotels were good and his guides took us to interesting and delicious places for lunch.‚ The guide we had in Seoul, Sarah Kim, was excellent.‚ And Mr. Hong who had us for four days was especially good. And Ms. Kim who took care of us in the South, was good.

We really enjoyed the couple from Chicago who traveled with us.‚ She, especially, was delightful.

Best,

Ed & Ann Stalcup
Malibu, CA 90265 - 5141

 

Hi Steve,

Marvelous trip!
Perfect organization, all guides, car drivers, etc were always on time, very helpful and very professional. Hotels were top of the line.
I will strongly recommend Exotic Journeys.

Thank you for your help.

Paul.
Steve Kuriga
Travel Specialist/Tour Director
Travel Dynamics Group
7590 Fay Avenue, Suite 204
La Jolla, CA  92037

Hi Raj,

Mr and Mrs Marinelli had a wonderful time in India.
Everything went smoothly and on time. They liked the hotels,guides and the driver. For their next visit I suggested Kerala as next year they  may visit Bangalore.

Thank you very much for planning a wonderful itinerary and all arrangements for  my clients. 

We all like happy and satisfied clients and I thank you for your effort and time.

Regards

Sunita Ruparel

Sunita Travel
Powell, OH 43065

Raj,

We got back from our adventure yesterday evening.

Thanks so much for arranging everything. We could not have been more pleased. Tarek in Egypt took amazing care of us -- complete with lots of little "extras" for us honeymooners like fresh flowers and cakes. He was amazing and we feel that you were, too, setting it all up for us.

Thanks again and I look forward to setting up a trip to India with you in the  next few years.

With gratitude,

Alysa and Alessandro Fabbri"

Hi Raj,

 

Thank you for arranging such a perfect trip.  The Palace on Wheels was a nice way to travel.  The tours were interesting and well organized, each day was better than the preceding day.  Tiger Tops was a good way to end our trip.  We especially enjoyed the elephant safaris.

 

Also, Willie in Katmandu and Eftkhar in Delhi were outstanding in their effeciency and friendliness.  They made us feel welcome .

 

Thanks again

 

Sincerely,

 

Marilyn Fisher
EVA TRAVEL  (part of Travel Experts)
Mt Kisco, NY

Dear Mr. Raj,

 

Thank you once again for the arrangements for our trip to India and Nepal. The journey was really incredible and all of us are very happy that we were able to see all these marvels of India and Nepal. Our daughters were enchanted since it was their first trip to India. I and my wife could enjoy our trip even more than during the first time travel in 2003 since we knew what to expect and in general the accomodations were better then previously (even in the same hotels). Thank you again.

With best regards

Marek Kaminski, M.D.,Ph.D.

Liberal, KS 67901

 

Dear Raj,

Our trip to India, thanks to you and Avinash Anand was a dream. The hotels were great, Kingfisher Airlines is brilliant and we were met and guided everywhere with punctuality, skill and kindness. What a wonderful trip. We hope it will be the first of several.

I am now taking a course in Hinduism at New School University to learn more about this incredible culture. I did buy Indian music in India and am having a wonderful time listening to Zakir Hussain, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Kayhan Kalhor and Shujaat Husain Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Ravi Shankar, of course, among others.

Having dinner with Mr. Anand and Bushra, with some of your extremely interesting friends on the night of Republic Day was a highlight of our trip.  They were so welcoming and so cosmopolitan, and, of course, the food was delicious, and not, as Avinash pointed out, flavored with restaurant type masala.

With warm regards,

Peggy Gold
New York

John and I arrived home from our trip last evening. We had a wonderful time and want to thank you for the excellent services.
I particularly want to single out a few of the executives and drivers for commendation. In Delhi Mr. Khan was very helpful and it was there we met our excellent driver, Sanjay Sharmer (I think that's the way to spell his last name) and his helper, Harry, who became our friends and companions throughout much of the trip. We felt very comfortable with them and they were always available to take us where we needed to go. In Mumbai, the guide, Douglas was really excellent. We were tired and almost wanted to stay in the hotel that day to catch up on our sleep for the long trip home. I'm very glad we didn't because Douglas made our trip. We were also lucky to arrive in Mumbai (at 2:30 am) in time to see some of the Ganesh festival. They were just closing down on their final night.
All the hotel accommodations were of a high caliber and we were quite satisfied.
Once again we thank you.
Sincerely
.......... Jane Andrich

I just wanted to say that I so much enjoyed the trip to India - all the locations were very interesting / hotels were very good. I had to get used to the spicy food but by the end of the trip I really liked it. Our tour guide - don't have the card at work - was so pleasant. My only suggestion is that perhaps you could cut some of the bus rides-instead perhaps fly instead - otherwise loved the trip. I would love to do southern India if you offer that sometime. Thanks again- Air India was very nice.
....Pat Dickey-Los Gatos Travel

Mandy and I really enjoyed the India trip. The itinerary was varied enough to give us a taste of the big city as well as the more rural areas. Some scheduling of the internal flights could be improved but overall the itinerary was well planned. Our favorite Taj hotel was the Taj Mahal. Varanasi was the most amazing place!
We now have a better understanding of your country and will be recommending Exotic Journeys to our clients.
Thanks for your help in arranging such a great Fam Trip.

Barry Holt
Skyline Travel

Thank you for arranging the tour for James and Jonathan Smith on such short notice. They had the best trip.
Many thanks
........Jim Smith

Had an unbelievably wonderful time. I had a great driver Suchandran from Exotic Journeys, every city had great tour guides, the accommodations were lovely especially the Hilton in Jaipur across from the Palace in the Lake, I bought a great rug there. All the hotels gave me great rooms in Agra facing the gardens in Jaipur facing the lake and in Delhi on the executive floor. My guide in Delhi has a son getting married next month in California I brought back his invitations for his wedding on my flight and I'll be attending his wedding. I've never been to an Indian wedding, I'm looking forward to it!

I will definitely recommend your tour to my colleagues and please let me know if your traveling to India on American Airlines I know people who fly it that can make your flight more enjoyable. Thanks again for doing it in such short notice.

..........Leslie Shea

Tina, Just back from India and wanted to say a huge thank you to you and your team for organizing a fab trip! Everything was amazing and I am totally in love with India;not withstanding the poverty of course. Everyone was charming and totally professional, The tour guides were amazing with their attention to detail and knowledge and the driver Suchu was patient and protective over us.  A huge Thank you!

I will of course pass your details to my staff in Edinburgh for anyone else wishing to travel India; hopefully they will organize in plenty of time unlike me!!