John and Susan Hutson

We had a really marvellous holiday in India and are really pleased with your excellent services. The trekking and camping in Namdafa national park probably was the highlight of the holiday. Just to see the jungle vegetation, the gibbons and the hornbills was very exciting. We took two cooks, 10 bearers two chickens and two guides with us – just so we could experience it. There were so many different trees, fruits, birds and butterflies.

We particularly enjoyed seeing Mishmi and Kumti villages and we were able to talk to people and go into several of their bamboo houses on stilts. We were impressed that so many of these isolated places had electricity and schools. The huge Bhramaputra river with its many ferry crossings were memorable – especially after three days of rain!

The visit to Majuli Island with its monasteries, wetlands with so many birds, and villages along the raised dykes as well as all the temples and historic sites of the Ahom dynasty were all really interesting. It was such an experience to go so much off the beaten track – which we certainly could not have done on our own. At Kaziranga national park we were more on the tourist route. We saw a lot of rhinos, very close, masses of birds and were incredibly lucky to see a tiger and watch it for 20 minutes. The hotels and the heritage houses were very welcome after the camping - especially the tranquil Chang bungalow in the middle of its tea gardens.

We enjoyed our two stays in Kolkata. The Kenilworth Hotel was a good choice with excellent food and a good position close to, but far enough away from the centre. Just to walk along the streets was an experience for us and it was something one felt comfortable doing there - crossing the road was a very different matter!Above all we would like to praise the services of our guide from Purvi Discovery, Uday Swargiary. He was knowledgeable about social issues, local culture, history, birds and plants as well as being very sensitive to our needs. For example he was very good when we were ill and patient with our waning physical abilities! He went out of his way to co-ordinate what was not always an easy itinerary and, at the same time, to tailor the trip to our particular interests. For example, when he saw that Sue was interested in textiles, he found us women weavers to talk to in the villages and took us to weaving workshops in different places. He was always efficient and also a pleasure to be with.

We would also like to commend our driver, Bobby. Together, they made a good team and ands that was really important to our enjoyment of the trip. In Kolkata, Amit from the local agency was always there to meet us and take us to the airport. He also was very helpful and pleasant and provided a good guide and driver to show us around Kolkata.

We possibly should have had a car and driver on our ‘free’ day in Kolkata as it was quite an adventure getting to and from the Botanic Gardens by taxi- but then we would have missed out on the challenge!The format of car, driver and general guide with speciaist guides taken on for specific sites worked very well. The mix of camping, staying in reconstructed local houses on ‘camp’ sites, heritage guest houses and modern hotels was also good. We did not quite know what to expect in terms of having a car, driver, guide etc., but it all worked really well and we would not hesitate to recommend Indus Tours to our friends. You have enabled us to have what is probably the best holiday of our lives.

Yours,

John and Susan Hutson

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