From: Franz Christen
To:Shweta Seth'
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 5:07 AM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Compass India!!!

Hi Ms. Shweta,
Thanks for your mail. Nice to hear from you. The whole arrangement from the pick up at the airport until the drop off at the airport was perfect! Nice driver and very good tour guides. At arrival and check out from the Hotel was always one of your representatives looking if everything was OK. Really a perfect organization and we have plenty of nice memories from India!

We definitely will come again and of course by then shall get in touch with you.

With kind regards
Franz Christen

simply worldwide


From:Howie & Paula Myers
To: shweta_compasstours@hotmail.com
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 7:34 AM
Subject: letter

Dear Shweta,
The trip was fabulous! Getting to experience India first hand was a trip of a lifetime. There were too many highlights to mention them all. Thank you for making it happen.

Our driver Joshi and his assistant Bhoopi were exceptional. Joshi learned quickly what things we wanted to see in addition to the normal tourist attractions. He would initiate many side trips and events. He would take us walking through small villages, stopping at weddings on the roadside, visiting local farmers, meeting village families and being invited into their homes, and touring local schools. These were among the best things we did during the 32 days in India. During these visits no one was trying to sell us anything. No one was holding out their hand wanting to be paid or tipped. We loved this. Much different than visiting a dhurrie rug factory, or a textile shop, or an inlaid marble store where the guide was looking for his commission and the craftsman wanted us to buy his expensive product. This was even better than seeing the forts and temples. Not that it wasn't interesting, but nowhere near as fascinating as seeing how real people live and not the people that sell things to foreign tourists. (Just as an aside, you should warn American/European tourists that driving in India is not for the faint of heart. Every day they will face many dangerous situations on the roads in India. Driving in America is quite different - no cows, no goats, no ox-carts, no tractors, no camel-carts, no tuktuks moving at 15 km/hr, etc. and tourists should probably be warned.)

The hotels were excellent value. They were all clean and well maintained. With only two exceptions they more than met our expectations. The hotel in Varanasi - Palace on Ganges - very importantly on the Ganges - but our room didn't even have a window! Ouch and the hotel in Pushkar. Some were spectacular like the Deogarh Mahal and the Samode Palace.

The details for the trip were well taken care of. The guides were always waiting for us at our hotels. They spoke excellent English and were informative, intelligent, and knowledgeable about the sites. The hotel reservations were almost always in order and the hotel was aware of our needs with only a couple of minor exceptions. We of course needed two rooms, one for us and one for my sister-in-law and her husband - the Zebelmans.

If I were to take this trip again I would suggest several changes. There was too much driving. We drove approximately 4100 kilometers in 28 days. I would recommend that there be several rest days - like staying at Deogarh and Samode in order to sit by the pool and relax. I would also suggest that we would spend 2 weeks less in Rajasthan. One doesn't need to see every fort and palace. Perhaps take the train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer and then back to Delhi to save some 4 solid days of driving. Too much time in the van - Tempo Traveler. But the money to take a van instead of a car was money well spent. To be able to spread out in the van was very important in terms of comfort. The two weeks removed from our trip in Rajasthan could have been spent as one week in Kerala and one week in the mountains perhaps Darjeeling . This would add to the expense of the trip, with two more flights, but would greatly change the scenery and we would have experienced more varied parts of the country.

Again, Thank you for an amazing trip. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Compass Tours to anyone thinking of traveling in India. Five Stars to Compass.

Howie
Howard & Paula Myers


From:Ishay Govender
To: anchal@compassindiainc.com
Sent:Thursday, September 18, 2008 8:33 PM
Subject: Feedback of the tour

Hello Anchal!!
This mail is so long overdue

. I feel terrible as were meant to mail you with our feedback long before our wedding in May (you will not remember, but we came to India specifically to shop for the wedding), but it has been crazy hectic since.

Excuses aside, this is a summary of our experience:'

"One of the best travel choices we have made by far was to opt for the Indian based operator Compass Tours. It was initially a risk we took, to pick an operator outside our own country, but it was so well worth it! The representatives and guides were attentive, punctual, ever so obliging and knowledgeable. Compass made our luxury tour of the sub-continent a truly memorable one, with their painstaking attention to detail and enjoyable tours. Our anniversary in Cochin was made so special by the wonderful folk who took us on a private Harbour cruise with especially prepared Kerala delights- sublime, and we won't forget it! Our trip in Feb 2008 coincided two months before our wedding, and as we were having a Hindu ceremony in South Africa, we had planned the trip around shopping for the event. Spoilt for choice, we were like kids in the proverbial candy store. From Amritsar to Bangalore and back to Bollywood city, Mumbai, our guides escorted us to wonderful stores brimming with the brightest, shiniest things. Overall, the standard of accommodation, planned tours and explanations we received at the historical sites and monuments were superb. Can't wait to return to Mother India. We definitely recommend Compass Tours."

On a separate note, and as our experience in India showed us that the general attitude was one of "help our fellow brothers and sisters".

Best wishes
Ishay and Jelle


Country – UK Date -30 Aug 2010
Sarah and Keith Hancock
Dear Shweta,
We have already said how much we enjoyed our trip, and this is our belated attempt at an overview of this super holiday in terms of organisation, people and places.

Arrival and Delhi (1) 24 April
Successfully and promptly met, firstly by Simrun and then by Shish Ram, both of whom provided a great smiling welcome. The change in hotel, which surprised us at first, turned out to be just fine. We were impressed by the concern and phone calls making sure we were content, and even more impressed by you and Saurabh taking the trouble to meet us at lunch time and talk us through the itinerary. Ravi enabled us to see a lot of Delhi in a single day, providing good information all the way round.

Departure and trip to Shimla 25 April
Early start and again, Simrun’s smiling face, helping to secure our luggage to leave at hotel and delivering us all the way to our seats on the train. Efficiently met at Chandigarh, and great drive to Shimla – we thought him a very safe driver. Excellent choice of lunch stop in Dharamapur and lots of information on the way about what we were passing through. Dropped off in car park and found our way to hotel where Ashok joined us – perhaps would have been useful if could have met us at the car. Ashok talked us through following day’s itinerary and suggested a reduced programme, taking out the longer drives away from the town. Ashok did not want to start guiding until 10.00 – we had suggested 09.00 so we agreed on 09.30 – 10.00!

We were initially disappointed by Clarkes hotel, as it was neither classic heritage nor Oberoi standard and not a very warm welcome. However, we cheered up immensely once we got to know the rest of the staff (particularly restaurant and Rishan Chandra), and had great food and great service. By the end of our stay, they were helping to teach us Hindi and writing Sanskrit for us!

Although I think you do not recommend a restaurant in Shimla, we had an excellent meal in the Asiana, on the Ridge with great views and a lot to watch in the square below us. (The provision of a map of Shimla would be really helpful as the one from the tourist office is really not very good!)

Shimla 26 April
Spent the day in Shimla, and did not include the zoo and cricket pitch, as Ashok did not think these were worth the drive. Instead we toured the town, and Ashok clearly wanted to include everything before leaving us at lunchtime, but we needed to stop and insisted on a break. He was the least willing of all our guides to spend a full day showing us things.

Shimla to Delhi 27 April
What a trip!!! Safely delivered to the train. We were in pretty basis accommodation, which did not matter because we had a great time with the other passengers (most Indian, two German) and the carriage was not full, allowing us to move from one side to the other, swapping seats with others, to enjoy the breathtaking views. Had the carriage been full, it would have been a squash. We saw, passing in the opposite direction, two superior levels of train accommodation – one even had big freestanding armchairs. We think the timing of our trip made using these trains impractical, but it would be worth exploring ways of doing this, even by changing the itinerary as the carriages looked so special.

However, the trip was amazing. Quoting directly from Sarah’s notes of the day “Wow! We didn’t stop craning our necks and taking photos. Ignored all Compass instructions to ‘not get along’ with passengers and stay locked to luggage. At each station Keith got out, and I did sometimes – bags left on seat……Unmissable trip – to go to Shimla and not do it would be to miss the best bit!” Perhaps this reflects the British/Western love of train journeys. Our small airline carry-on suitcase was too big to go on the luggage rack, and again it might be useful to suggest to your clients that they take soft bags?

Delhi 2 to Udaipur 28 April
Tiron (?), the driver, was brilliant! He knew exactly where to take us to buy guide books, charging unit and camera memory cards, and looked after us so well. Germans on the train had strongly recommended the Folk museum. Tiron seemed less impressed, and he was right!

En route to the airport, Simrun listened to Keith talking about the better class accommodation in the trains – he was so keen to understand and answer all our queries.

Delighted to be met by Compass rep and Shish Ram. Delivered to the Fateh Prakash and offered a choice of rooms. Another WOW! What a stunning hotel. We can understand why people would want to stay at the Lake Palace, but we are really glad we didn’t. For many people, the history, the atmosphere, the building, the staff, the views, everything about Fateh Prakash, would be preferable to the formulaic delivery of the Lake Palace. Another high spot of our holiday!

Udaipur 29 April
Surendra – almost our favourite. What a lovely gentleman! He seemed so delighted that we had so many questions to ask and so keen to learn about his country and his heritage. His English was excellent, as was his sense of humour. We would want all our friends to have him as their Udaipur guide. A wonderful day’s tour and Surendra gave us such an insight into Indian culture. At Keith’s request, Surendra managed to fit in an extra trip to see the Maharana’s classic cars. Again, nothing was too much trouble.

Udaipur to Jodphur via Ranakpur 30 April
Nice guide at Ranakpur temples, everything well organised. Hotel and Compass representative absolutely fine – location of hotel not particularly interesting, but very airy and lovely quality. Arrived too late for planned evening visit.

Jodphur 1 May
Met Raghu. By a small margin our best guide. Intelligent, fascinating, articulate and very open – made it easy for us to ask many questions. (Despite bad stomachs, he had so much of interest to tell us, that we almost forgot how we were feeling. But we didn’t do him justice!)
Trip to the Bishnoi villages was excellent – miles better than anticipated. Fascinating, informative, and very funny, especially thanks to Ragu, Shish Ram, the farmer, the potter and Keith. Shish and Ragu decided to use our vehicle not a jeep, because it was so hot – good decision. Wonderful market trip.

Jodphur to Jaipur 2 May
Met Compass rep who took us to an orphanage to deliver our pens, pencils etc. Very moving experience – we would like to help.

Shapura House Hotel fine – pleasant pool, very good terraced restaurant with orchestra, dancers and puppet show.

Jaipur 3 May
Guide Paric good, but not outstanding, like Raghu and Surendra. (By this time our expectations were very high!) He chose a very good lunch venue. Thank you for the dinner you organised. The music and dancing were good, but less fun than the terrace of Shapura House, perhaps because the restaurant was virtually empty.

Jaipur/Agra via Fatepur Sikri 4 May
Agra hotel great. We had decided to see the Taj that evening from the other side of the Yamuna. Shish had one opinion on how long it would take, Compass rep over-ruled him and shortened the time – as a result we were too late for the sunset. As usual, Shish was right! He is a wise man. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our first glimpse of the Taj and the Agra fort.

Taj and Delhi 5 May
Good timing for Taj visit, and our guide (Sunny?) knew just the right places to take photographs. Efficient guide who explained what we were seeing and got us to the right place at the right time. Simrun met us and, with Shish, helped us to shop for extra luggage for our shopping. from Rajasthan!

Delhi to Bandhavgarh 6 – 7 May
Good drive; driver spoke little English but was attentive and a very good driver. Lovely lodge and pool. Manager, Mr Manish, and staff delightful – chef wanted to ensure the food was to our taste and spoke very good English. Our safari guide, Syd, was initially unsuccessful in tracking the tiger, but tried really hard at the end of the tour, giving us the finest sighting that anyone could have of a lioness and three cubs. Again, he was informative both about the game and about Indian life, including inviting us to tea at his family home.

Bandhavgarh to Kanha 8 – 9 May
On arrival advised that we had been upgraded to the executive accommodation, largely due to the main area being absolutely full. Mr B (?) (friend of Mr Manish and sadly we have mislaid his name) subsequently said that we would prefer to be more quiet than in the busy main area, where there were many children. Accommodation excellent (an understatement) and catering/staff/lectures from the resident expert (Doctor? again our notes are lacking!) all very good. Much wild life and good tiger sighting.

Kanha to Delhi (4) 10 May
Simran, as ever, smiling and welcoming as we arrived late, and left early the next morning, tired but elated. The end of a most brilliant trip.

Our overwhelming memories are of the humour, wisdom, kindness and companionship of Shish Ram, who appeared every morning early, in his spotless, freshly laundered uniform. He clearly listens to the guides when they are in the vehicle with him, and has learnt so much, which he gladly shares with his clients when there is no guide. We could, and did, ask him anything. Even when it meant an even later night, before an early start, nothing was too much trouble. We can’t think of any which in which he could have been better.

Speaking of people who don’t seem to need any sleep, Simrun also did a great job, always friendly, always smiling, always helpful.

Of the collection of high quality tour guides, two are outstanding, Raghu and Surendra. Shish Ram and Simrun were outstanding.

We have already recommended Compass India to several of our friends, and will continue to do so, without reservation. If you have any potential clients who would like a reference for you, both of us would be happy to speak to them. Keith’s email address is as above, as is Sarah’s.

Shweta, if you have free time at a weekend and would like to visit Hampshire, we would be delighted to see you. We hope all is going well for you and the company.