We travelled through India with Rattan in December, after a visit to Nepal. We visited Amritsar and Rajasthan on our own. We concluded our trip in Mumbai. It was quite a shift for Petra; going from Nepal to India. But thanks to Rattan’s support, all troubles changed in enthusiasm and praise in just a matter of days. We liked to drink tea in local stands by the road, which went perfectly after a few days.
Rattan is a capable driver in the chaotic Indian traffic. He is friendly, helpful, and concerned. We walked home from a temple on the second day, while Rattan followed us in his car. We told him that we were accountable for our own wellbeing in India, if we went out by ourselves.
Rattan noticed quickly that we wanted our own space when visiting cities and towns, with the safety of having his phone number in our pocket. His motto was: if you are enjoying yourselves, then I’m fine with that.
We heard some negative stories about drivers from other travellers, so we were lucky to have Rattan! We had complete liberty in making decisions about which hotels to stay in and which places to visit. We valued Rattan’s knowledge about India, and we had a lot of laughs and discussions in the car. Rattan even arranged our train tickets to Amritsar, and he was full of praise about Rob.
We met Rattan’s family on our last day in India. His wife takes care of the entire household, and raises the children. Petra and I acquired a lot of respect for Rattan and his wife, and we really enjoyed the hospitality that evening.
Rattan will probably be contacted again if we ever go back to India, and we already recommended him to friends and acquaintances.
We enjoyed all places we went to, but our advice is to skip Pushkar, and to go see Amritsar with it’s Golden Temple. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously in the three weeks that we stayed in India.
