My overall experience of the trip, starting w...

India | Oct 23 - Oct 31, 2026

My overall experience of the trip, starting with planning it, was wonderful. Rajat, with infinite patience, organised my sentimental journey to India down to the smallest details according to my admittedly demanding expectations ('demanding' in the sense of the number of things that had to be squeezed into the seven-days long time frame, and the distances involved). From the exit to the city at Indira Gandhi Airport on 23.10 to the passing of the boarding gate in the opposite direction on 31.10 guides and drivers were always there together with their spacious, comfortable Toyotas. I saw and tasted everything I had looked for, and more, even though – as I had been warned beforehand – Delhi has changed past recognition: only historical monuments, including Lutyens' New Delhi, are what they were sixty and fifty-five years ago (but not their surroundings: e.g. what they've done to our then favourite spot, the Hauz Khas, is a crime).

My warmest thanks go in the first place to those who escorted me the longest: Narendra, wonderful both as a driver and as a companion, especially during our five-hours long voyage from Agra to Lucknow, and Hemant, an exemplary guide, knowledgeable, helpful and tactfully enduring idiosyncrasies of his know-it-all charge; but so were Piyush in Lucknow and Bhati in Udaipur/Chittorgarh. I was less satisfied with Hemant’s substitute during my second day in Delhi, who apparently did not know all the particulars of my excursion. The trouble with the guide who took over from Hemant during the second day in Agra was of different nature: he was doing his very best, but, though normally I have no problem whatsoever with the Indian pronunciation of English, I understood very little of what he was saying and vice versa, which led to some misunderstandings.

The hotels in Delhi (the first three days) and Lucknow were exactly as I had specified – decent rooms with decent baths, no luxuries – with those in Agra and Udaipur above the specification, especially the former. The only one below was the Taurus Sarovar Portico Hotel in Delhi: poor service, thanks to which I never had my Goodbye India dinner, and musky smell in my room which made sleep all but impossible.

Apart from these slight hiccups the trip was a great experience, a tribute to the professionalism of the KimKim team. I was especially touched by the way you handled my skipping the planned lunch at Karim’s in Old Delhi. I skipped it as a well-known tourist trap to avoid another disappointment after the disastrous culinary experiences in other celebrated places, including my once favourite original Moti Mahal, the day before, and considered the matter closed: it was my conscious decision, even though while making it I was not aware that the meal was to be paid by KimKim, not me (the guide in my opinion was not aware of it either). Lo and behold: on our way to Agra I learn that you decided to stand me another in a place of my choice. The best of it all was that the lunch we had at a place near Fatehpur Sikri, recommended by Hemant, was one of the best meals I had during the whole trip. Thank you!

Sticking to the culinary matters – after all, it was this aspect that first drew my attention to KimKim – apart from the heavenly biryani in Lucknow, I had the tastiest meals off the beaten paths. Apart from that place near Fatehpur Sikri, I think especially of the New Minar restaurant in the Greater Kailash area in Delhi close to my hotel and the vegetarian restaurant in Chittorgarh recommended by Bhati (a great surprise to the staunch carnivore I am).