Our Long Awaited Family Holiday in India
For the last three years our family of five has forgone a yearly summer holiday.
We have been saving for an ultimate family holiday to India.
India has fascinated me and my husband for years ever since a good friend of ours left Brighton to live in Delhi with the girl of his dreams.
At the time we couldn't understand leaving a wealthy western country for a 'backwards, smelly and poor' life in Asia but as his tales reached us of a country full of colour our mind were changed.
And so finally in December 2011 our small family headed off on our India holiday.
Travelling with a tour company we were headed first to Delhi, on to Agra then by train to Kathgodam.
From here we would drive to the Himalayan foothills to climb Naina Peak and then take a visit to Corbett National Park, to track tigers.
The last few days were to be spent camping along the banks for the Ganges before heading back to Delhi to fly home.
We were all very excited, especially my 13 year old, Jessica.
She was the only one of her classmates to be going away at Christmas and her teacher had lent her a book on India.
For two weeks she read out facts from this book as we journey across the country - our own little guide.
Delhi was exactly as I imagined only better.
Busy, noisy, smelly and full of contrasts.
In our lovely hotels we felt like royalty but extreme poverty was always at the gates and it took a few days to grow accustomed to sights of one legged men and thin sickly children.
Despite the poverty, however, the magic of Delhi shines bright and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering the narrow streets of Old Delhi, visiting the Jami Masjid, the largest Mosque and listening to our local Guide.
We never felt unwelcome and in fact the Indian people were some of the friendliest I've ever met.
In terms of a family holiday, it was at Corbett National Park that I really felt us all bond.
We took a jeep into the park along winding roads towards the Gangetic plain.
Corbett is the first national park to be established in India and is home to wild elephants, sambar, and deer and of course, tigers.
On our second day at the park we were taken on a walking safari with experienced park rangers.
The children huddled together and kept catching my sleeve as they spotted elephants hiding in the trees and monkeys.
It was the appearance of a tigress in the distance though that had us all squealing with delight.
My normally moody, monosyllabic 15 year old son even forgot himself for a moment, shouted 'oh my god this is the best holiday' and hugged me.
There is something very humbling about standing so close to these dangerous but majestic animals and the whole family was in awe.
The whole trip only lasted two weeks but we saw more than we ever thought possible.
The girls loved jumping in a rickshaw and heading out to explore with our Guide, my son has developed a new love of tigers and my husband and I has a magical moment alone outside the Taj Mahal.
I especially enjoyed our Himalayan walks and watching the children dipping their toes in the River Ganges and playing games on Rishikesh beach.
My teens almost forgot they are meant to act like young adults for awhile and went back to being what they actually are: children.
The sights and sounds of India are forever imprinted on our hearts.
Immaculately dressed schoolchildren making their way through the rubbish and dust, beautiful women in their rainbow saris carrying water jugs upon their heads and the chaos of Delhi are things I will always remember and the children are already asking when we are going back.
We have been saving for an ultimate family holiday to India.
India has fascinated me and my husband for years ever since a good friend of ours left Brighton to live in Delhi with the girl of his dreams.
At the time we couldn't understand leaving a wealthy western country for a 'backwards, smelly and poor' life in Asia but as his tales reached us of a country full of colour our mind were changed.
And so finally in December 2011 our small family headed off on our India holiday.
Travelling with a tour company we were headed first to Delhi, on to Agra then by train to Kathgodam.
From here we would drive to the Himalayan foothills to climb Naina Peak and then take a visit to Corbett National Park, to track tigers.
The last few days were to be spent camping along the banks for the Ganges before heading back to Delhi to fly home.
We were all very excited, especially my 13 year old, Jessica.
She was the only one of her classmates to be going away at Christmas and her teacher had lent her a book on India.
For two weeks she read out facts from this book as we journey across the country - our own little guide.
Delhi was exactly as I imagined only better.
Busy, noisy, smelly and full of contrasts.
In our lovely hotels we felt like royalty but extreme poverty was always at the gates and it took a few days to grow accustomed to sights of one legged men and thin sickly children.
Despite the poverty, however, the magic of Delhi shines bright and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering the narrow streets of Old Delhi, visiting the Jami Masjid, the largest Mosque and listening to our local Guide.
We never felt unwelcome and in fact the Indian people were some of the friendliest I've ever met.
In terms of a family holiday, it was at Corbett National Park that I really felt us all bond.
We took a jeep into the park along winding roads towards the Gangetic plain.
Corbett is the first national park to be established in India and is home to wild elephants, sambar, and deer and of course, tigers.
On our second day at the park we were taken on a walking safari with experienced park rangers.
The children huddled together and kept catching my sleeve as they spotted elephants hiding in the trees and monkeys.
It was the appearance of a tigress in the distance though that had us all squealing with delight.
My normally moody, monosyllabic 15 year old son even forgot himself for a moment, shouted 'oh my god this is the best holiday' and hugged me.
There is something very humbling about standing so close to these dangerous but majestic animals and the whole family was in awe.
The whole trip only lasted two weeks but we saw more than we ever thought possible.
The girls loved jumping in a rickshaw and heading out to explore with our Guide, my son has developed a new love of tigers and my husband and I has a magical moment alone outside the Taj Mahal.
I especially enjoyed our Himalayan walks and watching the children dipping their toes in the River Ganges and playing games on Rishikesh beach.
My teens almost forgot they are meant to act like young adults for awhile and went back to being what they actually are: children.
The sights and sounds of India are forever imprinted on our hearts.
Immaculately dressed schoolchildren making their way through the rubbish and dust, beautiful women in their rainbow saris carrying water jugs upon their heads and the chaos of Delhi are things I will always remember and the children are already asking when we are going back.
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