Most tours of India travel by traditional means — motor coach, train or air — which may leave travelers feeling as if they’re seeing the local culture from a distance. Geringer Global Travel offers a tour that uses some of the traditional transportation modes but throws in a new twist that you might not associate with India: riding horseback. Horse Safari into Leopard’s Country India is a 14-day/13-night itinerary that spends four days exploring areas of Rajasthan, including a safari by horseback in Bera and Jawai, prime leopard-spotting territory. There’s also riding in the wooded hills of the Aravalli range and through the Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary. Visits to iconic India sites in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur are also on the itinerary, as well as lesser-known areas. Among the highlights are a rickshaw cycle tour in Old Delhi and a cooking demonstration/dinner in Jaipur. The tour is priced from $10,140 per person, double occupancy, with international air extra. Info: 877-255-7438, http://tinyurl.com/jv3mtxb
Save some cash
Lots of price reductions on international tour packages are pretty restrictive, often being limited to just a handful of destinations and dates. Go-Today.com has a special running until the end of July that doesn’t offer gigantic savings — roughly 10 percent — but it allows you to pick from all of the company’s destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, South Pacific and the Middle East. And you can choose your dates and departure cities, though naturally those choices can affect total cost. The nine-night Italian Highlights tour, for instance, is priced from $1,299 per person, double occupancy, which includes air from New York and departures in September. Go earlier or from a different gateway, and the price will increase. Still, it’s nice to get a discount and be able to choose options that work best for you. Promo codes for the special are listed at http://tinyurl.com/j6cdk76.
Beyond first class
Want to see how the other 1 percent lives? Check out the private jet journey across Asia being offered by Frontiers Elegant Journeys. The trip Oct. 9-26 stays only at the tony and very expensive Aman Resorts — eight in total. Countries visited are China, Bhutan, India — including a visit to Ranthambore National Park, famous for its tigers — and Sri Lanka. The trip is limited to just eight couples, who will get from place to place in two Gulfstream G200 twin-engine business jets. Naturally, all touring will be by private car. Of course, you don’t have to be among the 1 percent to do the trip, as long as you can come up with the $63,888 per person price tag. That’s double occupancy, with the single supplement being $23,000 extra. Oh, and you’ll also need to root out that spare change from under the couch cushions to cover your international airfare; http://tinyurl.com/hhyu5zr.
Phil Marty is a freelance reporter.
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