serbcriss

Hi!
So me and 2 friends of mine are flying to Delhi at the beginning of June. We will stay for 6 days and as we never been to India so we are a little skeptical about just hiring drivers on the spot . Can anyone share the contacts of drivers (with which you... of course...had a good experience ) that make the Golden Triangle and that can also come and pick us up at the airport. It would be great that the driver can speak good English an that can be also a guide.
Also if you had nice experiences with drivers in the cities I have mentioned...and you still have the contacts...that would also be great...
Thanks in advance!

RussellJ

We have used the same driver on 2 trips to India and he receives widespread praise from many travellers. I am happy to provide a link to his Trip Advisor listing and phone numbers via private message if you wish to contact him. You may find the Golden Triangle weather pretty hot at the beginning of June but he will be able to provide you with advice.

Keyser

welcome to ft serbcriss....just sent you a pm....

Monking

I have used this driver called Baldev Singh for many years for all my shoots. (I am a TV & News Producer) and many of my team members used him to visit the places you plan to go to. I can speak to him and check his availability if you are interested. Whoever you hire, make sure you don't end up paying a lot. I will tell you how car hires work in India. Let's say you want the car with the driver only in Delhi, then they charge you a flat rate like Rs.2000 per day (varies according to vehicle, which includes travel up to 80 kilometers per day for 8 hours). For every extra kilometer, it is usually Rs.12 to 16. For every extra hour, it is usually Rs.100 to Rs.200 (Insist before that you will only pay Rs.100 for every extra hour)

So now lets say you want to keep the vehicle for 5 days and travel to different cities and states. Here they don't work with the per day model. It is per kilometer model with a minimum number of kilometers per day. Usually again, Rs.12 to Rs.16 with a minimum of 200 or 250 kilometers per day and its accumulative, so for 5 days you have a total of 1,250 kilometers (Doesnt make a difference if you travel only 50 kms first day and 400 kilometers second day and 100 kilometers the third day and so on, as long as it is 1250 in total. Even if you travel less than 1250 kilometers in your 5 days, you still have to pay for the total. Again, extra kilometers will be charged per kilometer. Sometimes while crossing state borders you might have to pay road tax which is again extra. Also the driver charges a per day allowance of Rs.200 or so if traveling out of hiring city. Usually the hotels where you check in to (not big ones) have a sort of dorm for drivers to sleep in, and they charge like 100 rupees or 150 rupees varies) but you are not obligated to provide a room or sleeping arrangements for the driver (it would be nice though and also good for you to make sure he is well rested and happy so just offer to pay the dorm fee).

So these were the approximate rates I paid last year and I haven't been to India since, so they might vary. (I am an Indian but I live in the US now so you can be sure this is "Indian Info" and not "Tourist Info" ;-)

kipperman

Sorry to hijack - but we are doing exactly the same trip in October - Monking Keyser RussellJ would you likewise be able to PM any details you have of drivers?

Would be very grateful.

pratapsingh

You can contact Rajputana Cabs. they offer taxi service in golden triangle region which is Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. And you can check out their reviews at their tripadvisor listing.