Paisa Vasool European Discovery with Raj Travels
When I first saw the screaming ads of Raj Travels tomtomming Rs.99, 000 only for a 16 days tour titled European Discovery I read it more out of curiosity. How could it ever be possible I wondered, as I saw their detailed itinerary – it was just too good to be true!
My family of three enrolled for the tour and it was amazing. A day’s stop at Abu Dhabi both ways for filling your shopping bags with electronic gizmos courtesy the Rs.25, 000 per head generosity doled out by the Indian customs department was like the icing on the cake!
And what followed was just unbelievable – local sightseeing and a day’s stop in London, by ferry to Paris where tickets for going upto the third floor of the majestic Eiffel Tower, were paid for by Raj, then on to Geneva by road and the lovely Villars and beautiful Interlaken in Switzerland. While there, a trip to Mount Titlis by cable car (ticket costs borne by Raj), Bern and then on to Italy to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and spending the night at Florence.
Rome, a visit to the majestic Vatican City Square, Mestre, Venice ( where the gondola cost was at our own cost for a change), Innsbruck, Munster and into Holland via Amsterdam to Rotterdam from where we entered mini-Amsterdam at Madurodam(ticket costs by Raj!). And then we drove into Brussels to see the Mannekin Pis (the famous statue of the little boy peeing!!) and buy the famous chocolates .
Whoosh! That was the end of our European sojourn, what a journey!Europe is a bloody expensive place – imagine at one place each one of us in the group had to shell out one Euro that is Rs.56, to visit the loo! The rest of the places charged us half that amount – small mercies!!
So from Brussels it was back to Abu Dhabi for a full day’s shopping and then to Mumbai, home sweet home.
How does Raj manage I wondered.Imaging around Rs.21, 000 would be going for the airfare, Rs.9, 000 for the visas – so in just Rs.69, 000 to take us all over Europe even if its by road, was no easy task. The answer lies in the fact that Raj has cleverly positioned a battery of Indian cooks who provide most of the meals. But for non-vegetarians this tour is a no-no as the menu is all vegetarian.Only in certain hotels which provided breakfast the non-vegetarians could have a hearty breakfast.
Thank you Raj for giving us a flavour of Europe for just Rs.99, 000 all inclusive! We had a great time.