High End Luxury Travel By Shiv Raj Singh
Hailing from an army background it was a matter of time if I would join the Forces or Travel. It was latter that I was besotted with. Having extensively travelled the length and breadth of this country and having seen and known its nuances it was time to create an experience and not just a Travel Company. Atithi Voyages was conceived in 1997 with an aim to give travellers a wholesome out of the box experience on Travel and the local flavours.
Shiv Raj Singh
Pic Credit Shiv Raj Singh
When people think of travel they either go online and book via a portal and look for cheap options or they go to the Taj or the Oberoi Hotels for Luxury experience. To be honest none of the options will give you the possibility of really knowing the destination, its local flavours nor give you an off the hand experience of what that city or town is all about. The cheap online options will give you low cost holiday and you come back grinning cause you feel you saved on money and the high end ones Hotels will make you feel rich cause you were served dishes at Rs 3000-5000 for every meal. Basically they are serving you ego and you feel pampered. But you have missed out on the great opportunity of really knowing your destination. A destination is not just about its history and its monuments its about its people, its cuisine, its speciality of fairs and festivals and its amazing Boutique Hotels and Art-Deco Hotels. You need to mix with the locals to know about their culture and rich heritage and diversity. Unfortunately for most of us travel is just about the destination and not about the whole journey to the destination. Most of us would not read up about the destination and merely land up and wait to be served. The truth will only reveal itself so much if you are not inquisitive.
Mihir Garh, Jodhpur
Travel is an art and its very imperative to find someone who is knowledge based. The portals wont answer your in depth questions or give you pointers on local flavours and the essence of the city or town. Even your own curiosity of googling things has its limitations. You need an expert who knows about what you seek and whats hidden. Luxury travel is not about finding expensive Hotels. Its about finding character in Hotels or Camps or Boutique stand alone places. Its very important to take in the local cuisine at a local restaurant of a local home with authentic settings and not merely in a high star strung Hotel. Meet with the local people talk about how the cuisine has been passed down from generations an how its authenticity has been preserved. We have had the opportunity of having flown in Sommeliers for our group of guests in South India to throw in some amazing wine with the local cuisine. Its this experience that shall last longer than a luxury Hotel stay. Its value based and that’s where Atithi Voyages comes in. We bring you the real experience, make you interact with the real locals and do the local stuff be it on the back waters of Kerala or the high mountains peaks in Ladakh. We have served Champagne breakfast and Wine dinners for our guests in remote areas in Ladakh. The solitude and silence is romantic and deafeing at the same time. This is what we seek to serve.
Explore the wild
Pic Credit Shiv Raj Singh
We also specialise in wildlife for Tigers, Leopards and Sloth Bears in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and South India to the Himalayan Snow Leopard in the Ladakh region. So if you wish to have a real experience in wildlife do please reach out. It’s a subject that’s very close to my heart and im blessed to be Travel as that keeps me close to Wildlife. Wildlife itself is an art. Its not about sighting the big cats and taking pictures. Its about the whole experience of sights and sounds and pugmarks. The jungle is always alive its just that we don’t see the signs most of the time. Its about training our senses to be alert and this comes with time and patience and patience here is the key word.
Essentially travel is under two categories. 1 being cultural and 2 being adventure. In the cultural bit where essentially its about visits and experiences we give it a fine mix of light adventure to change the scenery for you. For the adventure seekers we combine a bit of cultural air to change the rhythm a bit. From experiences with Royal families in Rajasthan, central India and Ladakh to Champagne visits of the private quarters of the Royal families we bring in a breath of fresh air and experience. We bring you real culinary delights of the local places with meeting with the locals to better understand the richness and diversity that India has to offer. Most of the time the travellers and agents are just scratching on the surface to fulfil clients desires, where as the real understanding needs more digging and hard work which most agents shy away from. So the next time you plan on a holiday, don’t just travel, be alive and seek. Theres an old Greek saying that to know the value of what you have you must step out and travel out of your comfort zone to know hat you have and cherish it and value what the experience brings to you.
Atithi Voyages serves you for India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. You can reach us at www.atithivoyages.com
