Company Name - Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited

Principal Guide - Anil Sinha

Services

• Transportation services

• Private guide services

• Tour planning

The majesty and mystery of India has fascinated people from around the world for generations. But despite the numerous landmarks, friendly people, and unique sites of this ancient land, India attracts fewer foreign visitors each year than many smaller and less interesting nations. Some people feel insecure about navigating their way through the crowded streets and complex culture of India whether on their own or as part of the large group tour. For many reasons, India is best seen and experienced with the help of a professional driver and a private guide.

It is common for first-time visitors to India to begin with a tour of the Golden Triangle, which consists of the capital city of Delhi, the enchanting pink city of Jaipur, and the site of the Taj Mahal in Agra. Fortunately, these places as well as the Rajasthan cities of Udaipur and Jodhpur have offices of Four Wheel Drive India, a transportation and touring company with almost twenty years of experience guiding thousands of English-speaking visitors around India. This family enterprise run by Anil Sinha offers comprehensive services that greatly simplifies the experience for travelers.

Background and Experience

The foundation for the business of Four Wheel Drive India lies in its dedication to safe driving. Mr. Sinha begin his career working for mineral exploration companies in India where he became an expert in safe driving and defensive driving on India's sometimes chaotic roads. Later, he started a car rental service for foreign tourists which grew into a travel company overseeing the guests' entire experience. Now Four Wheel Drive assists customers with planning their itinerary, arranging tours within India, providing an experienced driver, and retaining licensed guides for various locations. In addition to having its drivers certified for safe and defensive driving, the business has been registered with the Government of India since 2005 and has been a member of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India for many years.

Tours, Sites and Activities

Four Wheel Drive offers these services on its Golden Triangle Tour. In addition to seeing the many world heritage sites of those three cities, the company's Rajasthan Tours bring people to the historic forts, palaces, and cultural amenities of other fascinating areas in the region. A boat cruise past the beautiful settings of the Maharana's three palaces on Lake Pichola in Udaipur or a guided tour of the mountain top Mehrangarh Fort and palace in Jodhpur provide guests with stories of the past and memorable experiences. It is no wonder that many of these places are used as exotic settings for movies.

The company also coordinates tours to other regions of the country. The South Indian tour includes not only the famous backwaters of Kerala but the beautiful beaches and colonial buildings of Goa and the surrounding 80-mile coastline. Other tours visit places like Varanasi, one of the world's oldest cities known for its ghats, temples, and historic sites.

The company works with each customer to plan an itinerary and develop plans for some activities and experiences that will be special to them. Four Wheel Drive has arranged for foreign guests to attend an Indian wedding, celebrate important local festivals like Diwali or the Holi Festival of Colors, visit with villagers to experience day to day life in India, or take Indian cooking classes at an employee's home.

Mr. Sinha welcomes guests upon their arrival to go over the itinerary and the company has 24-hour assistance available to address any issues that may arise. He emphasizes that by maintaining a professional team of travel assistants, Four-Wheel Drive offers its clients a different experience than some other tour companies. “We not only have our own trained drivers and our own fleet of vehicles, but we also use a selective network of tour guides in most cities and are able to obtain good rates from the hotels that we work with." The company is proud of the more than 1000 positive reviews it has received on travel websites.

My Family’s Experience

My wife and I have used Four Wheel Drive on two separate occasions to help us coordinate visits to the Golden Triangle, Hyderabad, and the Chennai region of Tamil Nadu. Our experience during the first trip to Rajasthan provides a good illustration of the company’s services. After spending some time in Udaipur on our own, we flew into Jaipur on an airline recommended by Mr. Sinha for a seven-day tour of the Golden Triangle. Our driver for the entire week was a pleasant young man, Mahesh, who met us at the airport and drove us across the city to our hotel where we met with Mr. Sinha to review the plans for the week and finalize the reasonable payment. Everything was well organized. Mahesh would pick us up each day at a prearranged time with an air conditioned and roomy car and then a local guide would join us for most of the scheduled stops in each city.

Three things were noteworthy about the Four Wheel Drive approach. First, we worked with the company to customize our tour and modify the usual itinerary of historic sites, forts, and museums. For example, in Jaipur, one day for lunch we went to the Rambagh Palace, now a heritage hotel run by the Taj hotel chain, where we dined in an elegant room which once hosted Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy. After lunch, rather than walking to the next destination we went for a fun tuk tuk ride through the streets to see the Hawa Mahal building built for the palace harem in 1799. The next night we went to the famous Raj Mandir Cinema in Jaipur known for debuting Bollywood pictures. There, we watched an internationally released picture called Neerja in Hindi after first being served tea and snacks in a private lounge. Similarly, one night in Delhi, we went to new Indian theme park called the Kingdom of Dreams where we had a dinner, walked through an EPCOT type pavilion with displays and shops from each of India’s states, and watched a song and dance show on a large modern stage. By the end of the trip, we were able to visit many more places in the Golden Triangle than the usual group bus tour for an equivalent price.

A second noteworthy feature of using Four Wheel Drive was the knowledge of the guides. All three guides were well educated about the places we visited and the local scene. One morning in Jaipur, the guide and I went for an extended walk through the village beneath the Amer Fort to observe the morning rituals of the townspeople, have coffee, and see some Hindu temples and a lake. In Agra, the guide directed us to a rarely used park to view the Taj Mahal from the opposite side of the Yamuna River. At the Taj Mahal itself, he arranged for a private photographer to accompany us, take many photos of my wife and I around the site, and provide a picture book for a small fee.

Finally, the companion for the week provided by Four Wheel Drive was a skilled and safe driver who always watched the road and kept us out of harm’s way. Despite recent improvements in the highway system and vehicle upgrades in India, the busy highways between cities and the local streets are no place for amateurs. Mahesh told us about the places we were passing, and we enjoyed talking with him about family life and the cultures of our two nations.

Contact information
Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited
asinha@fourwheeldriveindia.com
+91 9829248899 or +91 7742399999
Proficient in English

Notice: The information provided in this profile are true and accurate to the best actual knowledge of The Traveling American. However, my family's experience with the particular guide or company profiled here may not reflect the experience of other travelers using these services. Travelers should rely on their own judgment and information in retaining any guides or drivers mentioned on the website.