Turtlemama - I highly suggest you try to secure Ponheary's services as a tourguide before she is booked! And I think she can help you arrange something very special like this lunch to share with the kids to help commemorate your honeymoon, you won't forget it! I think her contact information is on the plf web site, if not send me a message and I'll give it to you....

claassenam,
What a well written and thoughtful travel experience. Thank you for sharing.

claassenam...we enjoyed reading your entry (we recall your briefly mentioning this in an earlier posting)....you may very well be the winner of this contest!

Good luck with the LL judging......

Thanks for such a touching story, claassenam. I'll be visiting Cambodia whilst on honeymoon in Oct-Nov, so perhaps I will look up Ponheary.

Hi claasenam

Your blog on the Indian safari is absolutely fabulous. The tiger photos are stunning! Your account of the safari to spot the tiger known as the "Lady of the Lake" is truly fascinating and engaging. Thanks for sharing your wonderful travel experiences.

Curt

Hi claasenam

Your blog on the tiger safari near Sawai Madrapur in India is outstanding! And, the photos of the tigers you encountered, and were able to upload into your blog (with the help of photobucket) are stunning! The one of the lone tiger lying in the golden grass is now featured as the background on my pc. Thanx for sharing your amazing experience with us at the LL Community.

Curt

Cruisinred - I just read in this month's Travel and Leisure Oberoi has a special going on from now until September for just around $3000/8 nights at any of the Oberoi hotels in India, or a little more for up to 10 or 12 nights. That's quite a deal, considering when we were there the Vilas hotels were priced at $600-$900/night for a base-level room. Of course, we are getting into summer and that's when India is horribly hot! But perhaps worth looking into....

Thanks claassenam:

My dream trip would include Rajastan, Sri Lanka and ending with time in the Maldives. So many places so little vacation time!

I will definitely have some more India questions for you as my plans progress.

Cruisinred

Hi cruisinred,
I'm so glad to hear that you are considering a trip to India! Take a look at the thread I began on India (a while ago) - I believe it is under the Asia or Worldwide destinations thread. We stayed at two of the Oberoi vilas hotels - Amarvilas in Agra and Vanyavilas. We just couldn't afford to do all 'vilas everywhere! Amarvilas can't be beat for the view, and we had a beautiful room, it was all great but came nowhere close to the uniqueness and service of Vanyavilas, probably because it is larger. I've heard the same of Udaivilas (even though it currently ranks as #1 on all the "World's Best" lists...) and would imagine it is similar at Rajvilas. Not that the other two properties aren't wonderful, but I would suggest staying at Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur due to its location on the lake and its history in the town. I would suggest Rambaugh Palace or Jai Mahal palace in Jaipur to get a feel for staying in a real palace. We stayed at Fateh Prakash in Udaipur (wouldn't really recommend it) and Jai Mahal in Jaipur, which we loved.

Let me know if you have any other questions, okay? I owe you some great information after all your help with Vietnam/Cambodia!

Thank you for sharing your comments and "real" photos. You certainly got lucky with the tiger sightings, including the adorable cub!

India is on my short list for a trip in the next two years or so, and I know I must include a stay at Vanyavilas.

Did you stay at the other Oberoi hotels as wells, such as Udai Vilas?

Hi C,
Don't apologize, the picture is fine and achieved exactly what you intended it to do. The tent does look amazing. Your pictures and your account of the trip make me want to go there.... Thanks for the interesting post.

Travelfan - you are right, that;s me! A horrible, horrible picture, and purposely far away and blurry because I'm wary about posting photos of us online, but yes, you are correct. I just wanted to show a photo of the amazing tent!

Hi C
The pictures look great. What a chance you had to see the mother tiger and the two little cubs. In the second picture, from the top, is this you by any chance.... just like to put a fact to the name????

Hi C
Trust me the pictures are now posted, and are amazing! What a treat... "The Lady of the Lake" she is a beautiful animal. All that said, you won't catch me close to any tiger anytime soon. Thank you for sharing such a great travel experience.

So I finally managed to repost the pictures (using PhotoBucket) but they are all cut off halfway! Not sure why this is happening? Can anyone help? I thought at first that it is the format of these blogs (very narrow) but I recall when I first posted my photos with kodakgallery and yahoo they showed the entire image. If it's not one thing it is another! Well, at least you can get a better idea of what I was describing!

Hi Two2go

Thanks for looking! Hopefully I'll get the photos back up soon. They really are excellent (my husband is a great photographer, I'm not taking any credit for the pics!)

We were always in an open jeep, there really isn't any danger. I think there has been only one freak incident in the past 15 years where a tiger came into the town and mauled a child. Generally visitors are quite safe. We did get out of the jeep at one point for a restroom break; there were only a bunch of birds around and we had a distant view of a crocodile. Just like in any natural environment we were told if we saw any kind of animal to just be still and not approach. I never felt any danger, even when the tigress was right next to our jeep with her cubs. We were quiet (although murmuring "Oh My Gosh" under our collective breaths!) and just watched and waited....

Hi Claassenam
I've got to admit that these blogs are interesting & addictive. This is definitely one that I will have to refer to my husband, he his going to really enjoy it. He has already spoken about going on a safari, but I am still a little reluctant.

I could just imagine everyone with their mouths open as the "Lady of the Lake" decided to walk by with her cubs. That had to be a once in a lifetime experience.

Just a few questions... Are you always in the Jeep when you are on a safari? Did you feel a danger when you were in the park at anytime?

Also, I too would have loved to see some of the pictures you have to offer, but unfortunately they don't show up.
Message Edited by two2go on 04-04-200706:37 AM

Message Edited by two2go on 04-04-200706:39 AM

Hi Travelfan - thanks for looking! I am working on reposting my photos, I need to find a host that keeps the URL for the photos the same for longer than an hour! Have you tried posting any of your own photos? Do you have any suggestions?

Also, sorry to say that this is not yet a LL property but there have been several requests to add the Oberoi properties.

Hi claassenam,
Tried again, this time on IE, but still no result on the pictures. By the way, was this a LL property you went to?

Hi claassenam,

Excellent trip report. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience with us. Would have loved to see the pictures. I tried to view your blog on Firefox and when I clicked on the picture squares, I got the message "No permission to access photos"... Then I tried to view your blog on Opera, but when I click on "Image" it brings me right back to the blog... What a bummer, would have liked to see the pictures....