Intrepid Travel with Intrepid Travel

Kathy Hornbach
August 1, 2004


We virtually always travel on our own, not with a tour group. We did Vietnam and Cambodia and Indonesia by ourselves. But even we were not up to striking off on our own across India. At the same time, the last thing we wanted to do was find a standard tour group, paying inflated prices and eating dinner at dumbed-down tourist buffets watching kitchy “culture shows”. A friend we met on our ref: /Travel/Asia/Cruises/Zaandamcruise0403/index.html cruise last year introduced us to a third alternative – a company called Intrepid Travel – that is best described as an organized backpackers trip. They have great itineraries, with all the spots you want to see. They arrange for local-style transportation — buses, rickshaws, trains — inexpensive, and culturally interesting. They find interesting, inexpensive guest houses to stay at. They arrange for local guides where appropriate. Then they leave you alone to eat where you want, and do what you want, when you want. It takes all the hassle out of travelling, while still leaving you lots of freedom. And it is surprisingly inexpensive. So, we signed up for Intrepid’s 22 day “Rajasthan Adventure” tour, and set off with eight other travelers and a guide. To see the description and dossier, visit their site and plug in “RSH” for the tour code.

The tour: the term “Intrepid” fits. We were concerned (and potentially dreading) some of what the tour contained: (dirty, crowded, uncomfortable) public buses, shoddy hotels, “everybody gets sick” (this last turned out to be basically true). But with some exceptions, the time on public transport passed quickly, and we all lived to tell the tales. The guest houses were generally restored former palaces and upscale havelis (trader’s mansions) and entirely acceptable. This style of travel brought us much closer to local people and economy. It is sometimes difficult to gauge peoples’ genuine intentions here; are they “interested” because they want to sell you something, or is this basic person-person kindness? Sometimes we insulate ourselves because we don’t want to get hurt — unfortunate because we don’t learn anything that way.
Traveling with Intrepid has also given us more confidence about inexpensive 3rd world travel. We tend to travel inexpensively but well, taking relatively few risks but getting fewer rewards as a result. The trip doesn’t make me yearn for the interaction of a public bus, but does pique my curiousity and makes it more likely I would risk a “bad” interaction in exchange for the probability of a good one.

Next time, we’ll have the skills to see India on our own – but will travel with Intrepid again when the going gets tough (Uzbekistan, anyone?)
One great benefit of traveling with Intrepid is the fellow travelers on the journey – you can meet them here.

Next: Our Traveling Companions

Copyright(c) 2024 Scott Blessley & Kathy Hornbach
dot-circle-o