Verified Finally an agency that lives up to our expectations After travelling India 12 times, by bus, train, motorcycle, chauffeured car, through many states, we want to deepen our experience by finding values we had encountered before globalization and mass tourism. India, its roots, its culture, its originality.After seeing the essentials offered by all the catalogues and all the agencies, we want to leave aside museums, palaces, forts, castles, famous temples, to devote ourselves to traditions, ethnicities, people who are the glue of India. The countryside, villages and small towns. It is difficult to find a local agency and a driver who are really ready to take on the challenge.Many agencies run by former drivers claim to do so, but it seems impossible to go off the beaten track, when they do it it is at a high price...without any guarantee of results.Many agencies use freelance drivers. They know some of them to use them frequently. They use many others that they do not know during the tourist rush. Many of these drivers claim to know, but know nothing beyond what is agreed, some even know nothing beyond the highway that it takes to get from Delhi to Jaipur or Agra. Of course they know Shiva, Vishnu, Hanuman, but not the Garasias, nor the Bhils, nor the Adibasi, nor the Mewares. We even knew a few who didn’t even know the routes and regularly lost valuable time.Many agencies claim to do off-piste, which has the force of being copied and pasted is no more. We then develop our own programs based on readings, travel blogs, TV shows, previous trips and local tips. A year ago, we submitted a program to an agency that only has the credit of putting us in contact with an exceptional driver. Discreet, courteous, honest, refined, he made a point of fleeing the highways to take us on small country roads. We finally found the India we were looking for. He exploited all the resources that came along at random from the encounters to introduce us to Rajasthan in a different way. More than a driver, a real guide. We wanted to repeat the experiment in 2025, without success. Surprised and disappointed by the behaviour of the head of the agency, we broke up, which deprived us of this exceptional driver.We contacted Namaste Cars, with our program. We enjoyed listening and respecting Kedar. We appreciated the way he reacted and his advice, without being invasive. We liked the price and the way he handled the changes. The addition of half board in the evening to compensate for certain discrepancies demonstrated his honesty. We appreciated that it allowed the driver the opportunity to define routes with us based on our interests, without the need for a motorway. Kedar calls regularly to check in.For Francophones, Kedar is fluent in French.We found on the Namaste Cars website ideas to enrich our program, such as Siana Bhatiyan, a pearl and Khempur the original. We welcome the fact that it enriches this information.There remains our apprehension about the driver, which Kedar seems to have understood: 16 drivers out of 12 trips to India (we had to change 4 times because they were mediocre). Only one proved exceptional last year, it ends up scary. Until Kedar wrote, "Yeah, I believe I find the driver you need" like a cry of joy.Jaiveer proved to be the second outstanding driver we met not only in India but in all our travels in Asia.Jaiveer quickly realized what we were passionate about. Our program being mostly off-piste, he took only small country roads, discovering with us what chance put on the way. This is one of the peculiarities of this kind of itinerary, we do not know in advance what we will encounter, outside of some villages, some known sites and some planned visits with accommodation. Schools, pilgrims, farmers, artisans, weddings, Adibassis, Panchayat, markets, everything was the occasion for stops and meetings, often around a chai massala and sometimes an invitation to share a meal.As we meet, we learn that there are things to do or see in the surroundings, such as the huge horse and camel market bigger than Pushkar which has become a show for tourists, another festival where women are in the spotlight, or a neighborhood where the Baths community lives, specialized in making and performing Kathputli etc...Jaiveer bounced back on everything that comes up, using every situation to make us discover something. When he did not know he took the time to understand, to be explained, which enriched our exchanges with people and our understanding of the Indian soul. For our part, we allowed him to discover a number of things that he did not expect to see, which enriched his data bank for future clients.It was a great moment of sharing. Each day became a moment of mutual enrichment.This is the second time out of 17 that a driver has agreed to adapt to our project and to favour country roads.This is the second time a driver has proven to be a guide, in addition to being a driver.Best of all, this is the first time a driver has managed to keep our departure day full until we check in at the airport. As our flights were always at 4:00 a.m. the next day, until now, all the drivers were eager to drop us off as soon as possible (early afternoon) at the airport, to have time to go home.Jaiveer made sure the last day was as rich as the last until the last minute: Eid festivities, a temple and school in the morning, a beautiful temple in the afternoon, country roads with last encounters including a wedding, village stops to reach the Delhi highway only at the end. Arrival at the airport around 10:00 pm for a check in at 24:00. Never seen before. So much so that when we return, we miss Jaiveer every day.To date, after 12 attempts, Namaste Cars is the only agency to have taken up the challenge of showing us around India otherwise, at a very respectable price. So thanks to Kedar, thanks to Jaiveer. India with you is a pleasure.
