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FizFashizzle posted:i have to get to London from Hyderabad for a job interview. I've flown with them a few times and I've never had any problems. They seem equivalent to any first-world airline to me. Looks like the FAA just put them under extra surveillance though: "India joins countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh that have a Category 2 rating. As of Nov. 22, the FAA kept 81 of the 96 countries reviewed in Category 1. India had been in Category 1 since 1997, the FAA said in a statement. [...] Airlines from Category 2 countries can continue operations at current levels under "heightened FAA surveillance" but cannot expand or change services to the United States, under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessments programme." http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ow/29701393.cms
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Feb 1, 2014 10:46
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DNova posted:Should I rely on my European debit card (chip + pin, Maestro/Quick) to get cash in India? What are the local ATM fees and exchange rates like? My bank will charge me 1.82 euros plus 0.75% for cash withdrawals. For cash that I bring, am I best going to banks for exchange? I've been using my North American chip VISA to withdraw cash throughout my whole trip. Almost every town has ATMs available and most ATMs don't charge a fee to withdraw cash. Note that many ATMs have a withdrawal limit of 10,000 rupees per transaction, which might change your cash-advance calculus. Travel agents or dedicated cash exchange desks will probably give you a better exchange rate than the banks will. Many travel agents will also advance you cash from a credit card for a fee between 2%-4%. Most big businesses or hotels take credit card (for example, McDonald's or a Radisson hotel). At the guesthouses and hotels I've stayed at (maybe 30 total?), only two accepted credit cards, both with an extra fee of 2.5%.
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Feb 1, 2014 11:15
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Chernori posted:I've been using my North American chip VISA to withdraw cash throughout my whole trip. Almost every town has ATMs available and most ATMs don't charge a fee to withdraw cash. Note that many ATMs have a withdrawal limit of 10,000 rupees per transaction, which might change your cash-advance calculus. Thanks. Sounds like this is going to be pretty easy.
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Feb 1, 2014 12:20
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DNova posted:Thanks. Sounds like this is going to be pretty easy. I was surprised at how easy it is to travel here, honestly. There's a lot of tourist infrastructure in place and a decently-sized middle class that's willing to pay for comfort. Unless you're planning to go way off the beaten track, I wouldn't hesitate to rely on a couple credit cards and a small stash of US or Euros in case of emergency.
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Feb 1, 2014 15:01
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India isn't really difficult to travel. English is widely spoken, there's an elaborate rail and bus system and domestic flights are cheap. Tuk tuks and cabs in all cities. Easy cheap access to medical care. Backpacker friendly budget hostels, easy access to mobile and internet . The problems are the crime rate (especially for women) and the poorly marketed tourism industry. Most tourists I know who've been here have done one of these 4 : Goa Kerala backwaters or ashrams The golden quadrilateral (rajasthan delhi agra etc) Himalayas Someone writing a proper tourism OP here would do more for tourism that the government does.
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Feb 2, 2014 12:44
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Don't worry about money or a withdrawal limit. I can't imagine how you'd even spend 10,000 rupees in cash in a week unless you're trying to buy a GODDAMN COMFORTABLE SOFA WHICH DOES NOT loving EXIST IN THIS COUNTRYAnarkii posted:Fiz you still running crossfit gym in hyderabad? I just came here for a week for work. The weather and traffic here is better than I remembered. sorry I missed this, was in thailand. Yep, sure am. And the traffic is better? What kind of apocalypse were you expecting? FizFashizzle fucked around with this message at 08:19 on Feb 4, 2014 |
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Feb 4, 2014 08:09
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I live in Bangalore where it takes 90 minutes to commute the 15 kms to office! Hyderabad is good in that regard. I was also in Bangkok earlier this month and while it has similar traffic issues as India the skytrain and subway let you bypass all that bullshit. The Bangalore metro has been in construction forever, someday...
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Feb 4, 2014 10:44
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Speaking of the Bangalore Metro, what's the current status of it? Can I get from Yeshwantpur Junction to Bangalore City station via the metro yet, or do I need to take an auto rickshaw/taxi? Or is it just the stretch from MG Road to Baiyappanahalli that's operational? We'll be arriving at Yeshwantpur and leaving from the other station on the same day, so just trying to figure that out. We'll be back in Bangalore on the night of the 14th and all day on the 15th, so any recommendations on stuff to do or places to eat would be welcome. We're staying right by the Trinity Metro station.
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Feb 6, 2014 11:19
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Back from a week-long trip to Goa. We stayed around Candolim. It's right on the beach, very busy and extremely tourist-y. Most of the tourists are from Russia, with rest equally split between domestic travelers (Mumbai etc) and westerners. We did some fishing, visited the Anjuna market and the waterfalls. The latter was not worth it due to the long bus rides there and back. Food was excellent, definitely the highlight of the trip. We checked out After Seven (see the link above), it's not too bad but definitely not the best place around the area. Kingfisher is the beer staple, and is pleasantly up there with the western counterparts. Tried some Indian wine too, not too bad either. Due to the touristy nature of the place, there's very little 'staring' though you do get hassled by the drug dealers and beggars now and then. Traffic was by far the most dangerous thing we encountered, holy crap! Mosquitoes were also a bit of a pain, but nothing that a decent bug spray couldn't handle. We spent a portion of the week at the new Novotel. It's not cheap (USD 150 a night inc. taxes), but very, very good! We also spent a few nights at the Taj resort nearby, it was not worth the money and one night at one of the many bnbs, which was exactly what you pay for. Unless you absolutely hate tourist-y places, I highly recommend it to all. Feel free to ask questions 
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Feb 15, 2014 15:11
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Does anyone have a favorite bug spray (that can be purchased inside India)?
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Feb 15, 2014 15:24
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It's not a bug spray, but I slathered on prodigious amounts of Odomos mosquito repellent cream every day, and avoided being bitten. Seeing as my less fastidious companions were bitten every day, I'd say it's not the worst investment.
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Feb 15, 2014 16:36
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Odomos cream worked great for me too.
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Feb 15, 2014 22:30
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So I'm in Sri Lanka right now and accommodation/food/tourist stuff has been much more expensive than I expected. We've been to Galle, Colombo, and Kandy so far and we're spending European levels of cash. We spent about $16USD to $32USD per night on accommodation (in touristy areas) and some of our meals have been more than $20USD. The fort area of Galle is particularly bad for food pricing: many restaurants have mains costing about $7-$10. The tourist attractions here are actually European prices. Several of the ruins (like Sigiriya) have entrance charges as high as $30 USD PER PERSON (the Taj Mahal, by comparision, is less than $15 US per person). Brutal. At least transport is cheap: it was about $1.33 US to take a bus from the airport to Kandy (about 4h away by local bus). Anyway, India's tourist circuit is much much cheaper than Sri Lanka's!
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Feb 18, 2014 07:32
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Odomos cream it is, then! My next question is if anyone has a recommendation for a pre-paid SIM card for data? I will be in the country for just over 3 weeks, so 1 month expiry is fine.
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Feb 18, 2014 22:06
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DNova posted:Odomos cream it is, then! I have a Vodafone one and the price was decent but it's "roaming" outside of Maharashtra (where we bought it) and virtually useless because of that. I'm sure there's something could have done/can do to prevent/fix that but I don't really need it anymore. Just be sure to check with the company you buy it from regarding how it will work in different states.
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Feb 19, 2014 08:26
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Sub Par posted:I have a Vodafone one and the price was decent but it's "roaming" outside of Maharashtra (where we bought it) and virtually useless because of that. I'm sure there's something could have done/can do to prevent/fix that but I don't really need it anymore. Just be sure to check with the company you buy it from regarding how it will work in different states. Roughly how much should I expect to pay for a couple of gigs?
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Feb 19, 2014 08:28
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DNova posted:Roughly how much should I expect to pay for a couple of gigs? In Kolkata it was normally like ~900 rupees for 3-4 gigs of data but the carrier I used, vodaphone, would normally have some sort of deal going and sometimes you would get crazy deals like 15 gigs of high speed data for 1000 rupees. That might depend in your representative. I didn't recharge my card at a vodaphone store, but rather some random guy that ran a DVD rental stand out of an alleyway.
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Feb 19, 2014 10:58
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Currently in Kochi and the random guy selling DVDs on the corner wants 1100 for 3GB right now. YMMV.
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Feb 22, 2014 06:19
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I'm not sure I would trust some guy on the corner to sell me a legit sim card that is going to work as described.
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Feb 22, 2014 13:35
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DNova posted:I'm not sure I would trust some guy on the corner to sell me a legit sim card that is going to work as described. I've found that SIM cards and the like sold in small venues tend to be fine, if only because that's where a lot of locals get their stuff. In many areas, most small stores will actually sell SIM cards or recharge cards. In my experience, most people doing mundane local jobs are usually pretty trustworthy. Except tuktuk drivers. Never ever trust the tuktuk drivers. 
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Feb 23, 2014 21:07
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I do feel like a general rule of buying stuff in India is: if you approach someone else to buy something, it's usually okay. If someone else approaches you to SELL you something, it's usually not.
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Feb 23, 2014 21:23
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DNova posted:I'm not sure I would trust some guy on the corner to sell me a legit sim card that is going to work as described. Eh I don't know, he seemed legit. I used him to recharge my prepaid sim for voice calls and he didn't screw me and didn't charge any commission. Just so you know though, if you're buying a new sim card rather than recharging one, you likely won't have any luck with street stalls and the like. There is a ton of paperwork and ID requirements for foreigners to get a sim card in India so it's probably best to actually buy the thing at an Airtel/Vodafone/whatever store. Or ask some nice staff person in your hotel to break the law and buy you a sim card for a small fee.
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Feb 24, 2014 17:42
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Just picked up my visa today. I'm really getting excited!
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Feb 24, 2014 17:44
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Sub Par posted:Just so you know though, if you're buying a new sim card rather than recharging one, you likely won't have any luck with street stalls and the like. There is a ton of paperwork and ID requirements for foreigners to get a sim card in India so it's probably best to actually buy the thing at an Airtel/Vodafone/whatever store. Or ask some nice staff person in your hotel to break the law and buy you a sim card for a small fee. This was my experience as well. My music teacher recommended the guy I went to, but they wanted a copy of his ID and papers before giving me one and it was in my teachers name. I was lead to understand that I wouldn't be able to get one otherwise but my other American buddies didn't seem to have too much trouble getting sims from a normal store. Also my guy didn't have microsims, they would cut a normal sized one to fit.
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Feb 24, 2014 18:12
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Anyone care to critique my (very rough) itinerary? This is not at all going to be planned much in advance and can be changed on the fly. I'm hoping that's not too much of a problem with trains/hostels/etc. Willing to swap out/delete/add destinations if you can convince me I should. Mumbai -> Ahmedabad -> Jodhpur -> Jaipur -> Agra -> Mathura -> New Delhi -> Lucknow? -> Kolkata -> Hyderabad -> Chennai -> possibly a quick detour to Sri Lanka -> Chennai -> Puducherry -> Goa -> Mumbai I have roughly 20 full days. The only real requirements are that I am arriving and departing from Mumbai and that I want to be in Mathura on the 17th for Holi (first full day is the 10th). sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 14:21
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That looks busy as all hell, and will take you all over India. I'm sure that's intentional, but remember it's called the Indian sub-continent for a reason. I just spent 21 days in and around Thanjavur, and I feel like I barely scratched the surface. With all those destinations, you'll be spending nearly all of your time simply travelling from place to place, which is a real shame, because India is worth devoting time and effort to experience it fully. Now, I'm only "familiar" with the area around Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, so I don't have much advice for what's worth checking out anywhere else. That said, I do have some tips in general. I'd skip a large part of your original itinerary, such as the Ahmedabad-Jodhpur-Jaipur leg of the journey, and everything after New Delhi. Instead, seeing that Mumbai will be your point of entry/exit, I'd make that my base of operations, and see what cool stuff there was to experience in the near vicinity; perhaps Goa wouldn't be too far, and I've heard it's supposed to be really beautiful. After that, I'd spend about a week or ten days in and around Mathura, with excursions to Agra and New Delhi. Still, I don't know those parts of the country, so take my advice with a hefty pinch of salt.
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Mar 3, 2014 16:00
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Yeah, of Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, and Jaipur, I'd really only stop in one of the three (or none of them, or somewhere entirely different along the rough route to Agra/Mathura). Lucknow is just a break between Delhi and Kolkata and I don't need to actually stop there, either. But I am not the kind of person to stay in one place for 10 days on a trip like this. If I found out that I really love some place/region in India and want a lot more time there, I will go back. This is my first trip to India and should serve as a decent overview.
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Mar 3, 2014 16:17
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Cut your itinerary in half, at minimum. You will spend a day traveling to each of those destinations, much less actually exploring them. Also, I can guarantee you that there will be 1-2 days where your stomach will not be feeling well. You don't want to be on an Indian bus or train for that experience... trust me.
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Mar 3, 2014 17:11
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Jodhpur is super rad and the only largish city in India I can say I liked without adding any qualifiers. I would skip Jaipur because it's terrible even though there are some neat things to see there.
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Mar 4, 2014 01:45
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I would also leave off Kolkata. I love that town, and I've posted about it in this thread, but there's not much to see there if you're just dropping in. Great food and really great people, but you don't have the time to enjoy that. I'd also advise skipping Jaipur, and I especially recommend the omelette guy in Jodhpur (walking north from the clock tower, he is on the east side of the street).
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Mar 4, 2014 02:04
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Someone said something about a monkey temple in Jaipur though, I think. Monkey temple sounds fuckin' rad. But so far the votes are clearly in Jodhpur's favor, with a portion of north from the clock tower omelettes. And also Kolkata is awesome and super great but don't go there.
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Mar 4, 2014 03:10
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If you do to Jodhpur, there's a really fantastic restaurant called Nirvana you should check out. It's inside a temple building, and the walls are covered in Hindu religious art and it's super rad. (Also the food is really good.) And I had a really good experience with the guesthouse named Heaven, it's the nicest place I stayed in India and the Jainist dudes who run it are really great.
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Mar 4, 2014 04:39
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DNova posted:Someone said something about a monkey temple in Jaipur though, I think. Monkey temple sounds fuckin' rad.
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Mar 4, 2014 06:08
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DNova posted:But so far the votes are clearly in Jodhpur's favor, with a portion of north from the clock tower omelettes. I skipped Jaipur, no regrets. Johdpur is pretty great: the omelette stands are cheap and tasty, and there's an amazing lassi place just inside one of the gates to the clocktower square. The lassis are much thicker than normal: it's almost like lemony-saffron melted ice cream. I must have gone there a half dozen times in two days. Also, the fort in Johdpur was the one I liked best, especially for photos at sunset and sunrise. The stone work for the windows and decorations is pretty unbelievable. The audio guide for the fort is excellent as well. Also, there are giant bats living in the trees around town! About your itinerary in general, it does seem extremely busy to the point of being unworkable. I was in India for about five months travelling at leisurely pace (we stayed in most places three nights) and I felt tired anyway: India is a hectic place and can be quite draining. Cheesemaster is right about travel times as well: it can take a long time to get from place to place (India is HUGE). Maybe check out erail.in to get an idea of travel times. The side trip to Sri Lanka is unrealistic. I was just there for about ten days and I stuck to the main tourist circuit, and it felt rushed. I think you'd be better off spending a few days in several different areas to get a feel for different regions (Agra, Johdpur, Goa, Mumbai, maybe Trichy...; that sort of thing) so that you know where you want to focus on the way back.
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Mar 4, 2014 07:51
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I agree with skipping Sri Lanka. Kolkata is awesome but pretty out of the way. Mumbai->Goa either at the beginning or end of the trip, and Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Mathura should be plenty. Lucknow is worth going to just for Awadhi cuisine . Delhi of course has a bunch of historical monuments and Old Delhi is still similar to "exotic india" stories people read with its narrow winding streets, bazaars, great hawker food. Anarkii fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 09:15
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Chernori posted:I skipped Jaipur, no regrets. Johdpur is pretty great: the omelette stands are cheap and tasty, and there's an amazing lassi place just inside one of the gates to the clocktower square. The lassis are much thicker than normal: it's almost like lemony-saffron melted ice cream. I must have gone there a half dozen times in two days. I am looking at erail.in and the trains are definitely slower than I had imagined. I will probably have to re-think some of my goals, and I really appreciate everyone's input on this. Do any of you have experience with spur-of-the-moment travel in India? I know the trains have some last-minute tickets at higher prices, but I am worried about getting accommodations at whatever destination. Is a couple of days of plans at a time enough, do you think? edit: Looks like there are lots of overnight trains, so I might be able to squeeze more in by sacrificing some comfort a few nights during my stay. Any chance AC2 cars have showers? Is there anywhere to take a shower without accommodations? edit2: I looked up some photos of the monkey temple in Jaipur and, well, there is no way I am going to skip that. It doesn't take much to sell me on the idea of tiny monkeys riding around on cows and little furry pigs coming up to me to get some food. edit3: Should I consider Varanasi? sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 13:33
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No trains have showers, you should expect to do that at places of accommodation. As far as spur of the moment travel goes, well... That's a complex question to answer in this situation. I have almost never booked a train more than 24 hours in advance in India, and it always worked out for me. On the other hand, I can read a bit of Hindi so I can scope a train station fast, I try to ask as many people for help as I can, and I have no objection to physically pushing my way through lines. If you think you're up to it, you can do it -- I think the phrase "fortune favors the brave" is really true while traveling in India. Buses, over shorter distances (300km at most) can be a lot faster than trains, and you typically don't need any advance booking at all. I regularly hopped on buses and let the ticket guy tabulate my trip as I went, as that's what they do for locals. It's pretty drat cheap too. Bus stations might be a little intimidating at first, but they tend to be less stressful than train stations once you know what to look for. The flip side is that I always had loads of time for getting around. I hate to say it, but that's what you need most when traveling in India. Four or five hour delays for trains are common. Over long distances, your train can be more than 24 hours late on a bad day. Additionally, when you are rushing, you are more susceptible to assholes. People who make their living off tourists can smell "I have money but I don't have time" from a mile away. Please be cautious, not because it is dangerous but because these people can make India seem really lovely, and the last thing you want is lovely people when you're lost, hungry, and sleepy in a new place. Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur are especially full of lovely people. They might tell you that you can't book a ticket except through a travel agency, or they might tell you that your hotel doesn't exist anymore, they might say anything, to get you into THEIR hotel or in THEIR rickshaw. Just have some healthy skepticism when people have their own plans for you. Varanasi is great but I don't know if I can recommend that either, based on things. I'd really love to hear a detailed account of your trip, I hope you have a great time. Roctavian fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 22:38
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Roctavian posted:No trains have showers, you should expect to do that at places of accommodation. Thanks so much for all this. I don't think I'll be booking many trains more than 24 hours in advance either, mostly because they seem to make it a huge pain in the rear end to book train tickets online. Why not recommend Varanasi? After more reading, I'm pretty sure I want to see it. Modified wishlist/itinerary: Mumbai -> I have to skip Jodhpur despite the glowing recommendations because I can't reasonably fit that in with Jaipur and Agra before Holi (and it happens that Jaipur is served by Spice Jet, which I decided to use for that leg of the trip). I could, however, double back after New Delhi, but that would cost a lot of extra time riding trains. I cut Goa because I'm not really much of a beach person and it seems like Goa is mostly about hanging out on the beach. With all the cuts and even with Sri Lanka, there's some extra time. I could consider doubling back for Jodhpur or adding back one of the southern destinations. edit: WELL it seems like getting to/from Sri Lanka is a lot more expensive than I imagined. I'm not so sure about that idea anymore. sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 23:28
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Well, the reason I can't recommend Varanasi is the same as the Kolkata one. I've never spent less than 5 days in V-nasty at a time, and it's definitely one of those places where you arrive there planning to leave in a couple days, but you end up sticking around for a week or two. Unlike Kolkata, there are a lot more sights to see and things to do in a short period of time, so there's that. It's one of my favorite places and if it sounds interesting to you -- go for it! I've never been to Goa and I'm not super interested in it, but a lot of other posters here know about the place. It's definitely THE beach party scene, so YMMV.
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Mar 4, 2014 23:46
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I'm currently leaning towards cutting Sri Lanka and Kolkata, adding Jodhpur (doubling back from New Delhi), leaving 3-4 days in Varanasi before heading back to Mumbai near the end. What do you do in Varanasi? I can imagine reserving one day for a nice refreshing lassi but it seems like it's not a very big place and I might get bored if I have too much time there. sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Mar 5, 2014 |
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Mar 5, 2014 00:31
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