India--My husband was leery, but I think I have convinced him...
Dec 12th, 2011, 01:09 AM
#21
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Dogster--howdy!
Thanks for the link. But...what am i supposed to be looking for in that site?
I-escape,l ike Sawdays, lists only certain places... which--like Sawdays--require fees be paid to be listed.
I've grown wary of such sites, as they omit many wonderful places under the guise of objectivity.
Someone who didnt know better might think these are ratings of the only hotels in an area.
Thanks for the link. But...what am i supposed to be looking for in that site?
I-escape,l ike Sawdays, lists only certain places... which--like Sawdays--require fees be paid to be listed.
I've grown wary of such sites, as they omit many wonderful places under the guise of objectivity.
Someone who didnt know better might think these are ratings of the only hotels in an area.
Dec 12th, 2011, 03:05 AM
#22
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Cali - this
http://www.i-escape.com/kumaon-village-walks/overview
and tnis:
http://www.i-escape.com/sikkim-village-walks/overview
I use them as a resource. Of course they are not the be-all and end-all but combine them with other sites and you can get a good overview of some groovy places. Then you book direct with the property... mostly.
Actually, I'll soon be able to report on this booked thru them:
http://www.i-escape.com/lakes-lagoons/overview
I'm in Mumbai.
http://www.i-escape.com/kumaon-village-walks/overview
and tnis:
http://www.i-escape.com/sikkim-village-walks/overview
I use them as a resource. Of course they are not the be-all and end-all but combine them with other sites and you can get a good overview of some groovy places. Then you book direct with the property... mostly.
Actually, I'll soon be able to report on this booked thru them:
http://www.i-escape.com/lakes-lagoons/overview
I'm in Mumbai.
Dec 12th, 2011, 09:55 PM
#24
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julies, thankyou! for posting the link to Samthar Farmhouse. This looks perfect for us if we go to Sikkim and would tick a number of boxes on our wish list. I would have to include a vist to Darjeeling (yes a few days ago I did say that Sikkim was off the list, but am now reconsidering).
Hmmm... Bundi or Sikkim, have to make a choice...
Hmmm... Bundi or Sikkim, have to make a choice...
Dec 15th, 2011, 06:47 AM
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Dec 18th, 2011, 09:13 AM
#28
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I also agree about the Taj Mahal. I thought, 'How great could it be?" I have seen so many pictures etc....
But it was breathtaking. We were only there for a short time, but one of the many highlights of our trip. If you are that close I say do it.
But it was breathtaking. We were only there for a short time, but one of the many highlights of our trip. If you are that close I say do it.
Dec 18th, 2011, 02:25 PM
#30
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Yes, it is now added on to our tentative itinerary. We really have no interest at all in Agra, so I was looking for other lodging options and discovered this place I think we'll book. As an FYI for others, it is an hour drive from the Taj so one oculd get up early and take a morning drive to be there eearly. And, this resort/lodging is also relaxing and has other more nature-centered activities.
http://www.birdersinn.com/index.html
http://www.birdersinn.com/index.html
Dec 18th, 2011, 11:40 PM
#32
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For your time in Kerala, here's my thought.
2 days in Kochi (Cochin), stay in the Fort Cochin area, two places I can suggest , Koder House www.koderhouse.com or le colonial http://www.neemranahotels.com/le%20c...index.html.htm which is a more expensive option if you are looking to splurge. Other nice properties include Hotel Arches and Malabar House. The Jewish quarter is fantastic, although a lot of the antiques they sell there are brand new, just made to order to look old. Good Bargains though.
If you are adventurous with food, try the food from a local toddy (palm liquor) shop. Classic combinations here are Fish Head curry, Mussels and local Pearl Spot fish grilled in a Banana Leaf (watch for the bones). Avoid the Toddy itself since it is quite an acquired taste.
I guess you will go to Alleppey and Kumarakom. Try and stay at a homestay because that experience is unlike any other.. at good homestays the hosts are well informed and extremely hospitable. The food is divine.
One other thing you must do since you are in India.. see a Tiger in the wild. They're rapidly going extinct and India has many fantastic national parks spread all over the country, so depending on where you have the time, you should take 2 days to see one. Seeing a wild tiger will make your trip worthwhile, I promise!
If you do finally go east, then don't miss Calcutta. It is a glorious crumbling homage to the British era. Try the sweets there, they are unique and unmissable. If you feel like eating familiar food for a change, go to Mocambo's, don't miss the deviled crabs.
You're not being over-ambitious to cover your options listed in six weeks. Just remember that you will be taking quite a few domestic flights. Remember fog delays are rampant in the north of India. Delhi has Cat III landing capabilities, but the smaller airports can have delays.
2 days in Kochi (Cochin), stay in the Fort Cochin area, two places I can suggest , Koder House www.koderhouse.com or le colonial http://www.neemranahotels.com/le%20c...index.html.htm which is a more expensive option if you are looking to splurge. Other nice properties include Hotel Arches and Malabar House. The Jewish quarter is fantastic, although a lot of the antiques they sell there are brand new, just made to order to look old. Good Bargains though.
If you are adventurous with food, try the food from a local toddy (palm liquor) shop. Classic combinations here are Fish Head curry, Mussels and local Pearl Spot fish grilled in a Banana Leaf (watch for the bones). Avoid the Toddy itself since it is quite an acquired taste.
I guess you will go to Alleppey and Kumarakom. Try and stay at a homestay because that experience is unlike any other.. at good homestays the hosts are well informed and extremely hospitable. The food is divine.
One other thing you must do since you are in India.. see a Tiger in the wild. They're rapidly going extinct and India has many fantastic national parks spread all over the country, so depending on where you have the time, you should take 2 days to see one. Seeing a wild tiger will make your trip worthwhile, I promise!
If you do finally go east, then don't miss Calcutta. It is a glorious crumbling homage to the British era. Try the sweets there, they are unique and unmissable. If you feel like eating familiar food for a change, go to Mocambo's, don't miss the deviled crabs.
You're not being over-ambitious to cover your options listed in six weeks. Just remember that you will be taking quite a few domestic flights. Remember fog delays are rampant in the north of India. Delhi has Cat III landing capabilities, but the smaller airports can have delays.
Dec 19th, 2011, 08:26 AM
#33
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Marco--thanks for your suggestions. I'll be sure to check them out. And, of course, just as everyone else does, as I get more into this, I am starting to re-think a portion of the trip.
Dec 31st, 2011, 06:02 PM
#34
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"After 4 weeks we were glad to get back to where you cold take a shower without having to remember not to get the water in your nose or mouth. Picking and choosing foods with care gets to be a bit of a drag after a while, and even then we both had issues."
You can say that again! We've only been here five days and most of us can't wait to get home. We're stuck in a "five-star" hotel in Jabalpur (gateway to Kanha tiger park) that wouldn't qualify as 2-star in Europe. We've spent most of our time since arrival in Delhi stuck in hair-raising traffic, dodging scooters, cattle, people, motorbikes, trucks, tuk-tuks, and choking on the dust and fumes. We did manage to see tigers on several occasions in Kanha, but the lodgings (supposedly the best in the park) were nowhere near as nice as Kenya or South Africa. The people have been nice, and the food is delicious if you are careful, but I have to say this is the most frustrating and least relaxing vacation I have ever had. Our friends are ready to call a Med-Evac helicopter or the Navy Seals to get them out of here. After six hours of driving yesterday, today we get to endure long fog delays at a ratty provincial airport, hopefully landing at Delhi sometime before dusk, then we face another stressful 5-hour drive to Agra. A couple of days there and then the same to Jaipur. While seeing tigers in the wild was cool, certainly the meagre sightseeing in Delhi did not justify this amount of discomfort (and nobody's even gotten sick yet!).
Hopefully things will turn around, but this is not the most relaxing place to spend a vacation, so anyone looking at six weeks here had better be experienced at and enjoy roughing it in the 3rd world.
You can say that again! We've only been here five days and most of us can't wait to get home. We're stuck in a "five-star" hotel in Jabalpur (gateway to Kanha tiger park) that wouldn't qualify as 2-star in Europe. We've spent most of our time since arrival in Delhi stuck in hair-raising traffic, dodging scooters, cattle, people, motorbikes, trucks, tuk-tuks, and choking on the dust and fumes. We did manage to see tigers on several occasions in Kanha, but the lodgings (supposedly the best in the park) were nowhere near as nice as Kenya or South Africa. The people have been nice, and the food is delicious if you are careful, but I have to say this is the most frustrating and least relaxing vacation I have ever had. Our friends are ready to call a Med-Evac helicopter or the Navy Seals to get them out of here. After six hours of driving yesterday, today we get to endure long fog delays at a ratty provincial airport, hopefully landing at Delhi sometime before dusk, then we face another stressful 5-hour drive to Agra. A couple of days there and then the same to Jaipur. While seeing tigers in the wild was cool, certainly the meagre sightseeing in Delhi did not justify this amount of discomfort (and nobody's even gotten sick yet!).
Hopefully things will turn around, but this is not the most relaxing place to spend a vacation, so anyone looking at six weeks here had better be experienced at and enjoy roughing it in the 3rd world.
Dec 31st, 2011, 07:31 PM
#36
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ClarkB I just read your previous post about this trip.... maybe you should have sent Cali with the fam after all...
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...st-hellish.cfm
I hope it gets better for you....
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...st-hellish.cfm
I hope it gets better for you....
Dec 31st, 2011, 09:30 PM
#39
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Only two hours travel by train...
Yep five hours of choking fumes, traffic, cows, people, motorbikes etc etc does sound rather "hellish"!
Noted. I think I'll do that trip by train if we end up going to Agra from Delhi!
Yep five hours of choking fumes, traffic, cows, people, motorbikes etc etc does sound rather "hellish"!
Noted. I think I'll do that trip by train if we end up going to Agra from Delhi!
Jan 1st, 2012, 02:26 AM
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What made me go? A wife who was dying to see tigers in the wild. So she's loving it, but she's in the distinct minority.
I'd been to Mumbai on business on several occasions, so I had some idea what I was getting into. I was hoping it would have been, well, different. It is hard to convey in words just how dirty, dilapidated and ramshackle this place is, from what we've seen so far. It is hard to appreciate much in those conditions, I think.
We tried to look into the train option, but it departs early morning and would have involved killing another night in Delhi.
Part of the problem is our tour organizer, who I won't name here as he's a nice guy and runs a small agency of his own in Jabalpur. But he simply did not organize this well - for instance, we've had these long drives and he did not build in any time for meals, and we have kids along. He originally wanted to cram 7 people into a 6-seat minivan, when we fill up a 10-seater with our luggage. It was a battle to rectify that. I think he skimped in a lot of areas; I don't think he has a lot of experience with western travelers, or at least those who want better conditions than the backpacker crowd. The lesson is, check your itinerary thoroughly and make sure all of it is spelled out and suits your expectations. And more importantly, choose an agent who comes highly recommended on this board, where we've had great luck in places like Cambodia, for example. We did give him this feedback directly, because despite his good English we got the sense he was hearing these complaints for the first time. But I didn't want to slam the guy on here given what that could do to his business.
The other problem is not the agent, but India itself - aside from an oasis like the Imperial Hotel in Delhi, where our friends stayed, the accommodations are fairly poor for the price, and not close to what you'd find elsewhere in Asian developing countries. I've stayed at both the the Taj and Oberoi in Mumbai, and neither could hold a candle to a Shangri-La in Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing, etc.
Hopefully seeing the Taj Mahal will make up for it. The ratio of dead travel time (in cars, airports, etc.) to interesting sights is, for me, unbearable. If we had more attractive surroundings, or more relaxing circumstances, then it would not be such a problem.
Anyway, only four more hours in the car!
Full report to follow, assuming we make it out of here alive. While sure to draw flames from the Indiaphiles, perhaps it will be of some value to those on the fence about going, or at least in knowing what to expect. Life is too short to waste a lot of time and money on something you don't enjoy. But, to each his own!
I'd been to Mumbai on business on several occasions, so I had some idea what I was getting into. I was hoping it would have been, well, different. It is hard to convey in words just how dirty, dilapidated and ramshackle this place is, from what we've seen so far. It is hard to appreciate much in those conditions, I think.
We tried to look into the train option, but it departs early morning and would have involved killing another night in Delhi.
Part of the problem is our tour organizer, who I won't name here as he's a nice guy and runs a small agency of his own in Jabalpur. But he simply did not organize this well - for instance, we've had these long drives and he did not build in any time for meals, and we have kids along. He originally wanted to cram 7 people into a 6-seat minivan, when we fill up a 10-seater with our luggage. It was a battle to rectify that. I think he skimped in a lot of areas; I don't think he has a lot of experience with western travelers, or at least those who want better conditions than the backpacker crowd. The lesson is, check your itinerary thoroughly and make sure all of it is spelled out and suits your expectations. And more importantly, choose an agent who comes highly recommended on this board, where we've had great luck in places like Cambodia, for example. We did give him this feedback directly, because despite his good English we got the sense he was hearing these complaints for the first time. But I didn't want to slam the guy on here given what that could do to his business.
The other problem is not the agent, but India itself - aside from an oasis like the Imperial Hotel in Delhi, where our friends stayed, the accommodations are fairly poor for the price, and not close to what you'd find elsewhere in Asian developing countries. I've stayed at both the the Taj and Oberoi in Mumbai, and neither could hold a candle to a Shangri-La in Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing, etc.
Hopefully seeing the Taj Mahal will make up for it. The ratio of dead travel time (in cars, airports, etc.) to interesting sights is, for me, unbearable. If we had more attractive surroundings, or more relaxing circumstances, then it would not be such a problem.
Anyway, only four more hours in the car!
Full report to follow, assuming we make it out of here alive. While sure to draw flames from the Indiaphiles, perhaps it will be of some value to those on the fence about going, or at least in knowing what to expect. Life is too short to waste a lot of time and money on something you don't enjoy. But, to each his own!
