Plane Tickets Booked! All India Tips Welcome
 

OK Fodorites: I have purchased my airline travel LA to Delhi Arriving September 21 for 2 weeks of touring ending up in Goa for a few days of chillin'. For anyone interested it was $808.00 PP round trip excluding taxes which brought the total up to about $1,100 PP on Malaysia airways (which I liked as it didn't have a lot of stops) I am just seeking impressions, advice, anything you wish you had but didn't bring? Most interesting gifts to purchase? How did India effect you? I have been to so called "exotic" destinations before (Egypt, Thailand, East Africa) but I understand India is unlike anything! Thanks!

Thyra, what's your itinerary? We really enjoyed India. Yes, the poverty is striking. Yes, it's dirty and polluted but it's not like any place we've been to before. We loved the rural roads where there's so much activity taking place. Make sure to bring lots of disposable sanitizer cloths. India is the first place where we actually used up our entire supply of anti-bacterial wipes. Keep an open mind and enjoy!

Congrats on making the plunge. Pleas epost your complete itinerary. India is simply the greatest adventure, a maddening crazy overwhelming country.

www.waynehazle.com/india/

its sort of a combo of all those under-developed places you have already been, but twice as interesting...

most of us suggest a private driver to get around....but we have no idea about your budget...

we spent two and 1/2 days in delhi and could have used about 2 more...

two nites in agra is perfect....4 nites in jaipur was excellent also...

we loved our side trip to sanganer near jaipur...'cloth factory'

we would have liked to have been able to walk around more in market areas, especially in delhi....time did not permit...

purchases: carpets....cloth items, i.e. tablecloths, napkins, placemats, womens clothing...man's belt, leather jackets in agra, inlaid stone if you like it (very expensive)...its a shoppers paradise...

only bottled water....be careful what you eat....observe all of the rules....get your shots...malaria area....

hotels are very expensive for western class....we stayed in two sheratons and they were acceptable...

heritage hotel properties are a lot of fun and some are not that expensive....we stayed at neemrana fort palace hotel and loved it...not too far from delhi...

Hi Thyra, congrats on taking the first step in your trip!
I remember your previous post asking about airfares. Sounds to me like you ended up with a good fare, but I'm curious, did you find out in your research that now was a good time to buy, that it probably wouldn't go any lower, or that the seats were selling out, etc? I'm looking at even more expensive fares than you for an anticipated Nov/Dec trip and I'm struggling with the same thing. Thanks.

With only 2 weeks, don’t try to do too much. Less is more. IMO you will get more of out seeing 2-3 places thoroughly than rushing to see a lot, it becomes a blur. Also you will be in north India in still relatively hot weather so again, don’t try to fit in too much in one day or the two weeks.

You may find Goa still a bit rainy, are you sure that you want to include a beach vacation at that time, it’s the tail end of the monsoon there still. (As you will find in Rajasthan as well, although they get a lot less rain overall than the coasts, see weatherbase.com and see if the average rainfall is OK with you. For example, Goa in September is about 3 times rainier than LA is in the winter months – and September is the <i>end</i> of the monsoon. Rajasthan is about as rainy as LA in the winter.)

With only 2 weeks, you may want to spend more time in the interior in any event, a few days at a tented camp like Chhatra Sagar near Jodhpur, take a look at http://www.chhatrasagar.com/ or elsewhere in Rajasthan. Or if you want to “chill” go to the cooler highlands of Shimla, Darjeeling or even a place like Ladakh. The Wildflower Hall outside Shimloa or the Andanda spa near Rishikesh would be supberb places to chill as well…

I am a big proponent of getting a good driver -- ours was a lovely, trustworthy, and knowlegeable man who enhanced our trip a great deal.

I say take those little bottles of hand sanitizer, I found the wipe things unnecessary and annoying to pack and dispose of.

Gifts - find things in street markets. I didn't get to do enough of this shopping, next trip I'll put it in the foreground. Places with great markets I did buzz through: Pushkar, Jaipur, and Linking Road in Bandra (Bombay).

If you like unique things: in Pushkar (worth just a trip on the way somewhere in my opinion) - as you get near to the most famous temple, on the left is a shop with old textile things in it -- clothes, bags. Spend your money there: old Rajasthani embroidered/mirror-worked thing, shawls you won't see elsewhere.

If you know sizes - get jooti - decorated shoes - for under usd 5. You won't find them here and they are enchanting.

In FabIndia, buy all kinds of clothes for men, women, and children, and all kinds of scarves and shawls, too.

We just returned from 38 days in India and had a fantastic and fascinating trip.

1. We much preferred smaller cities and towns and villages than big cities which tended to have more suffering. In a village people can eat and live in low level housing but when they go to cities they may live on the street with children in horrendous conditions. In villages the earth floors are swept and clean and most people find a way to keep clean but in cities it is disturbing to see the conditions and probably a mistake for people with children to move to cities without jobs or places to stay.

2. Having a private car and driver is imperative and less expensive than you might imagine. Selecting from unknown drivers from place to place or thinking of buses is a huge error and the overnight trains are not clean.

3. South India (Kerala, Pondicherry, Puri), Khajuraho, and Rajastan were great destinations with good accommodations available and fascinating sights. Veranasi and Agra were much more disturbing and we felt one night in Agra was sufficient and 3 nights in Varanasi was too long since it was the dirtiest and most upsetting place we visited in all of India. Mumbai and Delhi had some attraction but are still big cities which, to me, are more similiar and less unique a view of India than smaller places.

4. You really should plan to travel light since it will be quite hot in September. Cropped pants with simple tops are best and you can rinse those at night or pay for one day hotel laundry. Bring an empty duffel for stuff you will want to buy, lots of wash and dry packets, tissues for bathrooms, and anti bacterial hand cleaner. You may also want a small portable clothesline and sink stopper.

5. Shop for great shawls and scarves, good cotton tops, great costume and silver jewelry, pillow covers and table runners, and sandals. Be wary of anything made of Lac (glossy painted plaster) since it will break. Rugs are cheap but heavy to carry and do not trust shipping.

6.Be very careful about what you eat and drink- no tap water or ice and choose only safe recommended restaurants. I was careful and never got sick but my partner, who is not so careful, was sick 3 times in 38 days, once quite ill with high fever with food poisoning. We believe he got sick from food eaten on Air India that had been sitting in the sun on a runway too long.

7. Two weeks is not a long time and the south will be too hot so think about quick stops in Delhi and Agra and consider a week in Rajastan. We thought Jaipur was more of a shopping mecca and less interesting than Udaipur and Jaisalmer.

We loved India and plan to return in September (in the next year or two) for Gujurat and Ladakh. The optimum weather for south India is Jan. Feb. and for Delhi and Rajastan Feb. and March. September is considered the best time for far northern destinations so you may want to plan on doing the north this trip and save the south for another trip at another time of year.

Happy trails! you will love India.

Two of the things I bought in India that I love the most is our rug. We did have it shipped. If you go to a reliable store it will arive. We also kept in touch with our driver as a resource in case of problems. Chickan work shirts..hand embroidered, white on white blend well at home and do not look touristy. Allow time to spend at markets. It is at the heart of Indian life and we were always too rushed seeing every thing, so as not to miss anything.

Little tip re: shopping, shipping -- our driver, hired through a travel agency, knew people in shops, as all professional drivers do, and was able to arrange for us to have some things shipped home by a shop in Jaipur.

It was a fabric shop that also made clothes; one of us ordered some stuff from them, and then they were extremely helpful to us about shipping some other things (clothes we'd broguth and worn to a wedding and no longer needed).

We paid for the courier service they used, of course, but they packed the stuff and dealt with all the details and paperwork for us.

First off, thanks for all fo the responses thus far:

A note on my itinerary yes it's a big mouthful of trip for the scant 12 nights I can break away from my job but I have done similar paces before and really enjoyed myself! The key is believing in the back of my mind that when I come back to elderhostel, I will be sure to stay for months and months! Ok, here goes:
Arrive Sept 22 Depart October 4
Arrive: Delhi 2 nights
Varanasi 3 nights
Agra 2 nights
Jaipur 2 nights
Goa 3 nights
We have booked through a tour company called India Invites (recommended by someone on this board) for a private tour with guides and drivers throughout. I am feeling very good about the itinerary and manipulated it several times for a lot of customizing.
Oh I know what I wanted to ask, did anyone have a bad feeling about riding elephants in India (I know that in some places they can be handled inhumanely, and with respect to cultures that view animals differently from ours, I personally, am bothered by animals suffering; as an example while travelling in N. Africa, I was given a carriage ride through 110 degree weather by a limping horse that was being excessively whipped (needless to say, I got out to walk but it was very unpleasant). Does anyone have insight into how elephants are treated in India?