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| Marti
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| Countries traveled: | 51 |
| US States Traveled: | 31 | |
| Essential item: | Hand Sanitizer |
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Place
India Subcontinent
India
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Style Adventurous | Budget $$ Champagne Backpacker |
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The land of colors, maddnes and scams
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Overall Rating (5 awesome - 1 terrible): 4 |
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| | | GENERAL | Program/company I traveled with:
holiday! | | | | HIGHLIGHTS | Major Activity:
Cinema, Historical Sites, Local Music, Local Dives, Street Stalls, White Linen Restaurants, Local Markets, People Watching | One thing you cannot miss:
People drinking water out of the Ganges River where they throw dead bodies and sewage. | One thing you should avoid:
getting food poisoning...oh, but that is virtually impossible. | Suggested visiting time:
2 weeks | | | | ACTIVITIES | Next time:
JAIPUR - great place to walk the streets.We had amazing opportunities for local interactions.
AGRA - Taj Mahal - Stay in Agra for one night so you can see the Taj at sunrise. Then get out!
VARANASI - This city is built on the Ganges River, which is considered holy water. When you die, if your body is burned in Varanasi and your ashes thrown into the 'Ganga' you will go to Nirvana. There are bodies being burned here 24/7. It is amazing place to explore. Like every tourist and pilgram we took a boat ride to watch the people bathing and drinking the water...the same water that the ashes and other dead bodies go into.
MUMBAI - Markets for cheap souviners in Colaba; Elephante Island - don't bother; Victoria Station - good British architecture; Taj Hotels for some peace & Quiet; India Gate - it's nice to take photos of.
SOUTH OF MUMBAI - we went 4 hours south of Mumbai to find a cool little beach town. It was interesting and nice to get out of Mumbai.
INDIAN WEDDING - we attended an Indian wedding and it was definitely the highlight of our time. If you can get invited to one - GO!! | | | | ACCOMODATION | Hotels/hostels/accom:
MUMBAI - Bentley's Hotel (Colaba 2281 1846, www.bentleyshotel.com). The rooms are basic, but it's clean and reasonably priced. Midland Hotel (Santacruz- 2611 0413, hotelmidland.com) which was near the airport. Very expensive, but they all are near the airport. simple rooms.
JAPUIR - Shahar Palace (91 141 2221861, shaharpalace@hotmail.com) It's run by a lovely family. We really got an insight into the Indian life-style...servants and all. At night they would set up a fire outside where we would sit and chat. Lovely place to stay. They have hot water, but not exactly hot showers (read my blog on Indian - accomodation).
AGRA - Shanti Lodge - for the dodgy backpacker part of town it wasn't bad. We had a view of the Taj and there is a bar on the roof that has an amazing view of the Taj. We passed by Sheela Hotel and that looked much better, but no view!
VARANASI - Alka Hotel (www.hotelalkavns.com) Great place to stay. Rooms are basic, but it was right above the water front and there was a central courtyard where all the travelers hung out. We paid up ahead of time for a room with a balcony overlooking the water. They wriped us off with that because our balcony was right next to the social courtyard that looked out over the water.
DELHI - Our local friend hooked us up with AJUJA RESIDENCY (rashmi@ahujaresidency.com, 91 11 24649008) great place to stay. We had our own patio on the third floor.
| Part of town to stay:
VARANASI - definitely stay at Hotel Alka. It's social and right in the heart of everything. | | | | FOOD | Retaurant/local dives/markets:
MUMBAI - Indigo Delicatessen (www.indigodeli.com) It should be in Sydney or NY, but it's a great change from everything else. | To try:
well, you are in India, so Indian food. It was a nice change to be in a country full of vegetarians. Pure Veg written everywhere!
Try Palak Paneer (Spinich & local cheese), Chana Masala (chickpeas), Dahl (lentils), Roti (bread), chapati (our favorite style of bread). | | | | NIGHTLIFE | Local Activity/Cultural Experience:
Indian Wedding - that was the best entertainment.
Bollywood film - if you haven't seen one before you should definitely go! | At night:
We did not go out very late at night. Most of the places we were staying were not safe past reasonable hours. | | | | GETTING AROUND | Local transport:
Flights - we bought a 7-day Airpass from Indian Airlines. It helped us get from point to point, but we had so many delays due to fog in Delhi. Read my blog - flying efficentcy before you fly in India.
CAR - we hired a car twice which comes with a driver! It was a good way to get around, but the roads were insane and not safe at all. Trucks, cars, camels, cows, people, tuck tucks, motorcycles all swerving every direction. See my blog - Road Trip Indian Style. | My Route:
We flew on Emerites from NY via Dubai to Mumbai. Then Mumbai to Jaipur, over land to Agra, Delhi, Flew Delhi to Varanasi, Flew Varansi to Mumbai, over land south of Mumbai | | | | SAFETY | Safety Tips:
In general yes. BUT there are more scams in India then anywhere else I've traveled. The roads are not safe. At night I would be careful. |
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Three essentials for India:
GET YOUR VISA ORGANIZED AHEAD OF TIME. The Embassy wait can be brutal!
A-Z of Adventure Travel Insurance from World Nomads as you will probably get "Delhi Belly."
Hostelworld was a great help for finding cheap, but decent accommodation in India!
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