Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with travel and India

Prepaid iPhone data plan in Mumbai?

jesseendahl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:15 -0800

Hi, I will be living in Mumbai for 11 weeks next summer. I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. What is my best bet in terms of carrier and plan for the cheapest and most reliable data access? I plan to do local calls over the cell phone voice network and international calls via Skype on the iPhone. Thanks in advance!

How much India in 1 week?

forallmankind — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:39:31 -0800

Travelling in India; I'm in Bangalore for a 2 week business trip, on Friday I have 1 week vacation. Part of me would like to see what I can during that time, but I'm also realizing (a) I've become a lazy traveller used to car rentals & Expedia, (b) getting to places here can take a long time. I'm becoming disenchanted because the do-able-ness of planning travel to multiple locations in such a short time seems hard, and I also have relatively heavy luggage & then there's also heat/ rain issues at this time of the year. Am I overthinking a plate of beans? All the places that look worth a trip seem difficult to plan when time is tight. I can fly to Delhi easy enough, but then what - day trips to Agra & Jaipur? I mean I could be in Delhi Friday, Agra Saturday, and then...? (I should add that metropolises don't rock my boat). And is it too hot for the Taj? What if I want to go to Varanasi or Amritsar or Udaipur Or Jaisalmer or even Darjeeling? I mean, I went to Mysore yesterday and that took 3hrs! I know, I should focus, right? Well, I guess I don't exactly know what I'm focussing on. But any information pertaining to a do-able, plannable(ish) 1 week trip would be awesome.

Things to do/see/eat/avoid/meet in these countries, on my first RTW trip?

avocade — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:48:47 -0800

Things to do/see/eat/avoid/meet in these countries, on my first RTW trip? Finally heading out on a very unplanned RTW trip with one of those Star Alliance tickets. These are the flight routes I have set at the moment (three weeks before heading out, so still malleable) * Stockholm-San Francisco (June 6th, for Apple's Developer Conference, WWDC, et al.)
* SF-NYC (more work-related stuff...)
* NYC-Auckland, NZ (around July 12th; I'm a bit hesitant on NZ in the middle of winter, though)
* Christchurch, NZ-Tokyo (just staying a short while in NZ if at all)
* Tokyo-Singapore (staying a couple weeks in Tokyo)
** Local airlines within Indonesia, to Jakarta, Bali, Gilli Islands/Lombak, Komodo Island (seemingly very good weather in July/August)
* Bali (Denpasar)-Chennai (seemingly extremely _bad_ weather in July/August, monsoon period)
* Mumbai-Gothenburg (home) around Sept 3d

So, I reach out to the Hive to come up with opinions on both the rough outline of the trip itself, but more importantly, as mentioned in the rubric, what (and who) to do/see/eat/avoid/meet in those locations. As you can see, this trip is heavily compressed, and if I could have put it somewhere else during the year (let's say during our terrible Swedish winter...) things would probably have matched a lot better, and more time would have been available. All in all, probably around 3 months total.

(Astute readers may have noted I completely passed over the "main attraction" of the East, namely China. I've decided it's just too much for this trip, and in any way the weather is awful in Shanghai until October, so I'll do a separate one-month:er sometime this Winter. )

For interest, I will try to stay with couchsurfing.com members wherever I can, both as a measure to lower the cost, but more important to connect with people on the ground, and get a richer experience, as well as hopefully friends for life. Profile here (I know, nice couch):

http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/avocade/

PS. I can change the dates for any flight up to 24 hour before for free, but a route change costs $125 IIRC.

More info, and a nice (and time-eating) RTW planner, here:

http://www.staralliance.com/en/travellers/fare_products/round_the_world_fare_faq.html
http://802.flightlookup.com/rtw/rtw_1.php?region=AP0

With Kids in India

anadem — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:12:45 -0800

Four kids moving to Delhi and needing two weeks entertainment there. Kids are 2, 4, 8 & 10. The 4yo is a boy, other 3 girls. How to entertain them (as non-parent traveling companion) for two weeks in India while kids' parents are getting jobs etc. sorted out? What to bring from London? There won't be much travel except the Heathrow-Delhi flight. Ideas appreciated please!

How can I trust airline reviews when they're in all caps?

postcommunism — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:06:36 -0800

NYC to Mumbai. Air India or Kuwait Airways? Phrased differently, should I arrive late night or early morning? I'm flying from New York to Mumbai next month, and faced with the two airlines above, I have no idea which to choose. Both seem to have downsides.

Air India seems like a more sensible choice if only due to the nationality. However, they'll drop me in Mumbai at 10:45pm, which seems like a bad time for someone unfamiliar with the city, and who will have to find a hotel or hostel right off. I could stay up all night, wander around, and deal with it in the morning, but this hardly seems like the best way to do things.

Kuwait Airways will put me in Mumbai at a much more workable 4:50am, but I've heard far more bad about the airline than good. Thing is, I'm not picky. As long as I arrive at my destination intact, I don't much care if the flight attendants are late with my coke (or don't even bring one at all). My in-flight entertainment is a long book, so I don't care if the TV screens work. I do, however, feel very strongly about arriving at my destination with the least amount of bureaucratic hassle I can manage. Long layovers are no problem; having to hassle someone for two hours to get on a new connecting flight after my original one gets canceled is something I'd like to avoid.

I'll be traveling with one carry-on. Lost luggage is not--or should not be--a problem.

Right now I'm leaning towards Kuwait Airways. However, all I can see when I try to buy a ticket on their website is departure, arrival, and price; I can't imagine it's a straight shot, and I'd rather not have to (potentially) deal with another national bureaucracy if I end up having a layover in Kuwait. I feel like I don't have all the information I should have in this case. And, in Air India's favor and as much as my better judgment decries it, wandering disoriented around Mumbai all night sounds like the kind of stupid that might be fun.

Am I overestimating the ease of finding a place once I get on the ground? For whatever reason, it seems cheaper than booking in advance.

People with experience, help me out here. Which is the smarter choice? (If you have no practical advice, reminiscing about your own times in planes or in India is cool too)

Help me get to the subcontinent on the cheap

special-k — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:08:03 -0800

What is the cheapest way for me to fly to India at the end of December? I would like to be in India to attend a wedding on Jan 2. I can leave here anytime after the 17th and have until January 10th to be back so my dates are somewhat flexible as long as it includes Jan 2.

I don't have a huge budget for travel. I would like to spend a max of $1000 on airfare. All the tickets I see on Kayak cost at least $1700. I am a student so I checked out STA travel but those tickets aren't any cheaper. Where else should I look?

I am also willing to take a last minute deal (like flights leaving in the next 24 hours) but does such a thing exist for this route?

I would like to fly out of San Francisco but I'm happy to make connections if it will keep me within my budget.

GiftFilter: must-have objects for a year-long trip

XiBe — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:09:08 -0800

What are the must-have objects for a year-long trip in the World's south-east (India, Asia, Australia). So, my brother is about to embark for his year-long trip (previous questions) on a shoestring (15€/day, roughly $20), and I'd like to buy him something truly useful to take with him, something that he hasn't thought about yet.

He already has a good list of usual items (french, in english): Swiss-army knife, mosquito net, dynamo headlamp, ziplock bags, and then some.

Requisites: small and lightweight (has to take it around the world), cheap (can replace it easily if lost), very useful/needed/helpful...

Please give me your ideas, hivemind!

Thoughts on volunteer travel in India with CCS

thejimp — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:36:30 -0800

My wife and I are planning a trip to India and we're strongly considering a volunteer/travel program like Cross Cultural Solutions. Anyone out there ever participate in such a program in India? Anyone ever volunteer abroad through CCS? Please share.

Where should we go?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:03:33 -0800

How and where to go for two weeks at the end of August? Me and my friend John would like to take a two week vacation together in or about the last two weeks of August.

Some facts:
-we are both poor students
-I'll be studying the language of whatever place we choose in the coming months
-we don't need any fancy accomodations, shelters and hostels are fine
-beaches and warm/tropical places would be nice, but not necessary
-it's not necessary either, but it'd be nice to be able to score mushrooms/acid/weed while we were there since we both enjoy that
-we won't have money to buy plane tickets till july

We don't want to go to:
-Europe/Scandinavia/Canada, anywhere too cold
-places where the dollar will be especially weak compared to local currency

Places we would love to go:
-India (1st choice!!)
-Cheap parts of Asia (ie not Japan)
-Africa
-South America

Basically the deciding factor is where we can get the cheapest plane tickets/accomodations.

So where would be the best place to go, and where can we get the cheapest plane tickets? Please tell us anything you think would be helpful!

Advice for first trip to India?

kdern — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:23:28 -0800

Advice for first trip to India? I'm researching a possible trip to India for me and my girlfriend at the end of the year (between November and January). We've never been there before, and would probably have about two weeks to travel.

Can you give me your suggestions for possible itineraries? We don't want to run around to 5 different cities - we'd want to take our time and travel slowly in order to really get the feel of life there as best as we can - but we want to see some variety.

I know we'd definitely want some time in a city (Mumbai?) and, I imagine, at least a quick visit to a nice suburb to see how the other half lives. We might want to allow a couple days for a beach resort somewhere, possibly in the middle or at the end, to help unwind a little from the hustle and bustle.

BTW - I'm a travel agent and have traveled alone in Thailand. I'm not interested in tours or packages - would prefer to book everything on my own.

Thanks in advance.

Tips for a monthlong business trip to Hyderabad

jules1651 — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:02:16 -0800

I am going to be in Hyderabad for a month (February) for work and would welcome any feedback and suggestions. I read this thread but I have some more specific questions: I am staying in Banjara Hills at the Taj Deccan. I will probably be getting home around 9pm on weeknights. Are there restaurants, etc., in walking distance that would be worth checking out, or should I stick to the hotels? Is it an area one can easily walk around in? How safe is a woman alone at night? Are there any quick weekend trips worth doing, say leaving Sat and returning Sunday? What should I see in Hyderabad itself? I don't want to be too skittish about eating/getting sick, what are commonsense rules to follow? What are tipping conventions for hotels, restaurants, cabs, tours? Are there any guidelines I should follow in terms of dress? I would also welcome any and all other tips. Thanks!

Delhi-gating Our Gift Budget

Rykey — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:51:56 -0800

Broke-ass Americans taking a trip to India-- what to give as gifts to our hosts? (2007 update on someone else's AskMe question from 2005) We're going to India to visit Mrs. Rykey's relatives in January. They are urban (Delhi, Kanpur), adult (nobody under 25), and upper-class (professionals with servants who do the cooking, housekeeping, etc.).

Since saving for the trip has tapped most of our budget, we're looking for gifts that are handy or hard to come by in those parts, but affordable (maybe $10-15US for each person).

Since the march toward globalization has stepped up somewhat in India the past few years, I'm not sure if the suggestions made in the '05 post are still relevant to the same degree. If they are, that's fine-- those suggestions (chocolates, Bic lighters, pens, etc.) were good and fit our budget.

Bonus points for responses from residents of the subcontinent!

Rajisthan in the Wet season - to be avoided?

Rash — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:01:57 -0800

Should I avoid traveling in NW India during the monsoon? Planning a round-the-world trip; the only time I can go is summertime. The say it won't be so hot in India once the rains begin, but I'm wondering if it's rather pointless to spend much time there during the rainy season. Will I be able to appreciate sights like Jodphur and Jaisalmer in July, when it's allegedly raining buckets, and muddy? Or should I skip it and wait until I can return and spend more time there, in the optimal dry season?

I'm currently planing to fly into Delhi and out of Bombay, using the trains to travel between and to the places mentioned above -- any other related tourist tips are appreciated.

Can you one-way to Bom-bay?

ageispolis — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:39:04 -0800

Can you fly into India with a one way ticket? Trying to book flights for an upcoming trip to India and Southeast Asia. We're planning on landing in Mumbai. I don't have a set end date of when to come home so I would like to fly into India with a one way and then buy my ticket home overseas. I heard this is the cheaper method and also allows more flexibility. However, when speaking with the travel agent to book my reservation, she asked me if I was certain I could enter India on a one way. I have no idea, I checked a few embassy websites but couldn't find out any information. Anyone know first hand if this is possible?

Thanks.

Looking for the cheapest way to get to India

ageispolis — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:39:57 -0800

What's the least expensive way to get to India? a little context:

A group of six young travellers from Vancouver, Calgary, and Philadelphia are travelling to India together in January of 2008. I was wondering how we could do this the cheapest way possible.

Specifically, where in India is it cheapest to fly to from North America? Would it make more sense for us to rendezvous at a hub in Europe and fly into the country as a group? Price is the biggest factor here, but seeing as we're coming from three different cities, ease of travel should be taken into consideration.

Thanks for your help. Any other resources would be much appreciated as well. It doesn't matter where in India we start off, just as long as we get there sometime in January (pour example, if a dirt cheap flight to Turkey followed by a ferry ride to South India is the cheapest way to go then that's exactly what I'm looking for.)

Best way to organize trip to India?

Malad — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:22:00 -0800

What's the best way to organize a reasonably inexpensive (but not super-low budget) trip to India? Should we use a travel agency to tour around (we do not want a group tour, though)--and if so, which one? Any recommendations for tour books? Any recommendations for must-not-miss sights?

Can I possibly avoid getting sick in India?

metasav — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:02:35 -0800

please elaborate about getting sick in india. really. I am emetophobic. Which means i have vomit-phobia. I really do really...erfh...have to go to India in the fall for a wedding. I am, amazingly enough, a serious foodie/gastronaut and will be heartbroken if I have to survive on powerbars and bottled h2o. Which I'm still not convinced will keep me safe, more likely just make me feel/look like an a**hole. Which I'd really rather not do.

I have googled and mefied myself endlessly, and I still have some graphic questions only an emetophobe could ask. I really would like some graphic answers. Sorry.

All over the web, people say they "get sick" in India, but no one ever distinguishes between diarrhea and vomit. And I really need that. Reality for me is that if i'm pooping a river for weeks, no matter how bad I feel, I won't go crazy. I'll be grateful. If I throw up...um...it'll be bad. I can't possibly state this emphatically enough.

So, please tell me "how" you were sick in India, and what made you sick, or how you didn't get sick, while the people around you did.

I have the unusually cast-iron stomach most emetophobes have. I have never had a stomach virus at the age of 31 (seriously knocking on wood and considering deleting that claim for fear of...norwalk's law?), and I've thrown up 4 times in my life. So I am a tough cookie about this, but the fear is mounting. This trip is seriously seven months away, and I'm already nearing panic attack mode. Over-hearing "wow, when I was in India, oof...never been that sick in my life...wanted to die" from, oh, most people i talk to, and some people online is really pushing me to the edge.

So, how do I not "get sick" and what, really, is "sick" in India.

Oh, and please, I know I know, I'm crazy and need to get a real problem. Dumbest- phobia- ever award anyone? Whatever, I knew someone growing up (A GUY!) phobic of Rhododendrons. Everyone is crazy in the end. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom...

OH! And I'll be up north in the mountains in late September, and in Goa a couple weeks later.

Yes. I feel lucky.

What do I need to know about Bangalore?

aberrant — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 11:08:26 -0800

Going to Bangalore on business. What do I need to know? So it looks like I'm enroute to Bangalore in late Feb / early March. This is my first trip to India. What do I need to know? Cultural, safety, and food tips greatly appreciated from those who've been. (I'm from the US, in the event it matters - and cannot pass for non-Caucasian.)

Also, it looks like I might have a couple days to travel on the tail end of the trip. Any recommendations?

nipple and baby care in the himalayas.

taff — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 03:14:55 -0800

we're taking a four month old baby to north east india in two weeks. please give us some travel tips about travelling with a baby in india and keeping her warm and my nipples from getting frostbite. we're going to dolangi if anyone has heard of it. near solan, or shimla, but shimla is a lot higher above sea level than dolangi.

i've been to india many times before, but never with a baby. and i've never travelled with a baby. she's part breast fed (hence my anxiety about the health of my nipples.... fascinating to you all, i'm sure) and part bottle.

i've got water purifying tablets and sterilising tablets (milton, if you've heard of it) and we're taking enough disposable diaper/nappies to sink a ship.....

we also can't remember what the electric sockets look like and they're all different all over india, of course.

i'm sure i have more questions that i haven't thought of, so any old advice or experience or educated guesses would be gratefully devoured.
desperate taff
not currently with frozen nipples.......in sunny downtown sydney by the sea

Advice for visiting and living in India

bookish — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:26:31 -0800

I will be leaving in a month for Jaipur, Rajasthan, to study abroad. I'll spend the spring living with an Indian family, studying international development, and doing an internship at an NGO in or near the city. Afterwards, I may travel around India for a while with a friend. Please give me any and all advice you have about traveling and living in India. I have lots and lots of questions.

I'm a junior in college, studying international health and social issues, and am doing this through the University of Minnesota's Studies in International Development program. I don't yet know anything about the family I will be staying with, or exactly what my internship will entail.

What should I pack for 4-5 months in northern India? What can I buy easiest there, what will I wish I had brought with me? How am I going to want to dress? Jaipur is a pretty big city: is it going to be easy to find stuff like tampons and sunscreen and contact solution? Any books I should read before I go, or bring with me? Should I bring gifts for my host family, and if so, what?

And what about that family thing? It's part of the trip that I both dread and look forward to. What is it like to live with an Indian family? What will they expect of me, as an American coming to live with them? Will they be protective of me, as a young woman in their care? I haven't lived with a "family" since I was sixteen or so; even then it was just my mother and me and our cat. I'm used to a lot of independence and privacy and I have a feeling that this situation will take a lot of getting used to. At the same time, it'll be a great chance to develop a close relationship with some local people. I don't want to accidentally offend or upset them, although I'm sure some minor faux pas are par for the course. Any advice on that front?

What are some things I should make sure to do and see and experience during my time in India, especially considering I'll have some opportunity to travel after the program is over? Where's good to go, in May or June? By then I should be speaking some Hindi, and have a fair bit of experience with Rajasthan. I'm the sort of traveler who likes to just immerse herself in other worlds; I'm more interested in experiencing interesting places and cultures and meeting interesting people than seeing monuments.

Any general advice about living in India, for a non-Indian 21-year-old college girl from the midwest, with very little experience traveling outside the US? I've been interested in India for many years, and I know quite a lot about the country-- but it's a huge and varied and strange country, and there is so much I don't yet know. Rajasthan, or even Jaipur, specific information would be especially lovely.

Tamil Nadu Tips

UbuRoivas — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:23:19 -0800

IndiaFilter: anybody have any specific tips on places to visit / avoid in Tamil Nadu? I will be in Tamil Nadu for about two weeks, landing in Chennai, before hopping onto a train to the North. In the past, the only part of the state that I have touched has been Kodaikanal. I have a rough idea of where I plan to go, but am interested in others' opinions.

(yes, I know about Thorn Tree etc - interested in hearing from MeFites specifically)

Himalayas in February?

Wendy — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:01:31 -0800

Is trekking/bumming around the Indian Himalayas in February a good idea? My boyfriend and I are doing a round the world trip and spending February in India. He really wants to check out the Himalayas in Northern India, but my preliminary research seems to indicate that February isn't really the best time of year to go traipsing around on the roof of the world. I guess I'm wondering if travelling to and in the Himalayas in Feb is (A) practical and/or (B) a good time to experience the place. Or should we just stick to the beach?

Lost in Chennai

mordecai — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:19:43 -0800

A friend and I are planning to go to Chennai in search of adventure (we're from Singapore) in March '07. Any advice? This'll be a 2 wks long trip and we wanna rough it out and make some friends and basically have a good time. How does one 'go off the beaten track' in Chennai?

We'd like to do all this cheaply so we're thinking of getting a room in a motel somewhere and survive mostly on roadside foods. I understand India's already a pretty cheap place to visit & all but we're recent graduates and we don't have too much money, so any tips to cut on costs would be great.

We're also thinking of travelling down to Pondicherry or Goa for a couple of days.

Thanks for the help MeFites!

Help me find a legal non-for-profit summer job.

evadery — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 17:19:41 -0800

I'm searching for a 3-month law-related not-for-profit summer job outside of North America. Where should I go, and what should I do? I'm an (almost) lawyer in Toronto, Canada. I'm currently doing a 10-month articling stint at a big Toronto firm, where I'm basically a real lawyer at half the salary. However, at the beginning of June there is a 3 month gap between where my articling ends and where my (theoretical) big firm job begins again.

So, I'm trying to find a job or something interesting to keep me busy for the few months - or give me something to do after I get fired. I was thinking about doing some work for a not-for-profit somewhere interesting - I've always wanted to go to India, but I could see myself in Africa and South America. I'm interested in any good cause (hopefully in a legal role, and bonus points if it is media or telecommunications-related or if I can take a real active role at the organization). Getting paid would be a happy bonus, but not necessary.

So, outside of speaking to my old law school and getting their suggestions, do any of you have any thoughts on where to find jobs, any previous experience of your own, or even interesting places to live for a few summer months? Any input would be appreciated.

From the "I'll end in hell for asking" series ...

magullo — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:10:24 -0800

Cost of living in Mumbai? I've been offered to transfer to the New York (or was it LA?) of India. We're (wife and I) fairly excited about the opportunity and potential for adventure. But we are also seasoned round-the-world dwellers and would like to make sure we are looking at it in a realistic way. And of course I am painfully aware or the moral chasm implicit in the question. I still would appreciate if someone threw my way some specific estimates as to how much is it going to cost us to live there. We would like a nice apartment and enjoying a bit of social life and travel, but we're a lot less picky about the (constant) "niceness" of the last two. My office would be (relatively) close to the Gateway of India.

Also: my wife is from SE Asia, I am from SW Europe and we would like to have kids soon (likely during our stay in Mumbai).