Any Advice on India Travel?

[MooNoi]

Hi Guys.

I'm heading off to India in 10 days time for the first two cricket tests between Australia and India. (GO AUSSIES!)

Its my first trip to India, and while I've read a lot and done a lot of research, everyone keeps saying, "no matter how much research you do, or how prepared you think you are, India will hit you like a ton of bricks".

 

Fair enough!

 

I'm not too worried about getting "Delhi Belly" or the like - for me when I travel, ignorance is bliss, and if I get a tummy bug, I get one. I'm kind of resigned to the fact.

 

But is there anything really important I should know about travel in India or dealing with Indians that the guide books DON'T tell me? Anything to do with getting scammed, mugged, robbed... any little tips that you can pass on that might make the trip easier.

 

My itinerary is: Bangalore - Chennai - Kolkata - Varanasi - Agra - Delhi.

 

So if you have any tips/info on the places above, or know the name of a good bar or nightspot, or something I really must see or do apart from the obvious (eg. Taj Mahal), if you could pass it on, that would be great.

And definitely not interested in sanuk while I'm there, (at least I think I'm not!), so not especially after "red light" info, but again, if there's anything outstanding that you know of, feel free!

 

Thanks in advance guys!

Cheers,

FlyP

[BelgianBoy]

FlyP,

 

From my own personal experiences :

 

- dont trust any Indian telling to trust them or trying to sell you something.

- negotiate everything, even taxis.

- bring the bare minimum

- P4P does exist, but I never bothered, lost of hassles, and girls in hotelbars are very pretty but too expensive

- beware of the food, but same needs to be said for most of Asia.

- dont be too paranoia, have fun, I always do there

- wobble your head when you talk to them, its a lot easier to understand them

 

BB

[Nervous_Dog]

HAHAHAH - if you think beggars and touts are agressive here, wait till you see India.

 

I had a mate who made the mistake of buying something, all of a suddne 40 guys surrounded the taxi (a 1950 Brit replica - I kinda like them, :Hindustani") trying to sell him EXACTLy the same thing he just bought!

 

Queues - HAHAHAHA - While they learnt to read and spell better than Aussies from the Brits, they never learnt to queue.

 

I was there when Aussie just won world cup. At Agra - (You have to go to ALL the sites, not just Taj Mahal, seriusly stunning - and in Delhi many places the same) I was at the front of the line when all these Indians started pushing in.

 

I screamed "STOP _ AUSTRALIAN WON TH EWORLD CUP - I AM AN AUSSIE - I AM FIRST"

 

For the first time they all stood back!

[pattaya127]

Take a lot of memory for your camera (mucho netcafes though, can make Crom of pix, and send me some off the oven!). It's a photographer's paradise. There is just so much character in the way they dress, look, kids, women are beautiful, and not adverse to have their picture taken. So many scenes you will never, ever encounter anywhere else in Asia. A different planet....

 

 

There will be moments of exasperation, that the type we read about being in Thailand won't even come close. You will finsih your trip, spent, exhausted, asking yourself too many questions, refusing to answer them so you can have a few hours of sleep , and it's atrip you will never forget. You are a virgin again, as travel goes, going to India.

 

Enjoy the deflowering!!!!! ::