Planning a Trip To India (Spicy)

• Delhi 2 nights at most (depending on your arrival/departure time, even 1 night and 1 day could be enough). In Delhi, you are likely to have many incredible experiences in a just single day, which is sufficiently overwhelming, if you are short on time.
• Varanasi 2 nights instead of 3. Although we enjoyed Varanasi very much, and we thought we could have spent more time, 2 days would be enough to see everything and experience the city.
• After the first week, plan a break in e.g. Goa. You will need a rest after so many unbelievable impressions.
• Skip Fatehpur Sikri, it was too much of the same thing. Agra Fort and Red Fort in Delhi are similar.
• Don’t stay in Agra. Run away as soon as possible.
• Skip Udaipur, or stay only 1 night for the sake of Ranakpur Jain Temple. The “white” city is nothing special.
• Adding Amritsar or Rishikesh (or both) instead would be nicer I think.
• Ellora Caves seem beautiful but I am still not sure if it would be worth the distance if you are not traveling somewhere else along the way.
• Hotel Shivdev and Kankarwa Haveli were the only bad choices, never ever stay there.

Chicken Tikka Masala – Diili Haat, Delhi

• Historical sites in Delhi (Musts: Qutb Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Lodi Garden; Nice to have: Red Fort & Old Delhi if you have time)
• Chicken tikka masala and garlic naan at Dilli Haat, Delhi
• Varanasi as a whole
• The night on the train with a wagon load of Indians -fart to fart, burp to burp (seriously :-))
• Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in Agra
• Our room in Pearl Palace Heritage Hotel, Jaipur
• Watching a movie at Raj Mandir Cinema in Jaipur
• Pushkar and its not pushy vendors
• Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur
• Diwali festival
• Ranakpur Temple and the landscape between Jodhpur and Udaipur
• Sunset from Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
• Feeling far far far away in Goa

Udaipur during the Festival of Lights (Diwali)

• To realize for the first time, how slowly time might pass.
• Aggressive people trying to collect money for entering mosques. When you are reluctant to pay entrance fees for a house of God, they push you away aggressively.
• A failed attempt to visit Nizamuddin Dargah on our first day.
• Trying to walk in Old Delhi and giving up after 100 meters.
• The endless lies of Paul, our driver for the Rajasthan tour.
• The bureaucracy of Indians – at the airport, at the hotel check-ins, etc.

Palolem Beach – Goa

PRACTICAL TIPS

• Book your train tickets as early as possible (at least 2 months ahead of time). The website seat61.com provides detailed information on how to book train tickets.
• The train tickets are usually bought by Indian travel agencies to sell them later on more expensive. If you are desperate enough, you can try them as well, once you arrive in the country.
• Get your vaccinations refreshed unless you are going to stay and eat in fancy five or more-star hotels and restaurants. I got all vaccinations except typhus and rabies. I took no malaria medicament – not even as stand-by, due to its high price. Biological mosquito repellent was sufficient.
• Print out a map of your hotel. At first, all drivers said they don’t know the hotel but they found it, upon showing the map. They try to drive you to an alternative hotel, so be aware.
• Print out all your tickets. If you don’t have the printouts, you are not allowed to enter the terminals at the airport. In Mumbai, we had to pay 100 INR for a piece of paper, whilst trying to enter the domestic terminal with a mobile ticket. Again in Mumbai, a businessman was not allowed to enter the international terminal, as he had the ticket only in electronic form. No joke.
• Bring wet wipes, as much as you can. Believe me, you will need them all.
• Don’t support anyone begging for money or sweets.
• Indian chewing gums are tasteless. If you bring some with a strong peppermint flavor, for instance, kids will love it.
• If you give presents to the kids, like notebooks, make them use them instantly to prevent reselling (like asking them to write their names down).
• Start your trip in Delhi. No matter in which city you start, you will hate it. If you start with Delhi, you will hate it for a good reason, plus you will like the other cities after the craziness of Delhi.
• In Delhi don’t stay in the backpacker area, as it does not have the amenities that a backpacker area should offer. It has nothing to do with Khao San Road in Bangkok; believing so was a bad illusion. Pick a nicer hotel in the New Delhi area to ease your first shock.
• If someone asks you about your plans, make sure to tell them that you booked all your tickets and hotels. They will not leave you alone until they sell you a travel package. If you are in favor of booking a package, don’t pay more than 20% as a deposit.
• Don’t get into any private cars. We did it twice; luckily nothing bad happened, but this was pure luck I think.
• When you buy a ticket at a prepaid taxi booth at the airport, don’t hand out the receipt until you arrive at your hotel. However, with the exception that when leaving the airport, the driver needs to show it to the officer. When he asks for the receipt at that moment, don’t panic, like me 🙂
• Restrict your friendship with Indians to “Hello, hi” – as an Indian guy himself recommended to us. Never accept cigarettes, drinks, or food from foreigners. Yeah, as your mom would say: don’t talk to strangers 🙂
• Be careful if you see wet areas on the streets – it is most probably urine!
• When walking on the streets, keep your hands and belongings close to your body, and try to be as compact as possible; it is just a matter of seconds to get caught your hand by a motorbike!
• Bear in mind that you will visit one of the most populated, the poorest, the dirtiest, and the craziest countries in the world -if not it is already the superlative of all.
• I promise you will experience a lot. Be strong, be patient, and enjoy! It is certainly worth it.

Baby at Mehrangarh Fort

Freedom (!)