4 weeks in India... - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**buzzingtalk** · 02-12-2007, 04:43 PM

Am heading out there in mid june-mid july. Going to be hot but i spend every summer in kuala lumpur for lat 6 years, so wont be too much of a shock. monsoon is no problem for me too

I'm more concerned about general advice. i notice that there arent too many people on this site who ask about india - since a child i have wanted to go to india, and now i have my chance. am flying to mumbai from kuala lumpur, and have around 3-4 weeks until i fly back to KL then back to London a few days later.

i have found a few sites on train travel in india, so getting around is not too bad. i figured with such a short time i should only try and do a few places, and i will come back to india for much longer when i finish university.

so, what would you recommend me to see and do, i want the full on indian experience!! this has been a lifes dream for me, and i really need something to re-ignite my life and passion, i beleive it can be found in india. as long as it isnt more than 8 hours or so from mumbai on train, and cheap to travel to, im open to suggestions

**Esterina** · 02-12-2007, 05:56 PM

You're right, we have very few members who wrote about India. Have you checked Space Virgin's reports ? You'll find them here. Start on page 7 (it's a long thread), there are also good infos before, if you have time to read everything.

**space virgin** · 02-12-2007, 10:10 PM

Hey there, welcome!

You'll most likely *love* India, but it will definitely take some getting used to. There's a link to my blog in my signature which pretty much details (almost) every day I was there.

If you're going to base yourself in Mumbai, I would definitely check out the Ajanta and Ellora caves. And you might as well head to Goa just for the experience. If you're strictly limited to only 8 hours on the train, you might be able to hit some of southern Rajasthan. I wanted to check out Chittaurgarh in particular as it's apparently very interesting and little-touristed. I really REALLY wanted to see Khajuraho, out in the middle of Madhya Pradesh, but didn't get there either (I went to Kashmir instead, but don't do that.

)

Also keep in mind that you could take inter-India flights for a reasonable amount of money, if there was something you wanted to see that is farther away than 8 hours on the train. I took three overnight train journeys in 3-tier AC class and they were just fine. The longest was about 17 hours I think, but really, time passes pretty quick (especially when you're asleep for 3/4 of the time).

I'm still working on getting all of my photographs up on the web. Some of them are done but I still need to work on the rest. Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions, or just post them here.

**buzzingtalk** · 02-15-2007, 02:57 AM

wow cool replies people. space virgin, sounds like your the person to talk to!!

il post all questions here, might be of some help to another person!!

its looking like im out there for 3 and a half weeks now. which isnt long, but i intend on returning after uni for much longer. regarding the train journeys, TBH i have no problem with them, i "commute" to kuala lumpur every summer to see my dad and that takes a good 24hours door to door, so long journeys are no problem. its more of a time constraint

will check out flying to longer places, although i am a notoriously bad flyer, im prone to panic attacks on planes and I'm going during the boiling hot summer so turbulence will be unavoidable. but which airlines would you recommend? there must be some nice budget ones...

also with the trains, i found a wicked website, i've been linked there by many people, cant remember what it is (its on my faves on home pc) but its got all the bookings and times for Indian trains. handy

what ill do is buy a map and guide book, and have a look at things i want to visit/do. ill post up here, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, fire away

oh yea, also what is india like for vegetarians? my stepmum (who is indian and used to live there years ago) said its great, especially in the south. im not sure if you can answer this, but a little of what to expect for me would be nice

**Esterina** · 02-15-2007, 08:54 AM

A wide part of Hindus are vegetarian, maybe even the majority -not sure- you'll have no problem at all finding a gooooood meal in any restaurant. Indian food is so tasteful !

**space virgin** · 02-15-2007, 11:00 AM

Yes, everywhere you look it's "veg or non veg?"

Vegetarian cuisine is the norm.

It's virtually impossible to book rail tickets in advance unless you have an address IN INDIA to mail the tickets to. Believe me, I tried!

Most of the inter-India airlines are comparable. I really like Jet Airways, personally. I also flew on GoAir, which was perfectly fine. There's also Air Deccan, Indian Airlines and SpiceJet. They all have online booking so you can check the prices of tickets.

But if flying is an issue, the Indian train system is fantastic. You can get pretty much anywhere you want, and by booking overnight journeys you'll save yourself the cost of accommodations AND sleep for most of the way.

**buzzingtalk** · 02-16-2007, 02:52 AM

Yeah that was my plan. I looked up an overnight sleeper train from Mumbai to Dehli, think it costs around £32 and takes 8h overnight, which is no problem, as long as i get some kip. and yeah it does save on accommodation too!!

I think I'm just gonna turn up in India with no clue what I am doing, and just follow my heart. Got a few things I really really want to do, but the rest of it I'm sure I'll find through other people. Ahh I'm all excited again, Ive wanted to go to India since i was little,

**space virgin** · 02-16-2007, 10:36 AM

Sweet! Mumbai is a good place to start out as many things are easily reachable from there. Like I said, try to check out the Ajanta and Ellora caves if you get a chance. And if you don't realize this already, you should know that photography is prohibited inside pretty much all Hindu & Buddhist temples and all Mosques.

**LaurieL622** · 01-21-2008, 01:19 PM

whats the avg daily cost for backpacking in india?

**space virgin** · 01-21-2008, 03:26 PM

Anywhere from $5 to $75 depending on where you go. It's HUGE and extremely diverse, so there's a lot of difference between regions. The cities are of course the most expensive places to be, with Mumbai easily topping the list. Delhi isn't so bad but the dollar isn't getting any better. *sigh*

If you're doing the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) plan on about $50 per day. Hotels and transportation will be your biggest expense; for a noisy, slightly grotty fleabag in the backpacker district of Delhi you'll be spending anywhere from $10 to $20 per night. Interestingly, there's really nothing between the $10-20 flop house and the $80+/night "midrange" hotel.

Inner-city transpo is cheap (rickshaws and the like) but getting from one city to the other will cost quite a bit more depending on your method. Admission to the Taj Mahal is now around $20 US. Other monuments in the area will be about $5 or so. Food is dirt cheap, so the rest of your budget will be taken up by things that you buy, which you will. A lot. People will be in your face trying to sell you all manner of things ranging from cheap trinkets to really cool (but, of course, overpriced) stuff. My greatest regret is that I actually turned down a tout trying desperately to get me to buy this cheap braided bullwhip. I think of that moment wistfully now, because had I bought it I would have immediately turned it against him.

(Seriously though-- why would you try to sell a weapon to someone who's already somewhat pissed at you?) Anyway, unless you really really want it, just say no and keep walking. Touts can smell fresh meat from a mile away, but after a while you'll toughen up.

Make sure you learn how to bargain, and bargain hard... but every once in a while you'll all of a sudden realize that you're furiously arguing over what amounts to about 75c, and then you feel like an asshole.

**LaurieL622** · 01-21-2008, 07:47 PM

thanks for the insight!

i read on lonely planet it's around 20 usd per day. and googled it and many sites came up with 15 usd per day. is this pushing it? lonely planet has been accurate for most of my travel.... (budget wise)

what's your advice on 1 1/2 months of travel throughout the country? doable?
what about backpackers--do you see much of them there? is india like thailand where they are everywhere? im thinking about doing it alone and i think it'll be a huge shock to my system if i have a hard time running into many backpackers.

**Legitikick** · 01-22-2008, 01:40 PM

Here's what I just sent Laurie, in case it helps anyone else out.

Sure I'll help you out! Have you seen this thread:
http://travelpunk.com/boards/showthread.php?t=14465
Might be some interesting stuff there.

I spent exactly a month in India and Nepal together, about a week of that was in Nepal. I wish I had more time. But that being said, both countries are extremely hard on your senses. You'll see poverty at its worst, right next to riches. The whole experience can wear on you and its not exactly a vacation, but I don't that's what you're looking for anyways.

I didn't keep track of my spending very well, I just tried to stay really cheap. I don't think I spent more than $8 on a room, usually more like $4 or even $2 sometimes. For food, definitely try the local places, not just touristy joints. Find places where you can see them cooking and you can tell its being cooked well, and immediately before you eat. Also, after getting sick in Darjeeling I went vegetarian for the rest of the trip. In most of the world I couldn't handle being vegetarian, but there's so many options in India since so many of them don't eat meat. I didn't even miss it. You could eat well on $5/day, budget for much lower than that. All packaged food products have M.S.R.P's on them, so its hard for them to rip you off.

Why I chose India? I dunno, wild, exotic, extremes of every type, and it worked out, I think I gained a lot from the experience. I went during monsoon season and it did make parts of the trip miserable, so I'd avoid that.

I wouldn't worry about doing it alone. You could easily meet up with other backpackers and barely be alone at all. Then again, you could choose to stay away from us whities and be completely immersed. Most Indians are very poor, and many will try to profit from you in some way, like leading you to their family's store or something. The tout's can be EXTREMELY aggravating. Several times I really had to take a good look at my actions and realized that I've become a huge asshole. Also, try your best to befriend the locals, many will become touts of some sort, but if you don't take that chance you won't make any friends.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions, its hard to sum it all up in a few paragraphs.