Delhi Belly???

Tracey81

We are arriving into Delhi on 4th Oct 2005.
Would you suggest a night in Delhi? Old Delhi / New Delhi??? Where should i stay? Is it as bad as people say?
What Malaria tabs are the best?
We would also like to travel overland to Agra then onto Lucknow (maybe) then overland again to Kathmandu....
I heard that there are frequent trains between Delhi - Agra - Lucknow but how do we get to Nepal from there??? And approximately how long does it take?
I've been looking on the net and everyones messages are confusing me?
Please help this confused girl if you can???

Thanks...

Diddles

Hi Tracey,

I'm flying into Delhi for the first time in mid September, I looked up a few places to stay and have settled on Pharajini (spelling ??), it seems to be one of the busiest spots so we reckoned just get stuck in. We are booked into the Hare Krishna hotel in the area, you can book on line at www.anupamhoteliersltd.com, we got the address off this site under delhi hotels, it seems to get good write ups, we'll see

With regard to malaria tablets, I think doxcycylone are the ones to take in this area and you can buy them when you get there alot cheaper than over here anyway.

Can't really help you on how to get to Nepal, we're heading there aswell but not really sure of our route yet, probably just decide when we get there,

Happy travelling !!!

Tracey81

Thanks for info...

Happy travelling to you also! Have a great one!

iwanttogoback

tracey81
if you try the search function on this site you will find threads for all these questions.
cheers

BhuttaJi

Hi Tracey81,

Welcome to Indiamike the biggest little forum on the web. And the best!
As far as train travel is concerened look in the forum section very very good advise in there and try www.seat61.com that may help.

Enjoy the place have a lovely trip. Bhuttaji

Nick-H

Hello Tracey. You'll find the answers to al your questions ...on indiamike.com!

Welcome! Enjoy

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edwardseco

No one size fits all with Malaria so check out the threads that are so carefully archived here..

devonlasses

Hi Tracey and welcome. I too am off for my first trip in October and thanks to IndiaMike its all gradually getting clearer. I have been reading every day for weeks and weeks and this really is the best place to learn stuff. All the answers are here so try not to worry you will be okay. Ask questions, people are so helpful and always someone knows. Relax, enjoy and let your adventure unfold!

machadinha

As far as travel to Nepal is concerned, apart from IndiaMike you may want to get a guidebook for your trip which should be able to tell you where the various border crossings are and how best to get there. According to my '93 LP there used to be direct buses Delhi-Kathmandu but they generally got bad reports so they recommended organizing it yourself. From Delhi or western India in general at the time they recommended the Gorakhpur-Sunauli route. From there you could also head on to Pokhara. (I'd personally fit in Varanasi by all means if I was heading that way. Lucknow will lead you sort of halfway there anyway.) At the time there was talk of some interesting possible routes opening up in west Nepal (via Mahendrenagar and Nepalganj), quite a detour at ca. 38 hours not counting stopovers it seems but may have improved. I don't know how long the trip from Delhi would be, at the time the ride by 2nd class rail and bus cost approx. 8 dollars apparently but that's not telling you much (*edit: I read now from Delhi it was around 36 hours by direct bus all the same. Apparently most people opted to take the train to Gorakhpur then a bus on from there, as this was both cheaper and more comfortable. Coming from Lucknow, Lucknow - Gorakhpur should be around 5-7 hours by train or bus. Lucknow - Sunauli by bus is said to be 11 hrs. Gorakhpur - Sunauli should then be around three hours by bus (duh), then on to Kathmandu should be 12-14 hrs. All subject to change etc. no liabilities accepted, hell maybe there's a monorail these days From what I read here neither Gorakhpur nor Sunauli are much of a place you'd want to hang around in but they might make for a convenient break of journey.)

In Delhi, Paharganj (pronounced Páragánzj) is the budget hotel area & conveniently centrally located. The Hare Krishna is not a bad bet & keeps getting OK reports here from what I've seen, or there's a zillion places pretty much like them. If you're prepared to spend a little more & want to avoid the complete backpackers' ghetto experience look up something around Connaught Place, Paharganj ain't half bad and can be fun though. It's closer to Old Delhi which you should at least have a stroll or two around.

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indianovice

Tracey,

There is a new oral vaccine called Dukoral - it costs about $75 for the treatment (2 doses one week apart) My husband and I just came back from India (only 8 days) but had no porblems with delhi belly... we did limit our fluid intake to bottled water and beer.

Well worth the investment.

hfot2

Hi Tracey

For Delhi belly - check out the thread My wife and Pepto-Bismol

For Malaria - read all the posts here about malarai - you'll learn tons and some of it will be contradictory. Check IAMAT for all the latest on which prophylactics work for which areas of the world. [It's not a bad idea to join; they are a worthwhile group of doctors abroad.] As for specifics, we've used Malarone for India as prescribed by our travel clinic here and by IAMAT as the most effective for the particular resistance of mossies in India. We've taken it for years every time we travel for months at a time and have had no side effects. Doxycycline is a tetracycline antibiotic and I don't think its resistance has been fully studied - problem is, it is an antibiotic and has several side effects, - plus, in my humble opinion, taking antibiotics daily isn't really a great idea.

vistet

Antimalarials should be started before the trip starts. Yes , medicines are a lot cheaper in India, but talk over your medication in a travel clinic beforehand , then u can choose to buy them at home or in India. If you choose the later, note down the generic names from the prescription , brand names will vary.

ona

Is it really necessary to take Malaria tabs in Oct and for the places you are going to. We were in Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan in June/July and didn't bother to take the tabs - hate the stuff! Never saw a mossie. The only mossies we encountered were on Nagin lake in Srinagar where there is no Malaria. Remember, Malaria does not occur above a certain altitude ( I think it's above 2 500 m - not absolutely sure on that one).

vistet

Srinagar is located at around 1200 meters. As for travelling around India immediately after the monsoon without antimalarials, I wouldn`t take the risk.