India a price guide!!

What a great picture! It's just missing the wires to the bed-side lamp that is plugged straight into the socket minus plug with a couple of match sticks holding them snuggly in place!

Also, I have found that some odd plugs that don't seem to fit either socket can straddle two of those holes diagonally! Still works wonderfully!

Hi guys

Not sure if the first thread is up to date but heading to Punjab in May and was wondering what the prices are like?

Just things like a meal out for 2 people?
Can of coke?
Water? etc

thanks

xx

Yes, this thread is up to date!
A meal out for 2 can vary tremendously depending on where you go - a simple, clean restaurant - probably around 100 - 200 rupees per head; more expensive, the more upmarket you go. A sit at table dhaba you can have a thali for 35 rupees per person.
Water - from 10 -12 rupees from the street stalls, at a hotel anything from 15 - 50 rupees depending on how swish the hotel.
Don't know about 'can' but a bottle of coke (small) is 10 rupees I think - I never drink it!

can of coke should be about 20-25 INR. You get a lot of imported cans as well , so be careful when you pick up one , the imported ones can be quite expensive.

I think Pepsi has a can which is about 15 bucks

Thanks guys for your replies, gives me an idea what the prices are like on some things

Hello all! Noob here.

I'm meeting my girlfriend in India for two weeks on the 2nd may returning 17 may. I've booked a few nights accom in mumbai (already paid for) but we plan to visit agra then spend the rest of the time in goa.

I'm taking £1200 with me. Do you think this will be enough for the two week period?

G

In a nut shell... Yes! Plenty plenty! That is 90,000 Rupees for two weeks or 6500 per day!! Wow!

Then again I can happily live for £600 a week even in the UK! Generally, even these days travel in India on people used to western budgets is incredible value for money!

Seriously though, your question depends on so many variables. It's the same in any country! I mean how long is a bit of string?

Consider the following:
Do you want to take internal flights or will you stick to trains?
What hotel accomodation do you want?
Can you stick to just standard Indian food, or are you wanting something special once in a while?
How much alcohol do you drink?
Will you only take taxis once you get to places, or would you consider local buses etc.?
etc.

Just a personal update, it will vary widely per person and per what you happen to be doing of course:

According to my calculations, my personal expenses on the ground as a solo pretty-much budget but certainly not rock-bottom traveler (just now, over the past two months, so early'ish 2009 -- European spring, Indian summer), covering anything but international flight + expenses getting to and from my international airport, work out at around 1,500 Rs. (just above 20 Euros) a day.

This would include Sleeper (or Unreserved...) Class train travel; State regular and the occasional state or private Deluxe buses; inner-city travel whether by public bus or metro or autorickshaw or taxi or ferry; budget accommodation in mostly surprisingly good hotels to my experience, usually a double (note I may have been mostly paying single-occupancy rates. Double occupancy is usually just marginally higher though, so add 50-150 Rs. perhaps for two, or just a little more even for three or four. In other cases, I will indeed have paid for a double. And note I was traveling largely out of season, though I can't say I ever did much haggling over a place)* with TV (often) + fan + window(s) + not rarely balcony + often a nice view + private bathroom (squat or western, bucket or shower, hot water in about half the cases I'd say) + often any combo of table & chair(s) & closet(s), in varying states of upkeep but usually clean at least & often quite nice really, at 150-375 Rs. a night at the very most, with the common denominator lying around 300 Rs., and outside of Mumbai that is; chainsmoking and drinking to my heart's content; eating in usually fairly simple but to my mind that much nicer places where the locals hang out; and such. (Oh, helping out some folks along the way & not being squeamish about leaving -- reasonably small, just pocket change really, and to the extent I had any on me at any given time -- tips to various staff as well as alms for beggars and street dwellers and widows and veritable sadhus and the likes, come to think of it.)

That's about double what I'd budgeted (or rather used as a rough estimate), however the picture gets skewered by said adverse habits, as well as buying plenty a present for the folks back home and a few on the ground, treating myself to frivolities such as nice Indian clothes, new specs, a new memory card, a whole stack of books (and sending those and superfluous clothes back home), and whatnot; and conversely, by at times not paying any rent at all, not being allowed to pay a single bill for yourself by friends at times, and such.

I had budgeted for 800 Rs. a day; I feel confident to say that outside of Mumbai (where I spent some 1.5 weeks in all and easily went through 5000 Rs. every day or two, doing a lot of said shopping and some going out as well though) I wasn't spending that for standard expenses, and this would have covered for the ciggies and a couple of beers and perhaps the odd small souvenir as well. Hovering more around the 600 mark I'd say.

Speaking to others and going by prices I've heard, I'd say being frugal (and of course avoiding or getting out of any relatively costly place asap) it can still be "done" on 400 Rs. a day without denying yourself too much (you might really want to cut down on the drinking though: always relatively expensive in India). Remember being willing to put up with a rock-bottom place with shared bathroom will cut down costs considerably; as will sharing the rooms I stayed in with someone else, whether a travel partner or someone you met on the road. (Even in a major city like Hyderabad I met a young fellow countryman staying on his own with shared bathroom smack-bang in the city for 100 Rs., in what he described as a lousy place, but he obviously didn't mind. Neither did I at age 26 or what was it. And even in this day and age and along my route at least, I've heard of cheaper rooms than that even.) Traveling this way, I'd certainly look into having some financial back-up though: It's always nicer to return with some cash left, rather than to run out of funds and become a burden on your family and friends or fellow travelers midway through your trip. In other words, you can *aim* at doing it on 4-600 Rs. a day, but I'd say it's unwise to *count* on it working out. If it does, good for you; if it doesn't, don't let it catch you by surprise.

Well. I kept some notes initially on costs of daily stuff; found it boring after a while though, so gave up. May post some of it later.

* And all unsuspecting readers, do note it may vary widely depending on where you visit too. Can't say I went entirely off the track though; but certainly not the most beaten path either, I guess. Besides, neither really guarantees much; off the track may mean cheaper, but it can also be attractively way overpriced; whereas conversely in major tourist centers whether international or domestic, competition may work to your advantage.

Great post Mach, I was wondering how much things have changed since 2005/2006 - evidently, not much. I'm budgeting about €15 p/day (roughly 1000 Rupees I think) for the next trip later this year, seems it'll be more than enough (last time I managed on about €12 p/day in 05/06).

Thanks Mach for your post - it's a good benchmark for travellers who want to do it not too roughly. I think, as you say, with less buying of personal extras, that it could be done cheaper, but I think many of us wouldn't like to do that 400 rupees per day, way! It's good to get an updated idea of how much per day a good trip will cost.

Y'r most welcome guys, it's nice to be able to give back something topical after all those years. Expect hotel reports & photos and stuff to appear in due time, of course. (Those pics, and my two comp's, I'm still fighting with.)

I should really think so, yes; always depending again on personal standards and wishes, of course. But should be ample for anything non-extravagant, I'm quite sure.

I should add I really didn't count any pennies on this trip, just enjoyed. Keeping just a bit of an eye on expenses should tilt the picture in favor of any type of budget (and I have by now come to the conclusion there has been one faulty transaction of 10,000 Rs., so some 150 Euros. So that alone would account for an extra 160 Rs./day on this trip. Oh well, I just hope it did actually roll out of the machine later, and so made someone's day.)

Lokking forward to it Mach! I always enjoy reading your thoughts on here.

anyone know what getting mehndi henna hand tattoos done costs...my daughters want to do that one of our first days there...any suggestions about finding a place that does that in Delhi?

Blessings,
Ginger

Please do some Googling! Some "henna" mixtures have ingredients that enhance colour and (semi)permanence, but quite often cause bad allergies.

We had mehndi done outside the Hanuman Temple near Connought Place. It was a about 150 rupees ( about $3 ).There were many ladies sitting on the ground, we just went to the first on, and didn't bargain. Here it would cost about $20 at least.