Tales from a first time traveller to India

Hey,

Read your post regarding the trip...Glad that you had a good time.
We are also planning a trip to India in October. Could you please send us the contact information of the place you stayed in Agra?

Thanks in advance
cheers

Hello. New to the forum. Travelling to India Oct 23 and returning Nov 20. Will be spending first two weeks with my boyfriend with a quick stop in Delhi and moving on to Mumbai to head south to Goa and Kerala. I will be staying on alone for two weeks after he leaves and feel a bit overwhelmed by what I should see/where I should go. I was considering Punjba (Amritsar) and perhaps a jaunt to Lahore. But I am also intrigued by the Northeast Provinces. I'd like a mix of culture, wildlife, magical urban sort of mix (maybe we all are). But really I am open to suggestions. Thanks for your help.

I need some advice on travel guides.

I have managed to locate someone who is willing to act as a guide.
They speak good English.
What sort of price per day for a guide is regarded as fair?
Does the client have to pay his food, transport and lodging expenses?
He will be guiding in Punjab, Himachal and Haridwar/Hemkund.
He will be expected to make logistical & travel arrangements.
With regards to travel to Hemkund will he be required to provide his own trekking equipment?

What is the deal with taxi drivers, are their food and lodging expenses to be paid for by the client?
Please can someone advise on rates.

Kind Regards

OB

Hi Found your thread very interesting. I am travelling to Rajastan with my 16yr old son for a four week holiday.Never been before. We have planned a lot more in our four week stay but do you think we are doing too much.
Delhi, Amritsar Delhi Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Jodphur,Agra Ranthambone.Veranasi, Delhi. Most of the travelling is by car with driver with two overnight 2ac train journeys.

It is always good to get new unbiased views on these trips. I would love to visit Rajastan and this thread has added a lot to my knowledge.

Very informative article, I'll be spending a liitle bit of time in Rajasthan in November (Bharatpur and Pushkar) and really looking forward to it. If those two towns impress me I'll be back for more.

I do not know if I have to be insulted or amused by a foreigner's account of India. I was searching for information on Jaipur as I will be visiting the city in December and I found this thread quite disturbing as I am an Indian.Why do people try to judge a country and its people in few days of their visit. The travelers generally come across some unsavoury people and give out an impression that whole of India is unsafe, dishonest and dirty to visit.To hear some people it is as if we had all the cheats of the world. This serves some hospitality industry people who go out of their way to make the foreign tourists feel like royalty. I am even afraid to look at a foreigner as it would be considered staring. So our family strictly avoid looking at them. Even if I want to help when they are stranded some where I avoid doing so because of their suspicious nature.“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

Just what I felt too (and posted much later somewhere in here) when I read a lot of posts on this site a while back. May be better to stay in the background and try to help and hope that atleast a few of them do change some of their opinions.

Nicely written trip report parabol64, although it does generate mixed feelings to read a review about India's places and people from a foreign tourist's perspective.

Well done mate,

You have written a very interesting travelogue. A commendable effort indeed!

sir
may i no d total no.of helicopters operate in a day so dat i can get a clear idea of my chances of getting my tickets booked!!!

and is der any discount on fair of helicopter if i go to and fro>??

I just came back from Mumbai and Goa, and I found the majority of Indians to be very nice people. You get a few chancers which you get everywhere, but you have to remember in india everyday is a fight for survival for most so thats just what they do...trying to survive. You just need to use your common sense also like anywhere else in the world.

India does take allot of getting use to for your average westerner and it is very overwhelming in the beginning, but most of all you need to take the time to get use to Indians as people and the way they do things, react to things, their approach and various other things. Because we are just very different so manny ways, but thats half of the fun of traveling meeting different people from different cultures otherwise it would just be boring and you should rather stay home in London or where ever you are from. And as for the food, i thought the food was the best i ever had...loved it.

Im from South Africa and i found India very cheap, so Brits should shut up and stop complaining with their pounds that they arrive with in India. Spend 8000 rupees a night and get yourself a really nice hotel, it will significantly improve your overall enjoyment, and it wont make the average westerner broke either.

Well seeing that he will be going to all those places you mentioned specifically for you, he will obviously not do it at his expence,so it will most likely get built into his total rate or fee.

Hi, I'm new to this, so please forgive me if this information is on previous threads. We are going to Southern India for the first time in October this year, our international flights are booked in and out of Mumbai. We are thinking of 2 nights in Mumbai, then we fly to cochin, thinking of 2/3days in Fort Kochi and our last 4 nights are back up in Goa. We are at a loss as what to do in the middle, were thinking of getting a train up to ooty and spending a night there and then train/fly from coimbatore to Goa. Anyone's thoughts on this would be much appreciated, would ooty weather be bad in October?