Budget travelling to ladakh - need help

asils

Hi all,
First time travelling to india and as a solo traveller. Would appreciate all the advises from this forums.

I plan to fly budget airline from singapore to chennai.
How much would it cost and time needed to travel by train to delhi from chennai?

Most pple have recommended to travel to leh via manali. But i am keen on doing from srinagar. How to i travel to srinagar from delhi? Can i take a train? How many days do i need?Which train station to board and alight?

Do you think the travelling cost will be different significantly btw land and air travel to leh say from chennai (jet airways).

Is srinagar safe to travel for a lone female traveller?Is there a website which i can read for an update situation in srinagar?

Asils

RiddicK

indiarail/ irctc site

RiddicK

check irctc or indiarail site..google it will answer all your queries

delhiwala

Around 33 Hrs. in train. Fare is Rs.1960 in 2AC and Rs. 1429 in 3 AC. lowest Airfare is Rs. 3500.

Can take a direct flight. Or can go to Jammu by Train and then take a bus/share taxi or gain flight.

Yes ! Indeed ! and there is no direct flight !

Keep a watchful eye on the events. Should be no problem.

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asils

thank you! sorry again but this is first visit to india, india rail seem confusing to use. and i noticed that i do not own any of the credit card as stated in the websites. Is it easy to go to the train station and buy the train ticket on the spot, be it in chennai or delhi ?

santos_g15

Foreigners quota. if you are lucky you might get a ticket .it depends on route actually some routes always run full and its better if booked.chennai-delhi is one of them.monitor the availabailty of tickets on jammu tawi (train) . that will give you an idea.

vistet

I still haven´t made friends with the indian rail site. I´ve found it easy to find tickets within a day walking in to the station. There are special quotas for tourists , and women cars - check out steven ber´s posts here on the wonderful world of tatkal tickets and more. Being lazy i just walked in to the travel agent near my guest house last two times and had them sorting it out for an extra Rs 100 or so.

Srinagars shaky politics is an endless debate . It is still the curfew capital of India , so my gut feeling is that anyone unable to handle the delays that might cause is better off taking another route.

The major argument for the Srinagar-Leh route is that it´s the softest option to adjust to Leh´s altitude. More on that , and a news link , here : http://korta.nu/chilling

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Yogesh Sarkar

As far as traveling to Srinagar goes, you can take a direct bus from Delhi or take a bus/train to Jammu and from there you can get a bus to Sriangar. For Srinagar - Leh journey you can use a bus or a shared taxi, both of which are quite economical.

With regards to Srinagar being safe, well stay around the Dal Lake area, it is pretty safe and since its a touristy area, you will see plenty of tourists there.

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asils

thank you all for the response, really appreciate here.

I am having some problem reading the time table for chennai to delhi here now. Table no. 8A out of the 19 schedule, only 2 schedule goes to new delhi from chennai , right? that is train no. 2615, 2621. the remaining goes to H. Nizamuddin which i have no idea where is this place? Is this the old delhi? i read that there are two train station in delhi.

From the same new delhi station, i can take a train to jammu right? sorry, i am reading from my new dehli -jammu printout here. *blush*

vishal goel

H.Nizzamuddin is in Delhi Only just before new Delhi Railway station, you can take train for any of two
cheers...

delhiwala

From Hazrat Nizamuddin to New Delhi is some 8-9 KMs. Take an auto it should cost around Rs. 50-60.

sunnykashmir

from jammu railway station you will get a shared taxi to srinagar, and in srinagar it will drop you at tourist reception centre, from there you can go 2 bouleward on banks of dal lake, you can find many hotels and houseboats and many touts will gather around you so be careful in chosing the hotel or houseboat. you can get a shared taxi or bus from the same tourist reception centre to leh with one night stop at kargil, if you need any help be free to be in touch as im based in srinagar. enjoy ur stay in kashmir and ladakh

Dimitrz

Dont buy tickets from a Agent or hotel....they will not only charge commission and in spite of that there is no gaurantee of seat confirmation.

I presume you are a Foreigners , if thats the case you might be able to get a special quota without having to stand in the normal queue if I am right.

Else if you know any one in India transfer the money across to their account and ask them to use their credit card to make the purchase

Last moment ticket purchase may not always work unless you are very lucky

Happy Journey and enjoy India

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asils

ok, I have got my air ticket confirm to arrive new delhi in early july. Next to do thing will be the train ticket. Apart from train, i read that there is a govt bus that goes direct from delhi to Srinagar? Where is this bus station?

yeah, i am a foreigner and I probably have to count alot on that to get ahead in the Q. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing...

I'll write and ask again on train. Terribly sorry for asking so much.

sunnykashmir

hi
yes there is a bus service direct from delhi to kashmir but it would be very hectic.