Apr 20 2009

Last Day In India

Today marks our last full day in India.

It's quite sad to think we're leaving tomorrow but it does feel like we've been here a long time and to be honest I fancy eating some vegetables that haven't been mullered to death. I've been surprised by the lack of fruit in the restaurants too so it'll be nice to eat an apple: how odd?

I've lined up for Namaste India Tours to pick us up at 11am (in twenty minutes) to take us around a few of the sights I want the girls to see, including the wonderful Humayun's Tomb that I remember fondly from my last visit.

Last night we tried to count the list of monuments, tombs and palaces we've visited, safaris we've done and animals we've seen but we failed: we've done and seen so much.

Thank you for following this blog, it's been really nice thinking that friends and family have enjoyed reading the articles and seeing the pictures. We'll hopefully see some of you in a few days.

We've truly had a wonderful holiday.

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Apr 14 2009

The Overnight Train From Udaipur To Jaipur

Those that have spoken to me about catching the overnight train will know that it's something I was anxious about. Being a Dad just means that you get to carry all the luggage and with a suitcase/rucsack each plus a backpack I've got a lot of carrying to do. Train stations in India are very busy and apparently you're likely to get your wallet lifted - although I'd fancy my chances here more than at night in Fareham, Southampton or Portsmouth.

We arrive at the station and I check our tickets are okay and which carriage we're on and which first class cabins we've got allocated. Looks like we're split up but never mind, we'll cope.

So we find out where our carriage will stop and we wait. I notice a family of 11 waiting too and I guess they're on First Class too. The train pulls in and our carriage has a cross between two-tier air con class and first class which means there's only about 10 first class berths. The doors open and the French family rush on board and claim all 10 first class berths! We get on and have nowhere to go. Great, I think, but I've got confirmed tickets and my name is on chart on the outside of the train. I check their e-ticket, they booked after me and only have 5 confirmed tickets, the other 6 are waitlisted (see other train booking article for info). They're in trouble, I'm not.

The daughter speaks fluent English so I explain their situation. They're not best pleased and I get the feeling that the Dad is going to get an ear-battering if they ever get to their destination, Agra.

The Train Ticket Examiner arrives, explains the situation as I did but they argue. So I tell them that he's offered them a way out with 6 berths in three-tier AC class. Either that or 6 passengers are staying in Udaipur.

Eventually they vacate our rooms and we go to sleep...and I haven't even mentioned Agincourt! (Emilie, Caro and Nico: sorry, it's an English joke, hope you're not offended.)

We arrive an hour late at 7am at Jaipur and eventually find our driver to take us to Ranthambhore, home of the tigers, and I'm relieved on three counts: we survived the train; we've got a taxi; this means that our reservation at the Raj Palace is good too as they sent the taxi to Jaipur.

So all my worries were unfounded and I'm really glad that I'd read (IndiaMike's) Steven_ber's brilliant article about wait listed train tickets before I got to India. Shame those French people didn't.

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Apr 09 2009

That's The Last Time I Joke About Dysentry!

So there's been no updates for the last couple of days and I think the title of this page explains the reason why: I've been pretty darn poorly.

It's laughable really: I spent ages making sure we had enough medication for the girls and we kept an eye on what they wanted to eat, keeping it safe etc, whilst good old me went hell for leather and ate every type of curry going. What a mistake. What a BIG mistake.

The moment we left Jodhpur on our 7 hour road trip to Udaipur I knew I was in trouble. I was really looking forward to seeing the Jain temple at Ranakpur and managed to pull myself together and enjoy it. After that it was all downhill. Even the complimentary trip by Namaste India Tours to the wonderful (so I've heard) Kumbhalgarh Fort couldn't awaken any interest from me. I spent the next three hours on windy country roads with my head stuck out of the car window.

After arriving at our wonderful hotel, the Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel, I holed up in the room and didn't come out for 2 whole days. I hadn't eaten anything for 60 hours and you'll understand that for me is a big thing. At least I might get some weight loss out of this!

Hopefully, I'm on the mend now, I've eaten a little and I'm starting to enjoy Udaipur.

BTW, you can all stop laughing now.

Here's a picture from our hotel:

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Apr 04 2009

Pushkar to Jodhpur

Awake at 5am, not my choice let's just blame Hotel Saket's restaurant, I waited an hour before I ventured out of the room onto Green Park Resort's open airy corridors and did 30 minutes of peafowl spotting, viewing 5 of them on the roof of a nearby hotel.

I spent one hour of removing Bharatpur's cyber cafe trojan horses - thanks a lot :-( - some blog updating and email stuff before the router died a horrible death I took the kids for breakfast. Jane and I weren't eating (refer back to Hotel Saket comment) but the kids as usual were unstoppable in consumption of banana, and this time nutella, pancakes.

So we leave for Jodhpur with a very poorly Jane in the back seat wondering how she'll cope with 5 hours in a hot car. She got through it though.

It seemed that Kamal was either lost or taking a shortcut unknown to anyone else - I suspect the latter -but we had to stop to wait for the train to pass at Pipar Road Junction, in the middle of nowhere. Got out of the car and I spoke to some of the local men while Emiled smiled with some local girls. I suspect that they'd rarely seen, or maybe even never seen, western children as young as ours as they seemed very inquisitive although somewhat shy. 

As the train pulls out from the nearby station it seemed that everyone aboard wanted their photo taken. I oblige and realise that frames per second is worth worrying about when buying a new SLR: I hadn't done. I really enjoyed this experience. Real India, real people.

 

Five very hot travellers arrive in Jodhpur, 240 kms and 4.5 hours travel; it's time for lunch as it's already 2:15pm.

A rest (and a sleep for the older ones) later and we go out for a walk in Ratanada, the area surrounding our hotel. We're on the look out for the restaurant named Bollygood which sounds fun. Rough Guide's map is hopelessly inaccurate so we return and ask the hotel where the restaurant is. The point out the location on the map and second the recommendations I'd got from Rough Guide and people from IndiaMike.

Tonight we dined in the hotels' courtyard. Feeling slightly poorly didn't dissuade me from try their mixed tandoori platter which was served with a sublime mint sauce. Internet connection seems good so some more blogging has to be done to appease those critical of the recent lack of updates - although I can't image they're that bothered.

 

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Apr 04 2009

Heading To Pushkar - by Emilia

Kamal, who wanted to us to leave at 9am, was pleased to see us on time, for once. Five minutes later we got in the jeep; I was on my four-hour journey to Pushkar. Three or so hours later, nearing Pushkar, we counted 18 camels; they were extremely tall. Some of the camel were pulling carts however others were just staying still.

 

(NOTE: this isn't one of my photos, I grabbed it from the interwebbythingy) 

Eventually we got to our hotel, the Green Park Resort, which is great because it has a lovely swimming pool; our first one so far. Finally, we went for a long-awaited swim in the pool; it was really cold; it was lovely. After that I had my lunch, my sister and I both had a Margherita pizza - as Pushkar is a vegetarian town and no eggs either - it was very fresh and very hot (out of the oven). After lunch we had another swim, after waiting 30 minutes of course.

Last of all, my family and I went for a walk into Pushkar town, which is a town centered around a very religious lake which is surrounded by 500 hindu temples and bathing ghats leading into the lake. We were dodging cows and motorbikes all the time; it was quite scary. Overall, I had a great day.

Emilia.

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Mar 29 2009

Agra - A Mughal Paradise

Today, after a single night in Delhi, recovering after the flight, we started our trip properly and headed off to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal.

Agra is often regarded as a place you visit only to see the Taj Mahal and get the hell out. But it's steeped in history (and dirt) and played a major part in the Mughal empire. There's wonderful moments to see here; The Agra Fort; Itmad-Ud-Daulah (affectionately known as the Baby Taj); Akbar's Tomb at Sikandra and more more.

We're travelling in a Tata Sumo, a seven seater 4x4, provided by Namaste India Tours who are also sorting out the hotels for tonight and the next 8 saving us the hassle of having to find one when arriving in unfamiliar surroundings.

After four hours in our car dodging autorickshaws, very large trucks, camels and cows we arrived at our hotel (for the next 18 hours). Then straight out to visit the Agra Fort - which for me is possibly the best fort I've ever visited: if the fort wasn't good enough the view down the river Yamuna of the Taj Mahal is simply stunning.

Tomorrow will be an early start so we can catch the Taj Mahal during sunrise which is 06:11am (eek!) so I guess we'll need to get up at 5am to get there, get tickets and get through security in time to watch the world's most beautiful monument bask in the early rays of sunshine.

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Feb 01 2009

When is the Right Time to Book Flights?

It's always difficult to know when to book the flights; is it best to book early or leave it until the last minute?

I booked ours in September before the sale ran out on 27th September 2008.

Since then once a month I've been checking the flights and both British Airways and Virgin had 'sales' in September and December/January. At this time the flight prices dropped by 25%. At other times the prices have reverted back but now, with 8 weeks to go, they have dropped a little, but not below the sale price.

Eight weeks to go and it seems I can still book for four of us on almost the dates I wanted, I'd just have to return one day later as the flight out is okay but not the one back. The price is 13% higher than what I paid.

So it seems that booking six months ahead saves you money and you get the availability that suits your needs exactly.

Price Check Information:

  • September (6 months to go), sale on, lots of availability, bought tickets
  • October (5 months to go), 'normal' price, 33% higher that 'sale' price, availability okay
  • November (4 months to go), 'normal' price, availability okay
  • December (3 months to go), sale on, same price as I paid, availability okay
  • January (2 months to go), sale on, same price as I paid, availability getting less
  • February, (1.5 months to go), price seems to be coming down, now 15% lower than the 'normal' price but still 13% higher than the 'sale' price

 

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Jan 14 2009

Booking Trains

In England you don't really need to book a train, you just turn up, hand over a lung, kidney or your left arm, and you're on the train.

In India you really need to book in advance, up to 91 days in advance, to make sure you can travel on the day you want to and in the class of train you want. This is a great advert for how public transport in England needs to transform: lower the prices, get people booking up early and make sure all your trains are full.

For more information about trains see this earlier blog entry: How Do You Want To Travel Around? 

The web site for booking India trains direct is www.irctc.co.in and it's fairly straightforward to use, albeit a little quirky. TOP TIP: when trying to pay by credit card select the AXIS bank as it accepts international credit cards.

IRCTC is no good for trying to find the train you wish to book. To do this use a combination of www.erail.in and http://indiarailinfo.com as they're much more user friendly. The site www.erail.in is my favourite for layout but indiarailinfo.com tells you the average delay times. TOP TIP: the shorter the journey a train has before your station of departure the more likely it'll be on time, especially if it starts at that station.

I'll focus now on www.erail.in as I used it the most.

Enter the start and stop stations and get a list of trains:



Select the train that suits your day of travel - in this example I chose the 2966. The information about the train, the stations, the cost per person in the different classes appears. Note that children under 12 (I think) only pay half the fare shown. So it costs one adult about £4 in sleeper class or £20 in luxurious first class sleeper, for 435 kilometres. If you're a family of four, like us, you'll pay about £50 to travel overnight on this route a first class cabin of your own, with a lock on it!


 

You can even see the whole route the train takes:



Now you need to decide which class of travel you're interested in by clicking the AV hyperlink in the relevant class column, e.g 1A, 2A, 3A, SL. The availability for that class and the class below it appear for the date you have selected for and a few days afterward. (For this picture I've picked a different train, one that's pretty well booked up.)

Looks fairly complicated but it's not really. Here's a rough explanation but to find out more have a good read of the brilliant article by Indiamike's steven_ber called Indian Railways RAC and Waitlists concepts explained.

  • AVAILABLE-0004 and AVAILABLE-0006 means that there are currently 4 seats (in class 2A) and 6 seats (in class 3A) available on the train for 24/2/2009. If you book now you'll get confirmed seat numbers and a (pretty much) definite place on the train.
  • NOTE: at this point I'm happy to say that I booked up all my tickets three months in advance and all the ones I wanted were available. So I've never had to go through what is explained below. I hope I've got the explaination right!
  • RAC2/RAC2 means that you will be buying a ticket which is 'reserved against cancellation'. This means that you will get on the train but may not get a berth, you may just get a seat, unless there's a cancellation.
  • WL8/WL6 and WL19/WL11 means that there is a waiting list on the train on 21/2/2009, beyond the RAC status tickets. The first set of numbers (WL8 and WL19) indicate the number of wait list tickets sold. It's not as important as the second set of numbers which indicate where you are in the queue.
  • Wait Lists - think of it like this: you join a queue for Wimbledon tickets for the match in a month's time, there's 100 tickets available and 110 people in front of you, you want 2 tickets. The confirmed tickets go to the first 100 people. You buy two wait list tickets WL111 and WL112 and wait. A few days later two people who bought WL104 and WL105 realise they can't go and pull out, even though they haven't actually got a ticket anyway. Your tickets become WL111/WL109 and WL112/WL110; you've moved up two places in the queue. With a week to go a block booking pulls out and suddenly there's after 15 tickets to be allocated to the next 15 in the wait list queue, that'll be you then; your tickets become WL111/CNF and WL112/CNF but you don't know where you're going to sit. On the match day the seating charts are prepared an hour or so before the game and you find out where you're sitting. Simple.

 

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Dec 06 2008

Booking A Car + Driver

The idea of booking a taxi (car and a driver) for a few days or weeks seem quite strange to someone in England. Once when I missed the last bus home from the local town it cost 20 pounds to travel the six miles, so how much would hiring a driver for a couple of weeks cost?

With the help of Indiamike.com I gathered together a list of reputable companies and eventually decided which ones to contact.

Aided by information provided by Namaste India Tours, I'd done my homework first, knew my exact route, when/where I'd arrive, what sort of hotels I preferred and what sort of vehicle was most suitable.

So a couple of emails to a few companies and I had quotes for the cost of the travel. All of the operators offer a travel+hotels option where you say which class of hotel you prefer and they come up with a list of suggestions. Some of them don't define the actual hotel you'll be in and that was fine with us, after all we've got a driver to take us wherever we want, so as long as the hotel is okay, we'll be fine.

The best thing about this service (from any of the operators we got quotes from) is that you pay absolutely nothing up-front, you just have to pay before the trip actually commences. Some don't even worry about this, you pay part way through your tour.

For those cynics out there, the cost of the trip includes wages, food and accomodation for the driver, he doesn't sleep in the car!

And the cost of all this:

  • 10 nights hotel, 10 days touring around including petrol/parking/taxes/driver: about £800
  • That's for all of us, not one of us. The hotels all have air-con, some have pools, some don't.

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Nov 06 2008

Step 3: How Do You Want To Travel Around?

In true Kev fashion, step 3 started at the same time as step 2, which of course was well before step 1. But hey, that's the first rule of project management isn't it: define your deadline and work backwards.

So just how do you travel around in India? I think you can break this down to three types of people:

  1. The Trophy Hunter. Typically really want to go somewhere to add it to their list and have photos of it. Travel in planes, want to see the sights but don't want to integrate with the locals whatsoever. Absolutely can't stay anywhere without a swimming pool or a Michelin chef. Trains are no problem as long as there's silver service and a pianist.
  2. The Integrators: Typically want to 'feel' the place they're going to. Eat where the locals eat, travel like the locals and perhaps try to speak like the locals.
  3. Me (and many others): Typically wanting to be an Integrator but a little scared about what might happen and certainly without the money of the Trophy Hunter.

For me, planes are out unless absolutely necessary and as it works out, for this trip, they're not.

I'm prepared to travel on a train, but first class, second class or third class, but I'm not ready for sleeper class yet. For more information see: http://www.seat61.com/India.htm.

Trains are probably the cheapest way to get around in India but it's no good if the train times don't suit or there's no station near where you're going.

How about taxis? Hiring a taxi from place to place is a good idea but you've always got to pay the driver for a round-trip as he's got to get back home. But the cost of labour is cheap in India so it is an ideal place for hiring a car+driver for whatever time.

The decision was made: we'll travel by car+driver to start with and once we're a bit more confident we'll take the train. Out of the air we plucked the time when we'd switch to trains as 12 days in, halfway through our trip.

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