Looking at booking a tour of India

I think the second one is more appealing. Chandigarh I don’t think has much, and Amritsar is the Sikh place, is that of interest to you? Ranthambore is a tiger sanctuary, see what TripAdvisor says, are people seeing tigers there?

Avoid the hot season, April-July.

Hi,

We have not done Gate 1 to India but just came back from India and Nepal (extension) with Odysseys Unlimited which was very good. So here is some general advice. We were in India in November and the weather was perfect. In Nepal, it was a lot cooler as it is at elevation so you would need a jacket in November. In Delhi the air pollution was really bad (418 AQI) when we were there due to the farmers burning the stubble in their fields, gas powered vehicles and the recent Diwali celebration. If the air quality is bad, wear a good mask to protect your lungs. We didn’t and regret it. We both got bronchitis in India which I am sure the air pollution didn’t help. I am still dealing with some congestion. In Ranthambore, there is no guarantee that you will see tigers. We were truly fortunate on the three game drives to see tigers but the sighting was not great. The best shot my husband got was with his 600mm lens and the tiger was in tall grass. You may be more lucky and see one closer or not at all. There are other things/animals to see in Ranthambore so it is worth going. You will probably be transported in what’s known as a canter which is an open air vehicle carrying 20? people. The roads in the park are way rougher than in Africa so it is quite a bumpy ride. You will need a visa for India and Nepal. We did the Indian visa ourselves rather than use the recommended visa service. It was a little quirky but we were able to do it and it cost way less than the visa service. In Nepal, you can get the visa on arrival in Kathmandu. There are people at the airport who speak really good English who will help you at the computer kiosk. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Hi -

It’s been a long while but we did something similar to ‘The Golden Triangle’ trip, except that we did Nepal as a separate, almost three week trip, which frankly, is what it deserves. Instead of Nepal we took in Jodphur, and the astonishing ‘Arabian Nights’ style walled desert city of Jaisalmeer from where we embarked on a three day trek through the desert on camel back. This, by the end, while memorable, ended up as a literal pain in the ass. Also we made a special trip to the Pushkhar Camel Fair which was coincidentally taking place, but by that time I was so over camels……

India is fascinating, but a massive culture shock. When we visited Pashupatinath there were bodies being cremated in open view on the ghats, the ashes of which were thrown in the river, said to be a tributary of the Ganges, so thus holy, and at the same time people were bathing and cleaning their teeth etc., right next to the ghats, which was something of an eye opener. I had not realised until visiting India that as a westerner you have a yard wide radius circle of exclusion around you, your personal space, so to speak which nobody enters without your permission. In India, it disappears and complete strangers will come and grab you by the arm to attract your attention. This might have changed somewhat since our visit, but I suspect it probably won’t have. I had not been in Delhi for more than two hours and on our way out as a group for dinner when a thin youth holding and Indiana Jones style bullwhip, sidled up to me and asked “You want kinky sex?” “No, no” I replied, attempting to summon up what might have been left of the Raj, “I’m English”. Barely missing a beat, he took in this information and said “English? Ah, you want drugs!”. I managed to persuade him that it actually wasn’t the case and he went off in search of more enthusiastic potential customers! Julie, who was sporting fairly massive henna-ed hair in those days, had it pulled quite casually by an older Indian lady who was just passing by, just to see if it was real!

The cities of India are noisy, sometimes dirty, and look like they shouldn’t work, but somehow they do. Do try to see Fatephur Sikri if it is an option, and also the astronomy experiments called Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

It says something that despite the big build up it gets, the Taj Mahal more than lives up to expectations, it’s miraculous. I am saddened that the area around it has been gentrified since our visit, which means Jonny’s Yum Yum Breakfast (seats eight comfortably, thirty eight when busy) is no more, as much a cultural icon of Agra as the Taj if you ask me.

You are likely to experience tummy troubles while in India, it’s just a fact of life. To narrow the odds in your favour only drink bottled water, no ice cream (I think it was an ill judged “where’s the harm?” Ice cream on the Shatabadi Express that literally felled me) and no swimming in any pools (yeah, I did that too before the ice cream, so the jury’s out) and no singing in the shower.! Take your own medical supplies to treat diahorrea and dehydration in particular along with the other stuff you are likely to need. You can drink the street vendor chai though - they boil that stuff for hours so nothing is left alive in it and our guide promised faithfully that nobody got sick from drinking it. I loved it. Julie couldn’t stand it. We also avoided meat while in India as provenance can be an issue. So we were de facto vegetarians for the trip. Oh, and having travelled extensively through northern India I can safely tell you that the best curries in the world are in either Birmingham or Bradford, U.K.

Have a great trip whichever one you choose. It is an adventure in all senses of the word!

Ian