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Anyone ever been? got any story's or whatever? Me and my gf are going in January till Feb (12th-12th) and Im trying to find info on getting a visa. The site google sends me too is full of garbled engrish and im not that keen on posting my passport to them(wont be till mid September) so is there a better way to do it? We are landing in Mumbai and meeting a friend out there who will have been there for 12 days already then I think heading towards Goa then east but not really sure yet! |
India
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johnlenham 4,000 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 14 years ago -
THFourteen 54,987 posts
Seen 8 minutes ago
Registered 16 years agoyou should read through my experience of mumbai last year 
http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_posts.php?thread_id=151874
actually not much useful in there.
are you coming to my wedding in october!? -
nuanimal 33 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 12 years agoCheck out Trip Advisor, a few good tips that work, and THFourteens link.
Also a few of the best things I've learned when out and about...
- When in a market where sunglasses and don't show obvious interest in stalls or item that you want. Keep your hands in pockets to hide interest and disuade pickpokets.
- To reduce the amount of of times being harrased by market traders have your girlfriend walk 5 metres away from you. Traders are a bit more cautious of approaching and scaring off a single woman, and cautious of single men. As a couple you'll appear more approachable.
- If you can, keep a small satchal bag under you top - and have your passport, cash and other important items in it. Much harder for it to go missing or get stolen than, having a handbag or backback.
Other than that Goa should be lovely and is fairly safe. -
ScoutTech 2,428 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 17 years agoI went about 2 years ago. Best advice is get up early, get things done, get back to the hotel or somewhere cool for a few hours, then go out in the afternoon. Found the middle of the day too hot. The middle being from about half 10 till half 2.
Cochin (spellings vary so watch out) was a really nice place to be and we found a boat place where you could have 3 days on the waterways, crew and food all in and it was glorious.
Get on some trains, they were a really good experience. Always book in advance though, try and get the window nook seats if possible. I think that was second class, never did first.
Watch out for the head wobble, it can mean yes, no, don't know, or any number of other meanings. Confirm everything. Apart from Cochin I enjoyed the North (being a relative term against where I went) the best, so Jaipur, Jodhpur, that kind of area.
Also did a really nice safari type couple of days in a tree house hotel. More expensive than most places I stayed in, but that wouldn't have been hard
HTH, I'll post more if I remember -
johnlenham 4,000 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 14 years agoNice! Yeah we plan to do a safari tour ride and elephant and see some Bengal tigers if we are lucky!
That is about the only thing I know for certain I want to do. I bought a massive Lonely planet India book that has some good info.
How much do you reckon on average we will need? being a couple rooms will be split so im saying we need £500-600 each? Thats 35,828 ruppees (1 GBP = 71R)
We arrive late into Mumbai (2am) so im considering booking a halfway decent hotel just so we can get picked up and have a chance to get our bearings during daylight as this is the fist time doing anything like this. -
johnlenham 4,000 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 14 years agoCome one people I want to hear story's and tips and so on!
Best place to see tigers? People keep telling me about Kerala (sp?), did you get any vaccinations? etc -
macksed 3,800 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 16 years agodunno about for tigers but Kerela is meant to be beautiful. And I don't think you need anything other than malaria tablets. -
Merlinho 5,908 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 16 years agoI'm off to Kerala in December for my friend's wedding, plus a few days in Goa. I'm getting the standard vaccinations on the NHS plus malaria tablets. A friend who's going has been recommended by his practice nurse to get Japanese Encephalitis, which is £180! Reading about, I'm not sure I need it, I'll be doing some touring round the area but with a driver and staying in decent hotels. Any have any experience/advice on this?
Matt -
Take immodium or your anti Diaohira medication of choice.
Aside from the malaria pills I dont take anything when I go. -
THFourteen 54,987 posts
Seen 8 minutes ago
Registered 16 years agoi'm going to bangalore in october for my 2nd wedding, and i have not heard of japanese encephlohitis vacinnations. my dad is a GP and he hasnt said anything either. -
mal 29,326 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 20 years agomcmonkeyplc wrote:
Such a great word. Never misspelt the same way twice.
Diaohira
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DocX 1,963 posts
Seen 4 months ago
Registered 20 years agoImmodium, bog roll, wet wipes and insect repellent were pretty essential when I went last Christmas. We did the Agra-Jaipur-Delhi Golden Triangle over 5 days before we went back to my in-laws place in Gujarat. If I was to go touring again I'd think about getting internal flights as they are piss cheap. 930km on the first day, in a 4x4, was a bit grim. -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 21 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
heyyo 14,356 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 16 years agomal wrote:
mcmonkeyplc wrote:
Such a great word. Never misspelt the same way twice.
Diaohira
Diaorreha -
johnlenham 4,000 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 14 years agoOh weird I was going to bump this saying I realized only last week that we are actually going for 5 weeks! Seems we are heading south to kerela and then at some point going to Goa.
Need to get on to sorting out Visas, Jab wise it seems all the free NHS ones + malaria tablets will cover us, fuck paying £180 for a jab. I thought it was only needed for remote parts of places like Thailand (and by remote I mean tiny villages in the jungles) -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 21 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
localnotail 23,079 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 13 years agoDirtbox wrote:
I believe local knows all the fine eateries.
Intimately.
Sorry, I only know the cheap ones, vaguely
And I haven't been since 2003, so I doubt that most of them even exist any more.
Merlinho, if you are being driven (swanky) all the way up to Goa from Kerala, then try to visit Hampi en route. It's a fascinating place. -
johnlenham 4,000 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 14 years agoAnyone ever gone from Mumbai to Kerala via train? also any suggestions for stuff to see in kerala and goa would be a treat.
I plan to go to the Tiger reserve in kerala and thats about all ive come up with so far. -
CasperCCC 1,087 posts
Seen 9 years ago
Registered 15 years agoI went from Mumbai to Kerala by train. About six years ago now, so can't really help on details but it was a nice journey. But budget airlines are really cheap. Last time I flew. Not as characterful, but a fuck of a lot quicker.
Spend a couple of days in Panaji - capital city of Goa. I absolutely love it. It's like a Mediteranean town dropped in India. I stayed at the Alfonso Guesthouse first time I stayed - basic but insanely friendly. Then at the Panaji Inn the next time - really nice.
Pachyderm Palace in the hills to the north of Kerala was unbelievable. Nicest people, right next to a really quiet nature reserve, surprisingly untouristed. Saw elephants in the wild. That was cool.
Also stayed at a vaguely expensive but absolutely beautiful boutique place in the middle of the forests in inland Goa. Quiet. Really, really nice for a few days. Let me know if you're interested and I'll dig out the details. -
Merlinho 5,908 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 16 years agolocalnotail wrote:
Merlinho, if you are being driven (swanky) all the way up to Goa from Kerala, then try to visit Hampi en route. It's a fascinating place.
Sorry, missed that! I'm actually flying up to Goa, did look into the train but it seemed that getting tickets was sort of like getting popular concert tickets when they go on sale. D
idn't bother with the Jap Enc injections in the end, going to have them done in 2 weeks. Trying to figure out if it's cheaper getting Malaria tickets with or within prescription, I think it all comes down to whether your doctor will charge for it.
Visa is pretty easy to sort out btw john, especially if you have one the places in your city like Cardiff does. You have to fill in the form on the website first. -
johnlenham 4,000 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 14 years agoYeah I found the proper website in full English and read up on it, going to look into sorting it out come pay day. I think the closest one is London but we weren't sure if that the actual Indian embassy or what so migth end up having to post them which is quite a scary thought!
@CasperCCC yeah sure details would be a treat, honestly we are open to pretty much anything worth seeing. I read about the tiger trail and its like you go into the jungle and camp there while hiking over 2 days , not something id intentionally look for but sounded amazing once id actually read about it if that makes sense? -
mull 463 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 18 years ago/\ Yes.
Try not to get so ill that you nearly shit yourself in the back of a three seater car whilst surrounded by a riot of three thousand wife-beaters.
Having to ask a random office worker where their bog is, destroying it and then running out before anyone can catch you: we've all been there. -
danathjo 8,294 posts
Seen 3 months ago
Registered 14 years agoMerlinho wrote:
just wanted to +1 the Hampi suggestion, just stay clear of the obnoxious young Israelis!
localnotail wrote:
Merlinho, if you are being driven (swanky) all the way up to Goa from Kerala, then try to visit Hampi en route. It's a fascinating place. -
redistuo 3 posts
Seen 10 years ago
Registered 11 years agoI'm headed to Kerala in December/January. I've been told, and from what I've read on the internet, the likelihood of spotting a tiger at Thekkady/Periyar is pretty low. The reason, from what I've read is that the reserve is quite large, so coming across them is hard.
A mate of mine managed to capture some awesome shots of a white tiger at the Bannerghatta National Park near Bangalore, but, he did visit in July. I'm not sure what the likelihood of spotting tigers is towards January.
I too am planning a couple of nights on a houseboat, but around Alleppey.
Good luck with your travel plans. -
Zomoniac 10,628 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoI'm meant to be going in three weeks. I'm scared. Tell me not to be scared. -
Don't be scared. /never been to India
You missed Holi though http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/holi-the-festival-of-colors-2011/100032/ -
I have to fly on my own. Not booked flights yet. Scared to for some reason. I don't even know the itinary, I'm meeting some friends that have been there since January. I know I'm meeting them in Delhi, then we'll be moving around the north, in Uttarakhand in the Corbett tiger reserve, then I have to make my way on my own from wherever we happen to be in India back to Delhi to fly back. It's not too bad until that last bit. Could be a ten hour bus ride, alone :/
And I haven't been since 2003, so I doubt that most of them even exist any more. Sometimes posts may contain links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. For more information, go here.
