India

There are mixed emotions when you visit a country like India. It offers some of the most amazing monuments and scenery you will ever experience, with vibrant colours filling small shops nestled into crowded and narrow streets, along with hordes of locals and tourists alike crowding into every corner. But there is the real side of India which most people do not appreciate before they travel there. Poverty is overwhelming and can be quite distressing. Beggars are trying to sell souvenirs at every stop because this is their only source of income, as small as it is. The streets are over-crowded, the smog is excessive and it is not the sort of city where you get out and roam freely. But, having said all that, we thought it was an amazing trip and felt so privileged to have seen some of the things we did.

We went on an organised tour, and we must say that this would be the safest and most sensible way of travelling to India for the first time. As an Australian couple we booked through Luxury Escapes, but I have no doubt that there will be many tour operators ready and willing to sell India. If you do go through a tourist company, and you have a few extra dollars to spend, then if an upgrade of rooms is available please consider it carefully. We took the upgraded rooms and we have to say they were all magnificent. If there is one thing that India does well, it is their accommodation. As their main source of income their hotels are majestic, well serviced and the food is exceptional.

Travel Tips

• Currency – The Indian Rupee is the official currency of India and it is well worth taking plenty of it with you. It is the only bargaining tool you can use when making a purchase. However, if you feel safe about using your credit card, then have one handy as well. We only used our credit card in the major hotels, we did not use it outside in the tourist areas.
• Visas – it is always best to check visa requirements for your own country. This link takes you to a comprehensive visa checklist and also provides other important information for the traveller.

Travel Alerts

• Check out the Embassy of India for relevant travel alerts.
• Additional visa information – We are not sure about other countries, but in Australia there is a difficult and convoluted process to obtain an Indian visa. They were costly, the information required was a lot to work through and you had to start months in advance of your travel dates. The visa offices are run by third party organisations, with money being the forefront of the business. However, and please pay attention to this tip, you are better off going on-line and doing an e-Visa. The cost of the e-Visas were about A$39 each, compared with A$450 each at the local visa office. The e-Visas appeared in my in-box in 24 hours, but the visas ordered through the office took weeks to arrive. We are alerting you to this because we had a last minute passport issue a week out from travel. Our Indian visas were already stamped in our passports, and when we presented to the office to try and have them re-issued they refused, and said we would have to do the whole process again, plus of course paying the exorbitant fees again. To add insult to injury, when we enquired what would happen if the visas did not turn up in time for our trip, they simply said ‘Then you won’t be travelling, will you’. They could not have been more unhelpful, rude or disinterested if they tried. e-Visa was quick, easy and efficient.
• The air quality in India is extremely poor, and it is on the very rare occasion that you get to see blue sky. Therefore, if you suffer from any health issues, you might want to ensure you have extra medication on hand, and wear a mask at all times.
• We could not say that we felt completely safe in India without our travel guide. We were warned every day about keeping our belongings close to us, and ensuring we did not put them down anywhere. Even though we did not experience any theft whilst we were travelling, we definitely would not have gone out at night alone, and we kept all our cards, cash etc. very close to us.

Travel Adventures

• India is a diverse country with much to offer. Options will confuse you so it is wise to do some research on what sort of sights you wish to see and which part of the country you wish to visit. We did what is commonly known as the ‘Golden Triangle’ and were perfectly happy with this choice for our first trip to India.