Echo the “get a driver” sentiment. Driving in India is a skill unto itself.
It’s a shame you’re not going to Bombay/Mumbai. The Gateway to India is awesome, the necklace is gorgeous, etc.
Looks like a good itinerary to me. As far as seeing both Jaisalmer and the North, it will mean a lot of transportation. I’m not even sure it can be done in a meaningful way:
2nd-3rd: Overnight bus or train from Jaipur to Jaisalmer (this is the easy part)
evening 4th + pretty much all of 5th: bus or train or both from Jaisalmer to Rishikesh
Afternoon/evening 8th: Back to Delhi.
That is a lot of time on the road, and while I like Indian trains very much, you might feel that you are wasting your time.
How about Jaipur-Jaisalmer (maybe a camel safari?)-Jodhpur-Delhi? Or Jaipur-Rishikesh-Hardwar-Delhi? Different trips, but with more continuity, I feel.
I had a driver. My itinerary went Jaipur, Udaipur, Ranakpur, Jodhpur – all of which were v. cool. Ranakpur is the site of a fascinating Jain temple. I think I ran out of time for Jaisalmer, but the tour company and driver also thought April would just be too hot to go that far west. I bet I could have handled it, though.
Avoid driving the Udaipur-Ranakpur road the week after Holi, however. The “tribals” in the Aravalli hills there celebrate Holi later than most places. Part of their celebration is setting up road blocks to hold up tourists (and regular bus service) for bribes. We were stopped about 30 times. Though we got away with only a couple of rupees at each one, fishing for change allowed a big enough crowd to gather that my driver became quite nervous. It seems that the adults put the kids up to it, but some of the grownups seemed drunk and near the edge of going out of control. We actually had to stop to get change because all I had were Rs 20 notes, which would start to add up and the driver didn’t want to encourage bribe inflation.
Thanks, I think you’ve confirmed my suspicions that we’d still be biting off more than we can chew. And after reading ** zagloba’s** post about Western Rajasthan and going further into the Thar Dessert in April, I’m a bit hesitant to go that route. But we did love the insight about the bribes, it’s those kinds of tips that really get us ready for India.
How about shopping tips? Any good places to go/things to buy/things to avoid? One tip we got, since we’re only going with one backpack a piece, was to ship home the items at the post office instead.
I apologize if it has been mentioned already (lots of stuff here!), but when you arrange for your driver, you might also ask them to arrange for local guides at each of the places you will go.
It’s not that expensive, but it is definitely worth it.
When I went with some colleagues from work last October, we rented a car+driver from Avis in Jaipur for the duration (only a few days, after all the work had been done). I believe Avis also arranged local guides at Jaipur, Agra, and New Delhi. Definitely worth it.
Make sure you have lots of small bills – 20, 50, 100 rupees. Even going to pee in a nasty bathroom on the highway often involves tipping.
I put together a iPhoto album of the Triangle visit (including the elephant!), choosing ~30 or so of the best photos. I can send it in PDF if you are interested, just PM me.
You’ll find stuff you love all along your route, I’m sure. But be aware that many places have seriously inflated prices for tourists (sometimes they charge 50 times what an item is worth). I would buy as much as possible in Delhi - the city has nice shops, markets and emporiums that all (more or less) have fixed prices. Try looking around Connaught Circus (and make sure your wife sees the FabIndia store) or move a bit further away to Khan Market (with the wonderful kebabs), Greater Kailash II (known as GKII) or Basant Lok. The shops in these markets won’t stock souvenir-type stuff; for that you could visit one of the state or government emporiums on Janpath (the road that goes directly south from Connaught Circus). Janpath also has a large, Tibetan market.
Whatever you decide to do, the best advice is to think: “Do I really want to pay XX rupees for this? - Do I even want it?”
As for shipping stuff it can be quite a hassle - I’m sure Lonely Planet or another guidebook has something to say about it. In short this is how it works: You get your items packed, sewn into a bag, and sealed outside the Post Office. Then you go in, have the stuff weighed, etc. It can take a long, long time - but at least it’s cheap.
Uh. 20, 50 or 100 rupees aren’t “small bills”. Even 20 rupees is a significant amount of money - especially if you need it for bathroom baksheesh, giving alms or stuff like that. One or two rupees is sufficient for that. Well, maybe you could give larger tips if you stay in really posh places, but otherwise you should consider what the money is worth in India rather than thinking in USD.
I agree that those amounts (around .40, $1, and $2 respectively) are large in Indian terms; however, in the week we were all there, the smallest bill we regularly had in our possession was 20. I had a single 2-rupee coin that I received in change.
Trust me, we wanted to use the smallest denomination we could find!
Next time I’ll have to get a supply of coins for the purpose.
Incidentally, hiring a car with AC will cost significantly more, but it’s worth it!
There’s a government tourist office in Delhi; in 2002 it was at 88 Janpath upstairs. It’s a good idea to go there first to get an idea of reasonable prices for drivers, hotels, etc. However, it’s more or less impossible to get there by taxi or autorickshaw, especially if you mention any phrase like “government tourist office.” All licensed tour and travel agents are approved by the government tourist office and have a sign saying so; your driver will take you to the agent he gets kickbacks from, point to the sign, and say “here, government tourist office.” Best to ask for a destination nearby and walk to 88 Janpath.
Here is the link of that tourist office
here is the address.
The Government of India Tourist Office
88 , Janpath , Connaught Place, New Delhi 110 001, India
Phone : +(91)-(11)-332 0005
The Government of India Tourist Office is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm and on Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm.
I did two weeks in India in 2000 - flew into Delhi for a few days, day train to Agra, day bus to Jaipur, overnight train to Jodhpur, overnight train to Jaisalmer. Then took a direct train back to Delhi and it was all over.
Thoughts:
Delhi - nightmare as it was really, really cold, suffering climatic “inversion” meaning there was thick smog everywhere, and because we were often the only tourists in any given place we were hassled beyond belief.
Day train: charming. Second class seating, lots of lovely friendly people, lots of “chai chai chai chai coffee coffee coffee coffee!!!”
Agra - a dump, but the Taj Mahal was definitely worth the trip. I personally thought it was like a Mandelbrot set, in that the detail became more absorbing and fascinating the closer one got. The mosque/mirror fake mosque in the grounds were fascinating too.
Coach journey: don’t drink too much water, and don’t look out the window, and you’ll be fine. Bring earplugs to drown out the blaring Bollywood that the driver is watching as well as the passengers while haring down the road dodging sacred cows at 70 mph.
Jaipur - overrated.
Night trains: very pleasant indeed. Lots of friendly people. Lots of snoring too - again bring earplugs. The toilets are a bit iffy - just a hole down to the tracks, and filthy. Hold the kids tight, and bring wet wipes and hand disinfectant.
Jodhpur - OK, quite pretty in parts, but rapacious touts everywhere, leading me to lose my rag and nearly turn an auto-rickshaw over in the street.
Jaisalmer - utterly breathtaking; could have spent weeks there.
My final thoughts.
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Nothing can prepare you for the poverty you will see, and its ubiquity. It is really quite a mindfuck. Good to get a bit of perspective in your and your kids’ lives.
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Speaking of mindfucks, be VERY VERY VERY wary of bhang lassi. I had one in Nepal - here’s what happened to me. I did see a government bhang shop in Jaisalmer, and the human detritus lying in the street all around it put me right off trying any more bhang. If both of you take it, and have to look after kids within 24 hours (or if you get one as strong as mine, 72 hours), you might want to think very carefully about arranging childcare.
suffering climatic “inversion” meaning there was thick smog everywhere.
All the public transport vehicles have converted to CNG fuel and hence the smog levels have come down now.
My opinion of course !
Yep. It’s a lot better now than it used to be. The air is still far from being clean, though, but nowadays many smaller cities (Jaipur, for instance) feels much more polluted than Delhi.