INDIA TRAVEL INFORMATION

People: India is all about people. There are so many of them, it‘s almost hard to believe. In cities like Delhi and Jaipur they are literally everywhere, and even for someone like me coming from Europe, India seems to be awfully crowded. With a projection of 2 billion inhabitants in 2050 it will be the largest population in the world. With so many people it‘s no wonder that privacy is hard to get in India, especially as a traveler. They will stare and stare and stare at you. Don‘t get annoyed, it won‘t help. It probably will only attract more people. In general we found Indians quite friendly, sometimes pushy but not worse than other places we‘ve been. Score: 8

Landscape/Nature: not impressed. Even in Ranthambore National Park we can‘t say it‘s very beautiful. Probably in the south it is better, but Rajasthan did not impress us with its landscapes. Score: 5

Transport/Infrastructure: you will always find a way to get from point A to B with so many people around and with so many people wanting to earn some money. The roads are quite good and transport ranges from a camel to an airconditioned Mercedes. To give you a rough idea about the distances by car (in hours): Delhi to Agra 4hrs, Agra to Ranthambore 6-7hrs, Ranthambore to Jaipur 5hrs, Jaipur to Pushkar 3hrs, Pushkar to Udaipur 7hrs, Udaipur to Jodhpur 7.5hrs, Jodhpur to Jaisalmer 5hrs, Jaisalmer to Bikaner 7hrs, Bikaner to Mandawa 5hrs, Mandawa to Delhi 4hrs. If you travel by train: they are notorious for their delays. Score: 8

Wildlife/Animals: no wonder that with a huge human population wildlife has seen better days. Tigers are very much threatened and so is the last population of Asian lions (Gujarat). Birdlife is prolific but everything else (from antelopes to deers to bears) are not benefiting from nowadays India. What‘s left is still very interesting though but hard to see. Score: 7

Food: ahhhh, Indian food. Very very good but if you don‘t like spicy make sure what you choose. Regions like Rajasthan know very well what to dish up for foreigners, so they can cater for non-spicy food. India is a mecca for vegetarians% Score: 9

Climate: we visited in November so that‘s about wintertime, in other words quite pleasant temperatures (even in Jaisalmer). At night even quite chilly. In May and beyond however temperatures go up to 50 degrees% Score: 8

Culture: India is very rich in culture. Very interesting religious backgrounds (from Jainists to Hindi), great temples and forts, colorful costumes and clothing (love the colorful sarongs of the women). If traveling in Rajasthan however, one will have to make choices. There are so many forts and temples around that at one point one might have enough (actually, we did). So if you have to make choices, skip the Red Fort in Delhi but do visit the one at Agra. Skip Fatehpur Sikri near Agra but go to Ranakpur. Skip Humayun‘s Tumb in Delhi but do go to Qutb Minar. The Forts of Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaisalmer are all worth visiting, but skip the forts around Udaipur and Bikaner. Also note that everywhere you have to pay an entry fee which is 10 to 100 times higher than for locals% And on top of that you often have to pay an additional fee for cameras (sometimes) and video cameras (always). Score: 9

Hygiene: with so many people around who generally don‘t seem to care to much about their immediate environment, India is not the cleanest place on earth. Actually, it is one of the dirties. Score: 4

Cost of Traveling: India is still quite cheap. Of course one can also choose to travel the luxurious way, but even mid-range hotels are very affordable. Same counts for food and transport. Score: 9

Safety/Stability: we felt very safe in India, even at night in big cities like Delhi. Despite the ongoing verbal fights with Pakistan the country is also quite safe to travel, althought the situation might be different in places like Assam. Special note: traffic is horrendous and definitely not the safest on earth. Score: 9

Excitement/Adventure/Challenge: Rajasthan is definitely NOT the most challenging part of India with so many tourists visiting the place. Although, traveling in India in general is an adventure in itself. It is exciting though to travel in such a different area than your own. Score: 7

Overall Score: 7.3.

With this score India will not enter our top 10 of countries of the world to travel.

Guide book: Lonely Planet India. Lonely Planet is not my most favorite travel book and it will never be. The India book didn‘t prove too bad but their maps are still not very accurate. Also some accommodation and/or restaurants are mentioned in the text but never appear on the map and the other way around.

Accommodation: herewith the several guest houses and hotels we stayed and our opinion of them.

Delhi: Hotel Surya shelter had a convenient location in the Karol Bagh district, lots of shops around and a rooftop restaurant. Nothing fancy but convenient enough.

Agra: Hotel Amar is one of these modern, no atmosphere hotels. They do have a pool but way to cold in November. Very noisy as well and the location is on the outskirts of town, not really convenient. Not to be recommended.

Ranthambore: Ranthambore Safari Lodge doesn‘t have anything to do with a real safari lodge as we know it, it‘s more a hotel. They do have new rooms just behind the restaurant and reception and older rooms around the pool in the back. We had an old room and it was fine. Restaurant served good food.

Jaipur: Hotel Bissau Palace is a remnant of old maharadja times; it need some maintenance but the details are very good. Restaurant is ok, the one for breakfast very dark and dusty, the rooftop restaurant for dinner is very nice.

Pushkar: Hotel New Park is brand new and rooms are real hotel like, but no complaints. Restaurant is on the roof and served good food. It is a bit out of town which we liked because during the Camel Fair Pushkar gets very noisy 24hrs a day.

Udaipur: Jagat Niwas Palace clearly suffered from its succesfull reviews in guide books because with its increasing popularity the service became unpersonal and even rude. Lots of staff hinted for tips. Room we got was very cramped, but I am sure there are better rooms. View from the restaurant on the lake though is brilliant.

Jodhpur: Hotel Royal Palace was anything but Royal. Dirty, dark, inconvenient location. No restaurant. Owners were friendly though.

Jaisalmer: Hotel Golden City was quite allright, near the old citadel but not inside (which is probably better), rooftop restaurant with children (!!) taking orders and dishing out, food could have been better.

Bikaner: Hotel Sagar was not good. Very inconvenient location (miles away from town) and very noisy, 24hrs. Food was allright.

Mandawa: Hotel Mandawa Heritage was a new haveli, very nice but unfortunately noisy. Room was big and comfortable. Restaurant was not very good, both for location as for quality of food.

Agent: we used Outsight Travel from Holland for selecting the hotels and transfers etc. but we will not use them again. We found it a typical travel agency of young people trying to sell you something of which they don‘t exactly know what they are talking about. Maybe have been there once, but hardly a record to convince you of their experience and knowledge. So they heavily rely on a local agent which can go either way. Good or bad. No added value at all.