Okay this is pathetic of me, but I've never been. However, I study it like mad and am planning my first trip this year. It depends on what kind of stuff you want to do - see the touristy things? see villages? explore the outdoors? visit the major cities? all of the above? My plan is to see Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Rishikesh (town of Ashrams and such), Varanasi (right on the ganges, holy city) etc. try to do a little bit of everything.
Warning, they'll try to charge you at LEAST twice as much for everything. REMEMBER TO HAGGLE!! it's not like here where that is unheard of, you have to haggle there. Basically, any price they give you, cut it in half and insist on that (at least!) try to find out what they are charging locals. That's the #1 advice my Indian friends give me.
my dad is from india and i went there with him to visit family a few years ago. because i am half white and obviously western, whenever we were going to purchase something he would go by himself or have another family member go because if they saw me they would charge a lot more.
Well, I don't know how much I can help given that I mainly go to India to visit family and therefore am rather clueless about being a tourist there. But one thing I can say is that large cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai are prone to huge amounts of traffic and if you're getting from one part of the city to another by car/auto(rikshaw)/etc., you'll have to factor in a couple of hours of being stuck in traffic jams, unfortunately.
If you have any particular questions, I might be able to help so feel free to ask.
Corny as it sounds, you have to see Taj Mahal. Try to get there by the opening our, it is incredibly beautiful in early morning.
I loved Udaipur - one of a less known but still touristy places in Rajastan. From there, there is about 2 hours drive to an enormous, magnificent Jain temple, well worth a day visit. Unfortunately it seems like the only way to get there is to hire a car with a driver. Ours was recommended by a rickshaw who gave us a ride, and it was a few hundreds cheaper than from an official agency, the driver was nice and the car was Tata, not a dilapidated Ambassador.
On the practical side: you have two choices, either to avoid any food except that served in hotel restaurants (catering to foreigners) or be prepared to have stomach problems (take enough loperamide with you). Obviously, never drink tap water. But hot masala chai is safe even from tea-wallas in the streets.
I work for a tour operator and one of our most popular tours I sell starts in Delhi, then goes to Udaipur, then Jaipur, then Agra, then onto Khajuraho and then Varanasi, ending back in Delhi. It is a lovely tour of India, though the areas up by the Himalayas are amazing. Of course this route is the "normal" tourist route, but maybe it will help you start to formulate an itinerary. Southern India is very different and worth a trip too, like Kochi.
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Warning, they'll try to charge you at LEAST twice as much for everything. REMEMBER TO HAGGLE!! it's not like here where that is unheard of, you have to haggle there. Basically, any price they give you, cut it in half and insist on that (at least!) try to find out what they are charging locals. That's the #1 advice my Indian friends give me.
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Oh yeah, watch bollywood movies! It's a great start for preparing for the culture shock.
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ameyadevi, thank you. (seriously)
I'm actually really nervous about this.
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http://www.clt.astate.edu/elind/nc_main.htm
and i second the haggling.
my dad is from india and i went there with him to visit family a few years ago.
because i am half white and obviously western, whenever we were going to purchase something he would go by himself or have another family member go because if they saw me they would charge a lot more.
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If you have any particular questions, I might be able to help so feel free to ask.
Reply
I loved Udaipur - one of a less known but still touristy places in Rajastan. From there, there is about 2 hours drive to an enormous, magnificent Jain temple, well worth a day visit. Unfortunately it seems like the only way to get there is to hire a car with a driver. Ours was recommended by a rickshaw who gave us a ride, and it was a few hundreds cheaper than from an official agency, the driver was nice and the car was Tata, not a dilapidated Ambassador.
On the practical side: you have two choices, either to avoid any food except that served in hotel restaurants (catering to foreigners) or be prepared to have stomach problems (take enough loperamide with you). Obviously, never drink tap water. But hot masala chai is safe even from tea-wallas in the streets.
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Have fun!!!
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