India

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Anyone been to India?
Planning a trip at New Year and want to take in Goa, Dehli and Udapur.
Anyone got any tips about good places to go and stay?

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

Yes.

Haven't been to any of those places though.

 

[dannyboy]

went to goa last yearloved it so much going in jan
we went to anjuna . anjuna is the hippy part lots of psytrance clubs and people who have been there too long.
the other parts of goa i saw were quite touristy but still very indian .
food is lovely , cheap jewellery suits etc . in fact everything is dirt cheap , haggle for everything. my mate and i and prob 3 pints each and 3 course meal ( prob one of best meals ive had for a fiver, and thats for both of us.

weather great sea nice,people nice.

if you were thinking of anjuna i can recommend where we stayed . lovely hotel fiver a night

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

went to goa last yearloved it so much going in jan
we went to anjuna . anjuna is the hippy part lots of psytrance clubs and people who have been there too long.
the other parts of goa i saw were quite touristy but still very indian .
food is lovely , cheap jewellery suits etc . in fact everything is dirt cheap , haggle for everything. my mate and i and prob 3 pints each and 3 course meal ( prob one of best meals ive had for a fiver, and thats for both of us.

weather great sea nice,people nice.

if you were thinking of anjuna i can recommend where we stayed . lovely hotel fiver a night

Please - where did you stay?

 

[Tooting Gull]

I spent about five weeks travelling about there Sneaky, albeit a good few years ago. Back-packing there was harder going than some places, and you may not be, but there were some incredible high-points as well.

Just getting lost in Delhi is to be recommended; the Taj Mahal in nearby Agra won't let you down and I went back at different times of day as it looked totally different, a true wonder of the world; the lake at Udaipur of James Bond fame is well worth a visit and if I'd had money then I might have treated myself to a meal/stay on the island; Jaipur and Jodhpur are fine cities, and Pushkar and Jaisalmer were fun if you got that far.

Didn't go to Goa, but I'm sure others have. Was also the best diet anyone could wish for, got ill and lost about four stone. Ah, those were the days....

 

[Gully]

I am also thinking about going to India, probably early-ish next year, for a bit of a back-packing adventure. A tip I had was to eat on train journeys, but avoid the meat dishes, apparently the food on many is as good as you will get in any restaruant. Have to say that was born out by some of the comments from Sanjeev Baskhar on one of the programmes he did recently about the country.

 

[clippedgull]

I spent about five weeks travelling about there Sneaky, albeit a good few year the Taj Mahal in nearby Agra won't let you down and I went back at different times of day as it looked totally different, a true wonder of the world;

Was there in March this year, gotta agree.

Although I only sort of saw it at 6am as the sun was breaking through the mist.

Humbling sight

Did you know it was modelled on the Royal Pavilion

Bloody copy cats those Indians

 

[dougdeep]

I've been to Southall.

 

[shingle]

Ok Sneaky

Been to India many times, including all three places you're going to

Recommended places to stay

Goa. Cavala beach resort, they have a website and they are very reasonable, you can book by phone or email from the UK

Delhi. Hotel Grand Godwin, very central in Paharganj, and reasonable (about ten or twelve quid a night for a double)

Udaipur (love Udaipur) I'll dig out the name, but again it's very central (right by the Jagdish temple) and very reasonable at around a tenner a night for a double A/C room

Re Eating, the first two hotels have great restaurants attached, and in Udaipur Berrys is the place, very popular and with a quick turnover.

Any more info, just ask

 

[shingle]

Didn't go to Goa, but I'm sure others have. Was also the best diet anyone could wish for, got ill and lost about four stone. Ah, those were the days....[/QUOTE]

Yes after my two month trip earlier this year, got ill twice in Amritsar and Jodhpur, lost two stone, India tis indeed the best diet anyone could wish for

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Skip Mumbai - absolute shit hole. Goa is very nice though. Delhi is okay. India is just such a different experience than anywhere else in the world, but once you've been three of four times you get thoroughly sick of the place.

 

[South Yarra Seagull]

I went for 4 weeks three years back, visited Delhi, Agra, Mumbai and Goa.

Delhi is like another world, hot, dusty and a real assault on the senses, my advice is to get amongst it but have a nice hotel to go back to - you'll need it.

Got the 2 hour train to Agra and stayed a night in town - watch out for the hundreds of dodgy 'tour guides' who'll take you to their mates' shops, workshops etc... The Taj really IS amazing. As is the Red Fort.

Mumbai, yes something of a shithole, but worth a visit. Had some decent accom in Colaba which is where most of the action is. A boat ride to Elephanta Island is a nice daytrip.

And finally Palolem in Goa, a little slice of relatively untouched paradise. Plenty of cheap accom on the beach, but stayed at a joint called Ciarans Place and would go back like a shot.

Enjoy...

 

[shingle]

I presume youre travelling independently, if so with the distances involved (50 hours Delhi to Goa on train) you might want to take advantage of India's low cost airlines, they're very good and cheap. SPICEJET, and AIR DECCAN are two that I use. SPICEJET can be booked from the UK, Air Deccan has to be booked inside India.

Strangely, with regard to India's second city, there's a bit of inverted snobbery involved, and only government officials and taxi drivers say Mumbai, everyone else including India's rising middle class still refer to the city as Bombay

 

[Moshe Gariani]

at The Oval, Fawlty...

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Ok Sneaky

Been to India many times, including all three places you're going to

Recommended places to stay

Goa. Cavala beach resort, they have a website and they are very reasonable, you can book by phone or email from the UK

Delhi. Hotel Grand Godwin, very central in Paharganj, and reasonable (about ten or twelve quid a night for a double)

Udaipur (love Udaipur) I'll dig out the name, but again it's very central (right by the Jagdish temple) and very reasonable at around a tenner a night for a double A/C room

Re Eating, the first two hotels have great restaurants attached, and in Udaipur Berrys is the place, very popular and with a quick turnover.

Any more info, just ask

Thanks mate, if you can dig out name of hotel in Udaipur that'd be very helpful.

 

[Dr Q]

Been to India several times, all through work. Best time we hired a driver and drove from Delhi down to Khajuraho (for a conference). Some fantastic temples etc on the way (Gwalior, Orcha etc>) but all pretty much left to rot and fall down, which is a real shame.
Taj Mahal is phenominal.
Big hotels in Delhi are now getting very expensive. Of these, the Imperial is the best.

 

[sunshine]

Went To Goa for New year just gone. Stayed in Baga. It was totally fantastic, the best holiday i have ever been on. The food is fantastic, the people are friendly and the weather is lovely. Highly recommend it!!!!