Hi all...yah I've been MIA for awhile, mostly because of laziness but I'm back and I'm gonna have lots to share with you soon! Before I start posting I want to talk about India. Randy and I have wanted to go for a long time now, we love Indian food and we've heard great things about the place but we never could fit it in to our schedules.
So first of all, whatever you heard about India, whether it being stink, lots of cows and doo doo all over the place, crowded, dirty....yup, it's all true. AND I LOVED IT! But I must admit, it's not for everyone, heck, it may not be for many people. We went on a tour, I personally wouldn't go on my own, I wouldn't want to ride those commuter trains. I'm not that brave. But I want to give you guys some tips in case you're interested in going. I apologize, it's gonna be lots of reading here.
PALACE ON WHEELS
This is a luxury train tour around India. I'm not gonna get into the specifics since I'm gonna be blogging about it but you can click on the link if you're interested. But here's my take on them:
1. This is a LUXURY train tour. I'm not saying it was crazy expensive but for India standards I guess it is. We paid $3500 pp for a 7 day train tour. The train held about 80 people and I swear to God (no exaggeration) Randy and I were the poorest people on the train. There were doctors, business owners, even an old guy that bought a winery down in Capetown, South Africa! But don't get me wrong, they all were very nice. We were expecting a bunch of hoity toity people but no one was even close. We got lucky. There were nurses from Brooklyn with us but they were spending money like there was no tomorrow, so yah, they had more money than us.
2. That being said, like most tours, they always take you someplace to shop at the end of the day. These are no little gift shops, these are carpets, silk, jewelry, marble, you get the picture. They say "no pressure" but these guys are aggressive. If you're alone walking around just browsing, a salesperson will follow you the whole time. It was very uncomfortable. I kept telling them I was just looking but they kept telling me "i'll give you a good price!" So, I'm assuming that since we can afford this tour we can afford all of these expensive goods. I don't think I would've bought a lot of it even if I did have the money!
3. Tips. We didn't technically spend a lot of money in India but we spent a crapload on tips. We had to tip our wait staff (2 guys that were assigned to us the whole time on the train) a recommended $25 to each of them at the time of boarding. I thought that was kind of strange. Then at the end of the tour, another $25, $50 to the train manager and $50 to the chef/kitchen staff. And anytime anyone grabbed your bags, whether you want them to or not, they're expecting a tip. Then of course there's the bus drivers, the daily tour guides, etc.
4. Since you need money for tips, getting small money is a pain in the ass. Of course if you go to the ATM you're gonna get bigger bills. Then you go someplace to buy something to break the big bills they tell you that we need smaller change. The best places to go are convenience stores or your hotel. Our train manager had small bills that he would give to us sometimes but other times we had to just stiff our driver because we didn't have any small change.
5. The food on the train was ok...i'd give it about a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I was hoping it was gonna be better. I love Indian food but it all started to taste the same after awhile. Also I ate it everyday for every meal. I'm Indian'd out. We did get to eat some street food and those kicked the train's ass. That was delicious.
6. The rooms were very comfortable, except that it was FREEZING. It was cold plus the fan was set on high. It was very hot everyday that we went out so by the time we came back to the train a lot of times we were sweating and our clothes were soaked. Then we get into this freezing cold room. I'm surprised no one got sick. Of course it felt good for the first five minutes but after that you're shivering. We asked them to tweak it just a little bit and then the room got hot. So yah, back to freezing it went.
7. I'm fortunate that every room has it's own bathroom and shower but the water pressure was so low that it took you forever to take a shower. That's the least of my worries but I thought I'd mention it. The toilets were weird too. After you flush, it was one of those press button ones, you have to rapidly press the button down lightly until you feel it resist again, otherwise the water won't fill up in the bowl. We forgot a couple of times then you'd have to wait a long time before the next person could use the bathroom.
VARANASI
We took a side trip to Varanasi after POW because that's the main reason we wanted to go to India. Varanasi was incredible. Here are some important tips before deciding to go there:
1. Do not go during or right after Monsoon season. The monsoon season lasts from June - September. They get heavy rains and high humidity. We knew this but the reason why we went in September was there was a discount if we booked a tour by the end of the month. We saved almost $1000 pp. Now I know why they offered the discount! The rain had stopped but the humidity was INSANE. 80-90% the whole time we were there. I thought I was gonna pass out. The moment we stepped out of the hotel you were instantly sticky. I guess it's still better than rain though, right?
2. If you know anything about Varanasi, the main attraction are the ghats. It's the area on the river where you can walk the steps and hang out or take a boat ride on the Ganges to see the sites from the water. During Monsoon season the tide is so high there are no steps and all boat rides are stopped due to the strong current. During low tide the water literally drops about 100 yards out from what we had seen. It was hard to imagine until we looked at pictures online of our hotel during the drier seasons. I purposely found a hotel on the river looking over the Ganges so we would be close to the ghat and all of the action. All we saw was water. Out of all the researching we did before this trip no one ever mentioned this. You can imagine the disappointment when we checked into our hotel and the guy told us we couldn't go walking on the ghat because there was no place to walk...
3. A/C is a must! If you look for a hotel and there is no A/C don't even bother. I wouldn't be able to function if ours didn't have one.
4. Watch where you're walking! There is literally cow dung and dog poop all over the place. If you're touring the city you may miss some sights because you're too busy concentrating on where you're walking. The grounds are uneven also so you definitely don't wanna fall in it!!
5. Tons of cows and dogs walking around and minding their own business. So cute. I was in heaven
6. Getting into the main part of Varanasi from the airport isn't that far, but it will probably take you about an hour and a half to get there. You think traffic is bad from Ewa? India has no rules. Literally. Lanes on the road mean nothing. The first 20 miles or so is fast, the next 5 will take you forever. Tuk tuks, cars, mopeds, motorcycles, cows, rickshaws, pedestrians, bicyclists all share the same small road. It's insane. I was getting carsick after awhile. The drivers have to be aggressive if they ever want to get anywhere so there was a lot of gunning, then braking hard, gunning, then braking hard. Tons of horns, horns are used as a courtesy and they expect you to honk. No one gets upset, they just move gently to the side and let you pass.
Last but not least, tips for going to India in general:
1. If you do decide to go during the warmer months, bring extra clothes. You think you have enough? Think again. I didn't pack enough. Not even close. It's a good thing I don't have bad B.O. cause i would've been in trouble.
2. Randy brought a travel size Febreeze which saved us. We both didn't pack enough and everyday we came back with sweaty clothes
3. DRUGS! DON'T FORGET YOUR DRUGS! Delhi Belly is no joke. My cousin and a few others got it while we were there...
- Cipro (an antibiotic, you gotta get a prescription),
- Immodium
- Pepto Bismol - used as a preventative measure, take one before every meal you'd be worried about
- Ibuprofen
- Probiotics
- Meclizine - I take this for motion sickness. It's a lifesaver.
- Nauzene - my cousin told me about this. If you start to feel nauseous pop one of these in and you should feel better
- Get your flu shot!
- Hep A
- Malaria drugs: Some people say you should take them, some say no need. My doctor left it up to me. I took um. I didn't want to take the chance. There's no side effects so it was a no brainer for me. Randy didn't take them. Someone said there were around 300 cases of Malaria this year.
- Sunscreen
4. The one genius thing Randy did (of course he didn't tell me) was that he packed one pair of clothes that he didn't wear until the day we left. He didn't want to stink on the plane so he literally changed his clothes at the airport. So yah, I was all dirty, wearing wrinkled febreezed clothes and he looked like he was just starting his trip.
5. Snacks. You should always have snacks handy for your room, bus trips, etc. You never know when hunger will strike or if you just want something to munch on. We had almonds, protein bars, candy, beef jerky (hide this from the locals, they'll probably freak out if they saw you eating it!)
6. Be prepared to start bargaining. I absolutely hate it but you gotta or else you'll probably get ripped off. I'll bargain a little and even though i'm probably paying too much it's not worth the headache. It's mostly likely gonna be cheaper than anything you'll find back home so I just leave it as that. Plus they're poor. They can use the money.
7. DON'T DRINK THE WATER!!! Don't even brush your teeth with it. Water is super cheap, about 60 cents for the big bottle so stock up!
Ok, i'll stop for now. I gotta get on with my post processing so you can actually see what i'm talking about. See you guys soon!
