INDIA

OVERVIEW

So, we had visited India before and knew it wasn't really safe to travel as two young girls. However, after looking around we managed to find a tour for a very good price. It covered the north of India (Dehli - Bikaner - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Udaipur - Pushkar - Jaipur - Agra - Varanasi - Delhi) over the course of 20 days. My recommendation would be to book a tour, even if you're used to travelling, India is a whole different ballgame and having a local with you is invaluable. Another thing to add is, remember your first aid kit because the chances are you will get ill, so stock up on anti nausea and re-hydration salts. If you're pushed for time and want to do it on your own my recommended places to visit would be Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra (for the Taj Mahal of course).

MONEy

Approximate Conversion Rate - 1 GBP = 94 INR

Average Costs Per Day:

Food - 3-6 GBP, goes without saying but eating vegetarian will keep your food budget a lot lower and because the food is so good, you won't even miss the meat!

Transport - Variety of local trains and buses - Prices Vary - Included in tour price

Monthly Budget - 1000 GBP

Visa

If you're from the UK you can get a 30 day electronic tourist visa.

Useful Apps and Websites

IRCTC Connect - Book trains

12goAsia - Book buses and trains

Uber - Works in the bigger cities

India is a crazy country but it has so much to offer and the food is next level! We chose to book The Best of North India Tour with RealGap so that we were there for Holi festival (beginning of March). It cost us £610 and we booked during the Black Friday sale, after we confirmed we received an email to say the tour was with G Adventures which is a very well known and established company. The hotels we stayed in were nice, be prepared for cold water in the majority but overall we were very happy for what we were paying. The transport on the other hand was pretty basic and fairly long journeys so be ready for busy and smelly travel with plenty of early mornings. With that being said, India is so unique and I don't think you'll experience anything like it anywhere else in the world. It has a population of over 1 billion people so as you can imagine it can be very chaotic especially in the cities but you are in a big group and all I'd say is embrace it. Having the guide with you means that you find out all about the history, cultures and traditions and I personally loved learning more about the country and how the people live.

The layout and recommendations of what we did and where we stayed are obviously mainly what the tour included so they get the accommodation, transport and activities at a better price so just bear that in mind.

Delhi

Accommodation - Hotel Perfect
Food - Amar Jyoti (chicken tawa), Suruchi (Gujarati veg thali - unlimited), Punjabi sweet corner (masala dosa), kitchen with a cause
Things to do - street kids tour (Salam balak)

One of my favourite things we did in Delhi was the street kids tour with Salam Balak, the people who led the tour were ex street kids who'd grown up and been helped by this project. It was so interesting and really put into perspective how so many kids live in India.

Overnight train - sleeper - 8 hours

Bikaner

Accommodation - thar desert camping (raisar), hotel bhairon villas
Food - shivrata (Chana masala)
To do - camel riding (we opted out for ethical reasons), fort visit, rat temple

Train - basic and uncomfortable - 6 hours

Jaisalmer

Accommodation - Hotel Mahadev Palace
Food - 1156AD
To do - gadsisar lake - sunset boat ride, fort tour - breakfast at rooftop restaurant

Local bus - 5 hours - basic

Jodhpur

Accommodation - Hotel Marvel Umed
To do - step well, fort
Food - blue turban

Local bus - 5 hours - nice recliner seats

Udaipur

Accommodation - royal desire
Food - oladar village cafe, tribute (dhungar maas)
To do - temple, palace, cooking class, henna, painting class, palm reading

This was one of my favourite places that we visited, it wasn't too big of a city and there was so much to see and do!

Basic train to Ajmer - 5 hours - crowded - get off early

Taxi to pushkar

Pushkar

Accommodation - Hotel New Park
To do - lake, temple, markets
Food - Om Shiva Garden Restaurant

Pushkar is actually a great place for backpackers! There is a young crowd and plenty of markets to do all of your shopping.

4x4 to Tordi - 4 hours - comfortable

Tordi

Accommodation - Hotel Tordi Garh
To do - Village tour

4 x 4 to Jaipur - 3 hours

Jaipur

Accommodation - Hotel Utsav Niwas
To Do - Hawa Mahal, Water Palace, Amber Fort
Food - dagla, masala chowk, Tattoo Cafe (good view of the Hawa Mahal)

4 hour train - recliner seats

Agra

Accommodation - Hotel Amar Yatri Niwas
To Do - Taj Mahal, Fort
Food - pinch of spice, on the roof

Obviously the main reason people come to Agra is to see the Taj Mahal. Other than that there isn't much else to see here so you can do everything in a day.

15 hour sleeper train

Varanasi

Accommodation - Hotel Pradeep
To Do - River Ganges - morning and evening ceremony
Food - lemongrass, Annapurna, hotel restaurant (chicken bhurta)

Dehli