Tips for backpacking in India Hi friends, I just returned…
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Tips for backpacking in India
Hi friends, I just returned from India. I've got some tips and observations that other travelers might find useful before their first visit.
* **eVisa** \- This was not easy as the site kept crashing. They ask for lots of info, some required documents must be in .jpg, other in .pdf. I just couldn't complete it in Safari/Chrome on my Mac. Worked flawlessly in Edge on Windows. After that, it took about 24h to get the visa granted and it was sent to my mailbox. At the airport in Delhi, it was super smooth.
* **Visa extension** \- I needed to extend my visa by 3 days. You can do it on indianfrro.gov.in . You choose visa extension, fill out lots of info and hope for the best. I was waiting for over 2 weeks, most likely because of my mistake which no one told me about. You must also submit a "residency proof" which is apparently a form that your hotel/hostel can give you. I uploaded a booking confrimation and it was enough though. The extension was for free.
* **Phone number** \- You will need an Indian number for many things, so I definitely recommend having one. Many eSims in int. apps do not come with a phone number. I hoped to get it at Delhi airport but I couldn't find the store. I bought an Airtel sim card in a shop in Agra. It was a long process incl. taking photos of me, etc.. as it is tied to your visa. I traveled from Delhi all the way to the south and most of the time, it worked just fine. There are a lot of Airtel stores everywhere, so they might be able to help you. Once my Indian visa expired, my number stopped working despite having a visa extension approval for 3 more days.
* **Cash withdrawals** \- ATMs are everywhere. I was using SBI, there was no withdrawal for me. I recommended using Google Maps and just searching for "sbi" or "sbi atm"
* **Payment with cash** \- Obviously very easy but be aware that getting a change can be sometimes close to impossible. Very, very often if I paid a 100rp (0.9 EUR) for a ride and the price was 70, they wouldn't have a change. Probably because most locals pay with UPI.
* **Payments with card** \- Quite common in restaurants, tourist places, massage spots, etc.. It happened multiple times though that my card would not be accepted.
* **Payments with UPI** \- UPI is a fantastic QR payment system. You just get an app, top up your account via your card and then you just scan a QR code and it's paid. Easy. You can pay with UPI pretty much anywhere - tourist places, local shops, markets, temples.. anywhere. I used an app called Mony because I saw it advertised in many hostels. You need to get approved first before using it. For each top up, you need to pay quite a bit in fees. My biggest problem though was that I couldn't pay to private persons. In reality, I couldn't pay for services to many Uber drivers, shop owners, etc.. I know that Indians can, so I wonder if it's a Mony restriction or the fact that I am a foreigner. As I couldn't rely on this, I always tried to pay with cash or card.
* **Uber** \- Ubering is available in most cities (not in Goa though). I used either Uber or an app called Rapido. There is also an app called Ola. In these apps, tuktuk is called "auto". It's very affordable, I loved using motorbikes as they are faster. Be aware that most drivers will call you right after you book your ride. Make sure to check whether you pay with cash or card. It's a mix in some cities, you simply can't pay with one or the other. Very few times, they would message me and ask for more money, I canceled those rides.
* **Trains** \- I absolutely love Indian trains and think the whole system is fantastic but can be confusing at first! You can get trains with or without AC, fresh sheets in envelope. I've always had plug outlets by my bed/seat. Toilets were always fine too - there usually was toilet paper, running water, soap and bidet too. Something I didn't know is that during the day, the lowest bed is used by all people in your compartment to sit on.
* **Train booking** \- You'll need to create an account on irctc.co.in http://irctc.co.in to be able to book a seat. For trains between big cities, you definitely want to book these rides in advance - 3 days plus at least. Most of the time, you can't just "go with the flow". Otherwise, you just risk there won't be a seat for you. I used two apps to search (not to book) for seats - ixigo Trains and RailYatri. They both show the same, but I just sometimes preferred the interface of the other app. Both of these app will show you all the available trains between your destinations. Every train comes with many different classes (read more below). I personally preferred ticking off two boxes "avbl only" (train that has still free seats) and "AC only". After that, you can see how many available seats there are per class in each train. If you see e.g. "WL, 16", that means the coach is fully booked and you would be no. 16 on the waiting list. They will show your chances of getting such ticket, e.g. 82%. You just book it and hope for the best. I was on a waiting list for Varanasi - Delhi for 2 weeks and only on the last day my seat was confirmed. You'll hopefully see the WL number going down as others are canceling their tickets and your chance of getting the ticket might go up and down too. On your ticket, "CNF" means your seat is confirmed. You'll probably be able to choose your preferred seat or bed (called berth). Something you'll use a lot is "PNR" and that's the reservation number of your ticket.
* **Train payment** \- Paying for the tickets in the above mentioned apps never worked for me. They do not accept int. cards and UPI always failed for me. Therefore, after finding the right train, I would go to irctc.co.in http://irctc.co.in to book the seat I found. Creating the account was not too easy and there were multiple steps of verification. I had to pay a registration fee (100rp), verify my account via a text and email too. A verification code is called "OTP" and you will use this abbreviation a lot, also to confirm your ride with Uber. I remember the website showing errors, but you just go back and it worked. Once you get to payment, there will be multiple methods to choose from. Choose "Multiple payment service" and then "International/Domestic Credit/Debit card (Powered by Plural). Done! If you want to add it to one of the apps, you just need to link the app to your IRCTC account.
* **Train classes** \- Indian trains have many different classes and I still find it difficult to explain the differences as there are so many options. I asked locals, but very often they wouldn't know either. I usually tried to get an ACd coach. There were times when I found a 2nd class seat less comfortable than the 3rd class. If you have a 2nd/1st class bed, you'll get an envelope with fresh sheets. Sometimes food is included too or right after buying a ticket, you can book a food which they'll bring 10 mins before the train departs. There are many different layouts. 2 beds, 4 beds, 6 beds, 8 beds, etc...
* **Scams** \- I read a lot on the internet about scams in India. Not sure what we define as a scam, but I don't think I was scammed other than asked by an Uber driver to pay for the parking at the airport or asked before being picked up by the driver to pay more than the app said. Nothing crazy. And of course, some vendors will try to charge you more, but I don't necessarily consider this a scam.
* **Toilets** \- Many public toilets won't have toilet paper, so carry your own. There will always be a bidet or a bucket of water. Although there will be lots of water everywhere because of the bidet, I did like it because I could use it to clean seat.
* **Entrances** \- Many tourist places will have a special entrance fee for foreigners. It's not unusual that the fee will be 10, 20x higher than for locals.
* **Language barrier** \- I have to admit this came as a surprise, but communication was not always easy. A solid 9 out of 10 people that I met did not speak English. Only a few words. This can also differ quite a bit depending on the state/city.
* **Flying** \- I took a few domestic flights with IndiGo. All very easy, very smooth. Beautiful airports, nice planes. Easy.
* **Buses** \- I took a bus only once, from Jodhpur to Ahmedabad. It was crazy bumpy and I was happy it was not an overnight bus because I would not be able to sleep. I saw a bunch of sleeper buses though.
* **Food safety** \- Personal opinion - I don't think one can get a proper experience just by eating in restaurants. I ate almost anything from the street. I vomited once and had a diarrhea for about half of my trip. I don't find this as a big deal. I guess my body just reacted to a new bacteria. It would very likely be the same for Indians where I come from, so Indians could experience the same in my home country. Although I took probiotics, imodium and electrolytes, it didn't help. I brought back ecoli and adenovirus. My doctor told me it's completely normal and I didn't even get any meds for this.
* **People** \- Wherever I went, people were always super super lovely and helpful. Anytime I needed something, everyone would try to help me. People are very curious, so they will stop you and want to take photos with you. They might make videos too.
* **General** \- Depending on where you come from, India might be culturally a very very different place. I think it's very important to understand what a cultural difference is and that your culture isn't better than the Indian culture (and vice versa). India has lots of traffic, noise, people in the streets, sometimes also pollution, perhaps different food hygiene standards than you know and also trash. If you don't accept this, perhaps India might not be for you.
If I got something wrong, please feel free to correct me.
#activity #nature
source
Hi friends, I just returned from India. I've got some tips and observations that other travelers might find useful before their first visit.
* **eVisa** \- This was not easy as the site kept crashing. They ask for lots of info, some required documents must be in .jpg, other in .pdf. I just couldn't complete it in Safari/Chrome on my Mac. Worked flawlessly in Edge on Windows. After that, it took about 24h to get the visa granted and it was sent to my mailbox. At the airport in Delhi, it was super smooth.
* **Visa extension** \- I needed to extend my visa by 3 days. You can do it on indianfrro.gov.in . You choose visa extension, fill out lots of info and hope for the best. I was waiting for over 2 weeks, most likely because of my mistake which no one told me about. You must also submit a "residency proof" which is apparently a form that your hotel/hostel can give you. I uploaded a booking confrimation and it was enough though. The extension was for free.
* **Phone number** \- You will need an Indian number for many things, so I definitely recommend having one. Many eSims in int. apps do not come with a phone number. I hoped to get it at Delhi airport but I couldn't find the store. I bought an Airtel sim card in a shop in Agra. It was a long process incl. taking photos of me, etc.. as it is tied to your visa. I traveled from Delhi all the way to the south and most of the time, it worked just fine. There are a lot of Airtel stores everywhere, so they might be able to help you. Once my Indian visa expired, my number stopped working despite having a visa extension approval for 3 more days.
* **Cash withdrawals** \- ATMs are everywhere. I was using SBI, there was no withdrawal for me. I recommended using Google Maps and just searching for "sbi" or "sbi atm"
* **Payment with cash** \- Obviously very easy but be aware that getting a change can be sometimes close to impossible. Very, very often if I paid a 100rp (0.9 EUR) for a ride and the price was 70, they wouldn't have a change. Probably because most locals pay with UPI.
* **Payments with card** \- Quite common in restaurants, tourist places, massage spots, etc.. It happened multiple times though that my card would not be accepted.
* **Payments with UPI** \- UPI is a fantastic QR payment system. You just get an app, top up your account via your card and then you just scan a QR code and it's paid. Easy. You can pay with UPI pretty much anywhere - tourist places, local shops, markets, temples.. anywhere. I used an app called Mony because I saw it advertised in many hostels. You need to get approved first before using it. For each top up, you need to pay quite a bit in fees. My biggest problem though was that I couldn't pay to private persons. In reality, I couldn't pay for services to many Uber drivers, shop owners, etc.. I know that Indians can, so I wonder if it's a Mony restriction or the fact that I am a foreigner. As I couldn't rely on this, I always tried to pay with cash or card.
* **Uber** \- Ubering is available in most cities (not in Goa though). I used either Uber or an app called Rapido. There is also an app called Ola. In these apps, tuktuk is called "auto". It's very affordable, I loved using motorbikes as they are faster. Be aware that most drivers will call you right after you book your ride. Make sure to check whether you pay with cash or card. It's a mix in some cities, you simply can't pay with one or the other. Very few times, they would message me and ask for more money, I canceled those rides.
* **Trains** \- I absolutely love Indian trains and think the whole system is fantastic but can be confusing at first! You can get trains with or without AC, fresh sheets in envelope. I've always had plug outlets by my bed/seat. Toilets were always fine too - there usually was toilet paper, running water, soap and bidet too. Something I didn't know is that during the day, the lowest bed is used by all people in your compartment to sit on.
* **Train booking** \- You'll need to create an account on irctc.co.in http://irctc.co.in to be able to book a seat. For trains between big cities, you definitely want to book these rides in advance - 3 days plus at least. Most of the time, you can't just "go with the flow". Otherwise, you just risk there won't be a seat for you. I used two apps to search (not to book) for seats - ixigo Trains and RailYatri. They both show the same, but I just sometimes preferred the interface of the other app. Both of these app will show you all the available trains between your destinations. Every train comes with many different classes (read more below). I personally preferred ticking off two boxes "avbl only" (train that has still free seats) and "AC only". After that, you can see how many available seats there are per class in each train. If you see e.g. "WL, 16", that means the coach is fully booked and you would be no. 16 on the waiting list. They will show your chances of getting such ticket, e.g. 82%. You just book it and hope for the best. I was on a waiting list for Varanasi - Delhi for 2 weeks and only on the last day my seat was confirmed. You'll hopefully see the WL number going down as others are canceling their tickets and your chance of getting the ticket might go up and down too. On your ticket, "CNF" means your seat is confirmed. You'll probably be able to choose your preferred seat or bed (called berth). Something you'll use a lot is "PNR" and that's the reservation number of your ticket.
* **Train payment** \- Paying for the tickets in the above mentioned apps never worked for me. They do not accept int. cards and UPI always failed for me. Therefore, after finding the right train, I would go to irctc.co.in http://irctc.co.in to book the seat I found. Creating the account was not too easy and there were multiple steps of verification. I had to pay a registration fee (100rp), verify my account via a text and email too. A verification code is called "OTP" and you will use this abbreviation a lot, also to confirm your ride with Uber. I remember the website showing errors, but you just go back and it worked. Once you get to payment, there will be multiple methods to choose from. Choose "Multiple payment service" and then "International/Domestic Credit/Debit card (Powered by Plural). Done! If you want to add it to one of the apps, you just need to link the app to your IRCTC account.
* **Train classes** \- Indian trains have many different classes and I still find it difficult to explain the differences as there are so many options. I asked locals, but very often they wouldn't know either. I usually tried to get an ACd coach. There were times when I found a 2nd class seat less comfortable than the 3rd class. If you have a 2nd/1st class bed, you'll get an envelope with fresh sheets. Sometimes food is included too or right after buying a ticket, you can book a food which they'll bring 10 mins before the train departs. There are many different layouts. 2 beds, 4 beds, 6 beds, 8 beds, etc...
* **Scams** \- I read a lot on the internet about scams in India. Not sure what we define as a scam, but I don't think I was scammed other than asked by an Uber driver to pay for the parking at the airport or asked before being picked up by the driver to pay more than the app said. Nothing crazy. And of course, some vendors will try to charge you more, but I don't necessarily consider this a scam.
* **Toilets** \- Many public toilets won't have toilet paper, so carry your own. There will always be a bidet or a bucket of water. Although there will be lots of water everywhere because of the bidet, I did like it because I could use it to clean seat.
* **Entrances** \- Many tourist places will have a special entrance fee for foreigners. It's not unusual that the fee will be 10, 20x higher than for locals.
* **Language barrier** \- I have to admit this came as a surprise, but communication was not always easy. A solid 9 out of 10 people that I met did not speak English. Only a few words. This can also differ quite a bit depending on the state/city.
* **Flying** \- I took a few domestic flights with IndiGo. All very easy, very smooth. Beautiful airports, nice planes. Easy.
* **Buses** \- I took a bus only once, from Jodhpur to Ahmedabad. It was crazy bumpy and I was happy it was not an overnight bus because I would not be able to sleep. I saw a bunch of sleeper buses though.
* **Food safety** \- Personal opinion - I don't think one can get a proper experience just by eating in restaurants. I ate almost anything from the street. I vomited once and had a diarrhea for about half of my trip. I don't find this as a big deal. I guess my body just reacted to a new bacteria. It would very likely be the same for Indians where I come from, so Indians could experience the same in my home country. Although I took probiotics, imodium and electrolytes, it didn't help. I brought back ecoli and adenovirus. My doctor told me it's completely normal and I didn't even get any meds for this.
* **People** \- Wherever I went, people were always super super lovely and helpful. Anytime I needed something, everyone would try to help me. People are very curious, so they will stop you and want to take photos with you. They might make videos too.
* **General** \- Depending on where you come from, India might be culturally a very very different place. I think it's very important to understand what a cultural difference is and that your culture isn't better than the Indian culture (and vice versa). India has lots of traffic, noise, people in the streets, sometimes also pollution, perhaps different food hygiene standards than you know and also trash. If you don't accept this, perhaps India might not be for you.
If I got something wrong, please feel free to correct me.
#activity #nature
source
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