Traveling to

moorem9

Myself and my girlfriend are travelling to china and India before heading to OZ.We are due to leave at the end of June. We will probably do about 1 month in each maybe longer. ANy suggested iternaries or any general information would be great.

What is the accomodation like?
Food?
Money?
Any trouble with visa appliction?
Anything I should not leave home without?

Michael

adrian522

What time of year will you be in India? Will be very hot in the south around June, maybe go in the north around Rajastan, very nice. THe Himalaya region is obviously very nice as well around Manalli. And also try Varanassi.

Food in India can be vey good but be prepared for a few days in bed if you get sick there.

Certainly get a visa before you leave,

Acomadation is plentiful and cheap in India so no problems there.......

Dont leave home without Oral rehydration powder..........

Litcagral

Re India:

It is a country which appears totally chaotic and clamourous on arrival and you will probably want to get the next flight out of it but give it a couple of days and it is like no other country on earth. New Delhi can appear quite hostile although Calcutta is very welcoming and Indians are generally more friendlier as you go south.

Many of the hotels rooms can feel claustophobic as they do not have windows. Make sure to bring you own sink or bath plug - none seem to have them and bring a supply of toilet paper if you can. Be prepared for a bout of Delhi belly - it's a country where you will never feel constipated. When buying bottled water ensure that the seal is unbroken. Some shops will ask you to return the bottle so that they can refill it!!

As adrian522 has said the time of year is important. I went in May and June and it was unbearable hot at times. (51 degrees in New Delhi).

The train system is great but you need to be patient. There is a different concept of time there and it is no big deal if a train is a couple of days late.

You have to haggle for everything as it will be assumed that you are a rich Westener so prices will be inflated but it is still very cheap.

Hope you enjoy it.

PunyHuman

I agree with all the points made. India is incredibly cheap so you won't have to worry about money.

I suggest bringing earplugs, and I credit my temporary vegetarianism (and Doxycycline) with the fact that I didn't get sick.

litcargal wrote:

it will be assumed that you are a rich Westener

You are!

adrian522

I agree completly with not eating any meatr in India, most Indians dont and the variety of food is incredible.

I took a multivitimin every day.

Personally wouldnt take doxycycline every day as its an antibiotic and you will build up a resistence if you take it every day over a long period.

I didnt take any anti malarial in India and got on OK, but each to their own.

PunyHuman

Just a niggling point - in this case, if you develop resistance to the drug it doesn't matter - it's the virus that you need to worry about developing resistance. And some strains of malaria are resistant to Doxyxycline.

I agree that it's one's own choice, and that antibiotics aren't the best thing to be taking - body is the temple and all that - but my considered opinion is that not taking any antimalarials at all while travelling in a malarial area is foolish in the extreme. You should really, really want to minimise the risk of contracting the virus.

adrian522

PunyHuman wrote:

Just a niggling point - in this case, if you develop resistance to the drug it doesn't matter - it's the virus that you need to worry about developing resistance. And some strains of malaria are resistant to Doxyxycline.

I agree that it's one's own choice, and that antibiotics aren't the best thing to be taking - body is the temple and all that - but my considered opinion is that not taking any antimalarials at all while travelling in a malarial area is foolish in the extreme. You should really, really want to minimise the risk of contracting the virus.

Its crazy to say it doesnt matter if you build resistence to a common anti biotic, its very important,

There are other ways to minimise your chances of getting malaria such as using good bug spray and trying to avoid getting bitten etc.

Also the treatment for malaria is to take a larger dose of a different anti malirial drug than you had been taking. So for example if you had been taking Doxycycline and you get malaria the treatment would be a very large dose of a different treatment such as larium.

ITs a good idea to always carry such a dose, expically in remote areas.

Having said all that there are very few parts of india that you are likely to get malaria anyway. One of these is the andaman islands, but most tourist destinations are malaria free.......

PunyHuman

adrian522 wrote:

Its crazy to say it doesnt matter if you build resistence to a common anti biotic, its very important,

No. People do not become resistant to antibiotics, bacteria do. It is of course an important issue, though.

[Of course malaria is not a virus, it's a parasitic bacteria. My wrong.]

adrian522 wrote:

There are other ways to minimise your chances of getting malaria such as using good bug spray and trying to avoid getting bitten etc.

My view would be that these methods do reduce your chances of contracting malaria, but do not minimise them. It's just semantics really, but semantics are important.