Planning a Trip To India

Its a blizzard out there. Well, ok, its just some snow. Time to plan yet another trip to India. As usual I will start off in Delhi...mostly because I know the city well and its usually a good jumping off point for where I want to go...either Nepal or Rajasthan. This time I'm not going to either place but the flight was quite cheap. $960 on Northwest Airlines. I usually like to take either Continental or American Airlines to New Delhi as they have a direct flight from New York. But I found I could save around $150 by going through Amsterdam and I like that airport anyway. And now Continental is charging $50 for the second bag on International flights. I'll only arrive three hours later. Not a big deal.



My new favorite hotel in downtown Delhi will send a car to pick me up for 550 rupees (around $13) and after a good sleep and breakfast on their rooftop (the eggs and toast wrapped in a napkin) I will take the First Class overnight train to Kolkata (Calcutta) I have become addicted to First Class trains...so pleasant and with comfy beds. Plenty of space for my usual packed suitcases. Four to a compartment...free food and a waiter who brings you a rose and tea. They even serve you ice cream! I will be taking three First Class overnight trains. First to Kolkata, then to Puri and then from Bhubaneswar back to Delhi. The total of all three is about $100. Distance wise it is the equivalent of traveling from New York to Miami, back to Chicago and then back home. And it saves me three nights of hotel costs as well as expensive taxis to the airport. And I don't have to worry about overweight baggage as internal country flights are usually restricted to around 44 pounds checked baggage.
In Kolkata I am staying at one of my favorite hotels, the rather funky Fairlawn. It is like something right out of the Raj era. It has beautiful lawns and gardens, right in the downtown area. The rooms are rather old fashioned and they announce meals with a gong. You are served by waiters in traditional garb and white gloves. And in the afternoon they serve you a formal tea in the garden.


The place is full of bric a brac and photos.
If you saw City of Joy with Patrick Swayze this was the hotel where he stayed .

On my way back to Delhi I will stay a couple of days in Bhubaneswar, a small city full of temples . Its not far from Puri.

But my main destination in this area is Puri. A beach town which comes alive in the summer when thousands of pilgrims descend on the town for a festival. They come to visit this temple.
I will be staying on the beach and visiting several towns known for their needlework. The entire trip with airfare, three trains and hotels will cost me around $1400. I already have my visa which is still valid from my last trip in September.

One of the main towns I want to visit is Pipli, a village of artisans about 15 km from Puri . This village is famous for its colorful appliqué textiles, a craft that originally served temples. Using some of the same techniques and vivid color combinations, Pipli artisans create garden umbrellas, wall hangings, bags, and hanging lanterns/wind socks. Common motifs include the wide–eyed face of Lord Jagannath, peacocks, birds, flowers, animals, children, and radial designs. The style and subject matter depiction on some of the wall hangings and bags reminds one of Hmong Story Cloths, with a rather “folk art” style, a combination of appliqué and embroidered enhancements to the village or animal scenes.


Will I have fun here or what?

Indian Train Travel Tales- The Old Lady Stole My Bed

When I travel AC2 on Indian trains I like to reserve very early and obtain the lower end seat which folds down into a bed at night and has a privacy curtain. There is a bunk above it and four bunks beside it, only separated from the hallway by one set of privacy curtains, not individual ones. So on this trip from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur I entered the coach only to find a little old Indian lady already making herself comfy in my bed. I showed her my ticket and she explained that she was old and needed that spot. I showed her my age which is printed on one's ticket but she was having none of it. She...had a four point quad cane and shoo...d me away. End of my nice bunk. So....... I had to settle for a bunk along the wall.

Indian Train reservations

Over the last few days I have been making reservations for e-tickets for three trips on Indian trains on a trip to India-Nepal this fall. Tickets can be purchased 3 months in advance. Its advisable to book them as quickly as possible as the best spots fill quickly. I am not traveling by first class day coach as shown below which is very comfortable. Bags are stored on the racks over the seats.

The efficient reservation system means that you can safely forget any photos you've seen of overcrowded Indian trains with people on the roof or hanging on the side - these photos show suburban trains, or basic unreserved 2nd class on long distance ones. On fast long-distance trains in AC1, AC2, AC3, or AC Chair Class, all passengers have an assigned seat or sleeping berth so there's no overcrowding. Don't expect pristine western standards anywhere in India, but you'll find AC1, AC2, AC3 and AC Chair class fairly clean by Indian standards, with both western-style and squat toilets usually in a reasonably sanitary condition. See the train interior photos below. On the other hand, Sleeper Class gets much grubbier than the AC classes and unreserved passengers can sometimes enter the coaches making it crowded. 2nd class unreserved can be incredibly crowded. Toilets in sleeper class or basic non-AC 2nd class seats can leave a lot to be desired...

The destination and car number are clearly noted on the sides of the train.

And most stations have a car number on the overhang of the roof of the station where your particular car stops. The porters all seem to have this down to a science and know exactly where your car will be when the train stops. They are a wonderful feature of Indian train stations especially for people like me with overstuffed bags.

First Class AC train compartment. Four berths to a compartment with a lockable door. Top of the line on Indian trains. I managed to book this type of compartment on a trip from Delhi to Ahmedabad this fall...and with a 50% senior discount the trip is costing me about $24. its about 500 miles. The senior discount is for females over 50 and is 50%. The discount for males is only 30%. Now that seems fair...right? The female discount used to be 30% which I felt at the time was terrific.

Not every train has the above coaches. 2AC is more common. The difference is no door and two berths on the end. The end berths..which I prefer...have curtains. I booked a trip from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur (about 250 miles) for about $9 with the senior discount.

The main berths in a 2AC car.

The Varanasi Train Station

Indian train stations seem quite chaotic at first glance but actually they are very well organized. One of the things I like about them is the left baggage rooms where you can store your stuff for 10 rupees (25 cents) a bag for the day while you wander around town. There is a bit of paperwork of course (its India after all) but it is usually quick and you are on your way. A toy seller. We were going to take an overnight train to Agra...our next stop...and wanted to spend the early afternoon wandering around the downtown Varanasi area.

Its very common to come upon groups of people sleeping near the tracks or in the ticketing area.

If you don't like the chaos of the station there is always the Ladies Waiting Room in any good sized station. And they have fairly clean bathrooms (with squat toilets usually)

And there are snacks available for purchase in the station. Do you think I should wake him up?

The busy ticketing area with more sleepers...even in mid day.

When you retrieve your bags you can (thankfully) hire unionized porters to carry them up and down the stairs to the right track and the right location for your car. This can be important on a long train which stops only a few minutes. The problem is to keep up with them as they saunter off, heavy bags on top of their head for the right spot.

There's always time for a last minute snack. Here comes the train.

Indian Trains

I find riding the trains in India to be a delightful (well pretty delightful) way to travel. As with any form of transportation there are a few quirks along the way. Anyone who has flown anywhere this summer can surely attest to that.

One of the things I really like about Indian Railways is the availability of porters. They will carry your heavy bags from the station entrance to the loading spot for your specific train with your heavy bag on their head. They bound up the stairs with you puffing away in the distance trying to keep an eye on your bag ahead in the crowd. They are licensed and have a brass plaque which they usually wear on their arm. In Delhi once I ran into a fake porter with an accompanying tout who tried to wrestle my bags from me and accompany me all over the station. It took a great deal of effort and nasty remarks to get rid of them.
There are usually snack stands along the station tracks and people also board the trains at stops selling water and snacks from baskets.
Day trains can be quite comfortable. On one I was given a bottle of water, and tea and cookies. How civilized. There are kitchens and pantries on most of the fast express trains. Your porter will load and unload your heavy bags onto the overhead racks. Oops. Wrong toilet. And there are no directions. But their are western style toilets on the higher class cars.

It is very common to find people sleeping in the train station when you enter to board an early morning train. This was the station entrance in Varanasi. There are usually Ladies Waiting Rooms inside the station by the tracks (with toilets) where you can wait for a train.