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Ellora Caves, about 15 miles from the historical city of Aurangabad in India, are a wonderful piece of ancient art. Looking at cave no 16, you start thinking how this must have been carved. The nearby fort at Daulatabad is also work of inspiration with very imaginative architecture. You may also like to visit temple of Shiva -Hindu deity and enjoy the design besides getting spiritually elevated.
If you have time spare one day for the Ajanta caves.
Plan for a three day stay at Aurangabd in good hotels like Ambassador, Rama International and travel by taxi. Aurangabad is 50 minutes by plane from Mumbai(Bombay) India and is very reasonably priced. Be there between November to March to avoid heat. Dec/Jan are the best. Carry English to Hindi dictionary so that you can enjoy commentry of guides more.
A good place to pop your head in and learn about Ladakh.
It screens films every day and is a good resource for any questions you may have about Ladakh past, present and future, and other parts of the world. Focuses on climate change, ecology, the environment, agriculture, sustainability, and Ladakh's culture.
It has a shop where you can buy genuine souvenirs which will help the local economy (most souvenir shops in Ladakh are Kashmiri run). It's also a good place if you want a custom Ladakh souvenir - they can arrange someone to make you something in your size.
Sankar road, north east of central Leh.
By no means the only good places of course, but I enjoyed these cafes and restaurants in Leh:
Summer Harvest (Fort Road) - highly recommended in the guide books, and for good reason. Loads of locals eating there means it's bound to be good.
Desert Rain Cafe (off a side road from the Main Bazzar - about half way down, in the direction of north). Don't come here for true Ladakhi atmosphere, but if you're wanting some decent coffee, and other western reminders, Desert Rain has a relaxed atmosphere, has film nights, and talks from interesting people. No outside seating, but a good place to relax whilst you acclimatise. Good cakes.
My favourite Ladakhi/Tibetan eats were the Wok Tibetan Kitchen and Amdo Cafe (both on the Main Bazaar) - not widely mentioned in the big guide books, but decent food with a mix of tourists and locals.
The Penguin restaurant (Old Fort road, near the bottom) was one of my favourite places to chill outside in, the food is fine, but not the best. The garden kept me returning though.
There's no shortage of restaurants to explore in Leh - and there's a massive amount of decent pizzas and other western food everywhere.
Dzomsa (Old Fort Road, near the top) has good juice, good food supplies to take trekking, and importantly offers cheap safe drinking water - the influx of tourists seriously threaten many beautiful things about Leh - please use filtered water instead of plastic throwaway bottles.
All of these places serve cheap meals, but beer (if available) will be expensive anywhere in Leh.
Be aware that there can be occasional strikes which close everything down - your best bet is to head to the more upmarket hotels for food, or to look carefully around for signs of activity - some places are open despite locked doors.
Leh in the summer is THE Indian destination for the many, many travellers who flood this small town.
It's hard to believe that a shortage of accommodation does not exist in Leh, but from what I saw, there is no shortage.
The guide books mention only a small number of places, which led travellers I met to panic and book into the only places left with rooms - usually the most expensive ones.
I entirely understand that you may want to book in advance, but bear in mind that even in peak season in 2008, there appared to be far more rooms than tourists, and new guest houses are being built constantly.
As long as you've got a decent torch to walk home with, there are beautiful places to stay a short walk away from the centre of Leh, so if you are struggling to book accomodation, I would recommend trying to get a night or two booked somewhere, but then hunt around if you're staying a while - I paid a tiny fraction of the central hotel prices by staying in a family run beautiful but basic guest house 10 minutes walk from the centre.
Of course, you can turn up with no accommodation booked, but it is worth noting that when flying into at altitude, you will give your body the best chance of acclimatisation if you do very little on arrival and rest, rather than hump your bag around searching for the cheapest hotel (which is my tactic in other locations!).
I phoned a guesthouse listed in a trekking book (rather than the more popular mainstream guide books) the day before I flew into Leh, they seemed surprised that I was phoning to book, but I was glad as my flight arrived so early in the morning, I knew there was a room waiting for me, where I could dump my stuff, grab some filtered water, and then cafe-hop for 48 hours of acclimatisation chilling. I was just hugely shocked at how much some other travellers were paying in their upmarket hotels, which they weren't wanting to stay in, but they were all that were available in the popular guide book recommendations.
From the centre of Leh, there are hotels and guesthouses everywhere. The posher hotels tend to be southwest of central Leh, the densest backpacker area is in Changspar (north east). But I think the most interesting accommodation is in the Old Town area (to the east of centre), and off to the west are a few roads that wind through beautifully quiet scenery with homely looking guest houses.
If you've just arrived in Leh, even if you've come by road, for the purposes of allowing your body to acclimatise to the high altitude, beware of walking far with heavy bags.
For a real Ashram experience head to the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala. Set in the foothills of the Western Ghats this is a beautiful setting. A Yoga Vacation is about £8 (ish) a day staying in dormitory accommodation, two classical yoga classes a day and two veggie meals. You may get woken up in the night though by the roar of the local lions from across the lake. Some say there are crocodiles in the lake. And you'll have to do a bit of karma yoga - toilet cleaning anyone?
sivananda.org/neyyardam/index.html
Fly to Trivanadrum airport and then pre-pay for a fab taxi ride to the ashram, hold on to your seat it's a bumpy ride, not a good idea in a rickshaw.
Forget fashionable yoga retreats, the Surya Thejus Advaitha Yoga Centre is both affordable and authentic, with not a chakra-aligning celebrity in sight.
Tucked away in a serene green corner of Kerala, with forests and the peaceful river Poorna to inspire your inner guru, the centre is in Kalady, a shrine to Adi Sankara, one of India’s foremost philosophers.
The secluded setting feels refreshingly ‘real’ rather than a boutique bolt-hole, with only 3 rooms, each clean and comfortable, and Yoga classes taught by expert teachers.
It was a great place to de-stress and unwind - the teachers were kind and helpful to wobbly beginners, and even my skeptical partner was chanting by the end.
We left feeling several stone lighter, thanks to healthy (but delicious) food served up in the Kerala Vegetarian Canteen, and at around £24 a night, you don’t pay through the teeth for Zen-like calm.
Its a beautiful house, nestled in an enchanting coconut groove. The groove overlooks a large open paddy field to its east. Beyond the paddy field is a river, then a hill in the horizon. The sunrise is so beautiful here, its like a slice out of paradise.
There's no one around to disturb you, its just you in the lap of mother nature.
The serene Keri Beach is nearby, just 500 meters away.
The owner is Mr. Brian Fernandes, he can be contacted at Brianferns@gmail.com or at
+9108322516219
Try the Rajasthani thali at Monica for a taste of real Rajasthani food. It's enormous and it's the real thing. Dont miss it!
It's in the town but very close to the fort gate. The restaurant is on the first floor, with excellent views from the terrace.
It's the second highest motorable road in the world, crossing several passes, including two over 5000m. Snaking right through the middle of the Himalaya in North West India, it's closed over the winter due to snow. In the summer though, driving it is an incredible experience as you can see snow capped mountains high above you and below, valleys becoming increasingly green as you cross from Leh at 3600m in Ladakh which is very dry, high up on a plateau above the monsoon's reach, to Manali in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Depending on how many stops you want to make, the journey takes up to two days and can be done by car, jeep or public bus.
Leh, Ladakh and Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India.
If your looking for a super cheap but clean place which has little character but is next to the train station in Delhi then this budget chain should do. It's a sort of an Indian Travelodge but concentrates on being cheap as far as I can see. The Metro is within a minutes walk as is the train station and if you can live with the small windows and the depressing view then it's just fine. I paid about £14 a night for a double bed on the fourth floor.
A mid range - ie £40 a night small hotel which is well located and which is super clean.
Difficult to overstate the friendliness of this place.
They will pick you up from the train station for free.
I have done over 4000 km in Indian trains over the last six weeks. I have not had one single problem with the food bought from the official IRCTC stands or guys going around. Look out for people with uniform shirts.
Some of the food was actually excellent
Any station
Based on the reader's suggestions here, we stayed at Inn at Delhi.
It was exactly as someone else had said before "Home away from Home".
The owners a retired couple; a history professor and a doctor that are full of energy and bustle and treated us like one of their family.
I would highly recommend staying with them and enjoying the Indian hospitality!
Inn at Delhi
Bed and Breakfast in New Delhi, India
C-34 Anand NIketan
NEW Delhi 110 021, India
site - www.innatdelhi.com
If you are travelling around India, do not book an air con train, they are far too cold. I have done over 2000km on the train system ad I recommend the no air con. Also the in the air con you keep the windows closed, and they are filthy so you don't see anything
New Delhi has been my hometown for the last four years and is also where I grew up, from early teens to adulthood, before leaving to work in other world cities. So I can safely write about the city as an insider. While Delhi has enough history to keep a whole archaeological department occupied for decades, there are enough contemporary sights and sounds for visitors to the city. Its definitely a “teeming megapolis” and more cosmopolitan than most other Indian cities, other than Mumbai. With about 18 million people and an ever-expanding border, the city has the good, bad and ugly in generous proportions.
If you like reading up before taking on a journey I would highly recommend William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns and Sam Miller’s Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity for an insider’s account of the modern city of Delhi. For a good overview, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi. In addition to the Lonely Planet, the HT City Eating Out Guide and HT City Night Out Guide are great and are used extensively by locals to plan their outings.
For places to stay, while “The Book” has enough recommendations in Paharganj for the budget tourist, it may be worthwhile to explore the newly started B&B setups. There is a list of approved establishments at www.incredibleindia.org. For the other end of the bandwidth, the best hotels are The Oberoi, The Imperial, Hyatt Regency and the Taj Mahal hotels. Tripadvisor now has an Indian website where you can check out customer feedback, but do double-check dates of reviews, as a lot of hotels are renovating these days with the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games in mind. The best locations to stay in Delhi are either central Delhi near Lutyen’s Delhi or south Delhi. These locations would reduce travel time to popular destinations to a certain extent.
For moving around the city, the Delhi Metro is the best deal if you are staying in a central location. Otherwise, the city sadly lacks any decent form of public transport. The suicidal auto-rickshaws are the next best bet and are easy to flag down. There is a fleet of radio taxis in the city now which are safe and not as bone-jarring as the auto’s. Some numbers are Meru Cab at (011) 44224422 and Easy Cabs at (011) 43434343. I would highly recommend these if you don’t mind spending a bit more and can allow for a waiting time of thirty minutes.
For those who would like to do some historical sightseeing, the must-do’s are Red Fort and Chandni Chowk in the Old City (the mandatory rickshaw ride is worth it), Qutb Minar, the Gandhi Museum and Humayun’s Tomb which was a precursor to the Taj Mahal in architectural terms. INTACH does an excellent heritage walk through Mehrauli and details are available at www.intach.org/news&events_intach.htm. This is very popular with locals as well and reservation is recommended as group-sizes are limited. One modern sightseeing destination that I often indulge in is Dilli Haat, which is a food and crafts bazaar with lots to sample from regional craftsmen. Bargaining is a must here but credit cards are not accepted in most kiosks. So do carry cash (I’m not certain that there’s an ATM nearby either!). It’s a great place to pick up gifts and local handicrafts.
Delhi has an extremely vibrant art and music scene and concerts by Indian performers are regularly held at the India International Centre, India Habitat Centre and Nehru Park. The best source to check out weekly listings are Timeout Delhi (www.timeoutdelhi.net) and What’s Hot which is a Friday pullout that comes with The Times of India newspaper. The Triveni Kala Sangam is a great hangout place for artists and art students. The beautiful building is designed by Joseph Allen Stein and the Triveni Café serves a great menu of home-style food which can be enjoyed on the terrace. I have spent enough hours here learning classical dance and eating the stuffed parathas at the café. The NGMA (National Gallery of Modern Art), The National Museum and the Rail Museum are great for museum-lovers.
The Delhi Punjabis are known for their fondness for shaking a leg and downing multiple pegs of Johnnie Walker Black Label. Some of the best bars with good music in Delhi, which locals frequent, are Kasbah at Greater Kailash N-Block market, Shalom which now has more than one bar, Q’BA in Connaught Place and Tabula Rasa at Saket. There is no dearth of drinking hot-spots in the city but these are my favourites. I have also heard good things about Manre and Ai, both of which have live music on certain days and great food, though have not personally sampled these. Both are located in the MGF Metropolitan Mall in Saket. Along with these, the Select Citywalk mall in Saket is the best shopping centre in the city with a great outdoor area and some nice coffee bars to while away time at. This mall is currently the hot favourite of local Delhiites, both for shopping and as a social meeting-place.
Sampling Indian cuisine would be high on the to-do list of several visitors and my favourites are Moti Mahal in Daryaganj for mughlai cuisine, Swagat at Defence Colony market for fantastic south-Indian seafood, Oh Calcutta at Nehru Place for a highly satisfying Bengali meal and Sagar for superb dosas, also at Defence Colony. I have had the best Italian meal in Delhi at Diva which also has an excellent wine-cellar and for a Mediterranean meal I head for Olive Beach at the Diplomat Hotel in Chanakyapuri. Of course, a Bukhara meal at Maurya Sheraton is on every tourist’s list, so you are welcome to it – its definitely very good. The Lodi Restaurant has a great al-fresco setting and you can take a stroll at the Lodi Gardens next door. I love these gardens in the middle of the city. It has some beautiful old structures and is also a very popular picnic-spot in the winters.
Finally, if you want to experience a real local’s lifestyle, I would recommend the following:
1. Travel at peak time down any of the arterial roads to experience traffic nightmares
2. Eat chaat (a local savoury snack) at Prince Paan Corner at GK1 M-Block market, followed by a chaser of your favourite digestive. Chaats are really yummy street-food but its best to eat from a clean source. Bengali Sweet House in Bengali Market is another good source of these.
3. Watch the latest Bollywood blockbuster (Slumdog Millionaire does not count!). Ask a local for a recommendation.
4. Shop for saris in the Karol Bagh or Lajpat Nagar markets. You’ll get enough photo-ops here to capture the chaos that most locals wade through everyday
5. Visit the neighbourhood vegetable market. Some good ones with a fine balance of fresh veggies and slippery sludge are the CR Park market in south Delhi and INA Market opposite Dilli Haat. You could pick up some great spices at these markets as well.
6. Hangout with local university students at the north campus of Delhi University and sample Tibetan momos with them at Majnu-ka-Tila.
7. Watch an evening arati at a Hindu temple. Or eat langar (the free lunch available for all) at a gurudwara. Most Indians visit their place of worship pretty regularly.
8. Do a weekend-trip to one of the several destinations around. Besides Agra for the Taj Mahal, other places nearby that I love are Rishikesh, Bharatpur, Kasauli and Mussoorie. You are sure to meet several Delhiites at any of these places!
While Delhi does have a bad scorecard for safety, as a local, I have never had a bad experience primarily by not indulging in foolhardy late-night activities. As a woman traveler I would try and develop a rhino-skin to deflect unwelcome male attention and ignore friendly overtures by all strangers. If you are partying late-night do so when with friends and never ever travel alone post 9 pm in an auto-rickshaw or an unregistered cab. On such occasions its best to call a radio-taxi. With these precautions, Delhi is a great place to explore.
Indians are hospitable by nature so if you have any local acquaintances do contact them before you get there. Most people would be happy to show you around the city. I love the city despite its chaos and would recommend it to both the adventurous and the conservative traveler. Happy travelling.
As the name indicates this is a restaurant. It actually only have one dish, the local Thali, but it was amazing. Several locals were eating there, and we were the only westerens
Meal for two was less than GBP3
Ahmedabab
adegreeaday.blogspot.com/
The Indian Railways online ticket system. Don't even think about queueing to buy a ticket, just go online and buy it there. It only has one major problem, you either need a local card or a AMEX... Otherwise it is a godsend, no endless Indian queues
A good homestay, interaction with local people and great stay. It is located on a ridge at Shoghi about 14 kms before shimla in a very calm area away from the city crowd with plenty of forest area and hills for outdoor activities like trekking bird watching etc.
Anandpur Road Shoghi Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
Website : www.sunrisevilla.in
I definitely prefer South Goa - to the overcrowded and expensive North Goa.
We have been to Goa many times and we chose Colva on this occasion. Its very central in the South and seemed to have everything - a large beach, good bars, sports, good food and nightlife.
We hired a Private Villa that was advertised as "Last Minute Goa" on ebay in the UK.
The price per head was excellent for six people. Location was right by the beach. The standard of the Villa was superb. Well recommended. The website is aptly named SunshineGoa
We were able to pre-book our yoga classes with the excellent Mr. Narayana Kaimal who I would highly recommend. It was done through our agent, Prana Holidays who arranged everything.
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