Delhi Baggage Claim
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by David in Airport, Blog, Delhi, Travel
This was from the baggage claim area at the New Delhi domestic airport recently. Eventually I was able to get to my bag.
India Tourist Visa Revision
Posted on 12. May, 2010 by David in Blog, News, Travel
Ever since India revised their tourist visa policy late last year to require a 2 month gap outside of India between visits, there has been lots of talk and rumors about if this policy might change. Tourists who have plans to visit nearby countries and then come back in to India again in less than 2 months before returning home have faced significant challenges with their itineraries.
However, things seem to be opening up slightly for tourists with those types of travel plans. I just read this article from The Hindu about some new revisions to the tourist visa policy. You have to read the new changes closely, but it looks like good news for those tourists who want to go in and out of India for short trips to Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, etc. and then come back in to India before heading home.
As a further reference, here is the Tourist Visa FAQs as written by the Ministry of Home Affairs in India after the initial policy change.
New ATM Limits in Srinagar
Posted on 29. Apr, 2010 by David in Blog, Money, Tips
There appears to have been a change to the maximum withdrawal limit for ATMs in Srinagar, Kashmir. Previously most ATMs would allow foreign bank cards to take out up to 20,000 Rupees (currently ~$450 USD) in one transaction. Now that limit is 10,000 Rupees max per transaction.
I’ve noticed this at several of the most common ATMs in town, such as J&K Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC, Yes Bank, and ICICI Bank. I don’t know if this change is also true for other ATMs in the Kashmir Valley outside of Srinagar, but I would assume that to be the case until I hear otherwise.
However, if you still need to take out more than 10,000 Rupees, it is possible by just doing two transactions. It may cost you more in bank fees if your bank charges a flat fee per ATM transaction, but you’ll still be able to buy that fancy Kashmiri carpet or pashmina shawl that every Kashmiri salesmen will be happy to sell you!
Kashmir After the Rain
Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by David in Blog, Kashmir, Spring
Some photos from yesterday morning in Srinagar after a nice rainstorm the night before. Springtime is often lovely in Kashmir.
New Books on Kashmir, the Mughals, & India
Posted on 08. Apr, 2010 by David in Blog, Books, Culture, Kashmir
I was in Delhi the last few days with the great group of photographers making up our Lumen Dei Kumbh Mela photo tour. Yesterday while they were out shooting photos I dropped by one of my favorite bookstores in Delhi, Full Circle.
Every time I’m there I notice something interesting and worth picking up. This time I found a book on Kashmir I’ve been wanting to get for a while now – “Travels in Kashmir: A Popular History of Its People, Places, and Crafts” by Brigid Keenan. The summary on the back of the book starts with, “This is the story of Kashmir as it appears in travel literature and historical writings from ancient times to the twentieth century.”
I began reading it on my flight from Delhi to Srinagar earlier today, and it shows promise of being a helpful and enjoyable book on Kashmir. I’ll try to share more after completing it.
I also picked up two other books on India while at the bookstore. One of them details the great Mughal emperors of India, titled “Emperors of the Peacock Throne” by Abraham Eraly. Apparently outside of India the book is titled “The Mughal Throne.”
When I first was looking at the description on the back of the book I wondered what my favorite author on India, William Dalrymple, thought of the book. I then happened to notice this endorsement on the front cover: “It is hard to imagine anyone succeeding more gracefully in producing a balanced overview than Abraham Eraly” – William Dalrymple. That was all I needed to know!
The third book I purchased is interestingly titled “In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India” by Edward Luce. And once again, what did I find on the front cover – “Without question the best book yet written on the New India” – William Dalrymple. As I was already in the travel/history books on India mood I quickly decided to get this one too.
As I mentioned above, I’ll do my best to share more on each of these books as I finish reading them. If anyone else happens to have read any of these already, let me know your thoughts about them in the comments.
Road Signs While Driving To Kashmir
Posted on 30. Mar, 2010 by David in Blog, Kashmir, Travel
As promised, here’s a collection showing some of the clever and amusing road signs seen along the way when driving from Jammu to Srinagar, Kashmir. Unfortunately I missed getting a photo of the one that read “BRO Be Gentle On My Curves.”
I should point out that the letters BRO on the signs stand for Border Roads Organisation. Enjoy!
Delhi to Kashmir Road Trip
Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by David in Blog, Delhi, Kashmir, Things To Do, Travel
Wow, what a road trip! Last Sunday and Monday I traveled by road from Delhi to Srinagar, Kashmir for the first time.
On Sunday our trip took 14 hours to go from Delhi to Jammu. The next day’s journey from Jammu to Srinagar took us about 10 hours. Going faster is possible, but we took our time when stopping to eat or stretch our legs.
Travel by air from Delhi to Srinagar takes only 1 hour and 15 minutes, so a road trip may not be ideal for those tighter schedules or who hate spending so much time in a vehicle. If you have time to spare it certainly makes for a unique way to enter the Valley of Kashmir and then you can always fly out when you leave.
Over the weekend or early next week I’ll post a series of photos highlighting some amusing road signs along the highway. For now here’s a quick teaser of one of them:
The Value of Convenience
Posted on 20. Mar, 2010 by David in Blog, Travel
Two nights ago my family and I arrived back into India via the Chicago-Delhi flight on American Airlines. The line at immigration was unusually short and fast, our bags didn’t take too long to come out, and soon we were met by our familiar taxi driver waiting for us in the arrival hall with a sign board displaying our name. Ah, convenience!
A lot has changed for us since we first started flying into India. The first several times we didn’t have a taxi waiting for us, but just went with the non A/C government prepaid taxis. Somehow we felt wimpy to have an A/C taxi waiting for us on arrival! We believed the chaos of pushing past the numerous porters and eager taxi drivers to secure one of the prepaid taxis outside was part of the experience of traveling to India.
After doing that for a while we decided A/C taxis were a convenience worth paying for in warmer weather. They didn’t cost that much more, there were still prepaid ones that you could get on arrival at the airport, plus they came with an assigned license plate number on your receipt so you didn’t have to beat other travelers to a taxi but could easily just find the one with the matching plate number.
Eventually though, we wanted additional convenience for 2 main reasons. The first was that the prepaid drivers usually had trouble finding our hotel and would stop often to check for directions. The second came when we were traveling with our infant son and found that the prepaid A/C service was out of taxis and we would need to wait 30 minutes to get one. After an international flight with a very active infant there’s not much patience left for waiting when you’re this close to your hotel!
My wife and I decided right then that next time we’ll arrange for a taxi ahead of time to pick us up. Looking back I’m not sure why we didn’t do that sooner, especially since we do that for all our customers! Maybe it was just part of “earning our stripes,” maybe we were just being cheap, or maybe it was both. All I know is that now I definitely appreciate having a taxi waiting to pick us up when we travel in India.
What about you, are there any travel conveniences you now choose that you previously didn’t consider worth paying for or even necessary?
Travel In India
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by David in Blog, Culture, Travel
There’s a line we add to the itinerary pages of our tours which says “Although this represents the tour’s planned itinerary, due to the nature of travel in India it is subject to change at the discretion of the tour leaders.” This week I received an email asking for clarification on what we mean by this. In replying to the sender I thought this also may be good to share on the blog and see what opinions there might be.
Is travel in India more unpredictable or chaotic than other places? Some people who have visited India might say yes. Trains and planes can be late, strikes occasionally happen and disrupt things, or a government VIP visits the place you were going to and security shuts things down. Yet others may say that travel in general is unpredictable anywhere in the world.
I would agree that travel can be unpredictable anywhere in the world. So why not just say “due to the nature of travel…” and leave India out of it? Two reasons. One, while travel can be tough anywhere, in our experience tourists to India sometimes experience a higher level of culture stress than other places around the world. Two, we’ve seen that travelers perceive and expect things differently when in another culture/place than their home.
We may know that travel is unpredictable and be okay with that in the familiarity of our home culture. However, once we experience the unpredictable/unexpected in a foreign place our unrealized cultural prejudices can rise to the surface and we find ourselves thinking or even saying out loud, “What’s wrong with this place? Don’t they know how to do things the right way?!”
Our business caters exclusively to foreign tourists rather than Indian citizens. We want them to enjoy India with flexible attitudes that can adapt well to any possible changes. The majority of time we don’t have to make changes. However, when we do it’s great to have customers who already know that could be a reality and display great attitudes when adapting to any potential changes.
Tell us what you think. Is travel in India more challenging from travel in other places? By saying “due to the nature of travel in India” are we unintentionally enforcing negative stereotypes of India? What would you say?
Kashmir Cultural Heritage Tour – May 2010
Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by David in Blog, Culture, Kashmir, Tours
Looking for a unique and authentic cultural experience for 2010? Check out our Kashmir cultural heritage tour being run from May 12th-20th.
Surrounded by the Himalayas, the Valley of Kashmir offers beautiful landscapes as well as a fun and rich culture to experience. Through this tour we’ll help you enjoy some of the best that Kashmir has to offer.
The group size will be limited to 4-6 participants, so check out the full tour details on our cultural tours page.
