TRAVELLING FROM NEPAL TO INDIA

My impressions are that it is very easy to travel around by ones own, without a package tour. But you need a guide book with hotels listed etc because it is difficult to get correct information from people as many wants to cheat you to get profit. Other travellers are often more reliable than the Indians on the street. Reservations are not needed in advance, there is for example a special ticket counter for tourist at the railway stations who have a special ticket quota for tourists, so it is enough to by tickets one or a couple of days before departure.

Trains seem to be more safe than busses, specially during night travel as there are bicycles, animals and vehicles without lights on the road at night Because of this quite common with lorries and sometimes busses who has crashes along the high ways.

We went to Nepal and India in the beginning of July and stayed 5 weeks until middle of august 1995. We thought this was a quite good period because it is not the tourist season. At the Indian tourist office home in Stockholm they told us that this time is very bad to go because of the warm temperatures and the rain season in India. That's why we started our tour in Nepal where it is cooler and where the rain comes a bit earlier than in the north west part of India.

In middle of June temperatures can be very hot in Delhi, this year it was about 45 degrees Celsius, but when we arrived in Delhi at end July it was much better temperatures due to the clouds and short periods of rain.

Travelling off season was also good as it was very easy to find hotels, get tickets on trains and buses. Hotel prices are also lower off season. For example in Nepal some hotels charge almost half the price. In Nepal is more difficult to make trekking in the mountains due to the rain and the snowy mountains are less visible during the pre monsoon time.

Due to the rain we did not make a trip with the train to the mountain area at Shimla north of Delhi, as we were unsure about the risk for landslides in the mountains, which might delay us so that we could miss our flight.

But we were satisfied travelling during the summer even if the tourist offices recommend travelling after the rain season in October to march.

The prices are very low. India is one of the cheapest countries in Asia. How much money you spend depends of your standard of living and how much you travel around. A simple hotel room with toilet and shower costs about 250 rupees for 2 persons ($10) and if you want it without own toilet and shower it is even cheaper. Nepal is said to be slightly more expensive but off season the price for the hotels were about the same.

A meal in a local cheap but clean restaurant costs about $2 but off course you can find expensive places too. Bombay is the most expensive city in India with hotel prices about 3 times as much.

KATHMANDU IN NEPAL

The Durban square in the centre of Katmandu was nice with its many temples and the kings palace which is now a museum. It is walking distance from the Tamel area. It is also possible to walk to the famous monkey temple with its eyes on the pagoda. The monkeys might be angry, we were advised not to show them our teeth.

OUTSIDE KATMANDU

From Katmandu are local buses driving to the nearby town Patan which also has a nice Durban square. The town is 5 km from Katmandu and the busses leave from the city bus terminal. There are no signs on the buses but the ticket sellers use to shout the destinations of the buses at each stop.

From the Katmandu football stadium are trolley buses going to Baktapur, about 30 km away. This city has a very nice Durban square with many temples. At our visit there was some cases of Cholera so we didn't eat or drink any thing there.

From here it is possible to go by bus or taxi to Nagarkot, a 2000m high mountain about 25km away from where it is possible to see the mount Everest when it is not cloudy. The buses do not go very often and they are very full so people have to travel on top of the roof. We took a taxi for $15 return. 2 hours on the mountain was enough for us. There are several hotels for those who want to spend the night to see the snowy mountains during sunrise. At our visit it was too cloudy to see any snowy mountains, July is also in the beginning of the rain season. During our visit in Nepal we could get a short glimpse of some snowy mountains between the clouds ones.

We didn't do any trekking, it is possible but a bit moody to walk during the rain season. We took a tourist bus to the Chitwan national park. Actually the travel agencies wanted to sell 3 day package tours but we insisted only buying a bus ticket and then decide what to do etc when we arrived. This was good as we where free to arrange what we liked and to a lower price than other travellers on the same bus. Along the road where crashed lorries and also a few buses, so there seems to be accidents quite often (I would avoid travelling by night).

CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

The Chitwan national park is known for its wild rhinos, tigers, bears, birds and other animals- During the rain season it is to moody to get into the park by jeep but it is possible to walk. If you meet a rhino which attacks, you should run away in zigzag and throw you hat behind you. The rhino dies not see very well and might attack the hat instead. After running in zigzag you should stand behind a tree so the rhino will not see you. Some rhinos might also stop if the guide throws a stick and hits the nose.

We didn't walk but we rented an elephant and made a 2 hour tour across the river into the forest. We saw 5 rhinos as there just had been some rain which makes the them come out. There are also crocodiles in the river but we didn't go to look at them. There are plenty of cheap lodges at Chitwan and during July there are plenty off free rooms as there are not so many tourists around during this time.

From Chitwan there are daily state buses going to the Indian border. We reached the border after a couple of hours on the bus.

The Chitwan national park in Nepal north of Varanasi was easy reachable by bus. It was interesting going on the back of an elephant in the forest looking at the rhinos in the national park. There were also crocodiles in the forest.

Varanasi was the most Indian town we visited. Interesting with the old city, all the gats where corpses were burnt during the evenings and were Hindu's take their morning baths. There are many temples and a very big campus at the Hindu university.

AGRA JAIPUR AND DELHI

There are a few direct trains every day from Varanasi to Agra. Of course there are also buses. If you go to Krahurajo there is no train all the way, but it is a long journey so we didn't go there. The train to Agra is quite slow and takes one day and one night. There are plenty of hotels in all places, just follow the guidebook, or walk into any hotel you see. Don't trust any Indian people running after you on the streets telling stories that the hotel you want to go to is flooded, closed, expensive etc as they want you to go to their place where they get profit and that is put on your bill. There is the same trouble with rickshaw drivers.

The Tai Mahal in Agra is very beautiful, there is also a Fort, and there is a very good connection with a local bus to the Faktapur city 30km outside Agra. The Faktapur city was built several hundred years ago but nobody moved there as there was lack of water. So it is now a museum area.

From Agra it is quite easy to go by bus or train to Jaipur, the pink city. There are also good connections to Delhi. There are several cheap hotels near the new Delhi railway station. In Delhi it is my advice to take a local guided tour which are cheap $4 as it takes time with the big distances and the traffic to get around by one self.

The idea having a destination hotel in mind already at arrival is very good. It is in fact what we did too. We used the lonely planets book "A travel survival kit" for India. There are many good hotels in both Agra and Jaipur. We preferred the cheap ones and in Agra we stayed at the Akbar Inn on the Mall. It is situated between the railway station and Tai Mahal. There are also plenty of quite cheap places nearby the Tai Mahal.

When we went from Agra to Jaipur by bus we received the following printed message from the bus conductor:

Off course we followed this printed advise with its Indian misspellings and we stayed at a family hotel 5 km outside the city center which was in the Lonely planet guide book.

TRAVELLING BY TRAIN

You will do a lot off train travelling, perhaps you will become tired of sitting on a train every third day? But train travelling is very good meeting local Indians. Nowhere else you will begin to talk to so many different and nice Indian people.

The train from Agra or Delhi to Madras takes almost 2 days. Trains are very cheap but if you want to speed up this journey there might be cheap flight tickets for about $25 or $50 with Air India. These tickets are only sold outside India and if you go by Air India to India. I am not sure about what kind of tickets they sell in Australia.

Yes, we also had problems finding our train. All trains look the same and there are no signs on the train telling where it goes. If you have seat reservations you have to find the carriage before the train leaves. because it is not possible to walk between the wagons when the train is moving. But people are very helpful and we kept asking people on the station until we found our seats. Ones we had booked an air-conditioned wagon, we asked people around us and people sitting in the train ( the train just stopped for a few minutes and it was very long) and they pointed in different directions. After having run along the train a few times somebody said it was here, but it had been replaced by an ordinary car, and we could step inside.

Another time, when we travelled from Varanasi to Agra, we could get help from the tourist office in the station to find our train, and there was no problems. In the train we had sleepers together with and Indian family where the parents where working at the university and also the daughter was studying at the university. They were very nice and cold explain all different kind of questions we had about Indian behaviour. sights. politics, Indian life etc. They also let us join their Indian meal they had brought on the train and the father also run away on a station when the train stopped to by bottles with soft drinks for all of us when the train made a short stop.

Ones we also entered the wrong train. When we wanted to go from Jaipur to Delhi we were quite sure to find the right train. We could see on the station which time and which platform the train should come on, we had also checked with the ticket office. And when the train arrived on time we entered the car where we had reserved seats. The train had just began to move when we asked a passenger if this was the train to Delhi. No he said, this is the express train to Calcutta! The conductor was helpful and tried to stop the train by pull the emergency handle. Nothing happened. He tried another emergency handle with the same negative result. "Not working" he said and walked away. So we had to continue two hours with the train until it stopped at station where there was another train to Delhi. It was now 2 am in the morning and we bought new tickets (tickets are very cheap). There was different trains coming and going but the Delhi train was late. But we asked the staff every time a train arrived (as the all look the same for us) until the right one came. Next problem was to find out which car to enter. Most cars where sleepers and we had now unreserved tickets. The train was very long. After a short while we were told that we should go to the second class unreserved wagons at the very end of the train. Just before we reached there the train began to move, and we thought - better to enter any car otherwise we would miss the train again. Some doors were locked but the last door in the whole train was unlocked and we opened it and jumped inside. My girlfriend thought it was a little difficult to get inside (the stairs are high) with the train moving. (Otherwise I might have been ïn the train to Delhi and she left on the station...) The car was not a usual car, it was the working place for a railway official who waves with a green light when the train is ready for departure. He seemed surprised seeing us entering his wagon. but we were allowed to continue to the next station where we had to change car. We walked to the nearby second class unreserved wagon (We didn't dare to walk to long time outside the train during the stop as we thought it may begin to move any minute again. The second class wagon had wood benches and it was full of Indians sitting and standing on the floor and sleeping on the hat shelf. But after some hours standing and a couple of stops we also got wood seats. At stations as usual sellers, beggars etc entered the train and as always people shouting Thai Thai Thai (the sell hot Indian milk tea). This was called a super fast train - it was quite fast in the beginning, but when we approached Delhi it became very slow and stopped on many places even if there was no station. When we finally arrived in Delhi at noon so many people wanted go on the train so that it was hard to get off at the New Delhi railway station. (As this was unreserved wagons people wanted to be sure to get on). My girlfriend had to scream "let me out" - then they let us out before they continued battle with each other to get on.

I hope you also go to Varanaci. This city is very special with the Ganges river, the burning, and the very different typical Indian life.

It was easy to go from Agra to Faktapur city. The best way is to take the local bus for $1 from the bus station in Agra. The bus goes ones an hour and takes one hour to Faktapur city which is the final stop. Usually there are several tourists on the bus. If you ask in the tourist office they want you to take their tourist taxi for $20 or so - they say the local bus is very crowded. In fact it was very empty when we went, everybody on it got a seat. On the way back there was just 5 - 6 passengers.

We have experienced often that it is difficult to get correct information from Indians as soon they see a possibility to make money. A guide book is therefore essential. You also have to know the real prices as some people want to cheat tourists (and other Indians as well) to make money.

You save a lot of time if you make the sightseeing with local sightseeing tour as it takes a lot of time in Delhi going to one sight to another by public transportation. And the organized tour is cheaper too.

Another place which is worth a visit is Simla. There are trains from Delhi up to the mountains in the north. The last hours before Simla you have to Change to a narrow gauge train which goes past steep mountains, through tunnels and over bridges - the sight is said to be beautiful. And the climate is cooler in the mountains than in Delhi. We didn't make this tour as we where anxious that landslides during the monsoon season would delay bus or train services so that we might miss our flights.

MADRAS AND BOMBAY

Madras is not really a tourist attraction but we thought it was very interesting to see another part of the country. People in south India behave different, have other colours on their clothes, speak tamil instead of Hindi and make more spicy food. They might eat with their hands in the restaurant. If they shake their heads they mean yes instead of no.

Bombay was the most modern city we visited. They also had a planetarium with shows also in English wish was interesting

WHAT TO EAT AN DRINK

We didn't have any problems with our stomachs, but I have heard that stomach problems are common among travellers in India and similar countries. Therefore we had the rule only to eat cooked hot fresh food and drink bottled soft drinks or boiled tea. We never bought any food in the streets and always tried to estimate the hygienic standard in restaurants before ordering. We never went to expensive restaurants where food might have been warm for some time (heard of another traveller about stomach problems after such a visit). Quite simple restaurants with many visitors where food is fresh made are good.

We also never ordered meat because meat is seldom properly handled. There are few refrigerators in India and meat is mostly hanging in the streets with fly's sitting on them before it is sold. Many Indians eat only vegetarian food and the meat is then not fresh when it is finally prepared. Chicken is good (they are often cached the same day, Indians also eat chicken and they are therefore fresh). Fish is not always available in the inland but OK to eat.

Only drink bottled mineral water, never water from the tap. Indians themselves can get sick of the water from the tap due to bad pipes. Eat fruit only after cutting of the shell. Only eat properly boiled vegetables. Sometimes, in small villages, we could find any food with these rules, then we just had some bread, water and fruit - but the stomach felt well.

Was the trip too much of a strain on your relationship with a girlfriend?

I just asked my girlfriend this question. She had not been in Asia before and was sometimes irritated of the behaviour of the Indians, cheating etc. It made her angry when the Indians didn't behave like western people but she says this didn't affect our relationship. Well, in fact we got engaged after the trip. I think it was a little astonished that the Indians had respect for an angry women.