India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (24 page)

If you plan to tour North India by car, setting off from Delhi, contact Khaver Ali Khan (
[email protected]
) who will put you in touch with one of his travel experts at
Kamalan Travels
, and you can create a custom tour within any budget (
011-257-30256,
-33652, or 97-1100-8521;
www.kamalan-travels.com
). In South India, we wouldn’t travel with anyone other than
Kerala Adventures
(
www.keralaadventure.com
) where Babu John in Kochi (
0484/231-3744
or 0484/324-2021;
[email protected]
) and his brother John Thomas in Trivandrum (
0471/243-3398 or 0471/231-9548;
[email protected]
) provide excellent drivers, interesting itineraries, and a formidable understanding of what it is that a foreign traveler wants to get out of their time in India.

What kind of car?
Standard cars are sometimes antique-looking and very romantic Ambassadors, tough cars despite their appearance, but sometimes unpredictable; don’t rely on them for long out-of-town journeys—better perhaps to opt for a modern vehicle like the compact Indica. A vehicle with off-road capabilities is essential in some of the more remote and hilly regions, including eastern Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Sikkim, and parts of Uttarakhand; it is also recommended for some of the awful road conditions in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, for example, where there may be more potholes than patches of tarmac. Air-conditioned vehicles cost more but are always recommended because you may want to keep windows closed in order to shut out the endless traffic noise and pollution.

How much will it cost?
Charges for this sort of car hire vary considerably; see our guidelines below. If you use a hotel rental service, you usually have to fork out exorbitant fees—although the vehicle and quality of service will generally be top-notch. At the other end of the scale, you can walk up to a driver in the street, negotiate an excellent deal, and spend the rest of your vacation watching the tires being changed. It’s often a good idea to start by contacting the Tourist Development Corporation in whatever state you wish to hire a car (contact details are in individual chapters). Their rates are usually reasonable and fixed; you’ll be spared the battle of the haggle; and you won’t have to live with the misery of being overcharged. We provide price indications in individual chapters, but a good way to estimate how much a vehicle should cost for a multiday run is to calculate three things: a) the approximate distance you will travel multiplied by the per-kilometer rate (usually between Rs 10 and Rs 20 depending on the car); b) an overnight charge of Rs 150 to Rs 350 per night, plus state taxes, tolls, and across-state permits and fees; and c) the mileage for the car to return to its place of origin, even if it returns empty.

Each chapter lists travel agencies that can assist you with car rental, many with their own fleet of vehicles and drivers; if the price doesn’t seem right, shop around. Finally, when it comes to tipping your driver, a fair amount is Rs 200 to Rs 300 for each day he’s been with you. If you feel you got exemplary service and want to give him more, however, by all means give him what you feel he deserves. If, on the other hand, you’ve had to tolerate a surly, uncooperative, and inefficient chauffeur, make sure you let the agency know, and reflect it in the tip as you see fit.
Tip:
Your car driver may sometimes drive you around for an hour in a new city rather than do the sensible thing and ask for directions. Remember, in most cities the best people to ask for directions are usually auto-rickshaw or taxi drivers. If you are on foot, however, more often than not if you ask a rickshaw or cab driver for directions, he’ll probably tell you your destination is “too far” and that you need to hire his services.

Warning:
If you are involved in an accident, it’s best to get out of your vehicle and away from the scene without delay, inform your rental agency or hotel immediately, and have them inform local authorities. An accident involving the injury or death of a cow or person may result in a mob assault on all occupants of the offending vehicle as well as its incineration.

Taxis & Auto-rickshaws
These modes of transport are the ways to go within your chosen city or town. Auto-rickshaws are best for short journeys only, being slow, bumpy, and open-air—in other words, open to pollution. Always, always negotiate the rate upfront, having established the average going rate (unless the driver is using a “meter reading chart,” in which case check it carefully, and make sure he is not using the night 11pm–5am chart, when charges are higher). We have tried to indicate these rates throughout, but given the potential escalation in fuel costs, it’s best to ask about the going rate (your hotel or host should know) and figure out a fixed price for a given journey. To get from the station or airport to your hotel, use the prepaid taxi booths; remember to hand over your receipt only
after
reaching your destination. Be aware that in some cities it’s a toss-up between forcing the driver to use his meter, only to be taken for a citywide spin, and agreeing to a slightly higher than normal price and being taken from A to B.

Remember:
Carry your passport at all times—many of the borders between states have checkpoints where passports may be checked. Also always have with you at least one photocopy of your passport and visa and four to five passport-size photographs; you will need them for permits and other unforeseen bureaucratic paperwork, like getting a prepaid SIM card for a cellphone.

By Train

India’s rail network is the second largest in the world, and you can pretty much get anywhere in the country by train. That said, train journeys between major destinations can consume massive amounts of time (often more than car travel); and the network, tiers (one of the A/C, or air-conditioned classes may, for instance, be better than non-A/C first class), and connections can be confusing. It’s best to determine well in advance whether or not your destination is accessible from your point of origin and which tier is the most comfortable, and then factor in delays; some slow trains stop at every two-hut village along the way, and this can extend traveling time by hours. Generally, you should only consider long-distance train travel if you are assured of exotic scenery (like the
Konkan Railway,
which connects Mumbai with Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala, running along the Konkan coast); or if the journey is overnight (like Delhi to Varanasi) and you have reserved a
first-class air-conditioned
sleeper
or
second-class air-conditioned
sleeper
berth, preferably the two-tier variety. (Never book regular
second class,
which can be torturous, claustrophobic, and distressing if you are at all intimidated by crowds.) You will be particularly comfortable aboard the overnight
Rajdhani
—the superfast train connects Delhi to Mumbai for Rs 2,145 or to Kolkata (Howrah) for Rs 2,180 in the two-tier A/C (air-conditioned) class; it also connects Delhi with Chennai, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram, Abu Road, Ahmedabad, and Ajmer. The best daytime travel train is the
Shatabdi;
these intercity trains have several routes between important tourist destinations (Delhi to Amritsar: Rs 665; Mumbai to Madgaon [Goa]: Rs 700; Delhi to Jaipur: Rs 485). Book a seat in the air-conditioned
Chair Car
class; small meals, tea, coffee, and bottled water are included in the ticket price, seats are comfortable and clean, and toilets are usually usable, but not great.

For extensive railway information, you can log on to
www.indianrail.gov.in
, which shows routes, availability, and prices for all Indian trains, but you cannot book online from overseas. For tips on how to maneuver this rather unwieldy website to get the information you need, see the box below. Better still, visit
www.seat61.com
,
the online authority for train travel across the globe with a detailed, dedicated page devoted to train travel in India. Amongst many other issues, it explains in great detail how to purchase a train ticket from outside India using the government-sponsored ticketing website
www.irctc.co.in
.
Do note that you can also purchase tickets for train journeys in India using the relatively painless
www.cleartrip.com
website which charges a Rs 100 booking fee per ticket, but allows you to buy your ticket using a credit card.