India


Jaisalmer, India
There's a Feast in the Thar Desert
As soon as the short winter breaks, Jaisalmer indulges in parades, camel races, and turban and mustache competitions. Its walls, alleys and surrounding dunes take on more color than ever. During the three days of the event, natives and outsiders watch, dazzled, as the vast and inhospitable Thar finally shines through.
Goa, India
The Last Gasp of the Goan Portugality
The prominent city of Goa already justified the title of “rome of the east” when, in the middle of the XNUMXth century, epidemics of malaria and cholera led to its abandonment. The New Goa (Pangim) for which it was exchanged became the administrative seat of Portuguese India but was annexed by the Indian Union of post-independence. In both, time and neglect are ailments that now make the Portuguese colonial legacy wither.
Tawang, India
The Mystic Valley of Deep Discord
On the northern edge of the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh, Tawang is home to dramatic mountain scenery, ethnic Mompa villages and majestic Buddhist monasteries. Even if Chinese rivals have not passed him since 1962, Beijing look at this domain as part of your Tibet. Accordingly, religiosity and spiritualism there have long shared with a strong militarism.
Guwahati, India
The City that Worships Kamakhya and the Fertility
Guwahati is the largest city in the state of Assam and in North East India. It is also one of the fastest growing in the world. For Hindus and devout believers in Tantra, it will be no coincidence that Kamakhya, the mother goddess of creation, is worshiped there.
Dooars India
At the Gates of the Himalayas
We arrived at the northern threshold of West Bengal. The subcontinent gives way to a vast alluvial plain filled with tea plantations, jungle, rivers that the monsoon overflows over endless rice fields and villages bursting at the seams. On the verge of the greatest of the mountain ranges and the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan, for obvious British colonial influence, India treats this stunning region by Dooars.
Gangtok, India
An Hillside Life
Gangtok it is the capital of Sikkim, an ancient kingdom in the Himalayas section of the Silk Road, which became an Indian province in 1975. The city is balanced on a slope, facing Kanchenjunga, the third highest elevation in the world that many natives believe shelters a paradise valley of Immortality. Their steep and strenuous Buddhist existence aims, there, or elsewhere, to achieve it.
Meghalaya, India
The Bridges of the Peoples that Create Roots
The unpredictability of rivers in the wettest region on Earth never deterred the Khasi and the Jaintia. Faced with the abundance of trees elastic fig tree in their valleys, these ethnic groups got used to molding their branches and strains. From their time-lost tradition, they have bequeathed hundreds of dazzling root bridges to future generations.
Ooty, India
In Bollywood's Nearly Ideal Setting
The conflict with Pakistan and the threat of terrorism made filming in Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh a drama. In Ooty, we see how this former British colonial station took the lead.

Hampi, India

Voyage to the Ancient Kingdom of Bisnaga

In 1565, the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar succumbed to enemy attacks. 45 years before, he had already been the victim of the Portugueseization of his name by two Portuguese adventurers who revealed him to the West.

Goa, India
To Goa, Quickly and in Strength
A sudden longing for Indo-Portuguese tropical heritage makes us travel in various transports but almost non-stop, from Lisbon to the famous Anjuna beach. Only there, at great cost, were we able to rest.
Dawki, India
Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight
We descended from the high and mountainous lands of Meghalaya to the flats to the south and below. There, the translucent and green stream of the Dawki forms the border between India and Bangladesh. In a damp heat that we haven't felt for a long time, the river also attracts hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis in a picturesque escape.
Shillong, India
A Christmas Selfiestan at an India Christian Stronghold
December arrives. With a largely Christian population, the state of Meghalaya synchronizes its Nativity with that of the West and clashes with the overcrowded Hindu and Muslim subcontinent. Shillong, the capital, shines with faith, happiness, jingle bells and bright lighting. To dazzle Indian holidaymakers from other parts and creeds.
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India
The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running
Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Maguri Bill, India
A Wetland in the Far East of India
The Maguri Bill occupies an amphibious area in the Assamese vicinity of the river Brahmaputra. It is praised as an incredible habitat especially for birds. When we navigate it in gondola mode, we are faced with much (but much) more life than just the asada.
Jaisalmer, India
The Life Withstanding in the Golden Fort of Jaisalmer
The Jaisalmer fortress was erected from 1156 onwards by order of Rawal Jaisal, ruler of a powerful clan from the now Indian reaches of the Thar Desert. More than eight centuries later, despite continued pressure from tourism, they share the vast and intricate interior of the last of India's inhabited forts, almost four thousand descendants of the original inhabitants.
Guwahati a Saddle Pass, India
A Worldly Journey to the Sacred Canyon of Sela
For 25 hours, we traveled the NH13, one of the highest and most dangerous roads in India. We traveled from the Brahmaputra river basin to the disputed Himalayas of the province of Arunachal Pradesh. In this article, we describe the stretch up to 4170 m of altitude of the Sela Pass that pointed us to the Tibetan Buddhist city of Tawang.
PN Kaziranga, India
The Indian Monoceros Stronghold
Situated in the state of Assam, south of the great Brahmaputra river, PN Kaziranga occupies a vast area of ​​alluvial swamp. Two-thirds of the rhinocerus unicornis around the world, there are around 100 tigers, 1200 elephants and many other animals. Pressured by human proximity and the inevitable poaching, this precious park has not been able to protect itself from the hyperbolic floods of the monsoons and from some controversies.
Majuli Island, India
An Island in Countdown
Majuli is the largest river island in India and would still be one of the largest on Earth were it not for the erosion of the river Bramaputra that has been making it diminish for centuries. If, as feared, it is submerged within twenty years, more than an island, a truly mystical cultural and landscape stronghold of the Subcontinent will disappear.
Chandor, Goa, India
A True Goan-Portuguese House
A mansion with Portuguese architectural influence, Casa Menezes Bragança, stands out from the houses of Chandor, in Goa. It forms a legacy of one of the most powerful families in the former province. Both from its rise in a strategic alliance with the Portuguese administration and from the later Goan nationalism.
Camel Racing, Desert Festival, Sam Sam Dunes, Rajasthan, India
Jaisalmer, India

There's a Feast in the Thar Desert

As soon as the short winter breaks, Jaisalmer indulges in parades, camel races, and turban and mustache competitions. Its walls, alleys and surrounding dunes take on more color than ever. During the three days of the event, natives and outsiders watch, dazzled, as the vast and inhospitable Thar finally shines through.
Glamor vs Faith
Goa, India

The Last Gasp of the Goan Portugality

The prominent city of Goa already justified the title of “rome of the east” when, in the middle of the XNUMXth century, epidemics of malaria and cholera led to its abandonment. The New Goa (Pangim) for which it was exchanged became the administrative seat of Portuguese India but was annexed by the Indian Union of post-independence. In both, time and neglect are ailments that now make the Portuguese colonial legacy wither.
Tawang Monastery, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Tawang, India

The Mystic Valley of Deep Discord

On the northern edge of the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh, Tawang is home to dramatic mountain scenery, ethnic Mompa villages and majestic Buddhist monasteries. Even if Chinese rivals have not passed him since 1962, Beijing look at this domain as part of your Tibet. Accordingly, religiosity and spiritualism there have long shared with a strong militarism.
Detail of the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Assam, India.
Guwahati, India

The City that Worships Kamakhya and the Fertility

Guwahati is the largest city in the state of Assam and in North East India. It is also one of the fastest growing in the world. For Hindus and devout believers in Tantra, it will be no coincidence that Kamakhya, the mother goddess of creation, is worshiped there.
End of the day at the Teesta river dam lake in Gajoldoba, India
Dooars India

At the Gates of the Himalayas

We arrived at the northern threshold of West Bengal. The subcontinent gives way to a vast alluvial plain filled with tea plantations, jungle, rivers that the monsoon overflows over endless rice fields and villages bursting at the seams. On the verge of the greatest of the mountain ranges and the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan, for obvious British colonial influence, India treats this stunning region by Dooars.
Gangtok House, Sikkim, India
Gangtok, India

An Hillside Life

Gangtok it is the capital of Sikkim, an ancient kingdom in the Himalayas section of the Silk Road, which became an Indian province in 1975. The city is balanced on a slope, facing Kanchenjunga, the third highest elevation in the world that many natives believe shelters a paradise valley of Immortality. Their steep and strenuous Buddhist existence aims, there, or elsewhere, to achieve it.
Jingkieng Wahsurah, Nongblai Village Roots Bridge, Meghalaya, India
Meghalaya, India

The Bridges of the Peoples that Create Roots

The unpredictability of rivers in the wettest region on Earth never deterred the Khasi and the Jaintia. Faced with the abundance of trees elastic fig tree in their valleys, these ethnic groups got used to molding their branches and strains. From their time-lost tradition, they have bequeathed hundreds of dazzling root bridges to future generations.
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, Bollywood Scenery, Heartthrob's Eye
Ooty, India

In Bollywood's Nearly Ideal Setting

The conflict with Pakistan and the threat of terrorism made filming in Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh a drama. In Ooty, we see how this former British colonial station took the lead.
little subject

Hampi, India

Voyage to the Ancient Kingdom of Bisnaga

In 1565, the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar succumbed to enemy attacks. 45 years before, he had already been the victim of the Portugueseization of his name by two Portuguese adventurers who revealed him to the West.

Promise?
Goa, India

To Goa, Quickly and in Strength

A sudden longing for Indo-Portuguese tropical heritage makes us travel in various transports but almost non-stop, from Lisbon to the famous Anjuna beach. Only there, at great cost, were we able to rest.
Coin return
Dawki, India

Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight

We descended from the high and mountainous lands of Meghalaya to the flats to the south and below. There, the translucent and green stream of the Dawki forms the border between India and Bangladesh. In a damp heat that we haven't felt for a long time, the river also attracts hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis in a picturesque escape.
Christmas scene, Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Shillong, India

A Christmas Selfiestan at an India Christian Stronghold

December arrives. With a largely Christian population, the state of Meghalaya synchronizes its Nativity with that of the West and clashes with the overcrowded Hindu and Muslim subcontinent. Shillong, the capital, shines with faith, happiness, jingle bells and bright lighting. To dazzle Indian holidaymakers from other parts and creeds.
The Toy Train story
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Asian buffalo herd, Maguri Beel, Assam, India
Maguri Bill, India

A Wetland in the Far East of India

The Maguri Bill occupies an amphibious area in the Assamese vicinity of the river Brahmaputra. It is praised as an incredible habitat especially for birds. When we navigate it in gondola mode, we are faced with much (but much) more life than just the asada.
Women at Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan, India.
Jaisalmer, India

The Life Withstanding in the Golden Fort of Jaisalmer

The Jaisalmer fortress was erected from 1156 onwards by order of Rawal Jaisal, ruler of a powerful clan from the now Indian reaches of the Thar Desert. More than eight centuries later, despite continued pressure from tourism, they share the vast and intricate interior of the last of India's inhabited forts, almost four thousand descendants of the original inhabitants.
Motorcyclist in Sela Gorge, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Guwahati a Saddle Pass, India

A Worldly Journey to the Sacred Canyon of Sela

For 25 hours, we traveled the NH13, one of the highest and most dangerous roads in India. We traveled from the Brahmaputra river basin to the disputed Himalayas of the province of Arunachal Pradesh. In this article, we describe the stretch up to 4170 m of altitude of the Sela Pass that pointed us to the Tibetan Buddhist city of Tawang.
Rhinoceros, PN Kaziranga, Assam, India
PN Kaziranga, India

The Indian Monoceros Stronghold

Situated in the state of Assam, south of the great Brahmaputra river, PN Kaziranga occupies a vast area of ​​alluvial swamp. Two-thirds of the rhinocerus unicornis around the world, there are around 100 tigers, 1200 elephants and many other animals. Pressured by human proximity and the inevitable poaching, this precious park has not been able to protect itself from the hyperbolic floods of the monsoons and from some controversies.
Peasant woman, Majuli, Assam, India
Majuli Island, India

An Island in Countdown

Majuli is the largest river island in India and would still be one of the largest on Earth were it not for the erosion of the river Bramaputra that has been making it diminish for centuries. If, as feared, it is submerged within twenty years, more than an island, a truly mystical cultural and landscape stronghold of the Subcontinent will disappear.
Casa Menezes Braganca, Chandor, Goa, India
Chandor, Goa, India

A True Goan-Portuguese House

A mansion with Portuguese architectural influence, Casa Menezes Bragança, stands out from the houses of Chandor, in Goa. It forms a legacy of one of the most powerful families in the former province. Both from its rise in a strategic alliance with the Portuguese administration and from the later Goan nationalism.

Mapa


How to go


VISA AND OTHER PROCEDURES

Portuguese citizens (and also Brazilians) need to apply for a visa before arriving in the country. More information at Embassy of India in Lisbon.

HEALTH CARE 

There is a moderate to high risk of contracting malaria throughout the year in the northeast of the country, including Assam and Orissa. on the islands Andaman and Nicobar, in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal, the risk does not justify taking anti-malaria pills for most travelers, except for longer stays in rural areas. Protect yourself from mosquito bites too to avoid getting Dengue fever.

For more information on traveling health, see the Health Portal of the Ministry of Health and Tropical and Traveler Medicine Clinic. In FitForTravel find country-specific health and disease prevention advice (in English).

TRIP TO INDIA

Fly to Mumbai or New Delhi on a single stopover with Air India, for from €750. 

Must Do's


  • Mumbai,
  • delhi
  • leh
  • Rishikesh
  • Shimla
  • Goa, Daman and Diu
  • Hampi.
  • Cochin
  • Kerala backwaters
  • Jaisalmer
  • ​Jaipur & Jodhpur
  • Varanasi
  • Taj Mahal (Agra)
  • Khajuraho Temples
  • ​Ajanta Caves
  • Calcutta
  • Cultural and religious festivals
  • Bollywood

Explore


INTERNAL FLIGHTS

They are the most practical and fastest way to change the scene in the vast Asian subcontinent. The routes are constantly increasing and increasingly serve the four corners of the country at prices that compete with a series of new ones. low-cost made it very affordable.

The main airlines are:

Air India (the national company); Go AirIndiGo AirlinesJet AirwaysSpiceJet

You can find plane tickets up to €10 but these are discounted prices for limited seats that sell out in a flash. The longer you buy in advance, the more you'll be able to save. Please note that some airlines charge more for tickets to foreign passengers. Others do not accept foreign credit cards. 

TRAIN

Introduced in 1853 by English settlers, they developed into one of the densest railroad networks on Earth. The system is functional, not necessarily punctual. Traveling by train in India quickly proves to be a true ethnic and cultural experience and still allows you to enjoy the country's exotic scenery with relative tranquility. Indian trains give visitors the choice of the level of comfort they want for their journeys, from the pure refinement of luxury trains to the wooden seats in filthy and overcrowded carriages of conventional trains.

The classes of Indian trains are several, gradually distinct and also identified in English, which facilitates the purchase of tickets by foreign passengers. You won't find all the ones listed below in a single train:

Long Distances: AC First (1A); AC 2 Tier (2A); AC 3 Tier (3A); First Class (FC); Sleeper Class (SL)

Short Distances: AC Chair Car (CC); Second Class Chair Car (2S)

No reservation: General compartments (GS)

India has 1.300 billion inhabitants. So don't be surprised if the train you plan to travel on the next day is already full. Fortunately, as a rule, the day before a train departs, a quota of available tickets, the Tatkal tickets, is posted. Sales for that train open at 12am. In this way, some tourists were able to buy tickets little by little, paying agents an additional amount that gave them priority. In 2012, however, authorities responded to this scheme and decreed that agents could only start purchasing tickets 2 hours after sales began. 

It is supposed to be possible to purchase tickets for this quota online at IRCTC. However, the huge influx of potential buyers to the site causes the site to become dysfunctional during sales hours. 

In conclusion, if you cannot find an agency to guarantee the purchase of tickets or buy them online, the only solution will be to dispute them patiently at the ticket offices of Indian railway stations. Or choose to buy a pass IndRail.

TRUCK

Consider this option to reach places not covered by the vast Indian rail network. Keep in mind, however, that in terms of peace of mind, bus travel has little to do with train travel. Drivers often drive at high speed and make countless seemingly suicidal overtakings in one trip. It is also common to honk almost all the way, sometimes with deafening horns. Popular buses also fail to circulate too often overcrowded and the total lack of comfort. The main advantage of being subjected to possible railway tortures of this type is the very low cost of travel. A journey of 5 or 6 hours can cost as little as €2.

Some Indian companies try to solve the quality road travel gap with modern and comfortable buses. These include: Raj National Express and KPN.

CAR RENTAL

Partly because of what is described in the field above about bus drivers, but mainly because traffic is chaotic in cities and extremely dangerous on rural roads. It is not at all safe or advisable to explore India by rental car.  

Although there are some highways, roads in regions further away from cities are often unpaved or paved but cratered and drastically muddy during monsoons after prolonged rains. Even some city roads can have these same problems.

That said, few visitors dare to drive their own car. Instead, the most common practice is to hire a car with a driver/guide. You might even want the car to be an Ambassador, the elegant 1958 classic model inspired by the British model Morris Oxford III. If you succeed, your trip will have an additional strong Indian charm. 

For shorter distances you can also use taxis and rickshaws, three-wheel motor vehicles, with a separation between the driver's station and the passenger cabin. Rickshaws are noisier and quite possibly more polluting than most cars, but they are also cheaper than taxis. Expect to pay €0,20 for the first km of the journey. From then on, the normal thing will be to pay €0,15 per next km. 

Many rickshaw and taxi drivers claim that their meters are not working in order to try to profit more from the journey. When it happens to you, you have two choices: either you are uncompromising and look for another one, or you negotiate as best you can with the driver before leaving. 

SHIP

Ferries with a regular service connect different ports in India – for example, Chennai and Calcutta – to Port Blair, the main city of the Andaman Islands. The trip takes around 60 hours. From October to May, there is also a ferry service that connects Cochin to the Lakshadweep Islands in around 20 hours.

When to go


The Indian sub-continent is vast and has substantial climatic fluctuations from north to south and east to west. Generally speaking, there are three well-demarcated seasons: the hot, the rainy and the less hot. From June to mid-October, monsoons take over most of India, with greater or lesser intensity from year to year. As a rule, a large part of the country is under cloudy conditions and intense humidity and, as such, the sun only appears very rarely or not at all and it can rain heavily for days on end. 

By November, the monsoons have completely dissipated and temperatures remain lower until mid-February. Thereafter, the heat gradually intensifies until May or June and “pulls” the monsoon winds back to the area.

The ideal area of ​​India to avoid the effect of the monsoons is Rajasthan, in the semi-desert northwestern tip of the country. The areas that allow you to escape the usual torrid sun from mid-February to May are the highlands on the slopes of the Himalayas. The same applies to monsoons but only to the north of the first slopes of the mountain range. During the monsoons, many villages on the first south-facing slopes of the mountain range – for example Darjeeling – are under the first impact of clouds against the Himalayas and are hit by incessant rains.

Money and costs


The Indian currency is the Indian Rupee (INR). ATMs that allow withdrawals with international cards are common in cities. Credit card payment is increasingly accepted in more sophisticated establishments which, by the way, remain an exception in vast traditionalist India. India is one of the least expensive countries in the world.

ACCOMMODATION

You can find everything in India, with prices normally regulated from below. The hotels and guest houses Humblers abound in big cities and can charge as little as €5 a night – or even less for a double room. Note that many of the places that charge these prices are perfectly clean and dignified.

Medium-sized hotels, including some of the chain, have prices in the order of €12 to €45 per night, per double room.

At the opposite end of the scale are luxury hotels and resorts, usually located in modernized urban business centers in major cities or in Indian areas with greater tourist value. Often managed by international groups, their prices have little to do with India's economic reality. Expect to pay from €250 per night in exchange for comfort and refinement.

FOOD

Indian food is a lot of what we are used to finding in Indian restaurants in Europe but much, much more. Each region has its own gastronomic touches that alter, in a more or less subtle way, national dishes. But they also generate other completely different dishes. As is understandable, the food in the villages on the slopes of the Himalayas is abysmally different from that of Goa or Kerala. In general, if you are not used to the strong and spicy flavors of Indian food, let us know in English that you prefer food “non spicy" to the employee. As a rule, it's enough.

The logic of accommodation applies equally to meals. You can get nutritious, great-tasting meals at prices you didn't think were possible. For example, a full individual lunch or dinner for €1 or €2 at a market, how can you pay €7 to €15 for a full meal in a restaurant in a tourist place, the interior of Jaisalmer fort, center of Panjim etc. You can also pay €50 to €200 if you order the best specialties at resorts such as the Oberoi or Aman.

INTERNET

If you do not have access at your own hotel or guest house, be aware that internet cafes are absolutely everywhere in India and charge €0,25 to €0,50 per hour of browsing. Hotspots are rare and unreliable. If you own a smartphone ou tablets unlocked or have a laptop and prefer to always have internet with you, buy or rent a SIM card or mini-modem from companies such as Reliance, Airtel (GSM) and Tata DoCoMo. Prices range from €3 per monthly use of 3G with a network limited to certain cities to €20 for 10GB of traffic on a network with much more national coverage. You may have to hand in copies of your passport and hotel bill to make one of these purchases or service hire possible.