Indian holiday - safety & tips etc

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,228
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    We went shopping this morning, I've got lots of nice clothes, both Western and also a shalwar kameez, which is an elegant long dress with leggings and a scarf, whole ensemble was less than a tenner.

    I'm taking back the minging long skirt I got in the UK for a refund, I left all the tags on the clothes I brought over.
    Im glad you a taking back that skirt. There is no reason to dress frumpily on holiday:D

    Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday!
  • jazzyjazzyjazzyjazzy Posts: 4,865
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    Glad you are having a good time - told you you would get cheaper and better there. Must have been a posh place to pay £3.50 for 2 dosas :D - my favourite South Indian food.
    You will love Pondicherry - very different kind of "India" lots of French influence there.
  • russellellyrussellelly Posts: 11,687
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    jazzyjazzy wrote: »
    Glad you are having a good time - told you you would get cheaper and better there. Must have been a posh place to pay £3.50 for 2 dosas :D - my favourite South Indian food.
    You will love Pondicherry - very different kind of "India" lots of French influence there.

    More than Rs. 20 for a dosa counts as daylight robbery :D (so tasty!)
  • ShappyShappy Posts: 14,531
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    The veg food in India is so yummy! It's probably a very easy place to avoid meat if you have to.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14
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    rozafa wrote: »
    Im glad you a taking back that skirt. There is no reason to dress frumpily on holiday:D

    Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday!

    I hope you do as well.. sounds like you are so far! Came to the thread late.. but one little piece of advice:

    Fill up to your baggage allowance with clothes.. wholesalers in the UK are buying at the price you're paying now and then selling them for hundreds of % more to pay for all the rent and business rates etc.. take advantage while you're at the source!

    Also alterations and completely bespoke clothes are great value from little cubby hole makers with just a sewing machine and a helper.. to get a shirt or blouse made up in the UK direct from the tailor is a very expensive niche luxury, but not in India
  • Victoria SpongeVictoria Sponge Posts: 16,645
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    Just a quick note to say thanks to all who gave me advice in this thread.

    I have recently come back from an absolutely fantastic holiday in south India and Goa, and despite some very bad happenings - losing my iphone on day 2, getting stopped and questioned by police when I was on the back of my mate's moped, and MISSING MY FLIGHT HOME cos I didn't know what the date was (yes, really!!) - I had a great time and the two weeks just flew by!

    The highlights were: the food that was out of this world, so fresh and tasty and SO SOOOOOO CHEAP!, the beautiful Buddhist 'Golden Temple' in Coorg (not to be confused with the Golden Temple Sikh temple at Amritsar, but maybe I could go back for a North Indian tour), the night drive to the middle of the backwaters of nowhere on a very rocky road where the streetlights became no more (an hour out of Mysore) on the back of a hot guy's moped, the beaches of Pondicherry and Goa, and an ancient temple in Chennai called Mahaballapuram (sp?) with the most amazing sculptures and stuff.

    I am back home and I miss the place, even with all its craziness and roads that I thought I might die on at any second. Yeah. It was good!
  • theworldisajoketheworldisajoke Posts: 245
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    Hi OP, if you are still around can you answer a question for me please? What malaria tablets were you advised to take?

    I am only asking as I am off to Kolkata soon, I have been every year for the last 10 years, to see my in-laws, and have always used the same tablets. This year Boots refused to sell them to me telling me they were considered in-effective for India and I needed different ones that were not available over the counter, I needed a private prescription.
    Balls to that basically, the area is low risk so I have managed to get the ones I usually do - just wondered what your experience of this was.

    Thanks a lot :):)
  • Victoria SpongeVictoria Sponge Posts: 16,645
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    Hi OP, if you are still around can you answer a question for me please? What malaria tablets were you advised to take?

    I am only asking as I am off to Kolkata soon, I have been every year for the last 10 years, to see my in-laws, and have always used the same tablets. This year Boots refused to sell them to me telling me they were considered in-effective for India and I needed different ones that were not available over the counter, I needed a private prescription.
    Balls to that basically, the area is low risk so I have managed to get the ones I usually do - just wondered what your experience of this was.

    Thanks a lot :):)
    Hi,

    When I went to the nurse two weeks prior to get my jabs (one was a hepatitis and the other I think may have been tetanus...), I asked about malaria tablets and she told me to get them from the chemist as a prescription would be more expensive. Well I went to the chemist and told them I was going to India and they gave me 'Pauldrine' proguanil hydrochloride and chloroquinine phosphate. They cost me £14.99! They need to be taken two weeks prior to the trip, then during, then for two weeks after the trip, and they are two tablets per day plus two tablets per week.

    Enjoy your hols! I am jealous you are going to India, I would love to be back there!
  • Mumof3Mumof3 Posts: 4,529
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    Try to include a train journey. The sight of 6 or 7 yr olds nimbly clambering along the exterior of the speeding train, to sell food to passengers, will never leave your memory.

    Doh. Just seen you're back.
  • Victoria SpongeVictoria Sponge Posts: 16,645
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    Mumof3 wrote: »
    Try to include a train journey. The sight of 6 or 7 yr olds nimbly clambering along the exterior of the speeding train, to sell food to passengers, will never leave your memory.

    Doh. Just seen you're back.
    I used the train...and had a delicious breakfast and lunch served to me by adult staff. No kids hanging off the train, as far as I was aware.
  • theworldisajoketheworldisajoke Posts: 245
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    Hi,

    When I went to the nurse two weeks prior to get my jabs (one was a hepatitis and the other I think may have been tetanus...), I asked about malaria tablets and she told me to get them from the chemist as a prescription would be more expensive. Well I went to the chemist and told them I was going to India and they gave me 'Pauldrine' proguanil hydrochloride and chloroquinine phosphate. They cost me £14.99! They need to be taken two weeks prior to the trip, then during, then for two weeks after the trip, and they are two tablets per day plus two tablets per week.

    Enjoy your hols! I am jealous you are going to India, I would love to be back there!

    Thanks very much, I have bought the same ones, the NHS are pushing the new ones which seem really expensive. I looked online and to start with new packs (I have loads of the old ones left) it would cost £90 per person, and there are 3 of us going - blimey, the visa's were expensive enough.

    Can't wait to go!
  • jazzyjazzyjazzyjazzy Posts: 4,865
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    Thanks very much, I have bought the same ones, the NHS are pushing the new ones which seem really expensive. I looked online and to start with new packs (I have loads of the old ones left) it would cost £90 per person, and there are 3 of us going - blimey, the visa's were expensive enough.

    Can't wait to go!

    That visa price is ridiculous now - I have friends who used to go to Goa for 3 weeks - a family of 5 - but now will not pay that for the visas.
  • Toby LaRhoneToby LaRhone Posts: 12,916
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    Just a quick note to say thanks to all who gave me advice in this thread.

    I have recently come back from an absolutely fantastic holiday in south India and Goa, and despite some very bad happenings - losing my iphone on day 2, getting stopped and questioned by police when I was on the back of my mate's moped, and MISSING MY FLIGHT HOME cos I didn't know what the date was (yes, really!!) - I had a great time and the two weeks just flew by!

    The highlights were: the food that was out of this world, so fresh and tasty and SO SOOOOOO CHEAP!, the beautiful Buddhist 'Golden Temple' in Coorg (not to be confused with the Golden Temple Sikh temple at Amritsar, but maybe I could go back for a North Indian tour), the night drive to the middle of the backwaters of nowhere on a very rocky road where the streetlights became no more (an hour out of Mysore) on the back of a hot guy's moped, the beaches of Pondicherry and Goa, and an ancient temple in Chennai called Mahaballapuram (sp?) with the most amazing sculptures and stuff.

    I am back home and I miss the place, even with all its craziness and roads that I thought I might die on at any second. Yeah. It was good!

    Glad you enjoyed it Victoria :D
  • xp95xp95 Posts: 2,439
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    Just a quick note to say thanks to all who gave me advice in this thread.

    I have recently come back from an absolutely fantastic holiday in south India and Goa, and despite some very bad happenings - losing my iphone on day 2, getting stopped and questioned by police when I was on the back of my mate's moped, and MISSING MY FLIGHT HOME cos I didn't know what the date was (yes, really!!) - I had a great time and the two weeks just flew by!

    The highlights were: the food that was out of this world, so fresh and tasty and SO SOOOOOO CHEAP!, the beautiful Buddhist 'Golden Temple' in Coorg (not to be confused with the Golden Temple Sikh temple at Amritsar, but maybe I could go back for a North Indian tour), the night drive to the middle of the backwaters of nowhere on a very rocky road where the streetlights became no more (an hour out of Mysore) on the back of a hot guy's moped, the beaches of Pondicherry and Goa, and an ancient temple in Chennai called Mahaballapuram (sp?) with the most amazing sculptures and stuff.

    I am back home and I miss the place, even with all its craziness and roads that I thought I might die on at any second. Yeah. It was good!
    So you didn't get Delhi belly then? :)
  • FriendlyGoatFriendlyGoat Posts: 4,814
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    Galaxy266 wrote: »
    I don't know anyone who has visited India and not come back ill. And that's in spite of taking all the recommended precautions.

    Personally, I think I'd go somewhere else.

    Seems like the OP came back unscathed and had a wonderful time. Good job she didn't follow your 'advice', isn't it?
  • Toby LaRhoneToby LaRhone Posts: 12,916
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    Seems like the OP came back unscathed and had a wonderful time. Good job she didn't follow your 'advice', isn't it?

    He's on safari.
    In the safety of his garden.
    :)
  • FriendlyGoatFriendlyGoat Posts: 4,814
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    He's on safari.
    In the safety of his garden.
    :)

    Sounds a bit dangerous!
  • Victoria SpongeVictoria Sponge Posts: 16,645
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    jazzyjazzy wrote: »
    That visa price is ridiculous now - I have friends who used to go to Goa for 3 weeks - a family of 5 - but now will not pay that for the visas.
    I almost didn't get my visa in time (because I almost didn;t apply for it in time) and it cost £93...it was lucky I had spare cash!
    xp95 wrote: »
    So you didn't get Delhi belly then? :)
    I was really really dreading this, but I remained as fit as a fiddle! I broke so many of my own rules too, I must have a cast iron stomach. The one thing I was absolutely scrupulous about was avoiding tap water, even for teeth brushing.
    Seems like the OP came back unscathed and had a wonderful time. Good job she didn't follow your 'advice', isn't it?
    Definitely unscathed. What a great adventure!
  • xp95xp95 Posts: 2,439
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    I almost didn't get my visa in time (because I almost didn;t apply for it in time) and it cost £93...it was lucky I had spare cash!


    I was really really dreading this, but I remained as fit as a fiddle! I broke so many of my own rules too, I must have a cast iron stomach. The one thing I was absolutely scrupulous about was avoiding tap water, even for teeth brushing.


    Definitely unscathed. What a great adventure!
    I generally have an iron cast stomach as well, but I bet that knowing my luck, it would fail me in India! :D
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