Thoughts About Travel In India

Sorry about the delay in posting. We do not always have internet access and often when we do, we do not have time to sit and create a post. I have been writing on the planes but some of it needs editing. For now, here are some thoughts about travel in India:

It is now 12:00 PM on February 28^th. We are on a Spice Jet 737 at 35,000 feet heading for the Holy City of Varanasi. Spice Jet is one of the many new airlines in India. This one is rather similar to Southwest in that it uses only one type of plane to minimize training and maintenance costs, has no first class section, is quite inexpensive, and is ticketless.

Travel in India is at a watershed. The introduction of multiple low-cost competitors to Air India, coupled with the availability of online booking for air and train travel and the presence of very low-cost cellular service are about to transform this country into an easy country to navigate – the operative point being that it is “about to” transform travel… It’s not quite there yet. Right now there are many growing pains: the websites are often not working properly – both for train and air booking, and the airlines do not accept foreign-issued credit cards, making it extremely difficult for us to book flights. I ended up having to use an agent for some tickets and for others Eric graciously let us use his India-issued credit card (let me know if you are booking India travel and I'll pass on the number).

Rail travel is ubiquitous and inexpensive (16,000,000 passengers per DAY!) but there are many delays, its website needs considerable rethinking, and their booking system only works properly about 50% of the time.

Travel by road is a mess. Traffic is awful, conditions are poor, and road rules are either non-existent or largely ignored. Add to all of the above that there is corruption at every turn and you can see that there is room for improvement.

But it is changing incredibly quickly right now. I think in 5 to 7 years traveling here will be considerably easier and more efficient. That is the primary reason that we have cut Jaisalmer out of our itinerary. Air travel through Rajasthan will be ubiquitous soon enough and there will be no reason to endure 15-hour train rides. We’ll come back in 5 years to test that theory on Rajasthan.

I see two primary ways to travel in India while still avoiding the constant touting and tenacious begging: Probably the best way to do it is by knowing people who live here. If you travel with locals you will see a side of India that is wonderful while avoiding the pitfalls that otherwise cannot be completely controlled (true anywhere really but more so here). If that is not a possibility, joining a tour group that has a good reputation and decent itineraries would also work. These companies arrange all travel, take care of pick-ups and drop-offs that avoid the touts, and are ready with contingencies when things (inevitably) do not go as planned. I know National Geographic sponsors travel here but there are probably dozens of decent companies that do so.

The alternative is to be aware that your taxi windows will often be knocked on when you are stopped in traffic, you will be approached and sometimes followed through train stations (not in a menacing way – but it’s annoying), and someone will often be trying to sell you some product or service that you have no interest in. It is very inexpensive to do it this way but it does cost in other ways.

I will be posting about Delhi, Varanasi and Jaipur shortly. We've seen some amazing things. And some other things too. Our flight to Jaipur is boarding.