| DOCUMENTS
ü You can get the visa at the borders or at the airports. Anyway I was already
holding mine got at the Italian embassy (50 euro for a 90 days visa)
ü To enter Kashmir you do not need any special permission besides your Indian visa
ü To visit some areas of Ladakh, like the ones near the Tibetan border you need
some permission you can get when you organise the trip in Leh
HEALTH
No compulsory vaccination for italian citizens, anyway what
I reccomend is:
ü meningitis
ü hepatitis
A/B
ü typhus
ü tetanus
Since I had not planned to go to Kolkata, but only in the mountains, I
didn’t take any anti-malaria pill and I didn’t have any mosquito net, and I
don’t think they are really necessary. Don’t forget a good mosquito repellent
ALTITUDE EFFECTS
The altitude can be a problem and for us it has been a huge one.
The sensitivity is very personal and unfortunately
there’re no medicine to prevent it beside a good training. We acclimatised for 4 days
in Leh, but I was far from being in my best shape, and then the journey by bus to Manali
has been a tragedy. I would not do it again, although the amazing landscape we passed
through.
MONEY
I changed Euros and Dollars, both of them are easily changeable.
TIPS/ SAFETY INDIA
ü Pay attention to your belongings during the night on the train. We paid the
carelessness having our small bagbacks stolen from Kolkata to Varanasi, losing pics and
camera (this was a great pity). Don’t get paranoid, it’s enough you use the
small backbag as pillow, and keep ALWAYS your passport and money in the money belt! Hardly
you will get robbed violently, but you’ll pay any carelessness
ü Watch out the blackouts especially in Varanasi and Agra. If you take a A/C rooms,
it could be useless most of the time
ü Watch out the riscio’ drivers, they are the biggest cheater we found in
India. Especially in Varanasi and Agra they take you where they want despite what you
asked for. In Varanasi they will take you to hotel with a name similar to the one
you have asked for; give them the address and not the name of the accommodation.
Never accept to visit a shop proposed by a riscio' driver, even "just to look".
It'll be only a hassle.
SAFETY IN KASHMIR
ü Kashmir is safe despite it’s plenty of militaries and check points every few
hundreds metres, here be ready to show your passport and be registered on some crappy
piece of paper. Keep away from any military celebration and base.
ü When I landed in Srinagar they asked me to give an address of a booked
accommodation to be registered in the country, otherwise I had to book one from the
reservation office of the airport. It’s enough you just have a name of a houseboat.
ü Obviously keep away from the line of control between Pakistan and India
ü Due to the past and present tensions, avoid even naming in public the word
Pakistan
ü In summer book the bus from Srinagar to Leh (2 day sleeping in Kargil) at least 2
days in advance
EQUIPMENT IN GENERAL
I'll list just the main stuffs:
ü There
are a lot of places where you can burn your CD so you don’t need to have tons of
memory sticks for your camera (2$ per CD, CD included)
ü Mosquito
repellent burning stuff
ü Mosquito
repellent spray
ü A flash lamp
with batteries change
ü A good knife
EQUIPMENT IN LADAKH &
KASHMIR
In Kashmir and Ladakh while I was there (15- 30 August) the
daily temperature: 15-30 C (in Leh the sun burns a lot), while the minimum night
temperature: 10 C
ü A cap and sun
cream will turn out useful
ü Unless you are
not going to trek you don’t need a thick sleeping bag, since the guesthouses have the
blankets.
ü I do not
recommend trekking shoes; I had sport shoes
ü Long pants are important
but short ones useful during the day. In kashmir for females in it’s convenient to
covers legs and shoulders, and the same in Ladakh to enter the Gompa (monasteries).
TRAINS
ü Train is always more comfortable than bus.
ü For
long distance trains (New Delhi- Varanasi), book at least 2 days in advance
ü Safety
in train (read above)
ü There
are efficient reservation offices for foreigners at the station
Table price
One way and change 1 euro= 51 Rs (08/2005)
| Varanasi- New Delhi |
3A |
825 Rs |
16 euro |
| Varanasi- Tundla (Agra) |
3A |
680 Rs |
13 euro |
| New Delhi-Kolkata |
2A |
2335 Rs |
46 euro |
| Kolkata- Varanasi |
2A |
1240 Rs |
24 euro |
| Agra- New Delhi |
CC |
280 Rs |
5.5 euro |
Classes:
1A tier: couchette at one level (2 beds) with A/C
2A tier: couchette at two levels (4 beds) with A/C
3A tier: couchette at 3 levels (6 beds) with A/C
1A: beds without A/C
2A: beds (benches) without A/C
CC with A/C: seats
CC without A/C: seats
Seat without reservation (more or less like cages at the zoo)
2A is a very good standard and in some trains the meals are included in
the price
Generaly speaking even long journeys by train in India are a pleasure
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