India Travel Essential

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I am pretty sure that most of you would list water, hat, sun cream and sun glasses as travel essentials in India, but I argue that the most important item is something less obvious. It is ear plugs!!

We left our Hotel Godwin in Delhi last Friday morning at 11 o’clock. Our first stop was Mehrauli (see Eight cities of Delhi) where we stopped for 1.5 hours. After the visit we returned to the old Delhi-Agra road (see Road from Delhi to Agra), which I now highly regret. The reason why we didn’t take the new road was that I wanted to show Mathura to my parents but unfortunately by the time we reached this famous Hindu site (Krishna’s birthplace) it was so dark and late that we observed the complex only from outside. So, total waste of time!DelhiThe journey was worse than I remembered (I took this same road in 2008). It was noisy, hot and dusty. By the time we reached our hotel in Agra (just before 9 o’oclock in the evening!!) I was ready to go and buy an hearing aid. My ears were blocked and now, after three days, I still don’t hear well.

This journey put me in a very bad mood and it worsened when we realized that our hotel (Amar Yatri Niwas), booked by a travel & car agency, was appalling. To make things worse, we had the most disappointing dinner ever, which to me is the worst! Had I had a decent meal, I would have been just fine, but no, we were eating a lamb curry that contained liver and who knows what else… What a pity!  camel in RajasthanThis said, yesterday we drove from Agra to the Ranthambore National Park and even if it was close to 40C, it was better in some aspects. Roads in Rajasthan (the state where we are now) are generally good, so we were a bit more relaxed. There were some overloaded trucks and occasionally we saw camels crossing the road. All this was much better than motorcycles, tuk tuks, private cars, tourist vans, trucks, buses, etc. all combined!

PS Do not think that ear plugs are only for road trips. In most cases, unless you are paying more money and staying at resorts, usually located a bit outside city centers, your hotel will be noisy too. I have slept every single night with ear plugs…

 

 

 

 

27 thoughts on “India Travel Essential”

  1. ShethP

    The road from Delhi to Agra is truly a pain although, it’s all part of the journey! 😛 Hope your days in Rajasthan are much better…

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    1. Miia Post author

      I agree to do it once in a lifetime but twice Is already far too much 😉
      Ps when did You take It? How long did It take….?

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      1. ShethP

        Agreed. I took it roughly 2 years ago. We didn’t make frequent stops as we only had one day to go to Agra and get back to Delhi. I think it took about five hours. The traffic was really bad.

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      3. ShethP

        It may have taken longer because all I remember is that the traffic was killing me. 😛 We only visited the Taj Mahal in Agra since we were short on time. In Delhi, we visited the Akshardham. Have you been there?

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      4. Miia Post author

        Where else did you go in India?
        I hope I will never have to take that road again. My ears still aren’t back to normal…

        ps Yes visited the A. temple. Impressive, but my favorites places in Delhi are the ruins of different cities (Mehrauli etc.)

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      5. ShethP

        I have been to Kerela, West Bengal (Calcutta, Darjeeling), Gangtok, Mumbai, Rajasthan (Udaipur), and Gujarat. There’s so much more to see and I have just visited a mere fraction of it. 🙂 Is this your second visit to India?

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      6. Miia Post author

        I have not heard about Gangtok, where is It?
        For me, the 1st time: Delhi, Agra, fatehpur sikri, rajasthan and Bombay.
        2nd time: Bombay, karnataka, goa, Kerala and a little bit of tamil nadu, Bombay.
        3rd time: Bombay, tamil nadu, andra pradesh, maharashtra, Bombay.
        and now the 4th time!

        One month each time

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      8. Miia Post author

        Did you see my previous post https://pearlspotting.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/india-top-10-places-to-visit/ ?

        There are so many places, and many are very, very different so it makes comparing hard. Maybe it is more specific moments and experiences in certain places that the place itself? I don’t know!!

        Maybe Udaipur if you have to pick one place… But maybe I choose Udaipur because right now I am in Varanasi and it is a bit crazy and tiring here? Maybe next week when I am in Kerala I will respond Varanasi 😉

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      10. Miia Post author

        By any chance did you go to Calcutta? I am going there for one night this week. Do you have a hotel recommendation?

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      13. Miia Post author

        Did you have a nice hotel in Agra? I think most of the hotels are too expensive (bad quality) and food really not that great…

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      15. Miia Post author

        I was not sure if I understood correctly –wow, You were very brave (and exhausted upon return in Delhi I guess!!)

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      2. Miia Post author

        Yes… And It Is not only the noise from the street but also from AC and ventilators that are often old and make awful sound..

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