India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (25 page)
Purchasing tickets usually requires some advance planning, and it’s a good idea to make all-important
ticket reservations
(particularly for overnight travel) before you leave for India, especially if you’re coming during peak holiday season. You can make ticket reservations through your hotel or an agent (usually for a relatively small fee), or you can brave the possibility of long lines and silly form-filling at the train station; that said, check out “Booking Your Train Ticket at the Station,” below, to see if the station you’re heading to has a counter set up especially for foreigners. Not only is this an easy way to book your seat, it may be the only way to secure tickets when trains are completely full and agents can do nothing to assist.
Indian Railways Indrail Pass
is a “discount” ticket for unlimited travel over a specific number of days (for example, air-conditioned chair car/first and second class: 7 days $135), but these still require reservations and are only likely to benefit travelers who expect to make two or more long-distance journeys in a short time.
In every chapter we have included telephone numbers for railway stations, but don’t expect too much information from these, if indeed you are even able to get through.
Tip:
To avoid unnecessary stress while traveling by train (particularly on overnight journeys), use a chain and padlock to secure your luggage and fasten it to some part of your berth or cabin. Be sensible, and don’t leave valuables lying around while you sleep.
Booking Your Train Ticket at the Station: The Nitty-Gritty
Even though you will be told that there are no special lines or windows for foreigners who want to book train tickets, we assure you that this is not the case. More important, most trains have a quota of seats specifically for foreigners. This means that even if a train is completely booked up, as a foreigner you may be able to get a seat, unless other foreigners booking through the same service have already filled the seat quota. This is valuable information to keep in mind, because an agent cannot book a seat for you on this quota, nor can this be booked from the regular booking window; you must go personally to a
Foreign Tourist Rail Reservation Counter
(sometimes called Foreign Tourist Bureaus) with your passport, and pay either in foreign currency (cash or credit card) or show a currency encashment certificate or ATM receipt. The ticket costs exactly the same as the regular ticket (except for credit card surcharges). Train stations at the following Indian cities have a Foreign Tourist Rail Reservation Counter: Agra-Cantonment, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Secunderabad, Vadodara, Varanasi, and Vasco-Da-Gama (Goa). There’s also a counter at the Delhi Tourism & Transport Development Corporation office at Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Arrivals lounge. In Mumbai, this office is tucked away next to the Government Tourist Office, on the first floor of the Western Railway Building, opposite Churchgate Station.
Booking Online: Understanding the Indian Railway Website
Using the Indian Railway website can be an exercise in frustration; here are some tips on how to master it with ease. After you log on to
indianrail.gov.in
, click on “Train/Fare Accommodation” on the bottom menu (third choice from the left). Next fill in where you want to depart from (source station name) and your destination, but (and here’s the key), only type the first three letters of the name of the place (mum for Mumbai, ban for Bengaluru—because it’s name only recently changed from Bangaloree—and del for Delhi, and so on). Then fill in the class of service you’re interested in (safest to pick “All”). Enter your date of travel (or a fictitious date) and click “get it.” This will take you to another window where you narrow your choice of source and destination from a pull-down menu (all places beginning with mum and ban and del). For Bengaluru you may get several choices—and this is another tricky part—you have to pick one (usually the first “Bangalore” choice on the list). You will get a list of all the trains, with times, that run between the two cities. Now pick the train you want by clicking on the white circle to the left of the train’s name to highlight it green, then choose your class of service (on the right). At this stage you can change the date if you like, and then get availability or fares. The availability is sometimes not online between 10pm to 6am Indian time, so if you don’t get what you want, try again later. The availability chart basically tells you how many seats are still available in the class of service you’ve chosen.
The Romance of Rail: India’s Special Train Journeys
India’s most famous luxury train,
Palace on Wheels,
currently operates in Rajasthan, and has 14 opulently furnished en-suite saloons, a bar, and two restaurants (888/INDIA-99
[46342-99] in the U.S. and Canada, 011/2332-5939 or 011/2335-3155 in India;
www.palaceonwheels.net
or
www.thepalaceonwheels.com
). Over 7 days, the train travels from Delhi to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambhore), Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Bharatpur, and Agra; and finishes its trip back in Delhi. The “Week in Wonderland” trip costs $5,250 to $7,700 double, including all travel, accommodations, sightseeing, and meals, but not taxes. And, if you like the sound of that, you might want to take a look at the similar service (and routing) offered by the very chic
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels
(
[46342-99] in the U.S. and Canada;
www.royalpalaceonwheels.com
or
www.heritageonwheels.com
; $8,310–$12,670 double for 7 nights). Other luxury trains in India include: Maharasthra’s
Deccan Odyssey
(see chapter 5);
Golden Chariot
(see chapter 9) which makes traveling through Karnataka less tedious;
Fairy Queen,
the oldest operating steam locomotive in the world, dating from 1855, which takes an overnight trip from Delhi to Alwar, Rajasthan (with a visit to the Sariska wildlife sanctuary) and back.
For a truly exclusive train journey board the private
The Viceroy of India
—aka The Darjeeling Mail Tour—which runs just one or two 15-day trips a year from Mumbai to Calcutta via Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi, and Darjeeling, and is priced at $22,790 (Viceroy class) or $34,390 (Maharaja suite) double (
www.gwtravel.co.uk
).
Getting to the hill stations of Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Darjeeling (West Bengal), Matheran (Maharashtra), or Ooty (Tamil Nadu) can be a scenic novelty if you don’t mind spending long hours traveling in the atmospheric
“toy trains”
that chug their ways along narrow-gauge tracks to high altitudes by way of an endless series of hairpin loops—fabulous views are guaranteed. And then, of course, there is the
Konkan Railway,
which runs along the Malabar coast and has truly wonderful scenery almost every click-clack of the way.
By Bus
Unless you are on a serious budget and traveling in India for months, we recommend you avoid all forms of bus travel. Often crammed full of commuters, state-operated buses are driven at bloodcurdling speeds along dangerous and punishing roads. Numerous so-called deluxe or luxury buses, operated by private companies, often ply similarly dangerous routes overnight. You may be tempted to save time and money with this option, but be aware that safety is rarely a priority, and sleeping is almost impossible thanks to generally uncomfortable seating and/or noise. Regular stops at roadside truck stops along the way will have you arriving at your destination bleary-eyed and exhausted, wondering why you’ve opted for a vacation in hell; on one of our most recent trips we were horrified to witness a “luxury” bus windshield shatter midjourney, and the driver simply continued on (through the night) till he reached his destination. On some routes (such as Delhi-Jaipur or Kochi-Bengaluru), the exception is the comfortable “Volvo” bus with good suspension and skilled drivers. Another exception is the Manali-to-Leh route, where the Trans-Himalayan scenery is jaw-droppingly awesome, and an overnight stop in tents is part of the deal . If you do decide to take a bus, a good place to search for deluxe (or “luxury”) private services and book them online is
www.ticketvala.com
.
Note:
Buses in India do not have onboard toilets (thankfully, given the state of so many of these on trains), so stops are usually at grimy roadside
dhabas
(local diners)
or just along the side of the road.
4 Money & Costs
The Value of the Indian Rupee (Rs) vs. Other Popular Currencies
