If you've ever fancied India then check out this amazing trip that sees you visit the Golden Triangle and also the Ganges. This trip is in March at the time of the Holi festival. There is a lot of cheap places to stay in India and you could certainly do this cheaper but I've picked good rated hotels, private bathrooms and train travel is first/second class but this gives you a good price and then you can adjust to cheaper according to budget. Also remember that visa is additional cost.
On 12th March you will leave Birmingham for Delhi with Turkish Airlines. You will arrive in Delhi on 13th March (Holi). You will then spend 2 nights in Delhi at the Check In Room Chuna Mandi. This has great reviews and is centrally located.
On 15th you will check out of your hotel and you have the full day in Delhi. You then leave Delhi later on for the overnight train to Varanasi, home to the Ganges. Arriving into Varanasi on 16th you will spend 2 nights at the Hotel Buddha and then you can do many activities such as taking a cruise on the ganges. On 18th you will leave Varanasi and and take the overnight train to Agra in the early hours of the morning of the 19th. In Agra you will spend 2 nights allowing you to see the Taj at sunset and sunrise.
Your final stop is to take the train again from Agra to Jaipur on 21st March. In Jaipur you will spend 2 nights at the Hotel Pearl which has great reviews and is centrally located.
On 23rd you'll take the train journey back to Delhi.
Breakdown
*Important note about train tickets. I've given here the trains that would be ideal and a good class of ticket. You will need to book these 120 days in advance on irctc.co.in however to do this you need to register on the website and then email a copy of your passport. The maninseat61 website has some useful information. The screen shots are estimated prices but you can replicate these for your stay in March and you will probably find the prices cheaper booking direct with the irctc website rather than ctrip which I've used to give you an idea of prices.
2 flights from Birmingham to Delhi £677.46 book at Travel Trolley
2 nights in Delhi at the Check in Room £56 book at booking.com
2 nights at Varanasi at the Hotel Buddha £67 book at booking.com
2 nights at the Hotel Taj in Agra £71.80 book at Expedia
2 nights in Jaipur at the Hotel Pearl £32 book at booking.com
1 night in Delhi (same hotel as above) £28 book at booking.com
Trains:
Delhi to Varanasi 5442/£62.92
Varanasi to Agra 2826/£32.62
Agra to Jaipur 1462/£16.90
Jaipur to Delhi 1625/£18.79
Total £1063.49/£531.74pp
*****Can comments be kept relevant to the deal please *****
Top comments
leewills8 to tempt
24 Sep 1620#6
"them to come over here" what's your name, Alf Garnett!
MrWanger to tempt
24 Sep 1617#8
Bell end.
rachelandgromit to samran123
24 Sep 1615#13
I could say that about some of the cities in the North West of England!
Don't pack those skirts. The official advice from India's tourism minister is not to wear skirts and offend their 'cultural' sensibilities. It's perfectly okay for them to come over here and wear their sarees, burqas and what not, but not the other way round!
"them to come over here" what's your name, Alf Garnett!
MrWanger to tempt
24 Sep 1617#8
Bell end.
adi0604 to tempt
24 Sep 1614#10
Stupid
mel1408 to tempt
24 Sep 161#17
Hear hear, my sentiments exactly...live and let live NOT.
esskay92 to tempt
24 Sep 163#28
Your point would be valid if the UK government banned "sarees, burqas and what not" but (as it stands) they have not - hence people here can wear whatever they want. That's what laws are for.
magrawal to tempt
24 Sep 16#30
you are very confused, did you ever work with confuse.com
royals to tempt
24 Sep 16#32
wow and they call uk people racist, wow, hypocrites
Bluemani8 to tempt
24 Sep 16#41
makes sense! good place for men to visit however, women have to be very careful because of the high rate of sexual and domestic crimes against females! I won't take that kind of serious risk just to get a cheap holiday!
Shayno to tempt
24 Sep 16#43
lol agreed! At last someone on here actually can see the real world!
Not very safe for woman to go in general overall really, unless your an old fart or a Jeremy Kyle case.
Would like to go India on my own and not on a certain package like this, as something is bound to go wrong and then that will balls everything else up.
Hot for effort though.
Mentos to tempt
24 Sep 167#44
Because the acceptability of ones clothing in a society is generally based on the rules of modesty that have evolved in that society. As such acceptability is almost always defined by a minimum level of coverage rather then the type of coverage.
The items of clothing you've mentioned meet our minimum acceptable levels of coverage. Indians on the other hand are not accustomed to women showing their legs in public, therefore skirts "may" draw some attention. Trousers on the other hand are unlikely too, yet as an item of clothing they are equally as alien as Sari's are too us.
Too illustrate the point about minimum coverage, we may accept Sari's but wouldn't be so accommodating of a bare chested Masai woman. Or worse still an African tribal man with his dong out :/
These things are always evolving of course and don't always make logical sense. For example in parts of India a woman bearing her midriff has been common for centuries. Conversely it wasn't so long ago that it was considered immodest in this country.
The Burqa is an interesting exception to the rule. While it meets our rules of modesty and adheres to the minimum coverage rules, in most non muslim societies covering ones face is synonymous with deceit. We're brought up to fear people who hide their identity. As such in my experience/opinion there is a level of intolerance to the Burqa. People are of course free to wear it, just as people are free to wear a skirt in India. But it will draw a level of negative attention just as a skirt will in India.
Above and beyond all this I also like to believe we are an enlightened, liberal and tolerant society. We may not be perfect, but in many of these areas we are much further along the "right path" ("right" IMO). Levels of misogyny and attitudes towards women (outside of ones family/acquaintances) are unfortunately several decades behind us in some parts of the world.
Hence I find the fact you consider the perceived disparity in acceptance/tolerance as a point of unfairness. Is it not in fact a positive endorsement of our society and country. It's akin to my child complaining she has a nicer house/toys/family after visiting her friends house. I would tell her thats something to be thankful and positive about. Rather then suggesting we should bring in some **** toys and behave badly when her friend visits.
NB: In the interests of full disclosure, I used we as I was born and raised here. However, my parents were not so you may consider me "them".
Spizzenergi
24 Sep 162#5
Have some HEAT OP, Lots of work has gone in to this and something I want to do with just me & the Mrs. Thanks
simont_space
24 Sep 161#7
'Them' as in Indians. Why the offence, and not very subtle accusation of racism.
Notice you didn't address the point he was making which is certainly much worse.
leewills8
24 Sep 168#9
I fully understand his comments but the 1960s racial prejudice is not needed.
adi0604
24 Sep 162#11
Well done OP for your efforts alone.,
Can confidently say one of the most friendly and helpful people you will ever come across in India. Absolutely safe for females as well.
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Opening post
On 12th March you will leave Birmingham for Delhi with Turkish Airlines. You will arrive in Delhi on 13th March (Holi). You will then spend 2 nights in Delhi at the Check In Room Chuna Mandi. This has great reviews and is centrally located.
On 15th you will check out of your hotel and you have the full day in Delhi. You then leave Delhi later on for the overnight train to Varanasi, home to the Ganges. Arriving into Varanasi on 16th you will spend 2 nights at the Hotel Buddha and then you can do many activities such as taking a cruise on the ganges. On 18th you will leave Varanasi and and take the overnight train to Agra in the early hours of the morning of the 19th. In Agra you will spend 2 nights allowing you to see the Taj at sunset and sunrise.
Your final stop is to take the train again from Agra to Jaipur on 21st March. In Jaipur you will spend 2 nights at the Hotel Pearl which has great reviews and is centrally located.
On 23rd you'll take the train journey back to Delhi.
Breakdown
*Important note about train tickets. I've given here the trains that would be ideal and a good class of ticket. You will need to book these 120 days in advance on irctc.co.in however to do this you need to register on the website and then email a copy of your passport. The maninseat61 website has some useful information. The screen shots are estimated prices but you can replicate these for your stay in March and you will probably find the prices cheaper booking direct with the irctc website rather than ctrip which I've used to give you an idea of prices.
2 flights from Birmingham to Delhi £677.46 book at Travel Trolley
2 nights in Delhi at the Check in Room £56 book at booking.com
2 nights at Varanasi at the Hotel Buddha £67 book at booking.com
2 nights at the Hotel Taj in Agra £71.80 book at Expedia
2 nights in Jaipur at the Hotel Pearl £32 book at booking.com
1 night in Delhi (same hotel as above) £28 book at booking.com
Trains:
Delhi to Varanasi 5442/£62.92
Varanasi to Agra 2826/£32.62
Agra to Jaipur 1462/£16.90
Jaipur to Delhi 1625/£18.79
Total £1063.49/£531.74pp
*****Can comments be kept relevant to the deal please *****
Top comments
All comments (66)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/29/india-female-tourists-skirts-safety-advice
Not very safe for woman to go in general overall really, unless your an old fart or a Jeremy Kyle case.
Would like to go India on my own and not on a certain package like this, as something is bound to go wrong and then that will balls everything else up.
Hot for effort though.
The items of clothing you've mentioned meet our minimum acceptable levels of coverage. Indians on the other hand are not accustomed to women showing their legs in public, therefore skirts "may" draw some attention. Trousers on the other hand are unlikely too, yet as an item of clothing they are equally as alien as Sari's are too us.
Too illustrate the point about minimum coverage, we may accept Sari's but wouldn't be so accommodating of a bare chested Masai woman. Or worse still an African tribal man with his dong out :/
These things are always evolving of course and don't always make logical sense. For example in parts of India a woman bearing her midriff has been common for centuries. Conversely it wasn't so long ago that it was considered immodest in this country.
The Burqa is an interesting exception to the rule. While it meets our rules of modesty and adheres to the minimum coverage rules, in most non muslim societies covering ones face is synonymous with deceit. We're brought up to fear people who hide their identity. As such in my experience/opinion there is a level of intolerance to the Burqa. People are of course free to wear it, just as people are free to wear a skirt in India. But it will draw a level of negative attention just as a skirt will in India.
Above and beyond all this I also like to believe we are an enlightened, liberal and tolerant society. We may not be perfect, but in many of these areas we are much further along the "right path" ("right" IMO). Levels of misogyny and attitudes towards women (outside of ones family/acquaintances) are unfortunately several decades behind us in some parts of the world.
Hence I find the fact you consider the perceived disparity in acceptance/tolerance as a point of unfairness. Is it not in fact a positive endorsement of our society and country. It's akin to my child complaining she has a nicer house/toys/family after visiting her friends house. I would tell her thats something to be thankful and positive about. Rather then suggesting we should bring in some **** toys and behave badly when her friend visits.
NB: In the interests of full disclosure, I used we as I was born and raised here. However, my parents were not so you may consider me "them".
Notice you didn't address the point he was making which is certainly much worse.
Can confidently say one of the most friendly and helpful people you will ever come across in India. Absolutely safe for females as well.