India Inventory

To make calculations easier, I have used an exchange rate of roughly 100 rupees to the pound. In reality the exchange rate has been around 92 or 93/£ so add about 7%, (except if marked with an asterix, which is actual price paid from my bank account). All local taxes included. These can seriously bump up the bill, as prices are generally quoted excluding these and can add up to 17% to the final amount, so always best to ask the price with tax. That applies to everything (hotel, food, drinks) but does not apply to black economy merchandise! No idea why anyone would be interested. It just seemed like a good idea. Might be useful to you, Charley?

Old Delhi

Hotel Arina - £24/night* – pretty average, shoddy, faded, grubby, non-edible breakfast, no hot water. Why did I do that?

Food, Karim’s, Old Delhi, Chadni Chowk, right in the middle of the old bazaar area. Average £3-£4 for main course, side dish and sweet lassi. More like a works canteen, with bare plastic tables and chairs. No alcohol (Muslim run and about 200 metres from the main Mosque), fantastic food and the best food I ate in India, apart from Goa.

Hotel Sterling – just terrible, dirty, only hotel I stayed at in India with accompanying roaches. Wore a scarf to cover nose and ears - waking up with a waxy, squashed roach between your head and the pillow is not very fetching. £25/night*. Definitely got ripped on that one!

New Delhi

Beer, Kingfisher Strong Red Top, 650ml bottle (No more than 8% alcohol – they obviously can’t be more precise) £3

Delhi Airport

I fancied a bit of Western luxury for a night before flying to Goa, and it certainly was that, with thick white towels, fantastic shower, loads of soft toilet paper, a pool, restaurant and bar! Luverly! Careful though, one guy wanted to charge me the equivalent of £29 to take me from the airport to the hotel, about 3km away. What? In the end I begrudgingly paid £5 to another driver. Even that was a bit over the top, but I was knackered after the day/overnight train (22 hours) from Varanasi. Hotel £95 after meal, beer and ‘luxury taxes’ of about £15. Beer 330ml bottle £3.

 Rajasthan

Hotels were between £13-£20 including breakfast, a bit on the pricey side for outside of Delhi, but really very nice, particularly Sajjan Haveli in Jaipur, The Royal Hotel, Jaisalmer and Hotel New Park in Pushkar. Could easly have got hotels for £5-10. Beer, when you can get it, around £2.20-£2.50 for Kingfisher Strong Red Top 650ml bottle.

 Approx. 3-4 hour Tiger Safari – Ranthambore - £7.50

Auto-rickshaw, I agreed £9 for all day in Jaipur, but paid £15 in the end, which I thought was well worth it for over 12 hours of sightseeing. In Delhi I paid £20, not worth it. Top tip, insist on no shopping. Otherwise the driver will take you to look at various really boring touristy emporiums where they get commission both for taking you and on anything you may spend!

Agra – Taj Mahal - £7.50

Other main sites around £3-£4, although many smaller sites are £0.10 or free. Foreigners pay considerably more than locals.

Masala Chai – variable – 5p to 60p. Best I had was at the Kuku Café in Jaisalmer, run by two brothers. They claimed it was made on the premises from 70-80 different spices. Well, yeah, Ok, but it was just fantastic, so I’d like to believe them. I drank gallons of the sweet, hot fiery stuff! Brilliant.

Goa

Hotel Hawaii Comforts, Dona Paula, £15.42/night*, including really great breakfast (Poha = sweet rice, lots of finely chopped green chillies, raisins and fried peanuts, luverly). Fantastic hotel, immaculately clean, people very friendly, 1 minute to small beach, very quiet location. I will give this a 10/10 score on Booking.com. Beer standard price everywhere, hotel and local bars £0.70 for Kingfisher Strong red top 500ml can (The hotel staff walk over the road to buy it on demand from the local shop with no mark-up). Dinner of main course, side dish, sweet lassi (chilli squid, mackerel, sardines) £1.60 - £2.

Bus ride to state capital, Panjim, £0.10 each way, complete with free range hens.

Return flight Delhi International to Goa (Dambolin airport) £206*, pre-paid taxi from airport, approx. 25km (pre-paid seems to be a good, cheap option if travelling a bit of a distance. You pay at the taxi office mostly at airports or larger railway stations and then the taxi driver turns up straight away) - £6.90.

What a fantastic, baffling, maddening, hard to cope with, funny, filthy and contradictory country! (Or at least the small bits I’ve seen) :-)