India Travel Guide
6/23/2008 at 2:30 PM
Tags: Music Travel, Dangerous Travel, India Travel (all tags)
This weekend, The New York Times sent back a report from a visit to Shillong, a city that the paper says is the "hub" of India's rock and roll scene. The Times describes the town as full of Bob Dylan singalongs and guitar circles, but it's not all peace, love and music.
The city is located in the northeastern corner of India, an area that the Shillong Times says is "under Islamist rebel threat." Militants from nearby Bangladesh are a growing presence in the region and they're not rock fans.
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by Hunter Walker
6/17/2008 at 12:45 PM
Tags: India Travel, Beggars, Cafes, Restaurants, Charity (all tags)
The New York Times today reports on an interesting trend in Mumbai where "hunger cafes" take drive-by donations for the starving. These restaurants serve cheap meals to the poor who sit in front and wait for passing motorists to give them the cash they need to eat.
The hunger cafes are clustered together on a street in the city's Muslim Mahim neighborhood. They serve rice and "yellow curried gruel" in both meaty and vegetarian varieties. A meal at one of the cafes costs about 25 cents.
According to the Times, this up close and personal style of charity is a part of Indian culture. The paper reports that "anonymous, checkbook-style charity has yet to catch on" in India. Mumbaikars apparently prefer what the Times describes as good old fashioned "feudal charity: making donations to those below you in your household chain of command."
Related Stories:
· In a Restaurant Row, Drive-Through Charity [NYT]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: NYT]
by Hunter Walker
5/27/2008 at 10:00 AM
Tags: India Travel, Temples, Crime, Shrines, Nudity (all tags)
Employees at a shrine in Thiruvananthapuram, India will no longer be forced to work in their underwear thanks to their local Human Rights Commission. The shrine workers collect donations of cash, precious metals and gems at a temple dedicated to Ayyappa, a local deity. But after a spate of thefts at the shrine five years ago, police officials and temple bigwigs began forcing the shrine staff to wear a uniform that consists of nothing but a cotton wrap around their waists.
Temple workers were also subjected to strip searches before going home each day to ensure that they weren't hiding cash in their underwear. Unsurprisingly, the staff found this treatment incredibly degrading and they complained to the local government.
After hearing the case, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission sided with a union representing the temple employees and ruled that they must be allowed to come to work fully clothed again. Officials at the shrine said they would agree to end strip searches and get rid of the skimpy theft-prevention "uniforms." Temple authorities are now thinking about installing surveillance cameras at the shrine--now that their staff will be wearing pants again.
Related Stories:
· Shrine Workers May Keep Their Underwear on [Reuters]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Reuters]
by Hunter Walker
5/22/2008 at 4:30 PM
Tags: India Travel, Airports, Airport News, BLR (all tags)
After much delay, Bangalore's new international airport is set to open this Saturday. But while air traffic controllers have been busy training, the local government has been strangled by its own red tape, says The New York Times, leaving the city horrendously unprepared to deal with all the new traffic.
The roads and rail links that promised to connect the new hub--which is 21 miles outside of town--have yet to materialize. Even now, crews are scrambling to finish road-widening efforts, the Times reports. Meanwhile air traffic at the old HAL airport in the heart of Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru) has doubled in the past two years. With that airport slated to close and the population booming, India's "Silicon Valley" is looking to be more car-choked than ever.
We took a look at the shuttle schedule on the BLR Web site, which lists nine routes that seem to connect the airport to the city pretty well. Of course the routes won't matter if the roadways are so clogged that nobody wants to ride them. A small local air carrier is looking to capitalize on the situation by running a commuter helicopter service to the airport for $100 per ride. Sounds familiar!
Related Stories:
· Bengaluru International Airport [Official Site]
· An Indian Airport Hurries to Make First Flight [NYT]
· Bangalore Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: photoyogi]
by benh
4/08/2008 at 1:00 PM
Tags: Golf Travel, Golf, New York Times, Travel Media, Kashmir, Dangerous Travel (all tags)
We're willing to look past the fact that you still haven't gotten to the greens in Vietnam. But the, ahem, forefront of the golf scene is no longer Southeast Asia. To truly impress your buddies, book those clubs through to Kashmir.
There are already four courses in the region, and a fifth is set to open this year. Says The New York Times:
The golf-loving chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has spoken of his desire to see the region become an "international golfing hub."
"There is a need to mobilize golfers across the world to come and play the game here," he told reporters recently, in something of an understatement.
It would probably help if the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office didn't warn "against all travel to, or through rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir other than Ladakh." After all, says the Director of Tourism for Kashmir:
People are going to Sri Lanka. People are going to Israel and Lebanon. But why not Kashmir? It's safer here than New York...In 18 years of trouble, we have had only 25 tourist victims.
Only!
Related Stories:
· Kashmir Says Come On In, the Tee Times Are Safe [NYT]
· FCO: India Travel Summary [Official Site]
· Golf Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: prakhar]
by pbb
3/27/2008 at 9:00 AM
Tags: Trains, Train Travel, India Travel, Free WiFi (all tags)
Over at HotelChatter, they're always complaining about the lack of WiFi (especially of the free kind) in hotels around the world. Their problem is they haven't considered traveling across India by luxury train, where free internet access is part of the package. At least, that is, if you ride the Golden Chariot, a luxury tourist train which started running regularly between Bangalore, Mysore and Goa last week.
The Golden Chariot is really full of amenities: there's an on-board gym with exercise bikes, weights and a treadmill. You can even get ayurvedic spa and massage treatments. It's pretty exclusive, with room for just 88 passengers. A standard trip takes a week and costs almost $3,400, which is not in everyone's budget. But there's free WiFi. We love that. We'll even cross Russia again when they get WiFi on the Trans-Siberian.
Related Stories:
· Unique Combo of History and Luxury on Wheels [Economic Times]
· Golden Chariot Train [Official Site]
· Not A Real Trans-Siberian Trip [Jaunted]
by amandak
3/24/2008 at 5:05 PM
Tags: Airports (all tags)
Aaah. It's that new airport smell. Wafting in all the way from India, where Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (a.k.a. Shamshabad Airport) has officially opened for business. Flickr user Jason D Almeida already has some nice-looking snapshots of the shiny goodness posted.
HYD handles both domestic flights, and international flights to and from cities such as New York (Air India), Dubai (Emirates), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), and many more. It beat out a new airport in Bangalore, which was supposed to open in March, but is currently engaged in the typical dance of delays.
Related Stories:
·
New Hyderabad airport opened [The Hindu]
· KLM flight flies across India after pilot is unaware of new airport [Today in the Sky]
· New Hyderabad Int'l Airport Photos [Flickr]
· Rajiv Gandhi International Airport [Official Site]
by djk
3/12/2008 at 12:26 PM
Tags: Mountain Biking, India Travel, Himalayas (all tags)
The tiny Indian state of Sikkim is home to the world's third highest peak, Khanchendzonga, and its craggy landscape ranges in elevation from 920 to 28,000 feet. It's probably one of the most ridiculously difficult places in the world to ride a mountain bike. But, man, the things people will do for money.
The Khanchendzonga Mountain Biking Expedition is a ten-day, 370-mile-long course that winds through all of Sikkim's four territories. The prize money totals $25,000.
The event kicked off on March 3 and drew about 60 competitors. Most were from India, but a handful were from other countries, including one from the United States. The race was organized largely to help boost tourism in the region. (They probably could've started by fixing up their website.)
Related Stories:
· Mountain bike expedition gets underway [Yahoo]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Mountain Biking coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: d ha rm e sh]
by benh
