India
Facts
Capital: New Delhi
Population: 1.09 Billion
Language: Hindi and English; 15 other languages are recognised for official use in regional areas.
Currency: Indian Rupee
2 Wheels to China Ratings
Food & Drink: 5/10
The food we experienced can roughly be divided into three: Northern and Mughlai food, which is akin to the sort of fare found in British curry houses; Southern food, which is blander and more vegetarian; and Goan food which is completely different, and Portuguese-influenced. Most restaurants (or "hotels") are identified on their signage as either Non-Veg, Veg or Pure-Veg (this does not equate to vegan, it just means no meat or eggs.) Most larger places serve two or more types of food, which will often include Chinese. We were expecting the food in India to be one of the highlights of the trip. Some of the northern food was good, and the best food we had was in Goa, but in general it was pretty bad, especially in the south, though very, very cheap.
Tea or coffee is usually made with very sweet condensed milk. Mostly you will get asked if you want milk or not - if you want to add your own then ask for 'seperate milk.'
Alcohol is expensive in India, with the exception of Goa. Kingfisher was the only beer that seemed to be nationwide. Cobra only made an appearance in Mumbai, and King beer was only available in Goa.
Road conditions: 4/10
There were a few decent roads in India, and some of the bad roads had some good stretches. However, there were many roads in a state of repair that defied belief. Some highways had no surface at all.
Traffic: 3/10
There are some quiet roads in India. On our trip the two main stretches were the route through the hills in Maharasthra, and heading north from the tip of India. Traffic is always heavy approaching and going through any town/city of any size. The rest of the time the traffic was constant, but generally not too heavy. The standard of driving in India is very poor, and you need constant vigilance to survive it. Having said that, the main threat is from the larger vehicles, and since they are easily seen, easily heard and you are nippier than them, getting out of the way is not a problem.
We saw countless wreckages on the roads, and aftermaths of many accidents. Nearly all of these involved trucks/lorries or buses. Almost all involved just one vehicle and some other inanimate object - tree, bridge, ditch, ravine etc. That gives a fairly good clue as to why most of the accidents happen - the vehicles are just totally out of control for about 90% of the time.
Kat has devised a Indian Roads Food Chain to help make sense of the traffic, and identify where the main dangers come from:
Buses. They sit very definately at the pinnacle of the food chain, and every driver on the road seems to know it. If a bus is coming, you get out of the way. There is no such thing as a right of way in India, unless you are a bus. They often run you off the road or pull out/stop suddenly in front of you.
Lorries. They seem to contain better drivers than buses, presumably because they have more driving experience and possibly even a licence. On the open road, they can be quite courteous and give you plenty of space, but in heavy traffic they drive just like everyone else - as if their life depends on getting somewhere sooner. They come second in the food chain because they don't reach the same crazy speeds as the buses, being too overloaded to do so.
Cows. You must never hit one, and should probably not show that you think they are stupid creatures that should not be allowed on the roads to cause mayhem. They are given more respect than people on the roads, and are only not top because if they were ever hit by the other two, the cow would come off worse.
Cars. Are quite few and far between, except in the richer areas of each state. They go very fast, and they don't seem to like cyclists.
Motorbikes. (Or rather mopeds/scooters) are absolutely everywhere in large numbers. Many riders are very friendly, sometimes pulling along beside you for a quick chat and often smiling and waving. Perhaps they feel a sense of kinship with other two-wheelers because they were generally well behaved.
You. Your advantage on the road is that you will be noticed by all and sundry. This may not always seem a good thing, but at least if people see you they can try to avoid you. Many vehicles will slow down to get a good look at you, reducing you chances of being hit by them.
Local Cyclists. All of these will be on one-speed Indian bikes, and therefore fairly easy to negotiate around. When they spot you they may start wobbling around uncrontrollably, but as long as you pass with enough space between you it shouldn't be a problem. Many male cyclists didn't seem to like it when we overtook them. They would tend to just stare after Richard (always in front) then when Kat went passed as well it was the last straw - probably some macho thing. They would peddle after us furiously, and get into quite a state. If Kat was bored and it was a bit hilly, this could be quite amusing.
Pedestrians. It is their unpredictability that makes them a threat to you. Since India has no pavements, they walk in the road, and also cross it without the slightest glance.
Dogs. Other than the two times we were chased in India, when a dog spotted us riding towards them they looked terrified and ran off to cower in a corner somewhere.
People: 4/10
We met a good few people in India who were genuinely helpful and kind for kindness' sake. We met a good many more people whose main aim seemed to be to get money out of us in any way they could. There are countless negative stories about these, but suffice to say that we found India to be the least friendly place we visited.
Miscellaneous
Visas: British passport holders need a Visa for India and in most cases it will probably be a 6 month multiple entry tourist one that you apply for. We made the conscious decision to apply for ours from the Indian Consulate in Istanbul as our time in Europe would have eaten into its 6 month validity.
The cost was $50, and had to be paid in dollars. In addition, because we were not residents of Turkey we also needed a letter of recommendation from the British Counsel, this cost us an unforeseen 125 Turkish Lira each (about 40 pounds.) Unlike people applying for their Visas from the Indian Embassy in London, we were not required to provide proof of our outward journey.
Accommodation: The word "Hotel" refers to both a place to stay and a restaurant. When asking for directions, or looking for signs, the key word is 'lodge' or 'lodging', otherwise you might just find yourself being directed to the nearest place to eat.
Hotels in India are not of a very good standard. In most cases to stay somewhere entirely clean, you are looking at a 4 or 5 star international chain hotel. For a middle of the road hotel you are looking at about 3 to 400 rupees for non air con and between 6 and 900 with, depending on where it is located. That will get you a double room with private bathroom, which may or may not have hot water and may or may not be clean. Air-con units are very noisy and their are constant power cuts, so whether it is worth having is debatable. All rooms have a ceiling fan anyway, but air-con rooms do tend to be slightly better, so it is worth having a look at both. We found that Maharasthra and Tamil Nadu hotels were the worst (i.e the most dirty.) Most hotels in the south asked for a deposit on arrival (always more than one night's stay.) Some of the ones in Karnataka and Kerala were very good value and the standards were also better.
Scams: One of the frustrating things about India is that everyone seems to be trying to rip you off, or otherwise get at your cash. Someone that seems friendly at first will start either demanding money, demanding that you buy something or go to their shop. Some people can get quite verbally aggressive. Two of our least favourite ways-to-get-as-much-money-out-of-the-tourist-as-possible were where hotel staff denying there was any change in the till when we paid for a room, only for it to appear if we waited long enough, and shop keepers asking for more money for an item than is printed on the price tag. This often happened with soft drinks where the manufacturer has printed a maximum retail price on the bottle, but the shopkeeper tries to charge you more. When we query this we got answers like 'price changed', or most brilliantly, that it is a 'cooling charge' for the bottle being kept in the fridge! It's not the money that's an issue with these things, but the fact that people will look you in the eye and lie to you, just to get a few more rupees, at the same time implying that you are completely stupid.
Women: May experience unwanted attention while travelling, courtesy of Indian males. It does not matter how conservatively you dress, or if you have a bloke with you. I (Kat) found that it was at its worst on the roads and in the smaller towns where tourists rarely go. The bother manifests itself as pointing then howling, hooting, making suggestive comments, crude gestures etc. All of this is harmless, but it does happen all day every day and can wear you down a bit. The best thing to do is be thick-skinned and just completely ignore it. Reacting in any way, especially angrily, seems to cause great hilarity and encourages other "men" to join in.