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So I went on Orbitz and found a round-trip ticket from Duluth, MN to Mumbai, India for $1,050! I am so excited! I might just go to India this year. I figure $500 - $700 in living expenses, ground transportation, etc. over about three weeks.
Any ideas? I'm thinking of spending a couple days in Mumbai decompressing from my flight, than going to Pune, up to a hill station for several days, and than taking a train to wherever, maybe even the East Coast of India. Any ideas? I especially would like suggestions for museums, beaches, and theme parks.
If you are going to Bombay you should definitely check out Manori and Madh Island! It is part of Bombay but actually just outside of the city and I heard it is beautiful and a nice break from the craziness of Mumbai. How long will you be in India for? There's Nicobar Islands... Kerala Houseboats.. jungles in Kerala, agra for the taj mahal. You aren't very specific on your trip or where you will be so its hard to give you too much information. I'll be there in November.
$500-$700 would be living really, really lean for three weeks. That's what $25-$35 per day? Sure it can be done if you're staying hostels and eating local food, plenty of people on the vagabonding circuit do fine with budgets lower than that. However for a short time frame to see all you want to see I really think you're going to need to budget more for expenses.
Good luck, have fun!
Oh yea, if you're going East to Agra I'd recommend throwing Pushkar and Jaipur into your itinerary.
In addition to what slackjaw said, 500-700 will leave you broke way sooner than you expected. It is definitely not enough. If you are going to go on vacation why not go with enough money to where you have enough to be comfortable. You are going to want to buy things, travel, try now places.. it all adds up and it adds up a lot faster than you think! I say if you will spend 3 weeks there give yourself 1500 for everything minimum.
Hm, the posters in this thread seem to have never been to India. A local hotel there can be had for under $10 a night, and even with A/C it doesn't come to much more than $20. Local food is certainly what I want! Local dishes cost under $1-$2 a plate. These prices don't reflect the expense of Mumbai (which is greater), nor does my budget include an Indrail pass, but you certainly can live on $25 - $35 / day in India.
Hm, the posters in this thread seem to have never been to India.
Heh I've been to India, the last time I was backpacking thru India was in the spring of 2006. When is the last time you were there?
We did stay in one place that was $9 (without AC) but that was the exception, most will be higher especially if you want to be in an area that is convenient for getting around to see stuff. You'll have local transportation (not much but adds up quick) and many things that you'll want to see have entrance fees, for example Taj was about $16 that's half of one of your day's budget.
Either way, you asked for advice, when it wasn't what you wanted to hear you dismissed as never been. We traveled light even only took the train once usually relied on long-distance buses to save money, we ate mostly at food stalls, we stayed in maybe one mid-grade hotel (in Delhi) and we negotiated everything down to the last rickshaw ride. I tell you now, you are going to regret it if you try this trip on your budget. Heaven forbid you want a few beers every once in a while that will kill your budget in no time.
Long term vagabonding types can do your budget because they have time, they are spending months being white-Euro-with-dreadlocks in Asia. With only a few weeks you have to keep moving to make it worth your while. The days they spend actually doing something touristy are more spread out, interspersed with hanging out at the hostel watching TV or reading from the book exchange etc. so be wary of vagabonding budgets you see on sites like bootsnall for India.
Hm, the posters in this thread seem to have never been to India. A local hotel there can be had for under $10 a night, and even with A/C it doesn't come to much more than $20. Local food is certainly what I want! Local dishes cost under $1-$2 a plate. These prices don't reflect the expense of Mumbai (which is greater), nor does my budget include an Indrail pass, but you certainly can live on $25 - $35 / day in India.
I will be going, but I don't know how you travel or anything about you.. but from my travel experiences things can get more expensive on vacation whether or not the cost of living is cheaper. It is just a word of experience, and if you are asking questions like this I don't think you have been to India either. If you are looking to go all over India it isn't so hard to assume you will be spending more than an average person.
I have been to India several times, I can attest that you can certainly have a good vegetarian meal for $1-$2. I frequently used to eat delicious vadaa sambar or masala dosa for $2 Non-Veg is a bit more expensive but still damn cheap...just last year I had a great meal with couple non-veg entrees and drinks (beer) with a guest at a very good Indo-chinese restaurant in downtown Bangalore for Rupees 600 ($13)!!! The food was absolutely amazing...if you go to India try the Indo-chinese fusion cuisine, it is awesome!
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Non-Veg is a bit more expensive but still damn cheap...just last year I had a great meal with couple non-veg entrees and drinks (beer) with a guest at a very good Indo-chinese restaurant in downtown Bangalore for Rupees 600 ($13)!!! The food was absolutely amazing...if you go to India try the Indo-chinese fusion cuisine, it is awesome!
