I did all of the hotel and flight bookings myself. Where I could I booked with the hotel's website u

I've been using this forum for years and have scored invaluable advice london tower thistle hotel for trips over the years, but I'm feeling pretty bad ... despite london tower thistle hotel my good intentions, I have been totally rubbish at doing trip reports ... to the point I haven't actually done one! We go to India in 5 weeks and I'm determined to make it up to you all, and keep a diary while I'm away so I can post a report when I get back. Feel free to hold me to this, and beat me if I don't follow up!
I did all of the hotel and flight london tower thistle hotel bookings london tower thistle hotel myself. Where I could I booked with the hotel's website unless I got a better deal elsewhere. I booked our flights both international and domestic online myself too.
We did a lot of research into using a tour company, and having read many trip reports, particularly Bob and Crosscheck, got lots of quotes. We wanted to use a tour company for transfers and sightseeing between arriving in Delhi to leaving Udaipur. We contacted TGS Jaipur, Castle King, Yatrik, Indian Panorama, Legends Palaces, Louises India and an Australian company london tower thistle hotel called India Unbound.
Indian Panorama and Legends and Palaces said they would not quote as we had already booked all of our hotels. Louise wrote a lovely email saying that as we are experienced travellers we do not need guides, we had already booked our hotels and flights, london tower thistle hotel and knew what we wanted to do, so she felt we did not need her help, but gave us some wonderful tips for things we might like. She also suggested we buy her guidebook - National Geographic Traveller - India (3rd edition). This was impossible to get in Australia but we ordered it from the UK and it's a great guidebook (In addition to my lonely planet and rough guides - yes I could actually open a travel bookshop with my collection!). Yatrik, TGS and Castle King all provided london tower thistle hotel comprehensive quotes and were all pretty helpful. TGS and Castle King were in the same ball park for an Innova SUV for 12 days (approx 800 USD), but Yatrik were $1200, which ruled them out. India Unbound sent me loads of information on specialised activities and included guides almost everywhere (which the others didn't but we didn't mind upon Louise's advice) but they wanted $4000! So it came down to Castle King and TGS, and we've booked with Castle King. They were a little cheaper than TGS but not enough to worry about. TGS required an upfront deposit as we weren't booking hotels, whereas Castle King were happy to pay on arrival. To be honest they were both quick to respond and helpful in providing more information london tower thistle hotel I would have been happy to book with either. Castle King it is. They will collect us from Delhi Airport and we'll have the use of a car and driver 24/7 until we leave Udaipur.
My husband is a Type 1 Diabetic and has Coeliac Disease, so health is a big concern for us. I was very excited at reading about Crosscheck's doctor visit, so went off to the travel clinic last week. I was covered for Hep A, Tetanus, london tower thistle hotel Polio, london tower thistle hotel but my typhoid was due so I had that. I asked about Rifaxamin and was told that prescribing prophylactic antibiotics is common practice in the US (apparently you're a very risk-averse nation), it is not recommended in Australia, and she would not prescribe. Instead london tower thistle hotel she prescribed antibiotics london tower thistle hotel for treatment of travellers diarrhoea london tower thistle hotel and anti-sickness pills. She did recommend a Cholera injection - the risk of cholera is very, very low but apparently it provides protection against e-coli particularly for the first 3-6 months after the vaccine, so I'm going to be risk-averse and take that one. With regards to Malaria, london tower thistle hotel all of the places we are going are considered low-risk and the recommended option is prevention of bites, rather than anti-malarials. This is the advice I've always been given and have enjoyed not taking anti-malarials now for many years. However, Kolkata is apparently a medium risk zoo she recommended Malarone (least side effects) for the period while we're in Kolkata. You only have to take it 1 day before and 2 days after the period you are there. I really didn't want to take any anti-malarials because of the side-effects and the length of time you have to take them but we decided that if we got a bite, we'd spend the rest of the trip wondering if we had malaria so we're going to take her advice on that one. I have also heard really good things about a probiotic here known as Travel Bug. Unlike most probiotics it can be kept out of the fridge for up to a month. You start taking 1 a day the week before you go and for the duration of the trip. I also bought a sterile needle kit for $9 and lots of 30% deet mosquito lotion. I know I probably sound paranoid but with my husbands health it is really important for him to stay as well as possible, or his diabetes will cause all sorts of problems. So I think we've been as risk-averse as we probably can. Just need to work out which breads use wheat-flour so he can avoid them and we'll be sorted! Now we can get on with the fun part!
This has been a hard one for me - where we live is tropical and I live in shorts and vest-tops - so I've had to rethink my wardrobe. I don't actually london tower thistle hotel own any trousers (other than tight jeans) and none of my skirts cover my knees, I have very few t-shirts which cover my shoulders london tower thistle hotel and all of the dresses I would normally take for eating out at night are strappy! I can't buy a whole new wardrobe that I'll never wear again, but I certainly don't want to offend anyone with nakedness! I also haven't quite worked out how warm or cold I'll be. Being originally from the UK where 25-30 degrees is considered summer, but here in Queensland that's more like our winter and I would wear a jacket under 25 degrees! Any hints and tips on this appreciated!
We applied for our Indian Visas last week (yes, they do tell you not to make bookings london tower thistle hotel till you have your visa but we'll just have to cross our fingers). I almost had heart failure when they said they didn't think I could apply as my passport is nearly full and they needed two empty pages together (I still have 3 years before it runs out). I did actually have 2 pages which I showed them and they conceded. We should london tower thistle hotel get them back this week, but when i get back from India I'm going to have to get a new passport (this time I'll order the one with the additional pages)!
So we're almost there. Still need to do some research on places london tower thistle hotel we want to visit on our travels, and I still need to weed some of the forts out of there as there are just too many for my liking. But it's getting very exciting now, and thanks again to all of you who haven't been as lazy as me and posted your trip reports and answered my questions. You're all legends!
You don't mention london tower thistle hotel it specifically, but I assume your travel agent booked your train tickets already? There's no such thing as just turning up and getting a seat in India, especially those routes. I have done a lot of train travel in the world but I must say Indian Train Travel is EPIC.
I too live in a tropical climate and do not own a pair of trousers except the jeans I wear on the plane on my annual trip to the states where my winter clothes live I did the India trip in capri pants and t shirts; once in India I bought several lovely embroidered cotton tunics and wore them pretty much the whole time. It is a very bad idea to dress immodestly in India, it will get you a lot of unwanted attention. Having laundry done anywhere in India is a major treat by the way so don't be afraid london tower thistle hotel to pack light~!
I did not take antimalarials on that trip but did stay covered in 30% DEET. Avoidance of street food altogether kept me from gastrointestinal incidents during 3+ weeks of travel. I also chose to be a vegetarian on that trip, which was no hardship with such a wide range of excellent vegetarian food and that decision possibly eliminated some potential problems. I did not bring enough handwipes with me which was a tactical error and actually had problems locating some. I always think we get sick from our own nasty hands more so than from the food we eat.
There is a heavy use of wheat in breads in India, (naan, chapati, etc) but you can also get everything served with rice. Also curd is on every menu as a side dish. A big believer in the benefits of probiotics, especially when traveling, london tower thistle hotel I ate curd with every meal.
Yes, train tickets being booked by agent, in fact they helped me decide which train was our best option as we'd opted not to do the 6am fast train so we could have an easier start to the day, given our dawn starts the day before and the day after.
With regards to the forts, your comments are noted However, what concerns me more are the forts/temples london tower thistle hotel which require a long journey to or going out of your way to visit then being underwhelmed when there are so many other things london tower thistle hotel we could see or do. For instance, these places have all been recommended to visit and I have a feeling it is too much but which ones not to miss and which to cut? The Red Fort, Sikandra, Agra Fort, Fatehpursikri,, Ranakpur, Bharatpur, Jaipur City Palace, Amer Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Galta Temple, Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada, jodhpur Clock Tower, Mandore, Udaipur City Palace, Saheliyon ki Bari, Eklingji Temple, Nagda, Nagaur Fort ...
I have been debating the street food issue ... Everyone says try it (including london tower thistle hotel Louise's India) but I'm not sure it's worth the risk. My intention is to try and go down the vegetarian route, I know it makes sense but I am probably the worst person in the world to do this as I am a huge meat eater and tend to grudgingly eat vegetables alongside, rather than a whole meal, but I will try!
It would be very easy to avoid all breads and battered items, but it would be a shame to miss out on so many items made from lentil or chickpea flour, so if anyone has any advice on what does and doesn't contain wheat flour that would be great. As far as I know pakora and Bahji are made from gram/chickpea flour and dosa and popadoms london tower thistle hotel from lentil flour. I think naan, chapatti, roti, parratha and puri are all made fro