Touring in India during Covid

[Trugman]

HI
Anyone recently been or currently in India? I am seriously considering flying to India and doing a few months. I have been to Nepal but never to India. I saw a very very cheap 3 month return flight to Dehli in December (£314). I might take my bike but possibly I might look for an ok bike out there so any tips on that would be most welcome. I am not a big planner and so might find somewhere to hang out out there to plan route etc..
I am 61 and double vaccinated.... That should be ok no ?
Cheers in advance for any thoughts

[nirakaro]

Not recently, but I've spent a couple of years in India all told, so just offer a couple of thoughts:
There's millions of bikes in India, if you're happy riding a heavy gas-pipe single speed sit-up-and-beg type of machine. Otherwise you may not find much.
Even to a lover of India, Delhi is absolutely horrible. I always found Mumbai a much more likeable starting point.
Have a great ride.

[SimonCelsa]

Pretty obvious really but if you go to India it helps if you like people!

I took a girlfriend there about 30 years ago, it was one of her dream destinations. She lasted 2 weeks before flying back home, leaving me there for the full 6 weeks of her planned itinerary. I quite enjoyed it but she didn't like the crowds, smells, heat, or pretty much anything about the place really.

I haven't heard from her since our parting at Bombay airport, but believe she ended up with a career in sustainable tourism........in India!!

Hope you enjoy it, I spent most of my time with a Royal Enfield bullet around Goa / Marmagao.

[nirakaro]

Also, don't expect India to be like Nepal. It's decades ago, so rose-tinted-specs alert, but I recall Nepal as an oasis of calm after the exhausting in-your-face-ness of northern India. Mumbai and points south are much more relaxing.

[Bmblbzzz]

I lived in India for three years, although it's now ten years since I left. Yes, most bikes there were and probably still are gas-pipe roadsters, old British designs of the 1950s or earlier. But there are many shops selling imported brands, high quality, prices no higher than Europe. All you have to do is find the right shop! If you were flying to Bangalore I'd recommend BOTS but why not contact Audax India Randonneurs, I'm sure they could give you a list of decent bike sources in Delhi?

[wheelyhappy99]

Nepal is still an oasis of calm compared with N India. There are reasonably okay MTBs for hire in the hill resorts, though often very well used. No idea of cost to buy something like that but my contacts say tourists are non existent currently so there may be deals to be done on longer term hire. South India, Kerala, Tamil Nadu are very pleasant in winter, and it's much less frenetic.

[simonhill]

Delhi in December - hmmm?

It can get pretty chilly in Delhi in winter. Maybe warmish during the day, but cools off at night and heating is rare in budget places. Add to this that it is one of the most polluted cities on earth, could well be foggy and the city can go into virtual lockdown with unbreathable smog. Even if you have a good cheap flight, I would avoid.

I've done 4 X 3 month cycle tours, top to bottom and round and round and as said by others, the South is generally much more pleasant in all sorts of ways, particularly for cycle touring.

Pre Covid there were lots of flights to smaller cities with Middle East carriers (Emirates, Qatar, etc) which meant you could fly into somewhere much less frenetic than one of the big 3 cities. Not sure what the current situation is, but I expect they will be up and running soon if not now. Any extra money spent on the flight is well worth it and you would probably save in the long run. It is easy to do an open jaws, ie fly in one and out of another place. Also they have generous baggage allowances (usually 30kgs) and are happy to take boxed bikes. Beware of booking a flight through an agent (harder to get refund or change flight), or anything that is not alterable or refundable.

Re a bike, I would always recommend taking one. Admittedly better quality ones (appear to be) available now, but only in a few big cities and I doubt spares would be widely available. If you don't have anything suitable, I'd probably recommend an old steel frames non sus MTB. Give it a good check over, fit rear rack and mudguards and it will do you. If you haven't spent much, you could always leave it behind when you come home.

Unfortunately I haven't been to India for about 15 years as I too fell out of love with the place, but will try and help with any other questions.

[Psamathe]

.....
Unfortunately I haven't been to India for about 15 years as I too fell out of love with the place.....

Any specific reasons for falling out of love of just you e.g you found other countries are better/better suited/more interesting/etc.

Ian

[Bmblbzzz]

In addition to fitting rack and mudguards, fit a stand. Bike racks as we know them here are virtually unknown. All Indian bikes have a prop stand and it's used.

[simonhill]

.....
Unfortunately I haven't been to India for about 15 years as I too fell out of love with the place.....

Any specific reasons for falling out of love of just you e.g you found other countries are better/better suited/more interesting/etc.

Ian

Hard to sum up in a few words, but I got exasperated with things. When I first went to India (1983), I used to call it a wow country - every time you went round a corner you went wow! For many years I loved it. However as time went on many of the 'funny little things' stated to grate.

Despite sometimes being a very vibrant country with entrepreneurs, hi-tech workers, etc there are many who are absolutely stuck in a mindset. One small example is what I called 'the rag'. Every cafe owner had one. It was used to wipe the tables, the equipment and everything else. It was never washed or rinsed out. The 'user' knew that he had to wipe down and did so after every customer, but there was no thought that the purpose of wiping was to clean something, it was just his job to wipe.There were lots of things like that in India.

I have travelled extensively in Asia and the attitude in India was in complete contrast to the people in the much more vibrant S E Asian developing nations.

Also, getting a visa for India became more difficult and expensive. Many countries were making entry easier, India made it more difficult.

I will go back sometime

[nirakaro]

There were lots of things like that in India.

The one that always tickled me was that the length of the standard Indian straw was less than the depth of the standard Indian pop bottle.

[Psamathe]

.....
Also, getting a visa for India became more difficult and expensive. Many countries were making entry easier, India made it more difficult.
....

That (visa price) made me think twice. I was in Burma (Mandalay), planning to go to Indian Embassy to get a visa but the cost was making me think twice and I was instead heading off elsewhere every day "still deciding" or "maybe tomorrow". Then Covid was starting-up (Feb 2020) so decided not to visit - so never been there.

Ian