Archive for Road Travel

Bombay London New York – Crazy Cabs!

January 28, 2011 / admin / No comments

My recent trip to London helped me complete the full circle in terms of cabs. If you manage to take the cab in the three most craziest cities of the world – Mumbai, New York and London, you have as good as seen the eigth wonder of the world.

Whether it is the yellow cabs of New York or the black cabs of London or the black & yellow taxis of Mumbai, they all have one thing in common. Have you heard of the third cousin in the family who always demands meals at expensive restaurants and never knows where those restaurants are how to get there. Well, these cabs are somewhat close to them. If the last person you want to meet is that particular third cousin, the last thing you want to take is the taxi. Why? I have a different reason for each city and here they are.

Whizzing yellow cabs of New York and 2 top reasons why I don’t like taking them -

1. New York’s Yellow Cabs are yellow because John Hertz, the company’s founder, learned from a study that yellow was the easiest color for the eye to spot. He was right. Of course, they are easy to spot. But, try spotting a yellow taxi that is empty. That is the key. The taxi has to be empty.

2. New York city subway is a little more 100 years old and I love all things ancient and efficient.

Kaali – Peeli of Mumbai & Top 2 reasons why I don’t like taking them –

1. Bustling morning and you will find an entire queue of taxis on your street corner. Guess what, there won’t be a single guy in the taxi though. All of them would be standing next to the nearest panwallah or sitting around playing cards. Without the slightest hesitation, they would ask you where you want to go. However, if you give them any destination short of 1.5 hours, they would turn a blind eye to you and continue indulging in their lazy lifestyles. I wonder how they even make money to sponsor all the Gutka.

2. If the guy finally decides to move his butt and drive you anywhere, he will honk and honk and honk and give you a migraine early in the morning.

Finally, the deadly Black cabs of London and why I don’t like taking them –

1. Have you heard of ‘The Knowledge’. It is the in-depth study of a number of pre-set London street routes and places of interest that cab drivers in that city must complete to obtain a license to operate a black cab. It is the world’s most demanding training course for taxicab-drivers, and applicants will usually need at least twelve ‘appearances’ (attempts at the final test), after preparation averaging 34 months, to pass the examination. Jesus – It is more difficult that taking the IIT and IIM examination back to back. So, coming to the reason why I don’t want to take a London cab, it is primarily because I know that the guy driving me around probably has an IQ of a genius. The sooner he goes out of business, the sooner he would find his calling.

2. Prince Philip (husband of Queen Elizabeth II) drives a London cab, when he can afford just about any other car in the world. Other celebrities are known to use London cabs too for their anonymity and their ruggedness/manoeuvrability in London traffic.  That worries me. There would be one more cab in London that would be occupied and not ready to ply passengers. And just in case he does decide to pick up passengers, I worry about being driven around by a 90 year old man.

If all the reasons above have taught you social lessons about not honking, not chewing gutka, not adding to the traffic volume of the city and more than anything, not taking a freaking cab when there are cheaper and quicker options like the trains, subways, tubes, metros or whatever you want to call, I have succeeded in my mission.

For the best public transport, look up the following sites -

1. Transport for London

2. Metropolitan Transport Authority – New York

3. Mumbai – Contact the Ninja!

Category: Asia, England, Europe, India, London, Mumbai, New York, North America, Road Travel, Travel Tips, USA / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Brothers in Arms or should I say Bikes?

January 25, 2011 / admin / One comment

Right from my college days, the one thing that never failed to charm me was the sight of bikers, their gear and the sheer look of adventure that came with it. Watching movies like Easy Rider, I was quite the dreamer when it came to boys and bikes.

However, back in those days, I remember being stuck with friends who rode only Kinetic Honda’s or pushing my luck, one of those simple bikes. I didn’t even bother asking for a lift to college, let alone suggest a long road trip.

Times have changed. These days, college kids have sexy bikes and google maps. They don’t just explore their city. They explore their state and the neighbouring one and the neighbouring one and so on.

Meet Prateek and Sarthak Darolia, 22 and 19 respectively, students of B. Tech. Automobile Engineering and BBA. That was the boring part of the resume. The interesting part follows. They are brothers, bikers, backpackers and bloggers all rolled into one. I don’t exactly remember how we met, whether it was online, or in person, through work, or through mutual interest in travel, it just doesn’t matter. I’m glad I did.

Reading about their recent ‘Rajasthan Odyssey’ in their blog ‘The Journey to Infinity‘, I decided to interview the two of them. After all, when I am not traveling actually, I vicariously travel through others. Read on…

Why do you travel?

Many reasons. Firstly, for the love of it. And added reasons like taking a break or for our regular dose of adventure. Meeting new people. Seeing new cultures. Trying new food.

Is there any reason you prefer road trips to other modes of travel?

When it comes to priorities, we prefer bikes as both of us share the common obsession with bikes. As bikers, we start to communicate with the road and the winds. We are not bound my road signs and tarmac. We just head to wherever we think our destination might be. Be it a national highway or the bed of a river. Our love for biking brings us closer to each other every time we do a trip.

When did you guys start riding?

I bought my first bike when I was in class 10 and Sarthak was in class 7. We both started riding at the same time. Its been a while and we’ve owned various bikes but there is one bike that we want to own for the rest of our life – The Royal Enfield Bullet. As a fun fact, the total money we’ve spent on renting this specific bike till date exceeds the cost of the bike !! Never had enough cash in lump sum to buy one. But one day for sure.


What is it that you can do on a bike that you can’t do if you don’t have a bike?

When not traveling on a bike, we are bound by the decisions of the guide or the bus driver or whatsoever. But if you are riding solo, there is no one who has the say in your decisions. If you want to sit in the middle of the desert to admire the sunset, you can. If you want to take the road less traveled, you can. If you want to feel the breeze on your face, you can. Otherwise, taking spontaneous decisions becomes difficult. FREEDOM is the word. Freedom of the mind, freedom of decisions, freedom of time, freedom of space and freedom of self.

Would you rather travel as 2 brothers or would you rather travel with friends?

I have always been getting requests from people who want to join with us but time and again, I avoid. There is a reason behind this. When the trip is a weekend trip or for a few days, I don’t mind ( in fact I enjoy) company. But when on a month long road trip, it is only my brother or some very close friends with whom I’d ride. Reason being that, on such long road trips, you need to know the person in front of you inside out. Both of them should have the highest level of compatibility and the biggest of all PATIENCE. Because there WILL be situations where for some reason or the other, there will be a conflict of interest. An impatient rider would ruin the entire trip. A patient one would bear with it and make sure the ride goes on.

Most memorable time as brothers? Biggest fight you guys had on your trip?

The most memorable time was when we were riding to Khardung La and my brother was following me behind. I reached the top and Sarthak hadn’t reached for about half an hour. I was worried as I knew that the terrain was dangerous and very risky. I went back down in search of him and found him stranded because of a faulty spark plug. That very same day, while returning, I fell prey to HAS (High Altitude Sickness) and he was the one who rode me to the Army hospital where I regained consciousness. That incident bought us very close to each other.

As far as I can remember, the biggest fight we ever had was over who gets to get clicked! Both of us like being in pictures so we have to keep clicking each other. Sometimes I was not satisfied with the photos, so we’d do it all over again. Same was the case with him. That’s it. We never fought over anything else.

What has been the craziest thing you have done on any of your road trips?

Sarthak’s bike had broken down in the middle of the desert. The nearest place of help was 22kms away. I thought of towing him but didn’t have a tow chain. I managed to get some storage sacks and a scissor from a villager. Cutting them in strips and tying them together with knots, I managed to make a make shift tow chain strong enough that easily towed Sarthak and his bike for the next 22 kms! You should have seen the expression on the people’s faces after seeing us in that condition.

When you travel, what are the three things you have to do?

We make sure we –

1.    Try the local food.
2.    Meet and stay with a local.
3.    Purchase a souvenir.



What was your recent journey to Rajasthan like?

Rajasthan was adventurous, colorful, rich in history and culture and not to mention, freezing cold !! Lot of memories and experiences to cherish. More on this, read here.

Does your bike have a name?

For every trip, we hire bikes. So we name them. This time my bike was called ‘Sparky’ as it used to throw sparks from the exhaust occasionally and Sarthak’s bike was called ‘Crazy Oldie’ because it was an almost vintage 1994 model Royal Enfield Bullet.

What is your dream trip?

As of now, we really don’t have a dream trip. All we know is that, there’s no stopping us. We wish to explore India at the grass root level first before going international. A dream trip for us would be to take a Norton 500 bike from Buenos Aires and redo the entire route that Ernesto Che Guevara did before starting the Cuban Revolution under Fidel Castro.

What are the things you will give up for travel?

There is hardly anything we can give up for travel. Till date, we have been getting ample time to plan our travel and execute them. But may be in the future, we might be hung up with office or family commitments. That doesn’t mean we won’t travel. Hell yeah we will !!

So, from exploring the alleyways in Rajasthan to off-roading in the Himalayas, these brothers are experiencing India unlike anyone else I know. I’m just hoping I’ll get the courage to put on a helmet and head out, assuming they would be glad to drag me along :) Atleast, I have figured out which door to knock when  it comes to a long bike ride.


Category: Asia, India, Road Travel, Travel Tips / Tags: , , , ,

London Blues

September 24, 2010 / admin / No comments

What do you do if you land up in London just for one day? After tripping around country Wales for almost a week with a fully packed itinerary, I was suddenly thrown into a big city with 8 hours to kill. I had very vague memories from my earlier trip to London in 1999. Having traveled with my parents, I don’t remember planning a single thing. I happily hopped on to the Red Bus and headed to the Wax museums of the world and Palaces and Cathedrals and what not. (I do remember almost getting slapped by my father for leaving the camera behind in the Bus and then for chasing the bus with a 100 metre sprint in the middle of London traffic. Good ole days).

To make life simple, I decided to meet three people, randomly picked from family, friends, connections, whatever you want to call it. I hopped around London thanks to the unbelievably efficient Tube. Thank you Oyster Card.

Started the day with a lovely walk in the park with Monidi, my husband’s cousin and her little kid Rishi. Spent time discussing all and sundry about Mumbai and London and how we are related. Bummed off a super rich chocolate brownie and black coffee. It’s always good to meet family in foreign land, where the exchange rate doesn’t work in your favour. Check out her blog – Pedestrian. Loved her description: street encounters, everything that happens on two feet, at a human pace. Surely, the human pace bit is something I forget when I am in Mumbai.

Then, spent the afternoon with a senior from college, who moved to London a few years ago. From good ole Pune times to discussing Madras mamis to London life, it was a delight. Bummed off some super lunch. Ok, ok. I did offer to pay. Pallu maintains a kickass blog called Writerzblock. Especially check out her post on ‘Tam Brams guide to saving money’. . How do you think I managed to save all that money to travel? :)

Finally, decided to meet my kid cousin Dhruva, who isn’t a kid anymore. He moved to the UK to study Geographic Information Systems and landed a cool job not far from London. Incidentally, he was the same cousin I hung out with in the 1999 trip. What’s changed. We both were allowed to order beer instead of Coca Cola. So, out of the blue, we landed up in the coolest blues bar, which had a free jamming session going on. Ain’t Nothing But has this old bar feel to it, with the ‘we love to let you experiment as long as you buy beer’ strategy in place. Loved the last few hours in London having a couple of beers. I was going to write ‘Bumming off beers’. But, wait! Kid cousin bummed a beer off me.

Happily high, I headed to Heathrow, boarded the flight and slept like a baby all the way till Andheri East.

Category: England, Europe, Road Travel / Tags: , , , ,

Chilean Cocktail

January 16, 2009 / Backpacking Ninja / No comments

As usual, there is a huge time lag between the actual time of travel and this blog post. I think its more than 2 months since I left Bolivia…. I still remember that day so clearly in my mind. Waking up at 5 am to take the jeep to the border of Bolivia and Chile. I dont remember it because of the unearthly hour I had to wake up. I remember it because of the goodbyes I had to say to Mauro, Lina and Diego. The jeep ride did not take too long…. we went to the thermal spring and then to the Laguna Verde (Green lagoon)…. everything was a slight blur for me that morning…. I was getting emotional for the first time in the trip…. How can you not with 3 wonderful people calling you their family and giving you a memorable gift …. a handmade Colombian passport declaring me as a Colombian Citizen.

Anyway, I think after a few hundred pictures and many more hugs, the jeep dropped me off at the most amazing border Ive ever been to. The border of Bolivia and Chile from where you can even see Argentina. The border had 2 huts. Nothing more. 1 for Bolivian immigration and 1 for transport companies. After giving my exit slip, I got into a mini bus headed towards San Pedro De Atacama, the desert town in the North of Chile.

The minibus stopped in this really fancy immigration centre an hour later. As usual, the immigration officer took 10 minutes to look at my passport and talk to a few people before he put the entry stamp. I dont think anyone from India has ever come that way. I try to always go last in the line so that I dont have to make others wait… the time ratio for immigration is approximately like this … 1 Indian = 20 Americans/Europeans/Australians/British = 10 Japanese/Other Asians/Other South Americans… possibly only other nationality they will take this time is with Africans.. but, guess you dont see too many of them around either…

After starting the day at something like zero degrees… I was clothed in fleece pants, jeans over it, 3 t shirts and a fleece jacket… I reached San Pedro Atacama… where it was something like 35 or 38 degrees….. The stripping of layers started from the border.. When I reached Atacama, I was wearing only the pants and a t shirt. I had a huge bundle of clothes in my hand in addition to my backpacks. For a change, I had made no plans regarding staying in Atacama.. how long I was gonna stay.. what I will be doing.. Nada….

It was so freaking hot… I desperately needed a drink… I had no Chilean Pesos.. So, I decided to head to the ATM…. Thats when the nightmare started. This little town had just 2 ATMs. 1 had run out of money and the other was a Mastercard. I had a VISA. I think I mustve tried all permutation combinations possible with my credit card, debit card, etc. Nothing worked. Basically, I was in Chile (one of the most expensive countries in South America) with no money but Bolivian change. Imagine that. What Bolivian change can buy you here is one Cutting Chai. I would have been happy had that been available.

Anyway, the fortunate part was that I had exchanged my Bolivian money for some American dollars with Lina. I had 10 American Dollars. Thats approximately 6000 Pesos. Thats how much a dorm bed costs in a hostel. So, I headed to a hostel and dumped my bags by paying that amount. And again, I was penniless. I was hoping the ATM would start working. 3 hours.. no luck.

Time to start thinking of other ideas. I had Brazilian and Argentinian money from the time there. with pathetic exchange rate, that worked out to another 5000 Pesos. (If you get confused with these numbers, just refer to my post called Money Money Money… its a note on exchange rates and money matters). With 5000 Pesos, I could buy a few bananas, 1 carton of juice, a loaf of bread…. and 30 minutes internet time… enough to get by that day…

ATMs did not work all day. I felt that there was no poinnt sticking around in a city like San Pedro Atacama with no money. This town was a cross between Goa and Rajasthan. Mud houses like Rajasthan mixed with the hippie culture of Goa. Expensive. Everything costs. Tours. Food. Stay. So, I made up my mind to take a bus to Santiago as soon as possible.. Anyway, that’s where I was supposed to meet Neesha…..

How do I buy a bus ticket without any money. I went online and realised that TurBus would let you buy a ticket only with a Chilean card. Since I had already lost my credit card in Peru (was stolen) and I was traveling with Roy’s credit card, my only option was to forge his signature and pray that the ticket guy would not notice. I sat outside the TurBus office, practiced Roys signature about 20 times… its bloody complicated.. Then, I walked in confidently and went to the counter with the guy. Its always easier to use any charm on a guy.. the woman in the other counter dd not look too understanding anyway…. I did the whole broken Spanish hello and explanation that I was from India…. the minute I said that, nothing else mattered to him.. he wasn’t even looking at the credit card voucher… just kept asking me about India…. I forged Roys signature, picked up the tickets and vamoosed out of there. Before leaving, I even gifted him a small packet of incense sticks. Phew!

The tours that most people do in Atacama are Sandboarding in the dunes, Night tour to check out the stars, Sunset in the valley of the moon, a trip to the Geysers… Luckily, as a part of the Uyuni tour, I had already seen the Geysers and the stars.. I could live without seeing a sunset. But, the sand dunes was something I really wanted to hit. But, I did not have money for a sand board. Instead, I just walked to the dunes (a long hot walk) and climbed up… and rolled down the sand… its more fun… trust me….. with a sandboard, you are not making that much physical contact with the sand.. however, when you roll down the dunes, you really feel like you are experiencing the desert in a manner one should experience…

I got back to the hostel later and showered like I had never seen a shower. Spent the night chatting with the receptionist and asked her to give me a wake up call. My bus to Sangtiago was at 8 am and I did not have an alarm clock.. I did not have a mobile phone…

The bus ride was the most boring bus ride of the entire trip…. Everytime I woke up (at 2 or 3 hour intervals), I only saw sand outside. Tremendously boring. Since I was buying the ticket with a credit card, I had treated myself to some luxury. Executive seats.. something like business class in a bus. I got served some food… ham and cheese sandwich and peach juice. I ate, slept, ate, slept… woke up to watch a Spanish documentary on Brazilian football… covered the year that Brazil lost to Uruguay in Maracana.. I hope I got that right… But, the man siting next to me (evidently not Brazilian) seemed to take some sadistic joy out of it.. was smiling…. I think he was an Argentinian…

I reached Santiago around 9 am on a Sunday morning…. My body was aching from the wierd position I had slept in that bus but I was so excited to meet 2 people… Neesha, after a month almost… and Naaz, after 10 years… Naaz and I had gone to school together all our lives.. She was 2 years my junior in school, lived down my street (Gandhi nagar bonding), took part in every athletic event like me and now lived in Chile with her Colombian Fiance Mauricio (Another Colo
mbian Mauro). Well.. I hadn’t met her in ages. Thanks to Facebook, I found out that she was there and had written to her. She was only too happy to see a Chennai person in chile. She had agreed to host Neesha and me for a week.

Where do I begin…. It was the most rested week…. the one week where I did not feel the need to run out of the house with my Lonely Planet to see the city. Everything was so relaxing. The bed was comfortable. The coffee was fabulous (Colombian). The shower was perfect. I felt at home. I woke up at around 10 everyday, ate a slow breakfast, had tons of coffee, used Wi-fi to write, went out ocassaionally and chatted with Naaz about all these years….

What I remember most about that week …

- Naaz dressing up in wonderful feminine clothes.. well, in school, I had never seen her in anything but shorts and t shirts around the long jump pit or the tracks… (I dont think she saw me in anything other than shorts next to the high jump pit)

- Mauro’s eyebrows… they are the most unique eyebrows…. you have to see them to believe it

- The way in which Naaz called Mauro ‘Amor’…. I think its so romantic to say ‘Amor’ that way..

- The way in which Mauro said ‘No’ sometimes just to scare you….

- The pebre and the merken…. Pebre was this deadly salsa and Merken this deadly spice.. since I was craving for food with flavour, they introduced me to these 2 spices.. and I spiked my bread everymorning with this..

- Induction to Spanish music… Naaz and Mauro made me listen to tons of music.. my love for Jarabe De Palo began somewhere in Bolivia and it only went up further in Naaz’s home

- Trying some awesome food…. we headed to an international fair organised by the embassies in Chile and we tried Colombain food, Palestinian food, Peruvian food, Thai food…. what not…

- The street juice Mote con Huesillos…. like a peach juice with dal in it or something…

- Naaz’s cool friend Pilar.. single mom.. totally sexy.. Adriano the boy who could be the perfect J&J baby…. Pilar’s love for taking photos of Adriano doing anything .. smiling, burping, crying, sitting, sleeping… Pilar’s obsession to dress up Adriano in matching stuff.. shoes, clothes, cap… every little detail…

- The trip to Valparaiso with Naaz and Mauro… clicking pictures of all the amazing graffitti there… going to a salsa club to dance…

- The posters and advertising about the Women’s week in Santiago…. against Machismo…

- The eternal debate in the living room with them.. about whether I should give in to my impulse and buy my tickets to Easter Island or not… (I eventually bought those tickets and went and had the time of my life… you will see that blog post soon)

I did see a bit of Santiago city… well, I just thought it was really American…. the Christmas tree in the city centre was made of Coke bottles…. God! That was the ugliest tree I ever saw in my life.

Apart from Naaz and Mauro, Neesha and I also met Monica. Monica is the mother of Monica (a couchsurfer who stayed with Neesha in India). Monica (the mom) wanted to show us everything in one afternoon…. She was like a woman on wheels. Right from the time she picked us up at Naaz’s house, she was on the phone non stop telling people that she was taking around Monica’s friends from India. I think we got introduced to everyone Monica knew in Santiago. She was so happy to have us around we almost felt like celebrities. Well, ofcourse Monica has met her share of celebrities (Like Mother Teresa, the Pope and all)… cause her husband was the Mayor or something of Santiago.. some important position in the government…. I remember seeing the pictures in their house…. We spent an afternoon in their house eating some really exotic salad and sauteed prawns… drinking wine…. clicking pictures so that Monica could share it with Monica (who is currently traveling in Asia)…. After a whole bunch of portfolio photos and some shopping (she bought us gifts), we headed to meet Monica’s friend Margarita, an actress. She had planned to take us for a play… in Spanish.

God… I have never felt so psyched in my life. I did not understand a word of the play. It was also one of those totally audio driven plays with sounds of drum beats and trumpets. It was dark. Dark in nature. I felt as though I was sitting in a funeral and I did not know who had died. Margarita later explained that it was difficult even for her to understand the play in terms of language as it was extremely high fi Spanish. Either way, I decided theatre in a language I did not understand wass not my cup of tea. With movies, its easy. Ive seen a couple of movies in Spanish and Portuguese now without subtitles and Ive understood them. Infact, in Santiago, I saw the most amazing movie (Proibido Proibir… a Portuguese film with Spanish subtitles) and I fell in love with it… I also saw a documentary film about Bolivian women in Spanish… infact, movies has been one of the easiest ways for me to pick up the language…

After the play with Margarita, we headed to a dinner with Margarita’s friends who all learnt Yoga. Thats another thing about south America. Sometimes, I feel like there are more people learning Yoga than any of the local stuff. Ive seen more Yoga studios that anything else. This whole Yoga group had decided to meet at an Indian restaurant. We were the guests who were supposed to check the food and tell them whether it was authentic. The chicken tikka masala was made with a white coconut gravy. Need I say more……

Anyway, Chile to me was more about the people I met… random people.. random experiences…. all in all, it was a Cocktail. One unique cocktail. The ingredients are available only in Chile… You don’t have to select them… They will find you and you can just savour the taste…. It was pretty strong… stayed with me all the way till I reached Argentina…. actually, some of it is still lingering on….

Category: Chile, Road Travel, South America, Travel Tips / Tags: , , , , , ,

The Master Checklist….

July 21, 2008 / Backpacking Ninja / 7 comments

All the planning in the world cannot prepare you for what South America has to offer. I hope to build the mother of all checklists through this post…. everything and anything one needs to look into before boarding that plane to South America… The list is in no particular order or hierarchy. If you ever plan to visit South Am, I would suggest you arm yourself with a printout of this post about 3 months before your flight to ensure you have everything ready.

As of today, this is a checklist which has not been tested practically… if I have a different experience from my actual plan, I will update this accordingly… this post gets updated regularly…
1. AIR TICKETS – Getting cheap connections to South America from India is a feat. Unless you plan to walk overland from India to London and then take a flight, I doubt anything to South America can come cheaper than 75000 Rs. Research on Air tickets is of utmost importance. Look up my post Art of Air Tickets for the same. I bought mine from Riya Travels. They give the best deals in Mumbai. (022-66594949)
2. TRAVEL AGENT – He better be your friend. You will be calling him about 5 times a day with varied options and expecting him to whip up itinerary emails for you at the speed of light. For that, he better be a good friend. My agents Vasu and Aarti from Riya Travels Mumbai are fantastic.
3. GUIDEBOOK- Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring has been a great option. Ive read it cover to cover and its been amazing. For additional research, you can always look up the internet after an induction with the LP. If you have a friend still working in an organisation, you can bookmark pages and ask them to give you back to back printouts in font size 8 which you can use as throw away guidebooks.
4. TRAVEL FORUMS – Register yourself on Travel communities / forums – The ones I recommend are Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum, Trip Advisor and Couchsurfing. While Trip advisor and Thorn tree can be used purely for advice (ranging from ‘which hotel do i stay’ to ‘whats the cheapest way to get from your bus station to your hotel’ to ‘can i eat exotic fruits in the amazon’), Couchsurfing is great to make friends, stay with locals and get local advice. Its the mother of all sites.
5. VISAS – Keep about 90 days in your hand before you travel for all the Visas. Brazil has a consulate in Mumbai, but Argentina, Chile, Peru and other countries have their embassies in New Delhi. Some countries like Bolivia are not even present here. You need to really map out your travel plan keeping in mind the Visa procedures. There is a shitload of paperwork to be done and the more detailed it is, the better your chances of getting a Visa. Look up my post ‘Show me the Visa’. My agents Nematullah and Premlata, from Riya Delhi, are fabulous.
6. US Visa – Yeah, it helps.. not to get other visas.. however, cheapest air connections may be through the US. And US does not allow people to transit if you do not have a Visa. Getting a US visa is not that difficult.. the process is amazing. Look up VFS USA

7. MAPS – Buy a large map of South America. Else, print out mini maps of every country and mark out border crossing towns, places you want to visit, road / rail routes, etc. This makes overland travel easy.
8. BUS TRAVEL – Bus travel.. its the best way to get around. Long long journeys but the only cheap option. Internal flight costs can kill you. Hence, look up the bus booking site for every South American country and try and get advice on distance and costs from travel forums. Online booking can be tricky as sites are in Portuguese / Spanish. Write on travel forums for advice and book your tickets when you get there. For bus travel in the United States (short distance), you can check a Chinatown bus option else you can check Greyhound.

9. MUST SEE THINGS- Always decide what are the places you definitely want to see before you set out – For eg: Machu Picchu in Peru, Uyuni in Bolivia, Christ Redeemer in Rio, Pereto Moreno Glacier in Argentina, etc. This will help you plan your trip around the places you want to visit. I will be putting up my list soon.
10. BACKPACK – Buy a great backpack, which wont give up on you, when you are traveling. Wildcraft makers of amazing travel equipment in India are sponsoring mine. Its fabulous. Go check it out. One also needs to have a daypack in addition to a backpack when you are traveling for 7 months. The daypack can carry gadgets plus a change of clothes / jacket incase you are headed on a day trip somewhere. One foldable bag (which can open into a side bag) is a great if you are hitting the beach, etc. This can be neatly folded and kept inside your main backpack.
11. SHOES – Shoes that can last for 6 months. Comfortable and practical. I use my light Adidas slip on sneakers for the same. And one pair of flip flops / beach slippers is a must. Crocs make super comfortable light sandals and they have given me a lovely blue pair to travel with me. Check it out.
12. YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION – Get a yellow fever vaccination done. Its a nightmare to get this in Bombay. A post of mine will be dedicated to this – ‘Yellow Yellow Useless Fellow’. Minimum 15 hours in the queue and a bribe to top that is your only hope. I should complain to the Anti corruption Bureau..
13. BLOG – Set up a blog. A travel website. Whatever you feel like. Something that can capture your adventures and keep people back at home informed about what you are doing. If you have a little extra money, register a URL and redirect to your site. You can use Go Daddy or Register.com . I used Redif.com (Indian site) to do this. I used it thinking that Desi tech companies will have good customer service. Its been the worst nightmare. Once I registered my domain, they mention that I need an email with them to redirect URL to blog. They are number one cons. I have been going back and forth between Rediff customer service and blogger help group, but in vain. My URL is as of now not working. And I am yet to figure out stuff like DNS and CNAMES. Befriend a techie. That’s the only hope. Check out my website www.backpackingninja.com to read the post on online nightmares I went through.
14. MONEY MONEY MONEY – Figure out the money situation. Ive figured out that taking a Forex card to South America may not be a good idea as Forex cards only load USD, Pounds, Aus Dollars or Euros. It would then mean double conversion – INR to USD and USD to South American currency. Its better to have 2 International debit cards from 2 bank accounts in India – one preferably giving you a Visa debit card and another with a Mastercard debit card. All banks (MNC) charge you 2.5 to 3 USD for every withdrawl. So, keep that in mind while budgeting. And ask your bank to authorise international withdrawls before you leave so that you have no trouble withdrawing.
15. CREDIT CARDS – Credit cards only for emergencies. Take one emergency credit card, which you can use online and for other major buys. If you have someone back home who can pay your credit card every month, it would be good. Else, ensure you can pay online from your bank account. This allows complete control of finances.
16. TRAVELERS CHEQUES – A good friend adviced me that travelers cheques are not in use anymore.. they are good if you need to show financial position to get a visa. Otherwise, its cumbersome.
17. FLASHPACKING – Traveling with GADGETS – If you plan to be a flashpacker, one who wants to carry all your gadgets during your travel, prepare in advance. Make a list of things you want to do – Write, Upload Photos, Videos, B
logging, Emails, etc. Check out the resources with you currently. For eg: I have a company laptop, which I have to give back (since Ive quit), a Nokia phone (display messed), an IPod in good condition and a fantastic Canon Camera. So, the basics I am looking at carrying are cheap phone which can SMS and make calls plus charger, Ipod which can double as a external hard disk with a Laptop charger, Canon camera with a Battery charger and USB connector and a mini travel laptop. I have shortlisted and purchased the ASUS EEE PC – a 7 inch mini laptop which serves the purpose. It is just about a kilo, extremely compact, windows XP enabled, with a builtin microphone and webcam, wi-fi, bluetooth. What more can you ask for.
18. GIFTS- Pick up small gifts for people you meet, people who host you or generally travel friends you make. For women, small earings, bindis, bangles, silk scarves, spices make wonderful gifts. Its a little more difficult to shop for guys. But, gendar neutral stuff like bookmarks, keychains, coasters, wall hangings, music works. Incense sticks are great. One of the best gifts you can give someone is a bunch of mp3s from India. Take assorted Indian music in a pendrive and share it with people.

19. FREE WI-FI – Check out my post Wi-Fi Wonders for details on how to access free wi-fi when you are traveling.

… more soon..

Category: Air Travel, Backpacking Tips, Flashpacking, Food & Drinks, Hostels & Hotels, New Language, Packing & Gear, Public Transport, Responsible & Safe Travel, Road Travel, Travel Tips, Visas & Immigration, Weather / Tags: ,
 
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee