Anyone ever been to New Delhi, India?

[BrentWil]

I am going this summer (awful time to go) to do research for my PhD dissertation. Anyone been? Any advice?

[TuxedoKat]

1. Well

I was there quite a while ago but not for long. We visited the Red Fort which was very nice. If you have time to take any side trips I would go to one that went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then go on to Lucknow, which is a very interesting city, not alot of tourists go there I think. My friend had relatives there so that is why we went. While we were there we visited the British Residency where the first battle for Indian Independence took place and an amazing (!) mosque called the Bara Imambara. It was so interesting how it was constructed; whispering walls, and a maze inside. We had to have a guide because you probably couldn't find your way out and down without one. At one point I looked down from the second or third floor to the first at the stairways and you would have thought you were in the middle of an M.C. Escher drawing. Incredible. Maybe you can take a train trip there? Flying intercountry in India was somewhat disconcerting. Every flight I took incountry (3) there was so much turbulence for the entire flight each time and every flight was crowded too. Maybe it is better nowadays (this was in 1989), but I was a very seasoned traveler at the time having worked for airlines, and it surprised and disconcerted me. Ah, there is a great bazaar in Lucknow too, don't miss that.

In Delhi we went to a place for items made in the India, I think it was government run. I brought back a beautiful carved wooden statue. Sari shopping is a fun experience too, but you might not have any interest in that.

http://www.lucknow.org.uk/tourist-attractions/bara-imambara.html

https://sites.google.com/site/visitlucknow/lucknow-residency

[BrentWil]

4. THanks...

I will look into both. I have never heard about Lucknow. I will read about it and see how to get there.

[TuxedoKat]

7. Just remembered

I was in China in July one year and it was so HUMID. I never experienced such humidity. You can be standing perfectly still outside and you will sweat buckets. I gather Delhi and much of India is probably the same weather at that time of year. What I wished I had in China were those moisture-wicking t-shirts. If I ever go again in summer I will mostly bring that type of clothing. Dick's Sporting Goods and other sports stores have these types of shirts.

Edited to add:

Edited to add:

If you do make it to Lucknow, please let me know when you get back if you remember! Also, when I was looking up the Imambara, there are two Imambaras in Lucknow, make sure you go to the Bara Imambara, if not both. The other one looks interesting too!

[BrentWil]

10. Cool... thanks again...

[Vehl]

2. This is a pretty good website for questions about Travelling in India

http://www.indiamike.com/india/

The forums usually have a wealth of information from people who have visited/are visiting India. It also has specific sub-forums for cities/locales like Delhi. You could also post questions/ask for advice on the forums and often enough people even help others plan their trips/give advice/suggestions.

Check it out

Delhi Sub Forum
http://www.indiamike.com/india/delhi-f19/

India Travel Basics
http://www.indiamike.com/india/india-travel-basics-f1/


Ps: Oh yeah...summer is a (relatively) bad time to go. The weather is too hot for me in that time of the year.

[BrentWil]

3. Thanks...

Great site. I am looking forward to it, even if the weather will be awful. Clearly I am going there to do something that interest me but the country itself has always fascinated me. I am trying to learn a little Hindi now, just to be able to fit in a little better.

[Vehl]

8. You are welcome

Yep, I love that site.

I's great that you are learning some Hindi, and it will be useful in Delhi cos Hindi is spoken mostly in that area. However dont stress too much over it(unless you want to learn it due to your personal interest) because English will be more than sufficient to get things done in Delhi. Even though I'm from the Subcontinent, I do not know any Hindi and always used English to communicate with people from different states of India...unless they are from states bordering mine..in that event I probably know their language.(each state has its own language major language(apart from dozens of minor ones) which, along with Hindi and English make up the 28 official languages of India).


I wish you a great trip!

[BrentWil]

9. It is differently personnel interest...

It is for my academic interests, and Hindi is a good language to start with. I am not going to touch the languages of southern India, but if I actually learn Hindi, I should be able to move on the Urdu and punjabi one day.

[Major Nikon]

5. I have some advice for when you first get there

If you take a cab from the airport to your hotel, make sure you're being taken to the right hotel. The cab drivers are often in with the hotels and get a kickback for bringing in new customers. So the hotel you thought you are going to winds up being an entirely different one.

Some of the B&Bs are quite nice and are a great alternative to staying in a hotel.

[BrentWil]

6. I actually already have a room

I am staying at the united service institute (USI) in New Delhi. http://www.usiofindia.org/ My wife was going to come over for a "vacation week" after I am done there, but we found out she is pregnant so that is now off. But that was the previous plan, stay at a B&B.