Well it's been decide my family and I are off to India in October/November would love to have inputs from people on here about this wonderful country.
Have been doing research and trying to learn about the country, from what I can gather it is one of if not the most diverse places on Earth.
Different religions, culture, traditions all living in peace and respecting each other, so much history and civilization.
I have 3 kids as well 2 girls and a boy all under the age of 12 and they are looking forward to the experience, they really want to to see Elephants and bathe them etc.
We want to try and experience as much as we can, we only have 4 weeks in India as we have to get back to work.
Any help, tips, hints will be most welcome and very much appreciated, come on guys bring it on.
http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/5268/where-in-india-can-one-wash-and-play-with-elephants
Kids here are excited about Disney world mock-ups. Nice to see yours want to see and play with elephants. But to bathe them is very difficult to do. You should know some insider of a Kerala temple or stalk them when they are out for their bath
.
To just ride them, you can find them in Mysore(near the Palace) and Jaipur(near the Amber fort) that I know of. So if these places are already on your itinerary you need not sweat it. But here nothing goes hard and fast. You can talk to the mahouts and ask them when and where the elephants get their bath.
About India in general, you are going to find a lot of crowded places. Be careful with kids. Don't let them go too far. DO not be ashamed to haggle. And when you haggle, better keep your family out-of-sight from your counterpart.(This is part of any haggling basics really
) I have seen friends who would try to haggle, but when enough autowallahs or shopkeepers act and say something like 'I din't expect a white man to haggle like this', they give up and let the guys carry the loot. Then you should know about transports. Keep a couple of cab helplines at hand in whatever city you go to.
Here is a list of things you might want to go to India for. You must be knowing these already. But I will type anyway to see how well I know India.
1) Snow capped mountains - Gulmarg(J&K), Kanchenjunga(near Gangtok)
2) Mighty and beautiful rivers - Ganges near Haridwar and Gangotri, Chenab on the way to Srinagar from Jammu, Bramhaputra near Guwahati. Chenab is THE most beautiful river I have seen. You can stop your vehicle and get down the hill a bit to get to the amazing waters. Munnar has some nice boat rides where your family can hire a boat at cheap prices.
3) Calm Hill stations: Haven't been to many. Darjeeling, Shimla, Ooty in South. Dharmashala and Tawang are where you can find Tibetan and Buddhist culture.
4) Temples: Be warned. Some may not allow non-Hindus. But most can hardly make out who is a non-Hindu
P). Thanjavur is majestic. The good thing for tourists is: The grandest and stunning of the temples are usually the least conservative. Rameswaram has a huge huge temple. Akshardham and ISKCON temples are modern. Golden Temple is also easy to visit from Delhi.
5) Mosques: Again not been in many. You can enter Mecca masjid(not the prayer area though) in Hyderabad at specified timings. It is at stonethrow from Charminar and Laad Bazar(One place where you should not let your wife go too far, in a good way
) so you might as well visit there. But the general rule in the area(for safety) is to not wear any expensive jewelry, watches and to check your pockets and wallet every minute.
6) Churches: These may be boring for you. But there are some pretty old churches here. I can think of Velankanni. Then there are some churches like Afghan church with some history.
7) Forts: India has some well-preserved mighty forts like Amber(Rajasthan), Gwalior(beautiful too). Of course you will come across RedFort and a bunch of them in Rajasthan. Ajanta and Ellora are amazing engineering pieces. Warning: This section will need a lot of walking around.
8) If you just want to see a lot of people - visit any big city. Mumbai's Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus(formerly Victoria terminus) is a place.
9) I am confused about your origins. If you are French, then you might want to visit some former French colonies like Pondichery which also has nice and quiet beaches. Kolkata has a nice Victoria memorial. If you like old European architecture left by the British, Kolkata and Mumbai have them.
10) Forests: The forests in Nagaland and J&K are the thickest I have seen. I mean they are cant-see-the-sun scary thick.
Apart from these you might be interested in TajMahal, tigers, rhinos, and Indian foods. Wherever you go, try and eat the local dishes. You will be amazed how India cannot be an alternate universe.
I am sure lonely planet will have these among a many others. But they will not warn you against throwing money for floating rocks(as a fancy item, sure if they are cheap), blessings of phony babas, street beggars with special affinity for foreigners(Slumdog is not too far from reality) and huge tips(Indians rarely do tip if at all. That doesn't stop them from expecting huge tips from foreigners
).
