India Pre-trip Post

I seldom write posts for trips beforehand but this upcoming India trip from 1 Nov 2024 till 2 Dec 2024 seems to deserve a pre-trip post.

Contents

• Why am I writing a pre-trip post for India?
• The rough outline of the route
• Anecdote

Why am I writing a pre-trip post for India?

Firstly, because I am a bit apprehensive about this month long trip to India.

There is the slight fear of diarrhoea, which I have prepared different types of diarrhoea medicine to combat it.

Have been advised to use bottled water to brush my teeth while in India. And try not to open my mouth when showering. Would try to do the above.

Next, I am going to be in the state of Bihar which “has a reputation for lawlessness”. I just don’t want to deal with any theft and/or robbery.

On top of the above, I cannot seem to find reliable information about transport between certain parts of the country. So, I might need to just play by ear when I reach the place and ask around locally.

I would be flying into New Delhi at 8pm. So, just hoping that the first night in New Delhi and finding my hotel would be ok. I would be taking a 6am train out of New Delhi the next morning.

Thus, the “slight” sense of apprehension.

Second reason for writing this post: I am also excited for this trip to India.

I have been to India once before, in December of 2005. That time, I joined 4 other people for an India trip. I had expected to spend more time at each of the Buddhist sites, but the group was a bit more keen to meet with high level monks (Lamas) than visiting the Buddhist sites. I did enjoy that trip and had some unexpected adventures, but I just want to fully explore the Buddhist sites better. Hence, I have been thinking of returning to India since 2005.

Lastly, it is a month long trip in India!! I have done month long trips and even 2 month trips. But just not to India… would just have to see how things go in India for the whole month.

The rough outline of the route

The below route is subject to change in terms of how many days at each location and the transport means to each location.

I have only booked the first train from New Delhi to Varanasi. The rest of the trip would be adjusted based on how long I wish to stay at each location.

The route:

• Flying into New Delhi on the 1 November 2024. Arriving at about 8pm.
• Staying 1 night in New Delhi.
• Taking a train ride on the most expensive class in India, to Varanasi the next day, at 6am. (Day trains are more expensive than sleeper trains.)
• Stay in Sarnath which is very near to Varanasi. (Sarnath is only about 8-10km away from Varanasi Junction Railway Station.) Sarnath is where the Buddha gave his first sermon to a group of 5 ascetics who became his first 5 monks.
• Visit Sarnath and Varanasi. Stay for a few nights.
• Head to Gaya to transit to Bodhgaya.
• Would stay in Bodhgaya for at least 3-4nights. Bodhgaya is where the Bodhisattva (person who aims to reach Buddha-hood) became the Buddha.
• Then back to Gaya to transit to Rajgir.
• Rajgir is where Vulture peak is located. Vulture peak is where some of the sutta are based and many of the Mahayana sutra are based.
• Would make a day trip to the ruins of Nalanda while based in Rajgir. Nalanda was where the Nalanda University, a renowned Buddhist University of the past, was.
• Head to Patna, capital of Bihar State.
• Would visit Vaishali and Kesariya Stupa on day trips while based in Patna. Vaishali is where the Buddha spent time in, with many sutta based there. Kesariya Stupa is said to contain the Buddha’s relics.
• Head to Gorakhpur to transit to Kushinagar. Kushinagar is where the Buddha passed away. (Or what Buddhist would term as “where the Buddha entered into Parinibbana/Parinivana.”) Would stay at least 3 nights in Kushinagar.
• I plan to next head to
  Siddharth Nagar (or called Naugarh) to visit Piprahwa Stupa on a day trip.
  Piprahwa is known as the burial place of the portion of the Buddha’s relics that were given to his own Sakya clan.
• Then move onto Gonda Junction to visit Shravasti on a day trip. Shravasti has been cited in many suttas where the Buddha preached.
• From Gonda Junction then to Agra for Sightseeing. (Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, etc.)
• Then back to New Delhi for sightseeing or head to somewhere for sightseeing before coming back to New Delhi. This depends on how many more days I have left in India at this point.
• My flight back to Singapore is on the 2nd of December 2024, landing in Singapore on the morning of 3rd December 2024.

Anecdote

On the night of 23 Oct, I decided to relook into my hotel booking for the first night in New Delhi since I would be arriving into New Delhi at 8pm. And I didn’t want to stay too far from New Delhi Railway station because I got a 6am train to catch the next morning and I don’t want to be out on the streets so late at night.

I then decided to google my original hotel and to my surprise, I cannot find it on google maps. And it is not available on Booking.com anymore. That freaked me out as I don’t want to be searching for a hotel late at night in New Delhi.

So, I cancelled my original hotel booking and searched for other hotels near New Delhi Railway station. There are a few that showed up on Booking.com where the hotels are literally on the doorstep of the railway station. So, I decided to book one of these hotels since it is “just outside” of the railway station.

Then I used google maps to search for the hotel and used the address given to find the hotel. But the actual location on google maps shows a different location compared on Booking.com. On top of that, when I scrutinised the reviews of the hotel, seems like too many good reviews from locals, whereas other reviews were as not so good. What I concluded, the location shown in Booking.com can be different from the actual location of the hotel. And there might be fake reviews.

So, I cancelled this second hotel and booked the third hotel which seems to be more possible since it is on the main road near the railway station. (The second hotel booked was literally on the doorstep of the railway station.)

After booking, then I did my searches again. Haiz. Again, the actual hotel is further away and not on the site shown in Booking.com.

Again, I cancelled this third hotel and searched for a hotel on both google maps and Booking.com which has the same location and still near the railway station.

Booked a fourth hotel based on the above criteria. Then went to sleep.

On the morning of 24 Oct, I decided to relook into my fourth hotel booking again and scrutinise the reviews. Sadly, this fourth hotel is situated beside a dump yard, so it is quite smelly. And even though it is just across the road of the railway station, it is inside a small lane. Thinking that even though it is just a short walk into the small lane, it might be better not to walk into any small lanes at night in New Delhi. Thus, cancelled this fourth hotel.

In the end, I decided to book the third hotel earlier since it is on the main road which might be safer and there are google maps views of the front of the hotel, which would allow me to quickly find the hotel at night.

Takeaway: Things might not be so direct in India. Let’s see how my India adventure goes.