Tips for India travel and tickets

Travel to India and you'll see spectacular scenery, awesome medieval architecture, vast slums, filthy streets and rivers, frustrating traffic jams, ancient religious traditions, countless beggars on the sidewalks, modern conmen and a volatile choice of climates.

India also boast some of the most enjoyable travel and best holidays in the world.

Every month of the year in different parts of India there is a traditional festival commemorating various religions and gods, each providing a unique cultural experience or spectacle featuring dancers, elephants, firecrackers and troops.

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Trains in India are an adventure in themselves. A trip in either an express or mail train can be the highlight of your journey across India.

Train trips to Darjeeling and Shimla are breathtaking.

Just 1.3 million people live in the rugged and heavily forested district of Darjeeling, which covers 3,075 square kilometres, and it's a great place to escape the teeming crowds of India.

Darjeeling is a gorgeous town spilling down the side of the Himalayan foothills with the world's third tallest mountain, Kangchenjunga, on the horizon (8,586 metres). Famous for its refreshing tea plantations and photogenic landscape, Darjeeling is a leftover of British settlement in the mid 19th Century when it was built as a recreation area for troops and a getaway from the blistering heat of the lower plains. The town is built on terraced landings with most of the budget travel accommodation and eateries on the middle and lower terraced layers. Note that Darjeeling is at 2123m and in winter can be very cold.

A popular tourist attraction in Darjeeling is a five kilometre cable car ride - the longest in India - overlooking carefully maintained tea gardens. At the top of the cable journey is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute displaying much of the equipment from the 1953 assault on Mt Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Adjacent to the institute is the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park.

The best place to see a spectacular Himalayan sunrise is Tiger Hill, about 14 kilometres from Darjeeling, where you can see Kangchenjunga, Makalu (fifth tallest at 8,462 metres), Lhotse (fourth tallest at 8,516 metres) and Everest (the tallest at 8,848 metres) all at the same time. However, large tourist crowds gather every morning and you should get there early for a good spot to take photographs.

A popular way to travel to Darjeeling is on the Himalayan Mountain Railway, a narrow-gauge train line built by the British. The line first opened in 1881 and is gazetted on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Himalayan Mountain Railway takes just over eight hours to cover the 81 kilometres from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling.

The nearest city to Darjeeling is Siliguri, some 90 kilometres away, which has Bagdogra Airport connecting to the domestic air network.

India's train system networks the country from north to south and its infrastructure dates from the 1850s to the present day. However, trains in India also have an appalling safety record with hundreds losing their lives in crashes every year.

India has almost 109,000 kilometres of railway serving more than a billion people and there is a crash almost every day, partly because of antiquated equipment.

For long train journeys in India, make sure you bring water and toilet paper. Most other necessities are provided on board. Don't be surprised if you see a few cockroaches on the train and it remains a good idea to connect a chain to your luggage for security.

The best value train sleepers for night travel are the 2AC and 3AC, which are air-conditioned, open-plan carriages with two or three tier beds that fold into bench seats within four and six seat cubicles. Sleepers and special express trains should be booked days in advance. You can book train tickets through most hotels and travel agents or buy them online.

Because of the enormity of India, it can be more convenient and cost-effective to fly. The country has 230 domestic airports so you can fly just about everywhere.

Since India's domestic aviation industry was deregulated in the 1990s, various quality carriers have emerged to destinations around the country. Intercity train services are also enjoying continual improvement.

Bus tickets in India are very cheap but, like the trains, buses in India can be slow, cramped and uncomfortable. Try to avoid buses with videos which play loud, repetetive Bollywood movies on long trips.

Getting on board a bus can be a challenge because of the overwhelming tide of would-be passengers and India has a poor record of bus accidents with multiple fatalities.

Private buses are generally more comfortable and faster for your travel through India, albeit more expensive, and can be well worthwhile if you're planning a particularly long overland tour.

If you want to travel to Kashmir or Nepal from Uttar Pradesh, a bus is your only choice.

Rental cars are an alternative but Indian road rules are chaotic, to say the least, and it's smart to hire a chauffeur.

You can hire a taxi, bicycle rickshaw, auto-rickshaw or a horse drawn carriage, but bargain hard to agree on the fare before departing as most don't have a functioning meter and drivers will often try to dupe gullible tourists.

If you look like a tourist in India, be prepared for taxi drivers who will try to hoodwink you. Ambassador Taxis are considered the most reliable and are usually clean.

Deregulation has vastly improved competition throughout India's travel industry. The price of domestic airline tickets and flights to neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan are usually very cheap and the quality is good.

The Indian public transport system is cumbersome but nevertheless a reliable way to get just about everywhere you want to travel in India.

Despite this, it's always a good idea to book well ahead if possible for hotels and tickets for other travel requirements.

The trekking regions of the Indian Himalaya are visited by less tourists than in Nepal, providing a more serene holiday experience in the mountains and highlands.

The trekking season in states such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is roughly from April to November.

Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh is the refuge of thousands of people who have fled their homeland of Tibet following Chinese occupation in 1949. Their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lamam lives in Dharmasala, which is the home of Tibet's government-in-exile. Dharmasala, dubbed Little Lhasa, is similar to a Tibetan town with houses clinging to steep hillsides, prayer wheels dominating the central bazaar and many people wearing traditional Tibetan clothing. Young foreign travellers are drawn to the town, which is usually bustling with Israeli, Australian, American and European backpackers.

The far north-east state of Arunachal Pradesh covers 83,743 square kilometres and stretches from snowy mountains in the north to the plains of Brahmaputra Valley in the south. Arunachal Pradesh has many different tribes and languages and the landscape is rugged, a four wheel drive recommended if you want to travel by road.

Cheap tickets for camel treks can be purchased in the western desert regions, the best season from October to February.

Ski resorts are a holiday option from January to March in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

In the north-west province of Rajastan, a popular holiday destination is the labyrinthine old town of Udaipur, some 400km north of Mumbai, which boasts glorious palaces, minarets and hotels on the banks and within the waters of Lake Pichola. The best season to visit is from September to March and Udaipur is served by air, bus and train from key centres such as Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi.

If surf and sand are your travel goals, India has some fairly good beaches that are worth an air ticket to places such as Goa, Kovalam in Kerala, Diu, Puri and at Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal.

The Andaman Islands in particular have hundreds of barely explored dive sites and much of the damage has been repaired since the 2004 tsunami. A beach hut on this tropical paradise can easily be found for less than US$10 per day.

Most nationalities can visit and travel through India under a six month tourist visa which allows multiple entries.

You usually need to show a departure travel ticket before a holiday entry visa will be issued by an Indian embassy or consulate.

You should submit your visa application with three passport-size photographs well before your planned Indian holiday travel as there can be bureaucratic delays, typical of India.

Your passport should preferably be valid for at least nine months after your entry to India.

Accommodation in India is dirt cheap but demand to see the quality of a room before signing in and don't be surprised to share your sleeping quarters with cockroaches and/or rats.

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