Varanasi (वाराणसी) also known as Benares or Banaras is the holiest city in India situated on the banks of the River Ganges. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world is filled with spiritual charms and colors, temples and shrines and is considered holy by the Hindu, Buddhists and Jains. Visiting Varanasi requires travelers to be open minded and cultural adventurous.

The holy city of Varanasi is where funerals take place 24/7 in the open air burning sights at the Ganges river surrounded by goats, cows, children playing cricket and grieving families without emotions. Tens of tourists boats passing by while ashes are flowing in the air, silk color wraps from the bodies lined up at riverside next to piles of wood being brought in by boats. In the background you can hear the Hindi music, the bells ringing from the temples and elders singing to the gods. Very few places in India are as colorful, charismatic and spiritual as Varanasi.

The city of Varanasi can be reached by train or bus from any major destination and city within India, as well cheap hostels and hotels can be found fairly easy. When arriving in the city, auto rickshaw driver(s) will offer to be your guide which is unnecessary in a city as small as Varanasi. Especially when transportation is cheap. You will need approximately one morning and one evening in Varanasi in order to see the not to miss ceremonies and temples on the holy Ganges river. It’s recommended to arrive around mid-day – book a hotel for one night – go see the evening ceremony – go back to your room as most establishments close at 9 o clock sharp – go see the sunrise around 6 o clock – check out your hotel by 12 o clock and proceed to the next destination.

Upon entrance of the Shoppers Stop mall there’s several ice-cream vendors, a car park (10 rupees) and little garden area for relaxation. Lighters and matches aren’t allowed within the mall, camera’s and handy-cams are fine yet you’re not allowed to use them. It feels like the mall two wings, a west wing (left) and a east wing (right), the escalators connecting the floors are placed in the middle. As earlier mentioned the mall has a total of 3 floors, here’s a complete breakdown of each floor,

Groundfloor: Cosmetics & Parfumes, Jewelery, Watches & Sunglasses, Gadgets & Accessories, Men’s & Women’s Footwear, Cafe Coffee Today.
First floor: Men’s Apparels, Men’s Accessories, Women’s Apparels, Happy Feet, Lingerie & Nightwear, First Citizen Desk, Mama’s Room &
Second floor: Women’s Fashion, Men’s Fashion, Kids (Cool Kidz), Mother Case, Mama’s Room.
Third floor: Home, Sportswear, Luggage (as well electronic devices & furniture).
Fourth floor: Is presence but closed as of April 2010.

The restroom’s are present on every floor, unfortunately the mall has no free WIFI option, neither availability of an ATM machine but they do have a cool blue-tooth feature, activate bluFi@ShoppersStop with acceptance code 1234 in order to receive the latest shopping promotions while in the mall. Although you will receive the exact same promotions as being called over the radio, mixed in-between trendy Indian & International music. Throughout the mall security is present, on every floor and escalator you will find at least one or two security guards.

The main crowd in the mall is upper class Indians along with several foreigners.

Opening Hours Mon – Sun 11 am – 9:30 pm

Shoppers Stop
Vishal Cinema Road, Tagore Garden Extension
New Delhi, Delhi, India
(+91) 11 2544 4101
www.shoppersstop.com

General information

The FREEZE Sub-Zero lounge has officially opened 14th February 2010 at the 2nd and 3rd Floor of the West Gate Mall in the Rajouri Garden, New Delhi. The first unique edition of a sub zero day and nightlife establishment in the history of India’s capital city. Your senses will be tickled upon entrance of the FREEZE Lounge, neath neon lighting a trendy tune and painted walls will cover your senses. Choose to relax in the lounge first before entering a minus 10 degree ICE bar where snacks and drinks are served in ice glasses and on frost platters, with fancy glow in the dark liquor.

In order to enter the minus 10 degree ICE bar you are required to wear a jacket with if wished matching hand gloves and hat, which are recommended to at least bring. The staff is friendly and speaks good English and of course English. The ICE bar is decorated with ICE sculptures of the statue of liberty, hearts of ice, cultural Indian arts, a swan and mirrors to make the bar seem bigger. The snacks can be non and veg and be consumed in the little lounge corner on the left hand side of the DJ booth made of ICE, centered is the ICE bar where the cocktails get made on by your personal bar tender. You are advised to drink your drinks fast, as they will FREEZE! The earlier recommendation to bring gloves has been made in order to play the tick-tac-toe game made of gigantic ice cube blocks. The most crowded nights are on Friday and Saturday but the lounge is open any day of the week.

Ticket prices
Rs1000 (€17,10 or $21,47) which includes time entrance, unlimited drinks and food.

FREEZE Lounge facilities
Smoking is prohibited inside the FREEZE Lounge.
The FREEZE Lounge is wheelchair accessible.
Snacks are included in your entrance fee.
The FREEZE Lounge offers FREE WIFI.

Opening Hours Mon- Sun 12 pm – 1 am

FREEZE Sub Zero Lounge
2nd and 3rd Floor West Gate Mall
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi 110027
(+91) 11 4000 6000
www.freezelounge.com

As of April 2010 the entrance fee of the Taj Mahal is 750 Rs. ($16.75) for foreigners, as well 25 Rs. ($0.55) extra for a handy-cam while Indian tourists pay 20 Rs. ($0.45) only. The entrance fee comes with a tourist map of Agra, a shoe cover and free bottle of water. Although video footage is not allowed behind the red-lines, just about 25 ft. after you paid the 25 Rs. ($0.55) surcharge regular camera’s are allowed anywhere outside giving you a unique opportunity taking beautiful shots of the picturesque Taj Mahal (No camera’s allowed inside the tomb area) In case you forget your camera, there’s professional photographers taking pictures for 50 Rs. ($1.10) per photo.

The most convenient time to visit the Taj Mahal is at sunrise in order to see the shiny morning sun glow over the beautiful decorated mausoleum. It’s advisable to arrive around 5:00 AM to skip the long lines and be one of the first capturing the happening, therefore bring a fully charged camera battery as most likely you can’t stop taking pictures! As it gets later, 5:30 AM – 6:00 AM the group tours as well individual tourists start arriving which leaves people stranded in long lines, the heavy security checks cause even more delay. No one is allowed taking pens, cigarettes, knives or matches inside, each tourist is required walking through a metal detector and will be padded down.

The Taj complex has a proper setup and is divided into five elements, the east, west and south gateways for entrance, the Great Gate officially Darwaza-i-Rauza (Gateway of the tomb) facing the Taj Mahal from the north entrance which gives access to a peaceful yet spacious garden filled with a fountain, birds, monkeys and sqwirls, a mosque on the left side along with a royal guesthouse on the right side, and of course in the center of attention the Taj Mahal.

Without a doubt the Taj Mahal is the number one sightseeing in entire India, it’s gigantic, beautiful and breathtaking at the same time. Over 2 million people that visit the Taj Mahal each year know why!

FACTS
The Taj Mahal is not lit at night.
In the order to prevent foreign attackers from bombing it.
Machine factories may not operate in Agra.
To prevent the Taj Mahal being polluted.
The Taj Mahal is made of marvel and stone.

TIPS
Do not bring your handy-cam (25 Rs. extra) ($0.55).
You will be only required to film about 25 ft. once you paid the surcharge.
Ignore touts offering a fast-ticket (100 Rs. extra) ($2.20).
Ticket window lines move fast and efficient, you will have to wait for security regardless.
Ignore the “official” tour guides (100 Rs. extra) ($2.20).
It seems their knowledge is directly copied from Wikipedia.
Keep your Taj Mahal ticket for 50 Rs. ($1.10) discount at Agra Fort.
The south gate is closed until 8:30 AM due to parking problems in the early mornings.

Opening Hours Mon – Sun (Friday closed) (Sunrise till Sunset)

Taj Mahal
Purani Mandi
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

Mumbai is a gigantic, clean and rich city. Many travelers that also visited Delhi agree that Mumbai has more classifications to be India’s capital city. It actually has office buildings, condominium complexes, big shopping malls, wide cobble stoned streets, parks and statues as well it’s very own bay and Kirikaty beach. World famous film industry Bollywood is also situated in this city.

Mumbai might be the richest city in India, but make no mistake. When traveling around the city at night you will see tens to hundreds of homeless people sleeping on the side of the street, it’s a common sight. Yet the city is relatively safe to wonder around, day and night. Don’t draw unnecessary attention to yourself by carrying around lots of money or expensive belongings.

Mumbai is a city of sightseeing’s of which most are concentrated in South Mumbai. Within city limits you can find for example several rock cut caves like the Elephanta (which can be reached from the Gate of India), the Kanheri, and Mahakali. Besides caves, the city has it’s very own beach in downtown, as well an entire area filled with famous museums and art galleries like the Kala Ghoda area. Here are the Prince of Wales Museum, National Gallery of Modern Art located.

Although Mumbai is a pretty large city, you won’t have any trouble getting around. The streets are filled with ambassador taxi’s, subway, red and double-decker buses. Even the meter isn’t a problem as the police performs many road checks for taxi’s to use their meter when having a customer, for both foreigner or local. The price on the meter isn’t the actual price, taxi drivers should have a map with governmental prices. For example 12 rupees on the meter is 18 rupees, and 30 rupees on the meter is 50 rupees. Using the bus will save you money, the average price of a bus ticket is only 10 rupees but during rush hour it can be inconvenient.

The city of Mumbai has an active nightlife scene with many restaurants and nightclubs in several areas. After 1:30 am it get’s hard to get by liqueur in the regular clubs, and you need to proceed to the fancy and high profile clubs such as the Bling located in the Leela, China House in the Hyatt, the Leopard and Red Light Discotheque in the Colaba district. The taxi from the Colaba district to for example The Hyatt and Leela should be around 450 to 500 rupees on the meter. When visiting Mumbai there’s a funny thing to witness called Ladybars, for example White House or Junction. You can also look a movie in the Metro Cinema.

Travelers to India / Mumbai are required to have a valid passport and valid India visa. All nationalities traveling to India must have an VISA prior to arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), even for airline transits. Travel destination India is pretty strict issuing visa’s and has multiple requirements which count for all travelers. For price inquiry please contact the embassy, a basic tourist VISA to India for 3 months costs €65 in Europe and $80 in North America, while Students, Business, Journalists or Family visa’s start at €99 ($120).

India city list

FOR YOUR COMFORT
Leave valuables home leave your valuables such as laptop and expensive cellphones at home. The extreme heat, dust and smog will get your hand-held phone screens to scratch as well your laptop to damage during transfers due to heating problems. Most of the budget hotels do not offer WIFI, unless you are planning on staying at $150 dollar up/5 star hotel establishments your laptop will be off no use.

Travel light weight with the constant heat it’s recommended that you travel light weight. Whether traveling from one city to another or simply wandering around in the city. You always want to be carrying as little as possible, even at night.

Avoid long sleeved clothing, some say it’s a no brainer, or even a useless tip yet people forget how dessert hot India can be at times. Still, walking around the streets you will see tourists who brought their long sleeved clothing and are actually wearing it. Reasoning is because they bring it as backup or evenings, but with clothes draining dirty so quickly the laundry might just be too late and leave you no choice.

Carry napkins, as most of the Indians do not use toilet paper it’s recommended you carry around a pack of napkins. Even most of the budget hotels do not offer toilet paper or even hot water.

Nail clipper, as most meals are eaten by hand you might want to keep your nails short in order to avoid dirt getting under it. Most of the tourists get sick of dirt stuck under the finger nails. Use the nail clipper, keep your nails short and wash your hands before dinner (even if they don’t look dirty).

Drink Coca Cola or Pepsi after your meal, this counts for any meal you’re having from your hotel to restaurants as well food stands outside. The coca cola will save you from a stomach age or getting sick from the food. It really works!

Apply skin & sun lotion, it doesn’t apply for everyone but you will find out soon enough. The heat can cry your skin quickly or leave a nasty sun burn. There’s small shops on the side of the roads, Indian convenient stores that sell skin lotions and anti sun burn. The retail price is listed on the bottle, normally wise you should not pay more than exactly listed on the bottle. This counts for all products.

Carry mosquito spray, a small bottle of mosquito spray can help you out at times, especially when visiting the river banks of Varanasi, the holy city or when sightseeing the old monuments and forts of Agra, Delhi, Goa, Murud, Jaipur and Pushkar.

STREET SMART
Travel with passport especially at night the Indian police has many checkpoints setup around the cities and can randomly stop your taxi asking for a valid passport and visa. Not having them with you will result in a fine which will be a random number the police officer feel’s he can get from you.

Know where you’re going is a basic rule that applies in every city. If you don’t know where you are going, pretend. Write down the name of the place you want to go as well the area it’s in. If the taxi driver doesn’t seem to understand you, asks for a business card or phone number simply proceed to the next taxi. Show confidence, make them believe you know where it is for example by saying it’s not to far. Without you knowing where you want to go, the taxi drivers will put you at random locations in the city along with commission bazaars and fake tourists offices trying to charge you an arm and leg for private cars and tours.

Know the prices, first of all remember that all prices are listed on the product! When you visit the Big Bazaar supermarket in the big malls you won’t find any prices listed besides for promotions. For example it should read (15 rs price inclusive of all taxes) on the neck of any bottled water brand (1 liter). Coca cola and similar drinks (600ml) should not exceed 22 rupees as of April 2010. Prices of small snacks are 5 to 10 rupees, again the price is listed any product! This also counts for the shampoo, body lotions, deodorant sprays and other products.

Discuss the price before, always! discuss the price before hand. Most of the auto-auto rickshaw drivers will only ask you where you wish to go without turning on the meter charging you astronomical fees of two, three up to five hundred rupees ($10.00 dollars). Discuss the price before hand, no matter how far it is the price shouldn’t be over a hundred rupees (about $2.00) basically anywhere in India. Taxi prices in Goa and Delhi are relatively higher than elsewhere, in Mumbai you should be able to use a meter taxi without problems due to the many police checks.

Ignore anyone approaching you, this travel tip can’t be stressed too many times in India. It applies anywhere, monuments, markets and even randomly on the street. They are called touts, even the locals don’t trust them. No matter how friendly they seem or say they only want to chat, there’s only one reason why they’re approaching you. Money.

LIE, often the touts who approach you will try to make little conversation with you in order to know what they are facing. The basic questionnaire:
1. Where do you come from? They don’t really care where you from, instead they establish the currency to charge you in. Euro, dollar or pounds.
2. How many times you visit India? It’s in their best interests to know how easy it is to frame your money. Lie and say it’s your fourth or fifth time and wish him a pleasant day then walk away!

Bring a backup battery with all these beautiful sightseeing’s everywhere, as well the picturesque city streets you wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity of that one beautiful and breathtaking shot! Bring a backup battery for your camera.

Don’t give money to beggars, handing money to one beggar will activate more beggars to come to you. Ignoring them is the best, also the little children, wounded children, older male & females and mom’s with babies. Most of them work in large groups, if you can’t stand the sight of the poor children, the fact they life on the street try walking around with sweets. This is generally accepted and the kids like it!

Be aware of your belongings at all times thieves are fast and work efficient, be aware of your belongings at all time. This travel tip doesn’t apply specifically for India but also on your adventures worldwide.

Keep backup money although the cities in India are relatively safe, and ATM machines are widely available throughout the cities it’s always wise to keep backup money in your hotel, perhaps foreign currency or in form of travelers check.

Bring a backup credit card as you never know what may happen on your next trip, it doesn’t apply specifically for India alone but it’s handy to have and keep on your adventures worldwide.

Main crowd is Indian, foreigners are allowed and present. The DJ booth is located on on your right hand side next to the entrance/exit. The bar has a long stretch, good air-conditioning and a large bar on the left side where you can order drinks. The bar is black and red, has several red bull signs and a glowing cocktail menu. In the back side of the bar is the VIP/Reserved area where all the upper class Indians go. There’s no entree for regular customers, and opposite sex couples are not a requirement. The area is divided with private booths, and most of the VIP guests keep ordering bottles of liqueur and food to entertain themselves. It’s quite difficult ordering a drink sometimes for regular customers during the weekends, you have to adjust to Indian style to get a drink; push, scream and try to get ahead of your turn.

When big cricket games are being played they will show it on a large projector screen keeping the entire disco from dancing just staring blind at the screen while drinking beer and whiskey. As it gets later, the Indian crowd, especially males start getting drunk and dancing rather wild on any particular song. Where westerns would just continue dancing regular, the Indians start jumping, pushing and hugging each other.

The toilets are located on the first floor, as you exit the discotheque area go straight than left. The toilets are made with glass walls & mirrors, I suggest you first take a look at the toilets before stumbling in wasted. Inside the discotheque smoking is an offense, the smoking area is on the first floor directly straight after you exit the disco/dance area.

Opening Hours Mon- Sun 7 pm – 1:30 am (Fri-Sat 7 pm : 3 am)

Red Light Disco & Dance Club
145, Mg Road, Above Khyber Restaurant
Near Rhythm House, Whitehouse, Kalaghoda, Fort, Mumbai
Mumbai, India
(+91) 22 66346246

Bhagwati Internet is more than just a internet cafe, in combination with the Drinks Corner they can serve drinks and foods when using the computer as well help you print, scan and fax (color) pages/photo’s, backup photo’s from your memory card on a CD, even book a taxi or railway & flight tickets.

When you just arrived in India, you will notice soon enough your going to need a local cellphone that works anywhere in India. In order to save numbers of taxi drivers or to call your hotel when your lost. You can either buy a cellphone in a regular store for full price or simply rent a phone from the Bhagwati Internet Cafe. Basically you will be paying the actual price the phone costs but have possibility to sell the phone back at the end of your trip for half the price. Example: Buy a 2000 rupees cellphone, go on a one month trip and receive a 1000 rupees back when returning the cellphone.

When both of the computers are occupied the owner will offer his own laptop for availability of a third person, as well there’s an older backup computer which can be used as a fourth.

The internet cafe can be found easily by following these directions, ask your Auto Rickshaw driver for the Koral Bagh area. Once you entered the Koral Bagh area (easily noticeable), take the first turn right than go straight. The Bhagwatizone Drinks Corner is located on your right hand side, right next to the C Park INN hotel. If you have issues finding the cafe, call the number (ask for Varun) and ask for directions.

Opening Hours Tue- Sun 8 am – 10.30 pm (Mon 8 am – 5 pm)

Bhagwatizone Drinks Corner
1026/17 Naiwala Karol Bagh, New Delhi
Tel: (+91) 9582759515
bhagwatizone@gmail.com

From the Auto Auto stop it’s a 5 minutes walk to the Pierre where you will have to purchase a ticket in order to visit the Murud Janjira Fort for the price of 20 Rs. (about $0.40). The boats depart every 10 to 15 minutes towards the fort, they are old fashioned sailing boats without engines. About 10 people should be allowed on the boat, but the Indians try to fit in as many as they can.

The boat ride lasts about 15 minutes, is very relaxing and is giving great sightseeing of the Janjira Fort, which itself is absolutely huge! The fortress is about 500 years old, and once arrived they will start a tour which is in Indian (Hindi) language. The price of the tour guide is 30 Rs. per head, no English guides are available. Tourists are allowed to wonder around the fort for about 45 minutes free of charge giving unique opportunities of making endless magnificent pictures and video footage, which are free of charge to bring.

It’s advisable to go to the top of the fort, where the flag located giving you a fantastic view of the Janjira coast and the fort. It can get a bit windy up there, so be careful! Around the fort there’s a lot of Indian workers trying to clean up the fort. In the recent years tourists have written texts on the walls which is prohibited by law, as of March 2010 they are repainting the fort, and the most parts are under construction.

When you arrive in Murud by bus or taxi there’s just one main street leading through the city which is narrow and clean, one the sides are palm trees and colored houses, an gigantic empty beach can be found on the right hand side overlooking the outlines of the Casa Fort with nearby a few lodges like Sahil Lodge (from 600rs/night) as well a handful of hotels like Sea sight (from 800rs/night) providing cheap accommodation. Nearby these accommodation is another hotel/restaurant facing the beach named Vinajak Garden Family Restaurant providing cheap, fresh local foods for breakfast and dinner. It’s not a popular tourist destination but more of a stop-over for backpackers who are traveling from Mumbai towards Goa and back. 

The presence of the volatile Abyssinians can be felt like the tales of Murud’s past glory being told by the locals, as well can be seen by visiting the magnificent Sidi Palace that even today still stands on the outskirts of Murud village. The Sidi Palace brings a whole new dimension to tourist sightseeing with it’s 43 acres of land, old cannon’s, remnants of stone lion and a disused fountain covered with weeds and sculpture, not to mention the interiors of the Sidi Palace which is absolutely breathtaking unfortunately tourists are not allowed to go inside. Another great sightseeing in Murud is the Janjira Fort which is nearby the Janjira Village.

As earlier mentioned, the beach is empty besides for a few fishermen and kids riding buffalo’s with wooden cars, as well horses. You’re in for a surprise! Leaves you wondering why they don’t add a few beach shacks, restaurants and advertise Murud as a beach resort. As far our research, map wise Murud is the closest beach town from Mumbai and can be easily reached within 4 hours of convenient travel. It’s a perfect hide-away for Mumbai citizens and backpackers, but as of March 2010 has a serious lack of facilities. There’s just a few small shops that sell snacks and drinks although the Fish Market at the end of the beach is defiantly worth a visit. In the entire city of Muru there’s no ATMs (closes one is 19 miles away) and just a single internet cafe named “Fahim Internet Cafe” opened from 8:30 am to 11:00 pm (35rs. per hour) with 17 inch flat screens and a decent internet connection which is a few doors down from the Sahil Lodge.

The trip from Mumbai to Murud should cost you 144 rs. as of March 2010 for the ferry and bus from Gate of India to Mandrwa by ferry 45 minutes, from Mandrwa by bus to Alibag 30 minutes (2 in 1 ticket 110rs) total travel time 1 hours and 15 minutes. From Alibag central by bus (named tum tum) to Murud 2 hours (bumpy ride) for 34rs. Be sure to stock some extra drinks and snacks before proceeding to Murud by bus as there’s no air-conditioning. The tickets for the bus can be purchased in the bus.