Hi Aline,

Glad you had a great trip to Bali. I can answer your questions because I am from Delhi myself. Getting out of airport is pretty easy. There are radiocabs availablle at the airport. The reputed companies for radio cabs remain Meru Cabs or Mega Cabs. I strongly recommend taking one of these only. Just keep walking at the exit until you get to the meru counter. On your way you may find lot of drivers asking you saying they are from meru and have radio cabs but just ignore and only take it from Meru stand with a counter.

Regarding hotel, what's your budegt like? The good areas can be south delhi or cnnaught place (CP).. 

Hope this helps..

Cheers

Hello, in 2003 I took these taxis and they brought to a tourist information office à 4am. Where I was told, my hotel was not to be found, I should try another. Finally I ended up going north for 6 hours with a private driver. I felt shocked.

But since I do not want to stay on this negative souvenir, I'd like to go back...

My budget? first night: between 50 and 100 dollars but then a little less if I can.

How do you advise travelling to Rajasthan? I went by train in 1993... but now ?

How is New Year's in Pushkar ?

Is renting a motorbike advisable ? in Bali that is what I did!!!

thank you

Aline

Aline,

There are 2 options for going to Rajasthan

1. Buses that originate near India Gate.

2. Shatabdi Express from New Delhi station that goes upto Ajmer via Jaipur.

Meru Cabs, Mega Cabs and Easy Cabs are the most reliable options and you should REFRAIN from using any private taxies.

As regards, hotels while I cannot guide much but stay away from Paharganj area. Karol Bagh can offer rooms in your budget but check well. Try using Hotels.com or Bookings.com

Manish

how about New year's in India? how is it?

I agree regarding staying away from Paharganj area.. You may find attractive deals there but I as an Indian too would feel unsafe there.

Recommended areas: Greater Kailash 1 or 2, Saket, Hauz Khas, Green Park in South Delhi and central Delhi Connaught Place , Karol Bagh. Based on your dates you may be able to get something around 80-100 USD/night for a 3 star hotel.  

Regarding new year in Delhi, until an year before it was a good scene in Delhi but after the world known rape case last year in Delhi, they shut down the places at 1 am normally and 2-3 am on new year's eve.. Rajasthan may not be best place for new year's even though..New year is really happening in Goa in case you could detour..

Cheers

oh oh oh I forgot about the bombings!

I am not interested in going out for new years etc, I am just looking for a safe place.

how about Pushkar on new years? could be safe?

I do not want to party, just watch the people in the street, drink chai, talk, go to the temples and watch the offerings...

apparently it is very dangerous for women to go to India because of rapes !

Well, I think of it that way.. You need to reaearch about the place you are going and beware of your surroundings..And not be out alone in lonely places..Most such issues happen when you try and compare Switzerland/Europe/Western countries with India and do similar things as you would otherwise.

Aline, If you consider the place dangerous, then you should not have planned it in the first place. There are areas everywhere, be it Swiss, France or India where a person in his / her wisdom should not visit. Common sense prevails. Have we not heard of fathers raping daughters for years in Europe ?

Follow some basic rules and stay safe is the simple principle...

Goa  is  a best place to celebrate   new year .. goa is silent place 

I go to India in November, taking the plane to Delhi and then travelling around. My friend and me plan to take the train from Delhi to Agra and then from Agra to Jaipur. We wanted to book online, but whatever I tried - it doesn't work. ash m, what do you recommend, can we also buy the train tickets directly at the station in Delhi (2 days before)? Or is this risky because there will probably be no free seat?

Sylvia,

Indian Railways booking website is irctc.co.in. You may need to register and try to book. Let me know in case of difficulty. i can help

Manish

Sylvia, as indicated by Manish you could register on irctc website and then make bookings online. 

However for the journey you mentioned (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), if it was me, I would take a cab and do a road trip. Delhi-Agra is three hours on road and Agra-Jaipur is another three hours. If you decide to do a road trip, best is to book a taxi from a reliable tourist taxi company for entire duration of your trip. Comes out cheaper this way and gives you flexibility.

Not sure if you have exeprienced Indian train system before, but the train journeys in India are not as exciting as in Europe.

Happy to help if you need more info.

Ash 

Will fully endorse what Ash has recommended...key is to find a reliable taxi guy..

Manish, ash m, believe me, I registered at irctc, at cleartrip, at makemytrip... and I succeeded after 4 days of endless trials ...and finally, I chose the trains, and I payed... and got on of the messages:

- we cannot accept international credit cards at the moment

- booking not allowed, you will be refunded

and similar stuff. It's horrible! Now I definitely will not try again.

My friend and me have a private driver for two weeks. Anyway, the two trips we definitely want to do by train. So, taking a taxi would really be the last choice if nothing else works.

Anyway, thanks for your nice replies

I can understand your frustration but honestly since it's a government website and e-commerce in public sector is fairly new in India, resolving these issues can be a pain. But no harm giving it a try.. Did you try their customer care helpline (  +91 11- 23701100) ?