Travel to India

A travel dream of mine is close to coming true. For years I have dreamt about going to India, many people around me has been to the most populated country in the world and when I follow Jennifer’s blog about the expat life in India I decided that I definitely wanted to go there myself and explore. Over a glas of wine some months ago travelblogger Charlotte aka Readyfortakeoff and I decided to go for an adventure and since she never been to Taj Mahal either we decided that we should go to India and check if the wold wonder exist for real.

Planning a trip to India

The first thing we did was getting valuable advices from people in our surroundings. Then we checked flights and Lufthansa was the best option. The plan is to fly there with my favorite aircraft, A380 through Frankfurt and on the way back try out their A350 though Munich. We started our real planning last week and on Tuesday we applied for the visa at a site that looked like it was made year 2000 by someone who was checking if all colors from the color scheme worked. I heard from a colleague that it was quite tricky to fill in the application so I did it carefully to avoid to redo it. Success. One day later I got an email that my application was accepted. 50 USD less at my bank account but an entrance to India richer.

Then Charlotte researched the hotel market in Agra where we plan to stay. Some places looked like real palaces but we decided to go on a hopefully safe option from an international chain that had a big pool, which I consider very important. Accommodation in Agra was really cheap.

The getting from point A to point B and C in India would be possible to do by train, but if I would like to travel by train in India. Don’t think so. Luckily I got a recommendation from another colleague that have been traveling around in India about a driver that should be a good one. I contacted him so he will drive us around like two queens during our visit. If he shows up at the airport as agreed. He seems to be trustworthy but you never know.

Travel preparations

I never had food poisoning while traveling so I cross my fingers I won’t get it in India either. A visit to the hospital in India sounds less inspiring so my plan is to be more than careful with what you eat, do the usual avoid ice in drinks, check that water bottles are sealed and only eat at places you trust if you need to eat. I have actually also been to the supermarket to stock up with some safe eats. Crackers, crackers, nuts and bars. I call it the survival kit.

Yesterday I went to the library to be a bit old school and borrow a Lonely planet. They were though all taken so I got another guide book that I read a bit in after my Transformersclass at SATS and cool off swim at Hornsberg.

Now I am down to the most boring thing on the list. Packing. I will bring my travel partner in crime, my Samsonite cabin bag and one more bag. No stuff to check in. Light clothes and suitable outfit for Taj Mahal with long sleeves and knee coverage, no valuables, some different credit cards, some cash, a book, a laptop, chargers, training gear and I guess some more stuff. My packing technique is that I through everything out from my closet that I want to bring, then I make some outfits from the stuff and put back the things I don’t find suitable. Takes like 30 minutes. My toiletries I never unpack so I just have to put them in my bag. So, let the adventure begin!

And if you have any India recommendations, shoot. It will most likely be the one and only time I go to Delhi and Agra.

/ Pernilla in adventure mode