India spending money?

toadhall · 22 January 2020 at 8:38AM

We are off to India doing the Golden Triangle Tour etc for 2 weeks, mostly h/b with the odd lunch thrown in. Going in 5 weeks.

How much spending money are we likely to need? Has anyone experienced the same thing?
I'm fairly thrifty with money and won't be buying much in the way of tat etc, so it will be mostly the lunches and the odd family/ cat sitter gift.

So far I've put away over £200, will that be enough, any thoughts please.

Thanks

Voyager2002 · 22 January 2020 at 10:39AM

If you take tours and eat in restaurants recommended by the tour guide, the sky is the limit. Otherwise, the places where local people eat would provide an adequate lunch for about a pound. Alcohol is often surprisingly expensive; admission fees will always be high.

PompeyPete · 22 January 2020 at 11:38AM

Voyager2002 wrote: »

If you take tours and eat in restaurants recommended by the tour guide, the sky is the limit. Otherwise, the places where local people eat would provide an adequate lunch for about a pound. Alcohol is often surprisingly expensive; admission fees will always be high.

A 'Sin Tax' no doubt.....someone has to keep the beneficiaries of these taxes in Johnny Walker Whisky.

Katiehound · 22 January 2020 at 4:33PM

As you no doubt realise Indian rupees are a 'blocked' currency- or whatever you want to call it, so officially you can't get them outside India.

I would change money in smallish sums (ah, but I am assuming there are 2 of you) say £20/£30 at a time so you won't be left with cash in hand. Usually you can change in hotels or there are money change booths- similar rates.

I always find US $ bills really handy, especially the one dollar variety, widely accepted as tips or for the street hawkers.

I would have more cash than that- personally. Hotels will take plastic- make sure you pay in rupees, they are fond of coverting to ££s instead.

There is quite nice tat around if you look carefully but beware some of the street hawkers- they can be very very intrusive

I was on a tour and the escort told us not to interact with the street sellers, she told them that we would 'buy on the bus'. It worked well as we got a good price and they possibly sold more than they would have done otherwise.

Have fun- it's an amazing place.

maman · 22 January 2020 at 7:15PM

Katiehound wrote: »

I was on a tour and the escort told us not to interact with the street sellers, she told them that we would 'buy on the bus'. It worked well as we got a good price and they possibly sold more than they would have done otherwise.

Have fun- it's an amazing place.

I did much the same a year ago on a Riviera guided tour. The guide also kept a kitty for giving tips at various places (toilets en route for example) so instead of us tipping individually we referred people to 'aunty'. Also a generous tip for the Indian guide and coach driver, which was well deserved, and to the tour guide herself if you wished. These don't have to be in rupees though. I'd say definitely more than £200. We stopped for lunch every day but not many were included in the price. I did use some plastic so be sure to have the right cards.

sazaccount · 22 January 2020 at 7:30PM

You can spend as little as a pound per day to 100s in India. Also take note though on what is included in your tour, if you have to pay for entry into anywhere eg the Taj Mahal is 1300 INR for foreigner, palaces and places can range from 100-700 INR etc.

A bottle of water is around 15p in a store, although most places/hotels do filtered water and just take a reusable bottle... on a side not check anything you are buying at a shop/pharmacy for the MRP this is how much is has to be sold for, I do know of people who have been scammed by shop owners by charging WAAAAAY more and there are deposits on glass bottles.

There is defiantly some beautiful "tat", I went to work in India with one suitcase and returned 8 months later with 2 suitcases, bed sheets, hand made throws, scarves, sooooo many clothes.

Enjoy!

Katiehound · 25 January 2020 at 7:35PM

My trip was Mar/April last year
Just out of interest I have looked at my CC statement- seems I paid out around £135.
I had a 15 night tour (1 in flight)
Meals included: all breakfasts, 3 lunches & 9 dinners. So the money above covered remaining meals minus 2, plus drinks. I certainly did not buy the most expensive item on the menu or dear drinks.
Be aware that if you are on tour you are a captive audience at , say, lunchtime. Time is very restricted and you can't just wander off to find a cheap place!

Bottled water was very plentiful and supplied at no cost by both hotel and on coach.

I know you asked specifically about money but can I just mention a couple of other things.

If you have internal flights (and return flight) security was very tight for: spare batteries & power packs. I had (unwittingly) got an insect bite 'zapper' in an obscure sponge bag and they thought it was a detonator! That caused chaos at 3 airports- in the end we (security & myself) nearly took the case apart.

we stayed at 4* & 5* hotels & ate at well established places BUT bulk of group went down with 'something'. 2 people didn't and they took 'Digestion Support Travel' tablets from Boots- or a probiotic would do as well- take for about 2 weeks beforehand.... we were so careful too!!

toadhall · 26 January 2020 at 2:04PM

That's brilliant, just the info I needed, was that just for you or for two?
Thank you, will look at the tablets, along with imodium, dioralyte and hand sanitiser

maman · 26 January 2020 at 2:19PM

toadhall wrote: »

That's brilliant, just the info I needed, was that just for you or for two?
Thank you, will look at the tablets, along with imodium, dioralyte and hand sanitiser

Both DH and I had a small dose of 'Delhi belly', fortunately very short lived. In my case it happened the day before we were due to take an internal flight. Because it would have caused many problems if I wasn't well enough to travel, the tour guide called a doctor. It cost all of £10!:eek: £5 for his call out fee (came in 30 minutes on his motor cycle) and £5 for the medication which was delivered soon after his visit. The medication was effectively the generic versions of Imodium and Dioralyte.

The coach company used were very good about hand sanitiser, every time we got on and off the coach and readily available whenever we wanted it. Good idea to take your own though.

Ballard · 26 January 2020 at 3:02PM

That's a terrific trip so I'm sure that you will enjoy.

It is easy to eat incredibly cheaply in India and alcohol prices (and availability) vary by state but I don't think that it's prohibitively expensive anywhere. There are also some nice restaurants in the cities which would hit the wallet harder, of course.

The last time I went it was impossible to exchange any currency for Rupees and two of us got by on £20-ish (R2,000) ATM cash every other day and plastic.

Do check the Reserve Bank of India website (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/ic_banknotes.aspx) to see what notes are valid as the R500 & R1,000 notes were withdrawn in 2016 to ensure that you don't get fleeced when exchanging cash.

Katiehound · 26 January 2020 at 3:33PM

toadhall wrote: »

That's brilliant, just the info I needed, was that just for you or for two?
Thank you, will look at the tablets, along with imodium, dioralyte and hand sanitiser

That cost was just me. You might get by cheaper for 2- ie share a large pizza.

Unfortunately I went down with food poisoning, right near end (campylobacter) and the call out charge for duty doctor at hotel complete with rehydration 'boxes' & tablets was £70. Part of the cost may have been because it was 9pm at night. (We didn't get to the hotel until 7.30pm!) Plastic came in useful for that bill!
Walked onto the homeward flight with 5 bananas.
If possible don't take immodium- I had to- internal flight. Better to get bug out of system.

India spending money?

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