Welcome to India !
After 4,5 hours flight journey i finally Landed in Kolkata International Airport. Firstly, let me introduce my only traveling partner in India, his name is Ucup. So, from now on the journey would be covered by the two of us. We arrived in Kolkata at early morning, well yeah i did not know what time actually it was. My handphone battery was die and so did Ucup's. We didn't have watch, so we just wondered what time it was by guessing the colour of the sky. BLANK, is the word which exactly best fit my feeling on the first day arrival in India. I lost my India Lonely Planet book. No, it wasn't stolen, i just forgot where the last time i put it. So here the next drama started. We got no clue, we didn't have any internet connection to browsing while looking for a wi-fi connection in India is such a sucks, buying a local sim card is impossible, since it needs like 3-4 days to be activated, and the worst thing was we didn't know where to go...Haaa !
How about the tourism centre ? it was closed, all of them were closed. Because you know what time it was ? it was 3.00 AM in the morning. I finally knew it after asked an Indian guy who sat next to me while waiting his family. "Where are you going ?" asked that guy. We don't know, we just arrived, and we don't know where to go, well actually i am gonna follow what my lonely planet book said, but since i just knew that it was lost, so we got confused i answered.
Good information i got from him, there are 3 kind alternatives for dumb people like us who don't know what to do after arriving at the airport.
1. Go to the prepaid Taxi booth counter, it is the safest thing you can do. Do not get ride of meter taxi.
2. There is an India railway reservation ticket counter in arrival terminal. If you wanna continue by taking a train, this could be a good solution. Make sure you don't get out of the building before knowing what to do. Because once you get out of building, you will not be allowed to get inside of the building even for the departure area, unless you have ticket and it should be 3 hours before departed.
3. Wait until the sunrise, then go explore the city. Do not ever going on the night, it is really dangerous.
So here 6 facts about India Train :
1. Online ticket/ Travel Agent/ Locket counter/
There are 3 ways of buying india train ticket
- Online ticket
The online webpage is owned by official India Government. http://www.indianrail.gov.in. There, you can find schedule, ticket price, seat availability and reservation form. One thing you should be aware of booking via online, you have to sign up first and be a member, then you have to put a local's phone number for verifying your membership. Though the vantage you will get is they are all on the fix price, there is no commission added. There is also online reservation provided by private company which has a easy and user friendly interface http://www.cleartrip.com
- Travel Agent
Buying a train ticket in travel agent is another solution. There are so many travel agent counters available in India, and the buying process is so fast and easy. Though, you have to pay a little more for company's commission. It was a good option for me since one of my problems why i couldn't buy a ticket via online is i cannot verified my account because i don't have any local number for reference.
- Locket Counter
Ok, this is the last choice, please do not take this option unless you are in emergency. Well, nothing is wrong about buying ticket on the spot. But most of the time, the tickets are sold out, and there will be only no-seat tickets left. It means you will get the general coach ticket where there is no seat provided.
2. AC/Non-AC
First question that will be asked by the officer when you buy a ticket is "do you want AC or Non-AC ?"
For the ticket from Kolkata to Agra in AC class cost around rps 1600 and for the Non-AC sleeper cost around rps 900. The AC class is more expensive but i bet it will be worth it as i have experienced the Non-AC one, and it was definitely stressful. Staying in a non-ac coach train in 40 celsius degree of India for 25 hours journey was really a bad decision.
3. Train Coach Type
The train itself mostly was divided into 4 coaches, whereas the most popular is non-ac sleeper class due to its affordable price yet still comfortable.
- AC 2 tier class
- AC 3 tier class
- Non-AC Sleeper Class
- General Coach (sitting class)
4. Beggar/Hawkers
If you choose the non-ac class, you will find so many beggars and hawkers sell some meals and drinks. If you want to taste the real of India, you'd better choose this option. Because, instead of annoying, these unlucky people made the journey full of unique experiences.
5. Long Time Journey
Well, i am not really sure, but i just feel all the railway journey i've join in India took a lot of times. For example like, from Kolkata to Agra which took 25 hours. I don't know either the long distance between one city to another or the under standard speed of the train. Ah yeah, maybe the not-on time schedule could be involved as the reason why it never match to the timeline should be.
6. Sleeping is a Common Activity
25 hours inside the train where AC is not provided. Can you imagine how does it feel ? And oh in 40 celsius degree. It becomes one of the most frustrating moments in my India journey. It was very hot since due to what local said i was coming in the peak season of summer, so it might be the hottest weather that India has. Alright, i went to the wash-hand stand like a lot in a day, just to wet my skin, though the hot weather will make it dry in less than a minute afterward. Sleeping may be the only way solution to kill the times and i got these different types of Indian while sleeping.
Sssst...they were all candid, if you find yours on some photos i uploaded below, i apologize for not asking permition taking your photograph while sleeping.
A backpacking journey of India. From the old town Kolkata, the holy Agra, the busy New Delhi, the hippies place of Manali, the amazing Leh Ladakh, Diversity culture of Kashmir were covered in 3 minutes Incredible India video. Enjoy the movie !
cheers,
kadekarini
The online webpage is owned by official India Government. http://www.indianrail.gov.in. There, you can find schedule, ticket price, seat availability and reservation form. One thing you should be aware of booking via online, you have to sign up first and be a member, then you have to put a local's phone number for verifying your membership. Though the vantage you will get is they are all on the fix price, there is no commission added. There is also online reservation provided by private company which has a easy and user friendly interface http://www.cleartrip.com
- Travel Agent
Buying a train ticket in travel agent is another solution. There are so many travel agent counters available in India, and the buying process is so fast and easy. Though, you have to pay a little more for company's commission. It was a good option for me since one of my problems why i couldn't buy a ticket via online is i cannot verified my account because i don't have any local number for reference.
- Locket Counter
Ok, this is the last choice, please do not take this option unless you are in emergency. Well, nothing is wrong about buying ticket on the spot. But most of the time, the tickets are sold out, and there will be only no-seat tickets left. It means you will get the general coach ticket where there is no seat provided.
2. AC/Non-AC
First question that will be asked by the officer when you buy a ticket is "do you want AC or Non-AC ?"
For the ticket from Kolkata to Agra in AC class cost around rps 1600 and for the Non-AC sleeper cost around rps 900. The AC class is more expensive but i bet it will be worth it as i have experienced the Non-AC one, and it was definitely stressful. Staying in a non-ac coach train in 40 celsius degree of India for 25 hours journey was really a bad decision.
The train itself mostly was divided into 4 coaches, whereas the most popular is non-ac sleeper class due to its affordable price yet still comfortable.
- AC 2 tier class
- AC 3 tier class
- Non-AC Sleeper Class
- General Coach (sitting class)
If you choose the non-ac class, you will find so many beggars and hawkers sell some meals and drinks. If you want to taste the real of India, you'd better choose this option. Because, instead of annoying, these unlucky people made the journey full of unique experiences.
5. Long Time Journey
Well, i am not really sure, but i just feel all the railway journey i've join in India took a lot of times. For example like, from Kolkata to Agra which took 25 hours. I don't know either the long distance between one city to another or the under standard speed of the train. Ah yeah, maybe the not-on time schedule could be involved as the reason why it never match to the timeline should be.
25 hours inside the train where AC is not provided. Can you imagine how does it feel ? And oh in 40 celsius degree. It becomes one of the most frustrating moments in my India journey. It was very hot since due to what local said i was coming in the peak season of summer, so it might be the hottest weather that India has. Alright, i went to the wash-hand stand like a lot in a day, just to wet my skin, though the hot weather will make it dry in less than a minute afterward. Sleeping may be the only way solution to kill the times and i got these different types of Indian while sleeping.
A backpacking journey of India. From the old town Kolkata, the holy Agra, the busy New Delhi, the hippies place of Manali, the amazing Leh Ladakh, Diversity culture of Kashmir were covered in 3 minutes Incredible India video. Enjoy the movie !
cheers,
kadekarini
Just landed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport and directly went to an airline ticket counter (ok let's called it X Airline)
Airline officer : sorry, you cannot buy the ticket to India without having a visa.
Me : oh, i'm going to have a visa on arrival at the airport
Airline Officer : i'm sorry madam, but visa on arrival is no longer existed. Now it changes to E-Tourist Visa which you have to apply online and it takes several days to come out.
Me : what ? i don't even know about that, could you give me more details
Airline Officer : sorry, i have to do some services, you can go to their website
Ok, first of all, that was my first time experience planning a trip without having a ticket. Long short story, India wasn't really my main destination. I have a ticket to Chengdu, China and planned to go overland through Tibet, Nepal, India. So yeah i had 1 departed ticket to Chengdu, and 1 ticket back to Indonesia from Kolkata, India. Surprisingly, just one day before my flight, i received an email from the agent that i hired for 7 days Tibet - Everest Base Camp - Nepal tour (due to a government regulation, in Tibet you aren't allowed to travel without hire a travel agent). We have contacted each other for like 5 months before anyway, and it all went facile before the Nepal earthquake happened. The Nepal earthquake was happened just 1 month before our date trip. I pretty much worried about my itinerary, because i heard some news stating due to a bad damage, the Nepal border between Tibet was closed for at least 5 months until 1 year. I then ensured it to my travel agent in Tibet, they said yes it's true hence i have to remove Nepal Border. So yeah we wouldn't going to cross the Tibet-Nepal Border but we still can go to Everest Base Camp, because its status those days was still safe for tourists.
Sadly, that means i have to cancel my India trip too, because there is only one border to India and it goes from Nepal. And i can't go to Nepal because the border was closed instead i have to fly and it's not possible because the airplane ticket price was frustrated (above USD 400 for one way). So i changed the route. One reason why i was still excited about this trip is because my travel agent said The Everest Basecamp was not affected. Hell yeah, that is my main destination of the trip anyway. Just like i stated above, bad dream happened just one day before my flight. When everything was ready, the China Visa, Tibet Permit, and bla bla bla. I received the email explaining due to the aftershock of Nepal, The Everest Base Camp was closed for Tourists. I didn't know what to say, i was speechless, my body suddenly turned into languid and yeah i got a little mad. So i hardly have to decide that i canceled the Tibet Trip and determined myself to go to India without having a ticket to India and just know about the new regulation of E-Tourist Visa India when i already was in Malaysia. This is the first chapter of drama started.
So, that day i directly visited the website and found how to get it. The requirement said it will take min 72 hours to process. Hell yeah, no choice unless i have to wait, so i planned to go around Malaysia until the e-tourist visa was granted. Well, actually there are two ways to get the India Visa for Indonesian. First, you can apply a tourist visa in India Embassy in Indonesia (your native country) and second is do apply a E-Tourist Visa like i did.
So these are some ways how to get the E-Tourist Visa India :
1. Open the website https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html
2. There you can find all of the requirements of applicant clearly. The process itself will take like this
3. After you click the e-tourist visa application button, the first page will appear is like this
4. Next step is fill the form regarding your identity card
5. On the third page you have to fill contact that can be contacted for your emergency
6. On the next page, you have to fill your indian's reference contact, and uploading the visa photo. Please do follow these requirements of the photo :
- Format - JPEG
- Min size 10 kb and max size 100 kb
- The height and width of the photo must be equal
- photo should prsent full face, front view, eyes open and without glasses
- background should be plain, i prefer you guys choose the white background
- without borders
7. After uploading the photo, you have to upload the scan passport, passport document requirements please see below :
- PDF format
- min size 10kb, max size 300kb
- photo page of passport uploaded should be of the same passport whose details are provided in passport detail section
8. After all the form was finished, you will be given a page of your details, including your uploaded photo.
9. After click the continue button, you will get your application ID and asked to pay now or pay later. If you choose apply now it will directly connect to a paying secure page. Whereas if you choose pay later, just make sure you keep your application id to enter the payment page site later.
10. It will cost USD 60 for single entry for 30 days of staying. And it only accept credit card payment method. Once the paid was processed, you will get the notification via email, please notes either your e-visa application was granted or rejected, the money that was deposited will be not refunded.
11. The process will take a min 72 hours and max 1 week and they will send a visa through your email. Lucky me, it only took 24 hours to finish. It was quite surprising though, so i didn't need to wait for the next 3 days more.
12. If you already get the visa, you'd better print it out, because i did not print it and it caused the indian immigration officer got infuriated.
13. The next step after seeing your visa was granted is buying the airplane ticket. Make sure this e-tourist visa is only valid for entry through 9 designated airports ; Bengaluru, chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Mumbai & Trivandum. However, the foreigner can take exit from any the authorized Immigration Check Post in India.
So if i am asked which one is easier applying the e-tourist visa or applying in your home country. I might say this e-tourist visa is much easier, because if i apply in India Embassy in Indonesia (my home country), the requirements are too much, like we have to print out the ittineray, print out the tickets, prove the bank deposit balance, thought it cost a little cheaper. One good thing of this online visa is, i don't need to come to the embassy, i can apply it wherever i am. But, yes the key to success of applying the e-visa is make sure you have submitted the correct data and all are coherent, do not hurry, just calm down, read and fill the form clearly. Because if it's rejected, you will never know the reason why.
So please read the requirements and regulations on the website perfectly https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html. Good luck !
If there is any question, please fill the comment box below.
A backpacking journey of India. From the old town Kolkata, the holy Agra, the busy New Delhi, the hippies place of Manali, the amazing Leh Ladakh, Diversity culture of Kashmir were covered in 3 minutes Incredible India video. Enjoy the movie !
cheers,
kadek arini
