My upcoming journey around India is in the phase where it is consuming quite a lot of spare time. No worry: I view it as an investment in the avoidance of predictable problems including much 'down time' (as in missed connections, hotel room searching) en-route. Mr. Murphy is out there somewhere---even in India! Travel mandatories are now complete: visa obtained, along with the three trip visit to the local health clinic for shots. Call me a planning freak---but I do not like problems to arise when travelling ---adverse situations that can be obviated with a modicum of planning forethought. Talked to key people and read alot. One of the most complicated areas to pre-arrange on this journey around India has been the logistics of travel by train. Through the helpful folks at SD Enterprises, Wembley, UK, my nearest official India Railways ticket agents, a 90 day rail pass has been purchased, and at no extra cost, the seat reservation process has been completed at least for the first half of the journey from Mumbai, as far as Kolkata (Calcutta). SD will have saved me, if this all works out according to plan, many hours of hot, sweaty line-ups and form filling at crowded local rail ticket booths finalising reservations for the next travel sector.The timing of my journey is the September to December period, with the objective of trying to miss the very hottest weather in the north and moving south in the later part of the journey. The cooler weather also coincides with the holiday season for the local Indian population. With 350 million middle class citizens (equal to the entire population of the USA), many now have discretionary spending power to enjoy leisure travel. Late October is the festive season of Diwalli--Festival of Lights, when locals head for the famous religious shrines and pack the tropical beaches. All this travel activity likely impacts on the availability of hotel rooms in popular destinations. However, in this era of the internet connectivity, we are blessed with services like Trivago and Booking.com to make the search for rooms in advance, an easy task. At the touch of a button, dozens of properties are displayed in every city, complete with photos and pricing options. Tariffs seem reasonable, so I presume the market is functioning effectively. So far, with rooms booked across northern India for the first 45 days of travel, tariffs pre-paid are averaging $33 per night in accommodation ranging from home stays (Indian B & B) to 2/3 star hotels. One experienced India traveller strongly advised me to book rooms with ensuite toilets, so that when, (not if), the dreaded 'Delhi belly' strikes, there will be a modicum of privacy to wretch in peace!
In total, I would rather spend the time on the trip enjoying the local scenes, tastes and sounds as opposed to sweating details that could have been finalised in advance.
