Things to do in India
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FEATURED
Masterchef Jimmy Seervai India Culinary Tour 2011
18 days (Kochi (Cochin))
A superb opportunity to explore Indian cooking in-depth with Jimmy Seervai with his flair for Indian/Persian fusion dishes and his Mumbai Zoroastrian heritage..
Not LP reviewed
from USD$5,990 - All things to do
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Yoga Training Centre
Yoga master Sunil Kumar runs two-hour classes three times a day (8am, 10am and 4pm; Rs200) at the Yoga Training Centre, on the 3rd floor of a small backstreet building near Meer Ghat. He teaches an integrated blend of hatha, Iyengar, pranayama and ashtanga, and serious students can continue on certificate and diploma courses. This place is highly recommended by travellers.
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Learn for Life Society
Learn for Life Society, which can be contacted through the nearby Brown Bread Bakery has established a small school for disadvantaged children, and travellers are welcome to turn up and help out. The charity also recently started a women’s empowerment group, offering fair-paid work to local women, some of whom are mothers of the school’s students. The women make produce such as jams and pickles which travellers can buy from Brown Bread Bakery. See the website for more details.
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Taj Mahal
The Taj can be accessed through the west, south and east gates, which all lead to an outer courtyard. The south gate is the main access and is easiest to reach from Taj Ganj, while the east gate generally has the shortest queues. The west gate gets very crowded with tour groups, but they don’t normally arrive until after 9am. There are separate queues for men and women. Prohibited items such as food, tobacco, matches, mobile phones and camera tripods can be left without charge in cloakrooms. Don’t forget to visit the cloakroom first to avoid queuing twice.
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German Bakery
Leafy and filled with prayer flags and jolly lights, this is a perfect place for a huge lunch chosen from an equally huge menu. Tofu balls in mustard sauce with parsley potatoes and salad is a piled-high winner at Rs150. Wi-fi is available for a fairly steep Rs100 per hour.
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Baba Blacksheep
Another reasonable option for silk shopping, with similar prices to Mehrotra Silk Factory.
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Mehrangarh
Still run by the descendants of the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Mehrangarh is captivating. As you approach, the walls soar overhead in a mesmerising demonstration of the skills of the builders. Cast off your audio-tour prejudices, as this tour, covered by the foreign-visitor admission charge (which also includes camera fees), is terrific, with a mix of history, information and dramatically narrated anecdotes. It’s a real treat to wander around at your leisure, taking a fix of information when you feel like it. Personal guides are available for Rs150.
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Brothers’ Dhaba
Amritsar is famous for its dhabas (snack bars) such as Brothers’ Dhaba which has (mainly Indian) meals averaging Rs80, and open early to late. Brothers’ is the current sweetheart, but only by a whisker.
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Cream Centre
An excellent ice-cream parlour in a bright, slick interior. Oh, and real food, too: a pure-veg hodgepodge of Indian, Mexican and Middle Eastern.
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Brown Bread Bakery
Not only does this place lead the way socially and environmentally – it supports a local school, runs a women’s empowerment group, uses organic produce wherever possible, and refills your water bottles for you (Rs5) – but the food is also terrific. The fabulous menu includes more than 20 varieties of cheese and more than 30 types of bread, cookies and cakes as well as main courses from around the world. The ambience is spot on too, with seating on cushions around low tables and live classical music performances in the evenings. Admittedly, it’s pricier than most, but part of the profits go to the charity Learn for Life.
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Houseboat
Renting a houseboat designed like a kettuvallam (rice barge) could be one of your most expensive experiences in India, but it's worth every darned rupee. Drifting through quiet canals lined with coconut palms, eating deliciously authentic Keralan food, meeting local villagers and sleeping on the water under a galaxy of stars - it's a world away from the clamour of India.
Houseboats cater for groups (up to eight bunks) or couples (one or two double bedrooms). Food (and an onboard chef to cook it) is generally included in the quoted cost. Houseboats can be chartered through the DTPC in Kollam or Alleppey, or a multitude of private operators.
This is the biggest business in K…
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Open Hand
A cafe-cum-gift shop with fresh coffee and a range of cakes and snacks plus good-quality clothing and textiles at fixed prices.
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Vina Maharaj Music School
In Lakshman Jhula, Vina Maharaj Music School offers sitar, tabla, harmonium and flute lessons at Rs200 per hour, and organises concerts.
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Gateway of India
The bold basalt Gateway of India arch faces out to Mumbai Harbour at the tip of Apollo Bunder. Derived from the Islamic styles of 16th-century Gujarat, it was built to commemorate the 1911 royal visit of King George V. It was completed in 1924: ironically, the gateway's British architects used it just 24 years later to parade off their last British regiment, as India marched towards independence.
These days, the gateway is a favourite gathering spot for locals and a top spot for people-watching. Giant-balloon sellers, photographers, beggars and touts rub shoulders with Indian and foreign tourists, creating all the hubbub of a bazaar. Boats depart from the gateway's wharfs…
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Mehrotra Silk Facto
Tucked away down a tiny alleyway near the Varanasi Junction train station, this pocket-sized, fixed-priced shop is a fun place to buy good-quality silk scarves (from Rs250), saris (from Rs1500) and bedspread sets (from Rs5000). Turn right out of the station, take the first major left turn, then turn left just before the iway Internet cafe and it’s down a small alleyway on your left.
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Big Chill
Khan Market has two film-poster-lined branches of BC, packed with chattering, well-manicured folk. The menu is a telephone directory of continental, Indian and other dishes. Have you ever seen so much cheesecake on a menu? Who’s to quibble when it’s this good?
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Saravana Bhavan
Massively popular, Tamil Saravana has a fast-food feel, but food is by no means junk: dosas, idlis and other southern specialities, accompanied by lovely fresh chutneys. Inventive sweets include cucumber-seed ladoos (sweet balls). Finish with a South Indian coffee. Arrive early or queue!
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Navjyoti Tailors
Pushkar is a good place to get clothes made and a reliable option is Navjyoti Tailors.
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JG Art & Crafts
Abhay Kumar is the proprietor of this excellent store, which has a cheap and reliable international courier service, and all kinds of handicrafts and fabrics.
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Colaba
The unofficial headquarters of Mumbai's tourist scene, Colaba sprawls down the city's southernmost peninsula. It's a bustling district packed with street stalls, markets, bars and budget to midrange lodgings. Colaba Causeway (Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg) bisects the promontory and is the traffic-filled artery connecting Colaba's jumble of side streets and gently crumbling mansions.
Sassoon Dock, south of the main tourist action, is a scene of intense and pungent activity at dawn (around 05:00) when colourfully clad Koli fisherwomen sort the catch unloaded from fishing boats at the quay. The fish drying in the sun are bombil, the fish used in the dish Bombay duck. Photography…
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Sri Meenakshi Temple
The Sri Meenakshi Temple is the abode of the triple-breasted, fish-eyed Goddess Meenakshi Amman (‘fish-eyed’ is an adjective for perfect eyes in classical Tamil poetry), is considered by many to be the height of South Indian temple architecture, as vital to the aesthetic heritage of this region as the Taj Mahal is to North India. It’s not so much a temple as a 6-hectare complex enclosed by 12 gopurams, the highest of which towers 52m over Madurai, and all of which are carved with a staggering array of gods, goddesses, demons and heroes.
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Mango Tree
Creativity blends with culinary excellence at this rural-themed chill-out joint, spread out under the eponymous mango tree by the riverbanks. The walk out here is through a banana plantation, and the food is delicious – the restaurant does lip-smacking dosas for breakfast and dinner. The ambience is simply overwhelming, and the terraced seating perfect for whiling away a lazy afternoon, book in hand.
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Madhur Milan Cafe
Popular with locals, this no-nonsense restaurant serves up a range of good-value, mostly south Indian dishes, including dosa, idli and uttapam, and paratha. Thalis start from Rs25, and they have lassis.
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Mavalli Tiffin Rooms
This legendary joint, commonly called MTR, has been feeding Bengaluru its stock South Indian fare such as masala dosas for more than seven decades. The queues can get long during lunch hours.
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