Thorn Tree travel forum

Indian Subcontinent FAQ thread

Welcome to the Indian Subcontinent branch, please read this thread first!

If you have any links or tips about travelling in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh or Bhutan, feel free to post them in here

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Guidebook Updates
To get the lat... more »

Booking a car and driver/guide

Hi,

We leave for Sri Lanka next week!!
For the first 4 days we plan to hire a car and driver in order to do the Ancient Cities, ending in Kandy.
Should we prebook or is it easy to find a driver and car at the airport?
We arrive early in the morning, but hope to do some touring that day.
Thanks for any advice.

goreous spot outside pokhara. no trekking needed

about 1 1/12 hours by car ... up a mountains sits ASTAM with UNREAL views of Anna and Fishtail and that lower range .... it is spectacular. watching the sun set and trun the snow into firey ice!!!!!!! contact Bishra at themarigold - corner of LAKESIDE/and that main street...
In Pohkara totallyworth ... then u can do a lower trek from there or a high montain ridge trek which is what we did. Tell him ZUNI said hello!!!!!!

entering Nepal overland from the east

Hi there, I'm hoping someone could give me some information regarding entering Nepal overland from the east. First, is this option available? The LP India book mentions something about being able to do so, so I was thinking about heading up to Darjeeling and from there move on to enter Nepal from the east. Is the border check point going to be up and running? Any problems I might encounter? I would be headed there shortly after New Year's.

Also, in general, what are the road conditions like during the winter months in Nepal? Anything to be afraid of?? Am thinking about Darjeeling-Kathmandu-Pokhara- then back down to India through Sunauli.

Any info would be great, thanks!!

Booking flight to Lukla in December?

Hi I am hoping to book my flight to Lukla in Kathmandu once I arrive in late December, I was hoping to only wait a couple of days for a seat, to fly around the 29th or 30th does anyone know if that's possible?

Thanks for your help :-)

Indian Money in Nepal

Dear all, i read from UK travel advice website :

Indian Currency in Nepal

Following Reserve Bank of India guidelines and to prevent the growing counterfeiting of Indian currency in the region the Government of Nepal has banned the use, import or export of 1,000 Indian rupee and 500 Indian rupee notes. British Nationals should ensure that they do not enter or leave Nepal with either 1,000 or 500 Indian rupee notes. The Revenue Investigation Department will confiscate any notes and also impose a fine of the amount seized, payable in local currency. Lower denomination notes from India are accepted in Nepal.
Indian Currency in Nepal

Is it true, that we can not bring 500 or 1000 Indian notes to Nepal ? then what should i do if i enter Nepal from India ? should i change all my Indi... more »

trekking in ladakh

Namaste,

does anybody have good exeperiences with trekking in ladakh? i am looking for a guide or travel agency. maybe even a contact in delhi that can take me there. dont want to go for one of these mayor agencies.... plz sent me any hint or contact which might be of interest!!
budget is always a concern too.
thx
a.

Money - exchange or use ATMs

My husband and I are going to be in India for 2 1/2 weeks, visiting the usual Delhi / Agra / Rajasthan highlights. Seeing all the threads, here and on other forums, asking about the best places to exchange money has concerned me a little. We were just planning on withdrawing money from ATMs, since we aren't going to be away from major towns for more than 2-3 days. Is this a bad idea? Are ATMs that allow international withdrawals (Maestro / Cirrus) really so few and far between? I really didn't think anyone used travellers cheques any more...