When I have bought SIM cards, they asked for my passport but I just told them I didn't have it with me, they still sold me the card.
I feel it is somewhat unnecessary to take such private details when selling a $2 item, just refuse to do it, if they won't sell you the card, go to another dealer, you'll get it from one of them.
Also, try and store your Cambodian SIM somewhere so that if you ever visit again, you can just get it topped up and avoid the passport issue.
Thanks lost.traveler,
I guess I now have enough to go on. I'm going to go with something that uses TIM, whether that be a UK provider such as EE or just TIM itself once in Italy. As I will be in Italy during Brexit it might make sense to set myself up with a TIM contract once I'm in Italy. (EE may be forced to change their contract after Brexit).
TIM's data offer seems good, but their 300 minutes free only applies to a handful of countries. They charge 15c a minute to call the UK along with a 19c connection fee. I must admit the data package seems good, for €9.99 (or €9 via renewal on a credit card).
Do you think I can just walk into a TIM shop in the high street of Rome and set this up, or will I need an Italian postal address etc? Ideally, I just want to slip the SIM card in my phone and top up each month.
Interesting. I didn't have any fingerprints taken when I was visiting, but when I bought my SIM card at the beginning of the month, the 7-11 did take a copy of my Passport. I asked my Thai friend why they did that. He thought maybe it was to ensure the SIM card was not being purchased by Thai citizen; I guess the super cheap deal is intended for tourists. Hmmm...now I'm wondering. And of course every place I stayed took a copy of my passport -- but they did that in Tokyo too, so it seemed normal enough.
China is a extremely safe country, especially for a foreigner. Why is safety even an issue? Why would you ask this?
You do realize over a Million westerners are in China at this moment on business, living there, or touring?
Your biggest issue will be the language barrier. Best to have a Unlocked Phone and a SIM Card with Data for Translation App.
Keep in mind the Autumn Festival is early Oct is a major holiday week in China, and 1.5 billion Chinese hit the road.
Keep an eye on weather for Typhoons too, especially in the south...
I should also add. I am a recovering diabetic. Lost140 pounds since April 14th of this year. I don't want to jeopardize that. As much as I would like sample the cuisine of India it's more important that avoid Delhi belly and keep my health. As well as not sacrifice my weight loss. I plan to bring peanuts and hot rods (kind of a small processes meat type snack). As well protein bars. Is it possible in India to A: stick to a low carb diet. And B: get nuts and seeds?
I would like to take a flight from Kathmandu to Dehradun (Rishikesh). However, Dehradun is not listed as an E-visa entry point. The flight I have looked into requires a connection in Delhi. Any suggestions on how I could make that work?
As above, you'll go through immigration in DEL. Myriad choices to make it work (ie, provide enough time): IndiGo 6E46, connecting to IndiGo 6E246 gives you nearly 5 hours in DEL. Air India AI214 connecting to AI9609 gives you nearly 6 hours in DEL. Check schedules carefully.
Thanx Simon. The other one is the Honey Guest House. There was a journal on Crazy Guy a little while back were the guy was turned away from Honey because they don't take foreigners any more and he sent him down to Smile World.
Another bloke went to come through yesterday and was told in Hpa-An that now neither take Foreigners so he got a hire car.
Reading google reviews confirms this.
My problem is I got to Mae Sot today, plan on a day off and then ride in on Wednesday. My plan was to ride across to India - not real keen on transport and can't do Hpa-An or Mawlamyine in a day. May have to suck it up and take a hire car but am considering scuttling Burma, turn around and head for Vn!
Where did u stay in Hpa-An?
Where are you in Vn and where are u riding?
Andrew
I’m well aware of the “Pushkar Passport/Holy Lake” scams that permeate the Rajasthani town of Pushkar, but I’m wondering if anyone else has faced extortion or robbery attempts.
Here’s what happened to me and my partner a couple weeks ago:
On our last morning in Pushkar we went to an ATM about 200 meters from our hotel, near the entrance to one of the ghats. It was about 8:30 am so only few street vendors were out and we were the only tourists in sight.
Immediately we were accosted by a very aggressive tout playing for the flower scam, asking us to take a crushed marigold “for the lake.” We’d encountered this ploy many times before and said no thanks, however, this man would not take no for an answer. The tout then began following us and started hitting me in my shoulder with the hand he was holding the flower with and physically preventing us from getting to the ATM.
After a couple minutes of ignoring him to no avail, hoping a local might assist us, I told him to 'eff off (Sorry, the overly rigid posting guidelines here limit my ability to be accurate). He then became enraged and said we had disrespected the lake and had make it up, something I took to mean give him money. At this point he was immediately joined by a fake holy man and a second tout, who began shoving my partner and screaming in his face while the "holy man" threw tea at him. It was a strait up thugging aimed at a shakedown, they did not back down and continued to demand money as they assaulted by partner.
Two things brought the episode to a conclusion, the first being that I’d bought a heavy walking stick the day before and while these three men seemed comfortable assaulting a man, they didn’t know what to do with a woman who ran at them with a weapon. The second is that a local fruit seller finally intervened on our behalf, but by this point it was close to an all out brawl.
We did not give the three attackers any cash and briefly considered going to the police, however, it quickly became apparent that visitors to Pushkar are targeted with impunity and that it could be equally dangerous to involve local law enforcement.
Perhaps what was most frustrating part of it all is that there’s a tacit approval of these aggressive scammers and thugs by the tourist industry in Pushkar — not once did a hotelier, restaurateur or shop owner warn us about the scams or thugs, and I’m fairly certain many receive kickbacks for their consideration.
But I should also note that this was the only time we experienced anything like this during our month in India (or on a previous trip my partner took). Pushkar seems to stand apart in this regard from other towns and cities and frankly, isn’t worth the a visit. Pushkar was the only place I felt unsafe the entire time I was travelling.
If anyone else has had a similar issue, I’d really like to hear about it.
Given the time of year you plan to travel, the weather conditions are not an issue. You'll avoid the worst of the monsoon. Ladakh will be open. The area around Darjeeling will be cold when you arrive there - because of the elevation. Places like Guwhati and Kolkata will be warmer because they are not at elevation; Shillong will be cool. Southern India is for the most part tropical, and monsoons aside, the temperature is fairly constant.
Indeed! My main goal was to skip the monsoon, the cold of the mountains and the extreme heat of the Indo-Gangetic plain.
Twenty days is too long for most people in Ladakh - unless you're planning some substantial trek. Whether 20 days is enough for that leg of your itinerary really depends on which destinations you have in mind for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand - there are so many to choose from - places like Rishikesh, Haridwar, the Char Dham towns, Srinagar, Nainital, Shimla, Manali, McLeod Ganj, Dalhousie, Chamba, Khajjiar, Kullu, Kasauli - wherever you choose - before you get to Amritsar.
I will need to read about those!
As I wrote in my earlier post - the border crossing you choose is really about where you finish that leg in India. And if you finish in Varanasi then Sonauli is the option. There is even a direct bus from Varanasi to Kathmandu if Kathmandu is your prime destination. Whether Raxaul is closer to Kathmandu matters less if you actually spend more time getting there, than the time taken to reach Sonauli. Transport availability is another consideration. There are multiple trains between Varanasi and Gorakhpur, the jumping-off point for Sonauli. There are fewer options by train between Patna [for example] and Raxaul. And again, what is "shortest" depends on your starting point.
I guess I will see what happens once I'm there!
The visa application will ask you to nominate an entry date and an entry port - but you will not be held to either of those. If you have a multiple entry long term visa you don't notify authorities of every planned entry. If you hold a valid visa you can enter at"any" immigration check point [e-Visa conditions notwithstanding] on any date. You will not need to purchase your flight to Delhi [in fact, it is discouraged in case your application is rejected]. You won't need to have booked your onward flight to China.
That is a great news. It is quite flexible.
However, I'm quite sure I will need to book this ticket because of China's visa policy.
Thank you,
Sam
Well, you might start your research based on what interests you.
https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/kerala/attractions/a/poi-sig/356336
Beaches, backwaters, trekking?