Friday, May 4, 2012

INDIA: Arriving at IGI Airport

The Indira Gandhi Delhi International Airport is rated one of the top airports in the world.  I would have to agree - I've had to spend my longest chunks of time waiting for a plane (10 hours) at this airport and it's a great, friendly, calm place to hang out!

Before I went to India for the first time, I had read some horror stories about people being taken to sketchy places in unofficial taxis. It's relatively straightforward to follow the signs to a prepaid taxi stand and go through the procedure to get a taxi to your location. If you have booked a room in advance, some hotels offer airport pickup. It's hard to say if this ends up costing more than just taking a taxi to the hotel.

Note that if you plan on staying in a budget hotel that you have never seen, it's probably a good idea to check it out before committing to a room to make sure it matches the description and fits your standards. You could pick a random hotel in the district where you want to say and have the cab driver take you there, then walk around the area and look for available rooms. With cab drivers, it's good to act like you have a room in a hotel so they don't try to talk (or trick) you into getting an overpriced room in a hotel that gives them part of the profit.

Yes you are taking a bit of a gamble by arriving without having a room reserved, but there are lots of hotels and people coming and going all the time so you should be able to find something. Alternatively you could make a room reservation for one night and then explore the area to choose a place for the remainder of your stay.

Next up, my take on Pahar Ganj, the "backpacker's district"!

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