India Travel

Banks and ATMs in Goa

Related Properties from Gurgaon

Listings of Madhya Pradesh

Airlines Indian Airlines has an office in the Gangotri complex on Bhadbada Road. New Market (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm. Sun 9am-noon; 0755/550480), and a booking counter at the airport. Banks and exchange Apart from the top hotels, only the main New Market branches of some banks do foreign exchange. Banks such as IBIB bank in New Market have ATMs which accept Visa and Mastercard. The most efficient and convenient place is the State Bank of India (Mon-Fri 10.30am-2pm, Sat 10.30am-12.30pm), next to the GPO. Bookstores The two English-language bookstores at the top of Bhadbada Road in New Market stock a reasonable range of

Banks and exchange in Hyderabad

Oddly for a state capital, most banks still don't do foreign exchange, two exceptions being the State Bank of Hyderabad, MG Road, and Federal Bank, 1st floor, Orient Estate. MG Road. Both are open Mon-Fri 10.30 am - 2.30 pm, the latter also Sat 10.30am-12.30pm. It's better to head for an agency such as Thomas Cook at Nasir Arcade, Secretariat Road; or L.K.P. Forex on Public Gardens Road, only ten minutes' walk north of Nampally station. Both are open Mon - Sat 9.30 am - 5.30 pm. In Secunderabad try the Allahabad Bank, next to Park Lane hotel.

Banks and currency in Calcutta

Banks and currency exchange Calcutta Airport has a 24hr branch of the State Bank of India, as well as Thomas Cook at the international terminal. Major banks, concentrated either in the vicinity of BBD Bagh or scattered around Cfiowringnee Road, include Bank of America, 8 India Exchange Place; Bank of Tokyo, 2 Brabourne Rd; Banque Nationale de Pans. 4a BBD Bagh East: Citibank. 43 Chowringhee Rd; Hong Kong & Shanghai. 8 Netaji Subhas Rd; Standard Chartered. 4 Netaji Subhas Rd; State Bank of India, Middleton Street and Calcutta airport: and Standard Chartered Grindlays, 41 Chowringhee Rd and 19 Netaji Subhas

Listings Amitsar in Haryana and Punjab

Airlines the main Indian Airlines office is on Court Road 0183/213392; Air India (j 0183/546122) js located at the Amritsar International Hotel complex near the bus stand. Ambulance 0183/220900 or 501702. Banks and exchange Several banks offer foreign exchange facilities including the State Bank of India, halfway between the bus stand and the Golden Temple, the Bank of Punjab, near the temple, and the Chartered Bank and ANZ Grindlays, both at Hall Bazaar. Authorized agencies such as Narang Travels at the Amritsar International Hotel arcade, near the bus stand, also change money. Hospitals Kakkar Hospital Green Avenue (0183/506015); Sri Guru

Practicalities to Kata East of Udaipur in Rajasthan

Kota's railway station is in the north of town, a few kilometres from the central bus stand. The tourist office (Mon-Sat 8am-6pm) is in the RTDC Chambal Hotel, Nayarpura, not far from the bus stand. Changing money is a time-consuming process. The State Bank of India on Aerodrome Circle will change travellers' cheques: other banks do not. The post office is on Station Road (Mon-Sat 6am-6pm).

Around Calcutta in Calcutta

The River Hooghly served for centuries as a lifeline for foreign traders; north of Calcutta, its banks are dotted with the remains of tiny European settlements such as Serampore and Chandernagore. All these sites, together with the Hindu temples of Dakshineshwar. Belur Math and Kalna, and even the great Vaishnavite centres of Nabadip and Mayapur further north, can be taken in as day-trips on local trains from Calcutta's Sealdah and Howrah stations. Simple hotels are always available should you want to stay.

Listings in Haryana and Punjab

Ambulance S102Airline offices Air India, SCO 107-108, Sector 17- B (Mon-Fri 9.30am-1 pm & 2-5.30pm, Sat 9.30arrH pm; 0172/703510): British Airways,Nijhawan Travel Services, Sector 9-D 0172/741419; Indian Airlines, #171-2, Sector17-C (Mon-Fri 10am-1pm & 2-5pm; 0172/704539); Japan Airlines, Onkar Travels,Sector 17-B 0172/704910; Jet Airways & Air Canada, Sector 9- 0172/705092; Kuwait Airlines, Trans Air Travels, Sector 17 0172/702833; Lufthansa. Sector 17-C 0172/702435. Bajaj Travels, SCO 96-97, Sector17-C (0172/704500) are agents for internationalairlines, as well as domestic airlines Archana andJagsons. Banks and exchange Several of the banks ranged around Bank Square on the northwest side of Sector 17 change money, including the UCO

The Rewa Kund group in Western Madhya Pradesh

The road to the Rewa Kund group (6km away from the main village) heads past herds of water buffalo grazing on the muddy foreshores of the lake, then winds its way gently through a couple of Bhil villages towards the far southern edge of the plateau. Stately old baobabs line the roadside, like giant upturned root vegetables. The bulbous-bottomed trees, natives of the African Sahel, were introduced to India by Arab traders, and are now used by the local tribespeople for their many medicinal properties. The Rewa Kund itself nestles behind a rise further up the hill. Noted for its curative

Information of Lucknow in Central UP

The national government's regional tourist bureau, close to the railway station at 10 Station Rd (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, closed 2nd Sat of each month), provides information only; they also operate a stand at the railway station. The UP Tourism office, at 3 Newal Kishore Rd, has an information counter. Lucknow's GPO is onVidhan Sabha Marg. Among banks for foreign exchange are Punjab National Bank, Ashok Marg, Hazratganj, and State Bank of India, also on Ashok Marg and at Mod Mahal Marg. Top-range hotels such as the Taj Mahal also have foreign exchange facilities.

Arrival, information and orientation in Central Tamil Nadu

Trichy's airport, 8km south of the centre, has flights to and from Chennai (daily except Thurs & Sun), Cochin (Tues.Thurs & Sac) and Calicut ("Wed & Sun).The journey into town, by taxi (Rs100) or bus (#7, #28, #59, #63, #122 or #K1) takes less than half an hour; for enquiries and bookings go to Indian Airlines, 4A Dindigul Rd.There are also flights (4 weekly) from Colombo on Air Lanka, based in the Femina hotel. Trichy's main railway station, Trichy Junction - which has given its name to the southern district of town - provides frequent rail links with Chennai, Madurai and

Kottayam Accommodation and eating in Kerala

Kottayam has a good choice of mid-range hotels but if you are in search of utter luxury, head out to one of the five-star resorts that nestle on the banks of the nearby Vembanad lake in Kumarakom. You'll be hard pushed to find a decent budget hotel here, apart from the Ambassador. There are basic "meals" restaurants in the centre of Kottayam, such as the Black Stone, close to the bus station on TB Road, and a fairly dingy Indian Coffee House on TB Road, but the best is the vegetarian thali restaurant at Homestead Hotel. For an evening out, die

Barmer in Rajasthan

BARMER, 158km south of Jaisalmer, is another important desert outpost, but has little to offer tourists. It's usually a dusty backwater, where the manufacture of handicrafts, its main export, occupies much of the population. In January however, the place is transformed during the hectic Tilwara Cattle Fair, held on the banks of a saltwater river nearby. This is the largest cattle market in Rajasthan, attended by villagers and traders from all over the state. Accommodation and food stalls in Barmer are scarce; if you need to stay the night, try the basic Krishna Hotel 'near the railway station, or the rather

Arrival and information in Delhi

Delhi is India's main point of arrival for overseas visitors, and has two airports, one domestic and one international. State buses from all over the country pull into the Inter-state Bus Terminal in Old Delhi, while private buses stop in the more central location close to New Delhi railway station. Trains arrive at the railheads in Old or New Delhi, both well connected to Connaught Place, the commercial centre of the city, by rickshaw and taxi. For a summary of the kinds of accommodation available in different areas of the city, which may well determine where you head first, see p.

George Town in Tamil Nadu

North of Fort St George, the former British trading centre of George Town (reached on bus #18 from Anna Salai) remains the focal area for banks, offices and shipping companies. This confusing - if well-ordered - grid of streets harbours a fascinating medley of architecture: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century churches, Hindu and Jain temples, and a scattering of mosques, interspersed with grand mansions. In the east, on Rajaji Salai, the General Post Office occupies a robust earth-red Indo-Saracenic building, constructed in 1884. George Town's southern extent is marked by the bulbous white domes and sandstone towers of the High Court, and

Practicalities of Sabhanayaka Temple in Central Tamil Nadu

Chidambaram revolves around the Sabhanayaka Temple and the busy market area that surrounds it, along North, East, South and West Car streets. Though little more than a country halt, the railway station, 2km southeast of the centre, has good connections both north and south, and boasts retiring rooms and, on platform 1, a post office (Mon-Sat 9am-lpm & 1.30-5pm). Frequent buses from Chennai,Thanjavur, Mamallapprarn, and Madurai pull in at the bus stand, also in the southeast, but nearer the centre, about lkm from the temple. Staff at the TTDC tourist office, next Co TTDC Tamil Nadu hotel on Railway Feeder Road,

Arrival and information in Gujrat

Porbandar is largely enclosed by water; by the sea to the south and by a smelly freshwater creek curving round from the north into the busy harbour on the western side of town. A path follows the coast from east to west but the beaches in between, used as public toilets, are rather unpleasant. Porbandar's main street, Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road, runs from a fountain at its eastern end, northeast of which is the railway station, to a triple gateway at its western end, near Gandhiji's house, in the middle, at the main square, it is bisected by Aria Sumaj

Chitrakut southwest of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh

The large sprawling town of CHITRAKUT stands on the banks of the Mandakini, 128km southwest of Allahabad and 116km east of Mahoba. Together with its twin town of Karbi, 8km east, Chitrakut, known also as Sitapur or Chitrakut Dham, is a major Vaishnavite pilgrimage centre. In the Ramayana, Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana, sought refuge in a forest that covered this entire area, after being banished from Ayodhya. Most of Chitrakut's religious and leisure activity revolves around the small, charming, and very central Ramghat, where boats with electric-blue mattresses and pillows create a pretty picture against a backdrop

Listings of McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh

Banks and exchange The State Bank of India in McLeod Ganj has ceased foreign exchange transactions. There's another branch in lower Dharamsala (Mon-Fri 10am-2pm, Sat 10am-noon). The Bank of Baroda. in the lower town, issues money to Visa card holders, with one or two days' delay. There are several authorized private foreign exchange agencies in McLeod Ganj. Bookshops The Tibetan Bookshop and Information Office is a good place to browse for books on Tibetan Buddhism, as is the friendly and informative Charitable Trust Shop, both on Jogibara Road in the main bazaar. Bookworm, opposite the Tourist Office, South End, is small

ORCHHA. literally "hidden place", certainly lives up to its name. Languishing amid a tangle of scrubby dhak forest, 18km southeast of jhansi, the former capital of the Bundela dynasty has become an essential halt for the tourist traffic bound for Khajuraho on the nearby highway. The deserted medieval town is an architectural gem where guano-splashed temple shikhams, derelict palaces, haydis and weed-choked sandstone cenotaphs lie neglected by the banks of the tranquil River Betwa - home to troupes of black-faced langurs, vultures and wheeling flocks of bright green parakeets. Clustered around the foot of the exotic ruins, the sleepy village of

Information of Jaipur in Rajasthan

RTDC has a handy tourist information office on Platform 1 of the railway station (daily 6am-8pm; 0141/315714).There's a second branch at the Tourist Hotel (0141/360328), and an unusually hopeless Government of India tourist office at the Khasa Koihi hotel (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1.30pm; 0141/315461). To find out what's on, you're better off consulting the monthly Jaipur Vision, available at Books Corner on MI Road (Rs25). Changing money can be time-consuming at the city's banks, but there are plenty of private exchange places in Jaipur offering more or less the same rates, where you can cash travellers' cheques quickly and easily in air-conditioned