Hey folks,
travelling to India for a holiday in February, primarily visiting Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Hyderbad.
I just want to know if there's anything worthwhile buying there that's usually too costly here in AU or not present.
P.S Can you bring Tea through customs?
nappies, you're going to need them.
this was SO my reply !
No need, just came back and didn't get any of the stomach issues raised here. In fact I gained around 2kg from eating out every 3-4 hours!
I sampled every soup, veg and non-veg foods for 7 days straight.
I just avoided drinking tap water and buying the street food stalls, which is common sense.
Clothes, replica stuff, decoration items, gold/jewellry
Parchinkari souvenirs from India - examples like these. Also known as Pietra dura, it is an inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. The type of technique used to create the sublime patterns at the Taj Mahal.
Such a beautiful craft; they are my most prized items from India. Also a reminder of Taj Mahal (albeit a pale one :-)).
What sort of money are we looking at for good examples.
Can't remember exactly now, but not expensive. Three display plates (like the ones in the images), one bigger and a couple smaller ones, costed less than $30, if my memory serves me well. All I remember thinking at the time was, given the amount of work that must have gone in (all tediously hand-made), the price was incredibly cheap.
Curry ?
bikies
Clothes. Jewellery.
homeware items. lots of gorgeous cushion covers, wall art, coffee table discussion pieces.
take an emergency stash of pharma items that you will need. but all pharma items are so much cheaper there - such as panadol, tummy stuff etc is so cheap there so if you do get a cold/sick/delhi belly - look to the local pharmacies.
when buying in india, street markets are a cheaper place to buy. the sellers are so overeager and will make you feel compelled/guilt tripped into buying just because you made eye contact! but when you see something you want, act disinterested at every stage and walk away for the price to drastically come down before you even start negotiating! sellers will try everything from charming you to being sad/angry/disinterested.
the balance is to get a price so that you are happy in the knowledge that you are being ripped off!
Try to find smaller, specialist art shops that are not catered towards tourists (who are seen as suckers willing to pay 10x the realistic price). One way to know you're not in a tourist shop is if items have price tags.
You can get some beautiful Hindu god carvings in soapstone and wood for surprisingly little money. Avoid the tourist trap shops around Taj Mahal. Be prepared to walk away and do so if you feel uncomfortable about any deal. The locals have perfected the art of the hard sell and will try every trick.
There are impressive looking ruby and sapphire shops there, but unless you know what you're looking at you could be buying coloured glass.
Commercially packaged tea can be brought in. On a recent trip from Europe I even brought in commercially packaged dried mushrooms and hard cheese. All fine as long as it meets certain standards (foot and mouth disease free country for cheese, etc).
If you need glasses, they're pretty cheap, maybe half what it would cost here. Just make sure the person getting your prescription is qualified and does a thorough test. Sunnies are also cheap, picked up pairs of basic "sharkie" type glasses in a department store for 50 - 70 rupees ($1.20). Around that price pretty much everywhere I went. I'd second what others have said and look for traditional style fabrics, like pillow cases, cushion covers and what they call "bed sheets". They are basically queen sized cotton sheets but have traditional patterns/designs on them. Paid 250 rupees or $6 for one and think they'd be handy for gifts or as throws etc. The teas are very cheap maybe half to a third of the price of retail here. As long as they are packaged, customs shouldn't be an issue.
Try to avoid getting ripped off on transport as this eats into your spending money/bargains. Even our hotel in Bangalore had no issues in quoting us 2000 rupees for arranging a taxi to the airport. We called our selves and it was actually 300 rupees. I'd go for pre paid taxis stands at the airport, call taxis or negotiating fares before hand.
Gastro Stop
immodium.
In all seriousness though, I didn't see anything that I wanted to bring back, but some of the food was delicious, and checking out bangalore palace was… interesting.
100 rupee is about $2. It goes a lot further for them than it does for us.
Dont be ripped off, but at the same time. dont be too tight got 100 rupees either
Try to get taxis prepaid from stands. and know the approximate price.
I cant remember the exact price when we took taxi in dehli
Day 1) delhi airport to Connaught Place 800 rupee prepaid at the taxi stand
met a group of tourist at the hotel from our flight. They paid 2000 from a taxi they hailed
Day 2) connaught to airport. The hotel wanted 1500 to get us a taxi, so we tried to get one from the street. He wanted 1200, we talked him down 1000
flight cancelled so back to the hotel. This time it was 600 prepaid. WHAT? oh well. we tipped the driver more.
Day 3) back to the airport. I cannot remember what we paid, but i think it was 1000
Would highly recommend using Uber or Ola in India (both on apps). They are way cheaper than the prepaid Taxis and definitely are better maintained cars.
thanks guys so summary is:
Art, indian-inspired Cushion covers, Sunnies, Parchinkari souvenirs, Pharma items, Commercially packaged tea, and branded clothing.
=)
Curry Curry Curry
u can get branded clothes very cheap…genuine. you can buy gift items.
The food oh man the food
Get your dental check up.
+1 , Dental is really cheap in india
This is what we did when we went to India:
1. If you have family/friends there - order online on Amazon.in and get it delivered. The prices are generally cheaper on here.
If you are into sports or generally any kind of outdoor activities (example hiking, camping).. would recommend visiting Decathlon. Their Indian website is www.decathlon.in but would recommend visiting their huge store. They are online only operations right now in Australia (www.decathlon.com.au), but the prices are definitely cheaper in India compared to here. For example - you get fleece for about $10 which are really good. This elbow strap is $2. This fleece is $8
One more thing to consider getting in terms of Pharma is First Aid kit. Band-aids etc.
American Tourister/Samsonite are also cheaper compared to Australia (in case you end up shopping more than you can pack)
My wife picked up a lot of cosmetics which are also pretty cheap compared to here.
Will add more as I think of them.
Maxolon
Pearls from Hyderabad if you are keen..
Yes Pearls were a recommended thing by our tour guide, sadly didn't buy any
Diarrhoea Tablets !!
No need, just came back and didn't get any of the stomach issues raised here. In fact I gained around 2kg from eating out every 3-4 hours!
I just avoided drinking tap water and buying the street food stalls, which is common sense.
I go to Hyderabad every couple of year as it's my hometown , I usually find office wear and formal shoe are really cheap compared to here . I mostly buy wrinkle free shirts which lost year without ironing .
If you are really into tea i would suggest try a packed of "Lamsa Tea" , it is one the best tea i has in my life
You can get really good cricket bats for cheaper than here
Howdy,
Just came back,
Hyderabad was a great city, full of night life and food and just people cruising along and enjoying life with the minimal.
I loved the trip, and totally ignored the traffic, beeping, big crowds and sometimes rubbish/smell in areas, the great parts took over.
People there seemed to just enjoy life, coming back to Sydney reminded me of a palace prison. Its got great health, safety, education and law order, however it lacks the simple basics of life of people just enjoying themselves. Almost everyone is on edge here and you feel like a little wrong-doing by another will result in stabbing or death. Over there people honk the crap out of each other and no one bats an eye to get out of the car, that's because the majority are taking life with the positive look, not the negative.
I'm not of Indian background but the vast majority of everyone there treated me with respect and kindness, even when I had to hand signal what I wanted, here in Australia you'll get abused by the vast majority of racists that pollute the country.
Glad you liked it :) good to hear you enjoyed .I used to love nightlife having dinner around 11PM and start for shopping at 6PM and go for motorbike rides at 2 AM morning with friends.
Hyderabad has two parts , old city is full of chaos and hectic with lot of traffic , But most of the new city around Hitech city area is pretty good.
Have you enjoyed food? hope you had lot of gol-gappas and Biryani?
Yes i used to feel same when i was living in Sydney , feel much worse in Brisbane. It usually take around couple of days for me slow myself down to Brisbane's lifestyle.
As you might have noticed Hyderabad is one of India's most cosmopolitan city with ~30% muslim population so most people are accustomed to accept different cultures and it influenced food and daily lifestyle of as well .
I am actually positive about Hyderabad's future as it is going in right direction, hopefully Metro which is scheduled open this year could ease some traffic of roads
I think most western tourists ignore Hyderabad as it is not near to any famous landmarks.
Btw which area's you have visited ?
Have you enjoyed food? hope you had lot of gol-gappas and Biryani?
Well I very much enjoyed the food, it was full of flavour and authenticity. I had Biryani at Paradise (old Hyderabad) was a great experience, almost every meal started off with Soup, Appetiser, Main, Desert. I didn't mind the chaos, traffic and loudness, it's part of the enjoyment. I can't remember the names but one of my favourites there was the Dum Methi Murgh.
Yes there are a lot of muslims, many with the niqabs but they wernt singled out and most people just respected each-other and served each-other.
I went to Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.
@frostman: I have heard Paradise is no longer great as it used to be under previous management . They used to only have one branch in Secunderabad now they started everywhere i think . BTW Sydney also have not bad food choice when comes to Indian compared to Brisbane
Shop for clothes! I personally find big brands like Van Heusen, Mark & Spencers etc are relatively cheaper in India.