Northern India & Nepal tips

Jillyban

Leaving in a week and wondering if anyone recently was on this trip and has advice or tips.
Do we need to get foreign currency?
Mosquitos?\
Weather warming up, how cold was the morning safaris?
Thanks

sevenseas

I was on the 12/20 departure....

You don't need much currency (most places took credit card) but it will be helpful to have some, and I believe that is valid anywhere. There are 2 ATM's nearby The Imperial, and you can start by withdrawing 10,000 Rupees (the max per transactioin), which is about $110. No need to get in advance prior to arrival. If you take a taxi somewhere, you may want to pay a tip, if you dine out you may want to pay a tip, if you hire a private tour guide pre-tour you will need to pay a tip, or if the concierge does something special to help, as was the case for us. Also, at the Taj Mahal, our TD arranged to have a professional photographer take individual photos, and you will need to pay for those (it was 100 Rupees per photo). Plus buying some trinkets. Anything leftover you can burn off at the airport on gifts and snacks. In Nepal they will accept smaller denomination Rupees, so it will do double duty. We ended up taking out 20,000 Rupees and made use of 15,000, burning off the remainder at the airport on purchases we would have otherwise done by credit card.

In Chitwan Nat'l Park there was one section where we hit a swarm of mosquitoes, though with Deet bug juice on, none landed a bite. None were noted in the Indian safari at Bandavgarh. In Mumbai I got one bite because I had not put on any bug juice and it was 90 degrees, so mosquito weather.

Morning safaris were not terribly cold and we were at the cold point in the year. Wear a few layers, and a hat and gloves are not a bad idea either. They provide a hot water bottle and blankets. I felt I overpacked.

Great trip. Enjoy.