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Local Currency
Anyone planning an independent outing before the tour starts, or on the free afternoon in Delhi, will need local currency. This apparently is not possible to buy outside India and illegal to enter carrying. The Oberoi inform me that there is no ATM at the hotel and that the nearest one is at the Khan Market more than a mile away. Peregrinator in his invaluable Portrait of India blog reports that he used an ATM just beyond customs on arrival at the airport (after meeting the Tauk representative and while they waited for the driver). The maximum available at this machine was 20,000 INR ($300). I think as a precaution I will bring a few old-fashioned travelers cheques with me to cash at the hotel if necessary. The hotel warn that while they will convert these as a convenience to guests (no doubt at unfavorable rates), they will not buy back any leftover rupees. I assume all this will be true of the other Oberoi hotels at which the tour lodges.
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