3-night trip to India - crazy idea?

[Ktay]

Would it be completely daft to contemplate a mini break in India? A good friend is getting married soon and having the Hindu part of her wedding in Mumbai. Friends from the UK are welcome to travel out for it but not expected. I'd love to go to India but dh has never been keen so this could be the ideal opportunity for a little trip although the prospect of making small talk with no familiar faces other than the bride is a bit overwhelming. What's Mumbai like for solo women travellers? Would the jetlag be a killer? The prospect of a 9h flight with people bringing me food and drink, watching telly/reading without the DDs interrupting is quite appealing in itself

I love India, it's one of my favourite places although I haven't been to Mumbai.

I'd have no hesitation about travelling solo (subject to all the normal safety precautions any solo female traveller should take) or making small talk at a wedding - while not wanting to generalise I've always found Indians to be very welcoming and very hospitable. I've been to family dinners and events and have had an amazing time.

With regards to three nights ... the cost would put me off this a bit. I can't recall the exact cost but the visa isn't cheap, neither are long haul flights. If costs isn't an issue then I'd probably go for it. Set your watch to the right timezone before you fly. Eat when you normally would and sleep when you normally would. I'm probably lucky in that I can sleep easily on a plane and I'm able to swap between timezones fairly easily without jetlag though - if you've travelled long haul before then you probably know how you find it.

Even better would be extending the trip to a week and taking in some of the amazing sights of India!

Thanks! Forgot about the cost and admin of a visa. There are some good deals on Expedia ATM (much better than booking with the airline direct) or dh has loads of airmiles I could use. So it wouldn't be prohibitive. I've only ever had one night away on my own since having the DDs ( and that was disastrous but for reasons that wouldn't happen again) so it would be a bit too much of a leap for me to be away from them for much more than a few nights.

I've been to India for 3 nights on a work trip.

I left UK Monday lunchtime, arrived in the small hours of the morning. Spent Tues/Weds/Thurs in the office and flew back Thurs evening, middle of the night flight, home Friday.
It is not ideal but it is doable. Whilst you are there you can just push through the jet lag. Feel pretty grotty the weekend after but if it is very important to you & you can afford it, I'd do it.

Mumbai is amazing. Going to a different wedding anywhere would be amazing. Go for it!

I would suggest extending the trip by 2-3 days to be able to deal with jetlag. The first 24 hours will be pretty much a daze coz of dealing with jetlag, heat, different sounds etc. After that everything settles & you'll love it. Save a day for shopping if you can.

I love India, but getting a visa is about as difficult as they can make it so I wouldn't bother

Really carlajean?? Will look into it...

It's not difficult to get a tourist visa at all (for UK nationals at any rate). It is expensive though at £92.20.

Visa are valid from the date of issue NOT the date of travel so you can't apply several months in advance (they are valid 3 or 6 months). They say it takes 10 working days to process which from memory is about right. I'd apply 6 weeks before travelling.

A lot of people get them returned as they are VERY fussy about the forms and photographs. If you do it wrong or send the wrong dimension photos (which is not normal passport size) everything will be returned. If you get it all right it is fine.

£92!

I remember now, one of the local photo shops (snappy snaps?) advertises Indian visa pics so that would be easily sorted at least. Still pondering...

We were going to India but the whole visa thing completely put us off, we went to Sri Lanka instead (their visa took 5 mins online!)
I did hear somewhere that they may start visas on arrival soon which would make a big difference. I would look on tripadvisor and see what people are saying about visas at the moment.

Think visa on arrival is being extended to uk citizens from October of this year.

I've just spent 3 weeks working in Mumbai, it's an amazing city and well worth the travel time to spend 3 days there. It's really safe and no one bothers you, when the traffic was really bad on a fri or sat night I'd just jump into an auto rickshaw (tuc tuc) and go to meet friends no bother. I can give you contact details for a really good driver. I've used him since 2009 and he's fab. Costs about £25 a day but he will stay with you from 9am until the early hours of the morning if needed.

Mumbai is a great place there's loads to see and do and I'd suggest trying to do 1 day sightseeing to see the following places if possible

Colaba area - gateway of India, Taj hotel and Leopolds cafe
Dhobi ghat - one of the huge outdoor launderies
Crawford market - there's nothing that you can't buy here
Bandra - mount Mary church, bandra bandstand
Juhu - the Marriott hotel is amazing inside (I'm totally biased stay here every time I go) it backs onto juhu beach and has a gorgeous pool
Chowpatty beach - love the atmosphere on the beach about 5pm there's so many Indian families walking up and down and buying food and toys etc from all the vendors

Thanks so much for the travel tips! Will look into the visa situation...

Getting an Indian visa is a real PITA. OH travels to India regularly for business and it takes me several frustrating hours to sort his visa out every year. The VFS website is really user unfriendly as well.

Is that a business visa though Bunbaker?

A normal tourist one really isn't that hard. The VFS website is definitely unfriendly though I agree with you there.

Yes, it is a business visa. I have never applied for a tourist visa so have no point of comparison.

OH thinks the Indian visa industry is a complete rip off. He had to go to Birmingham to get his first visa as it was a rush job and he found the staff there spectacularly unhelpful, especially to the man in the queue in front of him.

I found the visa pretty simple tbh, just filled it out and took it to the post office.

Maharastran weddings are amazing, I am total jealous

Just remember you will have to literally cover your plate with your hands to stop people giving you more food!

If you have spare time I recommend getting the boat from the Gateway to India to the island. Amazing views of Mumbai and the temples on the island are beautiful ruins with wild monkeys everywhere

Ooh thanks for the extra tips and encouragement. Will do some more research this weekend

Tourist visas should be relatively easy, other ones not so much. It was much easier before VFS got involved.

I agree with those who say stay longer than three nights. Most flights arrive in the early hours of the morning, immigration and collecting baggage can take a couple of hours and then you might have an hour journey to a hotel. I will normally get home at about 4 am (I live in Mumbai) and then we sleep till late. So you may not get much done that day.

A metered rickshaw is no good in South Mumbai, they can't go beyond Bandra. But travelling by rickshaw is cheap. I think 25 pounds a day is a rip off, my 7 rickshaw journeys yesterday cost me a total of 5 pounds. I get cross if my 20 minute journey to work costs more than 50p.

I agree with Latika, the Juhu Mariott is lovely, we often go there for the buffet and I am considering membership.

Do you know where in Mumbai the wedding is?

I lived in Mumbai for several years and it is an amazing city. Totally safe for women. In fact, the city never ever sleeps, so you never find yourself alone in a dark street, feeling vulnerable, if you see what I mean?

Where in Mumbai will you be staying? Location makes a huge diffference as each suburb is like a mini-city in itself. South Mumbai is where the tourists stay, and where the sights are. But there is so much to see and do in the suburbs as well. Bandra is known for its sea face, especially after sunset when the entire sea walk comes alive.

Oh, this is making me miss Mumbai so much :(

Just to add that a tourist visa is very easy to obtain. A business visa is a lot harder and involves a lot of bureaucracy. However, that is the same the world over. My company is currently trying to help a Russian employee sort out his visa, and the British High Commission is being an utter arse about it. The red tape is awful.

Thanks all, still pondering. Think the wedding is to the west of the city - about 15/20 mins' drive from the main sights.

Sorry to lower tone but what's the risk of coming down with 'traveller's tummy' if I take the necessary precautions??

I recently spent six weeks in India. I sided myself silly on amazing food each night, waiting for the inevitable 'travellers tummy'... which never came! I just came back a few pounds heavier and very well fed.

If you can afford it, I say go for it!

Did you decide to go in the end?

Sadly I've decided against it. We've had a crap summer that has seen us cancel three long weekends away (which we were doing instead of a proper hol) due to chickenpox and a bereavement. So a proper family holiday is in order instead over October half term. Thanks everyone for all the tips.