Originally Posted by
moondog
Very cool! Anyone who can pull off Beijing to Lhasa on a hard seat earns my respect.
I'm surprised so many of your India trains were (very) late. I traveled around India by train in the late 90s and don't recall experiencing the same, though I do remember how painfully slowly some of the trains lugged along.
Questions: How many nights did you spend in hotels over the course of your six weeks? What cities did you find most interesting? Favorite foods you discovered?
It was 40 nights in all, and I spent 25 nights in hotels or hostels. Hotels in India is crazy, especially in big cities, like Mumbai. They are more expensive than many developed countries, but not up to the standard and lack of maintenance.
On January 27 in Zhuhai, I spent only 14.7 USD in 7daysinn and I got a LCD television with all buttons on the remote actually working, modern quiet air-conditioner with heating, good reliable hot water, and a big and clean bed, much better than what I got in Mumbai that costed me nearly 6000 rupees on January 8. Everything is cheap in India except accommodation. I think India should do something in this field.
Food are generally good and very cheap. Some are very good but I can't recall their name. I like the drinks, like chai, lassi, cheap coffee and fruit juice, and etc. The lack of beef and pork was a bit of pain to some but for only one or two months it should not be a big problem.