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Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Fulltime travel/mostly Europe
Programs: UA 1.7 MM;; Accor & Marriott Pt; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 17,831
The electronic visa may be what you're thinking of as VOA. It's kind of a cross-breed. You apply for it online, submit your photos and pay. Mine was approved within 24 hours. On arrival, there is a bit more paperwork and fingerprinting. They were having some problems with the scanners reading the fingerprints so the process took maybe 10 minutes, but it worked. Be sure to have your hard copy. I wasn't certain they could find it otherwise.
I paid for most everything I needed with cc. Hotels try to get you some money, which I used for tips and some small purchases. I did pre-arrange my cars and pay online because of this situation. It began while I was there so I, like everyone else, was caught unprepared. I needed a cab at one point and he took my US$, but I paid more. I would not get big bills as no one will have change, otoh you can pay your hotel with them to get rid of them. When you arrive, immediately begin asking the hotel if you can change money. All of mine did not have cash daily and when they did have it they ran out early in the day. So maximize your chances by checking regularly.
Kerala is a little different than other parts of India I've been in. It's easier to get by without cash. I hope I didn't make this sound worse than it was. I originally got there and wondered what I was going to do without access to cash and ended up finding it was not a problem as $25 worth goes a long ways and even a little spice market I walked to took credit cards.
Last edited by l etoile; Nov 30, 2016 at 2:09 am