Hi guys!
First post in this area of the forum so hello everyone!
We are going for 5 weeks to Panjim,India. We are staying in Marriott, flying with BA( Lufthansa is around 50% more expensive + more time and stopovers) to Mumbai + local airline to GOI and with hotel shuttle to hotel.
Anyway, I do have some questions about Goa and India in general.
1. Car. I don't need a car for 5 weeks but from time to time I'd like to go somewhere
What you can recommend? As I can see on google there is not that many car rentals in Goa ??
Bike- I was told that I can easily and for a very small amount rent a bike (scooter? moped? however you call that). Is that true? What are the prices? Do I need international driving license for that?
2. Clothes. Should I just take few things with me and then buy everything there as it will be CHEAPER than in UK? Is this a good idea? I mean I don't care about 20-30% difference in price BUT 50-60% sounds cool
3. Tips. How much should I be tipping people? How much do you tip maids in India? Drivers/taxi? other USUALLY tipped ppl? Should I make tips in £, $ or RS?
On different forums I've seen advice that CC shouldn't be used and we should be caring some cash with us.
4. Mobile phones. I need access to the internet and to the phone. Which network would you recommend? Which network offers cheapest pre-paid (PAYG) internet access? My hotel is charging $9,99 per days which seems to be quite expensive...
0. Donations. We'd like to donate some money for poor kids (maybe not money but toys, sweets or anything else). For me £500 doesn't make a big difference but in India can be a great amount of money. The idea is that we will take some cash, toys and will go to one/few villages (school?) to make those kids happy.
Is this a good idea? Have anyone done something like that? We don't really want to donate to the charities - we'd like to make kids happy- not office workers.
Anything else what I should know?
Sorry for so many questions but google is not very helpful..
Many thanks in advance
Cheers!
Chris