Preparing for my solo trip to India & Bhutan
I am going to Bhutan for 8 days in August. I will have a 3-day layover in New Delhi.
This would be a rather practical contribution summarizing some useful parts of my experience.
I had 2 major sources of information, which I would recommend to every traveller - my Lonely Planet guide & a vast amount of travel blogs.
Apart from the usual things, which one can easily get informed about online, there were a few things, which took me by surprise, or I figured out myself:
- While planning my budget, I had to calculate costs for: vaccines, bank transfers, medicines, insurance, sport/trekking equipment, solid suitcase, layover costs - all these can easily raise costs with around 500 EUR.
- It was extremely useful to get a proof of all vaccines I had since birth in my home country, in order to get new ones safely. I went to the Travel Clinique in Brussels, the doctor gave me very thorough instructions for my travel and make tons of jokes about the side effects of the Hepatitis A vaccines (maybe I should not have, but I found it quite amusing, felt a bit calmer).
- Bank transfers from Europe to Asia (in this case Belgium - Bhutan) are extremely expensive and should be considered as part of the budget. The expert at my bank (KBC) got so engaged in my trip, though, that I almost forgot about the great amount I am paying for Bhutan.
- I needed to activate a special permission for my Belgian debit card (and credit) card in order to use it in India & Bhutan without getting blocked.
- Even the most simple transit visa to India requires quite some documentation and proofs of citizenship from 2 years ago (due to the fact I am not applying from my home country). However, the administrator at the Visa Center in Brussels was extremely friendly and making constant jokes, I almost felt my trip to India has already started.
- Not a bad idea trying finding at least one person in the country to visit, who can be a contact person in any case of emergency. I did manage to find someone both in New Delhi and in Bhutan.
- For Bhutan, I read as much as I could in advance in order to make the best selection of what I will include in my itinerary. In the case of choosing a smaller Travel agency there, they are more than willing to tailor it according to my needs.
Basically, I met so many people during my preparation and so much positive attitude, that although I am absolutely terrified about going alone, I got even further enthused about my forthcoming trip :)
This would be a rather practical contribution summarizing some useful parts of my experience.
I had 2 major sources of information, which I would recommend to every traveller - my Lonely Planet guide & a vast amount of travel blogs.
Apart from the usual things, which one can easily get informed about online, there were a few things, which took me by surprise, or I figured out myself:
- While planning my budget, I had to calculate costs for: vaccines, bank transfers, medicines, insurance, sport/trekking equipment, solid suitcase, layover costs - all these can easily raise costs with around 500 EUR.
- It was extremely useful to get a proof of all vaccines I had since birth in my home country, in order to get new ones safely. I went to the Travel Clinique in Brussels, the doctor gave me very thorough instructions for my travel and make tons of jokes about the side effects of the Hepatitis A vaccines (maybe I should not have, but I found it quite amusing, felt a bit calmer).
- Bank transfers from Europe to Asia (in this case Belgium - Bhutan) are extremely expensive and should be considered as part of the budget. The expert at my bank (KBC) got so engaged in my trip, though, that I almost forgot about the great amount I am paying for Bhutan.
- I needed to activate a special permission for my Belgian debit card (and credit) card in order to use it in India & Bhutan without getting blocked.
- Even the most simple transit visa to India requires quite some documentation and proofs of citizenship from 2 years ago (due to the fact I am not applying from my home country). However, the administrator at the Visa Center in Brussels was extremely friendly and making constant jokes, I almost felt my trip to India has already started.
- Not a bad idea trying finding at least one person in the country to visit, who can be a contact person in any case of emergency. I did manage to find someone both in New Delhi and in Bhutan.
- For Bhutan, I read as much as I could in advance in order to make the best selection of what I will include in my itinerary. In the case of choosing a smaller Travel agency there, they are more than willing to tailor it according to my needs.
Basically, I met so many people during my preparation and so much positive attitude, that although I am absolutely terrified about going alone, I got even further enthused about my forthcoming trip :)
