Introduction to Central India
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We, Virginia and I, had visited India about five times and decided to visit that country again
in early 2008, concentrating on a part of India new to us: Aurangabad and its nearby
Ellora and Ajanta cave-temples; Hyderabad with its palaces, forts, and Ramoji Film City;
Hampi with its marvelous 15th century ruins; and Goa with its extensive beaches along the
Arabian Sea.
Trip preparations began with our internet purchase of two round-trip tickets on Virgin
Atlantic Airways for flights from Newark International Airport (near New York City) to
Mumbai, India, on 15 January 2008, and returning 14 February, The total cost for the two
of us was US$2,027. We did not yet have our itinerary worked out but had selected the
general area we wanted to visit.
In early December we completed the Indian visa application forms on the internet, printed
the completed forms, and a few days later took the bus into New York City. The Indian
Consulate had outsourced to a private firm the processing of visa applications. In the
morning we each submitted our visa applications with our passports and two passport-size
photos. After enjoying the day in New York we returned to pick up our visaed passports.
The cost of the visas was US$73 each. This visa procedure was a great improvement
compared to the chaotic scene at the Indian Consulate on previous trips to India.
Within India we travel mostly by rail, preferably overnight in sleeping cars. Our flight was
scheduled to arrive in Mumbai about noon 16 January and we decided to travel the same day
by overnight train to Aurangabad. We used the Indian Railways website,
http://www.erail.in/ , to buy our E-tickets from Mumbai to Aurangabad (374 km, 224
miles) in a class AC2 two-tier sleeper with AC; the total cost for the two of us was 956
rupees (US$26) after our 30% senior discount. At home we also printed train schedules
for later parts of our India trip. An excellent website describing rail services in India
(and almost anywhere else) is http://www,seat61.com/India.htm .
To help us plan our trip we borrowed several India guide books from our public library. On
the trip we took with us the just-released Lonely Planet India 12th Edition, as well as our old
2004 Edition of Footprint India.