Touring India trip planning | Questions/Answers FAQ Page 3

Please email your questions to travelindiasmart@gmail.com Answers are usually posted within 7 days on this page. • In January next year my wife and I are planning on travelling to India and want to buy a cheap cellphone each so we can communicate. We also want the phones to have a camera. We will probably not use the phones again after leaving India or possibly sell them back to the dealer. Can you tell me the cost of a prepaid cellphone, 'ready to go', to meet my needs? Gordon •   Hi Gordon, There are no prepaid cell phones available in India, You will have to buy a cell phone and Sim card separately. The cost of a Sim card is Indian Rupees 100 or less. To avoid problems, buy a new phone. The cheapest option if you can manage without a camera phone is to buy a brand new Nokia model number 1203. This sells for Rupees 800 ( Approximately 17 US Dollars) Depending on your budget, you could also buy a dual Sim phone such as the Motorola Dual Sim EX128 This sells for approx Rupees 5200 - 5500. You can use this phone world wide as it is Quad Band 850/ 900/ 1800 /1900. This phone has a camera and the usual goodies of high end phones. Once you buy the cell phone and Sim card you can add talk time for any amount you like. There are no refunds for unused talk time. Good luck with your trip! • In Hi,May I please know as a tourist How much US dollars cash can i legally carrying on me whilesI travel in and out of India. Thank you, Regards, Roshan Raikar •  Any person can bring into India from a place outside India foreign exchange without any limit. However, declaration of foreign exchange/currency is required to be made by filling out a currency declaration form in the following cases: (a) Where the value of foreign currency notes exceeds US$ 5000/- or equivalent (b) Where the aggregate value of foreign exchange (in the form of currency notes, bank notes, traveler cheques etc.) exceeds US$ 10,000/- or its equivalent. A sample of the Currency Declaration Form used in India is available on ‘Nri Information’ a website for non-residents. Here is a link to the form: http://nriinformation.com/questions9/index_htm_files/CurrencyDeclarationFormIndia.pdf • Dear Sir, you have a great web site. We have been using it to plan our trip. you have mentioned train travel from Delhi to the Taj Mahal. Is it possible to do that as a day trip? In your notes on visits to Jaipur there are details of train times and prices. have you got the same information for the trains ;Dehli-Taj Mahal? We are staying at the Courtyard Gurgaon and plan to do day trips....a good idea??? We will be there in the first week of June. Once again, thanks for the great site that you have. Nigel Shields • The most popular and probably the safest method of going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, is to take the train. There are two good trains for this purpose, especially for those doing a day trip. ▪ The Taj Express ▪ Bhopal Shatabdi o For train timings and information, see the chart below: Train # Train Name From Dep Time Arrive Arr Time Runs 12280 Taj Express Delhi Nizamuddin Station 7:10 AM Agra Station 10:07 AM Everyday 12002 Bhopal Shatabdi New Delhi Station 6:15 AM Agra Station 8:12 AM Everyday Return Options 12279 Taj Express Agra Station 6:55 PM Delhi Nizamuddin St 10:00 PM Everyday 12001 NDLS Shatabdi Agra Station 8:30 PM New Delhi Station 10:30 PM Everyday The Delhi to Agra train fare on Indian Railways as on April 12, 2012 Shatabdi train is Rupees 775 per person one way for air-conditioned first class. For the air-conditioned chair car the current price is Rupees 400. (all taxes and charges are included in price mentioned) Taj express train does not have the first class and only air-conditioned chair cars are available. The price is Rupees 263 per passenger, each way. Note: The station referred to in the chart as Agra, refers to Agra Cantt. Agra has two other railway stations called Agra Fort and Agra City. There is no mandatory requirement to return on the same train. Select what ever train suits your schedule. Returning from Agra at night, better transportation option will be available at New Delhi station than Nizamuddin station which is a little out of the way.