Plan your trip to South India with a friend

What do you do when you plan a trip? You Google. Buy up available literature and you talk to friends. Hopefully your friends would know someone (a friend of a friend) who has traveled before. All tiny bits help.

I just realized that I could be the friend of a friend. And before the modern mind is filled with skepticism, I hurry to state that I am *not* a travel agent *nor* a tour guide. I do not have any commercial interest in any place that I recommend.

And this comes absolutely FREE.

I travel the south India whenever possible. Besides, I am surrounded by friends and colleagues who belong to the 'South Indies'. They have friends who have friends who have traveled ... you get the idea.

So, if any one has any questions on ...

(i) Which route will fetch you the maximum ROI?
(ii) Where to stay (a) in style (b) in comfort?
(iii) Confirmation of tiny little facts that do not show up on Google search.
(iv) Mode of travel.
(v) anything at all.

... please feel free to write to amitabh1702@yahoo.co.in.

I will send you a personal response within a week and we could interactively decide on the best option.

This should help those who travel from the North of India or those living outside India.

So what is stopping you?

Must Have Travel Books For South India

People travel all around the world. They have what is called the wanderlust.

I will be happy if I manage to cover, in one life time, the whole of South India - just the four states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. And I am restricting myself to only those places that fall on the tourist map. South of India is sufficiently rich to last me a life time.

Restricting myself to the south also means that I get to drive to my destination.

I depend mainly on two books for all my travels. And I would recommend this to anyone.

The first is part of the 'Outlook Traveller Getaways' series. It goes by the name 'Weekend Breaks From Bangalore'. Unfortunately the name 'Weekend Breaks From Bangalore' is misleading. Many tourists from the north and outside India may not use this book as they are more interested in a been-there kind of trip. That would be a mistake. Of all the books that I have checked at the local bookstores, this one is perhaps the best. The book dedicates at least 4-5 pages (or more) for each destination. The pages cover maps, routes, best way to get there by car, bus and train, where to stay, where to eat while traveling and at the destination, local interests and places of interest around the destination. I wish they would come up with the next edition soon. My book is getting tattered from use and the next edition would give me the excuse to buy it again.

Outlook Traveller also has dedicated travel books on Goa (I have) and Kerala (need to buy).

The second book I refer for all my trips is the India Road Atlas published by Eicher GoodEarth Publication. I hate maps that need unfolding and refolding (and in any case you can never get the folds neatly back again). The Road Atlas is a book that is of size that is little bigger than A5 and little smaller than A4 size paper - very convenient. There are two built in bookmarks that helps you navigate easily from one page to another. The map is sufficiently detailed. And even if you do not wish to travel by road, buy this Atlas. It is fun to trace roads on the map.