Adventure Carees

Republic Of India

 The English term is from Greek Ἰνδία (Indía), via Latin India. Indía in Koine Greek denoted the region beyond the Indus (Ἰνδός) river in Pakistan, since Herodotus (5th century BC) ἡ Ἰνδική χώρη, hē Indikē chōrē; "the Indian land", Ἰνδός, Indos, "an Indian", from Old Persian Hinduš (referring to what is now known as Sindh, a province of present day Pakistan, and listed as a conquered territory by Darius I in the Persepolis terrace inscription).^[1] The name is derived ultimately from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name of the river, but also meaning "river" generically. Latin India is used by Lucian (2nd century).
The name India was known in Old English, and was used in King Alfred's translation of Orosius. In Middle English, the name was, under French influence, replaced by Ynde or Inde, which entered Early Modern English as Indie. The name India then came back to English usage from the 17th century onwards, and may be due to the influence of Latin, or Spanish or Portuguese.
Sanskrit indu "drop (of Soma)", also a term for the Moon, is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected, listed by, among others, Colonel James Tod in his Annals of Rajputana. Todd describes ancient India as under control of tribes claiming descent from the Moon, or "Indu" (referring to Chandravanshi Rajputs).
The name Bhārata (भारत) has been used as a self-ascribed name by people of the Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India.^[3] The designation Bhārata appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārata Gaṇarājya. The name is derived from the ancient Hindu Puranas, which refer to the land that comprises India as Bhārata varṣam and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents.^[4] For example, the Vayu Puranas say "he who conquers the whole of Bharata-varsa is celebrated as a samrāt (Vayu Purana 45, 86)."^[4] However in some Puranas, the term 'Bharate' refers to the whole Earth, as Emperor Bharata described as having sovereignty over the world. Until the death of Maharaja Parikshit, the last formidable emperor of the Kuru dynasty, the known world was known as Bharata varsha.
According to the most popular theory, the name Bhārata is the vrddhi of Bharata, a king mentioned in Rigveda.^{[citation needed]}
The Sanskrit word bhārata is a vṛddhi derivation of Bharata, which was originally an epithet of Agni. The term is a verbal noun of the Sanskrit root bhr-, "to bear / to carry", with a literal meaning of "to be maintained" (of fire). The root bhr is cognate with the English verb to bear and Latin ferō.
This term also means "one who is engaged in search for knowledge".
According to the Puranas, this country is known as Bharatavarsha after the King Bharata Chakravarti. This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana (2,1,31), Vayu Purana,(33,52), Linga Purana(1,47,23), Brahmanda Purana (14,5,62), Agni Purana ( 107,11–12), Skanda Purana, Khanda (37,57) and Markandaya Purana (50,41), all using the designation Bharata Varsha.
In the last update I did not write about some of the first impressions we had of India when we arrived in Chennai. Here is one, Indians bob their head from side to side when they mean yes or "I understand". Initially we took it to mean "no", making an ass of ourselves explaining the same thing three times to the cab driver that took us from the airport, before Federico, another traveler who was sharing the cab with us told us what it actually meant. We had a good laugh.
Indians often ask what your "good" name is. For example when calling ahead to a hotel, in an attempt to make a reservation, they will ask you what your "good" name is. Not that it helps because invariably when getting there, nobody will remember your "good" name, or have any clue about a reservation. Maybe they would remember it better if you gave your "bad" name?
Bangalore left no big impression, there is not that much to see, except for the giant Nandi. This bull statue is one of the largest in India, it was also 468 years old (in 2005) according to the monk in charge, so it must have been built in 1537. However, he waved off popular belief that the statue had grown in size after completion as pure fiction. He told us that there are only 4 bull statues of comparable size in India.
In nearby Mysore there are a few more interesting things to visit. Namely the City Palace (Amber Vilas) and Chamundi hill. The city palace is a nicely maintained and well worth a visit. Unfortunately cameras are not allowed inside.
Chamundi Hill has nice views over Mysore. The hilltop temple is nothing special but a short walk down the hill there is another giant Nandi statue. This one dates from 1659.
Ooty (now officially named Udagamandalam) was cooler due to its higher elevation at 2200 meters. This was a nice break from the otherwise warm and humid climate in southern India. In this season however many people try to escape the heat and head to the mountains, so it was very crowded.
There is a scenic train ride through the Nilgiri Hills from Ooty to Coonoor and a steam train from Coonoor to Mettupalaiyam. It is a popular trip.
Although we had heard many stories from other travelers about problems with food, we had none. Instead we found South Indian food to be quite delicious. Certain dishes are served on a banana leaf and you must eat them with your fingers!
One day, while sitting in a road side restaurant, I observed a police officer call a traffic offender to him and watched bewildered as the officer slapped the offender in the face! Wow, that really brings home some cultural differences!

Information

Costs

India - Rupee, approx. rates: 1 USD = 44 INR, 1 EUR = 56 INR
Prepaid airport taxi to Bangalore center (Brigade Road): 180 INR
Bangalore: Hotel Vellara: 862 INR incl. tax, bathroom, hot water, sat-TV, fan.
Bangalore: Shangrila Lodging (182 Brigade Road): 648 INR incl. tax, bathroom, hot water, sat-TV, fan. Smaller rooms than Vellara, but cheaper and more central. Tibetan run.
Bangalore: WebWorld, on Brigade Road, fast internet connections.
Bangalore: Dahlia, a Japanese Restaurant on 19 Church Street has genuine Japanese food at Japanese prices.
Train: Bangalore -> Mysore: 305 INR (a/c chair in Shatabdi, the fast train, takes 2 hours)
Mysore: Hotel Bombay Tiffanys: 756 INR (non a/c suite), 513 INR (non a/c room), hot water only in morning.
Mysore: Palace entry fee: 20 INR
"Taxi": Mysore -> Ooty: 400 INR (car was returning to Ooty).
Ooty (Udagamandalam): Reflections Guest House: 500 INR (hot water only in morning, smelly bathroom)
Ooty lake: 5 INR + 20 INR for camera, 60 INR for 30 min. in 2 person pedal boat.
Ooty: Bus to Doda Betta: 5 INR (but there were no buses back in the afternoon).
Ooty: Doda Betta peak entry fee: 2 INR.
Ooty Rose Garden: 10 INR + 30 INR for camera.
Train: Ooty (Udagamandalam) -> Coonoor: 7 INR + 15 INR for seat reservation. Great views.
Coonoor botanical garden: 5 INR + 25 INR for camera.
Train: Coonoor -> Mettupalaiyam: 8 INR, steam train, great views.
Train: Mettupalaiyam -> Chennai Central (19:45 - 05:30) class 2A: 1311 INR (including 300 INR Tatkal "emergency" reservation fee). All trains where full.
Chennai: Paradise Hotel: 300 INR no air-con, 600 INR air-con, sat-TV, bathroom, no warm water.
Chennai: Taxi to airport: 250 INR
Flight: Chennai -> Kolkata with Air Deccan: 3021 INR incl. all taxes.
Kolkata: Super Guest House: 880 INR incl. taxes. a/c, bathroom, cable-TV and a few cockroaches. None the less one of the few clean hotels in the Sudder street area.
Taxi: Kolkata (Sudder street) to BRTC bus station: 150 INR with meter.
Bus: Kolkata -> Dhaka with BRTC: 1000 INR (return, no 1-way sold) in spite of the claim that they have 2 buses every day, when we wanted to return there was no bus going back, so we returned with another company. Their bus station is also 14 km out of town. It felt a little as if we had been scammed.
Bangladesh - Taka, approx. rates: 1 USD = 64 BDT, 1 EUR = 80 BDT
Dhaka: Hotel Royal Palace: 1350 BDT, incl 5% service charge. a/c, sat-TV, bathroom, warm water.
Dhaka: Lalbagh Fort entry fee: 2 BDT
Boat trip on river: 50 BDT/hour, but they try to scam you, our trip lasted only 25 minutes after which he still wanted 50, but we only paid 25. Stand your ground, apparently they want to learn the hard way that they too need to keep their end of the bargain.
Rickshaws and taxis all have meters, refusal to put them on, always mean that you are being overcharged. Insist on the meter.
Train: Dhaka -> Chittagong: 290 BDT, 1st class.
Chittagong: Asian Hotel: 850 for non-a/c room, bathroom, sat-TV, a/c room for 1500 BDT. Has affordable and good Internet access available.
Bus Dhaka -> Kolkata with Shyamoli Pariban: 600 BDT (1-way) though you must walk across the border to a bus at the other side, it is cheaper than the BRTC bus and not much worse. Besides they sell 1-way tickets and travel every day. Their arrival/departure point in Kolkata is also far more central, a few 100 meters from Sudder street.
Bangladeshi Exit Tax: 300 BDT, we did receive a receipt in Bangladeshi, some suspicion of a scam though as the receipt had to be handed in when at the final Bangladeshi checkpoint.
India - Rupee, approx. rates: 1 USD = 43.50 INR, 1 EUR = 54 INR
Kolkata: Hotel Gulishan Palace: 700 INR incl. tax. a/c, bathroom, warm water, sat-TV. Got a group discount (together with fellow travelers we took 3 rooms). Normal rate 780 INR.
Note: In Kolkata, Super Guest House and Hotel Gulishan Palace were the only two decent hotels that we found with clean air-conditioned double rooms in the Sudder street area costing less than 1000 Rupees per night. We checked out quite a few places.
Taxi: Kolkata -> Airport: 200 INR
Flight: Kolkata -> Kathmandu with Indian Airlines: 130 USD + 17.50 USD tax. Executive class, economy was full and would have cost 110 USD plus tax.