Budget birding in India? (1 Viewer)

[sandrinhalee]

Hi everyone,
I have rather a general question.

I'm a budget birder and I can't afford to pay for a guide or tour. I'm currently working in Central Asia, and flights to India are pretty affordable. I have almost 2 weeks off in the beginning of Jan 2017. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend an area or a particular park in India where I can find cheap housing nearby (i.e. near enough to an urban area), catch public or cheap transportation to a birding area, and then just walk around without a guide and enjoy. I've been to Delhi / Sultanpur / Bharatpur and would like to go somewhere new.

Goa for me is out because somehow the flight prices are more than 3X the prices of all the other flights.

I appreciate the help!

Thanks,
S.

 

[DMW]

Plenty of budget birding opportunities in India, although it's generally cheaper and less restrictive to bird outside national parks. I would look into dividing your time between some of the sites in Rajasthan (e.g. Jaisalmer area, Pushkar), and the Naini Tal area in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Generations of birders have done these sites on low budgets - all are backpacker haunts, and so have plenty of cheap hotels and eateries, and are easy to do on public transport.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Hi everyone,

Goa for me is out because somehow the flight prices are more than 3X the prices of all the other flights.

I appreciate the help!

Thanks,
S.

Have you thought of flying in to Mumbai and taking the sleeper train or bus down to Goa?

It may even be cheaper to buy a cheap package deal for two weeks rather than flight only and separate accomodation.

In Goa, there are numerous taxi drivers who, whilst they don't know the birds as such, they are very familiar with the sites and hiring them for the day is, or at least used to be, pretty reasonable.


Andy

 

[Andy Adcock]

Plenty of budget birding opportunities in India, although it's generally cheaper and less restrictive to bird outside national parks. I would look into dividing your time between some of the sites in Rajasthan (e.g. Jaisalmer area, Pushkar), and the Naini Tal area in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Generations of birders have done these sites on low budgets - all are backpacker haunts, and so have plenty of cheap hotels and eateries, and are easy to do on public transport.

Nainital requires a pre-booked overnight train from Delhi. An easy day waiting for the train can be spent in the grounds of Delhi Zoo.

If you do this, be aware of the scam that involves 'reconfirming' your train ticket. It does have to be done, or it did anyway, but can ONLY be done inside the main train station. If someone tries to take you anywhere else it's a scam, they make a phone call and tell your ticket isn't valid and that you have to buy a new one. This will in turn lead to a hard sell where they try and get you to hire a car and driver.

I know this from first hand experience when I was very green.


A

 

[DMW]

Nainital requires a pre-booked overnight train from Delhi. An easy day waiting for the train can be spent in the grounds of Delhi Zoo.
A

Andy, you can easily get there by bus (regular departures from Kashmiri Gate if memory serves me).

 

[Andy Adcock]

Andy, you can easily get there by bus (regular departures from Kashmiri Gate if memory serves me).

Didn't know that but not surpirsed.

Sleepers can be beneficial though in terms of saving both time and money. While you're sleeping, you're actually going somewhere and not wasting valuable daylight hour plus it's a bed for the night too.

Cheers, A

 

[Andy Adcock]

Andy, you can easily get there by bus (regular departures from Kashmiri Gate if memory serves me).

Didn't know that but not surpirsed.

Sleepers can be beneficial though in terms of saving both time and money. While you're sleeping, you're actually going somewhere and not wasting valuable daylight hour plus it's a bed for the night too.

As an officially 'dry' town,one of my fondest memoris of Nainital is being served the 'special tea'. It's actually illegal to serve beer but they bring it out in a nice teapot to disguise it to anyone looking through the window.

A good range of budget accomodation here too.

Cheers, A