I'm in India now. sup ya'll =P

[Ns1]

Pics will come when they are uploaded and I will update this thread accordingly.


- Saw lots of guys pissing on street. Nobody shitting yet.
- Hyderabad has like the best and worst of india in the same block. The Westin I'm staying at overlooks a shantytown labour camp. The view is blocked by 20 foot walls, trees, and a cliff.
- traffic here is fucking amazing. right of way is determined by your likelihood of surviving a collision.
- shit is not as cheap as I was expecting
- Emirates is a fucking amazing airline. Emirates Business Class > Delta First Class
- Security is EVERYWHERE. Private security must be the #1 job in all of India. Everywhere we go, there are multiple security guards to check your car, check under your car, check your trunk, scan your bags, go over you with a metal detector, etc. etc. etc.
- I swear ENGLISH is the #1 language here. Signs are in english, menus are in english, practically everything is written in english. Many conversations that I overhear are in english, even when it's Indians talking to each other.


Is there any real value to the "duty free" shops, esp. Dubai? Dubai had the biggest duty free shop I've ever seen.


Things I Have Eaten (reminder to myself):
pani puri
mutton biryani
chicken biryani
masala dosa
Mirchi ka salan
chicken paratha
dal makhani
raita

[Phoenix86]

With the shit being all over the place, I'd expect it's freer than you think.

[Farang]

Hyderabad wasn't my favorite place.. but I was only there for a couple of days.

Still cheap though, you just gotta go where normal people go and not to stuff made for foreigners. Like not the Westin

[Ns1]

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[Ns1]

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@Farang

I walked out to my area to the more local areas and went to the supermarket - still $1.20 for a Pepsi. Was on the Toll road and was shocked to see $5 tolls (250 rupees)

[RossMAN]

Tagged

[TuxDave]

Originally Posted by Ns1

Saw lots of guys pissing on street. Nobody shitting yet.

You know, I always thought that you would have to go to some backwater nowhere land in India to see stuff like that. Just like trying to find people eating babies in China. You're telling me that pissing in the street is actually common (and not reserved to late night homeless drunks?) Ew....

[Farang]

Originally Posted by Ns1

This post reserved


@Farang

I walked out to my area to the more local areas and went to the supermarket - still $1.20 for a Pepsi. Was on the Toll road and was shocked to see $5 tolls (250 rupees)

'cause you're trying to buy a pepsi. You can get a cup of coffee or chai for 5 cents, and a meal at a normal restaurant (not the Hard Rock) for like $1.50

[darkxshade]

bathed in the luxurious river yet?

[Ns1]

Originally Posted by TuxDave

You know, I always thought that you would have to go to some backwater nowhere land in India to see stuff like that. Just like trying to find people eating babies in China. You're telling me that pissing in the street is actually common (and not reserved to late night homeless drunks?) Ew....

Well, I was in the "labour camp" area of town so...I saw guys pissing out in the street, feral/stray dogs (actually quite friendly), etc. A surprising lack of shit actually.

Originally Posted by Farang

'cause you're trying to buy a pepsi. You can get a cup of coffee or chai for 5 cents, and a meal at a normal restaurant (not the Hard Rock) for like $1.50

OH yeah, road side coffee/tea stand = guys with boiled water and instant tea/coffee packets. Unless I'm missing something here...my preference is still the straight black coffee from the Westin. If I am missing something, please let me know =P

[Anonemous]

Originally Posted by Farang

'cause you're trying to buy a pepsi. You can get a cup of coffee or chai for 5 cents, and a meal at a normal restaurant (not the Hard Rock) for like $1.50

I thought one of the tips ppl gave him was not to drink the water?

[Ns1]

Originally Posted by darkxshade

bathed in the luxurious river yet?

not my section of India. I swear the water smells funny though - closed mouth showers all week long.

[RossMAN]

How long are you there for?

[Farang]

Originally Posted by Ns1

Well, I was in the "labour camp" area of town so...I saw guys pissing out in the street, feral/stray dogs (actually quite friendly), etc. A surprising lack of shit actually.



OH yeah, road side coffee/tea stand = guys with boiled water and instant tea/coffee packets. Unless I'm missing something here...my preference is still the straight black coffee from the Westin. If I am missing something, please let me know =P

I can't speak for the coffee but I'd be surprised if the tea came out of instant packets. You can get it really cheap by the kilo (check out one of the many tea shops around), probably cheaper than Lipton or some other company tries to package it. IIRC that whole area is surrounded by tea country

But again, the restaurants, naan bread and some sides is going to be $1-$3.

[Ns1]

Originally Posted by RossMAN

How long are you there for?

a week.

Originally Posted by Farang

I can't speak for the coffee but I'd be surprised if the tea came out of instant packets. You can get it really cheap by the kilo (check out one of the many tea shops around), probably cheaper than Lipton or some other company tries to package it. IIRC that whole area is surrounded by tea country

But again, the restaurants, naan bread and some sides is going to be $1-$3.

Went to the mall yesterday (Inorbit) and got my dosa fix on for $2. Meals from the other americanized fast food mall vendors were on the $2-$4 range. Ice cream cone was something like 20-50 cents.

[Farang]

Originally Posted by Ns1

a week.



Went to the mall yesterday (Inorbit) and got my dosa fix on for $2. Meals from the other americanized fast food mall vendors were on the $2-$4 range. Ice cream cone was something like 20-50 cents.

ok.. I tried.. but yea if you keep going to the supermarket and the mall things won't be a lot cheaper. You're stepping into American when you go in those places, and get America prices

[RossMAN]

How are you dealing with currency?

[Ns1]

Originally Posted by Farang

ok.. I tried.. but yea if you keep going to the supermarket and the mall things won't be a lot cheaper. You're stepping into American when you go in those places, and get America prices

The office is in HITEC city and I'm being taken around by my chauffeur/company peeps. Hey it was cheap to me =P

I got prices for street food too, I'll post that up when I'm done uploading pics (38% now). I went to the "old city" yesterday but didn't get a chance to hit up any shops.

Originally Posted by RossMAN

How are you dealing with currency?

hotel quoted 50INR/1USD. Airport quoted the same. I might just eat the fee when I checkout cuz my company SHOULD pay the forex fee anyway.

While driving around we asked our driver to send us to a currency exchange. They gave us 53.5INR/1USD. 7% is a significant amount IMHO, so hotel/airport = ripoff. When I checked oanda in the morning, 53.5 is only 1INR below spot so I felt I got a good deal.

[amish]

are you going to update your location from "warm place" to "balls hot place"?

[gevorg]

so hows H&B there

[OverVolt]

India is very, very, very, very, very


very very very very very very very

veryveryveryveryveryveryvery

poor

pretend to be a poor American, its also kinda corrupt.

- traffic here is fucking amazing. right of way is determined by your likelihood of surviving a collision.

As it should be, god bless horns.

[AreaCode707]

I'm probably going in Feb with a couple of coworkers, one of whom is Indian. Bangalore though, visiting our offshore dev team.

Looking forward to stories and pics!

[Tsavo]

600+ million Indians don't have access to a toilet.

[Ns1]

Emirates is my new favorite airline. INTL Emirates Business Class > DOM Delta First Class. I'd love to see what the Asian airlines can do

[Broheim]

Originally Posted by Tsavo

600+ million Indians don't have access to a toilet.

and the rest just have a hole in the floor they squat over.