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| TRAVELING |
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 Traveling in India is both a joy and a challenge. The country is known for its railways, both because of the vast distances that you can cover and because most trains leave and arrive on time. That both railway officials and travelers alike support the latter statement proofs that this is not just another 'Indian truth'. Next to the railways, with a rich heritage dating back to the days of the British 'Raj', traveling by plane has certainly caught up in the minds of both international and national tourists. And business people, as they are the 'bread and butter' of the domestic airlines, like 'Kingfisher' (simultaneously a famous beer brand), 'Jet Airways'  (which has an even more successful international name), Indian Airlines (nowadays called 'Indian') and smaller one's like 'Deccan' and 'Sahara' or 'Spice Jet'. With a ticket priced just over Rs. 2,000 (EUR 30) for a flight from Chennai to Mumbai, flying is not anymore the privilege of a happy few.
 Traveling by taxi has to do without the free drinks and snacks, but is nevertheless the most comfortable way of traveling through India for journeys that take less than a day to reach your destination. Otherwise a (luxury) bus- or train coach is recommendable. A so called 'semi-sleeper' bus can easily compete with a 'second class AC sleeper' train. A back-draw of both bus and train for the female traveler - if she travels alone - is that unfortunately, even in the luxury coaches, Indian men do not seem to maintain a proper distance. Although a tough high-pitched warning alerts fellow passengers (and the culprit himself) often in such a manner, that repeated action is prevented.
 And then there's the regular line bus, an experience for the real dare devil, with elbows that know where to push and pinch, if necessary, on the way out (for the bus sometimes does not come to a complete stand still to let people disembark, and before you know .. you'll be on your way to the next stop).
 For short distances - up to 10 km - there's the auto- and cycle-rickshaw. The first is very popular amongst the volunteers, as it brings you speedily to any destination in and outside village and town. The latter - the cycle rickshaw - is what you could call 'an endangered species': in many towns one has to search for one, but taken it's a delight. The main reason why volunteers (and tourists in general) are hesitant to take one is the image that 'it is pathetic to let the driver work so hard'. The fact that a ride in a cycle-rickshaw means livelihood to the driver - who often is used to do this work 'his own way' for years on end - is often forgotten. Or is suppressed.
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| WHERE TO GO? |
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 A few South-India popular destinations are Mamalapuram ('rock sculptures'), Madurai ('Cradle of Tamilian Culture'), Chennai (capital city of Tamil Nadu), Bangalore ('Silicon Valley of India'), Goa ('Hippy atmosphere'), Puttaparthi ('Sai Baba'), Chidambaram ('Shiva Nataraj Temple'), Mysore ('Palaces of Maharadhja's'), Thiruvannamalai ('Shri Ramana Maharshi Ashram'), Kodaikanal & Ooty ('Hill Stations') Allepey ('Backwater boating').
 In North-India people often visit Delhi (India's capital city), Agra ('Taj Mahal'), Calcutta ('India's last walking rickshaws'), Varanasi ('Ganges'), Jaipur ('the Pink City') and the Himalayan states (Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal etc.), with adventure sports like paragliding, wild water rafting and trekking. Through Travelers Choice, package deals are available, as well as train- and air-tickets and hotel reservations to any of the above destinations. |
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| TRAVELLERS CHOICE |
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 AMAIDI has a strategic alliance with 'Travelers Choice', an excellent travel agency with locations both in Bharathi Nagar (near to AMAIDI Guesthouse) and in Puducherry, both in South-India. Traveler's Choice (TC) is supported by a network of partner offices in leading destinations in Africa, including Johannesburg (South Africa), Maputo (Mozambique) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). TC assists volunteers and interns, aspiring to travel, both through its physical offices as well as through its website in a professional way. This travel company provides global reservation services for airline tickets, inbound rail & bus tickets, hotels, rental cars, tours, safaris to Dubai and top destinations in Africa, and others. TC has everything 'under its roof' to satisfy the volunteer's need for travel related services: from a train-ticket to a close by destination to unwind of the week's work to a full-fledged holiday of a month in Rajasthan at the end of his/her volunteering period. |
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| SERVICES |
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- Return ticket confirmation
- Re-scheduling traveling dates
- Instant flight ticket booking
- Pre-paid ticketing advise
- Railway bookings
- Bus bookings
- Stop-over program booking
- Amusement packages
- Adventure sport packages
- Hotel reservation
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