How to Visit Us

Thinking of visiting Gislen in India?

CHENNAI OR MADRAS?

One of the most common questions we get asked is whether we are in Chennai or Madras. Most people have some idea of where Madras is located, but have not heard of Chennai. So here is the answer – in 1997, to mark the 50th Anniversary of India’s independence, the names of several cities were changed to names that are more meaningful in the local languages than the old British names. Madras was formerly known as Chennai in the Tamil language, so it was natural to use this name in both languages. In fact, people still use both names. The airport is still known as MAA, and the export zone, where we are located is a unit of MEPZ, the Madras Export Processing Zone. To the right of our office is the Ripon Building, built by the British in the early 1900s – this is now the headquarters of the Chennai city administration.

HOW TO GET TO CHENNAI?

Many airlines have direct flights from Europe to Chennai. Among them are British Airways (via London), Lufthansa (via Frankfurt), Air France (via Paris), KLM (via Amsterdam), Jet Airways (via London), and Kingfisher Airlines (via Brussels). In addition there are a large number of airlines offering indirect flights to Chennai: Singapore airlines, Air Lanka, Gulf Air, Emirates, Saudi Air, Malaysian Airlines and Air India.

Then there are more airlines that fly to Delhi or Mumbai (formerly Bombay), for example Finnair. If you fly to Delhi, you can get a good domestic flight by Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet or Indigo. However, we recommend that you fly directly to and from Chennai, especially if it’s your first visit to Asia. Chennai’s airport is one of the best in India and the culture shock is definitely less than if you land in Mumbai and change to a domestic flight.

VISA

Most nationalities need a Visa to visit India. If you do not have an Indian passport and are not registered with the Indian authorities, then you probably need a visa. Contact the Indian Visa Application Centre in the UK or the Embassy of India in Ireland. If you are going to visit India several times, you can apply for a multi-entry business visa. You also need an invitation from us.

ACCOMMODATION

We can recommend and assist with booking hotels in Chennai, for prices that are usually lower than you would pay through a travel agency or by booking online. A good mid-range hotel will cost GBP £50 – £85 / Euro 55 – 95 / SEK 500 – 800 per night. Such hotels usually have a good restaurant, a pub and sometimes a pool. Real luxury hotels can cost much more than they would cost in Europe. Here’s some more hotel information. We also have a membership of a local sports club with overnight facilities, so we can arrange reliable accommodation that is less expensive. We recommend Residency Towers (4 Star).

CURRENCY AND EXCHANGE

There is no need to change money to Rupees overseas. It is usually best to change money at an Indian airport (note that you can usually change money at the airport while you wait for your luggage, but you may not be able to change currency after you have passed through customs.) Credit cards work well in hotels, better restaurants and most major shops and department stores. But to pay for a taxi, or to buy mineral water, or to buy little souvenirs, you will need rupees. The Indian rupee is written internationally as INR; locally it is usually shortened to Rs (or Re for one rupee). One hundred thousand rupees equals one “Lakh” and ten million rupees is one “Crore”. The exchange rate is currently about 61 rupees to the Euro. You get quite a lot for your money in India, if you are buying food and basic things, but not for luxury goods.

RECREATION

Mammalapuram or Mahabalipuram as the town used to be known as – and the old name is still often used – was the port for the Palava region. It is a small fishing village about 60km south of Chennai. There are several luxury hotels there and lots of interesting archaeological remains have recently been discovered, several square kilometres of the seabed is covered with remains from the 600-700 century AD. Mass tourism has not yet found the village. Aside from a relaxed atmosphere, great surf, nice little fish restaurants, there is also surprisingly interesting archaeology. The most famous is a stone temple on the beach which dates to the 670s AD. We recommend the following three star hotels: Sea Breeze Hotel, Ideal Beach Resort and Radisson Temple Bay and Taj Fisherman’s Cove, which is five star. Sea Breeze and Radisson Temple Bay are within walking distance of the archaeological sites. If you book in advance, you can also go to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands – a group of islands between India and Singapore which must be some of the most unspoilt paradise islands left. There are plenty of good reefs for scuba diving and pristine beaches.

EATING OUT?

Restaurants are very cheap compared to Sweden and the UK. You can get a good meal for less than 10 Euro. Even at luxury restaurants, prices are affordable (except perhaps for wine and spirits, where the state imposes high luxury taxes.) At the best restaurants in town, the main course will cost GBP £8 – 20/ EUR 9 – 22/ SEK 80 – 200,but the quality and service are world class. Indian food tastes good, so why not take the opportunity to try something you can’t get at home? But remember that South Indian food is very different from the food you find in Indian restaurants in Europe. Some little pubs are starting to open here and we can recommend the partly Swedish-owned pub – 10 Downing Street.

HOW DO YOU GET AROUND?

There are cheap three-wheel taxis everywhere called auto-rickshaws. Although the drivers barely speak English, you can quite easily negotiate a price for everywhere you want to go. Otherwise there are call taxis available which are run on a meter so for any distance of 100 Rs or more this is as cost effective as an auto-rickshaw. If you prefer to rent an air-conditioned car with a chauffeur, it costs GBP £6-£25/ Euro 7-27 / 60-250 Swedish Krona per day, depending on how many miles and how many hours you want to travel.

WHAT CAN YOU BUY?

Clothing and fabric are very cheap. If you plan to stay more than a week, you can get clothes made by a good tailor. Branded clothing is available and generally costs much less than in the UK or Sweden. Among the brands sold here are Benetton, Lacoste, Levis, Lee, Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Arrow, Nike and Reebok. Aside from the original outlets, there are also factory outlets where you can buy things for even less. But in some places, you should take care, because there are fakes. There are also plenty of traditional handicraft products in wood, marble, stone and basket work. In some small craft shops you can haggle, which you would never do in normal shops.

THE CITY

Chennai is much more traditional than Delhi, Bangalore or Mumbai. Most women dress in traditional Indian clothing, the Sari or the Shalwar Kameez (tunic). A lot of men you see on the streets wear the dhoti or the lungi, although the IT generation usually wear western dress. It is not always easy to get around in Chennai, apart from the main streets (Mount Road, Nungambakkam High Road, Poonemalle High Road, etc,) as there is virtually no pavement, making it difficult to walk. But it is easy to get around with an auto-rickshaw, so actually we recommend using these exotic three-wheel taxis in the local area.

Chennai is a colourful city with lots of beautiful and happy faces. You will find Hindu temples on most street corners, but there are also significant religious minorities of Christians, Muslims, Jains and Sikhs. People from different religions live peacefully side by side. Religion is important in India, but everyone respects each other. Chennai appears to have less poverty than some cities in North India. The city of Chennai has a population of more than 6 million, but with its suburbs it probably has a similar number of people to the entire country of Sweden. But Chennai doesn’t feel like a city apart from the rather frustrating traffic. Most people live in village-like areas and you see a lot of palm trees. Public transport is well organised for commuters, with frequent buses. The new, air-conditioned Volvo buses are comfortable and popular. Some buildings you may like to explore are: Madras High Court, Chennai Art Museum, Fort Street, George Street, St. Mary’s Church, Chennai Railway Station and Pasture Kottam. There are also some Hindu temples such as Kapelaswaram and Marundeeswarar and the old British Colonial buildings. But the buildings are not the main attractions in Chennai; it is the people, the colours, the dynamism, and the beaches to the south of town.

DRESS CODE

Dress is relatively informal. Hardly anyone wears a jacket. Long sleeved shirts and long trousers are normally worn in office environments. Women should remember that India is very conservative and dress accordingly. Western women who work here usually wear Indian dress or conservative western women’s clothing, but this is slowly relaxing.

LANGUAGE

English is spoken everywhere and most people you meet will have been educated in English. Even the poorer groups in the population usually understand sufficient English for the language not to be a big problem for visitors. You could say that it’s easier to speak English here than in a lot of European countries. This is true in the large cities like Chennai, but if you drive out into the country, most people only speak Tamil.

WEATHER

Our Indian friends often joke that there are three seasons in India, hot, hotter and hottest. But we don’t think it’s too bad… The proximity to the equator and the coast means that the difference between the hottest days and coolest days is not as great as in Europe. The table below shows the approximate temperature and typical weather for each season. Contrary to what we are accustomed to at home, the weather is fairly predictable. The temperatures show here are in Celsius.

OUR OFFICES

Our office is in the MEPZ (Madras Export Processing Zone) a duty-free export zone, and is about 6km from the airport. Our office is on the second floor of SDF11, Unit 27. If you are visiting, call us on 00 91 44 2262 7541 and we will give you directions.

TROPICAL DISEASES AND VACCINATIONS

There are very few dangerous tropical diseases in South India. Since most food is cooked, it is only water you should watch out for. Aside from the smarter hotels, where the authorities require that all mineral water served shall be treated, we recommend drinking only mineral water. Malaria exists in India, but it is very rare in Chennai. In addition, the malaria found here, (P. vivax) is not the worst kind. If you stay in an air-conditioned room, the risk of getting malaria, even after many years in Chennai, is virtually zero, so we do not recommend any malaria prophylaxis. Most visitors staying for long periods don’t use prophylaxis. Presumably, the risk of side-effects is significantly greater than the risk of malaria. But by all means get medical advice on this before you come here. After many years of vaccination campaigns, polio is extremely rare here, although some tropical diseases such as Dengue Fever, Typhoid and Chikungunya still occur, but are unusual. The best advice is to try to avoid mosquito bites by sleeping in an air-conditioned room, and to use mosquito nets and mosquito repellent. The only thing more dangerous than at home is probably the traffic!

REFERENCES:

• Select the correct vaccination
• General health advice for travel to India
• Infections Diseases Institute
• UD – Travel to India
• 10 frequently asked questions about India