Tips for Vellore

Places to stay:

If it is hot get air-conditioning, it costs more but it makes all the difference! There are three main hotels in town that are safe and reliable:

Aavana Inn is directly across the street from the hospital so this will save you money on rickshaws but the rooms are fairly small and you will have to share a bed.

Hotel Surabi (where I stayed) is halfway between CMC hospital and CMC campus (about a 25-30 rupee rickshaw ride in either direction, that's less than a dollar). It is clean, has a good restaurant with incredibly slow service, and the laundry guy is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. There is a party place next door that sometimes plays loud music and sets off fireworks, particularly for weddings, but all parties stop around 10 so it's not much of a problem. There is an internet cafe right next door to Surabi for 15 rupees an hour.

Hotel Darling is the most expensive but also the nicest. It is basically across the street from Surabi and has free internet access for its guests. (It also has excellent food, just a warning though anything that you think is an american treat will have some type of indian flavor thrown in, i.e. pizza with a dash of curry...) Otherwise internet is down the street at iWay or other internet cafes around town. You can also get internet access through the campus library. You pay for the whole month and get a username and password. It allows you to use internet on campus or in the library by the hospital.

As for food all three hotels have good food, all have veg and non-veg restaurants, we usually went with non-veg and ate our share of meat, just don't touch the beef! The other places to eat are at baby residency down the street from Surabi, Chinatown across the street from the hospital or another restaurant with good food that is across the street from the hospital is in the basement of a building. The entrance usually has a guy selling samoses or cheap toys out front and there is a drawing of four cats all holding guns with the letters K-I-L-L written on their backs (promise it's good food though). There is also food at the campus and hospital cantinas and everything at all these places is only a few bucks.

There are two grocery stores near Surabi and Darling one called Harish Zone and the other is called Nilgiris, both on the way to iWay and within walking distance of Surabi and Darling. I personally love grocery stores so these were two of my favorite places. Try out new snacks, the Milki Biiks (cookies with vanilla cream in the middle) are delicious and there are some special spiced peanuts which we referred to as "fart nuts" which taste delicious but smell like... well, like the name we gave them. This is also a good place to get big bottles of water and an occasional ice cream treat. Nilgiri's has a better toiletry section if you forgot something or just want to buy stuff when you get over there.