The 58th International Astronautical Congress will take place in Hyderabad, India between 24 and 28 September 2007. The Federation compiles a site report during the February before a Congress.
THE CONGRESS CENTRE
This is an excellent venue with well-equipped rooms for meetings, plenaries, technical sessions with all of the facilities we have come to expect. We have 17 comfortable soundproof rooms with air-conditioning, a large presentation room with six computers, large halls, a security desk, cloakrooms etc.
The Exhibition Hall is about 300 metres (five minutes' walk) from the Congress Centre.
The Congress buildings are situated some distance from the city centre.
HOTELS
The selected hotels are well-adapted to Congress participants;
The prices have been strongly negotiated and we hope that they will be suitable to your budgets (available at www.iac2007.org ). Please note that these prices are lower than in Valencia for the same quality.
Air-conditioning is standard in hotels and restaurants.
WIFI is common in the reception area and cables in each room; Internet access using cables may be slow.
Indian electrical outlets provide 220-240 VAC, 50 Hz. You may have to buy an electric transformer before leaving your country. The plugs are the "Type D" standard (only used in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Namibia) and thus are different from those used in any other country of the world. You will have to either buy an adapter or new plugs once in India .
There are six mobile phone companies: BSNL, Hutch, Idea, Airtel, Tata Indicom and Reliance Infocomm.
All hotels, except Novotel, are about 8 to 15 kilometers from the Congress Centre.
Buses will pick up participants starting from 7:30 in the morning, then once an hour thereafter.
Warning: There is heavy traffic between 9:00 and 18:00 . At these time, buses may require 45 minutes to reach the Congress Centre. We invite you to have a look at the Congress schedule available on www.iac2007.org .
The Novotel is next door to the Congress Centre which is situated out of town. Hence here you won't see the teeming life of Hyderabad !
FLIGHTS
We chose Air India : Paris – Mumbai – Hyderabad .
The flight went smoothly – On board, there were several Indian specialties (although perhaps not for overly sensitive stomachs!).
We point out that a 10% fare reduction has been negotiated with Air India if participants travel in Executive or First Class. We didn't have to worry about the flight schedule: the duration of the first flight was about 8h20 then the second one about 1h30.
The connecting flight in Mumbai was on time and we waited for only one hour between flights. You may have to count on some patience, in particular at the airport.
AIRPORT SECURITY
Luggage is usually fully checked, there is omnipresent military personnel and visas alongside boarding passes are checked and then re-checked. Only one item and hand- luggage is allowed on board the plane – this applies to purses and shopping bags! You may therefore have to modify your travelling habits.
TRANSPORTATION TO YOUR HOTEL
It is preferable to take a taxi; the driver will charge around Rs 300 ($5 US) for one way.
No international credit cards or Euros are accepted in taxis. The acceptance of US dollars depend on the driver.
There are 'autorickshaws'. These are little yellow, three-wheels cars and extremely popular in Hyderabad ; this is half of the taxi fleet, but this should be reserved for adventurous passengers. If you are not used to them, we advise against trying then due to the usual traffic which can seem dangerous for non Indian citizens!
You may have difficulties crossing streets everywhere as there are a few traffic lights and no pedestrian crossings. No priority for pedestrians.
HOSPITALITY
We were welcome, everywhere we went!
People are charming and well disposed. We did not see any violence, theft or altercations. As in many places in the world, caution should be taken walking alone in the streets late in the evening.
Women generally wear the 'sari' or similar coloured clothes. The Sari is sold everywhere as well as beautiful cotton shirts, jewelry and souvenirs at a low-cost. Take time to do shopping!
FOOD AND DRINK
A large choice of specialties even for vegetarians. You have to savour the local cuisine. Buy bottled water, preferably not from street vendors.
Please make sure your food and drinking water are safe. Food and waterborne diseases are the primary cause of illness in travellers.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Local Organising Committee will post exhaustive pre- and post- Congress Tour information on-line soon.
The registration page will be available as of 1 March 2007 at www.iac2007.org.
This will be a unique trip and we invite you to join us in Hyderabad ! We will do our best to help you enjoy this incredible experience.
Should you need more information concerning Air India , Hotels, Registration etc., please contact myself, Valérie Nocquet, at valerie.nocquet@iafastro.org
We look forward to meeting you there!
