Some general suggestions

Leave anything made of leather at home as you travel off to the land of the sacred cow. Many people would be offended and in some temples it is completely forbidden.

Shoes must be taken off to enter most sacred sites so if they have laces, they will drive you crazy by the end of the trip. Socks are permitted and if you are there in the hot season, a good heavy pair will help protect your feet from the blistering hot marble you’ll be walking on. I love my yoga socks which have extra rubber spots on the bottom.

If you change a couple of hundred Pounds, Dollars or Euros. you’ll end up with a wad of Rupee notes about 5cm thick. It’s really handy to have a small zipper purse to put them in.

This probably won’t happen to you, but be aware that in traditional, rural homes, caste-less people (that’s us) may not be welcome into the kitchen. Pause before entering and be sure it’s OK. Foreigners – men and women – will be served first with the men of the family while the women wait in the other room. Grin and bear it – you can’t change 4000 years of history at this one meal. Get comfortable with eating with your (right hand only!) fingers and watch the other locals to see when it is appropriate. If you’re in someone’s home, find some humorous way to indicate that you are OK eating with your fingers – you may hear an audible sigh of relief from the family that they don’t have to negotiate knives and forks.

If you mail any snail mail postcards at the post office, watch them cancel the stamp, otherwise it can be steamed off and re-used. Really… 150 of my Christmas postcards failed to make it home one year. Normally, the post offices are open Monday through Friday from 10AM to 5PM, and Saturdays from 10AM to noon.

Indians eat dinner very late – usually around 9PM – although most restaurants understand that some foreign tourists will be showing up starting at 7PM. If you’re invited to a party, snack before you go. Party hardy till about 11PM or midnight, then the food comes out, then everyone dashes off home.

Take your shoes off before entering someone’s home, trying not to touch them as you’re taking them off. When you see the way people spit on the streets, you’ll understand why this is.

If you have a guide, it’s best to go shopping without him as most guides will collect shopping commission –anywhere from 15% up. When the store owner asks if you are with a group, he’s not just making conversation, he’s trying to figure out his pricing structure. Say something like “no, just going around on our own”. Your tuk-tuk driver is also entitled to a smaller commission so leave him a few blocks away.

Watch while your purchases are wrapped up so that nothing is switched out. The exception is the Cottage Emporium in Delhi which is how it’s done and you can’t do anything about it. Keep your credit card in your sight at all times so that no one runs it through the machine a few extra times.

Do not accept drinks or food from strangers as there have been quite a few reports of travellers being drugged and robbed. Even if it’s from a sweet looking family, be sure they are eating out of the same tiffen. If you need a graceful way out, just say that you are fasting that day.

It will tear your heart out – especially the little kids – but don’t give to the beggars. Parents still purposely maim their children to increase their earning power and you would be supporting this. More to the immediate point, you will be mobbed, I don’t know what kind of smoke signals they use, but every beggar in town will instantly have your number. See my “Giving Something Back” page and do it this way. OK, well, the one exception I do make is the old women, especially in Vrindaven No one looks out for them and I have found that I’m not mobbed and followed when I give to one.

Indians deem it impolite to say “no” to your wishes. Everything is “no problem” even if it’s a huge problem. Rather than backing someone into a corner, I try to make a request by opening up a discussion or throwing out some options. You kind of have to judge how enthusiastic their response is – not just listen to the words.

First thing, stop in at a pharmacist and get a plug in mosquito killer. There’s a brand called “Goodnight”, but there’s other good options as well. It’s a tiny bowl of liquid that heats up and sends off vapors that kill any mosquitoes in your room – unlike the smoke coils that just scare them off into the corners. I’m assuming that they are seriously toxic, so I put it on before I leave the room for dinner. After dinner, when the room is littered with dead mosquitoes, I unplug it for the rest of the night. Hmmm… toxic fumes or dengue fever?

If you are concerned about mosquito and bed bug control (especially a problem on trains), a company called Cocoon makes an Insect Shield Safari Bag. I am hoping - although I don’t know – that it will keep the occasional cockroach on the train from walking across me.

There’s a thriving market in counterfeit prescription medicine. If you get a prescription from a doctor in India, have it filled at the pharmacy she recommends. All your normal prescriptions should be brought from home. If you’re really stuck, the front desk manager or the concierge at your hotel should be able to give you the name of a reliable pharmacy.

Careful with the PDA. Holding hands is OK in big cities, but even that will raise eyebrows in some places.

Get a local person in your hotel to give you an idea what the tuk-tuk or taxi driver should be paid for the trip you are about to make. You, as a foreigner, you can expect to pay about double, but it’s nice to know what the base line should be. Don’t always believe the “government issued” fare sheet the tuk-tuk drivers show you. Perhaps they have cut off the top of the page that tells your it’s actually the fare sheet for taxis. And to really confuse the issue, there are honest, government approved, fare increases allowed over and above the fare sheet. This happens when the price of gas goes up faster than they can re-print the sheets. Ask in your hotel what the current situation is. I hate taking taxis in India! All this makes a daily car and driver look really good.

Dress

For women, this varies a lot by where you will be - the big cities being a lot less conservative, of course. Bear in mind that many men in rural India have never even seen their wife’s legs, so pants or long skirts will cause the least amount of kerfuffle. Last time I was in Delhi, I saw several Indian women in mid-thigh shorts, but this is still considered pretty risqué and really not a good idea. Indian women bare their midriff under their saris, but showing your shoulders is still not a good idea out on the streets. A top with a half sleeve and pants that come at least a few inches below the knee are still the minimum if you don’t want to be hassled. If you are going into a mosque, your sleeves should reach your elbows and you should have long pants or skirts. Only on rare occasions (in Sikh Gurudwaras and mosques, for example) have I been asked to cover my head, but it’s easy to always have a scarf with you. All that being said, urban women are very fashion forward and very elegant. Skinny jeans are everywhere in the big cities but they are usually worn with a fairly conservative blouse.

But… it’s really best to be as discreet as you can. Even covered from head to toe, you are already battling the western women’s Hollywood reputation. Honestly, I’ve had the best luck there with a shalwar-kamise, especially if I am traveling by myself or with only other women. These can be purchased inexpensively in all the big cities, or custom made very quickly in small Rajasthani towns. The Government Cottage Emporium on Janpath in Delhi is great, as is Fabindia and Anokhi.

White clothes sound tempting because of the heat, but they get really dirty quickly. Remember that it gets surprisingly cool at night out in the desert. Layers and a lightweight jacket are good. I use a light wool sweater with a wool pashmina.

When you go out shopping, the secret is to look poor, otherwise your attempts to bargain will fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, this only works until you turn about 40, at which point everyone will assume you are fantastically wealthy and can pay any amount of money for that trinket. Tuck your camera away in your backpack before you enter a store.

The ground is so dirty that you’ll probably want a pair of closed toe shoes to wear most of the time to keep your feet clean. The pavement you’ll be walking on is pretty rough so they shouldn’t be too lightweight. Somewhere into the trip, however, you’ll probably just give up trying to keep your feet clean and switch to sandals because they just feel so much better.

And so that I don’t look like a country bumpkin when I go out to dinner along with all the Indian women in their gorgeous silk embroidered saris, I travel with a long flowing skirt that can be dressed up with a pashmina scarf.

Men can get away with the mid-calf shorts at most times, but entering a temple, mosque, or gurudwara requires full length pants.

Keeping mosquitoes away is your most important mission while traveling in India. Ex Officio and Outdoor Research both make clothing with Permethrin – called Insect Shield – built in. Often, hotels will set up dinner tables out on the lawn – calling all mosquitoes! You can also buy Permethrin in a can and spray it on your own clothing. I have a pretty Indonesian cotton sarong that gets treated. It folds up small in my backpack and comes out when I need it. My favorite brand of insect repellant is Ultrathon which has about 34% Deet, is sweat resistant, and lasts 12 hours.

Small hotels in small towns will give you a padlock and key to lock your room up. In 35 trips to India, I have never had anything stolen out of my hotel room, but times are a’changing. If this makes you nervous, take your own mid-size padlock.

The State Department advisory says that petty theft is common throughout India. My personal experience, however, has been very much the opposite. While rip-offs are incessant, stories of miraculously returned misplaced items have far exceeded stories of things stolen. Certainly, it is no worse than many European or other Asian countries. A little paranoia, on the other hand, can be a good thing, no matter what country you are travelling in. Your passport, credit cards, and wads of Euros or Dollars should be in a pouch that is hidden under your clothing Eagle Creek makes some great ones with RFID blocking. Make sure it is comfortable enough so that you can sleep in it on the trains. Most reports of theft off of trains happen just as the train is pulling out of a station. A chain and padlock is necessary for overnight train trips so that you can secure your suitcase to the bed frame. Your camera and other valuables should be in a pack that you can use as your pillow. If you are travelling alone, this pack should have a strap that can be hung over a hook in the bathroom as you will have to take it with you. There’s no place clean enough in the toilets to set it down.

Food safety

There’s no government agency looking out for your food safety in India –it’s up to you. This all sounds onerous, but there is so much fabulous cooked veg food in India, you’ll slip into good food habits fairly easily. Take heart! In my 35 trips to India, I have only had food poisoning once, and that was – I’m pretty sure – from Crème Caramel on a buffet in a 5 star hotel. And, I eat off the streets a lot. Sometimes street food, which has a quick turn over rate and is discarded (given to beggars) at the end of the day is the safest. Big hotels and restaurants save their leftover food overnight, and if their refrigerators are not cold enough, this can be a problem.

Think about going vegetarian – called “veg” in India. That being said, chicken curry is one of my favs, so sometimes – if the situation looks safe – I will dig in. What you need to assess is how long it took from the killing of the chicken to getting it in the pot. Chances are, it was not refrigerated in any way, shape or form along the way. I never eat fish when I’m inland. Again, one of the tip offs is how fast the food is turned over, Look for a dhaba that is popular with the locals and has bunches of customers.

Ask the locals what the safest brands of bottled water are. There’s big differences in this unregulated market. Also, for many years, criminal sorts would re-fill used bottle with the garden hose and put the cap back on. This isn’t so much a problem now, with tamperproof tops, but be sure the top is properly sealed when you buy it or when it is brought to your table.

If you can’t peel it or cook it, don’t eat it. If you really must have one of those very tempting looking tomatoes, go to the pharmacy and get some potassium permanganate. Ask the pharmacist for directions as it is very toxic if not diluted to about 0.001%. The water you are washing your vegetables in should be light pink. Soak the veges for 10 minutes and rinse them in drinking water. This will kill most bacteria and some intestinal parasites.

Milk is not pasteurized, so the milk that goes into your tea should be hot, evidence that it has been boiled.

Cooked white rice, which has been “temperature abused” (left at room temperature for several hours) can develop Bacillus cereus which can – 8 to 16 hours later – give you vomiting and diarrhea.

My Indian friends won’t eat samosas that are not fresh. I don’t know what the issue is with cooked potatoes that have not been refrigerated, but if that’s their advise, it’s good enough for me.

Never have ice in your drinks unless you really believe the waiter when he says the water is filtered. I will usually succumb to ice in 5 star hotels in big cities. So far, so good.

And for women…

Sexual harassment. Yes, huge problem. It’s called “Eve teasing”. Most of it is annoying but not dangerous. If you are a woman travelling on your own or with another woman, you will encounter Eve teasing several times a day in the form of groping or verbal assaults. This shuts down pretty totally if you are travelling with a man, although several years ago, a man and woman were attacked while camping. The frequency of actual physical assaults are hard to pinpoint. Rape in India is so massively under-reported that the statistics are laughable. In talking to my Indian women friends, I have come to believe that rape is an enormous problem. Almost all Indian women, however, are so humiliated that it is never reported. In the last 10 years, assaults on foreign women have increased dramatically.

There is a women’s phone emergency hotline – dial 1091.

At this point, my advise is that a woman should never travel in India on her own, and even 2 women together is dicey. Three is about the minimum for safety, and even then, sensible precautions are essential.

Consider taking one of those rubber stoppers that you jamb under the door. There is one case that I know about that where the son of the owner of the hotel forced his way into a woman’s room. (she escaped by jumping out of the 2^nd story window)

The Metro in Delhi is actually a good bet for safety, as long as your walk home is OK. There is a women’s car at the front of every train and it’s scrupulously – and sometimes hilariously – enforced.

There’s a new women’s taxi service in Delhi, soon to spread to other cities. Look them up at: http://www.womenstaxi.org/new-delhi.html Never get into a taxi, or bus by yourself if there’s a man driving. If you absolutely must, make a big show of taking a picture of the license plate and mumbling to the driver “Honestly! My brother is so strict. He makes me send him a picture of every taxi I get into”.

Never look a stranger in the eye, but know when to disregard that rule. To some guys this is an open invitation. On the other hand, India is full of well educated, honest, interesting men and women who want nothing more than to have a great conversation with you.

A sadhu’s holy status does not preclude him hitting from on you, especially in Varanasi.

Don’t walk around at night, especially if you’re a bit tipsy. Well, actually, never, if you’re a bit tipsy.

Many women wear a wedding ring, but I have found that doesn’t do much – you’re still brash enough to be traveling on your own and therefore fair game.

Really! I have had thousands of heartwarming, life enriching encounters with gentle and wise and thoughtful people all over India! I am always packed, ready to go on a moment’s notice.