A bout India:
India had a well established infra structure
for western travelers. You needed just a little extra patience and
consideration to have a wonderful experience. The transport and the range of
hotels in some ways eclipsed those you would find at home and you would
comfortably get by with English in any established tourist town or city.
TIME:
India is 5 ½ hours ahead of GMT
WO MEN TRAVELERS:
Once up on a time, women traveling a lone used to be frowned up on in India,
but times have changed now. Proper dress code in accordance with the Indian
social matrix serves to an ex tent. How ever one needs to be on the right side
of caution while entering in to conversations with strangers, accepting
invitations to drinks and late night dinners. And as a bonus, there are ladies’
queues for trains tickets, ladies’ compartments in trains and even ladies’
seats in buses. So you see, it is not just caution all the way.
SENIOR TRAVELERS:
Elders are respected and revered all over India. Thus
senior travelers will not have any problem in touring India.
Unless you have poor vision or are other wise challenged, there shouldn’t be
any reason for not visiting India. All senior travelers have senior
citizens’ quotas in trains and senior citizens’ queues for trains’ tickets.
Your stay in India
will be a memorable one. So, enjoy it while it lasts.
PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED TRAVELERS:
Traveling in India for the
physically challenged is not easy. Few buildings in India are geared
up for the wheel chair. Some times even foot paths can not be used by the
physically challenged. Rest rooms have not been designed with the wheel chair
in mind. Never the less, many physically challenged travelers are daring a head
on encounter with these difficulties.
TRAVELS WITH CHILDREN:
Traveling with children is a real joy as it of ten in creases the chances of
having interesting encounters with the local people. Children are easily
welcomed every where and hospitality is extended to those accompanying them.
One of the reasons for this might be that children are not self conscious and
they do not feel cultural differences as acutely as some adults are likely to.
It is thus easier for them to make friends with the locals.
How ever, traveling with children can al so be exhausting, for they fall sick very easily. In big hotels, obtaining safe baby food is not a problem. Dispose able nappies are avail able in all major towns and cities. Most big hotels provide baby sitting facilities.
Extra care should be taken to protect children from the Indian heat by a voiding the sun during the hottest times of the days. Cool showers and baths al ways help. De hydration can be remedied by drinking plenty of water that is either boiled or purified with tablets. If traveling with children, it is best to visit India in the cooler months.
HOLI DAYS:
India
is a multi cultural, multi lingual country and thus has a great number of
holidays and festivals. Most of these festivals follow the Indian lunar
calendar. There fore they are likely to fall on different days each year in the
Gregorian calendar. Muslim holidays and festivals follow the Islamic calendar.
So they too fall on different days every year. Numerous religious festivals are
celebrated through out the country, al though the manners in which they are
celebrated may vary from state to state. Amongst those that count as public
holidays are – 26th January: Republic Day, 15th August: Independence Day, 2nd
October: Mahatma Gandhi’s
Birthday and 25th December: Christmas.
SHOPPING TIPS:
The most import ant rule while purchasing handicrafts is to
get the right bar gains. It wouldn’t hurt to first look a round to know the
fakes from the real. It is al ways beneficial to get an idea of the quality and
price of items by visiting the various state emporia’s and the Central Cottage
Industries Emporia’s in Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad. Here the prices are fixed and will give you a fair idea of how much
you could expect to pay while purchasing similar items from regular dealers.
A gain, be careful when buying items that include delivery.
You may have to pay additional customs as well as the handling charges. Be ware
of buying gems and carpets unless you’re an expert. Ex ports of items such as
ivory, furs and skins, antiquities are banned. Hence it is mandatory to obtain
a certificate of legitimate sales and per missions for exports before trying to
take any of these items out of the country.
India Travel Documents:
To beat jet lag, book an over night flight or one that arrives in the evening
when traveling east so you can either catch your sleep on the flight or as soon
as you get in to your destination. All visitors are required to carry a pass port
valid at least for the next 6 months.
Indian Visa RequirementS:
Citizens of all countries (including Common wealth) require a valid pass port
and an appropriate (entry, transit or tourist) visa. The visa must be obtained
a broad from an Indian Mission. If planning to visit a neighboring country such
as Nepal and then re entering
India,
a double/multiple entry visa should be obtained.
Book travels during holidays or other peak periods, as early as possible to get the best promotions and deals.
Book travels during holidays or other peak periods, as early as possible to get the best promotions and deals.
What to take:
As little as possible, you can buy just about every thing when you are out
there. Perhaps the only area in which buying in India is neither
cheaper nor easily avail able is technical equipments. And of course don't
forget to bring in your complete clinical / medical records translated in to
English with you!
What to wear:
Bare minimum! If you buy out there, you blend in better any ways. During winter
months in the North and the high lands in the South do get cold at nights, but
at all other times light weight cotton is best. Respect their culture, discreet
clothing for women especially. For foot wear - comfortable sandals are all you
need.
E mailS / Inter net access in India:
Now huge in India,
particularly on all well trodden travelers’ paths. Connections can be slow but
you will rarely fail to find a selection of Inter net cafes. Good tip is to
duplicate records of Travelers Check numbers, pass port and plane details, etc.
on your Yahoo/Hot mail accounts.
Electricity in India:
The volt age used is 220 volts (the U.S. uses 120 volts). You can
purchase a converter at most hard ware stores for appliances that do not switch
to 220V.
General Travel Tips:
(A) Drink only bottled or boiled water or carbonated (bubbly) drinks in
cans or bottles. A void tap water, fountain drinks and ice cubes. If this is
not possible, make water safer by both filtering through an “absolute 1 micron
or less” filter AND adding iodine
tablets to the filtered water. “Absolute 1 micron filters” are found in
camping/out door supply stores. Buy bottled water from respect able
outlets to guard against stomach up sets. Some of the better known brands are B
is le r I, Kin le y, Aqua fin a, etc. Make sure that the seal of the bottle is
in tact.
(B) Watch out for spicy dishes, especially at the out set of your tour. A void eating food from road side stalls. Eat unpeeled fruits and avoid fresh salads, especially in small hotels. If you are forced to eat food at some place that you have doubts a bout, make sure the food is served hot.
(C) Al ways use an in sect repellent if you find your self in a mosquito’s prone area. But re member, not every place is mosquito infested and low temperatures in winters (when most tourists come to India) kill most bugs in the northern plains and hills.
(D) If traveling in scorching heat, re member to drink enough water, use hats, sun glasses & UV lotions. Do not venture out in the mid day sun.
(E) Pharmacies or chemists are avail able in every little town and village and you can buy medications. In cases where you need to see a doctor for a specific condition, ask for help from your hotel (most have doctors on calls) or your tour operator. The cost of visiting a doctor is fairly low (less than a few dollars) compared to western countries.
(B) Watch out for spicy dishes, especially at the out set of your tour. A void eating food from road side stalls. Eat unpeeled fruits and avoid fresh salads, especially in small hotels. If you are forced to eat food at some place that you have doubts a bout, make sure the food is served hot.
(C) Al ways use an in sect repellent if you find your self in a mosquito’s prone area. But re member, not every place is mosquito infested and low temperatures in winters (when most tourists come to India) kill most bugs in the northern plains and hills.
(D) If traveling in scorching heat, re member to drink enough water, use hats, sun glasses & UV lotions. Do not venture out in the mid day sun.
(E) Pharmacies or chemists are avail able in every little town and village and you can buy medications. In cases where you need to see a doctor for a specific condition, ask for help from your hotel (most have doctors on calls) or your tour operator. The cost of visiting a doctor is fairly low (less than a few dollars) compared to western countries.
More Information Travel to India Medical Tourism in India
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