Tips for Traveling in India

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Taj Mahal. No filter.

If you read my last post, you'll know that I recently went to India for the first time in over 6 years. Being born and raised in the United States, visiting India is kind of a culture shock, as you would expect visiting any other country. Here are some tips that I have picked up after going to India a number of times that might make your trip 100 times more pleasant. Just keep in mind that these tips helped me out... if you've already been before and think these tips are useless, it's okay lol.

  1. Bring some toilet paper and sanitizing wipes. You'll be able to buy some and most hotels will have, but if you're on the road and have to use a public restroom, this might come in handy. That is all I have to say. 😇
  2. Carry hand sanitizer. You don't know who or what you might come in contact with and it is better to be safe than sorry.
  3. Bring an international travel adapter. If you don't know what I'm talking about, the outlets vary based on country. Bring one just in case the outlets at the place you're staying doesn't have universal outlets or you can't find one at a store.
  4. Check the voltage of your electronic devices. There's a slim chance that something will happen, but India has a higher voltage and some devices have a lower voltage and there's a chance it could blow up if you're plugging something into an outlet. Nothing disastrous has happened to me or anyone I know, but I brought a flat iron once and I wanted to use it and it blew up and broke while I was in the middle of using it.
  5. Always drink unopened bottled water.  When you're at a restaurant, if you order water, ask for bottled water. Or make sure the water you are getting is filtered, but it's probably easier to just ask for a bottle.
  6. Avoid spicy food. If you love spicy food and have never had an issue with it, this is NOT for you! This is really advice for people who don't eat spicy food or just can't handle it. I tried to venture out of my comfort zone and eat more spicy foods and at first I was fine, but over time, it destroyed my stomach and I had to detox and basically cleanse my body. I couldn't eat anything that had even the slightest bit of spice. It was horrible.
  7. Bring cash. Definitely don't use debit, and there are places that accept credit card, but it is much easier to carry cash. the only downside is to carrying cash is the chance of pickpockets (see next tip), so only bring as much as you think you might need.
  8. Be careful of pickpockets. It really depends on where you are, but if you are in a city or any touristy kind of place, there are bound to be people ready to steal from you. Hide important information in places where you know people cannot access it and never leave anything lying around.
  9. Public restrooms. A lot of public restrooms in India don't have actual toilets... it's just a hole in the ground, called a squat toilet. I don't wanna give details about it, but if you are not comfortable with using one, I suggest getting familiar with it or just don't use the bathroom till you are in a place where there are normal toilets, lol.
  10. Your Accent. "excuse me sarah, WHAT?!" I was born and raised in the US, so I naturally have an American accent. When you travel and you're at a market buying things, if you speak and don't have an Indian accent, the sellers can automatically tell that you are a tourist and will raise the prices of whatever they are selling. And if you don't look Indian, well, good luck!!! Or now is the time to see how convincing and aggressive you can be to sellers. But if you can learn some of the language, that might help you out. Or just keep silent and let others do the talking (that's what I did).
If you have any other tips for traveling in India, or for traveling international in general, leave them in the comments below!
Check out my last post: A Holiday in North India

Comments

  1. sarthellabraApril 23, 2019 at 3:55 PM

    I don't know why #4 is in a smaller font size. I tried resizing it so many time and it still came out published so tiny even though I have it set in a normal font size like the others! So sorry!!

    ReplyDelete

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