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 Early morning pray by SirRichard
Walking along the narrow alleys in the center might be claustrophobic as is a very "down to earth" experience. Leave a Comment
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 Paul- our favorite Rickshaw
Driver by lynnehamman
Also,don't let on if it is your first trip to India,for obvious reasons.
Wherever possible- if you find a GOOD honest driver- try and get a mobile number from him, and use him if he is available. We did this,and managed to keep the same driver in a number of cities. They are only too happy to be of help to foreign visitors, and sometimes even give advice that one finds useful Leave a Comment
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When travelling around, by train or bus - do not accept food or drinks from a stranger. There have been some reports of tourists being drugged, and robbed this way.
Always secure your luggage with a chain and lock on trains.especially overnight journeys.
Drink only bottled water.( and drink a lot - dehydration happens easily in the heat of India), and make sure that the bottle is SEALED before drinking. When ordering drinks- NEVER take ice. Ice cubes are made from WATER-which is unsafe to drink unless from a bottled source.
Never leave your passport lying around in a hotel room- keep it in a safe, or on your person.
Replacing a passport is a long and tedious process. Leave a Comment
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 by BarbaraForzaLeave a Comment
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 picture from
www.bottledwater.org/ by Hmmmm
If you are like me, and don't really enjoy foreign stomach microfauna, helping you with your weightloss, then you will be a little cagey about drinking the water in India. Never drink tap water. That goes without saying. Often this water comes straight out of an OPEN well. Even if it doesn't, the filtration systems, and chemical treatment is not even close to par. So its best to drink bottled water.
If you are in the main centres, and tourist centres this is a good idea. water is mass produced and usaully treated and then blasted with UV rays.
However if you are in Rural areas, and smaller towns, then often bottled water cannot be trusted. the bottles are refilled and re-sealed with un-treated water. I read a report that reported a water factory pumping water into bottles straight from a nearby stream. So one should always be vigilant.
If you are cagey about bottled water, you caould always drink soft drink (Soda) as they are manufactured under strict international standards. but then that may mean having to brush your teeth more, which takes us back to ahhhhh - bottled water.
I drank Chai. lots of it. and I drank tea. lots of it. Leave a Comment
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 Junagarh Fort Guide,
Bikaner by Canadienne
We passed up on the opportunity to hire a private guide at Bikaner's Junagarh Fort, as we were advised that one came with our ticket. There was a guide, leading a goup of predominantly Indian tourists, but we really got the short end of the deal. He was obviously more comfortable in Hindi than in English, and I know enough of the language to know how much was not being translated for us.
All of his attention was focused on moving us through the fort as quickly as possible, even to the annoyance of the rest of the group. He started speaking before people were within earshot, then refused to fully repeat what information he had given. . .all in all, it was a disappointing experience, since we were not able to leave the group and wander alone.
The extra cost of the private guide, who would have gone at our pace and answered our questions, would have been a worthwhile expense. Leave a Comment
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 Kalighat Temple, Kolkata by Canadienne
Obviously, anyone who offers assistance like this will expect a tip/donation at the end, and I typically have no argument with compensating for this type of service. However, when you reach the final stage of the Kalighat Temple tour, you'll be shown a book of signatures with donation amounts written next to each name and country (in strangely dissimilar handwriting). The amounts began at 1000 rupees and moved upwards. . .I was browbeaten to give more than I offered. I stood firm, signed the book and wrote in 100 rupees, but I'm certain that has since been adjusted.
The temple is interesting, but this experience ruined the visit for me. . .I've had many pleasant tours of temples, without the same kind of aggressive sham at the end. Leave a Comment
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 Security Check, Taj
Mahal, Agra by Canadienne
It's worth noting that cell phones, flashlights, walkmans/Discmans, food, and even pens will result in a request to check them at a cloak room. I've never had a problem with theft from any cloakroom, but items of irreplaceable value should always be left at home.
The security checks for flights within the country were mixed ~ I had to remove batteries from my cameras & alarm clock before one flight, but not before the next. Leave a Comment
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This is a very big problem with women travellers - especially those travelling alone. Being an Indian woman, I often face the same problem. My advice, wear sunglasses, avoid eye contact and just ignore them. However, if anyone touches you in a way that is inappropriate, just scream and make a rucuss - it works every single time. Don't be afraid to slap them and if you can find a policeman nearby nothing like it. It happened to me in a beach in Kerala and that guy almost got beaten up after I yelled at him. Leave a Comment
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 Me with Sunstroke.
Jaisalmer by Hmmmm
Jaisalmer regularly hits 45+ degrees in the dry season. Also being the dry season, airborne humidity is very very low indeed, so you don't have to be a meteorologist to know that a dry air, and a hot sun, will draw humidity from anywhere.
My girlfriend drank water. She awoke rerfreshed allbeit a little thirsty. I on the other hand woke up freezing, shivering, my teeth where chattering in the heat. Soon I was nauseous, vomiting, and shaking. I was taking lots of showers to keep cool. I knew I had heat stroke.
I went downstairs, the manager was there, and its cooler there. I used his shower and the he told my gf to go and by medicine. By this time was was zoning in and out of consciousness. And I had pins and needles in my mouth. My feet and hands were cramping. I was scared to &^%* if I lost consciousness there, how were they going to rehydrate my blood. 30 minutes later (in the nick of time) my gf turned up with electrolytes.
When you are in the Desert. drink alot of water, you lose more water through eveporation that you think. second pack some sachets of electrolytes in your bag. mix them with water and take them slowly. They work so well. The flat, water mixed softdrinks don't work with acute sunstroke (Thermic fever) that I had. Leave a Comment
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