Tips On Travelling India – What To Do & Avoid

What do you imagine when you think of India? I loved my recent trip because I finally got to experience it as a backpacker. We are ignoring the fact that I don’t own a backpack. And that I speak some Hindi, making my experience a little easier.

There is a lot of ground to cover (literally). I wanted to write an entire article summarising most of the cities I visited but before that, here are quick tips for an easy ride:

Food:

I met many people at hostels telling us that they got food poisoning straight away. We were surprised we hadn’t because everyone knows about Delhi Belly.

Quick Tip: Stick to the national cuisine & go veggie for your stay. One thing Indian’s do well is cook Indian food. They are the master of it and know how to work their magic with spice. Instead of trying to avoid the spice (not going to happen), eat the things they know how to cook. Pasta, pizza and even chips are not going to cut it. That’s what all our travel mates were getting ill from.

The right amount of spice is amazing, but give up the dream now. There’s no avoiding it but the best way to deal is to request no spice whatsoever. And in the best of situations this will mean they’ll add a reasonable amount.

‘Mirchee nay’ means no spice. Worst case scenario (rare but it happens, especially in tourist chain restaurants) and the food ends up being plain, if you can have the conversation, ask for the chilli afterwards, separately so you can add it yourself.

No dairy!

Mainly because the farming hygiene conditions are different to our own.

Only drink bottled water. Not because the water is dirty but more so because if you’re from the Western world you probably can’t handle everything in their water that hasn’t been purified.

Stares: The staring doesn’t necessarily have a racial significance. The further north you go, the more they stare. White people are considered beautiful & most likely rich (the British empire set the standards apparently). Even I get stared at because of my clothes, they can sniff out a Western with one blink. Take the stares as nothing more than curiosity. Follow your instincts.

Markets are amazing in Rajasthan’s villages, bangles (churi) and chunis can be found in beautiful colours & patterns. Yes, they will hitch the price up straight away knowing you’re foreign. It’s a haggling game & they invented it. Give them a haggle, barter to your wit’s extent. But remember when doing the exchange rate, you’re not paying much either way.

Clothes:

Cover-up: Not because women are oppressed, blah blah blah. It’s because in their culture, they simply have. This doesn’t mean don’t wear shorts or cover your ankles, it doesn’t matter because you’ll get stared at either way. But don’t wear butt cheek exposing shorts out of respect for their culture.

Embrace the colours, light materials & cheap prices & even get some ‘suits’ tailored for you. Baggy Indian trousers & long tops. Much easier to manoeuvre than a sari. Or even a ling skirt and crop top.

Get in touch with your inner hippie. Especially in the north. You’re in the land of royals.

Black is not the answer, unfortunately. Remember, heat isn’t friends with black. I looked ridiculous in random colours I put together. Black is my favourite colour.

Heat:

Here’s a quick one on managing the heat. Take some Hydralite tabs for dehydration. If you have diarrhoea (you will) pop these dissolving tabs in your water bottle. Forget your anti-plastic life. This part of the world has many other issues to focus on first.

Don’t take a reusable bottle! You might accidentally fill up your water bottle and tap water is a BIG no. Also keep an eye out for specific brands. The water can taste a bit funny. So try and stick to these:

– Kinley
– Aquafina
– Bailley
– Kingfisher
– Bisleri

Sunscreen and covering your shoulders will help you in India’s unrelenting heat. Those harsh rays really do love a shoulder joint. They might not slather sunscreen on themselves but you definitely should.

Gadgets:

Portable charger – Do not underestimate the need for this. Especially when waiting around for trains.

App for transport – UTS or PNR for train ticket tracking

Indian SIM card – Make sure your phone is unlocked. Go into an official store. There’s no need to leave the phone there. Check and make sure it works before you leave the store. The data will help you in longer term transport and for emergencies. I used Jio, a great Indian sim card provider.

Transport:

Trains, Rickshaws and Cars

If you’ve got an Indian sim you can use a rickshaw service like Uber called Ola. Sometimes cheaper but not always; you can’t have the same bartering conversation. It’s great for pick-ups and drop-offs.

Sometimes hostels have trusted rickshaw drivers who can be great tour guides (also love a tip). If you want to be super frugal then taking the tuk tuk yourself off the street will probably be cheaper than going with a ‘tuk tuk tour’ as you won’t get much history or tips out of them.

You will build a somewhat relationship with them & it can make you feel safer. Usually at the end the driver will ask if you want to go to a textile shop. They take you to expensive places. If you buy something they will get commission. I use the word ‘expensive’ loosely. Once again, bartering can be fun & of course it will be genuine pieces but if you’re not actually interested in buying anything then tell them no before taking the extra trip.