Really Practical India Travel Tips: Destinations, Scams, Accommodation

I have heard a lot about India and I never expected to actually visit this country. It always felt quite uncomfortable and dangerous. I like Indian culture and spiritual wisdom but I had this prejudice that India is all dirty and not a nice place to be at. Me and my friend decided to go there and we were quite scared. We felt uneasy about our quite packed itinerary and we have read about various scams, illnesses, dangerous animals, well...what the hell did we plan? After returning home yesterday, I have to apologize to India! India is really a beautiful country with a lot of very kind and nice people. Travelers often say that one either loves or hates India. To be honest, I don't know. I have really enjoyed the trip, great adventure! On the other hand, it was so exhausting. The most arduous trip of my life. My friend who had planned many long trips to various destinations around the world before also said that this planning was the hardest one for him! So when going to India, prepare for seeing incredibly beautiful places but also for meeting many hardships along the way. Here I would like to answer some common questions that might be helpful for other people like us.

Public transport in India, tuktuk, taxi?

In cities, they have taxis and auto rickshaws, also called tuk-tuk in India. The prices are not set, you have to negotiate. Of course, the initial price the driver gives is always too much. One can counter with half price or even less to start the haggle. Always make sure that the price is for all the passengers together, they might otherwise demand payment for each. The drivers are quite helpful, it's good to ask them along the way for other information about the town etc. But be careful, they might suggest showing you some interesting places but of course, they will later want extra money for this service. Their driving skills are quite crazy. We felt quite scared during some of the tuk-tuk rides, but the drivers are really used to very narrow and overcrowded streets. So yea, it's safe :D.

There are also public busses. They are nothing like in the west, don't expect AC or anything like that. Expect a roller coaster instead, possible defects and changes of the bus in the middle of the way etc. It's a great experience though. When I was sitting in the overcrowded bus for three hours, that was the first time I felt like really being in India. Busses might be better than private cars when going to distant places with no big towns around. The taxi or tuk-tuk drivers don't want to go too far because they'd have to go back empty. So you either pay them for that twice the price or pay them for waiting for your and taking your back later. We used the busses when going to Ajanta and Ellora caves. The busses there went from Aurangabad central bus station. There were no signs, we just came there, asked around, somebody pushed us to one of the busses and off we went. The tickets can be bought at inside the bus.

If you are not sure, always ask your hotel. They can help you and even arrange a private driver for you. Most of the hotels also provide pick up service from the airport or train station for a small fee.

How to travel around India? Using planes or trains.

India is huge! We have traveled form the north to the south, really long journey. Our itinerary was: Delhi, Khajuraho, Agra, Jaipur, Hampi, Hallebidu, Belur, Ajanta, Ellora, Mumbai. Around 4 600 km in two weeks. We used trains and planes. Domestic flights are quite a good way to travel around India. Sometimes the prices are not much higher than trains and the travel time is significantly lower. There are two main companies, Spice Jet and IndieGo. Both are reliable. The flights in India are the same as everywhere. One thing that might be surprising is that the airports are heavily guarded and sometimes people are not allowed to get in if their flight is too much ahead. In Mumbai we had to wait until 5 hours before the flight to get into the airport building.

There are several ticket classes in the trains. We got the first class with sleeping berth in a small cabin, so called 1AC. There are cabins for two or four people. We were two so we wanted the private one for two. Got it assigned by the rservation system only once and second time the conductor was so kind that he arranged it for us. The rest of the rides we went with other passengers and once we even got in different cabins. I'd say that the 1AC is the best choice for westerners. The lower classes looked...well, Indian. You know the footage of people packed in the coaches, hanging outside etc., right? It's real! Not always but often yes. Even the 1AC coach is quite below western standards. The halls are not very clean. The cabins are OK. They always bring new bed linen for each passenger. The sheets looked really clean and I had quite a good sleep there. Power plugs are available at each berth. 1AC coach is separated from the other ones so it's quite safe. Most of the passengers there were nice. Suspicious people can't usually afford these tickets in India. The train doors are, however, often opened even during the ride. Tea sellers often get in the train in each station. We didn't experience any thieves or suspicious people in the train though.

The railways have an online booking system. One can buy tickets there. It is highly recommended to book in advance to get the desired seats. Some tickets can also be on a waitlist. No problem, right? Well, we had one. During the registration on the website, we should have received an OTP SMS to confirm our registration. No luck without Indian sim! We have tried several mobile phones and even online OTP receivers and nothing had worked. We started looking for other ways of getting the tickets. We have found a man called Raj on Trip Advisor. There was a lot of posts about him, that he could book the train tickets. As westerners, we were very reluctant about this. We really wanted to go the official way, but we had no other choice. I have contacted Raj via email and got a quick reply. I was pleasantly surprised! Raj is really great and extremely helpful person. He booked the tickets for us, suggested better options, gave us advice and all that for a fair fee. He can really help with trip planning and many other things in India. He also checked on us several times during the trip and helped us with additional questions. It was great to have his number in case of any problems.

After having the tickets, it's enough to have the PDF in a phone. We got a RailYatri app where we saved our tickets. The coach number and berth gets assigned a few hours before the arrival of the train. RailYatri should be able to show the seat numbers. It did not work most of the times for us. We had to check on the railways website inserting the PNR code of the ticket. The app, however, was good when checking the train schedule and delays. In the train it is also good to check in the app where the train is or on Google Maps with GPS. The conductor does not show up often during the ride. There are signs with coach numbers at each platform so you know in advance where will your coach be when the train arrives. It's good to enter the right one since the coaches might not be connected. If the doors are locked, try the next coach. In the worst case, you can get off and change the coach at the next station.

One of our planes got rescheduled by three hours later so we got a notification email in advance. However, it got delayed by another three hours even after that. The train delays were surprisingly quite low, one hour at maximum. The trains also have longer stops at some stations which help them to reduce the delay. Always check the expected delay of the train at your station. It might differ from the other stations before,

What is the average quality of hotels in India?

We stayed at average hotels, both by price and quality. The rooms are usually clean but not luxurious. Good enough for people who just need to sleep in a safe place. The best hotel we were in was in Khajuraho the Aarambh Residency. The owner was really kind and helpful. He also arranged a very knowledgeable guide for us for the nearby temples. Power plugs are similar to the European (Czech) ones. One can use them even without adapter. We arranged all hotels with Booking.com. Always check the facilities of each hotel. Standard things like soap or towels are usually available. Kettle, for example, might not be present at the room.

What is safe to eat and drink in India?

This is quite a tricky question. I have heard that many people got diarrhea when eating Indian food. Our plan was really full so we couldn't afford getting sick. We got most of the food with us from our country. We have only bought water, crackers, and cup noodles in India. Be aware of the fake water brands in India. The best quality water brands are Bisleri, Aquafina, and Kinley. There are many waters with similar names and bottle looks. They might not be dangerous but the quality is lower. Supermarkets are not that common in India, especially not in small towns. When eating Indian food, it's good to ask in the hotel which places are safe or go where locals mostly eat. Make sure to bring medicine for diarrhea and indigestion! I got a bit of diarrhea despite our precautions!

Is the air pollution dangerous in India?

It is. Not just for health but it can also cause train or plane delays. Make sure to check on the Internet what are the levels of pollution in the areas you plan to visit at the given dates. The smog level changes in time and depends on the area in India. Wearing masks or respirators might be necessary. People with respiratory problems like asthma should have their medicament prepared just in case. I have a light allergy myself and I felt quite irritated throat all the time in India. The pollution can be felt a lot. When we left the plane in Delhi, we immediately felt the smell as if someone was having bonfire right next to us. This strange smell is almost everywhere in India.

Are there dangerous animals in India?

There are, even really deadly ones. We have never met any snake or anything like that. Only a huge cockroach in one of the hotels. Mosquitoes can be troublesome. They can also carry serious illnesses like malaria. It's good to take a repellent with you. We went to India during winter so their activity was almost zero, I used the repellent only once during out two-weeks trip. Other seasons might be much worse. Again, one should check on the Internet how the mosquito activity is during the planned time of the visit in the given area.

The streets are full of cows so make sure to wear solid shoes. Sandals might not be a good idea. Cow faeces are everywhere. Streets are also full of stray dogs. They are everywhere. Most of the time they are quite calm and almost lethargic. No need to worry too much. They might be more active during night so be careful when walking outside after sunset. Some Indians take sticks with them when to be able to protect themselves. Also, pretending to be throwing stones at the dogs might scare them. They know what is going to happen after that human move,, There is also a lot of monkeys, macaques and langurs. They are usually also quite calm. Only once the monkey seemed like trying to grab our camera on the ground. They usually don't try to steal anything if you don't leave it lying far from you. Be careful, feeding the wild animals can be dangerous. Rabies is an extremely dangerous sickness for a human!

Are Indian people annoying and scammers?

We have studied a lot of possible scams in India. One guy on Youtube does amazing videos about Indian scammers. Some are really crazy, look for the poo on shoe scam, seriously! Fortunately, we didn't encounter any scam like that. Of course the drivers give you high prices so you have to negotiate but many people in India really helped us. Even the taxi drivers which we refused helped us to get a bus etc. At many monuments, there are local guides offering their service. We got one and he was also OK. They also showed us ticket counters even when we refused them. Nobody tried to scam us or anything. I apologize to Indian people for being too suspicious. We have learned some basic Hindi phrases and the most useful one was Nahee chaheeyay. It means Thanks, I don't want it. Watch this video where the pronunciation is explained. This phrase is super effective. Most of the people started smiling, saying that we know Hindi well and stopped offering us things immediately. I am not exaggerating, this was the most frequent phrase we used in India and our favorite one! General rules that every tourist should follow in order not to get scammed are probably:

• Find information about the places you want to visit in advance.
• Don't start unnecessary conversations when you don't want to.
• Learn basic Hindi phrases.
• Don't act like you are in India for the first time.
• Ask officials like policemen when you need advice about directions etc.

What was a bit annoying was that westerners like us, white skin, almost 2 meters tall, both of us, are rare in some areas. People were staring at us everywhere. It was quite tiring actually to hear What country? all the time. Many Indian people wanted to take photos with us, damn I would never want to be a famous celebrity! It was sometimes like ten times a day people asking for selfie. Kids often came to ask us to show them our country currency. Not sure why, we didn't have any though. We didn't meet much beggars etc.

Should I buy tickets for Indian temples and monuments in advance?

We mostly bought tickets at the ticket counter in front of the sites. Never experience long queues, not even at Taj Mahal. One can buy tickets for the monuments online, sometimes with a slightly better price though.

What places in India are worth visiting?

Most of the tourists in India go for the, so called, golden triangle. New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur. We wanted to avoid the overcrowded mainstream stuff and really wanted to see some unique. almost hidden gems in India. We have, for example, skipped the famous Varanasi where people bath in Ganga. We also thought of visiting Bodh Gaya, the place of Buddha enlightenment, but we also skipped that one. Our final plan was:

• Khajuraho - the famous two groups of temples.
• Agra - Taj Mahal.
• Jaipur - the fort and the city center.
• Hampi - the ancient ruins of a huge city.
• Hallebidu and Belur - probably the most complex and beautiful temple sculptures.
• Ajanta and Ellora caves - incredible Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves in wilderness.

Is there a Wi-Fi in public places in India? Should I get Indian SIM?

Don't count of wifi. Many hotels do have wifi access but the quality might not be very good. Wifi is usually not available at public places like train stations or in cities. The safest way to get Internet and also to be able to somehow communicate in India is to buy a prepaid SIM card. We got something like this. The SIM card is quite cheap compared to other countries. We had 1.5 GB of mobile data per day, 100 SMS and unlimited calls. I would strongly recommend getting such SIM because we used it really a lot! Make sure to buy the SIM at the airport when you arrive! Buying it later might be very hard! Apparently, they have different rules which make it easier to buy the SIM at the airport. The only thing you need is passport which they will copy and they will also take a photo of you at the stall. The Airtel stall is right at the exit of departures at the Delhi airport. It is the best place to get the SIM. They will tell you how to activate the sim, one needs to call a number and type a code after three hours from buying the sim. Don't worry if the connection is not good during the first day. It gets better.

Where to get Indian rupees?

Indian currency is forbidden to export outside the country. It is hard to get them abroad. You can either take dollars or euros and exchange them, for example, at the airport or simply use ATM. Some ATMs include fees for withdrawal so check which one is the best one for you here. We used SBI, Punjabi, and Axis and all were safe to use. Some ATMs have limits for withdrawal. You can, for example, get maximal 10 000 rupees from one machine usually. Many places in India also accept cards. It's good to check in advance if your hotel accepts it since it is not a standard in India. The surprise was when stall sellers with souvenirs in front of Ajanta caves also had card payment terminals. They were safe to use. It's good to have a card which is not your main one and which has good currency conversion fees. I used Revolut card.

Keywords: Hinduism, Hindi, travel guide
#indiatravel #travelindia #hindu