Travel Tips in India

I wrote this entry more than a year ago for a lifestyle blog and decided to re-post this entry here for my readers. This was the craziest/most horrible/most eye opening/most adventurous trip of my lifetime filled with bittersweet memories (mainly bitter). I really hope this post can help people who are planning to go to India so that they would be able to enjoy their trip (something which I didn't get to do unfortunately). 

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India is an exotic country to many and is most definitely not one of the mainstream travel destinations. For starters, it is still labeled as a "third-world" country and one third of the world's poor live there. However, to those who are adventurous enough to experience a different part of life, India is the best place to do so. It will definitely be a life-changing experience especially if you come from a developed country.

Of course, due to the "dangerous" nature of this country, travelers need to take note of some things they should or should not do before/during their travels in India. I have compiled some travel tips for India based on my pre-travel research as well as from my own recent experience.

Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Pre-travel preparation

1. First thing's first, you need to know which part of India you will be going to. India is pretty big as it has 28 different states and the Northern part of India is pretty different from the South. Besides the climate (four seasons in the North and tropical in the South), the Northern part of India is also generally less developed and poor. Hence, if you will be up North (most likely the case if Taj Mahal is part of your itinerary) you need to be prepared to witness extreme poverty and repression especially in the rural areas.

2. Get vaccinated. Most websites will tell you that you do not need to get any vaccination if you are not spending more than 2 weeks in India. I say, you can never be too careful! Get a jab just in case. Only one person in my tour group got vaccinated and she was one of the few (out of 30 people) who did not get food poisoning in India. Some websites will tell you to get dozens of jabs. But the two main ones (Typhoid and Hep A vaccination should be sufficient). There are also pills you can take orally before the trip to avoid food poisoning but I am not too sure if it works 100%. Just a disclaimer: you might still get food poisoning after being vaccinated but your chances are definitely lower. Bring some charcoal, Imodium and rehydration salts along.

3. Stay in 5-star hotels. The 5-star hotels in India is like a 4-star hotel standard in developed countries (or even some developing countries like Malaysia). 4-stars are like 3-stars and so on..So do splurge more on hotels because chances are you will also be dining there (hotels generally practice more hygiene in cooking), plus it has better security.

A common sight in India

Water

1. Do not drink water in India unless it is bottled mineral water. Only buy water from these brands - Himalaya, Kinley, Bisleri and Kingfisher. Even then check the cap and make sure it is sealed properly as some locals refill tap water into these bottles and re-seal it. If you are willing to spend the few extra Rupees, get Evian water.

2. Having said that, boil your mineral water if you want to make a hot drink rather than boiling tap water. Some hotels claim that their tap water is drinkable but don't believe that. Just because their tap water is filtered and drinkable by locals, doesn't mean your stomach can adapt to it.

3. Wash cooking/eating utensils with mineral water, brush your teeth with mineral water and try not to open your mouth when you shower to prevent exposure to unfiltered water.

Safe for drinking mineral water brands in India

Food

1. This is probably the most important part of your trip and you need to exercise discretion when you eat. Food preparation hygiene is generally bad in India (especially street food and local restaurants). Factor that in with bad water quality and you can imagine the high possibilities of getting food poisoning. Therefore, it is advisable to ONLY eat in hotels (4 star and above) and high class restaurants. Even then, some people (which includes my friends and I) got food poisoning in these places.

2. Go vegetarian! Meat in India is highly contaminated so adhering to a vegetarian diet is much safer. This was something I wanted to do but gave up on the second day because I was too hungry and the food was pre-arranged so that did not leave me with much choice. If you really cannot live without your meat, the least you can do is avoid lamb. My Indian friend told me that most people get sick from eating lamb.

3. Avoid salads, cut fruits and ice in your drinks. Reason is simple, they are most likely washed with tap water.

4. Avoid ice-creams, cheese, yogurt and dairy products. The power supply there is really weak and power cuts occur almost daily. Dairy products run the risk of getting bad and being re-freezed so it is best to avoid it entirely.

5. When people think of India they think curry. The question most people would ask is whether they will be served curry at every meal. The answer is YES. If you are in a tour, they will most likely bring you to Indian restaurants and almost (if not all) of the dishes served are spicy. Even if you do find western food, it MAY be spicy. I remember having a pizza that had spicy chilli seeds in it. So be prepared to have a spicy feast every day!

6. Check expiry dates on food/bottled drinks you purchased. I remember being served expired coke in a tourist restaurant in Agra. Too bad I only realized after I drank half the bottle.

7. Always wipe your eating utensils (ie: forks, spoons, glasses etc) with tissue, especially if the restaurant is open air. You'll be surprised to see a layer of black dust coming off due to the pollution.

New Riao "Air-Conditioned" Restaurant, Agra

Other important tips

1. The air in India can be REALLY polluted so bring some surgical masks. I remember on my first day of arrival in India the air was so bad (smells like a combination of haze and smoke) I had to wear a mask. Apparently even your snot can turn grey because of the pollution but thankfully I did not experience that...

2. As infrastructure in India is really bad (Read: Highways have only TWO lanes) plus traffic is always congested so getting from one place to another usually takes some time. For instance, if you are travelling from Delhi to Taj Mahal it takes 5 hours so do bring snacks/food on your long journeys, because trust me, you will starve. Remember....stopping at a random roadside stalls for dinner is not an option.

3. Oh..and try not to drink a lot of water before a long journey, or any journey for that matter (as the jam might make it long anyway) because there are no rest areas/fast food drive-thrus on their so called "highways". Unless of course, you are okay with using the bushes....

4. Do NOT give money/buy anything from beggars/peddlers. Once you give to one, they all will come at you.

5.Try not to take pictures of people on the street (especially when they are holding interesting items like monkeys, snakes or what not). They will ask you for money for taking their picture.

Snake charmer in Agra

p/s: I followed almost all of the tips above except get a vaccination (huge mistake!) and not eating meat...so my trip to India was not a fantastic one because I ended up with severe food poisoning. Therefore, don't make the same mistakes as I did and be a vigilant traveler :) Remember, better safe than sorry!


p/p/s: Of course, every human body is different and some are more resistant than others hence they are less susceptible to diseases. At the end of the day, its a choice between risking getting sick or wanting to be safe. Whichever path you choose, I hope that this post has somewhat helped you in your travel plans. Till my next post! Do leave a comment if you have any questions :)

A meal in India

On the day we went to the Taj Mahal, our guide brought us for lunch at this tourist restaurant relatively near the Taj. Remarkably, though this restaurant did not look as clean, none of us got sick from eating here. It was the classy restaurant we went to the following night which made us all got food poisoning. So, I have decided to share with you guys how a normal Indian meal is served in India (based on my experience in this restaurant). Apart from the dirty utensils, spicy food overload and expired coke, it was a good experience and their service was impeccable. The waiter said "please" after every sentence...he even said please after saying thank you!

New Riao Restaurant in Agra (seems like a tourist restaurant because we spotted a couple of western tourists dining here)

I liked their outdoor seating, besides the fact that the utensils was exposed (had to clean it with tissue to remove the black dust). It was winter, so the weather was chilly but not too cold which is the perfect weather to be sitting out in the open (thankfully Agra was not as polluted as Delhi). 

Vegetable soup which was really peppery

Platter of tandoori chicken and other fried food

Butter rice which tasted like chlorine. Btw, they serve all their food in stainless steel cutlery. 

Butter Chicken - one of India's specialty

Spicy veggies which I quite like

My favourite! Curry potatoes

Green curry? Did not try this because it looks weird..

More curry chicken

Paratha bread which I ate ALOT since the rice tasted like chlorine

Finally, a dessert which I did not try either because it looked EXACTLY like a sponge soaked in condensed milk. 

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Anyway, I have just written my first post in BDG Lifestyle Blog. It's my new side project with some of my close friends. I'll be writing more informative posts over there so do check it out. My first post is about Travel Tips in India *Click* :)

Travelogue: Bangalore, Karnataka

Not many pictures because I was down with food poisoning the day before I had to leave for Bangalore in the Southern part of India. Had to endure a 2 and half hour flight (not including time spent sitting on the plane waiting for the 36 aircrafts in queue before us to fly off, no thanks to heavy fog that morning) while having food poisoning (which most of the people in my tour got). In fact, two of my friends were so sick they had to leave the plane to get medical attention. It felt so crazily surreal yet it was happening...You know those scenes in movies where someone gets hurt and the air stewardess calls out "is there a doctor in this plane?!". Yes, that actually happened! So fast forward about 4 hours later, we landed in Bangalore. I was so weak I could not pay much attention to my surroundings. My first sight was lots of sand, cloudless sky and I felt the sun for once after 14 days of gloomy skies, I actually thought I landed in a desert...However, I did feel more at home when I saw the sunlight and palm trees. Unfortunately, I was stuck at my hotel most of the time because my illness got worst. The only place I went to was the hospital, and on one of those auto-rickshaws I must add, which is a "must-try" experience in India. Thankfully, I was too sick to feel scared so it wasn't a bad experience for me...

Nickname: Silicon Valley of the East

Weather: Tropical but without the humidity so you don't really sweat (about 25C)

Time difference: 2 and half hours from Malaysian time

Accomodation: Regaalis Hotel, Lavelle Road (some rooms come with a massage chair)

Bangalore Airport

food I could not eat sigh

Do not be fooled by the dodgy look of this hospital...

Doctors are equipped with Macs here. 

Here's an abrupt end to this post because that is all the pictures I have from Bangalore. Its so sad that I only got pictures from airports and hospitals....but generally, Bangalore is much more civilized and developed than Delhi, judging from the branded malls, absence of animals on streets (except stray dogs) and availability of classy Chinese restaurants that does delivery (which was my saving grace otherwise I would not have ANYTHING else to eat besides oatmeal). Okay, typing this post is making me depressed again from missing out so much! Good night people xx

Travelogue: Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Of course, it is not all sad in India. We took a long and excruciating 5 hour bus ride (with only one toilet stop if you're lucky) to see one of the Wonders of the World - the mighty Taj Mahal. If you don't know what exactly is the Taj Mahal, it is actually a mausoleum and a symbol of love, built by the Mughal king in 1632 for his queen (Mumtaj Mahal) who died in childbirth. The monument is constructed with marble and decorated with semi-precious stones (many are removed by now) but you can still see some leftovers on the white marble dome, glistening in the sunlight. This wonder is located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh state, and nearby is the Agra Fort which we also visited. 

Weather: Winter, 17C and sunny (perfect weather for walking outside!)

Time difference: 2 and half hours behind Malaysian time

Accommodation: None, took a bus here from our hotel in Gurgaon, Delhi.

A trip to India is incomplete without a sight of a snake charmer.

The Gate to Taj Mahal

The beautiful Taj Mahal

This lady posted a video on youtube which caught my classmate dancing on camera...and a glimpse of me as well! Her baby, Emperor, is only 5 weeks old!

Here's the video if you're interested.

Those eagles just love circling the dome...and here you can see the amount of people trying to get into the mausoleum. 

We were given booties to cover our shoes because no shoes are allowed inside. The locals usually prefer to go barefooted so be prepared for some not so pleasant scents inside...

The carvings on the marble. Apparently there used to be semi-precious stones on the coloured parts. 

No photography allowed inside the mausoleum hence this blurry "illegal" picture. This is a replica of the real tomb, the real tomb is hidden beneath. 

The river behind the Taj which is drying up and causing the minarets to tilt...

Spotted an Indian girl in her traditional outfit

A tired camel.

The entrance to Agra Fort

More eagles!

There are a lot of monkeys in here..

View of Taj Mahal from Agra Fort

One of my faves :)

I found baby breathes! 

...and squirrels! 

Hope you learnt more about Agra today! Unfortunately, after looking at two beautiful places..its back to the ugly sad truth of India's reality. Off we went on another excruciating long 5 hour journey back to our hotel tucked far away in the rural areas of Gurgaon....what happened after that was nothing short of horror stories and hospitals. Till my next post =) 

Edited 7/10/13: Watch this beautiful documentary of the history and love story behind Taj Mahal here

Travelogue: Streets of India

After spending 10 days in China, we moved on to a whole different part of the world - India. A land that sounds so foreign yet familiar (because of Indian food in Malaysia). Before coming to India, I did extensive research on survivor skills here and read about the filth, contaminated meat, polluted fog, animals that roam the streets freely, power cuts, Delhi Belly and the political unrest. Guess what? I have experienced all of that during my week in India. The food poisoning was the worst part of it but that's a story for another day. What I can share with you now, is the sad reality of India as it is. After coming back from this place, I've started appreciating my own country more and more. I never complained about traffic jams anymore because I've seen worst in India, where buses, trucks, cars, tuk tuks, trishaws, cows, goats, horse carriages, dogs, wild boars, humans, children and soldiers share a road. I never complain about roads being bumpy in Malaysia because India's much worst. At least we have proper highways here in Malaysia where you don't have to stop by the roadside, get out of your vehicle, walk to the "tax" office down the road to pay your tolls, while peddlers with monkeys try to rip off tourists who took a picture of them...you don't have child beggars knocking on your taxi window trying to sell you flowers, taxi drivers driving with a broken side mirror and you don't need to brush your teeth with mineral water or worry about keeping your mouth close while taking a shower...

If you want a life-changing experience, then by all means, go to India. Cause it did change my life...

The following pictures are taken in New Delhi, Gurgaon and Agra. 

Weather: 17C (Winter), due to the recent extreme weather conditions it went down to 5C.

Time difference: Two and half hours behind Malaysian time

Accommodation: Country Inn Suites by Carlson, Gurgaon (Not recommended to stay here as it is too far from Delhi - 90 minutes drive)

A common sight on Indian streets

Finally, a beautiful meadow was found a midst the slums and rubbish dumps.

What say you?