1. Fabrics, Fabrics, Fabrics
India has all these beautiful, colorful high quality fabrics. You can get anything here, when you like fabrics this is your place to be.
2. Get Some Clothes Tailored
Get some clothes tailored. Do you have a favorite pair of pants, a favorite suit or in general a preferred item of clothing? Find a good fabric, buy it and have your favorite item imitated. That is the easiest way to do things. Like this you don’t have to do complicated measurements and the long phase of trying on and adjusting items.
3. Definitely Go to the Cinema
India’s Cinemas are great: clean, on a latest technical standards and there is always a great atmosphere. A Hindi film is always possible but most likely to difficult to understand for most of you. Best choose an American blockbuster and go to one of the huge cinemas. At the beginning they sing the national anthem. In order to understand India, you need to understand its film culture. A visit in the cinema is a unique experience.
4. Try Sugar Cane Juice
You can get sugar cane juice everywhere on the streets. It’s made fresh. I’ve never fancied it in particular but some people love it and consider it their India highlight. Totally depends on what you like.
5. Fresh Juice
Order some fresh juice in the restaurant. Be careful: they might try to sell canned juice as fresh juice. All fresh juices taste a thousand times better than anything we have. Tropical fruits like bananas and oranges are fresher, more mature and more flavorsome. Some examples are banana juice and all kinds of orange juice (Mosambi juice = sweet lime juice = a kind of orange juice, fruit does not exist in Germany).
6. Buy sandals
India has many sandals, all of them very good. Sandals are the standard shoe here in India, many people here don’t even wear proper (=closed) shoes. Enjoy the huge variety they have and choose some nice ones.
7. Do you have clothes that need fixing, zips that don’t work?
No can really do it at home? They would fix it but it is too expensive, costs more than the item itself? India has many tailors who can fix anything. The costs are low; you can get anything for very little money.
8. Eat Thali
Thali is a kind of fast food in India. You get a plate with many small bowls on it. Some bowls contain soups others curries. You can get any bowl refilled as much as you want for a fixed price. You should definitely try this, it’s a way to try many different tastes at once and everyone is able to find something he/she likes. Rice and bread (chapattis = flat bread) is included. A good place for this are the Rajdhani Restaurants: http://rajdhani.co.in/
9. Buy Spices
India has all these great spices, if you can definitely buy some. Makes a good combination with number 10: go visit a bazaar.
10. Go To a Bazaar
All the bazaars are great, they sell everything: fruits, vegetables, spices but also clothing shoes, fabrics and everything else you can imagine. Every city has at least one bazaar. Definitely go there and wander around. Nothing is really expensive. The best thing is to simply go and see what you like. The list 10 Things to Do in Goa has some more suggestions. If you decide to buy something, always keep in mind: the price is part of an ongoing process. Never forget to bargain.