Travel Tips India

India –extremely challenging, a borderline experience that is definitely the case. You need to give up many things you know from home, forget about others things and be prepared to try new things and face new challenges. That’s what makes India special, a reason to go there. Here is some advice how to make you stay in India a successful one, what to do to have a positive experience in the end. Here are some ideas how that might work.

Different Culture in India

India has a different culture, different rules than Germany. Quite often, these things are not the same everywhere or valid for the entire country. It’s important to adjust to that culture and accept the rules.

Information Overload: Take a Break

India is huge overload of information and overstimulation of all senses. There is a never-ending number of impressions, you get to see a kind of life totally different from everything you know in Europe or the US. Everyone has a different “melting point” but it’s definitely there. In India, at some time you do reach it, if that happens, take a break and relax. For example take an afternoon off in a Western café, a fancy restaurant or your hotel room. Time-outs are important in India, without it you reach a point of total exhaustion pretty soon. Definitely accept when you have reached your limit and take a break.

Limitations for Tourists: Clothing Rules for Men and Women

Women’s right and the kind of liberty we have in the West do not travel with you. You need to be aware of that. India is a land that is changing. Many Indian ladies and girls, in particular the younger ones who are more educated oppose these strict rules. That means, every now and then you will see locals wearing dresses, shorts, hotpants and tank tops. But that does not mean it’s ok for foreigners (mostly white people) to wear these clothes. Clothing rules are rather strict in India: clothes should be long, loose and not be too tight. How you do that is up to you. To me, it means: pants at least knee-length, no tops with showing neck cuts, t-shirts with sleeves that cover my shoulder, never visible bra straps. I would say a typical German summer outfit including a wrap skirt, a sleeveless shirt and shorts is a no-go. Just because it is warm in India does not mean you can walk around in your summery clothes. If you are feeling too warm, sandals help to fight the heat. Replace you sneakers with sandals and you feel much better and more relaxed in long pants.

Men can wear a lot but also they need to stay dressed and not walk around without a t-shirt. Also shorts are uncommon. Guys in India tend to be dressed rather fancy, quite often wearing cloth pants and a skirt. That is why you should not look to casual. Skirts and T-shirts always work (as long as they have sleeves), pants should be knee-length. Even men can wear sandals if it’s too warm. A typical holiday or swimming outfit is definitely inappropriate.

Yet, you should always be aware of the fact that too much exposed skin in India is perceived as entirely naked. Easiest solution for both genders is: T-shirt and Jeans. You are never wrong with that.

Some Advice and Suggestions for Women

During the day, you can in my mind, walk anywhere and only need to be more careful in the night.

We all have heard news about female tourists being raped in India and sexually assaulted. There is never 100% safety but you can do some things to minimize the risk.

a) I would never walk around in a bikini, not even at the beach. I only go to the water and back to the hotel. For Indian men, a woman in a bikini is almost naked. Even though this contradicts all feminist ideas we have here in Europe, too little clothing still counts as invitation and enabling certain behavior in India. For sunbathing and walking on the beach in a bikini, India is not the right country. I have written something about Goa, Goa is more liberal and things are easier there.

b) A basic rule is always to be careful with single men who try to talk to you. In India, it’s polite to only say hello to the husband when you meet a married couple and entirely ignore the wife (the opposite in Europe). A man who addresses a woman in public for no reason is, in Indian terms extremely rude and impolite and shows no respect. Or they just give it a try because they know it from American films and TV shows, and think that is the way to do it. Anyways: never respond to that! Don’ let them start a conversation, don’t get a lift from them, don’t give them your number and never go home with them. No matter how nice the offer sounds (“I take you home on my scooter.”) Never do it!

c) Do not drink in public, don’t be drunk in public and don’t party too hard. For that kind of holiday you should better go to Mallorca, India is not the right place for that (not even Goa!). If you really want to drink, do it in your hotel among friends, never in public. The best thing would be not to drink at all. A drunken woman is in invitation for most guys in India! They will try to take advantage of you. (I know, in Europe we consider a sentence like that extremely anti-feminist.)

d) If you are lost and want to ask for directions, ask your own gender. Women ask women and men ask men. That is always the best way to do it and nothing can go wrong.

What is Polite and What is Impolite?

Most cultural misunderstandings happen because of a different understanding of what is polite and impolite. In India, saying no counts as impolite. That mean you never hear a direct no, it always comes along very indirect, very much in the background. We are almost unable to understand it at all. One example “Can we talk on skype?” “The laptop is broken.”

I Germany, you ask once, get an answer and that is how things are. In India, facts change when you ask more than once, insist and ask again. For a German understanding that would be pushy or even stupid but it is normal in India. Ask, ask even vigorously to reach you aim.

Prices are Printed on Every Item

Prices for Coke and Water are printed on every bottle. If the bottle is cooled they can charge a little extra for cooling it (1 or 2 rupees). But that’s it. Whatever they might tell you, it’s not true. All products cost the same everywhere (except in a restaurant, they charge whatever the menu says). But everything else they tell you is untrue. Water bottles have a plastic seal, if that seal is missing, it’s tap water in the bottle (bottled water is called “Bisleri”)!

Contact between Men and Women

Contact in public between men and women is a different one. Kissing and showing affections is inappropriate and should not be done. You will see couples in India who do the exact opposite. But those are Indian couple who oppose their own rules. That does not count for Germans/Europeans/American/Whites. It’s better to restrain from any public affection.

Travelling as an unmarried couple? Make your life easier and simply tell everyone you are married. India highly respects family and marriage, much more than we do. Calling yourself married will make everything easier for you.

Moving Forward in India Take a Long Time: Rickshaws, Busses and Public Transportation

You always need to consider: distances in India are long, it takes a long time to get from one place to another. In particular overland journeys are exhausting and stretch a long time. There are always many slow vehicles on the road (rickshaws, trucks, but also bikes and wooden hand carts). Never underestimate how long it takes to reach. For longer tours, there are night busses (“Sleeper Busses”) that are quite good, rather cheap and help to kill the time.

Even big cities do not have public transportation like we know it from Europe or the US. There is some construction work going on for subways (called “Metro”) but there is no big working system that covers an entire city. You can always take the bus, rickshaw or cab (Uber!). But traffic is a huge mess. It simply takes a lot of time to move forward.

If you happen to have an airport nearby, you can book a flight. There are some cheap Indian airlines (Spicejet, Indigo, Air Asia, etc.). This is the best way to do longer distances. Flying has improved a lot and now works quite fine. More and more Indian airports are built and you can reach many places like that.

Taking Pictures of You

People do take pics of you. Sometimes they ask, sometimes they don’t. They like to take group pictures with you. You can always so no of course. I have never liked it; it made me feel very uncomfortable. I don’t want to be interesting only because of my skin color and I prefer not to take any group pics with strangers. But that decision is up to you.

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