1.
Selecting your City of Arrival: If you are not travelling
in an organised group and you have time on hand to see
the country, our order of preference for selecting a gateway
to India would be: Bangalore, Mumbai, Madras, Calcutta
and Delhi. This would prepare you for facing the harsher
north where the rule of life is - might is right.
The capital city is one of the best connected, but it
is also a place where you will get harassed the most.
Arriving at any of the other major cities will allow you
to get used to the Indian ethos in a milder place.
2.
Have Your Hotel Reservation Done Before Arrival:
It is advisable to book your hotel room in advance, at
least for the first few days. We are in the process
of putting together a segment on hotels shortly.
3.
Getting To Your Hotel: Almost all major Airports
and Railway stations have a pre-paid taxi service, which
is the safest way to get to your destination within that
city without getting into arguments with cab drivers.
In addition, every airport has a help desk, should you
require assistance.
4.
Passport, Money and Credit Cards: Never let go off
these most valuable possessions. Make sure that you have
photocopies of the front and last pages of your passport,
visas and air ticket. Imagine being lost in a strange
land, clueless about your passport number, TC number and
with no friends to take you home. Whatever Travellers
Cheques you may opt for, make sure you take down the emergency
call numbers to report a loss. This will help you process
your claim much faster, you will also have to give details
such as the place from where you purchased your Card and
the date on which it was done. So make sure you record
all these details in a book. In that same place you should
keep a record of the cheque serial numbers, proof of purchase
slips and your passport number (and don't keep it in the
same bag with your TCs). Foreign nationals are required
to carry their passports with them at all times
while in India.
5.
Banking: It is a good idea to check the local bank
and shop opening times for your destination, and ensure
that you do have enough local currency to tide you through
when you arrive. Your local bank will be able to order
currency for you and larger airports have a cash desk.
You must retain the encashment certificate given
to you when changing foreign exchange at your hotel or
a bank. You will need to present this while making any
payments in Indian Rupees, or while re-converting unused
Rupees into foreign exchange at the airport before your
international departure. Only 1/3 of the value of the
encashment certificate will be re-converted into foreign
exchange.
6.
Travelling Within India : Due to security reasons,
you are not allowed to carry batteries in your
hand luggage on all flights. The security will ask you
to trip your camera shutter once and demonstrate that
it is not being used for tripping an explosive device!
Your camera batteries or any other spare batteries that
you need should be in your booked luggage. Otherwise,
the security will take the batteries from your hand bag
and pass them over to the flight-crew who are supposed
to give them back to you at the destination airport after
landing, but our experience shows that invariably it never
happens. And God save you if you are on a photography
trip and the batteries are not available locally (you
are unlikely to find batteries like the 4LR44 or special
Lithium Batteries in smaller towns). No hand luggage,
including a camera bag, is allowed on the flight from
Leh to Delhi. Please ensure you pack everything, except
for your passport, air ticket and wallet in your check-in
luggage.
7.
Sight Seeing: Most of the monuments are open from
Sunrise to Sunset and in winters it could be too early
so plan your visit accordingly.
8.
Camera Fee : A fee for using a still and/or a video
camera is charged at most monuments, as well as at national
parks and game sanctuaries. This fee, which ranges from
Rs 10 to Rs 500, depending on the place and the type of
camera used, is payable at the entrance gate. Please ensure
you carry sufficient funds with you to cover this charge,
which is NOT included in the package price.
9.
Flight timings shown are subject to change at short
notice. The exact pick up and flight departure timings
will be given to you the day before.
10.
Special Permits: Even with a visa you are not allowed
everywhere in India. Certain places require special additional
permits. For instance in the Andaman Islands you
need a permit in advance if you're arriving by ship. For
those flying in, permits for a stay of upto 30 days are
issued on arrival at the airport in Port Blair. Bhutan
also requires a special permit, but it is almost impossible
to get a permit for entry into Bhutan unless you have
connections or a personal friend in the Bhutanese aristocracy,
or if you're coming in through an organised tour. A permit
for the Lakshadweep islands is also problematic. Only
one island is currently open to foreigners. The north-eastern
states too require foreigners to have a permit though
even with one you are restricted. You cannot visit all
the places. For Sikkim, permits are much easier and are
issued either while you wait or within two or three hours.
11.
Self Driving – Hiring Cars And Two Wheelers: You
should consider this option only after seeing the unruly
traffic on Indian roads and you feel confident of handling
it. Cars are available on hire in most metros and Two
Wheelers in some places like Goa and Port Blair. You need
to carry an international driving licence in case you
intend driving on your own.
12. TIME: The concept of time in India is not the same
as in the rest of the world. Technically, IST or Indian
Standard Time works for India which is 5 ½ hours ahead
of GMT/UTC, 4 ½ hours behind Australian EST and 10 ½ hours
ahead of American EST. Beyond that you will need to get
used to the idea what tomorrow or yesterday means. It
could stretch up to a few years this way or that depending
on where in India you are.
13.
TAX CLEARANCE CERTIFICATES: If your stay in India
extends to more than 120 days, i.e. 3 months, then you
need a tax clearance certificate to leave the country.
This supposedly proves that your time in India was financed
with your own money and not by working in India or by
selling things or playing the black market. Basically
all you have to do is approach the foreign section of
the Income Tax Department in Delhi, Calcutta, Madras or
Mumbai and turn up with your passport, visa extended form,
any other similar paperwork and a handful of bank exchange
receipts (to show you really have been changing foreign
currency into rupees officially).
14.
Working Hours: All government offices work a five-day-week.
They are officially open from 9 am-5.30 pm, Monday through
Friday. However, the safe times are 10.30 am to 12.30
pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm. Banks are open from 10am-2pm,
Monday through Friday and 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays.
Cashing of traveller's cheques usually ceases 30 minutes
before the official bank closing time. The Reserve Bank
of India closes for yearly closing on June 30 and December
31, while others opt for March 31 and September 30.
Shops also remain closed on particular days of the week
according to their location in a city, but usually Tuesdays.
Offices are usually closed on Sundays and public holidays.
15.
Siesta Time: ( 1 PM to 3 PM ) Strictly observed in
some states and cities when work comes to a standstill
and shopkeepers down their shutters. Prominent states
in this category are Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Assam and the city which takes the cake is Pune.
16.
CUSTOMS: Your entitlement is one bottle of whisky
and 200 cigarettes. Laptops, SLR Cameras with lenses and
video cameras are likely to be entered on a Tourist Baggage
Re-Export' form to ensure you take them out with
you when you go back and not sell them in the local market.
If you are entering India from Nepal, you are not entitled
to import anything free of duty.
The only thing you can be sure of is that your Indian
Experience will be very different from what you have envisaged
and experienced before. This segment is only a primer and
a guide for your safe travel.
