Facing the Challenges of Traveling in a Third-World Country
Traveling to rural India is an experience in a great number of ways. To ensure sweet memories, it is a good idea to eliminate some aspects of the overwhelming experience by remembering a number of small but important details. My experiences come mainly from travels in North India and Bengal, but ought to apply all across the great land of India. The following travel tips are by no means a comprehensive outline of all things you need to consider, but are nonetheless a good deal more than you'd find in your average travel guide.

 

- Always wash your hands. Wash them carefully before eating to avoid ingesting all the bacteria stuck on your hands from the change you received from the shopkeeper, from the fruits you purchased, from the railing you leaned on, and so forth. A common source of diarrhea is, uh, touching items that were touched by someone other who had diarrhea and who didn't wash his hands... Wash your hands after eating, too - many locals, especially cultured and religious Indians, will love you for that.

- One of the most common reasons for diarrhea and a horde of other diseases is bad water. Don't drink from taps or wells - purchase bottled water to stay in good health. If you live at a fixed location, 25 liter containers of reverse osmosis treated water are often available. Purchasing a bigger container saves you over 50% in expenses, and avoids producing a pile of plastic garbage - that mighty curse of the Indian environment. Remember to drink enough, drink a minimum of two liters per day. Sufficient water is very important to keep you in health, particularly during the warm season.

- Eat with discrimination. If the place you're about to eat at doesn't look hygienic, it most likely isn't - not for your Western stomach, anyway. Don't buy ready-made food from the streets, they're a health hazard. By far the best recipe for staying healthy is to cook yourself. You can get a gas-bottle and a burner for less than $10, and a set of pots and utensils for another $5. Otherwise, eat at clean and reputable restaurants. Factory produced snacks packed in sealed wrappings are generally safe. But don't eat beyond your limits! The bacteria your tummy faces in rural India is not off your friendly home-town eco-system, what you'd digest back home isn't what you can handle in India!

- When you purchase fruits or vegetables from the market, keep them in a cloth bag or a back pack. To use a transparent plastic bag is to invite a band of monkeys for a meal. They'll come and grab it before you had a chance to say "monk...". Once purchased, keep all foodstuffs well packed and sealed, lest you risk their being infested with ants and flies. Ants in particular, in all sizes and shapes, are very dedicated to finding your food. Especially the sweet flavor! Sometimes you may need to pack foodstuffs into air-tight containers or to hang them with thread from the roof to keep them outside the greedy ants' reach. Discard foods that smell bad or even a bit suspicious, they're a risk for your health.

- Pick-pockets of different species abound. Keep a watch on your camera, glasses and the rest even if the place isn't reputed for pick-pockets, for there generally are the local monkeys who'll do a meaningless pick-pocketing job with formidable skill. If the monkeys become a constant nuisance, you may want to keep a stick with you to keep them at a distance. Beating the ground with force is generally enough to keep away an approaching monkey - though one needs a good deal of attitude to scare away the big, grumpy male.

- Don't carry large quantities of money, your passport, flight ticket, or other such valuable or important items with you. Keep them somewhere safe and locked away. Most cities will have ATMs you can use your credit card or Visa Electron if you need more cash. Remember that the sighting of a white man on a dark alley means money and electronics are one knock away - be aware of thieves! Be discreet in displaying anything of value. Avoid lonely places after dark, and this applies especially to ladies who should never be walking around alone in the dark, or too lightly dressed even in bare daylight for that matter, for a foreign woman draws a great deal of attention and the possibilities of sexual assault are very real.

- That treacherous weather. Don't spend much time outside in the mid-day heat unless it's unavoidable. Mind this especially in the hot season from May to September - which by the way isn't your ideal travel season! If you need to be outdoors when it's blazing, always cover your head with a piece of cloth. "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun" they used to say in the 1900s when the British drank their whisky, ate their beef and roamed around in the blazing sun, dropping dead like flies left and right.

- When the nights are cold, be sure to wear a hat or a warm shawl over your head, covering your ears and possibly your throat to avoid getting cold. In the warm season, don't sleep directly under the fan, and don't keep the fan running too fast either to avoid getting cold. Air conditioning systems often work erratically with the fluctuating electricity, and an over-speeding setup can give you a serious cold. Take woolen socks and a pull-over with you for the winter nights.

- You wouldn't want to have malaria. Your best bet for avoiding malaria is using a mosquito-net at night to avoid being eaten up alive. There are, of course, mosquito creams as well as coils you can burn to get rid of mosquitoes in the evening time - between 6.00 PM and the time you take rest. They can be tough on the lungs in the long run, however. Preventive medicine works with varying success and often has substantial side-effects - use with discretion. If you do contract malaria, quinine injections available at every doctor generally offer a fast cure

- As for the rest of the poisonous lot, though snakes, scorpions and the rest are not an every-day occurrence, it is good to be aware of their possible existence. Don't go to dark places, such as the bathroom, without having light and seeing what's ahead of you. It is also a good idea to check your bed sheets or your sleeping bag before jumping in - those places are ah-so-cozy for these little gremlins to crawl into. Keep your suitcases and other bags closed, too.

- Should you have problems with your health - and most people at least get a diarrhea once! - be aware that there's a great deal of variety among the doctors. There are many people out there who cracked a book or two and opened a reception, and even if they're doing a decent job with basic problems, they aren't properly educated doctors! What's more, you'll often find that the reception and the pharmacy are together, which easily contributes to excessive prescriptions. You'll find Ayurveda and Homeopathy all around as alternatives to allopathic medicine, which is something I personally prefer as the last choice. All those antibiotics - and yes, in India they'll give you antibiotics for any damn problem! - take their toll on your body over time.

- Friends and beggars. If people come to beg from you, use good discretion on when to give and when to not. If you see a flock of kids around and give a coin to one of them, you'll not get rid of the rest for a while. On the other hand, donating to temples, holy men and single beggars is of course a noble thing to do - our little means much in their world. Personally I am fond of giving to people who are not busy begging and hanging on to your pants. Remember, you are from the West and they stamped a dollar sign on your forehead at the airport - everyone knows the Westerners are a rich species; there's nothing personal in their being after you. Many will want to make friends with you, and you'll often find that the bulk of your Indian wannabe-friends have very sound reasons for this...

- At the holy places of India, you'll commonly meet priests and guides who are enthusiastic to show you around or to engage you in worship. And rarely is it a free treat. Do remember that you have the freedom to choose to not have their services, and always be tactful when dealing with them. Do not get angry or try to confront them - this rarely leads to anything good. A silent exit is the best strategy, and anything short of that will likely be used against you to exhort a donation - they know their trade well and have a big bag full of tricks to capture your precious American dollars. Even if you have a bad experience or two, don't let that ruin the rest of your trip - forgive and forget.

- Electronics. If you take equipment using batteries with you, be sure to also take along a battery charger and some spare batteries. Average Indian batteries last about five to ten minutes compared to several hours of power you can get with Western batteries, and rural areas in India experience frequent electric outages that may hinder your charging possibilities. And don't show your gadgets around unless you want to have a circle of 20 curious observers staring at you!

- Electricity is erratic in rural areas. When people ask me if it's 110V or 230V they have in India, the reply is, "well it depends". I've gotten as low as 30V, and I've gotten as high as 500V - which fused just about everything I had plugged in that day. Always have a spike protector and keep your gear unplugged when not in use, especially if you're not in the house. If you're in a fixed location, get a voltage stabilizer - a $15 purchase - to ensure the safety of your equipment.

- Going to the bazaar. Before going to a shop to purchase anything, ask around to get an idea of the price level. If you are new in the area, you'll be an easy target. Sometimes there's a sign saying "fixed price" on the wall, meaning you aren't allowed to bargain. Strange enough however, the fixed prices generally aren't printed on price tags of any kind! The price is fixed to whatever the shopkeeper chooses to tell you - which sometimes means an outrageous over-quote. Some hearty laughter and a course towards the door helps bring the prices down a notch. Before doing this, be sure it's a rip-off attempt though! When people learn to recognize you, usually the prices start coming down to near-normal levels.

- Most factory-produced and packed goods in India come with a MRP, a Maximum Retail Price, printed - inclusive of all taxes. It means no buts, no excuses and no other stories on why one ought to pay more than it says. Hold your own! Even if it might not seem like a big deal to you on your short visit, please remember the rest of us and don't let the locals get comfortable with the bad habit of exploiting the silly, rich Western tourist!

- Small things to bring along. If you need toilet paper or tissues, bring some with you - they are pricey and often of low quality in India. Take some antiseptic liquid with you. It's important to immediately disinfect and cover any wounds you may get, for you'll find them infected in no time at all if left untreated. When you go for longer walks, be sure to keep a piece of cloth, a small bottle antiseptic liquid and some band-aids with you.

- Tooth-brushes, washing powder, towels and the such are easily available all across India, don't bother bringing in too large a stock if you'll stay around for a while. In general, you are better off traveling lightly, especially if you need to move around. Most of the things you might need are locally available for a low price - unless you're way out in the countryside, in which case you may not even find bottled water! In villages with populations 10,000 and upwards, you should be able to find most day-to-day things you need.

- When you move around India. If you want to travel with a tight budget, you can use tempos - those enormous three-wheeled scooters with up to 30 passengers onboard - and buses for moving around short distances. Trains are unbeatable for longer journeys. Generally a tempo will get you to your destination for around 10% of the price you would pay for a taxi or private a moto-rickshaw, the junior brother of a tempo. Don't rent a car unless you want to kill yourself in a traffic accident, the roads of India are infamous for reckless driving. Some rent scooters and move around, I've never tried one - if you do rent something, be sure to carefully read the rental terms.

-Those of you who don't walk barefoot are better off not using their best air-cushion hyper-fashion sandals. Whenever you go into a temple, or into many stores for that matter, you'll need to leave your shoes outside. This is a very convenient way to ensure you'll never see your dear old shoes again. You can purchase a pair of simple Indian slippers for $2. Otherwise, you'll need to stuff your fancy shoes into a bag to ensure they'll stay with you. In general, it's best to dress simply to draw less attention. Blend in with the locals and you'll have gone a long way towards gaining the best and most authentic experience of rural India. And learn a few words of the local language, they'll just love you for that...

- That's the short of traveling to India! I hope these tips will help in improving the quality of your trip. Don't forget to consult others who have traveled to your destination before, collect those little bits of wisdom from experienced travelers to make the most out of your journey!

by Madhavananda