Visiting India First Time Tips for touring India safely

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Visiting India First Time Tips for touring India
safely
To get to know the real India you need to get out
and explore India. Getting to India is perhaps
the easy part, most tourists are prepared for
their flight to India, however, moving around
within India takes some patience and resilience
if tourists really want to see the real India up
close. This post offers tourists visiting India
a few tips that should help them enjoy their
India visit safely. Most parts of India are safe
to travel but common sense and staying alert is
always recommended. With some pre-planning
tourists can really have a great holiday in India
Transportation for Airport to Hotel when visiting
India - Taxi Safety Tips Most international
flights arrive in India late at night or in the
very early hours, when it is still dark. Getting
to your hotel from the airport late at night can
be cause for concern, especially for foreign
tourists. It is always preferred to get the hotel
where you have reservation, to arrange to pick
you up from the airport. Most hotels provide this
service and charge approximately 15 for it.
This is the safest way. In case you have not
arranged for the hotel to pick you up, then
always take a prepaid taxi. Information in
detail on prepaid taxis at Indian airports is
provide on our arriving page. Do not hire
private taxis from the airport on your own.
Prepaid taxi is the only safe way to go. With
prepaid taxis you have need not worry about being
cheated by the taxi driver and they are also
safe as the police record the taxi and passenger
information when the taxi leaves the airport. Do
not share the taxi with any other passengers. If
the taxi driver has someone else with him and
claims he is a relative etc. Find another taxi.
Never accept a free ride with a stranger who
happens to be going in the same direction as you.
Regardless of what car he may have or how well
he or she may be dressed. While all these
precautions may sound alarming but its just
plain common sense
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• Hotel Reservation Tips
• If possible always have a hotel reservation
  before arriving, at least for the first night.
  This is necessary especially if this is the
  first time you are visiting India.
• In case you do not have a reservation and are
  reserving a room by walking in to a hotel.
  Perhaps you are taken to a hotel by a taxi
  driver, ask to see the room before paying. In
  this case if you do not like the room you can
  always ask for another room or perhaps go to
  another hotel, the chances are the hotel will
  have no problems in giving you a suitable room. I
  can tell you from personal experience that if
  you ask to see the room first, they usually show
  you the better rooms. Once you have paid and do
  not like the room, they may tell you they have no
  other rooms vacant.
• Tourist information desks are located inside the
  airport and once you clear immigration you can
  get information on hotels etc. from there, in
  case you do not have a hotel reservation. Tourist
  information desk will be able to provide you
  with names of hotels and rates. In fact they
  usually will also call and make a reservation
  for you if you choose to do so and the hotel has
  a vacancy.
• Normally hotel rooms are cheaper if you make a
  reservation before showing up there. Walk in to
  a hotel without a reservation and the chances are
  you will pay the rack rate which is usually more
  than advertised rates on websites.
• Hotel rates in India are available for most major
  cities and tourist destinations in India on
  hotel information pages. Information on various
  hotels, their rates and facilities are listed.

Making Phone Calls Unless money is no problem,
avoid making long distance phone calls from your
hotel room. Hotels charge premium rates for
phone calls and add their own service charges on
each call. Making phone calls from India is now
very easy and inexpensive. Look for STD phone
booths in India. Most cities have them in just
about every corner and these STD booths let you
to make both local and international calls at
very reasonable rates. All STD booths are manned
by a clerk who will also dial the number for you
and accept payment after the call. The amount you
have to pay shows up on a meter attached to the
phone. A call to the United States costs
approximately 25 cents a minute. For long
distance phone calls there is also an option to
use the NET PHONE. A net phone call from an STD
booth costs only about 10 cents a minute.
Sometimes operators of STD booths put the call
through a net phone and charge the full regular
rate. So if you get an echo while calling you are
on a net phone. Let the serviceman at the booth
know and get him to use the regular phone line.
Cell phones in India are referred to as Mobile
phones. If you have your foreign phone with you
there is a possibility to get a local Indian
phone number for your phone. This way you not
only save money by not paying roaming charges to
your foreign phone company but you also have the
advantage of having a cell phone with you where
ever you go in India. For details check the link
Cell phones-India.
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Local Transportation When hiring a taxi from
airports or railway stations get a prepaid taxi.
While at airports prepaid booths are inside the
airport, at railway station they are located
outside the railway station terminals. Check the
arriving in India page for more information on
prepaid taxis in India. In addition to hiring a
taxi travelers also have the option of hiring an
auto rickshaw. These are actually scooter
rickshaws that can take two passengers. The fare
is much cheaper when compared to hiring a taxi.
Use the link provided to check the cost of a taxi
and auto rickshaw ride in New Delhi.
Traveling on Indian Trains Travel only with a
proper reservation on Indian railways. Foreigners
have a separate railway ticket reservation
counter available in major cities so there is no
need to line up at regular ticket booking
windows at railway stations. All Indian railways
trains have an official on board the train
called the 'Train Superintendent' In case you
have a concern do not hesitate to contact this
official. If you wish to contact the Train
superintendent, tell the ticket checker when he
comes to examine your ticket that you wish to
speak to the train superintendent. On Rajdhani
and Shatabdi trains, you can also ask the
attendants to convey a message to the train
superintendent to contact you. Train
superintendents have a log book where passengers
have a right to write down their concerns.
Naturally the railway staff do not want anyone to
log complaints in their log books and will do
everything to address your concerns without
entering anything in the train log book. Ticket
checkers on trains and the train superintendents
wear name tags. It is a good idea to note these
names down in case you need to refer to them
later.
Tips For Tour Packages Before signing up for tour
packages make sure that the tour guide will be
able to speak in English. Some tour buses will
pick up tourists from various hotels. You don't
want to be driven around the city in a bus for
approximately two hours just picking up other
passengers. Ask questions before paying for your
tour package. Find out the time allotted at each
site. Many sites are added to tour brochures to
make without mentioning the time allotted and
sometimes are just drive by sites. Most tours
include the cost of entrance fees to sites. Check
before signing up for a tour what the policy is.
Tour buses sometimes will include stopover's at
certain stores where they have a commission
arrangement. Most items available at such stores
can be purchased cheaper by shopping else where
on your own time.
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• Miscellaneous Tips
• Do not accept any type of food from strangers
  while traveling by trains or buses regardless of
  how well dressed the person offering you the food
  may be.
• Do not buy water bottles from street water
  selling stalls. Always buy water bottles from
  a
• reputable store, many drug stores also sell water
  bottles. In case you are unable to buy a proper
  water bottle and really need a drink, then it may
  be a better option to go for a soft drink.
• When buying Pepsi or Coca Cola, if possible
  purchase the drinks in a can rather than a
  bottle. Refilling of old bottles by some small
  time crooks is common. Purchase food and drinks
  from proper shops.
• When traveling on trains and buses try not use
  your laptop. It is always prudent to avoid
  displaying valuable items in public.
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