Travel Tips

Indian Standard Time

Travel Tips: India is 5 ½ hours ahead of GMT/UTC, 4 ½ hours behind Australian EST, and 10 ½ hours ahead of American EST.

Women Travellers

Once upon a time, girls traveling on their own employed to be frowned upon in India, but occasions are slowly changing. Proper gown code in accordance using the Indian social matrix serves to an extent. In mosques, girls need to be totally covered, and in temples and gurudwaras, they have to cover their heads. One requirement to be on the correct aspect of caution whilst getting into conversations with strangers, accepting invitations to drinks and late evening dinners. Remember the far more you move absent from touristy areas, the lesser troubles you might be likely to possess.

The southern and the eastern areas of the country are a lot more enjoyable to travel for the ladies traveler. And as a bonus, you’ll find ladies’ queues for train tickets, ladies’ compartments in trains as well as ladies’ seats in buses. So you see, it really is not just cautioned all of the ways.

Senior Travelers

Elders are respected and revered throughout India. Therefore senior travelers will not have any trouble in touring India. Unless you might have poor vision or are otherwise challenged, there shouldn’t be any cause for not visiting India. All senior travelers have senior citizens’ quotas in trains and senior citizens’ queues for train tickets. Your stay in India will probably be a memorable one. So, get pleasure from it although it lasts.

Physically Challenged Travelers

Traveling in India for the physically challenged isn’t straightforward. A couple of buildings in India is geared up for your wheelchair. Occasionally even footpaths cannot be used by the physically challenged. Restrooms have not been designed with the wheelchair in mind. Nevertheless, numerous physically challenged travelers are daring a head-on experience with these problems.

Journey with Youngsters

Traveling with children is really a genuine joy as it usually increases the likelihood of having fascinating encounters with nearby persons. Youngsters are effortlessly welcomed everywhere and hospitality is extended to individuals accompanying them. One of the causes for this may be that kids are not self-conscious and they do not really feel cultural variations as acutely as some adults are most likely to. It is, therefore, less difficult for them to create pals with the locals.

Even so, traveling with children can also be exhausting, for they fall sick quite easily. In large hotels, obtaining safe child meals is not an issue. Disposable nappies are offered in all key towns and cities. Most massive hotels offer babysitting facilities.

Additional care needs to be taken to protect kids through the Indian warmth by staying away from the sun throughout the hottest component of the day. Cool showers and baths often aid. Dehydration could be remedied by drinking plenty of water that is either boiled or purified with tablets. Diarrhea can finest be prevented by staying away from uncovered street foods. If traveling with children, it is very best to go to India in the cooler months.

Dangers & Annoyances Theft

Nothing might be much more annoying than to find out that you’ve got lost something important. It really is generally preferable to carry important things on yourself and never leave them behind in your room. Be additional vigilant about your baggage at airports, on trains, and other means of public transports that you could get. Nonetheless, if anything is stolen or lost, it will need to immediately be reported to the police. Finally, a good travel insurance policy may well support to some extent in making good the loss or damage.

Stolen Traveler’s Cheques

Traveller’s cheques can simply be stolen or lost, but the good thing about them is that they are replaceable. It really is most effective to buy them from American Express, Visa, Thomas Cook, Citibank, and Barclay. The instant replacement may be tricky. Having said that, the greatest way to deal with such a crisis is to maintain an emergency amount aside. Individuals availing of American Express TC amenities can seek to assist at the 24-hour helpdesk in Delhi. The loss of TCs needs to be reported to the company concerned within 24 hours of the loss. Carrying the receipts in the missing TCs would ensure a speedy replacement. It’s advisable to keep the receipts in a separate place and a photocopy in the same in another.

Business Hours

Government offices are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Monday through Friday. Banks are open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Saturday. Nevertheless, key cities have been divided into zones where banks remain closed on particular days of your week. You must check that up before you actually visit one for a transaction. Traveler’s cheque transactions commonly cease 30 minutes before the official bank closing time. The Reserve Bank of India has a half-yearly closing on 30th June and 31st December. Other banks have it on 31st March and 30th September. Shops also continue being closed on particular days of the week according to their location. Offices are commonly closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Holidays

India is a multicultural, multilingual nation and therefore has a great number of holidays and festivals. Most of these festivals follow the Indian lunar calendar. For that reason, they are most likely to fall on different days each year within the Gregorian calendar. Muslim holidays and festivals follow the Islamic calendar. So they too fall on different days every year. Many religious festivals are celebrated throughout the country, even though the manner in which they are celebrated may vary from state to state. Amongst these, that count as public holidays is – 26th January: Republic Day, 15th August: Independence Day, 2nd October: Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday, and 25th December: Christmas.

• January Republic Day on 26th January, Pongal, Id-ul-Fitr
• February-March Holi, Shivaratri
• March-April Mahavir Jayanti ,Ramanavami ,Good Friday ,Gangaur ,Id-ul-Zuhar , Muharram
• May-June, Buddha Jayanti
• June-July, Rath Yatra, Teej, Milad-un-Nabi
• July-August, Raksha Bandhan
• August, Independence Day on 15th August
• August-September Janmashtami.Ganesh Chaturthi
• September-October ,Durga Puja ,Dussehra ,Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd October
• October-November Diwali
• November-December, Nanak Jayanti, Christmas on 25th December

Photography

Film

Every kind of film is readily available within the Indian markets. Often check the expiry date printed on the film roles as the warmth and humidity of India can take their toll on them. Each city has its own camera and film market, so if you’re looking for a substantial stock, it is better to get it from these markets as you’ll get it much cheaper here. However, it really is better to bring your own positive films as they aren’t readily available in smaller towns. Kodak and Fuji have their labs throughout the country, including in small cities. You should try to store both your exposed and unexposed films in a cool place to protect them from your summer heat. and if you’re travelling throughout the monsoon, it really is better to have waterproof cases for your equipment.

Equipment

A UV filter permanently fitted to your lens won’t only cut down the UV rays but also defend your lens from the heat and dust of India. UV and polarizing filters will also support shoot better photographs in high altitudes. Professional photographers need to carry their tripods at the same time, for India has lots to give through its historical monuments. Fast films (400 ASA) are also useful while photographing the interiors of India’s lot of temples, forts, and monasteries.

Exposure

In India, photographs are ideal taken early inside the morning and late within the afternoon. The midday sun tends to eliminate the shadows of objects cutting down on the depth of your shots.

Restrictions

Indians may very well be extremely touchy about what you photograph. To photograph places of military importance including railway stations, bridges, airports, military installations, tribal areas, and sensitive border regions, you would require seeking permission from your authorities concerned. Some temples prohibit photography in the major hall plus the inner sanctum. Usually, such temples have prohibitory signboards on their premises. It is usually prudent to ask if you will discover no such indications. Some temples, forts, palaces, tombs, and monasteries levy a fee to bring a still or video camera into the premises. A few wildlife sanctuaries levy a lot higher fee. The Archaeological Survey of India problems special permits for photographing monuments with tripods and artificial lights. People in India are ever willing to pose for complete strangers. In places where tradition and conservatism rule the society, care should be taken before training your lens on women.

Shopping Tips

The most important rule while purchasing handicrafts is to get the correct bargain. It wouldn’t hurt to first look around to know the fake from your actual. It is normally beneficial to get an idea of your quality and price of items by visiting the various state emporia as well as the Central Cottage Industries Emporia in Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Here the prices are fixed and will give you a fair idea of how significantly you could expect to pay while purchasing similar items from regular dealers.

Again, be careful when buying items that include delivery. You may have to pay extra customs also because of the handling charges. Beware of buying gems and carpets unless of course, you are an expert. Export of items such as ivory, fur, and skins, antiquities are banned. Hence it’s mandatory to obtain a certificate of legitimate sale and permission for export before trying to take any of these items out of the country.