Looking For Advice: I Am Traveling to India on Business in Sept.

[Yavin4]

I am going to Bangalore, India. I will be there for about a month. What important information should I know?

What shots do I need?

[Renew Deal]

1. Here's some info

State Department
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1139.html

CIA World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. only drink bottled water. brush your teeth in bottled water.

do not take ice in your water

try to stick to cooked food and not salads/fresh cut fruit etc

[MsTryska]

3. I second this advice.

Also pack mostly lightweight clothes - and some long-sleeved, long-legged pieces.

Oh and to echo my mother - "Choose the Vegetarian option!"

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. really? meat is a very safe option in india.

[MsTryska]

6. Possibly.

My mom was always "choose the veg!" i guess she didn't trust where the meat might have been coming from. This is usually on trains or at foodstalls tho. Not in real restaurants or people's homes or anything.


oh one othere word of advice - invest in a moneybelt to keep on the inside of your pants. Big City + throngs of people + foreigner = pickpocket mark.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. ahh yeah i see. in restuarants & people's home chicken and goat is fine

but not beef/pork. though its hard to find either in india

[MsTryska]

10. unless you hang out with

Anglo-Indians. I don't know where they source it but they do.

[IndianaJones]

5. find the guys that are taking jobs and yell at them. nt.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. beat em up nt

[IndianaJones]

9. no violence, just harsh words. nt.

[jeff30997]

12. Beat 'em up

Move 'em on, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em out,
Move 'em on, head 'em out Rawhide!
Set 'em out, ride 'em in
Ride 'em in, let 'em out,
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in Rawhide.

Hehehe.

[MsTryska]

11. Talk to your doctor about the shots....

btw/ you'll also need quinine tablets - for anti-malaria - those can make you nauseous - i never did quite manage the trick fro not puking up breakfast. The Brits invented Gin and Tonics to get there quinine - maybe that's the trick.

And a couple more important things.

1. Start practicing squatting ass-to-floor now - it will make life easier if you already have your balance. trust me on this.

2. Always put food to your mouth with your right hand. Receive gifts with your right hand. left hand is a no-no hand.

3. Wear easy to remove sandals (you can pick up chappals - the indian word for flip-flop varietals - at a vendor pretty much anywhere) - You'll be takign your shoes off a lot.

[jeff30997]

13. For the shots...

I strongly advise you not to ask Cheney.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

14. i doubt on a business trip he will encounter an indian style toilets

all the hotels are western style as are the restaurants

[MsTryska]

19. Well I was thinking they might put him up in a house

depending on the particulars.

And rail stations and airports and other various public places - i'd rather squat then have to sit. altho as a guy I guess that becomes irrelevant.

[One_Life_To_Give]

15. Bring lots of Cigarrettes

I have been told by people from there. A couple cartons or a twenty in your passport can really speed up your trip thru customs. And most any other interaction with beaurocrats.

[MsTryska]

20. bakshish!

definitely comes in handy...

[bikebloke]

16. My experience

I avoided bottled water after reading that they filled it from the local tap. Instead, I had some iodine tablets that I dropped into my own water bottle.

Since I was traveling rougher (pronounced "frugally"), I avoided meat.

I think I had meningitis and cholera jabs. Plus, the delightful malaria tablets once a week. They're super bitter, so you want to swallow them real fast.

I suspect Bangalore, in catering to Western business clientele, will be closer to Western standards.

[WinkyDink]

17. DO NOT TAKE LARIAM! See link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/27/60II/main538144.shtml

I also worked with someone whose son had to be hospitalized, flown home (he went to India for IBM), and quit his JOB, before anyone figured out his problem was a severe psychotic reaction to Lariam.

[kay1864]

18. Ditto on the money belt. Plus

pack an inflatable neck pillow for your carry-on. Keeps you from getting a stiff neck when you sleep during your flight, and it's needed even if you fly Business Class.