India
is all these things, and more. How can you possibly prepare yourself? Start
with our tips for taking the ultimate travel plunge: going to India for the
first time!
Escape
the crowds
With over a billion locals, many
parts of India are certainly crowded. The bustle and mayhem can be fun,
particularly if there's a festival in town, but it's easy to reach the point of
saturation. Fortunately, India has plenty of quiet retreats, so plan some
relaxing escapes into your journey. To keep your batteries charged, spend some
days or weeks in a city, followed by some days or weeks in the countryside or
in a small town. For inner (and outer) peace, head south to the backwaters and
beaches of Kerala, or north to India's captivating hill stations or the
Tibetan-influenced valleys of the Himalaya in Ladakh, Sikkim and Himachal
Pradesh.
Stay
healthy
No one wants to get ill,
particularly if you’re on a shorter trip, so it pays to take steps to avoid a
dodgy tum. Never drink tap water, and steer clear of any food that may have
been washed in it. As a precaution, avoid ice, ice cream, and salads and fruit
you haven't just peeled yourself. Let your stomach acclimatise for a few days
before launching into a street food feast, and whenever buying street food, do
a mental assessment of standards of cleanliness. Are the owners freshly cooking
the food or has it been standing there for a while? Is the stall busy with lots
of customers or only attracting hoards of flies? Many travellers go veggie
whilst in India, and it's not a bad idea, as a dodgy bit of meat will do you a
lot more harm than undercooked vegetables. Plus, many Indians are vegetarian,
so the country offers perhaps the world's most fabulous choice of vegetarian
food. If you do eat meat, make sure it's well cooked, and stick to stalls and
restaurants that are packed with locals.
Slow
down
Many people try to cram too much
into a visit to India. To get the best out your trip, concentrate on a few
places rather than trying to tick off as many as possible. Seeing one place
slowly can be much more rewarding than seeing loads of places, but not having
time to appreciate any of them. Spend a few days in a place and you'll be less
stressed, gain a deeper understanding of where you are, and have more time to
get to know the people you meet.
Pick
the perfect route
India packs a lot into a massive
space, and you'll never have time to see it all on one trip. Think about what
interests you, what you like doing and how much time you have, and tailor your
trip accordingly. Be realistic about how much you can fit in. Rather than
trying to see the whole country, you may get more out of your trip if you
concentrate on the south of the country, or on the north. However, internal
flights are plentiful and inexpensive so you can hop from north to south if you
want a taste of both worlds. The itineraries section at the front of Lonely
Planet's guidebooks to India can be a great help, but here are some possible
itineraries to get the ball rolling.
The classics: The most popular
India tour is the all-time classic Golden Triangle. If time is short this is a
fantastic introduction to three of India's top destinations, Delhi, Agra and
Jaipur, and you can squeeze it into a week if you don't mind moving every
couple of days. Start in Delhi, with sights such as Humayun's Tomb and the Red
Fort, before hitting Agra and touring the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur
Sikri. Then it's on to Jaipur to explore the Pink City and the fort at Amber,
before returning to Delhi's wonderful bazaars for a final shopping spree before
you fly home.
Mughal magic: Fans of Islamic
architecture will find some spectacular monuments in Delhi, home to the Red
Fort, the mosques and minarets of the Qutb Minar complex and Humuyan’s Tomb.
Nearby you can revel in more graceful Mughal splendour at Fatehpur Sikri and
Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, before exploring Rajasthan's captivating collection
of Mughal forts, including Jaisalmer, the very vision of an Arabian Nights
desert fortress.
Wildlife encounters: Your best
chances of spotting a tiger are in the national parks of Madhya Pradesh or
Rajasthan, but there are national reserves all over India where you can track
down wildlife as exotic as lions (Sasan Gir, Gujarat), wild asses (Little Rann,
Gujarat), one-horned rhinos (Assam) and wild elephants (Wayanad, Kerala), as well
as abundant birdlife (Bharatpur, Rajasthan). Not quite wildlife, but certainly
wild, are camel treks through the desert from Jaisalmer or Bikaner in
Rajasthan.
