Travel Tips

Currency and Exchange Rate: The local currency in India is a Rupee abbreviated as Rs. The Rupee is further divided into 100 paisa, but since the value of the paisa is so small, it is hardly ever used. Internationally, within currency transactions, it is also abbreviated as INR. The exchange rate floats and has recently been varying between Rs 40 and Rs 50 to a US Dollar for the past few years.

Clothes: If you are planning to wear full length clothes during your walking tours, then make sure that they do not drag on the floor since streets can be dirty and wet. You should not wear clothes that are very loose because they can get caught in protruding stones and surrounding bushes. Consider bringing, as a minimum, one "Tee" shirt, one "heavy" flannel type shirt and one light jacket. This will allow you to wear layered clothing for a variety of ambient temperatures.

Shoes: When you visit places of worship (with the exception of Churches,) you will need to take off your shoes prior to entry. You are free to wear your socks, but may find that the floor is wet in places, thus it may be prudent to also remove your socks. Make sure that you bring comfortable and well supporting walking shoes. You will be walking a lot in the ruins of old temples and forts, and they are most often dusty, and may have upturned stones, and steep narrow steps.

Leather-wear: There are some temples that demand that you do not take any leather goods such as belts, wallets and leather bags inside. At these, it is customary to take off ones belt and certainly not wear a leather jacket. Women will need to cover their heads prior to entering a mosque. Both men and women must cover their heads in a Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship)

Accessories: Consider bringing your swimming trunks, air brush to clean the dust from your cameras and lens, a telephoto lens if your camera supports one, lots of clean wipes for your face and hands because of the dust. Traditional 35 mm film is available however the new Advantix type is not freely available.

Document Safety: Prior to the start of your journey, send yourself an e-mail with all important passport and other numbers. Thus, should you loose any documentation; you can retrieve your mail and have all necessary information. Also as a backup, photo copy your travel documents (page 3 of your passport, and the India Visa page), and keep these in a place other than the bag with your passport.

Medical Preparation: We suggest you contact your personal care physician who will assess your personal history and advise what you need to take with regard to preventative medication accordingly.

Electricity: The electrical supply is 220/240V, 50Hz. The connectors are similar to the European (not British) round pin. Bring an adapter with you – you’ll need it if recharging the battery in your digital camera. Good ones are available at Radio Shack or CAA outlets in Canada.

Time: Indian Standard Time (IST) is ahead of Canada times (10.5 ahead of Toronto, 9.5 ahead of Halifax, 12.5 ahead of Calgary). While in India it’s easy to convert time to Canada if you add the difference (1.5 hours for Toronto, 2.5 hours for Halifax) and if it’s day in India, its night in Canada. For instance, if it is 10 PM in India, and you’re trying to find out what time it is in Toronto, add 1.5 hours to 10. It’ll be 11:30 AM in Toronto. Get it? If calling Calgary, subtract 30 minutes from local time, and if its night in India, it’ll be day in Calgary.

Disabled Travelers: Very few special arrangements exist for people with disabilities at airports, railway stations or hotels. However, people are very helpful, and if you don't mind receiving their help, then this will ease your travel difficulties.

Food and Drink: Street food should NOT be consumed. Do not eat any cold (unprepared food) which has been prepared previously, such as salads, cut fruit, cut vegetables, unless in good hotels. Also do not eat any yogurts or cold milk products unless they are from an established and good quality restaurant. Feel free to eat fruit and vegetables which you peel yourself. Do not drink water from any source unless it is from a sealed water bottle purchased from a reputable shop (and NOT from a street vendor). It is common for street vendors to re-fill discarded water bottles with normal water. Do not consume any ice unless in reputable hotels or restaurants.

Tipping and Gratuities: Tipping is an important part of travel in India. Unless specifically stated, your tour does not include tipping as we feel that such a personalized reward is benefactor to you, the traveler. First the easy part: You do not need to tip regular taxi drivers. However, you will have a number of other opportunities of tipping.

Dealing with Beggars: Beggars in India are common, aggressive and are thus annoying. Professional beggars – and the majority are professionals – employ many of the success traits of great achievers, the most prevalent being persistence. If you want to give, one rupee will usually send them on their way. If you give too much – like 10 rupees – you’re asking for trouble. The word will go out and you’ll be harassed by all beggars in the vicinity.  If you don’t want to give just ignore them; pretend that they are invisible – no eye contact, no acknowledgement, nothing. It’s a hard thing to do for compassionate foreigners, but it works. Begging and giving to beggars is illegal in most parts of India.

Dealing with Hawkers: At most tourism venues there is a host of hawkers standing outside ready to pounce upon foreign tourists. You’ll see them running right past affluent Indians while making a beeline to foreigners, who are perceived to be more gullible and generous. A firm ‘No Thanks,’ will usually get rid of them.

Telephones: It is best to make local, national and International telephone calls from manned public booths, marked “STD/ISD”, and all identified with a right yellow sign. Amount payable is presented in an electronic form. You pay cash at these locations. Do not make phone calls from your hotel as they have exorbitant phone-call rates.

Internet and Email: Internet access will be available in the business centres of our hotels and will cost you about C$10 per hour. That’s expensive! Your best bet will be to use the services of local internet cafés. They charge something like or less than C$1.50 per hour. Internet cafés in Agra may charge more, but definitely less than that of the hotel. We’ll make a point of searching out suitable Internet cafés in each destination and letting you know their whereabouts.

Travelers Cheques: These are not easily accepted in stores. If they are, you’ll be charged an additional fee of up to 10 percent. Your best bet is to cash them at Thomas Cooke or American Express outlets. Good hotels will also change them at the established government rate. This is important: Ensure that you retain the receipt, because you’ll be asked to show it if you wish to exchange rupees to dollars at the airport before departing India. This is not a regulation that the person serving you will circumvent with persuasion – not if he/she values his/her job!

Camera Fee: You will have to pay a fee for using a video camera in most monuments. This fee, which ranges from Rs 10 to Rs 500, depending on the place and the type of camera used, is payable at the entrance gate. Please ensure you carry sufficient funds with you to cover this charge, as this is NOT included in the tour price.

Bargaining for good prices: Haggling is common in local bazaars. Here’s how it usually works. You ask the price. The vendor states a price that is about double of what he’d like to get. You grimace, roll your eyes, act as if you’re about to faint and then offer something less that half his requested price. Then you haggle back and forth until you hit the halfway point. Then both of you are happy – he because he got his wanted price and you because you got a real bargain. On the other hand, the tourist has the advantage. He’s got money to spare and the vendor needs every sale he can make. You can usually talk the vendor down to the slimmest of margins – like to about one third of his original asking price. But I ask you; is it really fair to take advantage of poor people like that, especially when the original price is pretty good.

Crossing the Road: This is the most important item on this page. Traffic in India travels on the left hand side of the road. Therefore, when starting to cross a road, you must always look to the RIGHT to ensure that there are no oncoming vehicles.  (William here.) “My own closest ever brush with death occurred in 1996 when crossing a Delhi street and looking the wrong way.” The before you cross a road, just stop, think, look right and then proceed. Just don’t proceed without first stopping to think.