Dos and Don'ts

• Regardless of what some ill-informed travel agents may tell you, practically every foreign national requires a Visa to enter and stay in India.
• Consult your doctor well in advance, get yourself inoculated, and carry the vaccination certificates with you. This is mandatory if you are coming from/through a Yellow Fever infected region.
• Use our Packing List as a checklist of what to carry with you.
   

• If you need help to find your hotel on arrival at airport/railway station/bus terminal,  look for the tourist assistance desk. Avoid persistent taxi drivers and touts like the plague.
• Never look lost, even if you are! Keep the demeanor of a person who knows the region.
• Carry maps, as signboards are conspicuous by their absence in most places. When asking for directions, ask shopkeepers (preferably, non-touristy shops), not pedestrians. Rechecking with a couple of other people won't hurt you one bit.
• Carry your passport, other travel documents and your money separately on person. You don't want to lose them all together, do you?
• Other things that you should have in hand include a bottle of mineral water and sunscreen lotion. 
• Unless you enjoy traveling like the gentlemen in the picture on the right, ensure that you have a confirmed reservation before boarding trains.
• Always chain and lock your luggage under your berth in a train. Don't keep anything valuable near the window.
   

• Never ever enter a temple, tomb, mosque or Gurudwara with shoes on and/or scantily dressed. Cover your head with a handkerchief while in a Gurudwara or Dargah. Parikrama (walking around the sanctum sanctorum) should always be in clockwise direction.
• Do not wear black clothes while visiting a Jain temple. Leather articles are forbidden to be carried in Hindu and Jain temples. Taking photograph of the deity in a temple is normally not permitted.
• Do not visit places which encourage orthodoxy, social injustice and inhuman practices (like visiting a sati temple).
   

• Participating in a social occasion, or visiting a home, requires conservative dress code. Eat with your right hand, and fill your plate with only as much as you can eat. Leaving anything uneaten is considered an insult of sorts on the culinary skills of your host.
• Do not point your finger at any person. It is taken as a sign of annoyance.
• Public displays of affection, such as kissing, hugging, and holding hands, are frowned upon.
• Don't photograph women without permission, and also avoid shaking hands.
• Be careful of cultural and social sensitivities of the region. There is no universal rule - the best way is to observe and follow.
   

• Guides, waiters and taxi drivers, where service is not included, will expect around 10% of the total bill as a tip. Porters and bellboys will only expect around five to ten Rupees per bag.
• Don't tip exorbitantly and unnecessarily unless you are in the Fortune 500 list. The news soon spreads in the hotel and there will be an expectant group saluting you when you check out.
• Go over your bill with a magnifying glass. At times, guests checking out in a hurry later find that they have paid for services they never used.
   

• Don't buy antiques which are over 100 years old. Selling and buying "shahtoosh" shawls is a crime. The same goes for ivory and wildlife.
• Bargaining is a norm (except in upmarket stores) in India. Browse around a bit, so that you have an inkling of the going rate.
• Avoid buying from shops that your taxi/rickshaw wallah takes you to. If you like the stuff, come back later ALONE and you'll find that the prices are much more affordable!
• Insist on your credit card being swiped/imprinted in your presence.
   

• Do not encourage beggars.
• Use licensed guides for sightseeing.
• If you order mineral water in a restaurant, ask for the bottle to be unsealed at your table.
• While changing money, insist on getting an encashment certificate.