India

OK, I am going to india in january for 7 months - 1 year (first time) .

Am really excited and nervous . Few questions in general about travel

if anyone has done traveling (i expect lots have)and can give advise

that would be great . thank you

quote:

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• Want to take my fire equipment, will customs have something to say about that , do I have to carry them in any special containers or anything?
• Should I take malaria tablets, sounds silly but a year of taking that crap is going to poison my liver .
• Foriegn fuel, any thoughts ?
• Any other advise / tips / help please feel free to post
  

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cheers guys
[garbo]

Where abouts are you going love.. the regions in India differ greatly - ie plains down south.. mountainy things further up north..

- I brought my fire poi into India no problem. Staff might be a problem, but if its 3 piece should be ok.

- Do take medicine with you. I had tetanus, Japanese encepalitis, Hepatitus shots before I left. (takes some time between shots so organise asap)

I really would recommend taking Malaria medicine. I took doxycycline on my travels and there were no side effects.

Avoid taking Mefloquine which is meant to have some pretty scary side effects.

Think there was a thread on this. Do a search.

TIPS
- Visit McLeod Ganj in Dharmsala - home of Dalai Lama. Really lovely there, register with local authorities as Dalai Lama might be having an audience / teachings with public. Oh and look for the Bob Marley posters if you are looking for something stronger than cheap whiskey!

- When you arrive in Delhi, get a bus rather than a taxi if you have booked a hotel. They are desperate the way they will not bring you where you want to go. For peace of mind, you can pay that little bit more the first night you arrive, or book into a hotel where someone meets you at the airport.

- Oh and if you see Garam ciggies - please send me home a packet!! I love them (clove tobacco) but can't find them in UK There are a few stores around Connaught Place that sell them.

Think I am spending most time in the south. Am flying into channai (madras)

and spending a few weeks there then haeding south to some small village

to do some volluntary work . Will then go travelling. want to go to

pondacherry (home of the chillum ) and will do all the large

cities in the north etc . thats the plan anyway .

safe :

[garbo]

You don't want Larium either - that sends people loopy..

Urgh I'm gonna have to take Mefloquine when I go to Zim - it's the only one that has been recommened - Does anyone know of any others that are good for the Kariba Valley?

larium is exactly what i was on.

it is a trade name for mefloquine hydrochloride.

Garbo, about the malaria meds, the meds may be not so great for your liver, but malaria is a lot WORSE for your liver.

Be sure you're up on your vaccines. Make sure you take plenty of anti-diarrheal medicine (Pepto-Bismol is my favorite because it fixes whatever problem you have, even though you have to take a lot of it).

Don't eat anything that hasn't been cooked very well. Don't eat shellfish. Don't eat raw vegetables. Don't drink milk. And CERTAINLY don't drink the water. Buy bottled and make sure that the seal on the bottle isn't broken. Your safest bet is to buy carbonated water if you can palate the flavor (I can't) because then you are sure it isn't just bottled tap water. If worse comes to worse, boil the tap water at a rolling boil for five minutes and then cool it before using it to drink. And be careful! Keep your mouth clamped shut in the shower and don't use tap water to rinse your toothbrush! I have had "Montezuma's Revenge" and it is not a fun time. You may wish to ask your doctor about taking a course of Cipro with you (and carefully follow his directions on how to take it) in case you get dysentery. I don't mean to scare you, but India is an infectious disease haven, and we First-Worlders' aren't used to carrying that sort of disease burden.

Taking your equipment shouldn't be a problem. Make sure to leave it out in the sun (or in a warm place in your house, like in front of a heater vent) to evaporate as much fuel off it as possible. Just put it in your checked baggage and it shouldn't be an issue. I suggest wrapping it in a plastic bag, too.

You'll certainly be able to get fuel of some sort in India.

The last tip I have is to just try to be unassuming, but saavy. Stand up for your rights (i.e. if a merchant says that he can't give you change, you don't leave until you get your change). Try not to look like a tourist. Rather than walk around with a fanny pack and a camera, look at how the Indians carry their stuff around and then try to emulate that somewhat for carrying your gear. Also, learn a few words of the local language (Hindi, usually) and try to greet people for at least a few words in Hindi. Even if you have to switch to English after that, they will appreciate the respect that you show them by greeting them in their own language in their own country. Finally, just be polite, flexible, and relaxed. The Indians have a very different sense of how the world is supposed to work than we Westerners do.

i don't see the humour myself

fancy a fag mike...?

would you like to bum a fag - I got plenty here you can have!



(sorry)

What? A flaming fag? (Ok, I'm going to Hell for saying that...) (Just to clarify, I love all the Queer peoples of the Earth...though not that way... )

Let me get this straight, just so we're all crystal clear:

UK "fag" = "cigarette"
US "fag" = derogatory term for "homosexual."
UK "fanny" = derogatory term for "homosexual."
US "fanny" = butt

Do I have this right?

[ 16. November 2002, 06:00: Message edited by: MikeGinny ]

erm... a fanny is something else entirely
less derogatory and more of a euphamism.

boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.

fanny = vagina.

didn't think this would ever come up on HoP

just to add my family is canadian and my mom used to ensure everyone on my block heard her yell at me "if you're not in by five, i'll slap you'r fanny!" I think all the other parents though she was a paedie!!

oh the embarressment, when i explained to her that it meant a lady's front bum she didnt mind, only shouted louder!

grrr

vic xx

Bloody hell guys ,

i go away for five minutes and look what happens

[garbo]

Welcome to HOP, where half the population has Attention Deficit Disorder and the other half just hasn't been diagnosed yet!

Take PLASTERS and TCP type stuff,
I lived in spain for a year and got a cut on my knee,
A bacteria got in through the cut and caused an abscess that took up two thirds of my head space and caused fitting 'n' blackout attacks.
The bacteria was almost unknown to the medical world, there was no reason i survived it. It could have been avoided if i had cleaned the cut properly. So be warned. I had to have brain surgery while un-drugged and conscious, Not nice.
Theres only a few recorded cases of it in the world, I'm the only recorded surviver of it
(I say this to everyone who goes traveling).

Please, don't dismiss the little things, the vaccines will stop you getting the big berthers' of diseases, But they still leave you open for the little ones - and trust me "They will get you"

That would be my advice, remember it, it could save your life.
LOL
Trippy

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Last night i met some pixies and we danced around a stone.

[ 21. November 2002, 03:20: Message edited by: Trippy Hippy ]

Hello there Garbo!

Nice to hear that you are going to see the world! Sounds exiting!

All I can say is be safe and be careful! You will get a knack of fitting in and it is important that you dont always look like a lost tourist, even if thats exactly what you are... I have found that makes you a target in a way although I dont know what India is like... I have heard that you will be able to get by with english quite easily and that most people there are pretty friendly when approached...

I wish you all the best in your travels... I am sorry I am not able to provide more help! Other HOPers obviously know what they are talking about so give em a listen!

Much love and hugs,
Drome