India is one of my favorite countries, you can travel the entire country and you will always see something a little different – beaches, desert, mountain ranges, canals, and waterways. It has a population of 1.2 billion people and there are two main languages that are spoken in India. The first one is Hindi and the secondary language is English. However, there are actually 21 different languages in India and so it is very possible that even when Indians traverse their own country they may come across language barriers and have difficulty understanding each other.
Planning Your Trip to India
Obviously, the country is big and traveling it can take some time. One of my biggest tips is to always pad your travel days. I usually like to pad at least a day or a day and a half for my travel time and that’s because it allows everything from the actual duration of my trip to the possibility that the train or bus might break down in the process or it might arrive late. Unless, you can hire a driver, rent a car, or hop on a tour it’s highly unlikely that you will be able to keep to very tight schedules.
Getting Around
Long distance transportation options will be flight, railway, government bus or long-distance bus, hire a driver, rent-a-car, as well as take a tour. In terms of airline carriers, the popular ones are India air, Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Indigo, and SpiceJet. The airline carriers in India are pretty good and their price range from $30 to $80. The most common transportation a lot of travelers use is the railway system, and it is because it is consistent and convenient.
Communication
The internet situation in India is pretty good and their infrastructure isn’t so bad. The speeds are pretty quick and internet cafes in India are still very common. You will see many of them around and this is perfect for the tourist that doesn’t bring their laptop or a computer along with them. A lot of times, the computers there will be a little old-school, the internet might be a little slow, and you’ll pay per minute. They can also make copies there for anything you might need to print out your flights and stuff. If you want a quick speed, then the next option would be to get an Indian SIM with a data plan. Whenever I am in India, I always get an Indian SIM and that allows me to communicate and use the internet.
Health
This is important because people are always afraid of getting sick in India. India is known as a country that’s growing in medical tourism. You will always find doctors, pharmacies, as well as hospitals in big cities. They also are big in Ayurvedic medicine and they also practice arrogating medicine. Even though it’s all-natural, I wouldn’t underestimate the power of them because this is a practice that has gone on for hundreds of years.