Packing Tips for India

Namaste!

She’s Shopping India:
Having completed an 18 day first-timers trip to India, traveling by trains, planes, and automobiles: not to mention elephants and tuk-tuks, Moi has a few packing tips for travel in India:

- loose cotton, silk or jersey long pants or shirts and tshirts. In Mumbai the dress code is pretty flexible. But if you’re traveling outside major cities, respect the local culture and cover-up a bit! Sure you’ll see a lot of tourists wearing camis and shorts, but you’ll be just as cool and more accepted in baggy cotton drawstring pants and a short sleeve top. The locals won’t say anything, they’re far too polite, but you’ll get alot of stares for the wrong reason.

- put a ziplock bag with a pair of socks or footies in your purse. When you go to mosques or temples you’ll be required to remove your shoes. Personally I don’t mind going barefoot. But on cold days the marble floors are really cold. Some temples sell socks, but most don’t

- pack a few plastic bags and some cleansing wipes for your shoes. Cows, goats, dogs, pigs, elephants and camels all walk the same streets you do. Plastic bags protect your shoes when they’re in your suitcase. The wipes, well they wipe whatever you step in. Nuff said.

- handcleanser, tissues, soap etc are a must for toilets. Even nice public bathrooms, even the ones marked “International Guests” often don’t have TP. They don’t use it.

- pack small servings of nuts, crackers, fruit or whatever you munch on for long days when you’re not feeling like street food.

- Tums, Pepto Bismol, Immodium D for the days you do sample street food.

- a few single serving packets of Crystal Light change up all the bottled water

Moi tip: pack less if you’re traveling alot and just plan your vaca pix will look like you never changed clothes. But pack a big suitcase: you’ll need it to haul home all the stuff you’re going to buy!