Travel Tips in India

We’re so glad you have asked us at integrity Travel to book your India holiday, we try our very best to make every trip as memorable and trouble free as possible – BUT, this is Incredible India so I’d urge you to be just a little more forgiving than normal !  So, some basic tips….

1. Be careful with your valuables. You are travelling through a country where a lot of the population are in great need and unfortunately this can lead to petty crime such as bag theft. Keep your bags in sight (especially on trains) and pack cash, cards, passports etc on your person, preferably in tamper proof clip on wallets, if travelling as a couple then split important documents between you.
2. There are scams that you haven’t even thought of. You will quite likely in your travels be approached by people with all sorts of scams. People wanting to change money (politely turn them away), other travellers asking where you are staying and then telling you the hotel is closed (but luckily they know a place that is just as good), we even had one guest told at Delhi railway by a guy that said he was a railway official, that the Agra train tickets they had were no good (but luckily for them he could organise a car instead – at double the normal hire rate!). Just use common sense and take nothing for granted.
3. Stay Calm. You’re senses will be inundated, and you will be assaulted with noise and seeming chaos at every turn – just stay calm, stick to your plans and remember to laugh !

What do I do if…..

1. I miss my train ? Depending on where you are heading it might be best for your itinerary if you grab a car. Average timing for road ravel though is only 50 kilometres per hour so work out the travel times and do not take anyone’s word on how long it will take – check, check and check again !
2. I miss my flight ? generally there are plenty of flights and quite a few airlines on  most routes. In the check in area of the airport you will find all the airport booths so just do a quick rece and see who has the next flight. If you reschedule on the same airline you might be entitled to a ticket refund but you might also have to wait a lot longer and put all your plans out… Best advice is allow plenty of time to the airport and get there at least 1 hour before take off time –check you are going into the right terminal, this can be VERY important in places like Delhi.
3. My driver/car doesn’t turn up ? You will have the number of the car company and you should also have been pre sent your drivers number. Call both and also SMS in case of any language issues. Be clear and precise as to where you are, always good to have the driver talk to hotel security or the concierge if any drama’s. Best tip, be a little patient, sometimes no matter how reliable they have been in the past for our guests, a driver will just be late – it’s called IST (Indian stretchable time).
4. There is a problem with a Hotel reservation ? Always carry our confirmation and if there is any problem at the hotel show them your confirmation and ask them to call us. At an absolute worst case have them swipe your card with a ‘security’ amount to cover the bill and we’ll fix the problem while you travel. We normally only ever see problems if the booking and payment is done through us at the last minute – if done early no drama’s (usually!)