Packing for India

The one-month countdown has officially begun! I’m set to leave August 22 from San Francisco, so it’s time to get packing.

While there are plenty of sites out there with suggested packing lists for India, what you will need on your trip will vary greatly depending on the particulars of your vacation plans. Before you start packing, think through some of the following questions to better prepare:

Where will you be traveling and when? India is a big country with temperatures that can vary widely depending on time of year. Consider the altitude if visiting mountainous regions as these areas will be cooler. Deserts can be really hot during the day but then chilly at night, while beaches maintain a more temperate albeit muggy climate. Cities in the far north get cold in winter, while further south temperatures stay relatively consistent year-round. Don’t forget to check the monsoon forecast for that time of year and area.
What will you be doing? Are you planning a trip where you will be trekking in the hills or mostly lying on the beach in Goa? The more varied your anticipated activities, the more gear you will need to take with you.
How will you be traveling? If you are going to be traveling by air and taking cabs once you arrive, a few pieces of luggage might not be a problem. However, if you are planning to take trains, buses, or other forms of public transportation, a backpack that you can easily carry when walking might be a better solution. Personally, I carry a Kelty Redwing 50L Backpack as well as a smaller pack that I strap to my front while carrying the Kelty on my back.

Don’t forget that you can buy clothing there! I am packing the bare minimum of things that I know would be either

harder to find there or would cost more due to import tax. For example, I love my khaki Kuhl pants for a light weight every day pant that I can adjust as either a capri or as long pants. I would not know where to look for these in department stores in Mumbai, so those are coming with me.

I’m saving room in my bag to fit in whatever I might buy there, like the beautiful kurtas or salwar pants. These pieces are wonderful options for when I want to dress up a little for dinner, and they are modest and suited for the climate. Keep in mind that Indian women are, in general, shorter than some European, Australian, or American women, and they definitely have smaller feet. I wear a size 10.5 (US) shoe, so I had a really hard time finding a pretty sandal to wear as the sizes in most stores only go up to a size 39 or 40 (UK).

My packing list:

Medications. I worked with a travel nurse before leaving to determine if I would need any vaccinations or medications for the areas I would be traveling. Last time I was in Goa, malaria medications were recommended, but I ended up not taking them after I learned that there was no real danger in the area I stayed. I decided to take a chance rather than endure the side effects, but that’s a personal decision that you will have to make, and I recommend you follow the advice of your medical practitioner.I also needed a refill for a medication while I was in Mumbai, so I found a doctor who saw me and wrote me new prescriptions. I then filled these as the local pharmacy, and the whole cost for the doctor and the medication was under $10. You will have easy access to doctors and pharmacies in the larger cities, but it will be much tougher outside major metropolises. Err on the side of caution and take enough to cover the duration of your entire trip.
Toiletries. It’s pretty easy to find toothpaste and other common toiletries there, but if you are fond of organic or natural products, I would bring those as they are harder to find in India. I was able to get some wonderful Ayurvedic skin products from Forest Essentials in Mumbai, but they didn’t come cheaply. However, coconut oil and essential oils are super inexpensive, so don’t bother packing those. Ditto on Ayurvedic herbs, although be sure to buy only from certified pharmacies that adhere to standards of purity. Your Ayurvedic practitioner will either provide the medications or tell you where to purchase them.
Shoes: running shoes (which I wear on the plane because they are bulky); good walking sandals, like my Keen’s water shoes; flip-flops, although these are readily available provided you can find your size if you have large feet like I do. I have a fancy pair of flip-flops for when I go to dinner and a regular pair for everything else. The streets can get pretty dirty, so it’s good to have shoes you can rinse off once back home.
Sarong and beach wear. Bikinis are fine in Goa, but you may want to carry a more modest suit or cover ups for other areas. I love having my sarong with me as it serves as a cover up, a wrap in the evenings, and a beach towel.
Hats. I carry a ball cap and a folding sun hat. The sun in India is intense, so I never went out without my hat.
A light sweatshirt for the plane and in case I was ever chilly, but that never happened once 🙂
Five pairs of socks & undies – or more! Washing clothes is not the easiest thing in India. There are no laundromats although you can pay someone to clean your clothes, which is the best option. My airbnb host had a washing machine, but dryers are rare. The washing machines are not the same as in the US, so my clothing was a little torn up from the rougher agitation. When I was staying in Goa, the washing service meant that my clothes were washed in the river, and anything I sent out that was white came back a little dingy from being washed in the muddy river. Keep in mind that things take a lot longer to dry in the high humidity, so light materials will keep you cool and won’t take two days to dry.
Yoga clothes, although you can find these readily in Goa or other resort areas. I also am packing a folding Gaim mat this time as I could NOT find a decent mat in Mumbai. The quality just isn’t the same, and you will be hard pressed to find an eco-friendly option.
Bottoms. Two pairs long pants, two pairs of knee-length shorts, one pair of mid-thigh shorts for the beach. Depending on the area of the country, women will be expected to dress in a certain way. In Goa, anything Go-as, and you can walk around town in a bikini top and shorts without attracting too much attention. Likewise in Mumbai, I never felt odd going out in mid-thigh shorts, but I would never have done that in the northern areas like Udaipur or Jaipur, where women dress more conservatively. Also remember that you may be visiting holy places, so there the expectation of conservative dress will be even higher.If the cultural differences with respect to women’s dress offend any of your feminist sensibilities, just remember that if you don’t draw a lot of attention to yourself, you will have an easier time fitting in and being able to observe the culture.
Tops. Three t-shirts, two long-sleeved light tops.

In my backpack, I have the following:

Computer. I bought a light weight, relatively cheap Chromebook for my trip. I write, so it’s necessary, but leave it at home if you don’t absolutely need one. I wanted a comp that worked well with cloud-based applications so I could store all my data in the cloud in case it was stolen. Easy to get your life back that way, and no crying big tears over the loss of a $1200 Mac or some such.
Kindle. Oh, Kindle, how I love you for travel. All the books I can read in under half a pound.
Journal & pens, although these are easily found in India.
Extra glasses. I had to go to an optician in Mumbai to find simple reading glasses, and they weren’t cheap. Take along back-up pairs to save yourself hassle.
Canteen for water or whatever else. I love the Hydro Flasks for keeping bevvies cool in scorching temperatures.

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If you’re anything like me, you think reading boring stuff is boring, and there’s lots of boring stuff to read on the Indian government website where you can apply for a Visa. I’d like to say that it was the fault of that website when I screwed up my Visa before my first visit, but really it was all my doing. I was impatient and trying to save money, so I thought, “I know, I’ll just get the cheap 30-day e-Visa and then straighten things out when I get to India.”

Straighten things out when I get to India. You know, that country that is notorious for its constipated bureaucratic system, terrible prisons, and underpaid government workers working in offices with no air conditioning. (Actually, that sounds a lot like the U.S. except we have a.c.)

I went to the official Indian government Visa site initially, where I saw they offered a 30-day e-Visa for about $40, which was significantly cheaper than securing the document through the highly recommended Cox & Kings Visa service. If you will be in India only a couple of weeks and don’t intend to return, go with the e-Visa offered on the Indian government site, but for anything more complex, use the official 3rd party company Cox & Kings.

C&K will cost you more (I paid somewhere north of $250), but it’s totally worth it. Besides, you can get a 10-year Visa, and that works out to only about $20 per year. Best of all, they will hold your hand through the application process, which would have saved me so much time and grief spent struggling to understand how to fill out the form. C&K has a help line, but you will probably wait at least 10 minutes each time you call before an agent can get to you, so unless you really like listening to the same Kenny G over and over, I suggest you make a list of all your questions before you ring them.

So, what happened last year when I got to India with a Visa that would last me only 30 days when I intended to stay for several months? I had no choice but to fix the issue before I left the country. Indian officials don’t take Visa expiration lightly—it can mean prison time if you are caught with an expired Visa.

I enlisted the help of my new friends in Mumbai, and they recommended I go down to the FRRO (Foreign Regional Registration Offices) to see if I could extend the Visa. No dice. I almost offered a bribe, but then I chickened out. I would get the opportunity to offer baksheesh to a cop later, but that’s another story.

My only option at that point was to exit the country and re-apply for a new 6-month Visa. My friends had heard that Nepal and Sri Lanka were both easy places to get a new Indian Visa fast, so I chose Sri Lanka because the flights were cheaper.

Once you apply at the Visa office in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, you have to wait 5 business days before returning to sign for the Visa, and then you have to go back the next day to pick it up. Gandhi’s birthday came right in the middle of that, so I was stuck there for a couple days more than I wanted, but it worked out.

It’s also important that you pick the correct kind of Visa. If you will be visiting a medical facility or taking courses, you may need a medical or student Visa, but check first with the place you are visiting to see if the business is recognized as an official school or medical office. The best bet is a tourist Visa.

Cox & Kings can also help you navigate through some questions that may be unusual to Westerners, like what religion you are. I think I put Buddhist or something until I read that you are supposed to put the religion of your family, so I finally chose Christian. Don’t frivolously choose a religion as these things are taken pretty seriously in India. If you are a Buddhist, then choose that, but if you’re not, then choose Christian. No one will give that answer a second glance if you are coming from a Western country, and, believe me, when it’s time to go through immigrations at the airport in India, you don’t want any extra scrutiny.

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Month

July 2017

Packing for India

My packing list:

Getting Your Indian Visa