India

Culture shock Many visitors expecting maharajas and fabulous palaces are shocked when their first impressions are dominated by grinding poverty instead. Prepare for the following:

• Attention. Indians will unabashedly stare at Westerners, who are also magnets for irritatingly persistent touts, hustlers and beggars. Beggars, especially malnourished children and the badly deformed, can be particularly disturbing.
• Filth. Dirt, garbage and insects abound in the cities. Every roadside is a urinal and every empty lot is a public toilet.
• Noise. Drivers lean on horns, radios and TVs blare Bollywood tracks, even temples and mosques use loudspeakers to spread their message.
• Pollution. All Indian cities suffer badly. Exhaust combined with dust can make the drier seasons a nightmare for asthma sufferers.
• Crowds. Indian streets, markets, and bazaars are jam-packed with people, vehicles and animals, and streets tend to be narrow.

Most visitors get inured quite fast and start seeing the good sides too, but take it easy on your first few days and schedule some time to get away from it all.

Visas

Citizens of most countries with a few exceptions like Bhutan and Nepal need a visa to get in. Depending on your purpose of visit, you can get a tourist visa (six months ~US $60, one year ~US $75), a business visa (6 months, one year or more, multiple entries) or a student visa (up to 5 years). A special 10 year visa (US $150, business and tourist) is available to US citizens only. Note that some Indian embassies only offers visas to residents of that country: this means you should get your visa before you leave home, instead of trying to get in a neighboring country. Rules and validity of visas will differ based on citizenship. Check the website of the Indian embassy, consulate or high commission in your country [3] or contact the local office [4]. It's wise to ask for a multiple entry visa even if you aren't planning to use it - they cost the same, are handed out pretty liberally and come in handy if you decide last minute to dip into one of the neighboring countries. There are other categories for specialised purposes [5]. The missionary visa is mandatory for anyone who is visiting India "primarily to take part in religious activities". This rule is meant to combat religious conversion, particularly of Hindus to Christianity. There have been cases where preachers have been deported for addressing religious congregations while on a tourist visa. You don't need to be worried if you are just on a religious tour of churches in India. If you are on a Student, Employment, Research or Missionary visa, you need to register within 14 days of arrival with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office where you will be staying. If the place you are staying at doesn't have one, you need to register at the local police station [6]. All visitors who intend to stay more than 180 days also need to be registered.

Customs and immigration

Clearing customs can be a bit of a hassle, though it has improved vastly over the the last decade. In general, avoid the touts who will offer to ease your baggage through customs. There are various rules regarding duty-free allowances — there are differing rules for Indian citizens, foreign "tourists", citizens of Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan, non-citizens of Indian origin and people moving to India. Cast a quick glance at the website of the Central Board of Excise and Customs [7] for information about what you can bring in. If you are a foreign tourist and you aren't Nepali, Bhutanese or Pakistani and you aren't entering through Nepal, Bhutan or Pakistan, you are entitled to bring in your "used personal effects and travel souvenirs" and Rs. 4,000 worth of articles for "gifts". If you are an Indian citizen or are of Indian origin, you are entitled to Rs. 25,000 worth of articles, (provided of course you aren't entering through Nepal, Bhutan or Pakistan.) The other rules are on the web site. If you are bringing any new packaged items along, it is a good idea to carry along the invoices for them to show their value. You are also allowed to bring in 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco and 1 liter (2 liters for Indians) of alcohol duty-free. If you do not have anything to declare, you can go through the green channel clearly marked at various airports and generally you will not be harassed.

By plane

The major points of entry are Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. If you are flying in from a Western country, chances are that you will get in through one of these cities. However in recent years, to accommodate the increasing traffic, many other airports have been upgraded to take in international flights. Among these are Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mangalore, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Varanasi. [8] India has homegrown international airlines like Air India [9] [10] (the merged airline formed by merging Air India and Indian Airlines). These provide good connectivity within the country. In recent years, the government has allowed Indian private airlines like Jet Airways [11] and Air Sahara [12] to go international. There are daily flights to major hubs around the world from the New Delhi & Mumbai airports. The New Delhi Airport [13] website has live information on all arrivals & departures. Air India often offers the lowest rates for long haul flights to India, and is now steadily improving its services. The carrier earlier had a bad reputation for cancellations and operating ancient aircraft. Now it has started operating excellent aircraft with services and product equivilent to that of Singapore Airlines and uses excellent aircraft on many new routes such as the nonstop services from New York to India. It has very close links with Lufthansa and has been invited to join the Star Alliance. From the United States, Continental Airlines [14] offers nonstop daily service from Newark Airport to Delhi and Mumbai; Delta Airlines [15] offers nonstop daily service from JFK International Airport in New York to Mumbai; Air India offers daily non-stop service to Mumbai and Delhi from JFK; and American Airlines [16] offers nonstop daily service from Chicago to Delhi. Various European airlines offer connecting service through their European hubs from most major US cities and various Asian airlines offer connecting service from West Coast cities to India through their Asian hubs. Jet Airways [17] also flies from New York to Delhi and Mumbai via Brussels. Entries from Europe and Northern America are possible using many European airlines such as Lufthansa [18], British Airways [19], KLM Royal Dutch Airlines [20], and Air France [21]. From other parts of Asia, Singapore, Dubai and Doha have arguably the best connections to India with flights to all the major cities and many smaller ones. Air India, its subsidary Air India Express, as well as Jet Airways[22] and Air India [23] all have flights to Singapore. In addition, Singapore Airlines and its subsidaries Silkair and Tiger Airways also offer reasonably good connections. If you find transiting Singapore too expensive for your liking, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok also offer reasonably good connections. Gulf flights were till very recently dominated by Emirates, Air India, Air India Express and Qatar Airways.

By boat

India has several international ports on its peninsula. Mumbai and Chennai are the main ones handling passenger traffic, while the rest mainly handle cargo.

By train

There are two links from Pakistan. The Samjhauta Express runs from Lahore to Attari near Amritsar in Punjab — its future is now uncertain after the bomb blasts that occurred on 19 February 2007. The Thar Express, restarted in February 2006 after 40 years out of service, runs from Munabao in the Indian state of Rajasthan to Khokrapar in Pakistan's Sindh province; however, this crossing is not open to foreign tourists. Neither train is the fastest or the most practical way to go between India and Pakistan due to the long delay to clear customs and immigration (although the trains are sights in their own right and make for a fascinating trip). Should you want to get from one country to the other as quickly as possible, walk across at Attari/Wagah. From Nepal, trains run between Khajuri in Dhanusa district of Nepal and Jaynagar in Bihar, operated by Nepal Railways. Neither is of much interest for travelers and there are no onward connections into Nepal, so most travelers opt for the bus or plane instead. Services to Bangladesh were suspended for 42 years, but the Moitree Express is scheduled to start running from Dhaka to Kolkata in August 2007.

By car

From Pakistan the only land crossing is from Lahore to Amritsar via the Attari/Wagah border crossing. See Istanbul to New Delhi over land. You will need a Carnet de Passage if crossing with your own vehicle and the process will likely be lengthy.

By bus

From Nepal

• From Nepal buses cross the border daily, usually with connections to New Delhi, Lucknow, and Varanasi. However, it's cheaper and more reliable to take one bus to the border crossing and another from there on. The border crossings are (India/Nepal side) Sunauli/Bhairawa from Varanasi, Raxaul/Birganj from Kolkata, Kakarbhitta from Darjeeling, and Mahendrenagar-Banbassa from Delhi.

From Bhutan

• The Royal Bhutanese Government runs a service to/from Phuentsholing. These buses depart from Kolkata's Esplanade bus station at 7PM on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and from the Phuentsholing Bhutan Post office at 3PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The journey takes around 18 hours and costs 300Rps/Nu. The buses are comfortable, but because much of the highway to Kolkata is like the surface of the moon, don't bank on getting much sleep on the way.
• There is frequent service between Siliguri and Phuentsholing.

From Pakistan

• From Pakistan the only land crossing is from Lahore to Amritsar via the Attari/Wagah border crossing. Despite tensions between the two countries, there is a steady trickle of travellers passing this way. The immigration procedures are fairly straightforward, but note that neither Pakistan nor India issue visas at the border. Expect to take most of the day to go between Lahore and Amritsar on local buses. Normally it's possible to get a direct bus from Amritsar to the border, walk to the other side and catch a direct bus to Lahore, although you may need to change at some point on route. Amritsar and Lahore are both fairly close to the border (about 30-40 minutes drive), so taxis are a faster and easier option.

The direct Delhi-Lahore service has restarted, though it is far more costly than local buses/trains, not any faster, and would mean you miss seeing Amritsar. You will also be stuck at the border for much longer while the bus is searched and all of the passengers go through immigration. There is now a bus service across the 'Line of control' between Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, however it is not open to foreign tourists. From Bangladesh From Bangladesh there are a number of land entry points to India. The most common way is the regular air-conditioned and comfortable bus services from Dhaka to Kolkata via Haridaspur (India)/Benapole (Bangladesh) border post. Bus companies 'Shyamoli', 'Shohag', 'Green Line', and others operate daily bus services under the label of the state owned West Bengal Surface Transport Service Corporation (WBSTSC) and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC). From Kolkata 2 buses leave every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday while from Dhaka they leave on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The journey usually takes around 12 hours with a one-way fare of Rs. 400-450 or BDT600-800, roughly $8-10. Another daily bus service by 'Shyamoli' and others under the BRTC label from Dhaka connects Siliguri, but the buses in this route do not cross the Changrabanda/Burimari or Burungamari border post. Rather, passengers reaching the border have to clear customs, walk a few hundred yards to cross the border and board the awaiting connecting buses on the other end for the final destination. Ticket for Dhaka-Siliguri-Dhaka route costs BDT 1600, roughly $20-25 depending on conversion rates. Tickets are purchased either in Dhaka or in Siliguri. There is also a regular bus service between Dhaka and Agartala, capital of the Indian state of Tripura . Two BRTC buses daily from Dhaka and the Tripura Road Transport Corporation plying its vehicles six days a week with a round fare costing USD 10 connect the two cities. There is only one halt at Ashuganj in Bangladesh during the journey. Other entry points from Bangladesh are Hili, Chilahati/Haldibari, Banglaband border posts for entry to West Bengal; Tamabil border post for a route to Shillong in Meghalaya, and some others with lesser known routes to north-eastern Indian regions. See Kolkata for where to book tickets for journeys originating there