Hopefully, you’ve read Part 1 and Part 2 of this thread and have an idea of the insights I gathered during my 6-week trip to India. India is an incredible place to visit, but it’s not for the faint of heart, so I hope these tips will help you prepare for what to expect from a trip. Here is my third and final installment of Things I Wish I Knew Before Visiting India.
1) Many hotels don’t accept tourists
It might seem strange in our age of capitalism that a business would willingly leave money on the table, but yes, in India, there are several hotels that don’t accept guests who are not Indian citizens. I first encountered this early in my trip when I missed my bus from Goa to Hampi and had to wait 24 hours for the next one. It was 8 pm, so I left the station and wandered around looking for a hotel to spend the night. The first two hotels I found told me they couldn’t check me in because they didn’t accept foreigners. I eventually found one that did, but even then, the staff seemed almost reluctant to accommodate me. Later, other travelers confirmed they had similar experiences. I’m guessing some hotels require specific licenses to host foreigners. The takeaway is, don’t be surprised if a hotel says they can’t serve you because you’re not an Indian citizen.
2) Many of the guests at hostels are actually Indian
If you opt to stay in a hostel instead of a hotel, you’ll notice that most of the guests in Indian hostels are actually Indians. This was surprising to me because during my stays in hostels around the world, the guests were always all typically foreigners. However, in nearly all the hostels I stayed in in India, at least half of the guests were locals from other parts of the country. Fun fact: The only other country where I’ve stayed in a hostel with more locals than foreigners is Myanmar.
India is so vast that it’s not surprising it has so many destinations with robust local tourism. I genuinely enjoyed having so many locals as hostel mates because it gave me numerous opportunities to learn about Indian culture and the lives of people my age. Often, I would go out with locals from my hostel, and they always knew the best places to eat or drink. I remember convincing a local in my hostel in Jaipur to take a day trip with me to Kishangarh. Her ability to speak Hindi and use Google Pay several times during the trip made things much smoother than if I had been with another tourist.
Overall, the hostel experience in India can be quite different from the classic experience in Europe or Southeast Asia due to the local demographic. However, this makes for a more culturally enriching experience.
3) Beware of stealthy monkeys
From my past trips in Southeast Asia, I was aware that monkeys can be quite mischievous and often steal things. In Southeast Asia, the monkeys were very intelligent, often taking items like bags and only returning them in exchange for food. However, in India, the monkeys weren’t stealing items but specifically targeting food and drinks, even those I didn’t think they would consume. I was used to monkeys grabbing bananas, but I was shocked when, while visiting Nandi Hills in Bangalore, a monkey grabbed my Limca soda right out of my hand. He scuttled away and drank the entire can. I was astonished, not just by the fact that he drank my soda, but by the way he stole it. He waited until I was distracted, talking to someone, before sneaking up and grabbing it. I couldn’t believe I had just gotten played by a monkey. My advice is if you are anywhere in India where there are monkeys around and you have any type of food or drink, even those you think monkeys wouldn’t be interested in, stay alert at all times. They are much smarter than you think.
4) Student discounts are amazing
For most of my trip, I didn’t pay much attention to student discounts because the full price for attractions was already quite reasonable. However, towards the end of my journey, I began to notice significant reductions for students. My student ID had technically expired a month before my trip, so I was hesitant to use it. But as my cash dwindled, I decided to give it a try because I didn’t want to have to go to the ATM and I was technically still a student. To my surprise, at one attraction, the ticket vendor barely glanced at my expired ID before giving me the student fare. At another site, they didn’t even ask to see my ID to grant the discount. I was getting 60% off the normal entry fee just by mentioning I was a student! I highly encourage you to always check for student discounts at attractions, even if they don’t explicitly mention it. It’s always worth a shot. And for those that do offer them, even if you’re a recent graduate, as long as you still have your student ID, take advantage of the discount.
5) There Might Be More Power Outages Than You Expect
Power outages aren’t very common in India, but they do happen. I experienced a few in Bangalore, Hampi, and Chennai. These outages typically don’t last long—the longest one I encountered was probably an hour which is nothing for me since I grew up in Nigeria, where daily power outages are the norm. What was peculiar about the outages in India was the frequent power surges during the outage period, with power being restored and then interrupted every few minutes before finally coming back on. Because of these strange surges, it’s worth being aware to keep your electronics safe if you’re charging them when an outage occurs.
So there you have it…
It’s been fun reminiscing about my discoveries in India to curate the last three posts. I hope you found these insights helpful and that they’ve made you excited to visit the country. I really can’t stress enough how great India is as a destination. Safe travels!
