India Travel Tips to भारत
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for those who have not
yet visited, this is probably your point of reference...

or perhaps this...

or maybe something like this...

for us, it was all
of the above and more, but...

prior to even landing to
india, was an adventure in itself...

tip#one
get your visa

little did we know you
needed one to even get into india. *thanks CAREY

so we had to fly
from hawaii -> san francisco to the india visa office.

with a cue of about
100 people, it took all day to process, and...

instead of waiting for hours
and hours, we took a quick road trip to visit...

and slideshare spreading our aloha
spirit to the entire San Francisco team!

we also had an opportunity
to share with linkedin employees about slideshare! *thanks marisa

since we were in the
neighborhood, we also stopped to visit our friend nancy Duarte!

finally after waiting all our
visas. day, we got now ON our WAY to india!

but, first we had to
fly all the way back to hawaii and catch our original plane!

tip#two
travel TO GO

We don’t know about you,
but we try to avoid checkin baggage whenever we travel

so we can save a
lot of time and avoid the baggage claim.

knowing ahead of time the
VARIOUS modes of transportation in india,

we only had 1 carry
on and 1 bag was all we took for our TWO WEEK LONG trip.

tip#three
be alert

the chhatrapati shivaji international airport
can be a little crazy at times?!

right outside there are many
people who can spot a tourist from a mile away.

and may take advantage of
that by “taxing” you to help with your luggage.

to be safe, do everything
yourself, or you can...

tip#four
befriend a local

india is home to 1.2
billion people. the 2nd most populated country in the world!

our new friend viswanathan was
more than willing to show us around,

and explained to us a
lot about india’s expansive culture, customs and traditions.

he even got us to
dress up in traditional kurta indian attire so we could blend in more.

“There is no favor in
friendship. you can demand it.” - Viswanathan

tip#five
learn the history

the historic taj mahal, one
of the seven wonders of the world!

we got a chance to
meet the 17th gen artisans that helped craft the taj mahal.

still to this day they
practice the same methods of cutting the various stones.

one tiny piece is made
up of many various stones to form a little circle,

and here is an example
of a finished piece made entirely out of marble and stone.

the gateway of india was
built in 1911 to welcome the king and queen of England.

the prince of wales museum
houses approximately 50,000 exhibits of ancient india.

tip#SIX
try the food

this interesting bread & dip
called chola bhatura was delicious! *Thank you Urvashi

and you can’t go to
india without having some authentic curry and naan bread!

we came across this donut
hole shop called mad over donuts!

THEY MAKE SPECIALTY DONUT HOLES
FILLED AND COVERED WITH YUMMY DELICIOUS GOODNESS!

just be cautious of what
you eat. we recommend you don’t eat off the street.

it is not the most
hygienic, but if you think you have a strong stomach go for it!

tip#SEVEN
drink bottled water

the water in india is
not recommended to drink if it is not from a sealed bottle. Photo: Carol Mitchell

THERE ARE A LOT OF
FOOD VENDORS AND VARIOUS PLACES TO GET YOUR THIRST QUENCHED; HOWEVER, Photo: Pham Truong Son

WHAT YOU WANT TO DO
IS DOUBLE, TRIPLE CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR WATER BOTTLE COVER IS SEALED.

HOPEFULLY YOUR HOTEL OR PLACE
YOU ARE STAYING will BRING YOU BOTTLED WATER DAILY. *hotel Jewel of chembur did!

tip#EIGHT
don’t feed the needy

india has the largest concentration
of poor people in the world with nearly 70% living on less than $2.00 u.s. per day.

YOU MAY HAVE A FEW
EXTRA RUPEES OR AMERICAN DOLLARS TO SPARE...WHY NOT help?

because once you give to
one, all the kids show up and ask for more! photo: whereispops

many children see poverty as
a way of life and make it a career. by supporting them is only prolonging it.

tip#NINE
do business

we visited slideshare’s office in
new delhi, and got to know the amazing team there!

but the main reason why
we were there was to teach a 2-day presentation workshop click to visit:

to the brandscapes worldwide team
about how to design empowered presentations!

there were a lot of
laughs, fun, aha moments and design paradigm shifts!

tip#ten
have A GOOD TIME

who would have thunk that
there was such a cool place that reminded us of home.

listening to a hindi rock
band drinking indian beer at the hard rock cafe was an experience.

or grab a horse and
carriage ride along strand road near the gateway of india.

have a seat and attempt
to draw a painting at the prince of wales museum,

or go shopping at the
MODERN palladium mall.

*bonus tip!
get a driver

as a visiting tourist it
may not be as easy getting from point a to point b as you think.

there are many taxis, trains
and busses, but you take the chance of getting lost or taken advantage of.

having your own personal driver
can save time, energy and in some cases money too

letting you sit back, relax
and enjoy the ride!

*bonus tip!
immigration

so your trip has come
to an end. There is still one more thing to consider which is the immigration line at the airport.

Arrive really early for your
flight. make sure you have all your visas, passports and paperwork ready or risk missing your plane!

recap:

get your visa learn THE
history do business travel TO GO try the food HAVE A GOOD TIME be alert bottled water *GET A DRIVER BEFRIEND a local don’t feed THE NEEDY *IMMIGRATION

we had an amazing time.
mahalo to all our friends we’ve made. we can’t wait to return! #EPINDIA

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