Travel tips
Visitors are usually asked if they have anything to declare on arrival. You should not bring in more than US$10,000 in cash without declaring it. Likewise, video and camera equipment and other expensive, easily sold items should be declared on arrival. If the customs officers issues you are Tourist Baggage Re-export Form (TBRE) detailing the items declared and their value, these items must be shown when leaving the country. If currency was declared and noted when entering the country , exchange receipts must be shown on departure if you take less than declared amount out. India allows one bottle of spirits, 200 cigarettes and a reasonable amount of gifts to be imported free of duty.
Souvenirs can be exported from India without restriction. Only Rs2.000 worth of gold and up to Rs10,000 worth of manufactured jewellery or precious stones can be exported without the permit. Any object over 100 years old needs an export certificate from the Director of Antiquities, Archaeological survey of India. India is a signatory to CITES and the export of ivory, animals and snake skins and products made from them is forbidden.CITES certificates can be issued by the Deputy Director of Wildlife Preservation in the major cities. They should fill in the Disembarkation card handed over to them by the airline during the course of the flight. There are two channels for Customs clearance:
Green Channel: For passengers not in possession of any dutiable articles or unaccompanied baggage.
Red Channel: For passengers with dutiable articles or unaccompanied baggage or high value articles to be entered on the Tourist Baggage Re-Export Form.
Exports Of Antiquities
Antiquities which include sculpture, paintings or other works of art & crafts, illustrative of science, art, crafts, religion of bygone ages & of historical interest which have bee in existence for not less than one hundred years may not be exported out of India. Manuscripts, or other documents of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value in existence for not less than seventy five years; art treasures- not necessarily antiquities but of artistic & aesthetic value, also cannot be exported out of India. For Clarifications on the antiquity, tourists can contact the following authorities.
TOURISTS OFFICES
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AGRA |
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191, The Mall, Agra-282001 Uttar Pradesh Tel: 363377/363959 |
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AURANGABAD |
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Krishna Vilas, Station Road Aurangabad-431005 Maharashtra Tel:31217 |
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BANGALORE |
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KFC Building, 48 Church Street Bangalore-560001 Karnataka Tel: 5585417 |
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BHUBANESWAR |
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B-21 BJB Nagar, Bhubaneswar-751014 Orissa Tel: 432203 |
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CALCUTTA |
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'Embassy' 4 Shakespeare Sarani Calcutta-700071 West Bengal Tel: 2421402, 2421475 |
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CHENNAI |
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154, Anna Salai Cheenai-600002 Tamil Nadu Tel: 8269685 |
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GUWAHATI |
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B.K.Kakati Road, Ulubari Guwahati-781007 Assam Tel: 547407 |
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HYDERABAD |
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3-6-369/A-30, Sandozi Building, 2nd Floor, 26 Himayat Nagar Hyderabad-500029 Andhra Pradesh Tel: 660037 |
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IMPHAL |
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Old Lambulane, Jail Road Imphal-795001 Manipur Tel: 21131 |
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JAIPUR |
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State Hotel Khasa Kothi Jaipur- 302001 Rajasthan Tel: 372200 |
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KHAJURAHO |
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Near Western Group of Temples Khajuraho-471606 Madhya Pradesh Tel: 2047, 2048 |
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KOCHI(COCHIN) |
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Wllingdon Island Kochi-682009 Kerala Tel: 6683521 |
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MUMBAI |
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123 M Karve Road Opp. Churchgate Mumbai-400020 Maharashtra Tel: 2032932, 2033144 |
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NEW DELHI |
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88 Janpath New Delhi-110001
Tel: 3320005, 3320008
DomesticAirport: 3295296 |
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PANAJI |
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Communidate Building Church Square Panaji-403001 Goa Tel: 43412 |
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PATNA |
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Sudama Palace Kakarbagh Road Patna-800020 Bihar Tel: 345776 |
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PORT BLAIR |
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VIP Road Junglighat Port Blair-744103 Andaman & Nicobar Islands Tel: 21006 |
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SHILLONG |
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Tirot Singh Sylem Road Police Bazar Shillong-793001 Meghalaya Tel: 225632 |
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM |
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Airport, Thiruvananthapuram Kerala Tel: 451498 |
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VARANASI |
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15B The Mall Varanasi-221002 Uttar Pradesh Tel: 43744 |
Apart from the above mentioned addresses Government of India operates its tourist offices overseas at Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom & United states of America.
Health
Climate
India being a vast country, the climatic conditions vary from place to place. It is generally very hot (Upto 42 Degrees Celsius) in summers (April to August) and very cold (upto 2 Degrees Celsius) in the winters (November to February) in Delhi. In Bombay, the temperature stays normally around 20 - 30 Degrees Celsius, but it stays humid all year around. Madras, being in the southern part of India is very hot in summers and comfortable in winters, with high humidity levels. Calcutta again is humid, being next to the sea shore, with the temperature straying between 18 Degrees (winters) to 37 Degrees Celsius (summers).
Culture & Languages
India is a diverse land with varied cultures, religions and languages inter mingled in the 950 million population.
There are innumerable languages spoken in the country, but for all practical purposes, the knowledge of English can sail you through almost everything.
Infrastructure
Railways: India has the second largest railways in the world. Virtually every place is connected via rail. There are superfast trains plying between the major cities and metros. To get an idea of rail travel, a journey between Delhi and Bombay (about 1350 Km.) is covered by Rajdhani Express in 17-18 hours.
Roads
Roads connect even remote areas and villages to the rest of the network. The average speed on the national highways can be around 60 Km. per hour. Though there are 8 lane highways coming up, like the one between Delhi and Jaipur, which take the average speed up to 75-80 Km. per hour.
Air Travel
All major cities are inter meshed via air routes. Both private as well government run airlines traverse the domestic sector.
Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, all have International Airports.
Communication
Telephony
India has the best of communication technology in the world. Almost all places are connected (local telephony, International Subscriber Dialing and Subscriber Trunk Dialing) via telephone. Local/STD/ISD & fax service booths are always within easy reach in the cities, highways and prominent places.In most of the states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and larger cities, mobile telephony & paging services are available. In the metros, you can even hire mobile phones for a day or two.
Internet & E-mail
In the major cities like Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Pune, Internet is accessible easily via telephone dial up. There are also kiosks and Cafes which offer Internet acccess facilities in these cities. Most of the 3 Star or above hotels have business centres which provide Internet access. You can stay in touch via e-mail on a daily basis.
Hotels & Restuarants
Hotels & restuarants are available at most of the places. Among other things, hotels also offer laundry services. The better ones offer business centres, swimming pools, health clubs, discotheques / night clubs, tennis courts etc. Some of them offer their customers the services of golf courses and a particular hotel in Jaipur gives the facility of landing your helicopter in the backyard of your room!
Food & Drinks
In the major cities, you can always find all kinds of cuisines: Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Spanish, Mexican, Continental. All kinds of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food is available.
Apart from a few states like Gujarat liquor is freely available. You can get Blended Scotch, Whiskey, Beer, Vodka, Gin or Wines. Mineral water and cigarrettes are freely available at all vendor outlets.
Banks
The normal banking hours are between 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. Automatic Teller Machines are conveniently spread over the metros. Most of the banks offer money changing, wire transferring and other services.
Hospitals & Medicines
Hospitals & chemists can be found at almost all places. In most of the cities, 24 hour hospitals and chemists can always be found. Foreign drugs / molecules can be purchased in the metro cities.
Emergencies
In emergencies, the Police ( telephone number 100 ) and the ambulance ( telephone number 102 ) and the fire brigade ( telephone number 101 ) can be summoned. In critical moments, you may want to get in touch with your travel agent, who will arrange for othere things. In general, the populace will always be helpful in emergencies. Shopping Arcades & Bazaars The shopping arcades of the cities like Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore offer you everything that you can buy anywhere else in the world: from a Mercedes to hiking boots to a video camera to the latest in Canon photolense/movie cameras/camera rolls.
Entertainment & Sports
Satellite television is an integral part of India. You can watch CNN, BBC, MTV, Discovery Channel among other Indian, Asian and American channels, almost everywhere. The release of audio cassettes and Holloywood movies (in metros) is almost simultaneous in India as in the US. You can easily lay your hands on the latest CDs, audio cassettes, video cassettes in the metros and large cities like Pune, Ahmedabad or Jaipur.
WEATHER
TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL CHART
1. MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE IN C
2. MINIMUM TEMPERATURE IN C
3. AVERAGE RAINFALL IN MILLIMETRES
RAINFALL IN HILL RESORTS -
ABOVE 6000 FEET ALSO INCLUDES SNOWFALL MELTED INTO WATER.
1 MM RAINFALL = 10 MM SNOWFALL
FOR CONVERSION F = C X 9/5 + 32