Tom Many people wonder whether is it safe to travel to India, especially after the many negative reports that have emerged out of India. This includes sexual violence against foreign tourists, floods in Kerala as well as the ongoing water crisis in India.
This bags the question,
“Is it safe to travel to India?”
Safety Precautions to Take while Travelling in India
Having described about the situation in Kerala after the floods, we thought we should touch a little about the safety precautions we took when we travelled to India over the past month.
1. We Travelled Together (Almost ALL the time)
The first few precautions we took were rather obvious. But coming from Singapore where public safety is often taken as a given, we thought we should cover all grounds. While travelling in India, we were literally travelling together at all times. ALL TIMES. This meant that at the back of our minds, we always remembered that we had to be either holding hands or walking together when we’re out and about.
However, there were 2 instances when we were not together.
For the first case, when we need to visit the toilet, we would make sure that the toilet is “reputable”. We usually only used toilets at hotels (not hostels), airports (especially in the air-side before leaving the airport) and atas (high-end) restaurants. Even while separated, Tom would keep track of the time and if Kate had been gone for too long, he would approach a staff – thankfully, that scenario did not happen.
The second case would be if Tom had to leave the room for a while to buy water or ask questions at the reception. In this case, Kate would physically lock the door from inside and only unlock when Tom returns.
2. We AVOIDED major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai
Having read several reports about the sexual violence, especially in Delhi. We decided to avoid major cities altogether. Although we did fly from Delhi after our visit to the Taj Mahal, we made a conscious decision not to enter the city but remained at the airport for our next flight out to Leh.
Similarly, when we flew in from Leh to Delhi, we had a full day but decided against visiting the city for a day trip. We remained at the airport before our next flight out to Kochi. These were trade-offs we made to ensure that the probability of staying safe in India was increased.
Of course, there was a more practical reason why we avoided travelling in Delhi. The pollution levels in Delhi was severe and remains so even at the time of writing this post. Some have compared inhaling the air in Delhi the equivalent of smoking a cigarette. These reasons combined were enough to convince us to skip Delhi altogether – eventhough we transited there twice.
3. We Hired our Drivers from Reputable Sources
At first, we thought about hiring drivers from Singapore tour agencies and we did approach larger agencies such as Chan Brothers. However, the price was significantly higher (approximately 2 to 3 times what we could find outline) and they were also coordinating through a third party locally. In this situation, we turned to a verified resource – TripAdvisor. In particular, the reviews of car companies in the areas we visited.
We critically analysed (aka scrutinised) the reviews on TripAdvisor and ensured that the company was reputable (i.e. good ratings on TA), was in business for some time (2 years or more) and had no reviews concerning safety (i.e. punctuality, cleanliness were less of a concern). The other source we turned to was the hotel transfers. Although definitely more expensive, we knew that the reputable hotel (The Grand Dragon Hotel) we coordinated with, would be able to provide us with seamless hotel transfers.
Lastly, we also used Uber. You might be surprised but Uber has a tracking system via GPS that allows the company to know where you are. In addition, we always chose “Premium Sedan” option where drivers are always top-rated.
4. We Had Roaming Data for Tracking via GPS
To ensure safety, it is important to have roaming data in India. This time, we had both Starhub and Singtel roaming data in India which allowed us to track the path taken by our drivers as well as the actual location that we were at during the journey. Whether we were taking Uber or cars hired by hotel/tour agencies, this allowed us to know exactly where we were and that the route taken was accurate…
5. Dine at Reputable Restaurants
After covering all the personal safety, we thought we’d cover a little on food safety. Food in India can actually be really cheap. As a form of comparison, we were able to get a bottle of mineral water at the airport’s vending machine for only 10 rupess – that’s 20 cents in SGD. Howver, during our trip, we were careful to only dine at reputable restaurants. This meant that we either dined at restaurants residing in hotels or hotels that accept credit cards. The rationale? Restaurants that accept credit cards, probably cater to a different clientele. This meant that food quality (and thus hygiene) would be better than most.
6. Beware of the water that you use
To be extra careful (especially at the start of our trip), we only used wet tissues to wipe down and mineral water to brush our teeth. This was until the 3rd/4th day where when we checked into The Grand Dragon Ladakh (Leh) where we started to bathe in hotel bathrooms. However, towards the end of the trip, we got complacent and started to use tap water at our 5 star hotel to brush our teeth – this gave us the runs for the next 2 days -_-”
Hence, use mineral water for brushing of teeth (all the time in India) and avoid having iced drinks as well!
Staying Safe while Travelling in India
We hope you have learnt a couple of things about staying safe while travelling in India. We hope that you’ll also be able to enjoy the natural beauties that India offers while staying safe and “Delhi-Belly” free.
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Do let us know if you need more tips and advise about staying safe in India in our comments section below and we’ll try our very best to assist. Happy Travels Everyone!
