Someone started this topic on the Women's board, but I would like to hear from people who have travelled in India and similar places. Aside form the obvious (passport, clean socks, etc.) which items have you found to be very valuable in your travels?
Also, is there anything that you thought would be really useful, but then never used?
[There are 42 posts - the latest was added on Mon 10 May, 17:20]
Use the form at the end of this page to add your own post.
Topics
| Thorn Tree
| Home
Well You should not forget to bring some toilet paper,
especially if You plan to tour the more rural areas. TP is
available in india actually but it is quite expensive.
If You plan to take overnight trains a blanket and a pillow
might become handy, too. And check the climate of the area
You plan to visit. It can get quite cold during the nights
(like in Rajastan) even if it's hot during the day.
An insect repellant you migth also enjoy. It's not becessary
to bring bottels for water or so as You can buy sealed
bottels with clean water at every other street corner.
Abigail: In addition to what Joern suggests, I recommend
you bring an extra bra or two & some comfortable panties.
Asian women have a small cup size & trying to get fitted
can be a real pain. bob
If you are a smoker, take a couple of cigarette lighters.
Indian lighters are good for about a week before they die,
less if you smoke bidis and the matches are hopeless. Don't
take white underwear, it will end up grey quite quickly no
matter where you get your laundry done. Mens hair oil is a
sticky, oily highly scented glue - you end up looking like
Michael Jackson and smelling like a French pimp.
Colin
The kind that is foil on one side and solid color on the
other side with nylon mesh in between. Really useful on a
cold night to lay atop your sleeping bag and make you snug
as a bug in a rug. Also useful as a rain tarp or rain cover
for your pack, in combination with the other essential I
recommend: BUNGIE CORDS ... In some hinking stores nowadays
there are lightweight mini-bungie cords in 4-packs or
something. I can't recommend them enough -- useful for so
many things from clotheslines to tying a raincover on your
pack or like I did, strapping a guitar to the pack.
1 - A compass - and learn how to use it for city directions
2 - Backpacker towel. One of those foam things. double as
facecloth, dries fast, lighter, doesn't stink etc...
3 - Map of cities you will be visiting. Photocopy any travel
guide map and find your accomodations without taxis.
4 - Photos of home. Don't overwhelm people with your plane
or Porsch. I take cowboy and indian photos. Everyone
interested.
5 - Zip-Loc baggies. Great for keeping things dry/clean.
6 - Book - Pick some tome that will take weeks to read.
7 - Pens - great gifts and not too heavy.
Good Luck
Your underwear should be cotton and loose-fitting.
Tampons can be hard to find.
A battery operated mini-fan is a life saver. They are sold
at Brookstone stores and catalogue in the US.
...forget the toiletpaper. Buy it locally or better, use your left hand just as billions of people in third world countries do. Believe me, you get used to it and it's a lot cleaner and hygienic than the goold old role.
The bra and campertowel advises are great, the bungee cords are interesting and please please don't take pens. And now some more :
- an Indonesian style sarong (can be used as pillow, blanket, beachmat, towel, curtain, dress, sheet, ... light weigth and dries in a blitz)
- desinfecting soap (Okay, you'll have a weird smell but your small wounds won't get infected as quickly as they could)
- mosquitonet (not only keeps the mozzies away but also the other (living and dead) particles that you will discover on top of it in the morning).
- if your travels are restricted to certain areas, take photocopies of a guidebook instead of a book (throw away whenever not needed anymore)
- some people wouldn't go without earplugs
- a torch that you can strap on your head
- swiss army knife
That's it for now.
Ooooh, let me think.... I think the best thing to take with
you is your mother.
Someone above suggested forgetting about TP and using the
left hand. I can only say that TP is one of the major
advantages with modern society. I've tried out of necessity
to do without paper and wasn't able to get the smell from
the fingers irrespective how much soap I used. But I do
agree on the swiss army knife.
Important not to load down with stuff you will use rarely
or not at all. That said, some things we carried during a
year in India, and used often: swiss army knife, small bottle
of Iodine (Indian), 100 Watt light bulb with Indian base (we
are both readers, but not by tiny nightlights furnished in
hotels), one emergency meal, wet wash rag in baggie, spare
baggies, one spark plug for the three-wheeler taxies (yes,
often necessary!), tissues, TP, very light-weight shawl/blanket,
can/bottle opener, mini-flashlight w. spare batteries, bungee
type cord for drying clothes or other uses, etc.
Shower shoes - something I thought wouldn't be useful but used a lot. The beach plastic type. Very useful in N-Indian showers wich are often very fungus-like and sometimes really dirty. If you bring a pair of these you can wear them while showering and come out feeling clean. Also if the shower is far from your room you can leave your daily-shoes in the room instead of taking them to the shower room to get all wet.
Swiss army knife is a classic
Spare batteries for your camera
Shawl is very useful in N-India, pick one up in India
Tampons
1-2 pictures from home
1-2 cassettes with your favorite music
Don't bring peanut butter
1-2 rolls of TP
A lot of these things you can buy in India and not
suffer for quality...not lighters or batteries, but wait
till you get there to get a sarong. Practical souvenir!
Millions of people in India wear "shower shoes" as their
only shoes...so if you don't have big Western man feet, you
could pick them up there. Buy a Kasmiri or Himali shawl and
use it as a blanket. I just smeared some Odomos on here in
Chicago...Indian mosquito repellant works fine. In major
cities and tourist centres you can find lots of English
language books...don't load your backpack down. Most
important things to bring from home: Swiss army knife,
baggies, flashlight, at least two combination locks, cold
medicine (if you are sickly and sniffly like me...what I
wouldn't have done for some Robitussin!).
Use Detol-soap (desinfecting) and keep your fingernails very very short (and may I suggest you don't bite them off). I did it for about 2 years and you do get used to it (probably not if you do it out of necessity instead of your own choice). Another advantage is that you are very aware of an aspect of the local society (offering/accepting items with your left hand).
Wash-up moist towelettes instead of toilet paper
and to wipe your face and tops of waterbottles,sugarless
coughdrops and lemondrops, ear-plugs and sleepmask for the
plane and hotels,scarve for road-dust,Tevas for walking and
showering,buy a parasol there.
Ran out of underarm deoderant in India. Took a real effort,
lots of talking, demonstrating, translating, etc. before I
found a place to buy it.
I've dragged those wet towellette things around all over the
world, up and down mountains, through the desert, across the
jungles, through restraunts, hotels, hostels, campgrounds,
and a hijacking in Delhi and never once, not once, used one
of them! I found that everywhere I have visited there are
people who are just as messy as I am, and they have solved
whatever problem those towell-things are meant to solve
without having to carry those things, and smell like a cheap
restroom soap in a bus station.
I never go anywhere without my swiss army knife! (useful to
cut up those towellett thingys!)
forget the toilet paper-for wimps only!!the first time i
went i thought there was NO WAY i'd use my hand,but started
the second day,it's fine and in fact going back to tp is
quite nasty!small and a large padlock for hotels and a
torch/flashlight is essential.i was able to get medicine for
colds,etc easily.
Panty liners. You needn't change underwear so often and, without getting too graphic, they can solve many potential problems.
I always bring several meters of string or twine. Takes
almost no space and can be used for clotheslines and 1001
other things.
Toilet Paper:
Don't take it. Indian-style is part of the experience.
When you get home the old TP won't seem good enough.
Easy slip-on, slip-off sandals or shoes:
Especially if you are planning on visiting temples, etc.
Tieing and untieing gets old quick.
Large plastic bags:
They keep your dung covered shoes from touching the other
stuff in your pack.
Powerbars, or powdered breakfast-like stuff:
Put some of the drink mix in zip-lock bags before you
leave. Just add water and drink it out of the bag.
It's great when you're hungry and can get to food.
The empty plastic bag doesn't take up much room.
HAVE FUN!
Brent
swiss army knifw was great, but mine didn't have scissors. I
reallly wish I had had scissors.
Forget the toilet paper - use your left hand. Knife a
necessity - get a Leatherman. Torch. Although I've in the
past scoffed at them as being bourgie, will take a water
filter this time as saves money on bottled water and makes
drinkable water available everywhere (get one with ceramic
filter, and take iodine tablets as well). Forget the
deoderant. A hat is a necessity. I was caught short when
trekking by not having any waterproofing for my hikers -
take some. Sleeping bag. Laser light - not very useful,
but great fun with the locals. Don't take Doxycycline as
an anti-Malarial - can get it readily and much cheaper
there. Very large metal cup that can be used as bowl and
to protect your fragiles within your pack. Buy an element
that you can drop into your cup (when there) - are cheap
and good for tea, coffee, soups, boiled eggs, etc. Cutlery
set. Sunglasses - necessity in sun and snow.
Suntan lotion!! And plenty of it!! I ran out and was
burnt quite bad. Races qround Bombay, thought I'd check
out the heaps of stars hotels, but no luck. Ended up
getting the left overs from leaving tourists!!
I'm flying into Delhi in September and then heading north to
Shimla - Manali - Leh - and then to Dharmsala. Is the risk
of coming in contact with malaria during my brief stay in
Delhi really worth the high cost and possibly psychotic side
effects of the pill?
I FOUND THAT MY MICROWAVE WAS VERY HANDY TO HAVE WITH ME.
I WAS ABLE TO COOK SO MUCH FOR MYSELF AND CUT DOWN ON MY
COSTS!!
A yo-yo: great stress reducer and conversation piece when
the plane is late or the bus breaks down.
.
Velcro-closure running shoes (don't laugh) to save fumbling
with laces at the door of temples and private homes.
.
Earplugs.
.
A comfortable sheet and pillowcase from home. In addition
to making a flophouse bed more inviting, the sheet is good
for covering gear on trains to discourage impulsive
pilfering. A light local blanket or someone's suggestion
of a "sarong" could work instead. One traveler I know
likes to carry an airline pillow and made her own
pillowcase for it.
.
Small locks and a chain (buy locally if you like) to secure
bags in hotels and trains.
.
Granola, because hotel/restaurant food gums up the works
(unless it has the opposite effect). Even a few servings a
week can make a big difference, and as it goes you replace
its space with souvenirs.
Hello. My name is Brian Hickey and I'm a freelance writer
working on an
article for Mens Health magazine about travel necessities,
i.e. 10
things one must take while travelling. If you can
contribute, please
respond by e-mail or telephone (609 263 0515). My deadline
is Thurs.,
Oct. 22. Thanks again.
i stuff a change of clothes and towel into a pillowcase that
i use as a pillow on indian trains. also saves space and is
more comfortable than an inflatable air pillow.
re. toilet paper: using a large jug of water and left kept
me clean and, no, my hands didn't smell after i washed --
and i've been doing this now for years!
most of the other stuff such as flashlights, batteries,
locks, rubber thongs (often called hawaii chappals), sarongs
(called lungees) available readily in india and cheaper too.
just watch how local people dress. that obviously is suited
to the local weather.
kris
Didn't read all the above, so don't know if anyone
mentioned:
-- antiseptic cream for minor cuts that can quickly become
infected.
-- immodium (you can get it in India, but when you need it
you need it NOW)
--drinking straws. Seems silly, but Indian cafe owners
recycle drinking straws. You can tell if the straw in your
soft drink bottle crumples at the first suck-- sure thing
you're not the first user, and flies next in 'em when
they're between users... So bring your own or buy a supply
in town.
-- swiss army knfe. always
-- credit card numbers and credit card company phone
numbers. store away from your wallet or fanny pack.
-- hypodermics. If you need a shot in remote areas you're
much better off with your own works.
-- bandaids. Can't always get good ones in remote areas.
-- photocopy of passport and visa. Store it where it won't
be stolen with your passport.
-- blood type card. Store it where people will find it when
they reach your unconscious body. I know it sounds lurid,
but it saved my life because it saves time.
-- LP
I went to India twice and always had a little white umbrella
with me. Walking in the sun is much easier this way.
This sounds silly, but a small jar of Noxema pads is better
then wet naps, because they really clean you're skin. I
always take them on night trains, and everyone else always
wants them!
being surrounded by sub-continent dwellers I'm ALWAYS
appalled when I see them wander off into the sands with
nothing but a bottle of water. a big YEah for
modern sanitation!!
Nobody else has mentioned a broad based oral antibiotic.
Antiseptic cream is helpful, but I got a deep puncture wound
trekking in Thailand, and by the time I got to Bangkok, I
would likely have at least lost my leg if I hadn't been
taking antibiotics. As it was, I started taking them as
soon as infection started, and it was less then a minor
inconvenience. Cool scar though!
See Posting #5...that was a good list. Here is mine:
1) if you're a woman, bring your own tampons, o.b. if you
want to pack them up small. There are no tampons to be had
on the subcontinent, not that I could find anyway.
2) Ziploc bags for storing stuff and extras for when the
first batch develop holes
3) a combination lock and a chain. Nobody seems to know what
to do about picking a combination lock, and it's good to be
able to lock your hotel room door with your own lock. Chains
are useful on trains for preventing someone from running off
with your bag.
4) MagLite flashlight(s)
5) a compass, especially if you're going to Varanasi
6) I started out using one of those foamy travel-towels but
had to ditch it because it started to smell even when I
washed it. Instead I found drying off with a sarong was far
easier. It gets you dry just as well as the little travel
towel, and it dries in half an hour in the sun, and packs up
light and small.
7)Leave-in conditioner, if you need it. There was none of
that around.
8) Peanut butter, if you don't like spicy food for
breakfast. After a while the deep-fried eggs will wear a
little thin and you'll long for something different. I
bought peanut butter in Nepal but could never seem to find
it in India.
9) a walkman and extra batteries, for those long frightening
bus rides when everybody around you is throwing up out the
window
10) a Swiss army knife, or even better, a "Leatherman" tool.
My husband actually used his once to help the conductor pry
open the door on a bus. The door had jammed and nobody could
get in or out until we put the tool into use!
I can't believe there has been no mention of the most
valuable thing to take on any trip! Duct tape! If you
can't duct it......
Here's a list of some travel items that I often travel with:
1. Compass - Really helps navigating through unfamiliar
areas.
2. Saftey Pins - Good way to quickly patch rips in bags,
and better secure pockets, if you are worried about pick
pockets.
3. Zip Lock Bags - Great to put anthing in, such as
camera, or film, to protect them from sand and dust.
4. Sarang - Good to use as a towel, and much lighter too.
5. Locks (and possibly a light chain) - Good for securing
your bags, especially if you are concerned about leaving
your bag on the top of a bus - just lock it to the roof.
6. Swiss Army Knife, or Leatherman, or Gerber, etc.
7. Hand sanitizer(eg. Purel) - Great to help keep your
hands clean and prevent you from getting sick when you are
often eating with your hands (a small bottle will last a
long time).
8. Flashlight/torch.
9. First Aid Kit.
10. Hacky-Sak - It's small and can keep you entertained
while waitng long periods of time for buses, etc. Also, it
is a nice way to meet locals, who often are interested in
trying to play, and will often be much better than you are.
11. Silk sleep sheet - very light,small, and comfy, and
no need to worry about dirty sheets or bed bugs.
12. Water purification tablets, or a water filter.
13. Sun Glasses
14. Baseball Hat - to protect you from sun-burn
15. Sun-block - to protect you from sun-burn
16. Walkman and a few tapes
17. A good reading book.
18. Extra batteries for camera, walkman, & flashlight
19. Hankerchef - good to saftey-pin to the back of a
baseball hat to protect your neck from sun burn, or use to
help patch up a torn bag or torn clothes.
20. Sewing Kit.
21. Beef Jerky - Travels easily and doesn't go bad, and
is a good thing to have around when you are stuck on a long
long bus ride, or in a town where you can't find anything
to eat (if you don't eat meet, they do make Turkey Jerky
and Chicken Jerky also)
hey guys
do not panic and spend time on your abolutions
if no paper there is water
you need a clean arse afterall
water is the best trick to do its cleaner(if repulsive try
forgetting you ever digest when you eat)
i am an indian and i am used to it, but only after constant
practice was it easy
i begun using my right hand first and later did i get to the
left(i always eat with the right hand i never fell sick,Now
i try being ambidextrous)
ok here is a secret about this when you travel on the
GREAT INDIAN RAILWAYS and THIER TOILETS
There are two types of taps close to the pots
A taps that can be squeezed upwards
B taps that can be squeezed sidewards
category B is designed to place your arse facing it
and pushing the tap with the bone that is right
above your anal cleft, Water gushes and cleans
the orifice of discussion ina jiffy(wasting no water and
making things less messy)
category A is designed for a bottle that too not a usual 1
litre bottle that is sold in india but the wide
bottle, which needs to filled and poured from the behind and
the fingers of the other free hand needs to do the
necessary tickle.
MESSIER IS CATEGORY "A"
SO:
BOTTLE A TO DRINK, hold and drink
BOTTLE B TO POUR , pour and clean
Dental floss, aside from the obvious it is very strong
emergency string.
A Leatherman Micra, similar to Swiss army knife but added
convenience of ....scissors!, and tweezers. A must.
A Leatherman Micra, similar to Swiss army knife but added
convenience of ....scissors!, and tweezers. A must. Oh I
almost forgot....when folded out has a ruler too with metric
and imperial measurements...
tweezers, scissors, nail clippers..(a must)...toilet paper,
wet wipes, antibactirial wash gel, medicated talcum powder
(keeping all your moist bits dry!!)..plastic bags..(small
and large)..elastic bands, safety pins, multi-vit tabs,
straws, bottle opener..pens (to give to the kiddies)
cigarettes (to give as gifts, tips, etc.....cotton
buds...astringent cleanser wipes for face..small jar of
marmite/veggie mite...(great for instant protein)..good all-
over non-greasy moisturiser with sunblock..For
mosquitoes...take anti-mozzie scented candles for evening,
buy incense sticks and don't forget matches.. lavender oil
or lotion has a strong smell..keeps pretty much all insects
and everyone clear of you!!..and a fly swat for swatting
those little critters!
A decent backpack, but not too big. The bigger it is the
more you will put in and you just don't need that much. 3
changes of everything max. Light weight long sleeved
cotton shirt protects you from the sun, keeps mozzies off
at dusk, is warm on the chillier evenings and is less
offensive than naked arms.
A small nail brush and bar of soap. Great for keeping you
clean and for scrubbing your clothes. String definitely,
weighs nothing but useful for everything, including showing
children how to finger knit!
Strong plastic bottle for pouring your water into, wont
spring a leak even when dropped.
Lightweight sleeping bag liner good place to hide when
you're sat next to someone talkative - just pull pillow
section over your head. Also stops any bugs getting at you
in iffy rooms. Small airline pillow a must, lighter than
inflatable and less sweaty.
Boxer shorts even for the women, natural and airy much more
comfy. For women a tube of canesten. good for those itchy
bits if you know what I mean though plain yogurt works just
as well, Canesten is also good on severe sunburn. Very
small perfume atomizer, I know that sounds girlie but even
the smelliest room feels like home with a bit of Chanel no
5! I only used it a few times but boy was I glad I had
it. For women on their own an invisible husband is
useful. Most important thing? Bring a smile, easy to
carry and the most useful thing I had.
I'm heading to Nepal with a friend in mid September for a couple of months, and am planning to trek the Everest region. I know that tea-houses etc abound, but I was considering taking a tent for several reasons:-
1) as an emergency shelter
2) to experience camping in Nepal
3) a chance for some privacy occasionaly on the trail
Is it worth taking a lightweight (2.5kg) 2-man tent ?
Are their any fees for camping or can you just pitch your tent anywhere?
If you camp, is there a problem getting meals at a tea-house, and is a stove therefore necessary? I'd prefer not to take a stove.