Bangalore - Pre Trip

There is a lot of prep work that goes into traveling abroad, especially to non-western countries. For starters, you need not just a passport for India, but a visa as well. This is done by creating and submitting an online form through Travisa, a company that India has outsourced it's visa processing through. Yes, India outsources as well. You fedex your passport to the Indian Consulate in NY, and a few days later back it comes with a Visa sticker in it. Total cost: @ 400.00 USD for a 5 year, multiple entry visa.

You also need vaccinations - and lots of them. India is in the tropics, being on the same general latitude as the Caribbean (depending where in India you are), so you have to contend with malaria as well as a host of other things you don't think of in the west such as Hepatitis A/B, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Encephalitis, etc. It takes two sets of shots minimum before you can go and a minimum of 14 days for your immunity to build up to the Hepatitis and if you go that early you need a follow up when you get back, and a last one a year out.

You also need some pills - anti-malaria pills you take every day while you are there (and after you get back depending on what you chose), and Cipro to kill whatever gives you "Delhi Belly" which keeps you close to a bathroom if you get my drift. Total cost on the meds and shots: @ $700.

I bought my airline tickets through MakeMyTrip.com, which specializes in India travel from the west. I ended up on a USAir / Lufthansa trip that goes Dayton to DC to Frankfurt to Bangalore. The cost was a reasonable $1080.

I also bought some OTC medications and sundries, some snack food, and pair of Columbia Titanium pants that are made for travel / adventure. The pants have zip off legs (convenient to put on at temples and shrines where long pants are required) are sun blocking, have lots of zippered pockets, light weight, etc. Total out of pocket expenses: @ $150.

I also needed to get refills on my prescription meds with a vacation override from the insurance company, so prepare for that as well before you travel.

Also, iPhone users can find a lot of interesting and free (or cheap) apps from the app store about India, such as "fxChange" which computes rupees to dollars and back, "WN Hindi" a language learning tool, and "India" an inexpensive travel guide to India for newbies like me. Also, "WhiteNoise Lite" for the hotel room and some power adapters.

Well, that is mostly it for pre-trip stuff. Many thanks also to Pat Freeman's excellent India blog, which gave me lots of tips to what to pack, etc.