The Indian Seasons
India has three major seasons: winter, summer and the monsoon. The winter months (November-February) have bright, sunny days and are pleasant throughout India.

The summer months (April-June) are hot in most parts of India. During this period, hill stations such as Shimla, Mussoorie, Nainital, Kullu and the Kashmir valley (North), Darjeeling, Shillong (North-East), Ootacamund, Kodaikanal (South), Pachmarhi (Central India) and Mount Abu (Rajasthan) provide cool retreats.

The monsoon is an amazing phenomenon of nature. Sometime in June, the clouds break in the coast of southern India and are pushed up northwards by July - immersing the entire Indian sub-continent in torrents. Except for the south-eastern region, India receives its major share of rain between June and September. The south-eastern areas receive most rainfall from the northeasterly monsoon between mid-October and December-end. However, the only area which remains dry is the highest desert in the world - the fascinating moonscape of Ladakh. This is the time to trek up here.

Money Matters
The Indian currency is the Rupee and it is a fully convertible currency. The Rupee notes are available in denominations of 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1. Coins are available in the denominations of 5,2,1 (rupee) and 50 and 25 paise.

• Foreign Currency
  Foreign exchange/currency brought into India must be declared at Customs should the value of foreign currency exceed US$ 2,500 or the aggregate value of the foreign exchange including currency notes exceeds US$ 10,000 or equivalent. You can exchange money at international airports where 24-hour exchange facilities are available through banks and approved money changers. You can also change money at nationalised banks and other banks in the country.

Customs On Arrival
There are two customs clearance channels. The green channel is for travellers carrying non-dutiable items while the red channel is for travellers carrying dutiable items.

• Duty-free items
  Duty-free items which you may bring to India include personal effects like clothing and other articles but not if this is commercial merchandise. All expensive electronic equipment/s must be declared at the Customs on arrival - which will be re-checked on departure. Take care to obtain an Export Certificate for these items if you are travelling to neighbouring countries and intend a multiple entry. You can not bring in gold coins, gold or silver bullion into the country. Weapons brought into the country should be licensed and declared. Any cash or travellers cheques over US$ 10,000 or equivalent must be declared. Possession of narcotics is strictly prohibited. Personal effects which are not used during your stay must be carried back to you. Gift worth Rs. 4000 for tourists of foreign origin and Rs. 12000 for tourists of Indian origin, 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 gm of tobacco, one litre each of wine and spirits is allowed free of duty.

Income Tax Clearance
If a person not domiciled in India intends to stay in the country for more than 120 days, an Income Tax Clearance' certificate is required in order to leave the country. This document will prove that the person's stay in India was financed by his own money and not by working or selling his goods. The foreign section of the Income Tax Department at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai issues these certificates on being shown the person's passport, visa extension form and the currency exchange receipts which have been used by the person.

Inland Air Travel Tax
An Inland Air Travel Tax is leviable at 10 percent of the basic fare, on all passengers embarking on an inland air journey. Passengers paying their airfare in foreign exchange will be exempted from payment of this tax. In addition infants, cancer patients, blind persons and invalids (those on stretchers) are also exempted from this tax after fulfilling certain conditions in the relevant notifications.
Check-in time for all domestic flights is one hour before departure.

Guides
Trained English speaking guides are available at fixed charges at all important tourist centres. French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian and Japanese speaking guides are available at most of the important cities. Since the Language speaking guides are limited in numbers, enough notice should be given to your travel agent to block them for assignments. Unapproved guides are not permitted to enter protected monuments and tourists are, therefore, advised to ask for the services of guides who carry a certificate issued by the Department of Tourism/Archaeological Survey of India.

Healthcare
While travelling If a foreign tourist originates from or has transited through endemic Yellow Fever countries (Africa, South America, Papua New Guinea), he/she must possess a Yellow Fever Vaccination certificate. No other vaccination certificate is mandatory though you may like to consult your doctor for innoculation against typhoid, hepatitis A and meningitis. If you are a health fanatic, you may like to consider innoculation against polio, measles, mumps, cholera etc. However a few careful precautions will make sure that even if you do not take the innoculations, you are protected.

International Airport Facilities
The international airports offer a range of services ensuring that the traveller on business can continue working while waiting to catch an international connection, or when transferring between international flights. These include gourmet restaurants, business centres and are equipped with state of the art equipment including word processors and telefax. Airports also provide the tourist with such facilities for leisure as duty-free and handicrafts shopping, informal snack bars, nursery and baby care rooms, and even an art gallery. Duty-free prices in the airport shops are very competitive, offering you bargains on international merchandise.

Travelling within India

• By Air
  There are three large domestic airlines which fly across the country. The state-owned Indian Airlines with the largest network, Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines.
  • Indian Airlines
    Commanding a large and modern jet fleet, the Indian Airlines (IC) network, spans the country's 3,000 km from Leh in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south, and about the same from east to west, covers all important places of tourist interest. Indian Airlines links 59 cities in India and 16 in the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kuwait, U.A.E., Oman and Malaysia.

    Indian Airline offers a variety of special fares aimed at encouraging tourist travel  Discover India  USD750, permits unlimited travel within India for 21 days.  India Wonder Fare USD300, permits unlimited travel within India for 21 days.  South India Excursion 30 per cent discount on USD tariff for travel on specific South Indian Sectors.  Youth Fare 25 per cent off on USD tariff for all tourists between the ages of 12 and 30.

  • Reservations
    Reservations on Indian Airlines flights can be made from any where abroad in a matter of minutes through the SITA Airlines Communications System which is linked to the airline's Real Time Computer Reservation System. Indian Airlines has inter-line agreements with over 120 airlines worldwide and the offices of any of these airlines or their agents have been enabled to issue tickets on IC flights.
  • Jet Airways
    India's largest private airline operates a fleet of Boeing 737-300/400/500 jets to 36 domestic destinations. The airline has Interline agreements with over 117 international airlines and facilities include 24-hour flight information and reservation, computerised check-in, free coach service at the Mumbai Airports, a choice of meals including vegetarian /non vegetarian diabetic, low cholesterol, Jain meals etc.
  • Sahara Airlines
    The airline has a fleet of nine Boeings and four helicopters (Dauphins and Equirriels). With Interline agreements with various national and international airlines, value added services on Sahara include an in-flight library, valet service, tele-check-in for both "Y" and "J" class, personalised reading kit and meal preference (Jain meals and diabetic meals are standard fare and customised meals for Sahara Royale passengers Include Thai, Italian, Continental and Indian, as well as health meals).
• By Rail
  The Indian Railways network is incredibly extensive (the second largest in the world) and if you want to see the country unfold in front of you, this may be the best mode of travel. The rail network, of course, is more extensive than the air network and may take you to a greater number of places. The Railways operate nearly 7,800 passenger services a day over a route length of approximately 63,000 km.
  
  You can opt for the luxury tourist trains such as Palace-on-Wheels and the Royal Orient, the superfast Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains or the other regular trains which are divided into 15 zones. Most trains run daily. However, tourist or other special trains may have a limited schedule. Special holiday trains are also often run during holiday and festivals. There are also steam-hauled 'toy-trains' in the hills which offer a quaint experience.
  
  The regular trains usually have the following classes of accommodation
  • 1st Class (Air-conditioned)
  • 2-Tier Sleeper (Air-conditioned)
  • 3-Tier Sleeper (Air-conditioned)
  • Executive Chair Car (Air-conditioned)
  • Chair Car (Air-conditioned)
  • 3-Tier Sleeper Class
  • Ordinary Class
• By Road
  India has a road network of over 2.9 million kms. National highways comprise 34,608 kms and state highways 128,622 kms. Several highways such as Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur have been upgraded and widened of late. In all, national highways have been widened to four-lane highways in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
  
  All state transport corporations operate extensive bus services and it is possible to reach even the remotest of places by bus (check respective cities for details). However, do remember that not all buses are well-cushioned and some of the rides can be bumpy and uncomfortable. Take a bus only when you are sure of what it feels like. Tourist districts, of course, will have a range of buses - offering air-conditioned, well-maintained interiors. If you are planning a self-drive, India can be an extremely adventurous and interesting destination. Once in India with your vehicle, it is good to remember a few things.
  • By Rail
    The Indian Railways network is incredibly extensive (the second largest in the world) and if you want to see the country unfold in front of you, this may be the best mode of travel. The rail network, of course, is more extensive than the air network and may take you to a greater number of places. The Railways operate nearly 7,800 passenger services a day over a route length of approximately 63,000 km.
    
    You can opt for the luxury tourist trains such as Palace-on-Wheels and the Royal Orient, the superfast Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains or the other regular trains which are divided into 15 zones. Most trains run daily. However, tourist or other special trains may have a limited schedule. Special holiday trains are also often run during holiday and festivals. There are also steam-hauled 'toy-trains' in the hills which offer a quaint experience.
    
    The regular trains usually have the following classes of accommodation
    • Vehicles drive on the left in India
    • Have a map of the journey you wish to chart
    • Fuel Either tank-up sufficiently before starting or enquire about unleaded petrol stations prior to embarking on the journey
    • Safety Avoid driving in the night. Do not offer lift to strangers

The Indrail Pass
The Indrail passes on 12hours, two-day and four-day basis are available and are economical for tourists intending to visit places, the journey time of which fits in these durations. These can also be used as convenient supplements to extend the journey time, which otherwise is not covered by the Indrail passes, for 7,15, 21, 30, 60 and 90 days. Indrail Passes for 12hours, one-day, tow-day and four-day duration are sold by General Sales Agents abroad.

Restricted and Protected Areas
Military installations and areas, defence organisations and research organisations are considered protected areas, where permits are generally not given to foreigners.

Photography Restrictions
Photography is prohibited in places of military importance, railway stations, bridges, airports and other military installations. For photography at some of the monuments by Video cameras specially for commercial purposes, a special permission is to be obtained from the Archaeological Survey of India.

Export of Antiquities
Antiquities, which include sculpture, painting or other works of art and crafts, illustrative of science, art, crafts, religion of bygone ages and of historical interest which have been in existence for not less than 100 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 75 years; art treasures, not necessarily antiquities but having regard to the artistic and aesthetic value cannot be exported out of India. For further clarification on the antiquity of an artefact, the tourists can contact the authorities and get information on the Acts and Rules governing Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972.

Restrictions to Export of Articles Made From Animals
Govt. of India is concerned about the conservation of its endangered and rare fauna. With this view, export of all wild animals indigenous to the country and articles made from such listed animals like skin, pelts, furs, ivory, rhino horns, trophies etc have been totally banned. Tourists are also advised to acquaint themselves with the provisions of Convention on International Trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora. All the member countries of the convention allow import of the articles covered by convention on the strength of a certificate of export from the country of origin.