1. DON'T DRINK ANY WATER...
...that isn't bottled! While I was in India, I accidentally drank a little water while showering and it made my stomach hurt for half a day. But beware of bottled water, too: some travelers have experienced people refilling the empty, plastic bottles with unclean water, resealing the bottle, and trying to sell it to unaware foreigners.
2. Don't eat street food.
The bacteria count in India is much higher that that in the United States and from what we were accustomed to, so eating any food that was not cooked properly or eating fruits washed with the tap water can really make you sick. We did, in fact, get sick for one or two days, but got over it quickly. It's more of an inconvenience than anything, but no one wants to be stuck in a boring hotel for any extra hours or days while abroad.
3. Everything is super colorful!
From the traditional sarees and kurtis that the women wear that can range from absolutely any color of the rainbow imaginable, to the plethora of different traditional religious garbs represented in India, it was a feast for the eyes! This really contrasted from the American culture we were used to because most people just wear jeans and earthy or nude toned shirts. However, in India, it seemed like the brighter the color someone wore, the better! Also concerning dress, in the more developed cities, like Mumbai, you could see women wearing more western clothes such as pants and shorter skirts. But when we were in Lucknow, a more rural town, absolutely everything there was traditional.
4. People will stare. And ask to take pictures with you.
Because both me and my sister happen to be quite pale and furthermore because I am blonde, everyone stared at us all the time. We traveled around India for two weeks and the only time we saw any other white person was at our last stop, which happened to be one of the most developed cities in India, Mumbai. They don't mean any harm when they stare-- the most they will do is ask for a selfie!
5. Say goodbye to bright blue skies and clean streets.
One of the things that shocked me the most was once we got off the plane, I looked up at the sky and because of the pollution, the sky was quite opaque. I was always thought that the sky would be something constant while traveling, so this was quite unexpected. Additionally, there was always litter thrown on the ground and stray dogs upon stray dogs, begging for food everywhere we went. But all of this was just some of the aspects that made up the beauty of India.
