The British have a long history with India. One that spans centuries, with the East India Company beginning a period of economic exploitation that in time caused famine and immense poverty. This was until movements, such as the non-violent civil disobedience one led by Mahatma Gandhi made people listen.

Gandhi had wanted the country to remain unified, but away from British rule. Voices within India wanted to split the country in two, with India having a Hindu-majority, and Pakistan having a Muslim majority. When the British granted independence in 1947, crippled economically by world war, the British government didn’t listen to Ghandi, they listened to the voices that wanted two countries. The result was religious violence, and mass displacement.

Considering our past with the country, and the way nationalist voices within the UK spew hate towards immigration, it is a wonder any of us from Great Britain are welcome in India. My personal experience of the country though is that they are very welcoming, even to the British, and at times I did wonder if that was because of their love of cricket.

Sixteen years ago, India wasn’t a country I’d considered visiting, only because I’d already got a list of so many places I wanted to see. Work had other plans though, and there was a sudden need for visiting Chennai. I didn’t get to see much of the area, but we did get to see the nearby ruins at Mahabulipuram in Tamil Nadu.

Time passed, and I had not really thought much of India since, except for maybe comparing it to other places I found myself such as when I visited Kathmandu. In the back of my mind though, I’d started compiling a list of places that I would need to visit one day. India is filled with many impressive buildings such as the Taj Mahal, and forts such as Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. India also has its green side too, with tea plantations such as in Darjeeling, and wildlife such as the iconic Bengal Tiger.

For the last few years, my holiday calendar has run from October to September, so my annual leave for this year was so far covering not just the Valencia and Prague trips I’d done already, but also a trip to Berlin and Krakow for later in the year too. This left me with very little time to use, and could only spare five days. I’d considered a trip to Sumatra to see Orang-utans, but ideally I wanted more time than I had as most of the week would be spent trekking to see them, so I wouldn't get to see any history.

Another option was Bolivia, and this felt like a strong contender as I enjoy visiting South America. However, before I could book, the US attacked Venezuela, kidnapped their president, killed Cuban nationals in the process, and made claims they would run the country until further notice (a claim that was later retracted). The US went on to suggest that striking other countries in the region could be a possibility, and it felt like this was an area to stay away from for now.

A lot of countries I looked at I then ruled out because they were places I felt Carmen would like to see as well, or I felt that having Carmen there with me would make the trip better. This was to be a solo trip though.

India seemed like a good idea. Sure, it’d have temperatures in the forties, and would no doubt be humid too. However, it’d be a chance to see tigers in the wild. India is a big country, and there’s only so much I could see in a week, though the tour I booked would let me see parts of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.

On the 28th February 2026, the joint forces of the United States and Israel attacked Iran to force a regime change. In the days that followed, it was claimed that there was no clear plan. The result was retaliatory drone strikes which turned South-Western Asia into a warzone that threatened to destabilise the entire region. Flights in the area were being grounded, whilst people in the East trying to get into Europe were either stranded, or facing long delays trying to get back. Fuel prices soared as the global supply chain became disrupted.

A couple of days into this war, following a strike on Akrotiri, not from Iran, the British FCDO issued advice for visiting a large number of countries in only essential circumstances or not at all. India was on that list, but was clarified to mean only the ten kilometres closest to Pakistan. They themselves were in the middle of a conflict with Afghanistan. I felt hopeful that the only issue might be a rerouted flight to avoid the areas of conflict.

“Europe has "maybe six weeks of jet fuel left", the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned” -- BBC News

This would be just after my return from India, so it felt like a strong chance there would be no issue unless they decided to reduce the number of long haul flights. It was something I’d just have to keep my eye on, as I also signed up to FCDO alerts.

Background

What I know of India comes from reading the early adventures of Richard Sharpe, which touches upon European interference and the damage that was caused, and also from various travel programs.

Before the arrival of Europeans, what we think of as India was made up of different kingdoms and empires. It was home to the Indus Valley Civilization which built urban centres with grid systems and advanced drainage long before comparable levels of development appeared in other parts of the world. Over time, many other empires rose and fell, including the Gupta Empire, a period often associated with major intellectual and scientific advances, including the formalisation of the concept of zero in mathematics. The region was also the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, which shaped philosophy, art, and culture across Asia.

Strong trade links connected the subcontinent to wider networks such as the Silk Road, placing it at the centre of global commerce. By the time of the Mughal Empire, the region had become one of the most economically and culturally significant parts of the world. It was this wealth and importance that drew increasing European interest, initially through coastal trading agreements with local rulers.

The name many people will be familiar with is the East India Company, a trading enterprise with its own private army that gradually established a foothold in India. While it officially operated to participate in the lucrative spice and textile trade, its growing greed led it to exploit rivalries between local rulers in order to expand its control. Over time, trade gave way to unaccountable territorial power. British officials later justified this expansion through the idea of a ‘civilising mission,’ with figures such as Robert Clive arguing that Company rule was necessary for stability and commercial security. A lie.

Resentment grew not just from dispossessed rulers, and affected communities, but also among soldiers within the Company’s own armies. This, and many other issues such as a controversial issue around the fat being used on rifle cartridges, led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rebellion ultimately failed, but it did lead to change: the British Crown dissolved the East India Company and assumed direct control, beginning the period known as the British Raj.

Although multiple European powers were involved in India, Britain played the dominant role and left a particularly deep impact. Colonial policies prioritised revenue and export over local welfare, and administrative and cultural changes were often imposed with limited regard for existing systems. These pressures contributed to severe hardship, including famines that caused significant loss of life. The long-term consequences of colonial rule also shaped the political and social conditions that eventually led to independence and the partition of British India in 1947 into India and Pakistan, an event accompanied by large-scale displacement and violence. It’s something that was even touched upon in an episode of Doctor Who where it explored what this meant for families affected.

The legacy of colonial rule did not end with independence; it left behind economic challenges, political tensions, and social divisions that would take decades to address. Today, India is one of the world’s largest democracies and a growing global power, with influence in technology, culture, and international affairs.

Visas and Permits

My passport was due to expire in January 2027, so my plan had always been to get it sorted as soon as I got back from Prague so I’d have a new one in plenty of time for Berlin. This was something I did not do, as it would have caused problems for India for a number of reasons:

1. I would have 35 days between landing back in the UK, and heading out to India to get it renewed,
2. UK nationals require a visa to visit India,
3. Passport details are required ASAP for booking the Ranthambore safari with the Rajasthan Forest Department.

I had just enough time left on mine to get away with keeping my current passport, which was lucky as the earlier my details could be provided to the forest department the better. They process permits on a first-come, first served basis.

The e-Visa on the other hand wasn’t as easy as the website is not the most functional or user-friendly. The first step was picking the visa type, that’s easy - a 30 day tourist visa would suffice. You’re then asked for the usual sort of personal details, and they saved okay after a couple of attempts. The second page however would clear its contents on submission however due to a validation issue for the telephone numbers needing to be less than 15 characters. As I’d used spaces and brackets, my entry exceeded this, and it took a few attempts before I realised that’s what the problem was as they don’t make it clear.

On the next page it gets trickier. In addition to providing a reference (which in this case would be the tour company), I also needed to provide details of the most recent previous visa I had. This was of course sixteen years ago, and I had no record of any of the details of this. I had to return to this later once I’d found out I could enter “Not available” as the answer. It was at that point I found that it kept changing my answer of whether any of my grandparents were from Pakistan from “No” to “Yes”, and also adding quotation marks around my work address which was breaking the validation for that too. They really need a better web developer.

For the previous trip to India in 2010, since you don’t have the old visa number, you can simply note the year and purpose of your visit in the application. It’s quite common not to have the exact visa details from so long ago, so just provide the information you do remember.

With my visa application submitted, I thought it’d be the best part of a week to find the result, but on the very next day, despite it being a weekend, I got my approval.

Vaccinations

Whenever I travel outside Europe, I make a point of checking vaccination advice. In theory, this means speaking to my GP or a travel clinic. In practice, it usually results in them printing off a few pages of generic advice (often straight from WebMD) and telling me to follow that.

For someone travelling from the UK, the advice for India is fairly standard. I already keep my travel vaccinations up to date, and there was nothing particularly surprising being recommended. It’s always worth checking early, just in case any require multiple doses, or need to be so many months in advance of travelling.

Malaria wasn’t something I’d considered beforehand, as I naively assumed that was mostly Africa. From what I’ve read, and what I’ve been told, the risk exists but is relatively low in major cities like Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, especially outside of monsoon season. For my trip, anti-malarial tablets weren’t considered strictly necessary. That said, I would not be taking any chances with mosquitoes. They do like to bite me, and lasting almost my entire time in Rwanda without being bitten was nothing short of a miracle.

My plan is to focus heavily on bite prevention. I’ll be wearing NosiLife clothing most days, using mosquito-repellent wristbands, and applying LifeSystems Expedition MAX (50% DEET) daily, especially in the evenings. Ranthambore is the one place on my itinerary where I expect mosquitoes to be more noticeable, given the forest environment and warmer temperatures in May, so I’d be extra vigilant there. I ultimately decided to use Malarone (atovaquone/proguanil) anyway.

In January 2026 the news started talking about the Nipah Virus (NiV): a new deadly virus spreading around India, and making headlines. Like COVID-19, it’s a virus that originally jumped from bats to humans. It can cause fever, cough, and in serious cases severe neurological symptoms such as encephalitis. Historically, outbreaks have had a high fatality rate, somewhere between 40% and 75%.

The World Health Organization has described Nipah, external as one of its top 10 priority diseases because of its potential to trigger an epidemic. It can spread from animals to humans and is associated with a high mortality rate as there is no vaccine for it. … India has confirmed two laboratory‑verified Nipah Virus cases since December, both involving healthcare workers in West Bengal, with 196 contacts traced and all testing, India's health ministry says. -- BBC News

It’s the sort of news that makes you wonder how bad things there might actually be, and could yet another trip be cancelled if this becomes a pandemic? How much risk is there in going?

It’s not as scary as it sounds though, as long as you’re cautious. Nipah isn’t airborne, which massively limits how easily it spreads. Transmission is usually linked to contaminated food or very close contact with bodily fluids of infected people. The risk to travellers is extremely low as the advice is: eat in reputable places, and avoid questionable food. Simple.

In all fairness, the advice for travellers to avoid NiV is the same as avoiding the so-called ‘Delhi belly’. Whilst the street food is apparently very good in the areas I’d be visiting, it’s something I’d need to be more cautious about.

What to take

As this would be a multi-city trip, and could be extremely busy, I decided for this one to use my Cotopaxi Allpa 35 litre backpack as my checked-in luggage. Next, I needed to consider:

• the climate for this trip,
• photographing wildlife,
• how crowded it might be in places.

Travelling in early May means heat would certainly be a factor. It would be normal to expect high daytime temperatures; so I’d need to plan accordingly. The aforementioned NosiLife shirts are fairly light weight, and are light-coloured so would help to reflect the sun and keep me cooler too. As I’d recently replaced the filter and lid for my Water-to-Go bottle, this would also come in handy too; a colleague of Indian descent recommended I be very careful with the water on this trip.

Although this trip would be off the back of two weekends of a marathon, a half marathon, and a 5K - it would be likely I’d run at least once whilst there, so planned on taking running clothes with me also. I’d be in need of sleep with a red-eye flight to start with, so would be taking my trtl Travel Pillow Plus as well.

In terms of photography, my main focus would be getting a ‘good’ photograph of a tiger in the wild. For this I’d be taking a second camera body with a Sigma 150-500mm lens, and a 2x teleconverter. This would leave my main camera free to have a shorter lens for closer shots, and scenery, and would be the camera I’d use for the majority of the trip when exploring the forts and other sights. Although I often take my travel tripod, and rarely use it, I’d take it again, space willing, along with my new KraftGeek JustTap phone tripod which could be useful for taking photographs in crowded places.

As with Rwanda, due to the extra camera equipment, I’d use my iPad for notetaking instead of my MacBook to try and keep the weight and bulk down where possible.

Around Europe, if I need to use online maps or anything requiring internet access, then it’s not a problem as my mobile provider allows for EU roaming. When I visited Rwanda I used Nomad to get an eSIM I could use there, and I found that to be incredibly useful. With this tour, they include an eSIM as part of the offering so would have that for any data requirements.

Currency

The currency in India is the Indian Rupee (INR). I’d read on Travel Wiki that rupees are not available for purchase outside of India, but a few weeks before the trip I was able to order them from Sainsbury's without issue. It was however useful in indicating to watch out for older ₹500 notes, and that some places may request you show a receipt for having exchanged/withdrawn rupees.

The tour would include breakfasts only, so I’d need to find somewhere for lunch and dinner. As a rough guide, I found ₹300-450 per meal would be about right. I’d then need some entrance fees on top of that, and money for any souvenirs, tips, and anything else I might need. What I was recommended for tipping was as follows:

• drivers would need tipping around ₹500 per full day,
• guides anywhere between ₹300 - 1000 per day depending on the quality of their service, restaurants around 10%,
• and in hotels it’s usually ₹100 per night, and ₹10-20 to people carrying your luggage.

Being from a European country where this is not normal, it’s easy to forget that some countries are influenced enough by USA culture to need this. When you consider that even ₹1000 per day for a guide is the equivalent of less than £10, it really isn’t that much compared to the expectation I’ve seen in some other countries.