India is not particularly well known for its hygienic qualities and it’s paramount therefore you take extra efforts to stay clean in order to avoid any unnecessary health issues along the way. As much as I would like the world to be a cleaner place, personal hygiene I believe is a matter of personal choice and I think it’s quite funny that I’m now writing a post telling people how to keep clean! So (with my bossy hat on) here are my  tips to keep yourself in a tip-top condition when travelling in India…

The first and most important tip is to wash your hands with soap as often as you can, especially before eating. I always carry a small hand-sanitiser gel in my pocket at all times, which is often more effective than cleaning your hands in a public washroom, especially when you see the guy before you gargle and spit into the washbasin (a common ritual in India after eating) 😉 !

Avoid walking bare footed in public places and never enter a bathroom or toilet without some form of footwear. I always remember my uncle from Punjab distinctly informing me that you should NEVER enter a bathroom in India without wearing a pair of chapals (slippers). The reason behind this advice (without being too descriptive) is basically a combination of two reasons…

• Most Indian bathrooms are designed as wet rooms with a drain plug in the middle of the floor.
• The Indian technique for cleaning oneself after using the toilet tends to be performed ever so slightly beyond the area contained within the lavatory bowl!

Put these two reasons together and you should understand the wisdom of my uncle’s advice! Rubber sandals are always best as they dry quickly and can be used while showering too.

If you get any open cuts then clean them with iodine or an antiseptic cream and cover with a plaster or bandage as quickly as you can to protect from dust and further infection. One of India’s most adored national products is Boroline (or Boro Plus), which is a really good antiseptic cream that can be purchased from almost any pharmacy throughout the land. If you scratch your mosquito bites, then always cover them up immediately. I never forget having some itchy insect bites I had scratched open on my feet, which then became the feeding ground for flies (yuck!) The moral of the story therefore is to always keep those scratches and wounds covered up properly until they heal.

This picture of me playing with a baby monkey in Manali was taken back in the day when I was young and stupid! Nowadays you would never see me doing something like this when traveling in India. I know it’s tempting when there’s a cute puppy or kitten chilling at your beach shack in Goa for example, but it really is best to avoid contact with pets and animals in India altogether. Rabies is rife throughout the land, so consider a vaccination before you travel, but there’s also a whole range of other viruses and lurgies you can catch as a consequence of being in contact with animals in India. Another thing to watch out for is street dogs in India as they can become territorial and are notorious for barking and even harassing passers by, especially at night, so be extra careful if you’re strolling along the beach in the evenings. A unique way to deal with dogs (that I picked up in India) is to squat down while raising your arms in the air as a threatening gesture! Weirdly this one really seems to work and the barking dogs usually back down once you come down to their eye level.