My husband and I are beginning to travel. Neither of us has been anywhere besides the US, Canada, and the Bahamas. We have decided to go to Bangkok, Thailand for a week and to Bangalore, India for a week. We will be meeting up with some local friends in both countries, but we are still a little nervous about the whole thing. We are leaving the US the last week of October 2005. We go for our passports next week and then we'll get the visas for India in late August. Here's our biggest concern: Which vaccines are a must and where do we go to get them? How much should we budget for such shots and does insurance usually cover any of them?
We live in South Florida, so we are used to hot and humid weather, but we also wear flip flops and shorts everywhere! I understand there are dress codes one should abide by in these countries. As a woman, should I plan on wearing light weight skirts and light long sleeve shirts? Any tips for dressing for the heat, but still looking decent?
That's it for now. Any help would be appreciated.

Am travelling to India my first time next week. The following is straight off the CDC website:

CDC recommends the following vaccines (as appropriate for age):

See your doctor at least 4–6 weeks before your trip to allow time for shots to take effect.

Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG).
Hepatitis B, if you might be exposed to blood (for example, health-care workers), have sexual contact with the local population, stay longer than 6 months, or be exposed through medical treatment.
Japanese encephalitis, only if you plan to visit rural areas for 4 weeks or more, except under special circumstances, such as a known outbreak of Japanese encephalitis.
Rabies, if you might be exposed to wild or domestic animals through your work or recreation.
Typhoid vaccination is particularly important because of the presence of S. typhi strains resistant to multiple antibiotics in this region. There have been recent reports of typhoid drug resistance in India and Nepal.
As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria and measles, and a one-time dose of polio for adults. Hepatitis B vaccine is now recommended for all infants and for children ages 11–12 years who did not receive the series as infants.

In NYC, those vaccinations for me and my partner (minus a hep shot for me and with the addition of a flu shot for him) ran us about $650. None of this was covered by either of our insurance policies, although if you have a flex spending plan at work, they should be reimbursable through that. The shots are recommended for at least six weeks before your departure date, to make sure they've had time to take effect.

Good luck -- enjoy your trip!

All the info on health and vaccine issues is available at www.cdc.gov/travel In addition to reading the info, print it out and take it with you to the doctor. If there is a travel medicine clinic near you (often affiliated with a medical school) that's a good resource. Some public health service branches offer travelers immunizations.

Whether your insurance will cover it depends on your insurance. Routine vaccines (such as boosters for tetanus and even the Hepatitis vaccines) are covered by most insurance companies. Some insurance companies will cover everything - some almost nothing.

hi pepin909

For India think cotton mid-calf capris and trousers, cotton collared t-shirts, cotton/linen anything, is the best mix. For night a pair of khaki or black pants and a nice cotton long sleeved shirt will take you anywhere. For footwear think Teva sandals or comfy walkers like Rockports or similar. I took a pair of elegant leather flat sandals for nightclubs etc. You'll fit in if you dress modestly & conservatively, in India, especially. Thailand is a little less conservative but all of the above will take you both places comfortably. You can buy lots of nice casual cotton shirts in Thailand. Have fun!

You can wear shorts in India but not itsy bitsy ones. Above the knee is fine. Capris, knee length skirts, jeans, slacks are all good options for India (I don't think it would be too hot in October).

For Bangkok wear anything.

ask your doctor where there is a travel clinic....get all the shots you can...they may or may not be covered by insurance...and some may and some may not be covered....our hmo covers them all and the visit...the visit at our boston travel clinic retails for $350....if you can believe it...our insurance pays luckily...
try a teaching hospital...don't go without....especially in india....

be very careful when eating in both countries...only bottled water---period!!!! no ice....

you will love both countries....use this forum to ask lots of questions as they surface...some of us here love to assist people...

Also, I don't think you need all of those vaccines that the earlier poster posted. Hepatitis - definately. Through in Malaria for Thailand as well. Maybe typhoid.

Just a tip, Thai Airways fly between Bangkok and Bangalore so it might be worth looking at that if you plan to fly westbound. If you don't want to head back thru Asia on the return Lufthansa has a high frequency Bangalore-Frankfurt and then Frankfurt-Miami.
Perhaps a Round-The-World deal using Star Alliance Partners ( e.g United plus Thai plus Luftansa ) so you could travel westbound with United, then Thai to Bangalore and back around with Lufthansa. Indian Airlines also do the bangkok-Bangalore sector but using Thai would mean you could 'tie-in' the flight using other Star Alliance partners ( i.e United and Lufthansa ).

Hi

My wife and I have been to Thailand a couple of times. I have posted trip reports and some pictures on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com. Maybe you can find some useful information there. When it comes to which shots you need you should ask your doctor and not this forum If you want to learn a thing or two about the Thai culture I would recommend a book called Culture Shock Thailand. This is a series of books for different countries and it gives you some "inside information" about the people, customs etc. Have a great trip...Thailand is a nice vacation destination.

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

If you haven’t already done so, I would suggest you go to your library and get some guide books. Old editions don’t’ matter, as the basic information and tourist site info does not change. When you hare some ideas of what you want to see and do, then buy the newest editions for restaurant and hotel recs and the latest travel tips for that country.

The above poster is a bit misleading about dress in Thailand. Outside of temples, there is no particular dress code. However, to enter temples you cannot be wearing shorts (even on men) or shoes with open backs, like Tevas or flip flops. They are particularly rigid about this at the Grand Palace in Bangkok (as there are several temples on the grounds). Some temples will “rent” you a sarong to wear over shorts, but the better thing is to be dressed appropriately in the first place. There have been several threads on this in the past, run a search. Also, a guidebook will give this information as well.

October is actually the rainy season in Bangkok, so be prepared for downfalls. Not really a problem while in Bangkok, as its not like you are trying to lay on a beach. It is very humid, sorry to say that Florida is nothing compared to it. . . .

In India, there is no particular dress code for mosques or temples, but I would agree that tiny shorts are not appropriate. You must remove your shoes to enter many mosques and temples, so shoes which come off easily are better. Indians are fairly relaxed about dress, esp on foreigners. Just for the fun of it, you may want to ask your Indian women friends to take you shopping for saris and/or Punjab outfits.

Bangalore actually has a very temperate climate, generally always in the mid 70s F all year. October will be on the rainy side. (My unsolicited opinion is that you should wait to take this trip until the winter months, when both Bangkok and Bangalore will be dry, and you could also add on Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal) and other parts of India. I assume you are going in October for business or personal reasons and can’t change your schedule.)

The Culture Shock book mentioned above is very good, there is also a good one in that same series for India which you may find helpful. The books are part of the Culture Shock series of books published by Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company. You can buy them on line from Amazon or your local bookstore can order it for you.

Thank you all so much! I feel a lot better about the clothing situation. I have clothes in my wardrobe that will be appropriate and, of course, I intend on picking up some beautiful things when I get there! I’ve got a recent travel guide to Thailand, but I will check out the culture shock book before we go. I’m going to start looking for a travel clinic or medical school clinic. I actually called my doctor yesterday and his receptionist wouldn’t refer me to one, but I think she just didn’t know and didn’t want to ask the doctor. I really should switch...

JamesA- Thanks for the tip, we are flying Thai Airways to Bangalore and back and then Cathay to Hong Kong for a day or two and then Delta back home. We’ve already purchased the tickets, so we are all set there, but I will keep your suggestion in mind for our next trip.


Cicerone- Thanks for all the info! We do have to go during the rainy season because it works with the college semester break our friend's have. We are not into seeing the beaches so much (we live 2 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico), but I do want to see temples and shops and cultural places, so we will probably pick up an umbrella when we get there!

Gard- Great website. I enjoyed reading your entries, they were full of good information. I also liked reading about your trip to Florida as I live just South of Tampa.

I know this is probasbly a bit late - and at the risk of getting a lot of flack from Fodorites- I would advise against India for a first time trip to Asia- too many issues to deal with.
Bangkok- ok- but not India.

I would agree with BillT that India is a hard destination for any traveller, and I generally also do not recommend it as a first time destination for Asia. In the case ofpepin909 they are meeting friends who live in Bangalore, which will, IMO, make their trip a whole lot easier. In addition, they are going to Bangalore which is a modern city (albeit an Indian modern city) and does not have the crowds and pollution of much of the rest of India; and is very temperate in terms of climate so touring is not so exhausting as it would be in October in other parts of India.

Fortunately we have friends in Bangalore and they are doing most of the planning for our schedule over there. (And it's not like we are teenagers on Spring Break)

Try to go to Kerala which isn't too far from Bangalore. You can rent a houseboat for a day or just stay in one of the resorts by the backwaters.