What should I know about travelling to India?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I recently got funding for an awesomely cool field trip to northern India and, having never been, I thought I’d check and see if anyone who has been has any tips or warnings.

I’ll be staying in McLeod Ganj for most of my trip, and I was hoping that someone could answer a few particular questions:

  1. Assuming I fly into New Delhi, what is the best way to get to McLeod Ganj? I’ve been thinking of taking the train from Delhi to lower Dharamsala, and then catching a bus or taxi to wherever I end up staying, but is there a safer and/or more efficient option?

  2. I’m probably going to be staying for almost six months, so economic housing is rather important. If I’m shooting for rooms that are safe, private, and inexpensive (in that order), are there any obvious boarding houses/hotels/something else that I should be looking at?

  3. What haven’t I thought of, that I should be asking about?

2

I asked an Indian friend of mine who visits family there often. He usually stays with family but says the big temples let people stay there and feed you well. Not sure how that would work out for 6 months, though. He said the standard stuff: don’t drink the water, don’t buy food from side of the road as well as don’t pet the animals walking around. Definitely don’t give beggars any money!
Also, he suggests to buy an unlocked phone and take it with you - the service is pretty cheap there.
Expect extremely hot weather in the summer and monsoon rains during what would be our summertime.

Hope this little bit helps! Enjoy!