Staying Safe While Traveling to Asia

Although traveling to Asia maybe the trip of a lifetime, but its not devoid of problems and difficulties. Its a well known fact that Asia is home to a large number of developing countries, many quite poor. Not to mention the politically unstable regions and terrorism prone areas. Although, majority of places are quite safe for the tourists, a little planning in advance goes a long way in having a trouble free and fun filled holiday.

The first thing to do for a traveller, is to obtain visas of the countries in the itinerary. This can be done in two ways. One is to get all the visas in advance. This way, many hurdles are cleared in advance. This is also advisable for people travelling with families. But this is a slow procedure. It is a known fact that trying to get a visa is a slow procedure. And for getting visas to poorer countries, its even more difficult and tine consuming.

Another way is to get the visa on arrival. This is faster. But it has to be checked beforehand if the countries provides such a facility. This is more common with road trips and hitchhikers. Any way you take, make sure all the legal issues are sorted out. Best way is to get to a more developed country, and try to get visas for the neighboring countries. A great guide for checking visa requirements is the IATA Visa Database.

Asians are very hospitable people. But upon arrival, please be vary of strangers. Do not pay heed to characters promising cheap accommodation or travel. Its always safer to get in touch with a reputed travel agent to take care of your travel and accommodation. Buy a guidebook in advance. Its always better to have the agent arrange a guide and driver to take you to tourist destinations. But always make sure the agent is reputed and well known.

Asia is home to a huge population of people living on less than 1 USD a day. So, unwary tourists may be subjected to aggressive sales tactics, scams, beggary and in extreme cases muggings. Thus, its always advisable to stay close to "tourist places" and not to stray around. A dependable local can be a great asset to keep you out of harm's way. Some countries in Asia are politically unstable and some factions might be opposed to westerners. Please take guidance from your embassy to know where not to go. Keep medicines, mosquito repellents, sunscreen, toilet papers handy and savour the local delicacies only in established clean places.

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