What do you do with your passport?

villavic

I'm going to Delhi, Agra and some Rajasthan places. Arrive at march 21, 14 days, I'm already very excited!

So I'll be travelling with a driver. And my worry is about my passport. Where do I keep it safe?
I do have moneybelt, but the passport doesn't fit there.

Maybe it is ok to left the passport in the safety box at the hotel, and carry a copy of the main page., plus other id if necessary.

But my worry is when we'll be stopping at places along the road, for example Ranakpur or Kumbalgarh, I'll visit there after living Udaipur. or Fatehpur Sikri after Agra. So my baggage will be in the car, and the driver will take care of it.

I'll trust him but what happen if somebody steals it anyway? Loosing my baggage is very bad, but to loose my passport would be a huge tragedy. I need visa for every country I stop in the way back home (US, Europe).

Do you recommend to carry the passport in those situations? I had sort of a little inner bag I carry around the elbow (passport fits perfect), but it damages the passport since with the body heat it turns some humid, the pages may turn wrinkled and it could look it's falsified (I already had that experience in Europe)

What do you do with your passport when you travel along the road? Is there any special safe bag for it? Do you left any time in the hotel (maybe the first city hotel and carry just a copy around the country?)

Tomi

It's good to be careful, villavic, but don't get too paranoid about theft (I sent you a PM ages ago which you haven't picked up, by the way, and maybe others have too; check your PMs). India is infinitely less thug-ridden than Lima or New York. You see more pickpockets in one day in the Paris metro than in a week in Chennai or Bangalore.

Indian drivers have always been very careful about my belongings. I have a feeling that there is a lot of hands-off respect in India for tourist belongings that are being guarded by a local.

Also, before you leave, take pictures of the main pages in the passport, and of visa pages, and store them in a "yahoo briefcase" or some other Internet storage location if you don't have your own web page. Yahoo briefcase is free and easy.

villavic

Thank you and for the PM, I didn't realize I had one in my inbox

By the way, tu español es muy bueno. Tienes familia latina?

SHIMLA

Always carry your passport on your person, preferably in your shirt pocket, where its at its safest.

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sillylilly

Why don't you get a little passport holder in Delhi where its really cheap and keep the passport on your belt. I mean get the kind that has straps that can be worn on a belt. I have one from L L Bean that also has a thin (but very strong) string that goes over your shoulder as well. I wear it under my sweater, etc. Since you are a guy, you can wear it under your t-shirt. I wouldn't advise leaving the passport in any hotel unless you are planning to stay there. Maybe you can speak to somone in the Thomas Cook office (travel agent) if they have any suggestions about safe deposit lockers. I would always keep my passport on me if I were travelling and not staying in a hotel.

rab

I always carry my passport on me at all times in India.

Your question is a good one though because a lot of people would like to carry their passport on them but an exterior money belt, hand bag or "man bag" is too exposed while an interior money belt is just too uncomfortable to wear.

I threw away my old money belt ages ago and always use an item similar to a money belt but on a strap worn under my armpit. It hangs comfortably in there and can be clutched into the chest in a crowd.

The one I have is made by ALS or "Air, Land and Sea" which is a fairly new but widespread travel goods company. I bought mine in the YHA shop in Nottingham in December for GBP 4.99.

The strap is very light and the thing is quite small but just big enough for a passport. It has a nylon mesh on the inner side which stops it getting sweaty and ruining your passport with moist vapours.

I would thoroughly recommend it - so thoroughly in fact that mrs. rab took a photo of it for you!

And yes I do wear it under my T shirt - it is pictured above my shirt to spare you a view of my manly chest!

rab

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KarinaM

I got a very comfortable interior money belt via the internet from a US company called ebags. It was matter silk and had a plastic inner bag. It fit 2 passports and travelers cheques very comfortably. I wore a salwar type top and that disguised it very well. The only thing I nver figured out was how to retrieve things from it discreetly. We'd be checking into hotels (or changing money) and I'd be groveling around down the front of my pants. People just averted their eyes (while rolling them first) or looked on with barely concealed bemusement. I must say though that it felt like overkill. I felt a lot safer in India than on the metro in Paris or London or in any city in Italy.

timmy

I just carry mine around in my shoulder bag.

As has been suggested elsewhere in the forum, it's a good idea to scan your photo and visa pages and email them to your hotmail/yahoo email, so if anything should happen to your passport you can print up copies. I also scanned my plane ticket like this.

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Read my India Travel Blog from late 2004, or look at my Photo Gallery from my last two trips.

flamingo2004

I also find the real passport very helpful to identify yourself if you should need it (we have a tendency to get speeding tickets all over the world "passport, drivers license and registration please" is basicly the words in both India, Poland, USA and Australia)
So you could invest in a better moneybelt or just put the passport in the carry on bag you always bring with you (the bag with water, camera, maps, guidebook, toiletpaper, bananas, passport etc.)

Merchant

You usually need your pp to change money.

mdchachi

Keep it with you. I suggest getting a new money-belt/travel pouch that can carry both money and your passport. I was quite happy with the pictured two-pocket waist pouch. The front pocket was perfectly sized for a U.S. passport. The back pocket easily held airline tickets, travelers cheques and a big wad of 100 rupee bills. If moisture is a concern, put your passport in a plastic baggie (zip-loc type if you can get them in Peru). My every day money was kept in a wallet in my back pocket as I do at home.

I found button-down shirts to be more convenient than t-shirts, especially the casual kind with two button-down chest pockets. The pockets were convenient for keeping small change to pay rickshaw drivers, entrance tickets, etc. And to reach my passport or money to refill my wallet, I could just undo a couple buttons to reach inside. I also got into the habit of leaving my shirt untucked which most people in India seem to do. It made it easier to reach under my shirt to the waist pouch plus it covered my back pockets where my wallet was kept.

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Wanderer22

I used to have an unusual undershirt that I got at the Gandhi ashram shop in Delhi. It had a long deep pocket in the front kangaroo style. It was a very secure place to keep passport and money. Don't know what these were called or if they are still available. All their handloom stuff was excellent quality and very comfortable.


Wanderer22