1. Road Warning: Itineraries often include lots of car travel, but when your schedule notes “two-hour drive,” remember you are not tooling down the autobahn. National highways can be one continuous series of potholes. Lanes do not exist, near head-on collisions occur frequently, horns blare nonstop, camels, trucks, ox carts, scooters and bikes with hay extending three feet on either side of the handlebars are your constant companions. Only those with a taste for danger should drive themselves. (See Indagare Intelligence for recommended travel specialists who can arrange chauffeurs.)

2. Hotel Choices: While five-star hotels are amenity rich and comfy, smaller properties, like some in the Neemrana Hotels Group (www.neemranahotels.com), can provide a chance to meet other travelers and give you a more intimate sense of where you are. Accommodations in locals’ homes, like the chambres d’hôtes in France, are also taking hold. I had lunch with the owners of the Kalaketty Estate (91-48-28-235-223; www.kalkettyestate.com), a rubber plantation in Kerala, and regretted that I hadn’t planned to stay the night with them.

3. For a Good Night’s Sleep: Hindu temples often start playing prayer music between 5 and 6 a.m. As charming as the sound can be during the day, it can interrupt proper rest. The best earplugs I have found are Quies, from France, made of natural wax.

4. Cuisine Counsel: I love Indian food and could live on just the breads. But after traveling in India for two months last year, particularly in smaller towns, I longed for something that wasn’t spiced and saucy. My standbys when I needed plainer alternatives were anything cooked in a tandoor oven, usually chicken or fish; and biriyani, a rice dish with veggies, meat or chicken. Oddly, many hotels offer a Chinese menu. Big cities reel with options.

5. Making the Most of Festival Time: During festivals, sites normally closed to the public may be open—certain parts of a temple, for example. Events organized by a tourist office or hotel can be sterile or artificial; you are better off looking into small local rites in the regions that you are visiting. During the Pongal festival (www.pongalfestival.org), in mid- January in southern India, our guide just stopped along the roadside to show us how people celebrated in the streets.

6. Water Wise: All bottled waters are not created equal. Unfortunately, some bottling processes are not hygienic. Last year, the recommended brands were Pepsi-Cola’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Kinley. If you are staying in a five-star hotel or traveling with a reputable guide, they can advise you.

7. Easy Understanding: India’s two major folk epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha, pervade every element of daily life, from conversation and temple carvings to political and business writing. To decode these complex tales, I found children’s illustrated versions. Check hotel boutiques, which often carry them, and bookstores in major Indian cities.

8. Renewal: For a quick pick-me-up, pop into a beauty salon for a half-hour head massage, which includes shoulders and neck.

9. ABCs of Ayurveda: In general terms, this is a holistic approach to medicine, with an emphasis on curing the problem, not just alleviating the symptoms, by restoring equilibrium between mind, body and spirit. I tried treatments in posh hotels, resorts with specialized programs and very local places. Normally, you will discuss your ailments with a doctor to determine the right therapies. (Hotels will often just present you with a menu of treatments from which you choose.) Most doctors I met explained that the real value lies in combining a series of massages using specific oils with an appropriate diet followed for a period of time. Since I didn’t dedicate my trip to the pursuit, I just experimented. First, I tried the famous four-hand, all-over massage. This usually takes place on a plastic table (very uncomfortable), because the masseurs use an inordinate amount of oil. The base is sesame, and the aroma so pungent you feel that Moo Shu pork could easily be stir fried on your belly. The technique is “sweeping,” rather than muscle kneading. Then you are literally hand washed, usually sitting on a stool, with a pail of hot water the attendant splashes carefully all over you. I much preferred the shirodhara, a treatment to relax your mind. (Who doesn’t need this?) You lie on a table, with your head under a clay pot that holds warm oil. As the pot is rocked slowly back and forth, a string extending through a hole in its bottom allows the oil to drip down on your forehead. Between the warm oil and the movement of the string, I found the whole experience hypnotic. Give it a try.

10. Rest: To properly process all that excites your senses here, you need to relax. Do nothing for a half hour each day. India is very intense. And unforgettable.