I missed you folks, couldn't get to a cyber cafe. Had a fabulous time delivering my mother in law home, she being the biggest stress factor in my life. The visit was far more enjoyable than I expected as my husband at the last minute could not come and I was fearful of being with the relatives without him to help negotiate the great cultural divide. But it turned out fine. This is my 4th trip to India, I know what to expect and how to survive most of the inconviences of India. Never left Mumbai(Bombay) area but had fun with relatives shopping & getting tailoring done dirt cheap. Every day i went out on the back of my brother in laws scooter (He driving)to do errands & shopping, whizzing along feeling like a kid again! I got 3 pedicures ($2 each!) had my eyebrows threaded (some strange but effective way of plucking eybrows) and mehndi on my feet & hands. Mehndi is henna painted in intricate designs on ladies hands & feet before a wedding or just for fun.
New indian drug laws have classified benzo's as narcotics so I was unable to buy any this trip, but I had enough with me & have enough for a badly needed taper off anyway. Sad tho, a strip of 10 2 mg xanax costs $1.50 or less!
I did get a strip of zolpidern, 10 10 mg for $1.00 or so! Apparently it isn't hard to get a prescription for benzo's, but I didn't bother this trip to find a doctor & go thru all of that.
I traveled with all of my meds in their bottles, including OP bottles in ziplock bags in my carry on bag. No one opened any of my bags or looked at anything! The new screening technology is so sophisticated that they can see into your bags and they are looking for weapons, explosives & food & plant materials. One old Indian lady did get her bag opened at USA customs because she brought a bag of special chapati flour! The scan makes it look like it could be a drug powder like heroin or cocaine, but also, no food items like plants, seeds or flour are allowed either, due to the possibility that they could have bugs or fungus dangerous to USA ecosystem. India also does not allow American plant or seed items to be brought in either.
So for all of you worrying about airport security & meds, keep them in your scripted bottles, only take what you need for your trip & have fun! If you are buying from an IOP & have no scripted bottles, bite the bullet & pay for a consult once. Or find some OTC drug that looks exactly like your med & substitute that. Just my experience, I've done 3 trips back & forth this way with no problems, perhaps others traveling to other countries have had different experiences.
My 2 cents: Leave your plants, guns, knives & explosives at home & you will be fine.
If you want to hear more about India PM me.