India (1 Viewer)

[Sufi]

Im heading off traveling for a year in January. Starting in India.
Im going to spend about 2 months traveling about there which isnt loads of time really.
We fly into Mumbai and then are going to visit a freind in Goa.
From then on I really havent a clue where to go.

Any tips for traveling about India or suggestions on where to go?
Im guessing we will stay towards the south.

Thanks.

 

[rate payer]

Holiday annals from a friend:

Near Mumbai, the *hem* fantastic palace at Mysore is allegedly worthy of a visit.

If you decide to head in or around Pune, Bagwan Rajneesh's OSHO meditation resort might be worth stopping by, if that's your thing.

In Goa, by Little Vagator, a club called 9-bar, is supposedly very nice indeed.

And I'm very jealous of your trip!

 

[La La]

be prepared for delhi belly. it will happen and there's not much you can do to prevent it from happening. to this end, have some imodium and motilium in your bag - it could come in handy.
my friend alex goes to india a few times a month - he's actually there right now. ill have a natter with him about recommended places and post 'em here accordingly.
lucky girl!

 

[Sufi]

Thanks Guys,
Im really playing it all by ear so any tips or whatever will be really brilliant.

 

[the strange guy]

Try not to spend too long in Mumbai and avoid Delhi if at all possible. After being spoilt on Thailand I found Goa to be a little underwhelming, but had a great time on Palolem. Going a little further south to Om Beach, Karnataka is recommended, though the only night life there is drinking rum around a bonfire. We stayed there for a few weeks sleeping on a straw mat on the sand in the rickitiest palm hut you could imagine and loved every moment of it. In Goa, prepare yourself for the persistant and incredibly annoying street vendors. 'Come look my shop' will be a phrase you will grow to detest. There were no vendors at Om Beach when I was there.

My favourite place is the North, near the Himalayas. Dharmsala is the home of the Dalai Lama and a large Tibetan community. The food and handicrafts there are almost worth the visit alone. I stayed for a few weeks with a farming family in Dharmkot which was an amazing experience. A little further along the mountain range is Triund where we found a cave to sleep in for a while, any local can point you in the right direction. We stayed at the last chai shop before the top and had a deal with the guy who ran it that we'd look after his shop during the night if he'd look after our stuff during the day. He even brought us food, which was great, the nearest shop is a 4 hour walk.

People always say 'You either love or hate India' and you don't realise how true that is until you get there. In Delhi, a beggar came up to me, no big deal, he must have been the 20th guy that day, so I tried my best to ignore him. As I walked off he showed me a huge sloppy shit he had been hiding in his other hand behind his back and threatened to slap it against my face. FU-HUCK DAAAAA! He was welcome to all the money I gave him after that.

The amount of child poverty is shocking and nothing will prepare you for it. It can be heart breaking to see a two year old cry at your feet with her hand up begging for change. It's best to make a donation to a local orphanage than give them money, though.

I've seen crazy things there, a dead streetperson getting dragged along the street by dogs, men whipping out their dicks and wanking at western girls in bikinis on the beach in broad daylight, stung for a hundred euro by armed cops who found hash on me, an insect crawling out of my thali and flying away, getting wined and dined by scam artists intent on ripping me off in Goa... Jaysus, the list can go on.

My girlfriend absolutely hated the place and will tell anybody who will listen about all of the terrible things she saw. It's true that women (and especially women travelling on their own) will find it a whole lot harder than men. Cover yourself up as much as you can and don't even think about wearing anything skimpy on a beach. The men go insane and the women get insulted.

I enjoyed the experience in that it was quite unlike anywhere else I've ever been in before. It's easy to list all of the things that you hate and not so easy to describe the more serene, peaceful moments.

All of that said, if you stay south the food is much better than the North. If you do get the chance though, Dharmsala, Mcleod Ganj area up north is worth it.

 

[Unclealo]

In India right now. Did a 12 day stint round Rajastan with herself. India seems a mad mix of "the modern and medieval" as I read before. Remarkable things: terrible poverty along side sickening wealth, cows on the motorway, crazy driving where the overtaking driver races towards oncoming cars to pull in at the last moment and everyone uses the horn as an indicator, terrible pollution, rubbish everywhere, cows/dogs/donkeys/camels/monkeys roaming the streets eating out of the rubbish, a temple of rats (have the video footage!), beautiful forts/palaces/havellis, amazing folk music, bad treatment of women (women toiling in the fields/covering up when the lads seem to do all the easy jobs), guys sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere for apparently no reason, nuclear testing zones, annoying beggars, annoying shopkeepers/guides, camel trekking. The most crazy holiday I've ever had, every couple of hours I changed my mind from thinking it was amazing to thinking it was terrible. Rajastan is pretty cool though overall