Issues in India?
 

I am relatively new to this forum and have been astounded by the graciousness and knowledge of the forum members.

I am planning three weeks in India Dec 16-Jan 7 and have already gleaned some great information from this forum. We booked a private tour with daily guides and drivers. We are staying at Oberoi and similar properties.

As I was perusing some of the posts, I came across this one in response to a first time Asia traveler, and was quite interested in what "BillT" meant by his caution:

<i>&quot;I know this is probably a bit late - and at the risk of getting a lot of flack from Fodorites- I would advise against India for a first time trip to Asia- too many issues to deal with.
Bangkok- ok- but not India.&quot;</i>

It was an February post so I decided to start a new thread rather than post in that one.

This is not my first trip to Asia,but I am not a seasoned Asia traveler. I have never been to India. I recently returned from three weeks in China and I had no issues in China whatsoever. Can the author &quot;BillT&quot; or anyone else talk a bit more about what the issues are that would make traveling hard for a first time India traveler?

I have not been to India yet; I go in August, but have done lots of reading and research. The common warnings seem to be of lots of people, lots of unbelievable poverty and beggars, lots of scam artists trying to trick you out of your money, and lots of heat and dirt.

I have travelled a lot in poor countries with lots of crime and poverty, but after cracking open my India guidebooks, I was ready to call off the whole thing within the evening!
I worried about health issues and safety and comfort issues, especially since it will be just my 20 yr old daughter and myself.

Instead I decided I will go with all the warnings and do this trip a little differently.

Normally I like to leave a lot of time for spontaneous detours in my travel, and I am a big fan of public transportation and simply wandering.

In India, we will go at a slower pace, and we have reserved all the hotels and transportation (drivers and trains)in advance through an Indian agency. We have a driver meeting us at the airport and each hotel, and we won't have as much to deal with at the Delhi Station since the driver taking us there will already have our tickets.

In some ways, I feel like I'm going the lazy way, but I think we will still be getting a pretty good taste of India. I have a mix of super lux and historical hotels, and our city sightseeing &amp; shopping can be arranged according to our moods once there. I figure next time I can do it differently if I want!

I'm guessing that if you've travelled happily in China, you'll be fine in India.

I have travelled throughout many developing countries before visiting India, but India was absolutely the most bizarre place that I have ever been to..Things happen there that you just don't see anywhere else!! From cows and other animals walking down the streets to hoards of people and traffic, I sometimes can't even explain it..If you went there on your first trip it would definately be an eye opener to say the least. It took us years to get the guts to go to India, and I am so glad we went..It was an amazing experience..We stayed in 2 - 3* palaces, mud huts and everything else in between..We road camels and got around by tuk tuk's and rickshaws in the cities..We travelled with a small group on a small bus and stopped at fascinating villages where we got to meet kids and adults that were just as amazed with us as we were with them..The happenings on the side of the road were unreal...There are alot of issues in India, but if you have an open mind and have lots of patience and are prepared to see almost anything then I think it is possible for anyone to visit India whether it be an experienced or a first time traveller..But I will say it again, I thought I saw everything until we went to India..It was so amazing, we are going back again!!

Hi BostonHarbor. I'm not certain what BillT meant other than to say that to me, India is confronting and if you are badly affected by squalid, filthy, sad, sorrowful sights, then India may upset you. On the other hand it is a most fascinating, astounding, beautiful country with kind, tolerant, gracious people. I really think it depends on YOUR attitude and how you might react to sights, sounds &amp; smells that you don't see, hear or smell, at home and whether you can laugh off minor problems &amp; annoyances.

Go and be shocked, entertained, laugh a lot, cry a bit, and you'll be lucky if you end up just like most of us, who cannot get enough of the place! Just go and don't worry, but be cautious. There is such poverty there and one night in an Oberoi hotel could feed/house a family of four for 3 months. It's not your fault and don't feel guilty but thats the way it is and so, many poor people prey on tourists who are unaware of the scams in India. Just be aware! Buy a good guidebook and travel safely. It is a magic country &amp; the ride is unforgetable!

BillT is not a big fan of India. We went in February and loved it. We are not as seasoned as some of the travelers on this board but having been to Thailand, Bali, Kenya, Turkey, Costa Rica and the Carribean, we had a good sense of what to expect in a third world country. Our impression of India was that there was nothing there that we hadn't seen before. There was just more of it. It is such a colorful place - the cows and monkeys everywhere, camel carts, &quot;dancing&quot; bears - very intense and very stimulating - photo opportunities abound. We were cautious about what we ate, had a well thought out plan and were able to escape the chaos each day by going back to our hotel (Oberoi and similar).

Thanks so much for your thoughts. I love photography and am looking forward to capturing the trip in pictures. I am beginning to understand why anyone who has been to India says that we will be eating in the hotels. It sounded boring to us, but as I am learning more, it is probably the smartest move--our hotel or another hotel in the city we are staying.

I posted my itinerary in a prior post so won't do it again in detail. We are going Delhi-Varanasi-Agra-Jaipur--Jodhpur--Udaipur--Bombay--Aurangabad—Fly out of Delhi. Total: 22 days. We were flying between each city, but (with advice from this board) are thinking now of driving or taking a train between a couple of the northern cities. We are fortunate to have discovered the new non-stop Continental flight from Newark-Delhi that is starting in November early enough to upgrade with miles, so the International leg should be pretty easy.

Thanks again for your insights. They are invaluable. Any additional tips/insights/&quot;don't miss this&quot; will be greatly appreciated.

I also loved India. My caution would be not to try to see the whole country. I'd pick one small area (for first timers I'd suggest Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra).

Icuy..whi did you use for your travel arrangements?

Haunting is one word to describe some sights in India. My wife and went there last winter, having traveled all over the world on other journeys.

For an experience that you will never forget, go down to the ghats (docks) along the Ganges in Varanasi after dark. Once past the crowds at the religious services, board a rowboat and drift downstream to where the cremations go on, night and day, day after day, for centuries. Great flaming pyres, chanting men, smoke, bells, wrapped corpses dipped into the Ganges, then set on the stacks of wood for burning. You drift in stunned silence. You are transformed. This is the heart of spiritual India. And it becomes part of you.

I'll toss my 2 cents in here, OK? My wife is Indian and I have been there 5 times, most recently Jan.-Feb. 2005. First of all I agree with what the others have said, i.e. its an adventure and some of it will not be pretty. I also agree with BillT inre to what a 1st. timer to Asia would think, esp. if they are Westerners. I fully understand that point. India is a great place to traverse to and as long as you are prepared for vast cultural differences or at least are open to them then you will be the better for it. My only caution is to be very vigilant about what you injest. BE CAREFUL! I speak from hardship in this matter. I got typhoid once from one of our trips there. It wasn't pretty but hey, thats India. We once were on a train from Delhi to Agra. The ride was bumpy, slow, hot and dust was pouring into the cabin. An older Indian lady looked at me and with an insight into my soul said, &quot;This is India. You just have to take it.&quot; Just go with this attitude and perhaps a trip report some time later. Cheers, Larry.

Jacketwatch is SO right! Take along plenty of patience, Imodium-AD, and drink only bottled water. Wash your hands with soap and water at every opportunity. Whenever you find a clean toilet, by all means use it! Keep your fingers away from your mouth and eyes. Leave your prejudices, fastidiousness, and judgmental attitudes at home. Be thankful for all your blessings.

Aye, aye sir! :-)

USNR, you described that Ganges experience perfectly..

That evening's experience is burned like a white-hot branding iron into our consciousness. Never to fade, never to disappear.

Mincepie- I am using durjay at Compass tours. Craig and someone else both recommended him, and so far I am very satisfied. At one point he didn't respond for two weeks, but it turned out he was out of the country. He had several good ideas, and was open to my input (using ideas from here and other research. After going back and forth making changies, I'm confident we've come up with a good plan.

I'll let you know how it all works out in my trip report!

Good luck, Lucy.

USNR, I had the same experience!! Never to fade from my memory either...

BostonHorbor,

I will be going to India in Jan, can you tell me which tour company you use?

Dear Boston Harbor,
We were in India for a month in Nov/Dec last year and loved our trip. I think I understand what BillT is saying, I have travelled to over 40 countries and spent alot of time in West and Southern Africa but Inida is a challenging place.

There's just alot of everything in India, people, smells, art, history, sounds....there's alot to take in.

Like one of the other posters we loved the time we spent in the villages and at smaller heritage hotels in small towns, Bassi and Rohegarh in particular. It was the opportunity to speak to Indians to be invited into people's homes for tea and to experience their generosity and openess that made the trip so wonderful.

It was hard to be swarmed by people in Jaipur asking for you to see their shop or buy somthing...the persistence was far worse than any I have experienced elsewhere.

We loved Rajasthan and will definately be back. My husband had travelled in the southern states and said they were quite different and far less tourist. We found many of the amaller towns we visited to be much lower key.

We really enjoyed having a car and driver which insulated us a little but also allowed us to stop in rural areas at interesting temples and other sites.

Hope you have a great trip.

CMA05, we are using Absolute Asia www.absoluteasia.com The woman who is there India specialist is named Natalie. She is great. We've been pleased so far with their remarkable responsiveness--I have never used them before and we haven't taken the trip yet, so I can only speak to their pre trip attentiveness.

I have lots more questions for the group, but I am in Vermont for the weekend and on a (barely) 56K dialup, so it is a bit sloggy to correspond.

What great insights, cautions and ideas. I am so impressed with Fordor's forum members--like nowhere else.

Talk soon.