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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

To be desperate to go to India?

134 replies

malificent7 · 14/02/2022 07:01

I went to Nepal as a teen and was besotted and so am used to the culture/ poverty.
I am now 43 and am desperate to travel to India. We gave 2 teen girls...13/14 and i would love to take them too.
This is more of s tell me your stories of travelling round India but posting here for traffic. Post pandemic...is it safe atm?

OP posts:
CuntyMcBollocks · 14/02/2022 18:49

I went travelling around India about 20 years ago with my friend and on the whole, I loved it. We were with a group and had a person/guide with us. There is no way that I would advise taking your young teenage daughters though. I had so many men trying it on and grabbing my breasts and trying to touch me etc. A shopkeeper tried to accost me in the back of his shop. I know not all of the men there are like that, but I would be extremely wary of taking younger girls with you as westerners naturally attracted a lot of attention anyway.

CuntyMcBollocks · 14/02/2022 18:50

That should say *10 years ago, not 20

Fraine · 14/02/2022 18:55

I think people are being unfair to @malificent7, I'm Asian and I find her to be one of the non-racist posters on MN.

@malificent7 I've never been to India but I would probably want to have a male along too.

Alrightqueenie · 14/02/2022 18:56

Not a place I'd go as a woman and with my teenage daughters. I've travelled around the indian subcontinent and India was the worst in terms of sexual harassment. Please consider the safety of your daughters and book somewhere else.

EmmaH2022 · 14/02/2022 18:59

Mother I did a double take at this 😂

A colleague has just returned from a wedding, if almost everyone has covid she didn't bother telling us 😂

OP are your DDs up for it?

EmmaH2022 · 14/02/2022 18:59

Sorry, this being "Yes, almost everyone in India has covid now."

earsup · 14/02/2022 19:05

I went...goa was like benidorm....or rich kids in villas and bikes pretending to be poor....annoying....liked bombay and a few other states....hated the personal space....everyone crushed into small spaces on trains and crowded in queues when no need to....suffocating...attempts at groping while in queues etc

Gardenista · 14/02/2022 19:08

My relatives in northern India don’t consider it’s safe to travel at the moment covid wise yet.

I’ve travelled independently around India with 2 teenage girls I’d definitely opt for an organised tour, particularly if you are doing the golden triangle.

united4ever · 14/02/2022 19:23

Kind of a naive/bad story. Landed in Chennai and had a day to kill. Looked at the map and saw the beach marked. Thought I would just go there and read my book to escape the chaos of the city. Got out of the rickshaw and as I looked for a good spot on the empty beach had gathered about 10 people/kids following me/begging. Lay down and got my book out and had about 20 people surrounding me now and growing just relentlessly repeating the same words with hands held out. They weren't leaving. Managed about 5 minutes and got back in the same rickshaw that brought me.

Prior to that i was in Thailand/vietnam so thought it would be slightly comparable.

Original poster
malificent7 · 14/02/2022 19:32

Thanks for all the replies. I didn't mean that I am used to poverty or know what it's like.
For context...I worked out in Nepal as a teacher. We washed under a cold tap or the local river our loo was overrrun with cockroachesand we taught in mud huts. One day I went for a walk and ended up on the riverbank and it was covered in human bones from a funeral pyre.
In Bangladesh on the way there we saw kids sleeping on the street . All of this had a huge and profound effect on my life. I was saddened and horrified but still very much in love with the country.

OP posts:
mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 14/02/2022 19:34

Ignore the critical remarks about your comment on poverty, OP, I know what you meant. The general culture shock of India is a surprise first time and you love it or hate it but you will need 2-3 weeks to find out which you feel - after that you start to relax and really enjoy it (or leave!).In my opinion, if you are desperate to go to India, you must go. I yearned to go after travelling to Turkey in 1976 on the old (very uncomfortable and foodless) Orient Express. My friend and I met some old hippies going on overland to India and I so wished I was too. I got there eventually and fell in love with it and have travelled through it about 5 times though since 1996. Of course, each time India had got a bit more "modern" for want of a better word but basically was the same exciting mix of colour, smells (lots of great smells as well as not), quirky things going on and great people. Like most Asian cities and towns, there are plenty of con men to be wary of as well as pickpockets (as in London) and gropy men but gropy men have never stopped me travelling and, as at home, a sharp elbow or crushing heel on their sandalled toes should work. When the press of the crowds and general furore gets too much, retreat to an upmarket hotel for lunch or move on to a quieter place. Last time in Delhi, I went to buy a rail ticket at the station for a trip a couple of days later and found myself in the tourist ticket office sitting next to a British Indian woman (there were lots heading to Punjab for relatives' weddings). She asked me how I was managing Indian life as she had never been to India before and found the noise and crowds overwhelming and a bit of a shock! She said she felt like getting back on the plane (hopefully, she got used to it and enjoyed herself more when she got to the wedding). I found Lonely Planet guidebook helpful. The kindness and hospitality of the Indian people to strangers, particularly in rural India sticks in my mind. Also I think we share the same sense of humour. I have certainly had a lot of laughs with various people, taxi-drivers, stall holders, fellow passengers in trains, etc and made some lifelong friends. Why not take your daughters? They will have to deal with lecherous men all over the world - it does help to wear long sleeved clothing and longish skirts or cotton trousers (not shorts and no tight clothing). I wouldn't go out at night alone or in some towns or areas. If you don't like the vibes of a place, don't chance it.

Original poster
malificent7 · 14/02/2022 19:36

Also we were treated with huge hospitality by people who had nothing.
Once we went to visit a town called Baktapur and a hindu holi man invited us bk to his house...he had a cannabis plant growing inside his shit pit( loo!)
The road to our school was washed away by the monsoon so we walked three days to get there and buses periodically fell off into the ravine killing everyone on board.

OP posts:
mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 14/02/2022 19:37

Should have read : NOT since 1996. Typo.

Hoping to go when my dog eventually passes away though however old I am then...

Owlcat42 · 14/02/2022 19:37

It's an amazing country. I've been on a package to Goa and two independent trips to Delhi-Rajasthan-Shimla, and to Mumbai-Goa-Karnataka. I planned and organised the latter trips because I like working out the logistics myself, but it'd be easy to do with Trailfinders or (at a price) Hayes and Jarvis. Or there are places like Exodus or Responsible Travel who do escorted trips. I never had a problem with language - taught myself some basic words in Hindi and found lots of people spoke English if you're doing established tourist routes - and booked trains and coaches without too much hassle. It's good to stay with local businesses (hotels etc), knowing that money is staying there rather than ending up elsewhere. It's also a huuuuge country, so have a think about where you want to go. The Taj is breathtaking and well worth visiting, but I found Agra itself sketchy, though it was some years ago. I love Mumbai, stayed down near the Gateway to India. Himalayas and Rajasthan are great. Think i might be a bit weary of Goa now - it's 20 years since I've been there - but Kerala's meant to be great. Seeing more of the world can never be a bad thing.

mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 14/02/2022 19:42

Just read your update above. I too have been to Bhaktapur a very long time ago on a day trip by bike out of Kathmandu. Amazing houses (which I think were damaged by earthquake some years later). I loved Nepal. Great fried momos.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 14/02/2022 19:48

@malificent7

Thanks for all the replies. I didn't mean that I am used to poverty or know what it's like. For context...I worked out in Nepal as a teacher. We washed under a cold tap or the local river our loo was overrrun with cockroachesand we taught in mud huts. One day I went for a walk and ended up on the riverbank and it was covered in human bones from a funeral pyre. In Bangladesh on the way there we saw kids sleeping on the street . All of this had a huge and profound effect on my life. I was saddened and horrified but still very much in love with the country.
But that's Nepal/Bangladesh in passing, not India. Different countries.
Original poster
malificent7 · 14/02/2022 20:02

I know it's different countries and that Nepal is probably calmer than India. But that's why I want to go. Nepal wasn't in passing. I worked out there.

OP posts:
Original poster
malificent7 · 14/02/2022 20:03

I want to go because ot's different. I got stared at a lot and was followed by a large group in Dhaka and Kathmandu..

OP posts:
EmmaH2022 · 14/02/2022 20:21

@malificent7

I want to go because ot's different. I got stared at a lot and was followed by a large group in Dhaka and Kathmandu..
But will your DDs be okay with it?
AlistairCamel · 14/02/2022 20:36

I’ve been several times. We love it and want to take out small children when we can. It has just become easier to go again post-Covid although still none-visas.

The north is very different from the south. I would say the south is less of a culture shock.

I can’t wait to go back.

AlistairCamel · 14/02/2022 20:37

Do you know where in India you would like to go.

gogohm · 14/02/2022 20:43

If you want to take teens I recommend looking into Sri Lanka. Much smaller country and very friendly not as chaotic as India but feels like proper travelling. Stay a few days at the beach and head into the hills to kandy then climb Adam's peak - easily fitted into a fortnight

HelloFrostyMorning · 14/02/2022 20:49

@malificent7

You mean, to LIVE? You want to go to India to live? WHY?

BlondeWidow · 14/02/2022 20:56

So you get some kind of twisted kick out of being the 'wealthy tourist' surrounded by so many poor people. Perhaps spend your money on some intense therapy to get to the root of why this is. It's not at all healthy

DespairingHomeowner · 14/02/2022 21:04

I’m Indian origin and have traveled all over the country over the last 20 years. Be aware that India is still in the middle of COVID, and also the best time to travel is Sept - Jan/Feb (due to monsoon & temperatures)

With girls that age, I’d really suggest you travel with a male chaperone for their safety (you may remember the sad story of Scarlett Keeling’s murder). Petty theft/flashing/groping also are common issues, and teens are less clued up than a women in her 40s

If you are keen I’d suggest a group holiday if N India, or for southern india (eg Kerala) you might be ok on your own as English I’d widely spoken and the culture is a little more comfortable for women travelers