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OT: Traveling to India

Duneaux Harm

Duneaux Harm

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Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
 
Duneaux Harm said:
Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
Click to expand...
I’ve been there twice but not with a tour group. Went with a good friend from Pitt whose family was there.

Get your visa early - they are in no rush. After sending it away, I had to take a bus from Philly to NYC to finish it up 2 days before we left and it was chaos. They run their consulate the same way they drive over there - chaos and confusion.

Don’t drink tap water. Get everything out of a bottle and no ice.

The poverty is staggering but you can’t give money to anyone or you’ll be hounded. Same with buying souvenirs from random people.

Haggle. Never pay full price. Get a local to help if you make friends with some.

The Taj Mahal is a pain to get to and crowded, but worth doing once in your life.

Don’t drive, even if you think renting a scooter and exploring would be fun. 1 trip somewhere and you’ll see what I mean. Lines and lights are just suggestions, if they’re there at all. And wait til you see a rickshaw with a whole family and a few animals in it. It’s wild.

That being said - I have no experience with groups, but India is an amazing place to visit. It’s definitely not Europe, but that’s part of what’s great about it. Being somewhere with such a different culture that has been around for thousands of years is pretty cool IMO. The people are generally friendly and Westerners are rare enough there still that people seem happy that you came to visit and welcome you. I’m hoping to go back some day with my kids.

Going it in your own could be challenging though. I don’t know if I would have had as good of an experience without having my friend and his people there. At the very least, I’d hire a local private guide to take you around, drive you, interpret for you, haggle, etc. no idea how to do that, but I doubt it would be that expensive
 
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India doesn't sound like anywhere for me. I prefer the National Parks right here in the U.S. and the nicer beaches on the East Coast (Kiawah). If I'm going out of the country, parts of Europe, South Pacific. But definitely not a poverty ravaged, dirty, congested country like India.
 
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Hey I've been a couple times and here are my tips. If you are traveling without a guide use uber or Ola(indian version of lyft). These are trustworthy and you can't really get scammed on your travel. Do not use local taxis or autos. Hotels in India will have their own drivers you can use them and they will just stick with you throughout the whole day, but this tends to be more expensive.

As for where to go it really depends on what you are looking for. Goa is great if you want beautiful beaches and is made for western tourists so you will have all the amenities you have in say a place like Cancun. I do reccomend going to the Taj mahal, but if you do just be aware there are a ton of scammers around it. Don't listen to people thst say they wanna help you. Go to the gate and they have specific tickets and pricing that is easy enough for people visiting.

People say don't eat the street food, but I think you are okay eating any of it as long as its not using water there. The street food is the best food you will have in India. Definitely try some of the dishes at these places as they are normally local and delicious. Lastly I reccomend going to Northern India by the Himalayas it is beautiful and you can google some places to visit.

The hotels in India are super nice especially the American chain ones(if you wanna use points) they have high security and great service definitely try to stay in them when you are there. If you have any other questions let me know.
 
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I've been to India 3 times on business trips. Been to Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi. I was fortunate that since I was on business, the company hosting me arranged everything. Driver picked me up at the airport and drove me everywhere during the entire trip so I can't really comment on the "do it yourself" vs guided tour. In retrospect it was one of the few places on earth that I was actually glad that I didn't have to navigate myself around. A few thoughts:

1. Nothing in your experience prepares you for India. It is truly a sensory overload experience (both good and bad). I'd travelled all over the world prior to my first trip to India so I thought I'd pretty much seen it all....wrong! The scale, the congestion, trafffic, and the smells on the street can overwhelm you. Just the drive from the airport in Mumbai to the downtown hotel was an experience...shanty towns on either side of the road as far as the eye could see. (BTW, I stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel which I highly recommend. Amazing place. If you stay, try to book a room in the old section of the hotel. It's like a walk back in time).

2. As others have mentioned....do not attempt to drive. Driving in India is a cross between Bedlum and a WWE match on wheels. Even with a driver it's a hair raising experience. Quick story. I was in Delhi around 1993. Company arranged to have me driven to Agra. Maybe things have changed in 25+ years, but the road from Delhi to Agra is dead flat and straight and one of the most hair raising experiences of my life. First, the road was jammed with every mode of transportation known to man. Cars, buses, trucks combined with oxe carts, donkeys, camels, tuk-tuks, and god knows what else. Drivers very aggressive passing. I literally had my eyes closed for 50% of the trip since I was sure we were going to die. My rule of thumb: never drive in a country that believes in reincarnation.

3. I"ll reiterate what others have said, do not drink the water... even in the hotels. Drink beer or bottled water. Also, be very careful of things like salads where the greens get washed in the local water and you can still get sick. Under no circumstances eat street food unless you want to lose 50 lbs on your trip.

4. Don't even think about driving in India.

5. Do visit the Taj. Despite my unnerving travel experience, visiting the Taj is simply amazing. The Taj will blow your mind and that all I'll say. You definitely need a guided tour (which can be arranged at most quality hotels). The story behind the Taj is every bit as interesting as the actual building. That said, Agra itself is pretty much a pit. Do not go on a guided tour to anything like a carpet weaving shop (unless you really want to buy a carpet...because you WILL buy something if they get you on the tour...it's a combination of being trapped with the heartbreak of watching a bunch of little kids working their fingers off. I will say that I got an amazing deal on a 6' x 9' all silk handknotted carpet...$600. Would have easily cost 4X that in the states.

6. Delhi is huge but not all that much to see. The Red Fort is the big attraction, but not all that impressive (IMHO).

7. I didn't have time to visit but Jaipur is supposed to be pretty interesting.

8. Bangalore is strictly business. Not much to see. Traffic worse then downtown Bangkok. One quick funny story. I was with a group of business associates one night in Bangalore and they picked me up to have dinner in the downtown area. I arrived 2 days after the Monsoons had started so the amount of rain I saw was mind bending. Anyway, we arrive near the downtown but like many big cities parking is impossible. These guys find a back alley to park several blocks from where we're eating. I step out of the car onto what can only be described as a mud path. Mercifully it had stopped raining, but the humidity was incredible. As I exit the car, I look down and I'm standing ankle deep in a combination of mud and cow shit. One of the guys who is escorting me turns and says "you know Bangalore is the garden city of India". I immediately thought...if this is the garden city I don't want to see the low rent district.

9. The food was amazing. I happen to LOVE Indian food and super spicy is OK with me. If you don't like spicy food be careful what you order. This ain't your local Pittsburgh adapted Indian food. When they say it's spicy it's at a whole different level.

10. People were super nice and friendly. Despite all their challenges, people were very nice, very helpful and almost always smiling.

The bottom line is that India is an absolutely amazing place. Extremes of poverty coupled with amazing beauty. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience that is well worth it. Enjoy.

Cruzer
 
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Good luck.


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Duneaux Harm said:
Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
Click to expand...
Eat lots of random street food
 
Duneaux Harm said:
Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
Click to expand...
Probably a nice place to visit, but as an American citizen, I would hesitate to travel anywhere outside of the USA (except for maybe Canada). Americans are not that well liked around the world right now.
 
YourPittDanceTeam said:
Probably a nice place to visit, but as an American citizen, I would hesitate to travel anywhere outside of the USA (except for maybe Canada). Americans are not that well liked around the world right now.
Click to expand...
Americans are pretty welcome in India. Particularly if you bring your wallet 😁
 
YourPittDanceTeam said:
Probably a nice place to visit, but as an American citizen, I would hesitate to travel anywhere outside of the USA (except for maybe Canada). Americans are not that well liked around the world right now.
Click to expand...
That’s a myth. We are pretty much welcome everywhere but for an except few countries. And if you don’t act like an idiot they definitely love you.
 
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India is nice because everyone speaks English. So you can get around. But there are no rules. It’s interesting. If I was going there on a vacation I would make sure to connect with somewhere there to show me around and show me the ropes. So if a tourist group is your only option I’d say do it. From my experience.
 
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Duneaux Harm said:
Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
Click to expand...
I have a lot of Indian friends, and they have always told me that the two best ways to visit India as independent travelers for the first time are: a) go on one of the luxury train routes like the Palace on Wheels or Maharaja Express. You won’t be with a tour group per se, more like being on a cruise ship sharing facilities with others and making regular stops, b) set your base in one of the major cities like Mumbai or Delhi and hire personal drivers and tour guides for day trips around the city and in the surrounding areas.

As it turns out, I’ve traveled to India a few times, but on business, with most things pre-arranged for me. From my experience there, if I were traveling as an independent with my wife, I would opt for one of the above strategies.

Don’t underestimate the visa process, and be willing to spend a little more and hire an expediter.
 
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Haven’t been there, but have many friends who have. Everyone had trouble with the visa process, so listen to the suggestions and apply for a visa long before your trip.

Tap water all over Asia is a problem. Not only drink only bottled water, but also use it to brush your teeth. I would be careful even buying bottled water on the street as it might be tap water poured into an empty bottled water bottle. We saw that in both Bangkok and Bali.

When we went to Bali, we had a list of pretty much where we wanted to go well before we got there. We also had recommendations for private drivers and arranged for one, Wayan, to pick us up at the airport and drive us to our first hotel. He wasn’t very good so we didn’t use him again. But, we used another driver the next day for sightseeing, also named Wayan (apparently in the lower Bali Hindu castes, there are specified names for the first 4 male children, so all oldest males are named Wayan).

Our second Wayan was great. We used him as a private driver every remaining day of the trip. Always had cold bottled water in his a/c car. Had umbrellas for the occasional short storms; had sarongs to put over our clothes to enter temples. We had a house rental next to the water in Amed, the scuba diving area on the NE coast, for 5 days. He drove us there (an hour drive from Kuta Beach where our first hotel was), and even though he lived on the SE part of the island, was there at 7:30 every morning and stayed as late as needed every night. $40/day. For him, a good living; for us, a lot less than we would have paid for taxis with a more knowledgeable guide who spoke decent English. He knew the island really well and took us to two or three beautiful places we didn’t have on our agenda.

It took a little work before the trip to get the names of good private drivers online, but it was well worth it. There should be similar sources available for India, although the country is so large you probably will need a different driver in every area you visit.
 
pittiswhereiamfrom2 said:
This is a very retarded thing to say. When is the last time you traveled outside of the USA?
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Wow dude. In the USA of 2023, you feel comfortable going out there on that limb and using the word "retarded" in that manner? I do have to ask, if you didn't agree or like what I said, why not just move on to the next post? Also, check out the United States Department of State website and there are quite a few countries that American citizens should use what they refer to as "Level 2" travel. "Level 2" indicates that if you travel to any of those countries, use increased caution to do so. By the way, are you aware that our neighbor to the south, Mexico has only two states that fall into the "Level 1" category. Which indicates that if you travel there, normal precautions should be taken. All of the others are at least a "Level 2". Most of that other group are because of the concern of crime and kidnapping.
If you or any other American citizen wants to travel to another country, go for it. It would be wonderful if we could all travel around the world without fear of crime from the locals, exposure to illness/disease and terrorism. Unfortunately the way the world is right now, that is not possible.
 
If you are an experienced and frequent international traveler this might be old hat info. But check with medical authorities on the requested and recommended vaccines and/or boosters above and beyond what you may have. Some of those you may not want to get too early (if traveling months from now), or too late (in case you’d have a bad reaction right before leaving).
 
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Duneaux Harm said:
Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
Click to expand...
uh, why? Are France and Italy and the tropics closed?
 
upj87 said:
uh, why? Are France and Italy and the tropics closed?
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France and Italy have lots of great things to see, and definitely to eat; but there are many more places to visit in the world that are interesting. And many with far less danger.
 
Honestly, most U.S. cities are more dangerous than international ones. Not saying that you do not still need to keep your head on a swivel, but I travel quite a bit (been to 5/7 continents) and have felt more unsafe in parts of Pittsburgh, Philly, DC, and NYC than I ever have abroad.

I also think there is a burbs/city thing. If you live in the burbs in the US, and then go to a city internationally, its not comparing apples to apples.
 
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Duneaux Harm said:
Has anyone traveled to India not as part of a tour group?

My wife and I do not do well in tour groups and are considering traveling to India.

Has anyone here been self guided tourists in India and what did you focus on and where did you go?
Click to expand...

Say what?? Every company I have worked for has either subsidiaries or offshored and FREE trips were always available. Yeah... don't eat the fish and fly business class.
 
I've been there and agree with most comments here. Don't drive.

Many different languages spoken throughout the country. Common to see cows walking throughout the cities. Extreme poverty, similar to China outside of cities.

Mumbai - got kicked out of an underground belly dancing establishment because I didn't give a tip to every single person there. They walked up in a line, like 15-20 people expecting a tip. The establishment offered other "services" I think but I didn't ask. Was the only westerner there and was brought by the taxi driver after he picked up his friend to take me. Kind of a scary experience. i was just looking for a place to get drinks.

Enjoyed sightseeing in Mumbai. Ghandis house is free and worthwhile. train station and the arch when the queen came. North of the city is this great ancient area where monks used to live with their families in carved caves with rock formations. also monkeys ran all over the place there.

Bangalore - big tech center and seemed cleaner in the areas I was at.
Chennai - seemed more foreign compared to other parts of India. Different language. Men wore lungi's, basically a skirt type

Coimbatore - warmer there. had a chance to ride one of those three wheeled motorized taxis. City seemed corrupt where the restaurant had no beer that day, only liquor because of some dispute payoff with local distributor.
 
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Dointhatrag said:
I've been there and agree with most comments here. Don't drive.

Many different languages spoken throughout the country. Common to see cows walking throughout the cities. Extreme poverty, similar to China outside of cities.

Mumbai - got kicked out of an underground belly dancing establishment because I didn't give a tip to every single person there. They walked up in a line, like 15-20 people expecting a tip. The establishment offered other "services" I think but I didn't ask. Was the only westerner there and was brought by the taxi driver after he picked up his friend to take me. Kind of a scary experience. i was just looking for a place to get drinks.

Enjoyed sightseeing in Mumbai. Ghandis house is free and worthwhile. train station and the arch when the queen came. North of the city is this great ancient area where monks used to live with their families in carved caves with rock formations. also monkeys ran all over the place there.

Bangalore - big tech center and seemed cleaner in the areas I was at.
Chennai - seemed more foreign compared to other parts of India. Different language. Men wore lungi's, basically a skirt type

Coimbatore - warmer there. had a chance to ride one of those three wheeled motorized taxis. City seemed corrupt where the restaurant had no beer that day, only liquor because of some dispute payoff with local distributor.
Click to expand...
My personal funniest tipping faux pas abroad was in Buenos Aires. They have guys just hanging around restaurants and hotels and when you hail a cab, the run out and open the door for you expecting a tip (Mind you this is not the taxi service, just some random dudes). So I reached into my pocket and pulled out some coins and gave to him. He looked them then swore at me and through the coins at me. I didn't realize I was giving him Brazilean coins, not Argentinian.
 
Masha is someone who separates all of our trash into the five different trash receptacles they have in Barcelona (plastic recyclables, glass, paper, compostable, other trash) and tries to give fresh, leftover food we don’t eat to the homeless here in Barcelona (there aren’t that many but there are some who sleep a few blocks from where we live).

I say “tries” because with one exception they scorn the food. They want money. Period. The one exception is a Jamaican guy. I’m not sure he is even homeless. We see him panhandling once in a while during the day with a sign saying he is homeless but have never seen him at night. He not only takes the food and thanks us, but whenever we see him whether we have more food or not, he make it a point to thank us: “Thank you beautiful lady and kind sir for your generosity to me.”

Now, if it is the last day the food will be good and we haven’t seen him, it just goes into the composting receptacle.
 
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I know people have to travel for work, but for many reasons, I'll live vicariously through others and just say not on my bucket list. (This from my Indian colleagues, only entice me with food offers, everything else a no go)
 
recruitsreadtheseboards said:
My personal funniest tipping faux pas abroad was in Buenos Aires. They have guys just hanging around restaurants and hotels and when you hail a cab, the run out and open the door for you expecting a tip (Mind you this is not the taxi service, just some random dudes). So I reached into my pocket and pulled out some coins and gave to him. He looked them then swore at me and through the coins at me. I didn't realize I was giving him Brazilean coins, not Argentinian.
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LOL - these days if you give someone Argentinian coins they'll definitely throw them at you. With 105% annualized inflation coins don't go very far.
 
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cruzer said:
LOL - these days if you give someone Argentinian coins they'll definitely throw them at you. With 105% annualized inflation coins don't go very far.
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Yeah, in places like that, elections do have consequences. I remember visiting one plant manager and he was really scared at the possible results. Same we have seen in Brazil. Here, our system has always been resolute and with enough checks and balances that despite cable news, people's lives never really change much.

Unfortunately without diving headfirst down into a rabbit hole......we seem to be on more of a path like our South American neighbors.
 
On a lighter note, I had a meeting down in Lancaster area on Monday, and then a meeting up towards NEPA. I hate the turnpike, I hate interstates as a whole. You want to see America, go on the other roads.

Anyways I took Rt 61 up from Reading all the way up to Sunbury. I drove though truly god forsaken places. The Coal Country always fascinates me as it is truly a forboding place. We think Western PA is gritty. The only down side, it was sunny, and that route deserves nothing but cold, damp and dreary.

But Pottsville amazes me. I mean I am from Pittsburgh right? Not exactly flat land. Not exactly new, sprawled modern buildings in our smaller communities. But as I was driving through there, the way some of the row houses and buildings were so close together, and on the sides of steep hills and cliffs, they almost reminded me of the favelas in Sao Paulo and Rio.

One other thing that I truly love, and this is indicative of communities probably once you get past Huntingdon and State College Pa is the towns/cities and the roads that go through them, there is like literally 6 feet from the front door to the street. Just so different from Western PA.
 
recruitsreadtheseboards said:
Yeah, in places like that, elections do have consequences. I remember visiting one plant manager and he was really scared at the possible results. Same we have seen in Brazil. Here, our system has always been resolute and with enough checks and balances that despite cable news, people's lives never really change much.

Unfortunately without diving headfirst down into a rabbit hole......we seem to be on more of a path like our South American neighbors.
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You better believe it. Despite what we hear from Paul Krugman and the MME acolytes, deficits have consequences.
 
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