I am finally slowing down a bit and have some time to get back to blogging. India was amazing, but so tiring. It was my first vacation where I was so excited to get home. I am not a homebody but was just so mentally exhausted from this trip. I am going to write this post as genuine as possible. When you go to India, be prepared mentally and physically. It is hot, humid, and emotionally draining. But if you are prepared, you will have an amazing experience.
First things first…My friend that went with me had a hard time with all the staring and smells and wasn’t too fond of India. It made it a little tiring on us both because I felt bad dragging her around and she didn’t want to leave the hotel at some points during the vacation. Make sure you and whoever you are dragging along to this country know exactly what they are getting themselves into. Having a good travel buddy is the key to a successful trip.
Next, be prepared for some serious stare downs..I had no idea how little american or european tourists would be in India. As a white female with only one other female I was stared down everywhere I went. Being white already makes you seem to be famous as these people do not often see white people and they are very intrigued. Or maybe it was because I was a white girl without a white male by my side? Either way, I had people taking pictures of me every where I looked. I had lines of people trying to take pictures with me, and at one point had to run away from a crowd because they kept saying one more one more! I personally thought it was kind of funny and made me feel pretty special having people line up to take pictures! On the other hand, you will see people trying to sneak pictures and staring you up and down and it can get uncomfortable. The key is to stare right back and not let it bother you. A few times when I was on my own and caught a group of guys staring I would walk as quickly as possible and never looked down at a map because I didn’t want to seem like I didn’t know where I was going. For me, this was all entertaining and fun to have people so amused with me, besides the creepy old men staring it didn’t bother me at all.
The Country is a massive port-a-potty…India is beautiful and great.. but lets get real here. It stinks. and don’t let people tell you otherwise. I loved india but I will admit it had its faults and people pooping and peeing in the streets was one of those things. If anything though it should make you feel very grateful for what you have. I know it made me feel that way. I remember sitting at the train station in Jaipur and watching a man hold his disabled child over the ledge so he could go poop. It is not a pretty sight and flies are everywhere but try to take in the positive and realize you are getting to see real life for these people. It is pretty incredible to witness if you can handle it.
Be prepared to be a forced vegetarian… This may not be hard for some, but for me I am a meat and potatoes girl all day every day. I lost about 15 pounds during my two weeks in India and I was eating as much bread, rice, curry as possible. I missed chicken and beef and any meat so much I just craved burgers constantly. This is not as big of a deal but is something to prepare for.
It is HOT. India is very hot. and humid. Be prepared for this. We went in march to try and avoid the summer monsoons and heat as much as possible but it was still brutal. My friend was so dehydrated and almost passed out at one point. We would often take breaks to go back to the hotel and get water. If we were too far away from the hotel we would stop and find cold waters and check for the seals before opening to make sure they were not broken. I’m sure you know this by now if you have researched india, but always make sure the seals are not broken. People will refill water bottles with contaminated water and that is not something that would be fun to deal with as a tourist.
Lastly, traveling takes a while. India is not a modern country like most european countries or the states. It is hard to get around on public transportation. Trains will be delayed, flights will be delayed, first class trains will not be attached (yes that happens, and happened to me) so don’t expect everything to go smooth. We had a taxi driver get pulled over by the police and were stopped for a while in Mumbai. Almost every flight we took took an extra 3 hours for us to get there. Transportation from the hotel did not show to pick us up at the airport in Mumbai…. THESE THINGS ARE VERY COMMON!!! Do not get upset or grumpy and just expect your day traveling to take 2-3 hours longer than you originally planned. This is the poorest country in the world and you can’t expect the same experience you would have anywhere else. If you can come out of this with a good attitude, your winning at india and india will love you back.
Shelby Elese 