Travelling Questions

[funkalicious101]

I am graduating this year and I am not completely sure what I want to do with my life. I will probably be attending university for geological engineering the year after next (definately outside of Alberta, I want nothing to do with the oil sands). But next year I feel like I need to do something exciting and informative (maybe not the right word).
I though about places to travel and the country that always comes to the top of the list is................................................ .................................................. .................... India.

I recently feel the need to immerse myself in an extremely foreign, rich and diverse culture that I admire as much as I am curious about it.

I intend to spend several months there and I think I am going to look over every region, one by one, and pick out specific temples and other things I would like to see. I intend to spend time in both the metropolitan-esque cities and the extremely rural parts of the country.

Does anyone have any information that would help me? Anything at all about India or travelling would be helpful.

Thank you,
Sam.

[funkalicious101]

anyone?

[Deacon_Blues]

You want to go to India... I've been in the Delhi area twice for about 5-6 day visits, last summer and in December 2006. Towards the end of the first trip, I got a really really bad stomach that wasn't fine until two weeks after the trip. I also got a short but powerful fever attack one day after I came back home. At the second trip, I was more careful with what I ate. No milk products for me that time. I still got my stomach a bit upset, but clearly not as bad as after the first time.

Reserve a couple of weeks in the beginning of your trip for getting used to the climate, food and everything. You will most likely be sick in the beginning

Check out www.incredibleindia.org for general information about travelling to india. I found a useful comprehensive guide there earlier, but now I couldn't find it. Anyway check out the site, there are some useful information.

Be sure you check out Taj Mahal in Agra, preferably with a guide. There's plenty of places in Delhi worth to see too, like the Red Fort. Ask for guides in the hotels, you learn much more about the places that way. The bad thing with the guides is that they also take you to places where you can buy souvenirs. In those souvenir shops you're not shown everything at once, but led from one apartment to the other. You don't know when you've seen all of it. When you leave it feels like you have been robbed.... The quality on the stuff is generally ok, especially the marbleworks and handmade carpets, but it's expensive. They will however of course tell you the opposite.

Then there are beggars. Plenty of them in wintertime when the weather is nice, but very few in the summer when it's hot outside. It's heartbreaking to see the beggars, but I read somewhere they earn on an ordinary day about as much as a regular factory worker does and everybody says that you shouldn't encourage them by giving them your money. It's very hard to do, though.

I could tell much more, but I suggest you do some more research on your own. Find everything you can about travelling to india. You'l need it. It's not a country you visit unprepared. Perhaps also some of the Indian guys on TB can give any advice. I've seen at least two people from India posting here....

[funkalicious101]

Thanks a lot for that and the website. I'll be sure to carefully research this endevour out.

And I figured I would be spending the first two weeks in the john.

[funkalicious101]

Anyone else?

[Tsal]

There's a rather large bunch of backpackers that are drawn to India because it's a relatively cheap and culturally rich country to see. Look a few backpacker websites through, I'm sure you'll find a lot of information and even travel buddies in the internet.

If you want to get most out of your trip, get familiar with the local culture, history and language well in advance. To avoid stomach problems, eat everything steaming hot, avoid anything that's been lukewarm or out in the open for longer than 15 minutes, and take a shot or two of liquor every day. And with a few month trip, make sure you are prepared for the worst case scenarios - you might lose your belongings or documents or need to get out of the country quickly for some reason, so make sure you are prepared for such a thing.

[funkalicious101]

Okay, thanks for the tips.

I'm checking out some websites right now. And I am going to try and get as familiar with the regions and culture as possible before I go.

The fact that , aside from the initial flight, it looks rather inexpensive is nice, but it is not what drew me to chose India, that was definately the culture.

I will probably know some key phrases, but learning an entire language in less than a year will be tricky.

Thanks again,
Sam.

[Tsal]

Check your local library, I'm sure you'll find a few books about India and the language. A pocket guide might be valuable, but it's better if you don't have to rely on it all the time.

Oh, and more dirty and poor-looking you appear, less chance it is you become a victim of crime - no-one wants to risk it if you look like a dirty "traveller hippie" with probably less than 10 bucks on you and willing to hang on to his stuff, so don't dress like a wealthy western tourist on a sunday stroll Second-hand army stuff is a good for this use. I'd recommend the tv series "Madventures" where two guys travel all around the world with little money, avoiding the tourist traps and doing all kinds of weird stuff, it's European though so I'm not sure how easy it is to find subtitled version.

[funkalicious101]

Oh I dont intend to "tourist." I'm hoping to spend a couple months there, doing all sorts of things but generally staying away from resorts, fancy hotels or anything like that. And with hair to down to my nipples I have no problem pulling off a good "traveller hippie."

I'll check out that show though, because it seemed geared towards what I want to do.

[CrashBang]

Get plenty of shots. If any are required, get them. If they are recomended, get them.