India Whirlwind

Holy crap, India is a completely different experience from anything I have ever had. Absolutely did not know what to expect as I had limited preconceptions. Before venturing to this country, we were given a ton of advice/feedback from all kinds of people, mostly from folks who hadn’t been there and also from some who had.

Here is the basic list of things we were told:

1. They treat women poorly there.
2. It is super dangerous.
3. You will be hassled constantly.
4. It is so dirty.
5. The people are nice.
6. The people are rude.
7. Driving is insane there.
8. You are going to hate it.
9. It is just the most beautiful place.
10. It is a completely different world and don’t try to change it.
11. Do not give the beggars anything.
12. Stay in the nice hotels (tons of people said this).
13. It is so loud.
14. Lots of honking.
15. So much poverty, get ready.

Well, this is why we travel. I had a burning desire to see it for myself. I wanted to see the chaos, taste the food, see the culture, and experience everything we could in the 10 or so days we allotted. I am going to give my high level assessment in no particular order in this article and go into our detailed adventure more in other posts.

Driving (No. 7,13,14):
So driving is full-blown batshit bananas crazy!

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The rules in India are the opposite of Germany. It is a complete free for all. The car with the slightest edge in front gets the right-away. There are zero lanes. Yes, they are painted on the roads for some weird reason but are ignored. Small accidents are not a big deal and are mostly ignored. Cows may be present in the middle of a high speed motorway and will just be driven around. Super dangerous at night. Honking is a love language there. Anytime you pass on the right, you honk. Anytime you see another car, you honk. A horn is a REQUIREMENT to drive in India.

With all the honking, one would think there are a bunch of angry drivers. Not the case. Probably the most friendly/calm drivers we have experienced. Nobody was ever upset, they calmly honked their asses off and went about their day. It seriously didn’t matter to our driver or any of the others what other drivers did. Seems honking is just letting folks know you are there and doesn’t represent aggression at all.

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Safety and Demeanor (No. 1,2,3,4,5,6,11):
So we hired a driver and basically had a handler the entire time, so our experience may be a bit different than if you run around on your own.

Jeff and I felt safe 100% of the time. Owen is too optimistic to be concerned and was super chill. Andre did not like walking around Delhi. He was super paranoid someone was going to steal Owen and burn his eyes out. This is of course because we had the boys watch Slumdog before we left the states, which might not have been the best idea.

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Delhi was particularly crowded, dirty, and loud. This can be quite stimulating, and it did not help Dre that we passed a man lying on the road with an active bleeding head wound. The begging overall in India was not nearly as bad as we had expected. If you firmly say, “No” and keep walking, we were left alone relatively quickly. If you are more polite, they will definitely keep coming at you. Saying “No thank you” is not effective in deterring the begging. Karam our handler/driver who was AMAZING said it is becoming illegal to give money to the beggars because the government is trying to crack down on their numbers.

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I felt nothing negative being a women in the areas we visited. All of my interactions with merchants, staff at hotels, and locals were all positive and very respectful. I really didn’t feel uncomfortable at any moment, but this may be due to the fact that I had my husband and/or a male guide typically. I would feel a lot more vulnerable if I was by myself or with another girlfriend for sure. I personally would not travel alone to India as a single female without a guide because I would not want to deal with being more vigilant; however, I know several women who have traveled India happily and safely.

I would say we did not experience any rude behavior from anyone. Some kids flicked us off that were riding in a tuk-tuk but they were adorable and laughing super hard. They were just playing around. All of our guides were awesome and very kind.

There is an exorbitant amount poverty and trash is everywhere. I asked why there was so much trash, and it just seemed to be part of the culture and not a bother. There was a gentleman who was part of an Udaipur cleanup project that we interacted with which was a volunteer group of men working to try and keep the city free from loose trash.

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I am not really sure why there is so much trash strewn about in the places we visited in India. It is almost like there isn’t a proper trash collection infrastructure. It would seem to me that if the government is making it illegal to beg, they should establish a social program to have people clean up the cities and collect loose trash, earning a wage in place of begging. This would make the cities cleaner for the general population while helping these people.

For a country that has excellent education and produces so many brilliant engineers, doctors, and other professionals, it is really confusing on the tolerance of general uncleanliness and trash. Also, wire management seems to be an area for opportunity. It is just a mess. Our friend had told us, “You’re going to want to change things. Don’t! It’s just the way it is.” It was so interesting because he was incredibly right. I felt such a strong urge to want to start changing things.

MISC (No. 8,9,10,12)
I think everyone is starting to learn this, but… Instagramers are so full of shit.

Before going to India, we saw several photos of white women in sarees, acting like they found this serenity on a train or in the middle of the city, in a river, next to a temple, etc. What the fuck ever. There are definitely some beautiful photo opportunities, however the general environment is so far from serene that it is maddening they are even trying to paint that picture.

There were two incredibly beautiful moments for me. One was seeing an Indian couple taking wedding photos. She was soooooo freaking beautiful and the clothing for both the bride and groom was just awesome.

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The second was when I was in the train station and made eye contact with this dad across the station. He could tell I was geeking out over his baby girl and he motioned to me if I would like to hold her. I was so excited. He crossed the train station and I was able to hold this precious little girl! It was such a sweet and kind interaction.

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Overall, definitely not in a rush to go back, but we did not hate it as some thought we would. We are very happy we had this experience and are so grateful for our hosts and guides. Stay tuned for another post where I will touch on the AMAZING FOOD and hotels.