It's always been a dream of mine to visit India. It comes off as a world of mystery, exoticness, and wonder. I adore the food, love history, and am fascinated by religions and cultures.Anybody been? Any recommendtions? Looking to go next year.
>>2817442It's a shithole. However, I would admit its monuments are among the most beautiful ones I've visited. The thing is, well, it's still India, and sooner or later you're gonna have to exit the monument and see the Indian way of life.
>>2817453**will admit
>>2817442You’ll have a bad time
>>2817442I'm here now. Idk what all the pussies whine about. The cities in Indonesia are worse. Huge holes falling into sewers or no sidewalks at all. The women are uglier in India on average and the hygiene is worse but the food in India is S-tier and you can easily spend a year here getting into all sorts of adventure and strange experiences. You either love it or you hate it. I love chaos and bustle and myriad opportunities. You won't know until you get here
>>2817479>the food in India is S-tierShit tier?
>>2817480who doesn't love a cheeky curry, mate? luv muh curry sauce.
>>2817479What places are you going to? I'm heading there next month and plan to travel around for about 2 months
>>2817482Dunno. Not really a planner. I have a one year visa. Just gonna chill and see what comes to mind later. Want to see Mumbai though, just because of how insanely huge it is and wealth disparities
>>2817479Why would you say "I'm here now" and not share any details beyond generic India praise? India seems rather short on hotels compared to Southeast Asia. A city like Beed with 200K people has only four bookable hotels, all of which are next to the main thru highway. This place looks pretty nice for only $13, but the location is ass.
>>2817482You should go to Varanasi, Rajgir, Savasthi, Kushinagar and Vesali.
>>2817442I went and got terrible food poisoning to the point I thought I was going to die. I couldn’t stop shitting. I only went to “safe restaurants” too. It’s all a lie. It’s always a lie.
>>2817479>>2817481I don't think Bongs understand. Maybe Indian food and curry is normal to you the same way every American even the most virulently racist redneck type has had Chinese food or Mexican food. But nobody here but Indians eats Indian food. Even seeing the Indian font letters outside a business is immediately off-putting and repulsive to us.
>>2817442>Anybody been? Any recommendtions? Looking to go next year.Yeah. Bring enough MREs so you don't have to eat the local food. 2 MREs a day is fine, 1 if you don't mind losing a couple pounds.Drink only bottled water from chain stores only the biggest most popular brands. Indians do this thing where they refill and reseal trash bottles with tap water and sell them at small stores, so you might be drinking sewage if you get water that way. Treat the country as a hostile alien planet and any exposure might kill you, and you will be fine.Do not even react to touts/beggers, if you look at them and tell them no they take it to mean they should try harder. Violence works if you think nobody is looking, a jab in the kidney will get most persistent pests to fuck off. Practice your "1 inch punch". It's possible to severely discourage indians without making any overt body motions.Unfortunately none of the food is safe because it is handled by animals with no hygiene who cross contaminate everything. Don't go there for the food.If something seems sus, it is sus. All Indians are ratfuck theives scammers and homosexual rapists. It's a semi open pvp zone so if you enjoy hurting people, you can let yourself be scammed and when they get you isolated, you can lay into them. They are very weak. An untrained sedentary white man can easily take 2 or 3 Indians at once. If you have any training and conditioning at all, the number of Indians you can cripple or knock unconscious depends only on your stamina.A white mma fighter could commit a mass murder in India with his hands only and nobody would show up to stop him. He would just run out of energy and need to take a break.Anyways, you'll get sick no matter what because eventually you will fuck one of their nasty women and her polluted cunt will transfer jeetstink to you and wipe you out for a couple days anyways. Wear an astronaut suit and weild a crowbar maybe. Good luck.
>>2817603Calm down anon. Stay home in fact >>2817582>I don't think Bongs understandNot a bong>>2817564>Why would you say "I'm here now" and not share any details beyond generic India praise?Maybe I'm just not a very helpful person
I was planning to go for 3 months, ended up leaving after 1, which 2 weeks were spent in a beach hut in Goa. It's shit. You will get sick, you will get scammed, the constant honking noise and crippled beggar kids tugging on your pants while rubbing their bellies will eventually get to you.
>>2817624Sounds like you're a bit weak and fussy. Goa. What an NPC destination
>>2817603lmao good descriptionfarthest I've gone though is just shoving them aside which they take quite personally, they are incredibly weak thoughit's fun chaos, just get some ketamine and benzos and wander around like a hindu cowrishikesh, bhagsu, gokarna, kerala, pushkar, have some fun
>>2817603>>2817639I don't get what bothers you guys so much. Maybe you're short? Scrawny jeets ask me "where you from?" "Hello friend" "which country?" Who cares. A little intimidation and they go away. Great food, nature, weird shit to explore. This is my second time in India. Never got sick, knock on wood. I just think there's a lot of pussies on here.
>>2817647the only time I got physical is when jeets budged in line and wouldn't listen to reason, so I gave em a shove and they got lostwhat do you do when jeets budge in front of you? anyway I spent 16 months in india and had a great time, did you even read my post? didn't even say I was bothered, you sound like a queer
>>2817672Idk which one you are, you're either the alarmist, hysterical one or the one agreeing with him. Someone was pushing infront of me yesterday when lining up for a train ticket. I told the guy there was a line here. He disappeared. Sounds like you're just not very intimidating. Perhaps you're physically always looking up to men and struggling to be heard? Idk what it's like to be small.
>>2817442best thing to do>sexy dance parties w dancing israelis and other kinkster hippies in Himachal >the intentional community of auroville>staying in between all the universities in bangalore and having lots of sex>jaisalmer and pushkar Overrated>agra >jaipur>rishikesh>goa in fact I don’t like anything Indian with beach and water SEA is right there massive waste of timePlace I’d like to go >hampi but it’s worse nowHorrible place (but haven’t been)Varanasi, in fact, if you like Varanasi you should discard everything I said were too different.
>>2817626I've been to Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Varanasi. Goa was to rest and recover from food poisoning and what I believe was coronavirus ( that was in early 2020).
>>2817479This is true, though India has some hotties. The problem is women are oddly rare outside. It's seriously a 10 to 1 man to woman ratio out there. To answer the OP, Mumbai and Jaisalmer are my favorites in India. No majorly bad experiences there. And the good things were simply incredible. Scenery, food, architecture-all worth it. Delhi has some cool shit but it's a generally ugly area. And not just as a city. It's in a flat, dry, gloomy environment. Kind of cursed from its inception.
India looks more and more likely as my first overseas destination. Tough to beat picrel for flying out of RDU. Start my overseas adventure by walking out of BOM airport at one o'clock in the morning.>>2817603Travel with your own water bottle, and use water purification tablets. That's what I plan to do.>>2817580Your gut is weak and incapable of processing toxins in food without having a complete meltdown. My colon is cranky as fuck and perpetually inflamed, but it does its damn job of absorbing the toxins and breaking them down. You should avoid drinking too much liquid with or after a meal, no matter how spicy it is, in order to ensure your digestive juices remain concentrated enough to destroy any bacteria which are present.>>2817626NPCs don't go to Goa anymore. They all go to Thailand. >>2817675Yep, learn to reprimand people when they behave inappropriately. It's not difficult if you have a naturally stern nature.
>>2817908>never been overseas>starts lecturing people on gut fortitude and how to deal with third worldieslol you're in for a treat
>>2817675>Idk which one you are>Idk what it's like to be small.so you're an obese retard with no reading comprehensionburger I take it
>>2817442>Anybody been? Any recommendtions? Looking to go next year.it's really fun but everything people say is also kind of true, it's very dirty, you will get sick, etc >>2817479this the level of freedom in india is fucking amazing, you can do anything, literally whatever you want, even with like $1000 a month for poor explorers there is no better country in my opinion
>>2817908What are you, who has never left the States, giving anyone advice?
>>2817909First overseas destination of the 2025-2026 travel season, sorry>>2817959So you can be a ketamine and cannabis addled goofball clownmaxxing in the streets and everyone's gonna clown along with you instead of giving you dirty looks like "who is this creepy weirdo, can you just go away please?"Reckon that could be fun.
>>2817977>everyone's gonna clown along with younot at all, that isn't what I said you can go on adventures with people you meet in the hostels, both indian and foreigner, but "everyone" is a massive stretch, you need to remember where you are lmaothe indians in hostels will be upper class, more open to adventure, more culturally similar to you as an American or European.outside of that, the ones you meet in the streets or whatever will have nothing whatsoever in common with you, and will think you are some kind of criminal for using drugs and alcohol (aside from the goons who actually are criminals) >giving you dirty looks like "who is this creepy weirdo, can you just go away please?"I mean there's so many retards on the streets in india that this probably won't happen unless you are walking in the streets naked or screaming or something
>>2817977I did smoke weed in india but it was garbage weed, way lower quality than what you can get in the USA maybe that's a good thing, possibly more enjoyable that some high purity goo that zoots you out of your mind weed is illegal of course but really common in the northern parts of india like rishikesh and dehradun of course, around college campuses it should not be hard to find if you are social No idea about ketamine. Personally anon I would not take the chance of buying drugs in foreign countries, that sounds like the dumbest thing you could possibly do, the police are already VERY willing to fuck with you if you don't do anything wrong, if you do break the law just imagine how fucked you will be
>>2817910Are you new to trv? There are no IDs here. I'm not American and I tower above you. Most of the problems you face abroad do not apply to other people, they are just general short man issues.
>>2817988>the police are already VERY willing to fuck with you if you don't do anything wrongReally? What do they do? That's a bit worrying
An uncle of mine visited Calcutta last yearHe said the air everywhere he went reminded him of stadium restrooms, just this undercurrent of hot shit smell that never goes awayTwo days in, he got a bad stomach bug that forced him to go to the hospital. They perforated enough veins trying to get an IV into him that his arm looked black from his elbow to fingertips. Thankfully, it was basically just a big blood bruise that resolved on its own.He got sick of being hassled by people in the street for money and just spent the last couple of days in his hotel before flying back. Said the guy next to him on the return flight smelled so bad he was dry heaving.He traveled for work all over and was basically a Ned Flanders type of dude, but he would go off about that trip. He to this day doesn't have a nice word to say about India.
>>2818008have you ever traveled in a third world country before anon? they are literally all the same The police will pull you over or even approach you on the street and try to give you a ticket for some retarded technicality they make you pay a bribe. Yes, it's because you are a foreigner and a tourist. if you be nice and act like they did you a favor, say "I didn't know that officer! Thank you!", you can get away with paying maybe $20-$30. it's common across mexico, india, anywhere in south america, etc.
>>2818034>have you ever traveled in a third world country before anon?If only you knew how stupid that question was>they are literally all the sameThen nothing to worry about then. You made it sound like they were exceptionally bad
>>2818039ah, in that case no worries yea I made it sound more serious than it actually is, if you plan on renting a scooter in certain coastal cities (especially goa, where you WILL end up as a tourist) you should expect to pay bribes. it's unfortunately unavoidable since they are stationed right on all the major bridges and specifically look for foreigners. I haven't heard of any tourists / foreigners being detained by police on bogus charges or something during my time there but still dude I wouldn't risk going out of your way to buy drugs unless you can find some on others at your hostel. drugs are fairly common in the hostels, met a guy who had some acid on him, obviously a lot of weed. I don't think you'll find ketamine in india unless ordered online.
Rajasthan seems amazing. Stunning architecture and temples and lots of weird shit like the rat temple. Anyone been there?
>>2818031Funny, I found Calcutta to be one of the nicer cities, at least in the north. The place was basically built by bongs so unlike pretty much everywhere else there is some semblance of urban planning with wide streets traversed by actual cars. And since there's fuck all tourists, the people aren't used to milking you dry yet, I just got the local price for street food and autos without even arguing.
>>2818078Sounds kino. Normies are just faggots in india
>>2818079Don't get me wrong, objectively speaking it's a dump and I don't blame the uncle for hating it if it's his first contact with the country. It's only decent if you measure it by Indian standards, which is to say, the rock bottom of quality of life.
I did not like India, I went there with an open mind and had an ambivalent view on Indians (mostly only met them playing cricket and catching taxis) but came back to Australia with an extreme conviction of never letting my country facilitate any more of their culture. I was paid by my government to go there on a study tour. They put us up in a top-tier university for a few months, then had us in New Delhi rotating through embassies and government departments. I was hospitalised due to the air pollution. It was depressing seeing dead people on the streets, piles of trash, and the shit smeared everywhere>>2817453>its monuments are among the most beautiful ones I've visitedFor me it was annoying. They make foreigners pay extra to visit them, then they bitch and moan about how foreigners destroyed the monuments and how they were perfect before the foreigners arrived. Then you go in there and there is Hindi graffiti everywhere and piles of trash and the entire complex is decaying. No desire to preserve it for future generations. Same goes for their art galleries and museums, it was disgusting how mistreated all these great works and artefacts were in the national institutions, never seen anything like it anywhere else I've been in the world. >>2817479>the food in India is S-tierI have a fair few food intolerances, so I went in knowing that I was going to be on the toilet 100% guaranteed, I went all out trying everything and was actually surprised I was not fucked over more. Yeah, its not great, and you can tell you're in a shithole with poor food quality standards, but I wasn't dying from it. Its boring after a month though. Everywhere you go, spiced slop with a bit of bread and/or rice on the side. No distinct flavours of individual ingredients, a mouthfeel of mush, for the most part it felt like eating baby food. Their desserts are trash too, nothing to look forward to afterwards. It was nice to come home and eat a nice steak and actually use my jaw to chew.
>>2817442You're not a real traveller until you've spent at least a 3 week stay in Indian hostels. Until then you're a tourist.
Honestly if the people in India are somehow worse then the Sikhjeets on my recent flight not wearing socks, smelling like shit and fucking talking nonstop on a 5 hour flight then there is ZERO chance I will ever visit their dogshit trash pile of a country. I actually wanted to see Goa and the Nepal border side some time ago but holy fuck I can’t even get past how much I despise these fucking lazy dimwitted cunts they all need to be deported.
>>2818103So, are you one of those anon who tell others to stay in Paharganj to experience "the indian vibes"?>>2818095Yeah, that little tiny detail to pay more than the locals is stupid, especially when they don't take proper care of their infrasctructure.
>>2817977>"who is this creepy weirdo, can you just go away please?"india is the mecca of weirdos and creeps, you would blend right in and yes I have been a ketamine addled weirdo smoking hash wherever and whenever and nobody gave a fuckI got some curious looks while snorting K on a public bus on a deranged journey from northern himachal to rajasthan via local busses only
>>2818003well with an ounce of reading comprehension you could have figured out which one I wasalso I am above average height in my western nation and tower above all the indians and third worldies, doesn't stop the little buggers from trying to budge every now and thenI assumed you were american because of your strange obsession with size and the amount of importance you put on it and you also shared an anecdote of someone trying to budge in front of you despite your towering figure lolI guess words could work but I prefer a little shove, much more fun that way, especially because in western nations touching others is highly forbidden and taboo but in india it's just part of the general activity
>>2817603>drink only bottled water from chain storesWhat chain stores lmaoYou can go days without seeing one
>>2818135Not reading all that, sensitive short king
Just bought me a flight to Mumbai for December 1st. Designated shitting streets, here I come! The fare was $408 from Air France, a little higher than the $347 I screenshotted for November 5th >>2817908. BTW the same flight booked a week later on December 8th costs $908; two weeks later on December 15th it costs $1672. Seriously, WTF is with European airlines and their outrageous price-gouging? >>2817986Believe it or not, Thirdie guys do have a lot in common with me. I traveled thousands of miles from anyone I knew to land a job with someone who hired me sight unseen. It's a life choice they can relate to very well.>>2817988What about that bhang drink? It looks like it's chock full of good cannabinoids. >>2818034If you ride a motorbike or drive a car, you are at constant risk of being shaken down by the cops in Thirdie countries. As a foot traveler, Thirdie police never harass me. The fuck are they gonna try and ticket me for? Insufficient tread on my sneakers? Violating the 5 km/h pedestrian speed limit?>>2818031When my olfactory receptors are exposed to traffic fumes, they stop functioning. As long as I don't come back to a hotel room reeking of shit, I'll be fine. >>2818095Not really giving a fuck if I like India or not desu. My expectations will be shit, so anything that isn't shit will be a pleasant surprise. >>2818103>hostelsScrew that. I'm all about frugal travel, but I draw the line at sleeping with strangers.>>2818136WATER PURIFICATION TABLETS. USE THEM. I can't stress this enough. All these people with stories of horrible "food" poisoning in India or Mexico? 9/10 I bet it's something they drank, not something they ate. Drinking anything on an empty stomach results in the liquid being washed directly into the small intestine, an environment which should be mostly free of bacteria. When it gets contaminated, you're in for a world of hurt.
>>2818302>WATER PURIFICATION TABLETS. USE THEMLmao. Bottled water is fine. Don't be retarded
>>2818073I wish I visited when I went, but didn't get the chance to go. Keep in mind that it's considered one of the poorer states in india. services aren't as reliable, roads are worse, people are dumber. but yes, the history and architecture and general aesthetic is great
>>2818302>but I draw the line at sleeping with strangers.dude stay in the hostels it's a fucking blast and it's cheap and almost always a great experience nobody will fuck with your shit, and you shouldn't be bringing super valuable things on a trip anyways
I wouldn't eat the food there.
>>2818325To the contrary, hostels have never been a great experience in any of the countries I've visited. Getting woken up constantly through the night by people arriving, moving around, coughing, sniffling, snoring, digging in their packs. You end up laying in bed until noon trying to catch up on your rest, which leaves you feeling groggy and demotivated all afternoon, hardly capable of handling the streets outside. Plentiful hostels mean a tourist trap, where being white will subject you to rampant scamming and street hustling. Oh, and the smell. Every full dormitory has to have a stinker, and it's even worse if people eat food in the dorms.Much better to go out and have your fill of social interactions with curious English-speaking locals, then when you've had enough of the humanity, retreat to a quiet(ish) room to sit at a desk doing some poasting, planning and browsing. The decent hotels strictly prohibit food in the rooms, which helps keep them clean, bug-free and fresh smelling.
>>2817603>India is a PVP zone. If you like hurting people, you'll love itFuck i Keked so hard reading this
>>2818606>Fuck i Keked so hard reading thistrv is low IQ
>>2817442Go to Kerala most people are chill there
Anyone been to Mumbai? Been traveling a while. Thinking of renting an apartment there for a few months.
How bad are the sleeper trains really if I stick to 1ac or 2ac class?
>>2819092>2ac classI just did it. Compared to what? Was late af. I'm just gonna fly everywhere
>>2819093>I'm just gonna fly everywhereno matter how you travel in india you are risking your life
>>2819093>Compared to what?Compared to the night trains in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam I guess? Are the other passengers annoying? Is the food ok? Do you know if you can really order food deliver to most trains or just certain ones? I don't really care if they're slow/late if they're reasonably comfortable
>>2819123>Compared to the night trains in ThailandOlder. Smellier. I smelt real shit for a while. Like when your shit sticks to the side of the toilet and stinks the place out. Guy opposite put his feet up on the seat right next to me. That would never happen in Thailand. I had a 6 hours journey. It was 6 hours late. They did have power outlets that worked though. And nobody was annoying or loud or antisocial.
>>2819134In Laos and Thailand you have to be careful with your feet. They have strong taboos there. Some farang sit at the back of temples with their leg out and feet pointed at the Buddha, which is probably the worst thing you coudl do in a temple
>>2819134I've seen plenty of people put their bare feet up on seats on Thai local trains. Did the train bathroom have a door? Someone might've left it ajar. >6 hours lateWhoo-ey. Someone must've ACKed on the tracks. >>2818666Kochi is 1350 km south of Mumbai. Traversing the coast sounds like a decent idea for India in December. The pollution might be more tolerable on the coast than it is in the interior. For onward travel I can fly direct Kochi to Bangkok, at the usual fucked-up hours for budget flights to/from India. >2:10 AM to 7:50 AM>11:50 PM to 5:05 AM$106 to fly out 12/31, at the peak of the New Year travel season. Good idea to buy that departure flight sooner rather than later, I'm thinking.
>>2817442Why do you wanna be surrounded by demon worshippers (Hindus)?
>>2819383No one would. It's just a dumb shill thread.
>>2819388>Nobuddy gows to indiar
Currently planning a 5-week trip to India / Nepal. Starting with Golden Triangle shit (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Ranthambore, maybe Varanasi), then into Nepal for some trekking. Then down to Goa for half a week to relax by the beach, and then finishing with the "rickshaw run", where we rent a tuk-tuk and drive it from Chennai to Kochi (not sure whether that's a fucking stupid idea or not yet though)
>>2819388>It's just a dumb shill threadwhat exactly is being shilled here? how not horrible at best india is for travel?
>>2819092>>2819123I went in 3A once and it was perfectly fine. Nobody was loud or smelly. The price tag is already prohibitive for the poorer jeets. Honestly, went better than my Viet train ride where the compartment floor was sticky with mucus after everyone was hacking phlegm on it all night.Don't go SL though if you want to sleep. These are completely out of control. The moment the ticket guy is out, there's suddenly three times as many people in the carriage with a constant stream of vendors, hijras and other undesirables.
>>2819460>hijraswhat's the deal with them? are they just annoying ladyboy beggars or do they try to pickpocket/rob you?
>>2819465They walk through the carriage making a shitlload of noise and clapping in your face / pulling on your clothes. You either pay or get cursed or whatever.They usually fuck off and skip foreigners since britishers don't really know or care about their ancient magic. If one takes interest in you, it's usually easy to get rid of them by looking puzzled and confused.That said, I've heard stories of hijras pricking people who don't pay with pins and other such HIV-friendly ventures, so I guess depends on your luck.As for pickpocketing, I'd just assume every single being in India is potentially one if opportunity strikes.
>>2817639>>2817977why do you keep posting about ketamine, were you able to get ketamine there? is it even fun to do a drug like ketamine on a trip when you might be kinda sick? what if you throw up or get REALLY sick? is it worth the risk?
>>2819626Ketamine is kinda sorta legal in India. You technically need a prescription, but it's India, a few rupees can easily solve that problem. It's a helluva drug, puts you in a very strange otherworldly headspace for half an hour or so, with no paranoid/overwhelming feelings either...then you gradually feel your brain being put back into the drab mundane confines of conventional consciousness. The effects can't really be described in words. It's very "clean", in that it doesn't result in any physical sickness or hard crash afterwards (unless you abuse the shit out of it).>>2819476Stereotypical pajeetery. I wouldn't be too worried about pickpocketing, but if the crowd is getting dense enough for people to bump into you, ensure that your wallet/passport/phone are in your front pockets.
>>2819633is it dangerous to do ketamine without having a tripsitter? explain the concept of a k hole to me I don't know much about ketamine at all
>>2819634Ketamine is a tranquilizer, so if you bump repeatedly, eventually you will slip into a place of complete dissociation from conventional reality. Yet I found that my physical coordination remained remarkably unimpaired, though everything looked so fucking intensified. Took a selfie and yes, I look absolutely fucking zooted. I made friends with the owners of a budget hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur (the only one I could find where every room had a window), and they gifted me some ketamine because they were burned out on zooting themselves. I stared out my window at a city landscape with traffic that all looked as unfamiliar and unreal as if I had just teleported down from outer space. I saw a building with the logo of my dad's company, and it felt like I was spanning enormous distances of space and time with my mind's powers alone.For weeks after those ketamine sessions, however, I stroogled with extreme boredom and disengagement with my surroundings.
>>2819634I wouldn't do it in the street, because you might walk into busy traffic as your brain becomes completely disconnected from an understanding of the basic physics of moving objects.
>>2819633>You technically need a prescription, but it's India, a few rupees can easily solve that problemIs this how it works for most meds in india?
>>2819656I went to the doctor in india. when doctors give you a prescription you go to any pharmacy and just buy the medication. most pharmacies dont give a singular fuck about doctors prescriptions and just want to sell the medication.
>>2817773>The problem is women are oddly rare outside. It's seriously a 10 to 1 man to woman ratio out there.Is that really a surprise? Not even the monitor lizards are safe in India
>>2819633>Ketamine is kinda sorta legal in India. You technically need a prescription, but it's India, a few rupees can easily solve that problem. It's a helluva drug, puts you in a very strange otherworldly headspace for half an hour or so, with no paranoid/overwhelming feelings either...then you gradually feel your brain being put back into the drab mundane confines of conventional consciousness. The effects can't really be described in words. It's very "clean", in that it doesn't result in any physical sickness or hard crash afterwards (unless you abuse the shit out of it).It's also very neutral to me. There is no euphoria-inducing aspect to it, it's greatest power is to give you a sense of how bizzare the experience is. A sense of confusion trying to understand what's happening to you. Take it with molly if you want to transform it into something more impressive. On its own it's just lacking imo
Tried and failed to buy a flight from India to Southeast Asia today. Two airline websites malfunctioning, no record of my payment even being attempted according to my bank. Anyway, a one year tourist eVisa is only $40 for burgers. Holy cowshit, I'm gonna get stuck in the subcontinent for the entirety of this upcoming travel season. Heading south from Mumbai in search of fresh sea breezes to keep away the filthy winter smog, then as the temps begin touching the 100 degree mark in late winter, slogging north town by town on local buses and trains through the springtime heat and the inescapable infinity crowds before finally reaching the base of the greatest mountain range on Earth and beginning the ascent, village by village. There is no other region on Earth that offers a journey of this caliber.
>>2819692>Anyway, a one year tourist eVisa is only $40I'm here on that visa. I love it. I can just chill. In an ashram atm. $7 a-day including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pretty chill. Want to go rent an apartment in Mumbai for a few months though.Remember with the visa, it's only a one-year visa if you come in the middle of a year. Because you can only stay 180 days per calendar year. I just arrived so I essentially have 10 months.
>>2819891What made you choose India of all places to spend a year chilling?
>>2817442I went to India a few months ago out of curiosity/spite since everyone on YouTube always warns you not to travel there. They were probably right in hindsight, but I plan to go back again this winter because I actually enjoyed being there. This will probably sound like cliché hippie backpacker bullshit, but India has a really unique balance of chaos and tranquility. You can be completely barraged by noise while walking around a city at one moment and watching entire cities go by on a train in near silence at another moment. The sheer size of the country plus the variety of biomes and cultures is underrated, there's a vast amount of history everywhere you look, the cost of living is cheap, and locals generally speak good English and usually are hospitable. But, there's a lot of scammers/beggars, traffic laws are nonexistent, air quality is shit, hygiene/cleanliness standards are awful, you WILL get food poisoning at one point or another, and you'll most likely have a few near-death experiences also. I wish more people here went there so I could read more horror story greentexts(or just interesting greentexts in general) instead of the usual boring "oh no i spilled spaghetti in front of a girl in Japan, it's over" posts that endlessly plague /trv/ TL;DR>go if you can tolerate discomfort and want a unique experience>don't go if you can't tolerate discomfort and don't want to take risks
>>2819891Whoa, India really is paradise for a budget traveler! >I essentially have 10 monthsThe 180 day limit is per stay AND per calendar year. If you wish to stay longer than 180 days, you must register your presence with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office.I intend to break up my stay in India with a visit to Nepal. Nepal visa-on-arrival is $50 for 30 days and $125 for 90 days. Another noteworthy restriction: foreigners can depart India by land anytime/anywhere, but you must re-enter India at one of the designated airports or seaports with your multiple-entry tourist eVisa. Here is a handy-dandy PDF listing everything you need to know about being a (legal) foreigner in India:https://www.mha.gov.in/PDF_Other/Annex%20II_01022018.pdf
Oh well. I thought that link was the PDF of official eVisa regulations I had found earlier, but it wasn't. The other PDF was something like 8 pages.>>2819959Do you ever fuck with the scammers when you're feeling ornery, or do you just ignore them all?
>>2819646>For weeks after those ketamine sessions, however, I stroogled with extreme boredom and disengagement with my surroundings.wtf that's crazy do you find it worthwhile? is it just a fun trip or does it really make you think differently about life?
>>2817442
>>2819981Thank you Indian tourism board
>>2819981>Whoa, India really is paradise for a budget traveler!It's a cult though. Don't visit an ashram during a life crisis. They provide belonging, work (purpose), a belief in the divine (meaning), structure. I'm good in life and I can see what they're doing. There's so many international people where I am who have new names and wear religious clothes. They're lost to their families and culture. Careful with this shit.>The 180 day limit is per stay AND per calendar year. If you wish to stay longer than 180 days, you must register your presence with the Foreigners Regional Registration OfficeThanks anon. I actually didn't know this. Relying on ChatGPT too much
>>2820000When you're high you feel like you're on the verge of unlocking some major paradigm shift in your brain, but for me it faded out of reach as the minutes pass and the drug gets metabolized. I remember walking down to meet my friend in the street after a potent trip and he asks what I'm wanting to eat. Eat? Suddenly it dawned on me that I am not some cosmically telepathic superhuman, but just an ordinary blob who eats slop and shits it out in total mundanity, stuck in the trivial routines of daily life. That feeling of disappointment was very strong and persistent.>>2820058TBF, you can take these kind of pictures in a lot of Third World destinations. Beauty and garbage in the same shot.
>>2820247>When you're high you feel like you're on the verge of unlocking some major paradigm shift in your brain, but for me it faded out of reach as the minutes pass and the drug gets metabolized. I remember walking down to meet my friend in the street after a potent trip and he asks what I'm wanting to eat. Eat? Suddenly it dawned on me that I am not some cosmically telepathic superhuman, but just an ordinary blob who eats slop and shits it out in total mundanity, stuck in the trivial routines of daily life. That feeling of disappointment was very strong and persistentNever felt like that on K but I enjoyed reading this anyway
>>2820246Sounds based. I've spent my adult life stripping away my Judeo-Christian programming, and the process has accelerated past the age of 30. Ownership of property was recently rejected in principle, though not completely in practice. The name I was assigned at birth - randomly selected from the Holy Bible - retains no personal meaning. My family is kind to me, but in a detached way. Since heading out on my own, they have never made any serious attempt to influence my decision making, nor have I asked them for help. All in all, this upcoming trip to India feels like arriving at the brink of destiny. The one certainty for the future is death, and it's time to start preparing for it in earnest.
shit country, shit people
>>2820255>tips fedora
>>2820255That doesn't sound like inner strength at all.
>>2819987>Do you ever fuck with the scammers when you're feeling ornery, or do you just ignore them all?Not intentionally because they're generally the ones who initiate conversation first. I only play dumb and lead people on as a means to defuse/leave a tense situation without making a scene. Only notable case that I can remember off the top of my head was a tuk-tuk driver in Delhi going apeshit and chasing me on the street because I gave him the exact amount of rupees that we agreed upon prior to the ride and immediately left before he had a chance to pull the scam where he raises the final price for whatever reason. >>2818325>India>hostelsA hotel is the one oasis of peace, quiet, and solitude in India. Think of it in the same context as the safehouse in Left 4 Dead. It's worth the extra 20 dollars a night. I stayed in ONE hostel during my entire time in India (Agra) and it felt as if I was in the sick ward at a hospital. Everyone in my dorm was bedridden with food poisoning and they were all from the UK so they spent the entire night going back and forth between complaining about their trip, coordinating their next plans, playing videos without headphones, coughing loud enough to break the sound barrier, and making banter about the most trivial shit imaginable. I eventually just slept in the lobby because it was psychologically easier to fight off mosquitoes all night instead of listening to them.
>>2819412It is a very stupid idea, and seeing how Indians drive and how much time every distance takes will deter you, but it sounds like fun and you should do it if you have patience and courage. Probably easier to buy and resell than to rent although your trip might be too short for that>>2819633I've heard of people getting ketamine recently but you have to have a prescription, there's been a crackdown on pharma drugs, opiates especially, although I don't doubt that with the right amount of money you could get anything, it's India after all. I was looking for DXM and the guy at the pharmacy just asked "how many bottles do you need?">>282030919-year-olds think decent sleep and privacy are overrated but yeah you can get a clean enough room with AC for 20 dollars even in Mumbai, or you can rent a one-bedroom studio with a kitchen for 150 dollars a month, so hostels really are pointless. If you have low standards for hygiene you can find 8 dollar rooms easily and still have a private bathroom to empty your bowels.
>>2819626you can find ketamine in any city, but not any pharmacy, sometimes you have to visit a fewit's fun as hell, I was bumping it regularly, I found myself going from northern himachal to rajasthan via local busses only with no memory of the trip while high on K the whole time, had a little plastic box I would regularly inhale with a strawwhat a blur
>>2819649my polish buddy was basically on the verge of a k-hole walking down the main street of rishikesh in the middle of the road like a local cow, traffic just swerved around him, all the drivers there are adapted to look out for random things in the road (monkeys, cows, dogs, people)you're safer walking in the middle of the road in India than you are in the USA
>>2819692go check out Gokarna and find a place to stay in Kudle beach - it was amazing 6 years ago, I wonder if it's still good
>>2820365I thought the place to find ketamine in third world countries was farm animal husbandry supply stores.
>>2820431in india it's the pharmacy, maybe you could find it at vets as well, didn't bother because anywhere I went I was able to find it 300-1200 rupees per bottle
>>2820368I went this winter, it's a nice quiet place to take a break from the swarm of India and do things slowly day by day, the furthest room from the beach is like a 5 minutes walk, the locals who run the restaurants are generally nice, but it felt weird being surrounded by so many Israelis. I wasn't acquainted with these people and didn't have an opinion on them but they're loud and rude, worse than the English and Russians. It's kind of a safe resort for cheap western hippies, peculiar vibe, people in their mid-30s with no jobs who spend three months there playing frisbee and smoking joints, people who travel to India with their kids, retired couples. It was a much better vibe than retarded North Goa (although if you like to party every night there are events all week there) but I'm not into taking a plane to go on a beach to be surrounded by white people, I can do that at home.
>>2820465>urrounded by so many IsraelisThat's an absolute no for me. Not even gonna look it up. Anywhere else in India infested with Israelis?
>>2820465>It was a much better vibe than retarded North GoaCan you talk more about what sucks about that area and is South Goa better? I was planning to include a stop of somewhere in Goa for a week but I'm having trouble making sense of the different towns and understanding what the areas are like today rather than information from 20 years ago
Anyone been to Varanasi? Thinking of flying there next week but sounds insane and also disgusting.
>>2820542>sounds insanewhat do you mean by insane? The traffic is insane, and the pollution is also insane, but I'm not sure if that's the answer you are looking for>and also disgusting.This is true, it's disgusting as fuck, however, I will say it's quite an experience. Maybe you should go and get to the conclusion why you should never ever consider visiting it a second time.
>>2820578October is packed with festivals. I'm not at all bothered by the rest of India like most anons here. I liked Delhi, it was fascinating. I lived in Phnom Penh and other 3rd world countries over the years. I can't imagine Varanasi will overwhelm me. Why is it so much worse than the rest of India?
>>2820472Any place you go in India where there's tourists you will encounter unexpected numbers of French, Russian, and Israeli people, different but recognizable crowds. I know their R's are even worse than the French ones and an absolute earsore but I shiggydidoo hope you are not serious about traveling to street-shitting humanhive central when the mere idea of a few people with curly hair and big noses bothers you>>2820506It's actually not that bad if you find an apartment a few kilometers inland (can't do that before being on site) but the beaches in North Goa are loud, there's always some party going on and drunk people and tiny streets full of shops for tourists worse than Marrakech. I wouldn't stay there more than a few days but it's a good place to meet people and get contacts for stuff. Goa is nice for the variety of food in the same place, especially meat and fish, and for the cheap alcohol. North to South it goes from young and partying to old and enjoying the calm for tourists, somewhat from poor village Hindu to rich urban Goan Christian for locals. You'll find LSD in Arambol and beachfront lobster in Canacona. The few towns like Panaji, Vasco, and Margao aren't worth going out of your way to visit, there's a few old buildings here and there but nothing grand. You'll probably want to rent a scooter, ask anyone and they'll know someone who'll deliver it to your door within the hour, it's usually 500 to 700 rupees a day. Don't know what to tell you, I don't know it all, you'll have to pick some place and see what gives
>>2820580> I'm not at all bothered by the rest of India like most anons hereThen you should worry not, the only big difference will be that they are literally burning corpes near the Ganges, and you can see from time to time dead animal floating on the river, and you get to see some "priests" that look like some mutants from Dead space or Fallout. and people will try to scam you more often than usual. Besides that, I think you should be ok.
>>2820586>if you find an apartment a few kilometers inland (can't do that before being on site)Why can't I find something from airbnb or booking.com? Are there no listings or are they just overpriced?>You'll probably want to rent a scooterThat was the plan, I've rode all around SEA so I'm not really concerned about traffic
>>2820465>israelisthat's a shame, when I was there they just took up one area of Ohm beach and there weren't many on Kudle beach, but they're always in the good spots of India, just gotta tune them out and stay away
>>2820361Are bedbugs a concern in India? I've stayed in many shitty hotels over the years, including a few where the sheets were clearly not changed, and have never encountered the little critters. >>2820309100% agree with you about getting a private room. When you're a long-term traveler, you must find a daily routine which will serve you well for the entire trip. For me, that means several brief local outings a day interspersed with rest periods in my hotel room. When I want to go somewhere farther, I pack my bags and move to a new hotel. Some niggas like to stay in one hotel for a week plus and take long daytrips to points of interest. I travel light, so I much prefer keeping my travels going forward with as little out-and-back as possible. The ordeal of moving to a new place is neatly balanced by a spell of relaxing in the room before checkout and after check-in as well. >>2820593Search for a room on Google Maps if you want to book, or even if you want to pay cash on arrival. You will see all the different sites that Indians use to book their rooms when you pull up listings on Google Maps. >pay cash on arrivalYes, it is a big PITA to lug your bags from hotel to hotel, but inspecting the room BEFORE you pay for it can make a tremendous difference in your enjoyment of the trip. The shittiest streets can be experienced with alacrity if you know you have a pleasant, fresh-smelling room to return to.
>>2820690>You will see all the different sites that Indians use to book their rooms when you pull up listings on Google Maps.Have you used any of these and can recommend them as not being scams or stealing my card info? It sounds like too much hassle to show up unbooked and pay cash, I would just do that if I was staying a long time and already had a place for the night
>>2820695Depends on how much you trust Indian IT security to do their job. And that doesn't even get into the whole issue of the room looking nothing like the pictures on the listing, or lacking the amenities that you specifically selected it for. Delays along the way will be stressful and frustrating with your plans locked in.I'd like to go anywhere I want to go on a whim and then walk around asking people if there is a place nearby to stay for a night. Besides, renting a room directly from its owner is as anti-corporate as it gets. Modern travel feels soulless precisely because everything is so corporatized and impersonal. You select a property online, you pay a big commission to a giant globohomo booking platform to reserve your stay, and most of the time you never even get to meet the owner. You're just another faceless passive-income paypig to them.
>>2821066>Depends on how much you trust Indian IT security to do their jobSomebody with access to an Indian hotels booking information already tried to scam me through whatsapp to "reverify my credit card" for a room I already paid for on booking.com. I'll just assume the other sites are even worse
>>2818078>AutosFuck off Brit Bong
>>2821124Been reading some reviews of hotels near the airport. The few positive reviews seem astroturfed and very generic, while the bad reviews are plentiful and specific, i.e. reviews left by real people. 1300 rupees for a "Standard No AC room" that nonetheless has individual air-conditioning listed as one of the room amenities. 1400 for a room with A/C, but the amenities say the room does not have a shower. That's more than I pay for a very nice room on a quiet soi near BKK airport. Seems I may be going the hostel route after all, at least for my first couple nights in Mumbai. Then get the fuck away from the airport, and maybe get out of Mumbai altogether.
>>2817442>It's always been a dream of mine to visit India.Post a wide-angle picture of the Taj Mahal, and you'll see that dream end real quickly.Every touristy picture of that place can only be taken from the front. When you move the camera an inch to either side, you'll see heaps of garbage and ghettos.
>>2821564Yet there's a beautiful national park with waterfalls, caves, and hiking trails within Mumbai city limits, accessible by the metro system.>b-but there's trash and ugly poor people houses somewhere else!Yeah? So fucking what? People gotta live their lives however they can.
>think of going to Thailand>war with Cambodia kicks off>think of going to Nepal>massive protests erupt, ex-PM's wife gets burned alive in her home>think of going to Qatar>Israel launches airstrikes on the countryJesus fucking Christ, what next? Nuclear war with Pakistan as soon as I land in Mumbai?
>>2822193>think of going to QatarWhy? Control your thoughts
>>2822193>>2822264Qatar is Ok if yoy have a long layover. On the other hand, for being the main destination , I dunno.
>>2821252It's pajeet for "tuk-tuk". Short for "auto-rikshaw"
>>2822413Overall, not too sad to skip the Middle East and go straight to India, where I can feel perfectly at home as a poorfag without a car.Anons who have traveled Indian trains, do you book in advance on your phone or buy at the ticket window? Open-air carriage with wooden seats is fine by me, but I don't want to be stuck standing for the whole trip.
>>2822544>Anons who have traveled Indian trains, do you book in advance on your phone or buy at the ticket windowYou try to to register with IRCTC, the official portal. You try for days using different web browsers but it fails. You realize you must go to the train station every time you want to buy a ticket. Just go up to the counter and ask for the ticket? No. No. Too simple. Fill out a paper form first and hand it to them. Because ofc needless paperwork and bureaucracy is always included
I'm in Pushkar now. It's about 70% Israeli.
Why does /trv/ never talk about south India? It's always the cities in the Northern Plain that get mentioned here.
>>2822640It's wild, Easier to get a falafel than a curry.I even asked the hotel owner what the fuck is up with all the jews there and he couldn't tell, just that there's always been a shitton of them for some reason.>>2822544I got the online account working but it's a shitshow. Expect a billion issues and trying over and over again with different e-mails and cards until something finally clicks. IIRC I had to either do it in the app or on the website because one of these wouldn't work at all. Look up some fresh guide on a travelling forum, there's bound to be one floating out there.By the way I've noticed even many Indians don't use the official IRCTC app and go with Ixigo or Paytm, paying an agent fee but getting away from the embarassingly dogshit UI.Book in advance because the seats fill up FAST. At least two days before, if not more. Don't bother with Waiting Lists, you're not getting on. General (unreserved and unbookable) class is hopelessly packed with way too few carriages, so yes, you will be standing if you settle for one.The train system in India is genuinely a bit arcane, look this shit up. It's an endless sea of acronyms.
>>2822653Southern India is significantly wealthier than the northern plain states. In winter it is warmer and somewhat less polluted. Hotel prices in Mumbai and many of the hill-country villages are quite a bit higher than I expected. Could even say they are more expensive than Malaysia, a country where I hardly ever had to pay more than $20/night for a decently furnished room with a window. A burgeoning middle class demanding weekend getaways, coupled with a scarcity of hotels, means that prices have soared in recent years...but quality has only declined. It's noteworthy how many recent reviews say that the hot water is not working, room was not cleaned, walls are moldy, and most commonly, staff were rude and couldn't care less about pleasing their customers.Panvel makes sense as a cheap stopover city on the far outskirts of the Mumbai metropolis...from there one can set out south by train all the way down the west coast (with stations nowhere near the beaches, of course, but I'm not a beach lover).
>>2817442Are there any good digital nomad destinations in India? The kind of place where I can get a luxury hotel, fast internet, and food delivered so I never have to interact with indians on the street level
>>2818431Had the opposite experience, but I was in Latam. I stayed exclusively at the cheapest hostels that were under 5km from the center and had a rating of minimum 7/10.Had a great time, with the exception of Brazil. Colombian hostels (5-8€ a night) were always clean, with polite staff, never had anything stolen, got lots of international pussy.However, I've seen hostels in Europe and for some reason it's a fucking nightmare.
>>2822872What's the fucking point?
>>2822872You sound like a Polly Prissy Pants. Better to stay away from India
>>2822989>why do people want to try and extend their stays in locations on a /trv/ board.Loads of Indians obviously work in tech adjacent fields, and some earn great money. There's obviously infrastructure in some places. I'd be curious to know where, desu. Whether there's actually any '''decent'''' parts walled off for relatively cheap, or whether it truly is one giant shithole.
>>2822599Incredibly based. Modern apps - and web2.0 - are cancer. The world needs to chill the fuck out a bit and slow down. I'd love to live in a world where it's normal to spend a day trying to buy a train ticket, then get drunk to celebrate. Would help with unemployment and combatting the AI menace, too. Little Ranjesh deserves a job, too, so he doesn't have to boatnog his way to England.
>>2823000I'm here now. It's a giant shit hole. Although I'm going to Mumbai soon and really excited about that. I've heard there are some nice gated communities but then if you're in one, why'd you even come to India
>>2823001>The world needs to chill the fuck out a bit and slow downIt's not slowing down. It's doing more work for less. You sound like you're a coping jeet
>>2823002In all fairness, I'd only go to India to larp as a colonist, and distance myself from the locals as much as possible.Gated communities would fit the bill.
>>2822989>what's the fucking point?Comfymaxx in one of the cheapest countries on Earth. I'm a sucker for a good deal. If I can get a 5 star hotel in Hyderabad for pennies on the dollar, I'd consider it. Ill just work from a lluxury hotel for a month
>>2823000No, i mean staying as isolated as possible in a foreign country you dislike full of people you don't want to interact with.>>2823007Aren't there any options where you don't have to interact with Indians? I understand what you want to do, I just don't understand why in India, there are other options.
>>2823004>In all fairness, I'd only go to India to larp as a colonistFair enough. I'm partial to the colonist larp myself
>>2823007>Comfymaxx in one of the cheapest countries on Earth. I'm a sucker for a good deal. If I can get a 5 star hotel in Hyderabad for pennies on the dollar, I'd consider it. Ill just work from a lluxury hotel for a monthConsider Indonesia too outside of Bali
>>2823013>other optionsDone them. Haven't nomaded in India. I want a nice, cheap pad because I don't leave my apartment. Why is that crazy to you? I did the same thing in Colombia last year
>>2823015>IndonesiaAren't they chimping out at the moment?
>>2823021>Aren't they chimping out at the moment?So? Not chimping out at white people
>>2823020>I want a nice, cheap pad because I don't leave my apartment.I don't work anymore but I got exhausted from travelling and spent a few weeks in a fancy Airbnb in Davao recently. Just got into lots of subgenres of movies, French body horror, some Scandi directors. Just got delivery food and chilled. Much needed, I empathize. However, going outside was a nightmare. Dirty, dark and felt dangerous (even though rated one of PH's safest cities). Very easy pussy too. Have a look at the luxury Airbnbs you get in General Santos for nothing too. Insane. And the women never see white guys there. You can get 10s easy on tinder
>>2823027Thanks, bro. I should probably give the Philippines another shot
is there any part of india thats not a complete shithole?
>>2822988If you're a heavy sleeper, most of the complaints about hostels will be irrelevant to you, because you'll be the one snoring away loudly after a night of drinking and keeping everyone else awake.>>2823007Yeah, there are many 5-star hotels in Hyderabad in the $60-70 per night price range. Overall, the city looks to offer better deals on lodging than Mumbai - the typical coastal vs interior city cost disparity.>>2823015Long-term stays are much cheaper and more straightforward in India, from a tourist visa standpoint. >>2823001Anon, you aren't going to find the slow, chilled-out pace of life anywhere in an Indian city. Hyderabad is less crowded than Mumbai, but it is more crowded than Delhi (remarkably).>>2823004If you really want to do this, you'd go to one of the hill station towns in the Himalayan foothills and rent a vacation villa. >>2823027I get exhausted from traveling on a regular basis. Then I go to sleep and wake up ready to move on again.
>>2823062Sikkim is the wealthiest state in India. It's sparsely populated and extremely mountainous.
>>2823064>Sikkim>IndiaSikkim was a victim of the Indian colonialist government. Even CHINA complained to the UN about it, kek.What is happening in Xinjiang now is exactly what Indian imperialists did to the Nepalese.Indira Gandhi was paranoid as fuck about the (rightful) Sikkim king, and his American wife, and initiated a coup. Look at the padlocked wiki page, as well as the '''''''''''''referendum results'''''''''''''.Sikkim is wealthy because India basically bribe the state It's a symbol of their imperial goals northwards.
>>2823063>Long-term stays are much cheaper and more straightforward in India, from a tourist visa standpointYep. I got a 1 year visa for $40. Indonesian visas are miserly with their stay time
>>2823063>I get exhausted from traveling on a regular basis. Then I go to sleep and wake up ready to move on againI haven't been home since 2020. We are not the same
>>2823062so only that tiny place? grim
>>2823063You sound Indian
https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/hotel-room-rates-set-to-rise-in-2025-driven-by-strong-demand-growth-124122200460_1.html>After hotel room rates hit record highs in 2024, they are set to rise further in 2025 driven by a surge in demand of 7-8 per cent across segments. >Hotels are going fully booked at the end of the year despite foreign tourist arrivals still remaining below pre-Covid levels.Rooms keep getting more expensive in India. I've been reading some stories of guests with prepaid bookings getting turned away because the booking price was deemed too low by the manager. Nothing you can do besides file a complaint with the booking platform and get your refund. With demand outpacing supply, even the worst hotels still fill up on a regular basis. Reviews in recent months are particularly awful. Picrel is typical, repeated 1000x all across the country. And no, this isn't some 1000 rupee slumlodge either. Reviewers mention paying 3300 rupees ($37 per night) for a room here, only for everything to be dirty and broken.
>>2823075Sikkhim's fate is what awaits Bhutan
>>2823063>you'll be the one snoring away loudly after a night of drinking and keeping everyone else awake.Nope. Stayed at hippie themed hostels for a week each, completely sober, without any issues. Staff and guests get too fucking smoked to do retarded shit. I'm a light sleeper as well.>>2823020Colombia I can understand. Good pussy, decent people (occasionally), nice place, cheap, direct flights. Why the fuck would you wanna stay in India? Why would you trade the smell of cheap citrus for the smell of diarrhea?
>>2823093Nope, I'm the anon with the RDU - CDG - BOM itinerary twelve weeks out. The toughest part of travel is all this bullshitting around waiting for the departure date.>>2823104I never had any an altercation with anyone at a hostel either, but that doesn't mean sleeping with strangers was ever a pleasant experience, nor does their frivolous normie chatter interest me. Most importantly, you can't feel unique as a foreign traveler when you're staying in a hostel full of foreign travelers that is located in a city full of foreign travelers. Call it the herd aversion response. India is a cheap four-hour flight away from Bangkok, if at any time you have your fill of pajeetery and want to return to the familiar comforts of Southeast Asia. The total airfare won't cost any more than last year's overflight of India on the way to Bangkok, so there really was no point in NOT stopping in India.On the other hand, choosing Colombia would mean spending the following nine months in various South American countries, all which are famous for disliking & resenting gringos, particularly gringos who are wary hardasses and not charming extroverted fools. Additionally, my tongue is too short to pronounce r's the Spanish way. Still, one of these years I'll have to explore Peru and maybe Bolivia as well. Unlikely to revisit Colombia...
>>2823104>Why the fuck would you wanna stay in India? Why would you trade the smell of cheap citrus for the smell of diarrhea?Don't believe the memes. India has many beautiful places and the cuisine is top notch.
The other side of the world
>>2823001you're welcome to live your trad larp and ride in the carriage with 10 people per seat, nobody's stopping you
I live in this shithole ( not shithole ) and have travelled around. For foreigners I would recommend not looking for the cheapest deals to be on the safer and hygienic side. Hotels etc are cheaper now because we've reduced taxes.
>>2823545Back when I visited India, the difference between cheap and "expensive" hotels was massive. Trying to save $30 a night would result in nothing but hotels that looked like they were in Gaza. Walls blown out, exposed wires, bizarre stains on the walls.There are some places where you can skimp on costs. India is not a place where I recommend skimping too much. Spend a few dollars to make sure you're comfortable. The potential suffering is not worth it. >>2823095$37 was half the price of anything I was getting even in small towns. I was paying about $80 a night for a lot of places and they were still worse than SE Asian hotels that would be even cheaper. But anything lower than that price point was just terrifying to even look at. I don't know how Indians afford it.
>>2823598>Back when I visited India, the difference between cheap and "expensive" hotels was massive. Trying to save $30 a night would result in nothing but hotels that looked like they were in Gaza. Walls blown out, exposed wires, bizarre stains on the wallsI'm in India now and keep my hotel rooms between $20 - $25 per night. I have no idea what you're talking about. Some beautiful rooms in ancient buildings in Rajasthan. Pushkar was great to at this price point. Checking on booking.com Varanasi looks great too. Mumbai however looks wank for accommodation at that price
>>2823598>$37 was half the price of anything I was getting even in small towns. I was paying about $80 a night for a lot of places and they were still worse than SE Asian hotels that would be even cheaper. But anything lower than that price point was just terrifying to even look at. I don't know how Indians afford it.Wtaf are you talking about? What kind of precious princess are you? I spent half the year in SEA before coming here. This makes no sense to me at all. Are you a bot? This is not real information
>>2823601>$20-$25 a nightExactly what I would budget. What am I in for? Do I at least get reliable electricity and internet?
>>2823606>Exactly what I would budget. What am I in for? Do I at least get reliable electricity and internet?Simple but very comfortable and clean with A/C. When you book a 9.0+ place in booking.com, the owner will invariably be trustworthy (for India) and constantly seeking to please. I booked a few around 9.7 and those MFs do not want that score to dip.
>>2823606>reliable electricity and internet?Data is mad cheap. I got 5G, 2GB per day for 3 months for about $25 total. So I just use that. Otherwise, I've had no problems with internet or electricity. A few times there's been a power out but it came back in within minutes
I have no idea what the fuck you people are talking about with all the clean and spotless $20 rooms.The Booking score is worthless crap. Half of it is composed of blatantly fake accounts copypasting the same generic garbage all over. Whatever anti-bot system the company has, clearly it fails when pitted against Indians. You have to sort by worst score first and read what the actual humans have to say.The rooms are quite often dogshit. They may look fine at a glance, but then you can just take a whiff of the linen to find out it was last changed a week ago. Half the time they don't fucking bother unless you actually come down to make a scene. I was so fucking fed up with it a few weeks in I actually bought my own bedsheets just so I wouldn't have to have yet another argument before crashing dead tired for a one night stay.There were some truly great stays but by and large, it's a crapshot and the lows are lower than what you'd get in SEA for the price. I suggest targeting mom-and-pop guesthouses since these people actually might sometimes care about their reputation, yielding better results. Cheap proper hotels are universally horrid, the cleaning staff is about as hard-working and serious about their job as all the useless jeets employed by corporate worldwide.Not >>2823598 by the way. I agree he's vastly overstating the prices, but he's right that the price/value is garbage in India most of the time compared to the rest of Asia.
>>2823613Bro, you're just gay and weak
>>2823602Maybe you stayed in bumfuck nowhere or you stayed in hostels. But Mumbai was that price.
>>2823617I'm in Jaipur now typing to a prissy travel princess rn from a 9.4 booking.com place that costs ~$22 per night. It's absolutely more than adequate. I can assure you without a doubt I know SDA and have spent far more time there than you. Lived and worked in several SEA countries. Maybe you had some odd bad experiences, maybe you didn't spend long here. I've been here for 2 months. I even went down to $12 a few nights ago. Everything was great but the owner was a bit scammy. I totally outweigh you on experience, so sit down.
>>2823613One thing I saw with booking was a lot of reviews were like "EDIT: what the hell? My account was hacked and this was hacked and this was changed to a 10/10 review. I did NOT write that."I don't know how the fuck they do it, but most of the hotels I came across that weren't literal garbage dumps had that issue. As you said, you need to look at the negative reviews first. The top scores are either hacked reviews or paid reviews. Usually I avoid these types of reviews, but in India they're valuable: look for reviews where people post pictures with a selfie inside their room. If they do that, it probably is actually nice. A lot of places have straight up fake pictures, or pictures from 10+ years ago before Indians stayed in it and destroyed it.
>>2823620No clue what SDA is, but I'm sure you've spent more time in India than me, yes. But that's because I'm not Indian and you are. I expect my walls to not have holes and my toilets to not be bucket powered. You're free to skimp on that and enjoy washing your hands in a dirty bucket for $22 a night.
>>2823620Okay, good to know that the armpit of South Asia is cheap. >>2823621That's how their average can stay 3.5/5 even though all of the recent reviews from real people are 1 star.
>>2823602The hill country villages of southern India are that expensive, as are the best beach towns.
>>2823616Are you the guy who denies that you can get excellent rooms all across Thailand for 350 - 400 baht per night, or Laos for 150 - 250,000 kip? I still want to see India, and see if I can find the good places.
By comparison, it looks like 2000 rupees only sometimes gets you a decent room in India, much less an excellent one on a high floor with a balcony and a desk.
>>2823621>"EDIT: what the hell? My account was hacked and this was hacked and this was changed to a 10/10 review. I did NOT write that."kek I completely forgot about that.Yeah, there was a shitload of these everywhere. Apparently the way it's done is that people are asked to show their confirmation e-mails at the desk. These have a four digit PIN in them which together with the reservation number allow you to post a review without logging into the actual account. Why is Booking retarded enough to have this "feature" is beyond me.
>>2823672>Apparently the way it's done is that people are asked to show their confirmation e-mails at the desk. These have a four digit PIN in them which together with the reservation number allow you to post a review without logging into the actual account. Why is Booking retarded enough to have this "feature" is beyond me.That's absolutely not true. You need to be logged into your account ofc. You're making weird shit up. Spend some time away from this website. Go outside. Talk to people face-to-face.
>>2823768Found the Indian hotel owner. There's a reason booking says to not reveal your PIN for any reason.
>>2823776Ok. Fair enough. Nobody has ever asked me to show that. I've been here for months. I'm just not traveling around having all these problems you are. Traveling in india is easy for me. India is not for you.It's a shit hole, it's filthy and there's scammers everywhere but it's physically very safe, amazing shit to do and insanely cheap. But for you you need to spend $70 to get a room without a hole in the wall. You sound like a spastic. I travel fulltime, I don't work. India is easy for me. Next time just go to Cabo on your mom's friend's recommendation
We have an early retired chad (me) and a nasally dysgenic dork who can't find a hotel under $70 with linen that doesn't aggravate his allergies. Shuffling around India with one foot bent inward wishing they had disability assistance like in Thailand.The term "India's not for beginners" comes to mind. Start with Florida, work your way up to Cancun. One day someone might be able to push you around India. Right now you're not at this level.
>>2823777>>2823779You're very defensive about your staying in shitholes and it's funny but also sad.I enjoyed India and I stayed in decent hotels. You're desperately trying to act proud of staying in a $20 a night place. Nobody is jealous of you. I'll continue visiting India and staying in hotels that you can't afford, and I'll be very comfortable during my time. My hotel staff will throw my garbage out my windows and right into yours. That's just how the world works.
>>2823790Yes baby girl, you took your two weeks vacation allowance and wanted to pamper yourself. I understand. All that paperwork, deadlines and long hours, you just want to paint your toes and get a pina colada. Trying to flex on someone who's early retired and has the freedom you fantasize about 50 weeks of the year is carrying a lot of weight rn.I've got $70pn for a room but why do I need softer bath towels and a hairdryer. Your parents raised you soft. Be a man. Stop whining. Most anons are either repulsed by your femininity or want to plug your bussy. Stop embarrassing yourself sweetheart
>>2823792I'll enjoy being comfortable. Ain't nobody jealous of your broke ass lmao
>>2823830>haha I'm not jealous about being not early retired ha-*hides phone before boss sees*
>>2823779>stays for multiple consecutive hours in a 4chan thread constantly doubleposting walls of nonsensical bragging because he's so worked up about inane bullshit>ChadAnon...
>>2823834I literally don't have a job.
>>2823834What time is it? Shouldn't you be working?
what a rollercoaster of a thread to read as an indianbut it nails most of the details1. dont give a fuck about some dead rat on the street tying to talk to you, or anyone who tries to talk to you outside regardless. 2. always carry bottled water. i live here and ive never drank or eaten anything outside in years3. always be on your toes whereever you are, be extra safe and watch you back and you should be fine99/100 times it will not be worth it coming here but if you've experience that 1/100 moments, you'll crave it forever
>>2817442>It's always been a dream of mineWhat a shitty dream
>>2823777How many of your stays do you book & pay in advance online? >>2823790$600 per month spent on lodging is a perfectly reasonable figure for a long-term traveler in a Third World country. >>2823902The general social dynamic is that dishonest people are more successful than honest people. My goal is to reverse this pattern by doing business exclusively with honest people and showing appreciation to them. With time in a country I learn how to suss out people's honesty by their mannerisms. Are they striving too hard to be likeable? That's a red flag.
>>2823776>from 2016you figure they'd fix that by now
>>2823914Yeah yeah, we get it. You're only interested in going to Reddit-recommended places, and Redditors don't go to India. I've been browsing around on Google Maps almost every day since I booked my flight to India. There are thousands of interesting little towns and cities worth a visit. Forget the big cities; they are cesspools of insatiable greed. Thankfully there are very few of them, so they are easy to avoid.
Does India enforce an onward travel requirement for American visitors entering the country? I'd like to decide how long I want to stay in India after I arrive, not ahead of time. If buying an onward ticket is a must, I'll probably count on 40-45 days in the country followed by a return to Thailand.
>>2826036>Does India enforce an onward travel requirement for American visitors entering the country?I didn't need one to get the e-visa, but I haven't arrived yet so we'll see
>>2826036Came on a one year visa and nobody cared at any point. EU passport.
>>2826042>Came on a one year visa and nobody cared at any point. EU passportThis. Arrived recently. Asked me where I'm going and what I'm doing but no onward ticket
The distinct smell of human shit really gets up my nose and drives me from an area sometimes. That meaty, thick smell. Unmistakably human origin.
>>2826146China and India are 2 sides of the same coin; ruthless imperial powers with backwards ideologies who are crushing peoples and nations.Baluchistan and Tibet need to be freed, just as people in the eastern states, kashmir, khalistan, etc.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separatist_movements_of_India
>>2823914Carlos!
What booking site do you use to find places to stay? It seems there's not many options on Booking.com and half the shit on Airbnb are actually shitty hotels rather than apartments
>>2817442India Travel Safety Guide1. Visit after October if you can't bear humid heat. Humidity = more bacteria = dangerous food.2. Do NOT eat street food.3. Check restaurant reviews online.4. Stay at decent hotels. Travel is cheap anyway.5. Get an honest guide - saves you from scams and godawful areas.6. Research beyond Delhi/Mumbai/Varanasi - they're some of the worst: polluted, populated, scammer-filled.7. Carry mosquito protection.8. Bring a water filter or buy from stores only.9. Tree barbers don't sanitize tools. Want ringworm? Go ahead. Check Google reviews.FOR WOMEN:10. Wear proper clothes. Forget tank tops/shorts - cover up. It's like bathing in blood and diving with hungry sharks. No bikinis.11. Want to sunbathe? Go to Goa only.12. Creepy men taking photos/getting close? Yell aggressively. They will back off or other decent men will come to protect you. Police won't help - you're not in the Western world.13. Don't go out after 10 PM.14. Don't play Holi with randoms. They'll try to molest you. Indian girls stay indoors with family/friends for a reason.Most of these unspoken rules won't apply in decent places, but visiting bullshit areas like UP/Delhi/Mumbai/Varanasi, etc. is madness. Even I stay away from those places. Go to Kashmir(where I am from), it is beautiful, and do some heavy research.Food IS amazingCulture IS vibrantPlaces ARE beautifulThe problem is we are heavily populated and most of that population, including politicians do not care about India and its representation worldwide at all. Instead of looking at us as inferiors make us friends, we can help you during your visits.We have a saying, "Atithi devo bhawa" meaning, "A Guest is like God himself", so those who follow this quote/mantra are truly humble and loving people towards travelers and visitors. Give us a chance. I know Kitboga and disgusting street food videos have done a monumental harm to our image, but not everyone is like that, if you know where to go.:)
>>2827077#1 is complete bullshit. The predators are swarming during the humid season. Then they disappear in December for Malaysia just as the farang come, leaving vicious mosquitoes everywhere after dark. They'll even follow you into your hotel room and lie in wait in some crevice until the lights go out.
>>2827081I used Claude to squeeze the list to 2000 characters, it removed the mosquito part. I wrote that keep protection against mosquitoes at all times.
>>2827085is there much malaria/dengue risk or is it just annoying to get bit?
I'm in Varanasi rn. What a turbo shithole. I can only imagine the most white guilted, mentally fragile, self-loathing white people can visit a place like this and lean into and become spiritual.I'm not even particularly religious but I feel my Catholic heritage glowing inside me as I maneuver my way through alleyways littered by human faeces and trash.India is making me more Catholic and more of a white supremacist.
>>2827117Mostly annoying mosquitoes but dengue in unhygienic towns with clogged open drains.
>>2827123Have fun with that and your kiddy diddling.
>>2827151Thanks bud
WTF is this "reference name in India" requirement for the eVisa? I'm required to know somebody in India and provide their name, home address, and personal phone number in order to get permission to visit the country as a tourist? This is fucking ridiculous. I'm on the verge of buying a connecting flight to Southeast Asia and skipping India completely.
Can any anons confirm that India in fact requires passengers to pass through immigration (and have the proper eVisa on hand to do so) if their onward connection is with a different airline?
>>2827286>WTF is this "reference name in India" requirement for the eVisa? I'm required to know somebody in India and provide their name, home address, and personal phone number in order to get permission to visit the country as a tourist? This is fucking ridiculous. I'm on the verge of buying a connecting flight to Southeast Asia and skipping India completely.It's ridiculous and I felt the same as you. Fucking frustrated and wanted to send them a fuck you somehow. In the end I put down the name of the owner of the hotel I booked. Which was like some millionaire franchise owner but whatever, Sanjay Gupta. They don't check shit anyway, they just bury themselves in paperwork.
>>2827299What a clusterfuck of a website. A billion irrelevant questions to answer. Had to upload the selfie photo six times before it finally worked.
>passport photo has to be in PDF format and less than 300 KBSeriously, who makes these fucking requirements? It's absolute bullshit
Whew, application completed. Definitely more frustrating than the eVisa for Laos. I had to put down some random guy's name and my prospective hotel address for a local contact. Also had to upload my passport photo to some online converter + compressor site in order to meet the stringent qualifications. BTW one year tourist eVisas are valid for one year from the date of approval, NOT one year from the date of first entry. You can complete the application up to 120 days in advance of your travel date, but don't pay when you complete it! Choose "Pay Later" to avoid a premature approval.
>>2827299>In the end I put down the name of the owner of the hotel I bookedsame>They don't check shit anywayThey check to make sure you're not pakistani, that's really all they care about
>>2817442i went to sadhguru's ashramhad a splendid time, the place was beautiful af and the food was palatable, very good and healthy. I wouldn't go anywhere else in India unless I was rich and could afford 5 star accomodations thoughjust my two cents
>>2827123Why did you want to go there?
>>2827362>Why did you want to go there?I wanted to go to India's most Indian city. The wildest, dirtiest most insane city
>>2827307pdf is secure requirement sir. it is international recognised format from adobe and is safe for you.visa is serious business, and no tomfoolery allowed.
India is the worst place to visit. Sure it is cheap to visit but it's dirty. You can get cheap food with the sacrifice of freshness. A lot of scammers. I wen to India last year. I was trying to buy some fruits but they tried to scam me thought I didn't know. A lot of scammers. Also when you walk down the streets all people suddenly comes right to you looking like they saw some aliens. They also take pictures of you without your permission. Some kid said to me "Fuck you" with an innocent smile like WTF.
>>2827309Welcome to India. They thrive on useless bureaucracy.The form you just filled out doesn't matter by the way, they don't care about anything there but two questions: the obvious one is whether you have any affiliation whatsoever with bloody benchod bastard bitch p*kistan. The other is your occupation. If you're dumb enough to pick "Journalist", the self-styled World's Largest Democracy won't let you in.
>>2827509I find buying a train ticket funny.>Go to train station >Go to counter>"One ticket to Delhi please">"Fill out this form sir">No pens>Why am I filling out a form? I just told him what I want >Fill out details I could have easily told him>Prints ticket>Puts my form on a 10 inch pile that will never again be looked atWhy?And btw. I'm in the train station because the government train ticket booking app just does not work. I thought India was a nation of tech talent..
>>2817603I kek'd, kmfao even. This should become a copy pasta
>>2827513>the government train ticket booking app just does not workWhich part are you stuck at? Also registration is shut down for some hours of the day> I thought India was a nation of tech talentThink of the useless Indian coders in your country and realize those were best India had to offer
>>2827480>worst place to visitWorse than Nigeria? The DRC? Doubtful.>sacrifice of freshnessAlways a problem with the shitty restaurants. You have to go to a place that gets slammed with regulars during mealtimes. The primary purpose of my walks around town are to check out the different food options. Yes, you can do this after you've already eaten. In fact, it's better that way. Hunger makes you more prone to unwise impulse decisions. Whereas showing up at a popular place before the rush feels so good. It ensures you get the best food, the best seat and the best service. >some kid said "fuck you" with an innocent smileCommon in Asian countries, kek
>>2827599>Common in Asian countries, kekno
>>2827329that dude is the most obvious and irritating spiritual grifter clown I've ever seenif you have an ounce of discernment your alarm bells ring and you can't even stand 3 syllables of his snake speech
>>2817442Lovely if you like trash and poop
>>2827601You haven't gotten around tropical Asia much, have you?They flip you off, the girls will say "I love you!" and then giggle like maniacs.
>>2827673>You haven't gotten around tropical Asia much, have you?Lol. If only you knew how stupid that was. >They flip you offThey flip you off
>>2827677They wave and say hello and then show me the middle finger and then laugh. You haven't gotten around much. How many unpaved highways have you transited? >>2827619It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
>>2827685>They wave and say hello and then show me the middle finger and then laughI've lived in different Asian countries for many years. Expat most of my life. That's you.
>>2827685>They wave and say hello and then show me the middle finger and then laughThey don't like Indians
best country in Asia and they are advancing rapidly
Does anyone else only fly long distances in India? If it's double digit hours on a train it's a nope for me. I would do it for a first class ticket but I travel on a whim from day to day and they're always sold out. Flights are like $70. That's fine. But getting through security is like the first year of the TSA. They'll examine your bag for a pair of nail clippers and send you back through again. Then of course, pushy, line jumping Indians
