Is it hard to travel in India?

India can be challenging for budget travellers. We were constantly on alert about what we ate and drunk, tricky taxi drivers, scammers and general pushing, shoving and chaos of Indian cities. I think we were intrigued, stressed and excited all at the same time to be out of our comfort zone literally every minute.

Filth and extreme poverty

We visited Mumbai, Jaipur, Agra and Delhi. All 4 cities were full of rubbish and people (families and children) were sleeping rough everywhere. Throw away your own cultural/social expectations, do not judge, just focus on ‘being there’ whilst staying vigilant.

Delhi Belly

We’re fortunate enough not to get sick during our 9 days Indian journey. We were both slightly ‘loose’, but that really was it and I guess it was from all different spices that our stomachs were not able to digest that well. I do not know if any of the things below contributed to our relatively healthy first Indian trip, but we tried:

• Take it slowly. We didn’t dive into the street food straight away. On our first day in Mumbai, we ‘tested the water’ by having McDonald’s Indian edition veg burgers for lunch and ate dinner at a restaurant.
• One thing at a time. We often shared 1 portion even at a restaurant and carefully monitored how our stomachs reacted to each food.
• Not eating too much. This helps your stomach to digest food easily and hopefully keeps your immune system strong.
• Drink coke. Apparently the drink’s chemical ingredients help digest fibre. We did drink quite a bit of coke during our stay, 500-600ml bottles usually costs around ₹40 and 700ml around ₹50. Once after eating I experienced a little sharp prickles in my stomach and started to feel unwell, I washed the food down with coke and I was fine again within an hour. It probably could’ve been any other fizzy pops as bubbles help wash down foods and sugar relaxes your stomach.
• Go where the locals are. We had a few spontaneous street snacks at busy clouded vendors. The foods were often piping hot and tasty!
• All other usuals: hand wash, avoiding salads, avoiding ice and any dodgy water (always open bottles and cans yourself) etc…
• Taking multi-vitamin tablets. I doubt if it did anything, but we took a multi-vitamin everyday to keep our immune systems strong.

Taxi/Tuktuk drivers

Ahh, the taxi drivers… We used taxis and autos (= tuktuks) a lot and most of the time enjoyed all that bantering and haggling. We got off the vehicles a few times when the driver refused to use the meter or we were not happy with their quote, but no driver got aggressive/angry and we never felt unsafe.

• Mumbai drivers tend to follow the meter. Apart from the fact that you do need to tell them to use it, sometimes more than once, sometimes firmly, it was all straightforward and prices were often fair.
• At the beginning in Mumbai, as well as using a meter we asked the driver the maximum price, just in case. Once we were asked to pay 400Rs when the meter was showing 300Rs because we had talked about the journey being 400Rs maximum. We gave the driver 300Rs and stopped asking for price from then on in Mumbai.
• I used a fare calculating app called ‘TaxoFare’ to avoid being over charged. Quotes I got from the app were often accurate.
• Delhi drivers are very different from Mumbai drivers. They will never use meters and persistently try to get as much money as possible from you. Always know how much your journey should roughly cost, be firm and walk away when they do not budge from their high price; this usually works and either he will agree with your price or another driver will come along who will happily accept your offer.
• In Delhi, large stations such as New Delhi or Hazrat Nizamuddin have Delhi traffic police’s prepaid taxi/auto booth outside. Prepaid doesn’t mean completely hustle free, so stay alert! Do keep your receipt until you safely reach your destination then give the driver the green receipt so he can get paid later. Prepaid drivers often asked for tips. Service charge should be included in prepaid price, we often said ‘we already paid’ and just walked off. Once we offered the driver ₹10 after a very short journey, the driver declined and asked for ₹50, we kept our ₹10 and walked off.
• Don’t get too bogged down about getting the ‘correct fare’. Sometimes you just don’t feel like fighting and haggling specially in cities like Delhi. As long as it’s a small and innocent price hike (what is small and innocent? You decide), just go with it and enjoy your time. You need to look after yourself financially but also emotionally.
• Know your priorities and sometimes pay for ‘peace of mind’. Hotel pick ups are usually more costly, but we used it twice when we needed to be at certain place at certain time without any hassle.

Culture shock and people

India will stress you out one way or another. Traffic, noise, pushing and shoving, lies, scams, being treated like a walking ATM, and a total lack of order and regulation (people often do not queue, but crowd around, even when there is some sort of queue someone will push right in).

In India, time doesn’t exist, not in the same way it does in Western societies. People often just ‘be’ and ‘do’. In a super busy and chaotic market street in Mumbai, local people spent ages trying to get a taxi for us without any sense of frustration or urgency, without asking for anything in return.

India is different, but how you view and understand that difference, is predominantly up to you.

So, is it hard to travel in India? It can be. I don’t think India is a ‘fun’ travel destination. It’s not a get there, sit back and just receive and be entertained sort of destination. You have to put your own hard work to it and I guess that’s the beauty of it. In terms of health and safety, just use your common sense and you’ll be fine. As for cultural differences, turn off your judgement whilst keeping your ethics, and let India shake your world.

India can be frustrating and irritating at times, it’s intense and stressful, but shook me the way no other places ever did. Its total chaos put my world upside down and inside out. It was a rough ride and pushed out my old senses and filled with something I’ve never experienced before. From that perspective, I think what one experiences and takes away from India depends on each individual. I think how you view and experience India is partly a reflection of what you are and your own values.

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog and only represents my personal experience and opinions.