On our three previous trips to India we had visited many of India's tourist destinations. On
this trip was mainly to interesting places off the main tourist track, but popular with Indian
pilgrims and tourists. Rishikesh and Haridwar are leading religious centers providing
glimpses into Indian spiritual life; in Gwalior and Orcha contain fascinating historic palaces,
forts and temples; in Rishikesh, Orcha and Matheran are charming small towns, good places
to see Indians largely unaffected by foreign tourism; the teeming major cities of Delhi and
Mumbai were great to see again and provided us with the international airports to get into
and out of India. Our varied three-week tour of "India from the Himalayas to the Sea"
provided us with many pleasant serendipitous experiences.
Flying from the USA to India and return is no fun. Sitting 24 hours each way in cramped
airplane cabins and in international airport waiting areas is tiring and does not contribute to
one's health. The 10.5 hour time zone difference tends to cause jet lag.
Although the more educated Indians generally speak accented English, most Indians know
little (if any) English, but almost everywhere we went we found one or more persons who had
a working knowledge of English and could give us the information we needed.
India is a poor overpopulated country with a per-capita income somewhere between one and
two US dollars per day. To survive by selling a product or service an Indian is forced to
be aggressively competitive and tempted to try to maximize his income from any business
transaction. When arriving at any railway station, bus terminal or airport in a large town
or city we usually were surounded by a crowd of pushy porters, taxi drivers, hotel touts,
beggars, and "guides" pressing to get our business. There is much less of that behavior in
the less-touristed small towns and villages. We are sure that by Indian standards we
almost always paid more than an Indian traveler would, but by international standards we
paid very little for what we got.
Flying to India from the USA takes long and is expensive. However, after we got to India
almost everything became a bargain. Our expenses within India were very low; by usually
staying in hotels and guest houses slightly above the backpacker level, using popular local
transportation facilities, and eating in modest restaurants and food stands (supplemented by
purchases in food markets) our expenses in India for the two of us amounted to about US$60
per day.
Exotic India is for western visitors a great adventurous tourist destination. It offers the
foreign visitor many memorable sights and great experiences. Except for Indians trying to
make a living selling goods and services to presumably rich foreign tourists we found Indians
generally to be very approachable, friendly and eager to be helpful to visitors. However, for
persons who have not previously traveled in Asia we would for your first India trip suggest
an escorted group tour to help prevent sensory overload.