4 Reasons Why You Should Not Go to India

4 Reasons Why You Should Not Go to India

4 Reasons Why You Should Not Go to India

1. In India, they lie everywhere
Well, I thought, there are a lot of scammers in Delhi, the capital of India. Well, many scammers and people are trying to get you closer to famous touristy things like the Taj Mahal.

But one day in Goa, the woman I was buying fruit from, asked me twice the price of bananas. And then it happened again and again. Or the guy who sells sugary juice, who sees me every day. At that time, when I was giving him a 100 rupee note instead of 20 or 50, why did he try to get five times more money for the same glass of juice, at the same time pretending it was okay?

Or the "holy man" at the temple, who aggressively criticized me for giving very little money? He was telling me, that should be so because foreigners pay 10, 20, 50 euros or dollars. Foreigners pay euros and dollars, Indian rupees, he said.

Another example. Imagine this - some of you are in a new place or perhaps you are just standing still trying to figure out where to go. Some 10+ people are trying to convince you to follow them. Then from somewhere he looks handsome, dressed and polite, or maybe he is an officer (you think so), and you listen to his advice. You feel relieved for a moment. But, of course, it turns out he just wanted to rip you off, or sell you something.

2. It is not clear where all the money goes from tourism

Will your donation at the temple be used to help people or will it help someone to buy a new and expensive car? Are you really helping these poor children to buy them sweets, food or clothing, or will they all be sold back in one day? You never know in India.

Every year millions of foreign tourists visit the Taj Mahal. It is India's top tourist destination, and the admission fees are high, respectively. Yet Agra, the city where this wonder of the world is located, is one of the deepest cities in India that we have seen (while we have seen a lot of cycling 5300+ km across India). Was). Agra is ugly. Everything has a high value. And then you need to hear the lies. a lot.

When we arrived in Agra, he was dressed very nicely and what did the most polite taxi driver tell us? He told us that now he has some big doctors' conference in Agra and that is why all the hotels are fully booked. Of course, he knew one, where there were still some rooms available. Of course, he was lying. Because there was no doctor's conference. And there were plenty of hotels to choose from. Apparently, he wanted us to stay in this more expensive hotel because then he would earn some commission.

3. The price/quality ratio in India is often far from the best

The cheapest street food, the cheapest hotel rooms, the cheapest train, and bus tickets, yes, it really costs a lot in India. Especially when we compare prices in Europe. But how long have you been living in this dark room without windows, with stinky toilets and dirty beds? Can you imagine sitting on a bench with up to 5 other people traveling by train for 14 hours, while many are lying on the floor?

Living and traveling in India is relatively more comfortable for very few people. For example, our budget in India was around 300 per person for a month.


However, from our experience, it is possible to get more and more for the same amount in other Southeast Asian countries. For example, in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia, they are often cleaner than India, about budget hotel rooms (10-15 euros/night).

India. Traveling to India is stressful

In my opinion, traveling to India is a lot of unnecessary hassle. For some, this is part of their journey, but if you are not one of them, then you probably should not travel to India.

What do you do when you want to travel by train to Thailand? You go to the train station, buy tickets, and travel. that's it.

What do you do in India? First you need to get into the station, scammers, trying to convince you that the ticket counter is across the street or because of possible terrorist attacks. It's dangerous to be in the station now. Really? Yes, it happened to us every day in Delhi, when we were going to the New Delhi train station. And then it takes at least 30 minutes to buy a ticket. Not because of the long rows, but because of the bureaucracy.

You could buy a train ticket online, but then you should have an Indian mobile phone number. To get an Indian mobile phone number, you have to spend almost an hour filling the form and waiting in the shop, and at least a few hours, or working- 2-3 working days, as we have experienced. Yes, we will wait until this number is activated.