India - some tips for Backpacking
Created | Updated Mar 15, 2004
People in India sometimes are so simple, you mistake them for being dumb. But let us not forget some of their most important inventions. They invented the chess game, pool, shampoo. Not to mention the word Jungle. I could go on and on about India and its' people. A lot of times when I was there it was impossible, they're sometimes too friendly, too close. You're never alone in India, whether you like it or not. And still, most of the people are simple minded, third world men, all they want usually is to continue living in peace, or dying in peace. Which reminds me, they drive as if this might as well be their last day on earth (seems like in India every day is a good day to die), but for some reason, in all the months I've been in India, I've never seen a single accident! Karma? who knows...
But seriously now, if you're looking for tips about India, this might be a good place to look for it, before I begin, I'd like to say I was there for an intense 6 months, but not more than that. Now, for some tips:
1. When being in India, always be prepared for beggars, there's a lot of them. They usually want money (from my experience) trying to give them food won't help always. If you do have some spare food, try to give it to a beggar, if he/she doesn't except it and you don't wish to give them money, just say CHELO (read as if Spanish) in an assertive manner (CHELO means both "let's go" and "f**k off" so be careful).
2. My worst stomach problem was after eating in the streets in Calcutta while the city being flooded. Note that flooded big cities (especially Calcutta) can get messy, don't go on food adventures if the place looks too crappy. Eating in the streets is not always bad, some places just make the same thing all day, you have to check that they fry or cook the food on the spot, and not just re-heat it, it's safer.
3. There is no "real" India, don't let anyone fool you, for some it's varansi (Banares) for others it's the calmness of Rishikesh, for some it's the beaches in the East, for some - in the West. The point is, you make yourself your own India. It doesn't matter where you are, it'll be different from the last place you've been. That's the nature of India, each region, or even village has it's own language, food, music, culture, or just a mix of other cultures.
4. Try to ride as less as possible on Indian busses, it'll make your life shorter, 2nd sleepers on train is good enough for most backpackers, oh, don't forget to bring a pen when going to book a train.
5. As I mentioned before, Indians can be a pain in the ass if they want to (they usually do), my way of avoiding the harassment was being quite aggressive, as if I'm very angry, but try not to get angry FOR REAL, it's no fun.
6. If you're planning to go south, a place worth visiting (not when it's THE season, because then it's full of loud Israelis) is called Hampi, 12 hours bus ride east to Goa, go to Hospet, and from there a short ride to Hampi, beautiful ruins (I usually don't like ruins, so that must mean something) a cool river and a shanty town.
7. As a rule, big cities in India are disgusting, unless you like air pollution, extreme poverty, noise, dirt and heaps of pushers, not to mention crappy hotels...
8. You can't go to Varansi if you plan on keeping your shoes s**t-free.
9. Never, but NEVER buy your drugs in a governmental Bhang shop. Ok, it's legal there, but it's also the worst quality in the world. As a rule, try avoiding buying drugs on the streets of big cities, and DON'T use them in public places, unless you've seen it happening before (a little spying prevents you from getting in trouble).
10. Don't take any of these advices as a rule, it's just the way I see it, and I sure can be wrong, the best to do is talk to the other travelers, because sometimes the locals will say whatever they want for some money.
11. Try ordering different foods before deciding "your favorite", it might be your last chance to eat a real ALU-PALAK or whatever.
12. Travelling in small groups is always safer, but choose your partners carefully (they can rip you off too).
13. one more thing about drugs, if you intent to do something new or just something harder than smoking, try to make sure some one sane or sober is keeping an eye on you, just in case. Trust me, I thought this could never happen to me, and then my partner flipped (form one MDMA "only"), lucky I was there. Oh, if you're an alcohol fan, prepare for disappointments, it's usually low quality and over-priced, but if you wish to take that chance - Good luck! Just so you'll know, there's much more to India than intoxicating materials! (there's the culture, for instance).
14. A great way to travel is by car or by bikes, if your into it and can afford it (my friends bought a 1967 Indian car for 500$ and then sold it for 800$) this gives you an opportunity to see places that are not too touristy, which can make it interesting.
15. Important words in Hindi (it's been a while, but I still can remember them):
Chello - go away! or Let's go!
Milega - possible
nai - no
sukrya - thank you
pani - water
kitna rupia - how many ruppies
garam - hot
alu - potato
dum - tomato
palak - spinach
paneer - cheese
chapati - sort of tortilla, little bread
naan - sort of bread made of white wheat flour baked in a tanduri oven
charas - indian hash
chillum - indian pipe for charas
eg - one
do - two
tim - three
char - four
pach - five
das - ten
chai - tea (maybe the word I heard the most, almost always means milk tea)
masala - mix (masala chai is milk tea with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and clove)
tali (dal bhat in Nepal) - a plate with rice as a base and some other cooked veggies and chappati, ans eastern version of a business lunch.
16. If you go to Goa here's some general information, the northermost beach, Arambol and the southermost one, Palolem are popular for backpackers looking for relaxation. There's not many facilities there comparing to the center, and people come there to chill out, not to party. The main area where the parties are is Vagator and Anjuna (you can rent houses in vagator, Anjuna or Chapora, close to Vagator). If you're not into the rave scene, I would recommend to be there just a few days, the season begins in December and peaks at the end of the year all the way through Christmas until mid February, the fullest times in the rave area is around 20th December to 10th of January.
17. A great site for backpackers but not only for them, good and reliable information about the real life, check it out for more information http://www.thesite.org
18. There's so much more, but I guess you'll have to find out for yourself, remember to keep your eyes open and ears tuned, it's one kinky university of life!
Peace and Love, 1967
But seriously now, if you're looking for tips about India, this might be a good place to look for it, before I begin, I'd like to say I was there for an intense 6 months, but not more than that. Now, for some tips:
1. When being in India, always be prepared for beggars, there's a lot of them. They usually want money (from my experience) trying to give them food won't help always. If you do have some spare food, try to give it to a beggar, if he/she doesn't except it and you don't wish to give them money, just say CHELO (read as if Spanish) in an assertive manner (CHELO means both "let's go" and "f**k off" so be careful).
2. My worst stomach problem was after eating in the streets in Calcutta while the city being flooded. Note that flooded big cities (especially Calcutta) can get messy, don't go on food adventures if the place looks too crappy. Eating in the streets is not always bad, some places just make the same thing all day, you have to check that they fry or cook the food on the spot, and not just re-heat it, it's safer.
3. There is no "real" India, don't let anyone fool you, for some it's varansi (Banares) for others it's the calmness of Rishikesh, for some it's the beaches in the East, for some - in the West. The point is, you make yourself your own India. It doesn't matter where you are, it'll be different from the last place you've been. That's the nature of India, each region, or even village has it's own language, food, music, culture, or just a mix of other cultures.
4. Try to ride as less as possible on Indian busses, it'll make your life shorter, 2nd sleepers on train is good enough for most backpackers, oh, don't forget to bring a pen when going to book a train.
5. As I mentioned before, Indians can be a pain in the ass if they want to (they usually do), my way of avoiding the harassment was being quite aggressive, as if I'm very angry, but try not to get angry FOR REAL, it's no fun.
6. If you're planning to go south, a place worth visiting (not when it's THE season, because then it's full of loud Israelis) is called Hampi, 12 hours bus ride east to Goa, go to Hospet, and from there a short ride to Hampi, beautiful ruins (I usually don't like ruins, so that must mean something) a cool river and a shanty town.
7. As a rule, big cities in India are disgusting, unless you like air pollution, extreme poverty, noise, dirt and heaps of pushers, not to mention crappy hotels...
8. You can't go to Varansi if you plan on keeping your shoes s**t-free.
9. Never, but NEVER buy your drugs in a governmental Bhang shop. Ok, it's legal there, but it's also the worst quality in the world. As a rule, try avoiding buying drugs on the streets of big cities, and DON'T use them in public places, unless you've seen it happening before (a little spying prevents you from getting in trouble).
10. Don't take any of these advices as a rule, it's just the way I see it, and I sure can be wrong, the best to do is talk to the other travelers, because sometimes the locals will say whatever they want for some money.
11. Try ordering different foods before deciding "your favorite", it might be your last chance to eat a real ALU-PALAK or whatever.
12. Travelling in small groups is always safer, but choose your partners carefully (they can rip you off too).
13. one more thing about drugs, if you intent to do something new or just something harder than smoking, try to make sure some one sane or sober is keeping an eye on you, just in case. Trust me, I thought this could never happen to me, and then my partner flipped (form one MDMA "only"), lucky I was there. Oh, if you're an alcohol fan, prepare for disappointments, it's usually low quality and over-priced, but if you wish to take that chance - Good luck! Just so you'll know, there's much more to India than intoxicating materials! (there's the culture, for instance).
14. A great way to travel is by car or by bikes, if your into it and can afford it (my friends bought a 1967 Indian car for 500$ and then sold it for 800$) this gives you an opportunity to see places that are not too touristy, which can make it interesting.
15. Important words in Hindi (it's been a while, but I still can remember them):
Chello - go away! or Let's go!
Milega - possible
nai - no
sukrya - thank you
pani - water
kitna rupia - how many ruppies
garam - hot
alu - potato
dum - tomato
palak - spinach
paneer - cheese
chapati - sort of tortilla, little bread
naan - sort of bread made of white wheat flour baked in a tanduri oven
charas - indian hash
chillum - indian pipe for charas
eg - one
do - two
tim - three
char - four
pach - five
das - ten
chai - tea (maybe the word I heard the most, almost always means milk tea)
masala - mix (masala chai is milk tea with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and clove)
tali (dal bhat in Nepal) - a plate with rice as a base and some other cooked veggies and chappati, ans eastern version of a business lunch.
16. If you go to Goa here's some general information, the northermost beach, Arambol and the southermost one, Palolem are popular for backpackers looking for relaxation. There's not many facilities there comparing to the center, and people come there to chill out, not to party. The main area where the parties are is Vagator and Anjuna (you can rent houses in vagator, Anjuna or Chapora, close to Vagator). If you're not into the rave scene, I would recommend to be there just a few days, the season begins in December and peaks at the end of the year all the way through Christmas until mid February, the fullest times in the rave area is around 20th December to 10th of January.
17. A great site for backpackers but not only for them, good and reliable information about the real life, check it out for more information http://www.thesite.org
18. There's so much more, but I guess you'll have to find out for yourself, remember to keep your eyes open and ears tuned, it's one kinky university of life!
Peace and Love, 1967
