This place is crazy — 2 years ago
It was really really intresting and amazing, but I would never go back. The trip was really hard. We were under a lot of stress from climate change, inability to eat fresh veggies and drink good water, being subject to corrupt cops who wanted bribes, and having to deal with hostile and pushy touts.
It really bothered me to see the people taking absolutely no pride in their surroundings – throwing trash and spitting all over the place, even inside national treasures, EVEN inside the Taj Mahal grounds.
Many people were “friendly”, but it felt really phony. People who feel like they are a lower caste than you won’t be real with you even if you try your hardest to befriend them. They have very set ideas about classes, and people in the upper castes yell and treat the lower castes like they’re children or dogs. It’s hard to see such harsh treatment of people who are doing nothing wrong.
Major historic sites are all in bad disrepair due to a lack of preservation efforts and probably a lack of upkeep funds.
Shopping was an incredible hassle. Sure, I get haggling, but its just ridiculous to have to argue 20 minutes over some little trinket because the guys starts out wanting 30 bucks for it when its only worth 4 and he would charge a local 2 for it.
Overall, the trip left a very bad taste in my mouth, gave me the worse fever and flu that i’ve ever had, gave me a stomache problem that took two courses of antibiotics to get rid of, and burned images of poverty and injustice into my head that will never leave me. I feel that this was an amazing education in the ways of the world outside of my protected US lifestyle, but I would never go back. I would rather spend my time hiking through quiet wilderness or visit somewhere peaceful. India was way too much craziness for my taste.
Maybe once the sanitary conditions improve in a couple decades, we might try to visit again.
