"India" a India Travel Page by mad4travel

Most people I have met that have been to India say it can be wonderful and awful in equal measures.

I went with an open mind but I have to say I agree with the above.

India has a rich culture, interesting religion, fabulous palaces and monuments, colourful people and fantastic food.

but on the flip side, it is crowded, dirty and as a tourist you do get a lot of hassle. I am well used to this on all my travels but I have to say that, along with Cairo it was the worse place for having touts thrust their goods in your face, argue rather than negotiate and NEVER take no for an answer.

Coupled with the obvious poverty and beggars that tug on your heart strings it can be a tough place to be. I would not recommend India to someone that had never been abroad before. It can come as quite a shock.

But apart from all that, I had a wonderful time. My time was short but I managed to pack in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Varanassi and will most certainly go back for more....

India has some fascinating religious sites, interesting temples, Buddhist Stupas, Holy Men and Holy cows wandering the streets.

I thought the cow thing was a bit of an exagggeration but its true, they are everywhere. From what I could see they are a useful tool for any village as they seem to provide eco friendly rubbish disposal service eating the rubbish and then providing cow pats to burn as fuel.

Varanassi was a particularly interesting place form a religious perspective. We watched a cremation onthe ghats and watch hundreds of people doing their devotional duties and bathing in the Ganges. It was really interesting.

I've already mentioned the hassle and don't wish to dwell on it but here is an amusing story.

At the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri we were accosted by lots of young boys claiming they were students practising their English. In reality they were just chancers hoping to earn a buck by giving you an unofficial tour.

Not wanting a tour (as we had our own tour guide) I pretended not to be able to speak English and said I was Spanish. No problem said the boy and proceeded to speak to me in fluent Spanish (which of course was much better than mine). There then followed half an hour of him following me around explaining the mosque in Spanish and me telling him to politely go away in Spanish.

It would have been no good pretending that I was French German or Italian either as he said he was fluent in those too! What a waste, he should get work as a translator.

Then he kept asking me questions about why was I Spanish when everyone else I was with was English and what part of Spain was I from as I had a strange accent (I said I was a catalan) so he obviously suspected!

Finally after half an hour we left and he was still running behind me demanding money for his services (in Spanish) even though I had told him to go away and I was not going to pay him. You have to give him credit for his persistance but it was a tough half hour keeping up pretences!

Think next time I'll have to pretend i'm just deaf. Might be easier.