Are you going to Srinagar?

I never said anything about nice hotel rooms for $10. I don't go to the 3rd world surrounded by abject poverty and require my room to have hot water and be up to Western standards. Personally, I wouldn't feel good about myself if I had those demands after walking the streets of India watching people shower on the sidewalk not to mention all the other poverty. Most people in the world do not have access to hot water, I can live without it too. A bucket shower? big deal. If the sheets are not clean I use my sleeping bag liner. If it's not for you it's not for you. India can be done for cheap as hell but don't bring your Western standards with you if you want to travel on the cheap

Thailand and India are not comparable

Most bars in medium and small cities will not have any girls in them.

I took a 5th year architect student to Darjeeling for a weekend. She didn't tell her mom that we went and almost didn't go in case her mother found out

LOL did you get laid? I'd say no but surprise me

I did but it was just lucky. Going to India is one of the very lasts places I would go to get a girl. 2 1/2 months in India and 6 weeks in Nepal I had one girl. I stayed at the India Institute of Technology for 10 nights and met her there. We had already ****ed before we went to Darjeeling and she wasn't a virgin--which a lot of the girls at IIT and upper middle class India are. Honestly, was the easiest lay I have ever had. She wanted to **** because I am a Westerner and she thought I would be "experienced" (her word). It was a pretty interesting experience

I've never ****ed an Indian girl but my mate has a fetish about them and has ****ed loads over here in the UK.

He told me they are consistently poor in the sack as they are simply too shy and reserved when it comes to getting their kit off.

I went to the bar with her a couple times next to the University, was more a restaurant that sold beer. 50 people in there and she would be the only girl. I asked her if it made her uncomfortable and she said she is use to it. That is next to a University! Though the guy-girl ratio at that school is 18/1. I also went to a club in Kolkata with a live cover band band there was about 5 girls and 60 guys

+1
been to India many times - best place to travel in the world imho
head to the mountains - Himachal Pardesh, Kashmir, Ladakh - first to learn a little about the country and then hit the plains, by then you will know enough/met enough people to know where will be good for you
enjoy

This is spot on. I've never been to India but I got a horrendous case of gut rot whilst in Beijing. I was getting stomach cramps for a couple of weeks after leaving the country.

Yes, I was there a few days ago. I stayed on the Dal lake obviously. IMO, the lake is being ruined by Indian tourists who trash it all up. The place is now dirty and kinda blah, IMO. The lake is just a dirty lake - I wouldn't go there again. However, Srinagar city is pretty wild. It is even more backwards and primitive than typical Indian cities. I enjoyed the rich imagery.

I am currently in Leh...

You are missing the point. What I'm trying to say is that when you get a $10 room in India, it is so craptastic that it would cost $10 in the USA also if we had such horribly low standards. So yeah, 'India can be done on the cheap' just means that you live in filth and squalor. And if you think that all Indians are poor and don't have 'western standards' than you haven't met enough Indians. There are plenty of people here that would put your USA living conditions to shame. And plenty of Indians have the money to stay in top notch hotels - that come at a price.

There is a big difference between 'cheap' and 'value'. India is cheap, but I'm not so sure it offers that much value. Who wants to get excited about a $3 dish if there is a fair chance it will make you puke and give you diarrhea? Is that value, or is that cheap?

Basically, Indians in their 20s and even 30s act like kids and live at home and listen to mom and dad who keep them on a very tight leash. That's why there are very few bars and clubs and places to meet women and even if you meet them, how will they explain to mom and dad that they will not be home until 10pm instead of their usual 7pm curfew.

I am really enjoying Kashmir/Ladakh, but I wouldn't really call it India. It is a separate culture, separate people, and the only thing reminiscent of India is all the Indian tourists. Otherwise the place has an identity of its own.

My family owns a hotel in Lucknow, and we have air-conditioned suites for $50 that have a 32" lcd along with running hot/cold water/Fridge/safety deposit box and stuff. Normal room is ~$35.

Just depends if you know how to look, obviously hotels in the centre of big cities will cost $100+ and all big hotel chains are obviously $200+. You can still get a good room for $50 in pretty much any city though.

If you're a budget traveler gingerhotel is a good choice, it's a TATA chain and has no room service, automatic checkin etc. to save costs but gives you a very clean A/C room with coffee maker/attached bath etc. for like $40 in most major cities..

^^^ $40 is double my daily budget in India

That is my biggest problem with India, people throw their trash everywhere. You are on a train and they throw everything out the window. Crazy part is there isn't even a f'ing trash can on the train (at least not in the lower classes). It's insane

I thought Dal Lake is the coolest place I've ever been. I didn't find the lake to be too dirty. Maybe because I was there in December or maybe I had just been in India too long by that point.

I know there are very very wealthy Indians. The wealth is highly concentrated in India. They also have the most in your face poverty of anywhere I've ever been

If your budget is $20 or less, then going for a small serviced apartment or PG accomodation might be the way to go, specially in a big city.

What do you do in India btw, are you travelling or working?

know exactly what you are saying,
but it is India -
there are many Indias; its a huge, huge place
why do i recommend it first for newcomers? - the people in the north/mountains are more easy going (though Kashmiri salesman are a breed of their own) and its a fine place to ease yourself into one of the most complex/perplexing/fulfiling places in the world

if you are the uptight kind of person who cannot accept/face change/something different

yeah sure

im not uptight and ready for anything

would i fit in India

?

It is a very large and diverse place. The point is that most Muslim Kashmiri people do NOT identify as Indian, they identify as Kashmiri. The rest of Indians that I am aware of at least identify as Indians even if they speak different languages etc. Of course the people of India say Kashmir is India--but the people of Kashmir don't

It is similar to visiting SE Turkey and telling the kurds they are Turkish or telling a Palestinian in the West Bank he is Israeli. A Turkish is likely to tell you there is no such thing as Kurdistan while a Kurd will probably be offended if you call him Turkish. (probably similar in Iraq or Iran but I've never been to either).


I'm not in India and have only traveled there a little. I'm not interested in long term accommodation there. If I did stay in one place for a while it would probably be in an ashram doing yoga/meditation in Dharmasala or Rishikesh or something

I don't mind it in the cities, since cities are dirty anyway, but when I'm at some gorgeous overlook, and some jeep full of Indians pulls up and they all eat some chips and soda and throw it on the ground it pisses me off and brings a tear to my eye. They will trash up and ruin Kashmir if they don't get some education on this ASAP.

Dal lake probably looks better at other times of year. There are no water flowers blooming or anything right now. House boats look cool and it's fun to stay on one, but as far as the lake goes, it's just a random lake with a pretty weak view. If someone is coming from Delhi, it looks great. If someone is driving Srinigar, they already passed 100 things that look 10x better.

India is how I imagined the African countries I visited to be in terms of filth, overcrowding, poor standards, 1800s way of life, etc...

like a glove

Does anyone have any experience with the train system in India? I'm interested in taking a train from Mumbai to Varanasi and possible stopping for a day or two at a few places in between. Suggestions? Advice?

Trains in India are absolutely f'ing awesome!!!! One of the coolest things in the world imo

Advice? book a sleeper at least 3 or 4 days in advance unless you want to be sitting on the floor

Trains in India vary greatly in quality. On the same route there can be a bunch of trains and the lower end ones will have a ton of stops and are perennially late. I would generally advise against it for a first timer, unless you're using a local travel agent. Always book a sleeper compartment or A/C first or second class though, you don't want to travel in a general compartment in India. The toilets on most trains are also going to be a culture shock that you might not be prepared for..

I would also advise you to pack some food for the duration of the trip, otherwise if you don't like the meals on the train you're ****ed since the stations enroute are generally really small and you might not find anything for the entire trip..

Everybody coming on the train to sell food is the best part of the journey!

I enjoy unreserved seating in 3rd class or w/e it is but I can understand why most people wouldn't. The trains are so incredibly cheap, 2nd class sleeper I think it is, what a steal. Now THAT is VALUE

sounds nice justice


how are the toilets?

thanks