These blogs are terrible

proxyindian

I've read such terrible blogs by people visiting India. I've been searching them to get an idea of what people have experienced at different places we want to go. I like this because I get to read about someone's trip. I don't like it because all some people do is complain!

One woman had headlines everyday about how miserable she is. She hated the hotels, the streets, the heat, the pollution, the poverty, the taxi drivers, the temples, the historical homes, squat toilets, spicy food. She and a friend take turns sneaking out of a temple tour to go shopping which she absolutely loves and it makes her feel so daring. Then she rejoins the group doing all the things she hates. And then she's miserable until she gets to Goa because it's calm and quiet and she can drink on the beach. Did she read up at all about India before going? I mean, anything at all? Why is she "forced" to go do things she hates? What was she doing there at all?

God, and I totally hate the smug attitude of so many other bloggers. One guy wrote about being in Varanasi and teasing a boy who was begging. I wrote him and asked why he even went, and he responded that he gets that question a lot. He said that he wanted to see everything in 3 months, but that didn't explain his attitude. Well, his blog is down, and I am glad for that. So much sarcasm, it just burns me up!

nadreg

Which blogs are you talking about?

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PeakXV

I wouldn't worry so much about what other people think or do when in India ....cause you can't control that and analyzing it all might eat ya up .... India is for well-rounded people with a good sense of humour, a cultural understanding and a certain openmindness - the rest need not apply.

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We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time.
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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

MeCasa

Hehe, all it takes is a plane ticket and a couple shots in the ass

The rest will come out in the wash

Besides, ya don't die but once

Whatcha say Mr. Peak

Digital Drifter

& certainly India is not going to change for the better or worse whether someone writes +vely about her or not. It just so happens with this country.

Since you're yet to travel? to India, may be your emotions will be similar or maybe not. Lots of people find this country disconcerting to their worldview and they flee literally, never to come back.

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PeakXV

Mecasa: where the "h-e-double hockey sticks" have you been?

proxyindian

I know what you all are saying.... It just gives me something to think about. It's easy to find blogs by self-satisfied people just by reading a bunch of them. I did a search at the google blog search for the hotel we're staying at. Even there, people's opinions are so varied. Some seem to have never stayed in anything but replicas of their own homes; others are like "It was great, we had a bed and a toilet of our own." I guess it depends on how spoiled you want to be. Anyway, looking through blogs is fun because it's a neat way to learn about people. Most I've read are really good. I'll share those because going to those would be much nicer for everyone.

Here's one with a conscious http://soniafaleiro.blogspot.com/

Here's another India one http://theindiastory.blogspot.com/

This one is a group blog about eating horrible food: http://deependdining.blogspot.com/ (Not related to India at all)

But most blogs are much more personal than these... like diaries... Anyway, they're easy to find. Here's one where the writer doesn't understand puja and feels alienated though excited: http://mikerace.blogspot.com/2005/09/rishikesh.html

Here's one where the writer gets right in the middle of puja and has a wonderful time: http://missmeas.blogspot.com/2005/08/rishikesh.html

Sama

some people are not happy unless they are complaining about something. some people only see negative things. just think how they are in their own environment....

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pikeman

I'd be embarassed to admit that I had gone to the trouble and expense of traveling somewhere and then find it unacceptable.

People like these spoiled bloggers should have stayed home and gone to some sanitized place and taken Geryline Tours in A/C busses that never stop.

India is for travelers - people who want to explore the world and the life people live there.

Pete

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thirdreel

I think that blogs are a good place to get your frustrations out. When you travel India, you will experience frustration. Everyone deals with it in different ways.

To take a counter example, I saw a TV show called Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime, and I found it all too whitewashed. He talks about all the wonderful, picturesque, inspiring places he went in India, and says what excellent spiritual growth he found there, and I wanted to say, "Are you sure you went to the same India that I did?" Not that I didn't see wonderful things, but I also got feces thrown on my shoe.

There's something that I'm kind of reluctant to say, because it's something that's so sweet when you come to the conclusion on your own. I'll quote Ajahn Sucitto's book about a Buddhist pilgrimage to North India: "I realised I loved India. I hadn't been able to see that because I'd always assumed you couldn't love something you were so irritated by."

abracax

There's nothing more frustrating than reading a blog about something you know about yourself. You gets what you pays for.

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Jorge Reverter

I don't really know what's the problem with this blogs. You can make your own travel but let the people to do it by them selves. India is not a paradise even if we repeat it hundreds of times here in Indiamike or elsewhere.

Jorge

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proxyindian

The blogs that I listed in my second post are those I like. I didn't include the addresses of the blogs I so disliked simply because I thought it best not to be really critical of someone who might be a reader at Indiamike, though I'm sure she and he aren't.

And my point was that these people hate hate hate India and that they're probably really crappy vacation planners (insert smiley here). I mean, why go to a million temples if its something you don't like. Just do the things you like. The blogger likes beaches, so spend more time in beaches than in temples.

ambika

We can't say 'they should have stayed at home then' as i think many of these people also wanted to like india - and then when they were there they realised it jst frustrated them too much. i believe you need a lot of patience and acceptance and that to me is more of a gift and not something everyone has.
a mate of mine really REALLY wanted to explore india BEFORE SHE LEFT and then when she got there... basically she was just pissed off all day everyday!
but i loved it!

kc2

Its good to read the good and the bad, I'm in china and I read both blogs, I can relate to both and always remember that blogs are just a way of letting frustration go. You will face both the good and the bad so slow down, relax, drink a beer, and remember nothing happens fast. After the trip is over, many people remember the frustrations with a smile but I've met the calmest people who would just lose it occasionally. You have to love life, endure what you think are hardships, and live.

Have a great trip!